Tips on some level 6 skills

[LizzieLac]

So DD is training for level 6. She is a solid gymnast who had a good level 5 season, scoring over 9s on beam and floor, high 8s on bars and vault. It was a tough season in that she grew over 4 inches and suffered with osgood schlatters most of the season - preventing her from doing much tumbling in practice and very little vault. Her knees are getting better and she has been able to start working harder again.

She has over 3 months to work on these skills before her first meet and I am confident it will all fall into place, but she is a little frustrated some things are not coming quickly. So, looking for advise on a couple of skills.

1. Front tuck - she is landing in a low squat or sometime on her butt. She says she punching up and feels like she is starting high. Could she be opening up too late? What should she try or think about?

2. Backwalkover on beam - just frustrating her. She can do it on the squishy floor beam, but even that is inconsistent. She isn't confident her hands will come down on the beam. I actually think fear is her obstacle. Any tips? She won't even try it on the high beam.

3. Full turn on beam - used to be able to do it, but fell about a week ago and now she says she's afraid her toe is going to get stuck. What should she be thinking?

4. Clear hip. Not sure what the deal is here. I haven't seen her at practice much lately and I am not sure I can talk intelligently about this. All I know is she says she is struggling on it.

She has the other big skills for the most part - baby giant (although I think the whole bars routine is going to be challenging), back tuck, beam dismount. And like I said, I really think she has plenty of time to work on these things, but she can very hard on herself and it can be a rough environment in my house when she feels like the skills don't come as quickly as she would like. Any tips are appreciated!

 

[gymmomof1]

My advice is to encourage her to talk with her coach and ask how to get her body to do the skills. L6 Imho is a huge learning curve for both gymmie and parents lol. I hated watching my dd do l6 bars especially since she had been successful in level 5. Hang in there and encourage her to keep plugging away-seems to be the nature of the sport

 

[UnoMas]

I don't have any drills for you, but my DD is also doing L6 and I have to say, in general, from watching her group, that some of the skills in 6 just don't come as quickly as the ones in previous levels. The bar routine takes a lot just to get the skills and then to connect them with the required casting elements...ughhh....I am not looking forward to seeing the scores on that event this year. I think the full turn and BWO are probably mostly fear issues, my DD has issues with both of these also. She can do them a million times and then suddenly starts going crooked or just starts falling on the full turn. How old is your DD? Mine is 11 and she definitely grew a lot this year, has knee issues, and is also just having to overcome new fears that come with being "older".

 

[LizzieLac]

The level 6 challenges sound like a consistent theme out there!! I agree, it is going to be a tough year, but her concern right now is just getting these skills so her move up to level 6 is definite. She just turned 12 at the end of April, and she as a bit of a late starter to the whole competitive gymnastics thing (some if you might remmember from previous posts). So, for her, "delays" don't fit into the overal plan.

The coaches tell her corrections and what her body should be doing, but sometimes hearing it stated differently or telling the gymmie to think of something a different way makes it all click. And, yes, just doing it over and over and over...

 

[wallflower]

This is my 2nd time trying to post this since my first never showed up.

My DD is like yours trying to do level 6 and get everything so they will let her do it. The low bar portion she has and beam she has, though the full turn is tricky for her. They just barely started the high bar part, but her coach said it's the easier part of the routine. She also struggles with the punch front too. I think she just needs more tries. That's what I'm hoping anyway.

I may be delusional, but I've found the jump from 5 to 6 to be much easier than the jump to 5 from 4. Level 5 seemed to have so many giant hurdles like the kip, then connecting the Kip cast, jumping to the high bar, going over the table etc. I'd be curious to hear from other 6 parents if they have found the jump to be more manageable or if I'm delusional and will be getting a dose of reality soon lol.

I totally see why coaches have kids repeat level 5 if they don't have really strong bars and specifically a really strong Kip cast because it seems like level 6 bars aren't hard if they already have a strong kip cast.

 

[Natasha]

This is my 2nd time trying to post this since my first never showed up.

My DD is like yours trying to do level 6 and get everything so they will let her do it. The low bar portion she has and beam she has, though the full turn is tricky for her. They just barely started the high bar part, but her coach said it's the easier part of the routine. She also struggles with the punch front too. I think she just needs more tries. That's what I'm hoping anyway.

I may be delusional, but I've found the jump from 5 to 6 to be much easier than the jump to 5 from 4. Level 5 seemed to have so many giant hurdles like the kip, then connecting the Kip cast, jumping to the high bar, going over the table etc. I'd be curious to hear from other 6 parents if they have found the jump to be more manageable or if I'm delusional and will be getting a dose of reality soon lol.

I totally see why coaches have kids repeat level 5 if they don't have really strong bars and specifically a really strong Kip cast because it seems like level 6 bars aren't hard if they already have a strong kip cast.

To the OP:
Sounds like your dd is starting to get to the point where skills aren't coming as quickly as she is used to. Hang in there! My dd (training L8) just said last week she missed the days when it didn't take "forever" to get new skills. Something that has helped her is to celebrate the "baby steps" in getting skills so that she still feels like she is making progress and has something to celebrate.

Wallflower,
I agree, that it didn't seem like as many big skills to get jumping from L5 to L6 as their were from L4 to L5. It seems like a big part of it is just bigger and better everything at L6. However, what was hard was the scoring at L6, especially on bars. Even when we saw routines that we thought looked good, they would score in the 8's. It was not uncommon at all to go to some meets where there were no scores in the 9's for bars. Also, the floor routine is longer, so that much more time for deductions. And, you are dead on about that kip cast.

 

[LizzieLac]

Yes, you are both right - the coaches are harping on the kip cast! All of the girls are struggling right now - if the cast is high enough, their arms are bent. If they are able to keep their arms straight, the cast height suffers...ugh!

And, yes, DD is feeling a little frustrated that some things aren't coming as fast as she would like. BUT, they have only really started uptraining 3 weeks ago!! We don't do a whole of skill uptraining during the competitive season. Plenty of conditioning in preparation for it, but it is the June to end of September timeframe where they uptraing. So, I KNOW she has plenty of time to get this stuff but I was hoping to help the progress so I don't have to have the moping around after a practice without a big accomplishment!

Oh the joys of competitve gymnastics! What I have tried is to get her to tell me 1-2 positive things about practice to balance the frustration of the harder skills.

Still, if anyone has any words of wisdom on these skills, I would love to read about it. Thanks!