Hollow casts

[cazoon]

I am training level 5 and I cannot seem to get my cast (out of front hip or kip) hollow. My coaches keep telling me to cast hollow, and everyone else has casts to 120 degrees, but I cannot seem to get hollow. Are there any drils anyone knows that I can do at home or any tips for casting hollow. I really need this cast for a good bars score!!! Thanks!

 

[pattymello]

conceptually you need to think about pushing your stomach away during the cast, instead of focusing on heal drive. for strength do a lot of planche lifts.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

as you cast, pretend that someone is 'punching' you in the stomach. how do you think you would react to that. then do it as you cast.

 

[iwannacoach]

If you still aren't getting "hollow" after doing the things that pattymello and dunno have suggested, I'd be thinking that your cast may not have enough leg drive just before you leave the bar. I'm going to tell you what I've told other girls who have improved after a few practices using this idea. You can message me or post again if there's any of this you don't understand.

Here's a pretty well known law of gravity, "what goes up, must come down". But in gymnastics the rule should go both ways, so you could also say "what wants to go up, must first come down". I learned this rule of gymnastics lesson from a basketball. Every time I threw it down...it bounced back up, and the harder I threw it down the higher it bounced.

When you are about 3/4 of the way around on your hip circle and your feet are in front of you just below the bar your working, you should try to finish the cirlcle hard with your body but pause with your feet. This will do two things, and if you have your hands on top of the bar or just a little forward of the top of the bar (reaching forward), and have your arms ready to support you, these two things just may be your golden ticket....where was I??? Oh yeah, the two things. First thing is, you'll be able to kick down hard from the "PAUSED POSITION" with your heels, that should put a little more load, or bounce on the bar, meaning after it goes down because your "down kick" made you "heavy" just for an instant, it will bounce up and take your middle with it.

The other thing the pause and down kick will be good for, is leg speed. I see a lot of kids try to hollow just after leaving the bar, but their legs are moving up so slowly behind them and up that the action they used to make their hollow makes their feet slow down, and they stall out (stop going up). I think you maybe aren't hollowing because your "on board computer" is saying get to a handstand, and it can tell from your slow legs that it's just not going to happen if you go into a hollow position. My hope is that you get so much leg speed that you instantly realize you HAVE TO HOLLOW or you'll go up to far and over. Give it a try, if you really want a skill to BE different, you have do do something different to make that happen, and believe me it will feel different.


Remember! To make this work you absolutely have to be pushing hard with your arms when you are kicking down. You have to push even harder as your legs stop swinging down and start swinging up. If you don't push hard enough with your arms you'll collapse and the best you can expect is you'll get frustrated. So pretend it's your birthday and give yourself the gift of arms that are strong and ready. If you do that you may get an extra gift of a cast 150 to 160 degrees, with hollow, with straight legs and a goofy grin on your face.