Coaches Natural progression on bars

[BarCoach]

Somehow my current group of girls (specifically 4 girls competing level 4 after doing 5 last year) are really slow in this area. They've all had kips for over a year. Cast handstands are getting better due to adding in new drills. But overall I don't see a whole lot of improvement. 3 of the girls make maybe 25% of their squat ons and none are consistently kip-casting above horizontal, though we've been asking them to since April. I know some of it is fear and we are working on that. I'm kind of at a loss with how to help because I've just never dealt with this before. I'm used to my kids having bars as their best event... This is the exact opposite. Help?

 

[Deleted member 14190]

Somehow my current group of girls (specifically 4 girls competing level 4 after doing 5 last year) are really slow in this area. They've all had kips for over a year. Cast handstands are getting better due to adding in new drills. But overall I don't see a whole lot of improvement. 3 of the girls make maybe 25% of their squat ons and none are consistently kip-casting above horizontal, though we've been asking them to since April. I know some of it is fear and we are working on that. I'm kind of at a loss with how to help because I've just never dealt with this before. I'm used to my kids having bars as their best event... This is the exact opposite. Help?

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Condition the crap out of them for 3 weeks and do a zillion kip casts, long sets.

 

[iwannacoach]

^^^^^ that, and keep em moving so fast that a normal pace of hard work begins to feel easy. Just keep an eye on them to make sure they're handling it, and some how figure out a way to add some goof off moments. My philosophy is you can get away with just about any level of intensity (without being negative) for at least 3 weeks, and that may be enough to get a few of the kids over the hump....... and take a few team mates with them. After that you just gotta figure what comes next.

 

[BarCoach]

Ok thanks. We'll ramp up the intensity, and have fun with it! Starting today!

 

[BarCoach]

One bar of 5 spotted kip casts, done back to back. Another bar of 5 alone with ankle weights? Any benefit to that? It seems like it would make them stronger.

 

[iwannacoach]

I'd skip the ankle weights entirely for bars (and most other things) because they'll mess up timing and the balance points of the skill. Just give them the work you want done, correct it while they work, and keep the equipment contantly in use. An empty rail is a terrible thing to waste.

Bars takes work..... flat out. The techniques may be important, but the work rate will improve their strength, and determine how much technique they can absorb in a week.

 

[Jabba]

==
Condition the crap out of them for 3 weeks and do a zillion kip casts, long sets.

^^^^Yep. They've got to have the strength first. Also spot casts and cast hands a lot. And spot going over on cast hands - a lot of kids are afraid of the twist off if they go too far, so they hold back from casting. As for the squat ons, I find falls on those (once they have done them) are due to lack of motivation. I dont give "penalties" on most things, but this is an exception. My kids get 1 warning, then 5 chin pullovers for the team (meaning everyone has to do them, not just the person who fell) if they fall on a squat on. Needless to say, we don't have many falls on these, even from Level 4s.