WAG Rope climb - what is the issue?

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wallflower

Proud Parent
DD can climb the rope with no legs and legs to the side all the way to the top, but she can't hold her legs in the pike. Her legs swing all over the place like a crazy person, which personally I think looks harder the way she is doing it. What is likely her problem? Lack of arm strength or is it core strength to hold up her legs? Or is she just being a brat :D?

She can do 10 press handstands. She can hold a handstand over a minute. Basically she can do all of the things the other kids find difficult, but she is the ONLY one who can't climb the rope with her legs in the pike position. I know part of her problem is that she just doesn't do it enough. She "runs" out of time :rolleyes:. She would rather do a billion presses than rope climb so she has been skipping it on a regular basis or cheating by using her legs. What can she do besides the actual rope climb to target this area of weakness?
 
I have one like this. It's abs/core strength. It could also be an issue of not knowing how to breathe while using her abs to keep her legs in the L. It could also be just an issue of learning not to "whip" or swing into things, but use her muscles only.

Lots of L-holds and L-chin ups (chin-ups with her legs in an L) will help, if she's willing to do them. :)
 
Sounds like either a lack of core strength or being a brat. :)

Leg lifts, leg lifts from L, hanging L position on a bar, L position hold on parallettes will all help with the pike position.
Climbing holding a piece of foam between her legs (or on top of her legs in pike position) will motivate her to keep them together. If she really can't do that, she can start in a seated pike next to the rope- pull up on the rope, and hold in the pike position with the foam between/on top of her legs.
 
Sometimes I think they are so worried about making it without their legs that they sacrifice form to just make it. How many pulls does it take her to make it to the top? Lets say 20. Tell her the next time she rope climbs to count the pulls and make 10 of them with legs tight in a pike and then do whatever she "needs" to do after the 10. The next day do 11 with legs in the tight pike, then the next day 12, etc. until she makes it all of the way. It might distract her enough from making it to the top that she can actually go farther than she thinks by not focusing on making the whole thing. Something like this worked for one of mine.
 
Okay mystery solved. Her weakness was not arms or core, it was motivation :D. As I said she was always "running out of time" to climb the rope daily. Once her coach realized how poorly she was doing she offered her a Popsicle to do it correctly. Low and behold problem solved. I kind of had a feeling she was just being a brat.
 
I was gonna say, it sounded like she hated doing it because it wasn't as easy as the other stuff for her.

Guess she'll get a popsicle habit. Could be worse.
 
well...even brats have a hard time with pike holds. she just needs (wants) to do more of them. it'll come.:)
 

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