Vault Troubles!

[Chocoholic]

Hi Coaches,

My daughter competed level 5 last year. Throughout the season, she largely just made it over the vault at competitions and often needed a spot at practice. Although she has gotten significantly faster and definitely stronger, the vault remains a thorn in her side and by far her weakest event.

Her gym spends most of their vault training time working the components of the vault -- i.e., the run, the punch, etc. -- in the form of drills. They spend much less time (and really almost no time during the summer) actually vaulting over the table. For a lot of girls this training strategy seems to work. I worry, however, that it may not work for my daughter. We have done a few privates over the last year and when she vaults repeatedly, the vault does tend to improve during the session. However, that "progress" doesn't stick. I think my daughter may be the kind of kid that needs repetition and it may not be any component of the vault that is tripping her up, but rather putting the pieces together. In general, she is not one of those kids who learns a skill quickly. She usually has to work hard at it over time and then gets it. The problem (I fear) with the vault is that they hardly ever practice the full vault and when they do she gets one try and then has to wait for the rest of her team to vault before she can try again.

So here's my question. Is my concern misplaced? Do you think that training the parts will eventually lead to a successful vault? If not, what do I do? Should I try and schedule a few privates in a compressed period of time so she can get the muscle memory down? Any other advice? HELP!

 

[CanAmGymMum]

Before I answer, how old is your daughter?

 

[Chocoholic]

She turned 10 in June.

 

[Chocoholic]

Anyone out there with an idea?

 

[gymnastralo]

Hi there,

I think every gymnast has there own way that they learn: some its more reps, others its drills, some visualize there skills. Your daughter sounds like she needs to have an opportunity to do the actual vault ontop of working the individual drills. I think you should express how you feel to the coach and also get your daughters opinion in on this. Ask her if she thinks doing some vaults would help her out. I also want to mention, the key with repetetion is that you don't want 10 sloppy vaults done you want maybe 5 vault done full out with the best effort possible to ensure more muscle memory of the correct body positions, and blocking time. The running training and board punching and jumping is also great, it will eventually given enough time start to show up within the vault itself, however in order for this to happen all those little drills that may not seem that important should be taken seriously and be performed with great quality bec. that also helps muscle memory take action and if learned incorrectly that can have a negative effect on her vault. As the parent, I would ask your dd if she feels like she would want to continue to take some private lessons (if possible) to continue to vault if the coach wont allow it during practice at this time. Also, just continue to support her efforts made with all the small drills bec. they will add up, it teaches them patience and that quality of the skill matters bec. its like a puzzle all the different pieces and components of the vault should be worked and eventually it will all come into a solid full vault. Also, you may want your dd to approach your coach and ask herself if it is possible if she can get a few vaults in maybe at the end of practice or before or maybe even during. By having her approach the coach it will show that she is taking steps to better her own gymnastics.

Here is a link that may be helpful:
Gymnastics Revolution - Gymnastics Interactive - 203-798-8651

Wishing you both the best of luck! Perseverance is the key!

 

[gym law mom]

Have you asked one of the coaches what they think the problem is? After doing the vault for 1 year, they should have an idea what is causing her problem.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

be patient. it'll come.

 

[Coach.Simon]

First off, it would help alot if you posted a video if you have it of your daughter's vault (Including the approach), but here - let me list a few things that you, as a parent, can look for that might be an indicator on her troubles. Here's some things on the run, I'm guessing if the coaches drill the run alot that's where problems are stemming from.

1) on her run, check to see if she is running flat footed (bad) or on her toes (good)

2) on her run, pay attention to her last steps. If she is slowing down on her last few steps in relation to the rest of her run (decelerating), or if she is taking noticeably smaller, half steps at the end of her approach (stutter stepping) then that cripples a vault's power severly. (resulting in bent arms, then back arching and knees bending to land it)

 

[Chocoholic]

Thanks everyone. I will see if I can get any video of her vaulting and post it. I think the idea of having her ask the coaches to do a few actual vaults at the end of the practice is a very good idea. She always works her hardest on the drills and I think if she just made some progress on putting it all together than those drills would have even greater value.

 

[CanAmGymMum]

She's still pretty young....as dunno said, be patient. Without seeing her vault, it's a hard question to answer. If she's slowing down or holding back due to a little bit of fear, then the best remedy would be to do lots of numbers of the actual vault to get her confidence up. However, regardless of how hard she's working on the drills, if she's not yet proficient at them, then her time would be better spent mastering the parts before trying to put the vault back together. Practicing the same mistake over and over again is not going to lead to a desirable result. As someone said here before- practice does not make perfect, practice makes permanent.

 

[Chocoholic]

I don't have a video, but they had an open practice the other day (where parents can come in and watch) and I did get to see her do a few actual vaults. At first, she was sort of stuttering towards the end of her run, but the coach got her to lengthen those steps and that looked much better. It appears that she hits the board fairly hard but does not get much rise off of it. The coach seemed to suggest that the way she hits the board stunts her momentum? Anyway, the good thing is she looked really good on her other three events!