Back Handsprings..Too Young?

[bogwoppit]

Oh the scariest youtube vid I have seen is of a kid doing giants on a home bar in her basement!!!

The words tiny and teeny always worry me on youtube!

Shaping and doing prep for a beautiful BHS can take a long, long time as can fixing bad BHS's learned at home or in a cheer gym. It isn't a skill to rush, well unless you are a cheerleader.

 

[AmandaLynn]

Oh the scariest youtube vid I have seen is of a kid doing giants on a home bar in her basement!!!

This one scares the daylights out of me, too.

 

[k2bdeutmeyer]

I was curious (and bored) so I started searching a bit around on YouTube and found loads of videos like this. There was one where a woman, I assume the child's mother, spotting a 3 year child through a backhandspring in her livingroom. Granted, it didn't look particularly dangerous, but still, what are these parents thinking? Aside from it being dangerous, who knows what sorts of bad habits these kids are learning, and reinforcing, when mom powers them through backhandsprings at age 3.

It turns out though that this happens a lot! Just search for terms like "tiny gymnast" and you'll see super young kids attempting all sorts of ill-advised gymnastics. The scariest one, in my opinion, involves a 4 year old and a balance beam.

I would say 90% or maybe even 95% of the time, you're right (about bad habits, etc), however, keep in mind that it is possible that one of the parent's is or was a coach. What you said about spotting a child in the living room, even though it didn't look particularly scary, could be said about me/my DD's videos. What the video doesn't tell you is that I coached for over 10yr and am fully aware of proper technique, etc.

Just wanted to throw out the other side of that coin

 

[coachmolly]

There are exceptions to every rule (super talented 4 yos who are physically capable, parents who are coaches), but I think generally bhs at 4- or any other "big" skill at a ridiculously young age is counter productive. It puts the child at risk of injury, learning incorrect technique/developing bad habits, crashing and becoming afraid of the skill, or any number of other problems. And there really isn't some kind of reward for doing a bhs as a 4 yo. If the kid is talented, they'll learn the skill just as quickly in a few years when they have the strength, flexibility, and body awareness.

 

[k2bdeutmeyer]

There are exceptions to every rule (super talented 4 yos who are physically capable, parents who are coaches), but I think generally bhs at 4- or any other "big" skill at a ridiculously young age is counter productive. It puts the child at risk of injury, learning incorrect technique/developing bad habits, crashing and becoming afraid of the skill, or any number of other problems. And there really isn't some kind of reward for doing a bhs as a 4 yo. If the kid is talented, they'll learn the skill just as quickly in a few years when they have the strength, flexibility, and body awareness.

Not sure if this is in reference to my comment or not, but just in case, I want to clarify my statement a little, LOL

I was meaning to comment more on the idea of parents spotting in a living room (or backyard, or wherever) being ridiculous and stupid than on 2 or 3 or 4 year olds doing BHS. I apologize for the vagueness of my response.

 

[JessLW]

KB, I am pretty sure the video I saw wasn't your daughter because the girl was 3, not 4, unless you have older videos up of you spotting her doing a BHS at 3? The girl I am talking about really wasn't "doing" a BHS, she was more being completely carried through a BHS by mom -- it wasn't particularly scary because really mom was doing all the work! YouTube is literally littered with these videos though, and I am sure for every coach/mom there are probably 10 moms who have seen the coach spot a BHS and think "hey, that doesn't look too hard" and figure they can help little Suzie get the skill in time for the 1st meet with a little bit of backyard practice

But you're right, of course YouTube only gives us a small look and not the whole picture and it is always a good idea to keep that in mind. :thumbsup:

 

[Tumblequeensmom]

Bog.... I agree that the adjectives "tiny" and "teeny" tend to set off alarms for me as well. It makes me think that there's a competition to have the "tiniest" and "youngest" gymnast out there on youtube... whether it's developmentally appropriate or not.

 

[coachmolly]

Not sure if this is in reference to my comment or not, but just in case, I want to clarify my statement a little, LOL

I was meaning to comment more on the idea of parents spotting in a living room (or backyard, or wherever) being ridiculous and stupid than on 2 or 3 or 4 year olds doing BHS. I apologize for the vagueness of my response.

Sorry, my post was not in response to you, just the idea of itty-bitty kids doing bhs without proper supervision when they clearly are not developmentally ready.

 

[coffee247]

I am one of those parents of a three year old who does do back walk overs and back hand springs. She loves it and was determined to learn with or without help. Our coach lets her do the skills and watches for safety and corrections. They incorporate a lot of fun strength moves into her class and really encourage safety and the strength behind a skill before doing it. I think it just really depends on the child and their interest and determination at that age. Safety and fun are really the biggest focuses of our preschool gymnastics. We make sure to praise our kido whether she's doing a back walkover, or sitting still for 3 consecutive minutes. Which beleive it or not is actually the harder skill for her.

 

[k2bdeutmeyer]

KB, I am pretty sure the video I saw wasn't your daughter because the girl was 3, not 4, unless you have older videos up of you spotting her doing a BHS at 3? The girl I am talking about really wasn't "doing" a BHS, she was more being completely carried through a BHS by mom -- it wasn't particularly scary because really mom was doing all the work! YouTube is literally littered with these videos though, and I am sure for every coach/mom there are probably 10 moms who have seen the coach spot a BHS and think "hey, that doesn't look too hard" and figure they can help little Suzie get the skill in time for the 1st meet with a little bit of backyard practice

But you're right, of course YouTube only gives us a small look and not the whole picture and it is always a good idea to keep that in mind. :thumbsup:

Oh, I didn't mean that the video you saw could have actually been DD, I meant that some of DD's videos could fall into that category (mom spotting in the living room or backyard)

 

[MayDay]

KB, I am pretty sure the video I saw wasn't your daughter because the girl was 3, not 4, unless you have older videos up of you spotting her doing a BHS at 3? The girl I am talking about really wasn't "doing" a BHS, she was more being completely carried through a BHS by mom -- it wasn't particularly scary because really mom was doing all the work! YouTube is literally littered with these videos though, and I am sure for every coach/mom there are probably 10 moms who have seen the coach spot a BHS and think "hey, that doesn't look too hard" and figure they can help little Suzie get the skill in time for the 1st meet with a little bit of backyard practice

But you're right, of course YouTube only gives us a small look and not the whole picture and it is always a good idea to keep that in mind. :thumbsup:

Great post!