WAG Exercises for front kicks and t-scales?

[Sk8ermaiden]

My daughter is on preteam and seems to be struggling to get her kicks (on tiptoe, holding onto the beam behind her, kicking straight forward/up) and her back t-scales high enough. Her coach has been getting on her about it and it's causing her a lot of frustration.

She is extraordinarily flexible, and is in the middle of her group strength-wise, but her t scales in particular are pretty low. I asked her if she wanted a private lesson to try to get a better feel for what she should be doing, but she said she wanted to try exercises at home first.

Is there anything she can do at home that will help her get her leg higher? I feel like something is not clicking for her.

Interestingly, she told me her side kicks were fine.

 

[ayyyrial]

It takes time and repetition to develop active flexibility, because it requires you to use muscles in ways you normally don't at all. The best thing is just practice, practice, practice over time.
Luckily these are things she can practice at home. Say 15 kicks forward, sideways, and backwards. And a 30 second scale hold forward, sideways, backwards. All on both sides. Maybe three times a week - the MOST IMPORTANT thing is that BOTH legs stay straight the whole time (especially in scales/kicks to the back) - and that her chest does not collapse forward during the kick; she should stay standing up nice and straight - only the leg moves.
She can also do kicks with a theraband tied around each ankle for more resistance.

I don't think there is necessarily a "trick" to get that a private lesson would help with. Flexible kids often don't have good scales or kicks without developing the strength and muscle memory over time.

 

[Deleted member 18037]

Let the gym work it out at the gym

 

[Sk8ermaiden]

Our pre team has very low hours and they prefer the kids to work on things at home (or really to have private lessons, but we are not rolling in that kind of money.) When I didn't find anything online or here, I asked her coach and she said repetition. To just do them at home. It's exactly what ayyyrial said, she needs to develop the active flexibility.

If she moves up in a couple months, the hours fall more in line with the average and most girls drop privates and I shouldn't have to worry about this stuff again. Wheee. But she specifically asked me to help her.

Thank you for the tips on practicing these.