WAG Help full turn beam too fast

[AnotherGymParent]

Ok my dd has been doing full turns on beam For about two years starting a few months ago she has been going too fast and falls most of the time she is beyond fustrated and has had several coaches help her they just say slow down. She says she doesn't know how. Any ideas??

 

[stargazer]

Something that helped me was to start with both feet very close together on releve, instead of in a lunge. It forced me not to swing my arms, and learn how to use my heel to initiate the rotation instead. It slowed down my turns enough that I could control them much better. Good luck to your daughter, I'm sure she'll figure it out

 

[iwannacoach]

This kind of reminds me of the joke that starts like "How many psychiatrists does it take to change a lightbulb." The answer is that it only takes one, but it has to want to change.

I have a hard time believing that your dear daughter can't control the energy in her body just prior to releve'. Most gymnasts learn to start their full turns by sweeping their arms from one side of their body toward the direction of the turn, followed by whatever arm position they're taught to use as they ride out the turn that results from that arm sweep....... so less arm sweep by moving them slower, or through a shorter arc will help.

The reason for my reference to the joke about changing a lightbulb is that all the coaching in the world is useless until the child decides to invest themselves in the changes the coach is asking for. So maybe she can save herself a whole lot of energy by deciding to change something, anything, I don't care what it is as long as she forces a change to take place, but it would be best if her choice was to slow down her arm sweep, or put less energy into that motion.

There's another way to slow down, that classic ballet considers essential to all turning movements, by "spotting" while beginning and ending the turn. This requires the performer to hold their head in the position it's in looking at the end of the beam, or the wall beyond the end of the beam, and turn from the neck down until they're unable to spot the end, or wall. At that brief instant they will turn their head in the direction of the turn until it "catches up" with their body, and passes it as their head finishes the turn well before the rest of the body. When they first catch a glimpse of the end of the beam or wall they'll have a very good sense for how much of the turn their body still, and can place their arms out in a wide crown position to slow down and then stop at the correct degree of turn.

When teaching beam turns, and spotting, I'll tell the kids to follow a sequence of arms, then the body, and then the head for the start of the turn, and the sequence of head, then the arms, and then the body for the finish.

That's all I can do for your dd, the rest is completely up to her, and her determination to change.

 

[marie83]

One of my favourite drills (something that used to be in our compulsory routines a while back) is a half spin, to finish on a two foot releve, with immediate pivot turn to complete the full turn.
This is how I learned to full spin on beam. It helped me to keep good body tension and retain a straight supporting leg and releve throughout. It also helped me feel the timing better.
I also favour not stepping forwards into it, but starting with feet close together, no step, no lunge, just a good old 'one foot slightly in front of the other' stance (Rather like Gabby Jupp does here at about 40 seconds Gabrielle Jupp - Balance Beam - 2013 AT&T American Cup - YouTube

 

[AnotherGymParent]

Thanks! I agree she needs to change something and she has been trying hard to figure it out she spends extra time by self on beam when they go to break and stuff because she wants to fix it. I think part if it is she is a hands on learner not auditory so if a coach could show her what to do she could probably do it. But them just saying slow down doesn't help. She is determined to fix it so I will relay all your advices and such to her thanks!!

 

[bogwoppit]

How is her full pirouette on the floor?

 

[AnotherGymParent]

She's still struggled at time on floor but its more consistent. She had trouble when she first learned her turns on beam then had been fine now has problems again. They tried having her do a 1,5 on beam instead but she isn't good at those either I think she is just week in the area as turns as she has all her harder beam skills needed for this season (flic blo. Back tuck jump etc) now just trying to fix her turn

 

[iwannacoach]

They tried having her do a 1,5 on beam instead but she isn't good at those either

She'll just end up with the same problem all over again. Based on what you wrote in your second post, she should choose a correction to try for a day, and work it past that day if it shows a good result. If she continues that process, she'll find a something that works.

You say she's a visual learner, so here's an idea.......

Some visual learners can visualize what they write far better than what they hear. Ask her to try writing the full turn correction as she visualizes it, or to write a thorough description of what she does during a full turn, and then physically do the skill.

 

[AlexsGymmyMom]

My DD had the same issue with her full turns last season. Rarely stuck them. Body Position for Full Turn on Beam - Kellie Mizoguchi - YouTube This video really did help her relearn the full turn without doing the lunge. She NEVER fell during competition this year! Big difference for her at least. Maybe this can help your DD as well!

 

[gymmom1974]

Try this: find some video from when she was doing her turn well, and then video tape her doing turns now (while struggling). Then watch them with her and analyze the differences. Watch them enough times Nd I'm sure you (and your DD) will start to see some subtle differences. Then she can work on mimicking how she was doing them before.

 

[gymlover]

Look at the beam before you go and try to spot it again when she comes around. I had the same problem and it helped me!

 

[eryes]

My background is in ballet... Proper body placement is key in executing a controlled pirouette in dance - so I figure it has to be the same on beam. ??In ballet the head/neck tall, shoulders down, core engaged, hips squared and stretched...if you loose control/alignment during the turn of any these, you will wobble.

I know at my DDs gym, they don't learn the basic preparation to relieve/balance...to turning balance like they do in dance. She could work on that or maybe look into the wooden "rocking chair" type things for learning pirouettes. She will understand the importance of her alignment through using it....???