How to get more hight and ability to do a side somi and front aerial?

[froggythegymnast]

When i do the front aerial i nearly got it but then it looks like a front handspring nothing like a aerial): any way on how to improve this to make it look like nastia's? Long, beautiful and effortless?

My secound problem is the side somi i never get enough hight for it and then i fall on my butt and look like a weirdo trying to do it on beam every girl is on high beam but im the one thats struggaling on floor beam and not landing it. HELP?

 

[pattymello]

In terms of making your arial look "effortless" you might be lacking in flexibility. Work the range of motion in your splits but also the dynamic range of motion with leg kicks ect. I am pretty sure with this move it is important to be flexible in the lower back as the when It is done right there is not much height needed and the rotation is fast. To get anything looking effortless, once you can complete the movement, requires a large volume of repetition as you are trying to get your body to create efficient pathways and muscle memory.

I only know about the side somi on floor. If you are lacking height it is probable because you are not blocking up enough from the floor. You might also be attempting to start the rotation before you have reached the peak of you jump. If you have some way of practicing it from the beam onto a crash mat you can try experimenting with delaying the tuck for as long as you can and basically play around with the timing of the move until you find the right timing for maximum height.

I am however fairly unfamiliar with beam and women's gymnastics elements in general so if I am unhelpful please feel free to skip over and ignore.

 

[iwannacoach]

It's too early in the morning and I don't have the time to do the subject justice. Check back tomorrow, I'll have more for you by then.

 

[iwannacoach]

Norway must be beautiful this time of year.

 

[iwannacoach]

Now all I can think of is cross country skiing....and side somi

 

[froggythegymnast]

Now all I can think of is cross country skiing....and side somi

Lol it is very nice i love it here! Moved from the USA 3 years ago for my dads job.

 

[iwannacoach]

I'm still thinking about the side somi...I had a nice break down of a side somi ready to go last night, but had a chalkbucket problem, and it wouldn't post. UFF DA!

I'll try again later today, after I have had some time to recover from waxing my skiis last night. It was a horrible, yet interesting experience.

I had put some hard wax on a warmer to soften up, went away for 10 minutes to get a dinner plate together so I could eat while working on my skiis. I set the plate on the warmer so my dinner wouldn't chill while I started on the first coat of wax, reaching over to the warmer alternately.....get a little wax...take a bite of dinner...get a little wax...take a bite of dinner. I was amazed at how much easier it was to spread the wax after warming it, but it was taking so long to set up for the second coat.

I decided to let it sit for a bit, and turned my full attention to my dinner plate, and had my 2nd and 3rd UFF DA! moment of the evening. I'd been concentrating so hard on waxing my skiis, that I never noticed I was speading the Lutefisk from dinner on my skiis, and had eaten the ski wax for dinner.......No wonder dinner had tasted better than normal....and the Lutefisk?.....given a little extra time, it set up great, and looks like it'll last way into next season!!

 

[froggythegymnast]

Omg that would have been the worst feeling ev eating skii wax! How did it taste btw? Hopefully you'll recover and your skii will too

 

[wallinbl]

Omg that would have been the worst feeling ev eating skii wax! How did it taste btw? Hopefully you'll recover and your skii will too

I would rather eat wax than Lutefisk!

 

[iwannacoach]

Omg that would have been the worst feeling ev eating skii wax! How did it taste btw? Hopefully you'll recover and your skii will too

OMG, you've obviously NEVER eaten Lutefisk, or ski wax. The ski wax would win the taste test by default. Now, Lutefisk as a ski wax substitute as oppossed to edible food?.....Go try some Lutefisk, I'm sure you'll figure it out halfway through the first "round trip" bite".

OK! Lets talk front and side aerials, and whether or not a side somi can be created by converting either of, or parts of their motions. The problem you're having in "crumbling" on the landing is probably the result of trying to convert a side aerial into a side somi. I don't think you're going to get it to work by doing it that way.

Most of the problems I see in side somi's is the lunge into the skill, if done like a side aerial, is to deep to recover from into a push-off that creates lift and air time. There's a better way to work on the entry part of the skill. Try moving down the beam with more speed than you would use for a side aerial, place what will become your kick leg on the beam and pass over it with as much forward momentum as you can. Move onto your "push off" foot and stab/punch the beam for a take off that has a bit of a "blocking" action. The stab/punch/block will give you height and it will add to whatever rotation you can get out of your kick leg.

So about the kick leg. Get it going as early and fast as you can. The harder you kick it, the more energy your rotation will have, and if you kick it straight up behind you, it will direct all of your energy straight over the stab foot....you'll stay centered over the beam, you'll have height and rotation! The next thing to be aware of is making sure you feel the weight leave your push off foot to start your turn and tuck motion. The motto here is.....Later makes it straighter!

I wouldn't just go diving into this new take-off with-out working up to it. My advice is to do about 100 good side somi's off the end of a floor beam onto a safety mat with a line drawn on it to similate the beam. After that you should start each beam work-out with about 10 off the end to remind yourself how to do the take off. Work like that for at least 5 practice sessions. If you feel things are starting to go bad...return back to the 10 at the start of each beam work-out. This remedy of going back to 10 at the start of beam work-outs is a lot like the directions on a bottle of mouth wash...USE AS NEEDED and sooner is better than later.