WAG Mixed leg dominance

[Credence]

Hi! I’m new to chalkbucket and was wondering if anyone had some insight on mixed leg dominance and how to choose a side. I have searched for threads on this subject but none seem to quite answer my question so I thought I’d come out of lurking and ask my question My 6 year old pre-team daughter seems to be a bit unusual in that she is mixed leg dominant in an odd way: she cartwheels left and handstands right! I have no clue how she managed to learn those on opposite legs, but that’s where we are at. At first her coach was going to switch everything to the left because of her cartwheel, but then after watching her more decided she does everything else on the right so she needs to switch her cartwheel and round off. She is trying very hard and can now cartwheel and is working on the round off, but these skills are nowhere as nice as she can do them on her left. It seems so hard to switch a round off! She started trying to do handstands and cartwheels before she was quite 3, so it is pretty ingrained as to which leg she likes to use. Did she just practice her cartwheel on her wrong side for years and is actually right side dominant? Has anyone dealt with this before? How did you finally decide which leg to go with? Has anyone experienced this and successfully switched a child’s round off?

 

[gymisforeveryone]

We switched it for one of my gymnasts. She was already like 12 at that time and had done the "wrong" side cartwheel and round off for years. The switch was suggested by one very experienced coach who coached at a camp that we attended, and she pretty much made the switch at that camp. The main reason for the switch was that her round off was very crooked and that coach said that switching would correct that issue. It took her only a couple of weeks to learn the right side round off (she already had a cartwheel on both legs, since we always teach it both ways equally) and then a couple more to learn the RO BHS again. It did fix the issue she had, but sadly it has come back now. And she has gone back to her old cartwheel on beam, even if she learn the right side. But she insisted that it was too scary and inconsistent, so we let her switch it back for comp season.

Now, when I look back to this situation, I would not do the switch again with a kid that age. It caused so much drama and wasn't worth the struggle in the end. She's still in compulsories at 14 so she's probably never going to face the problems that mixed dominance can cause in the upper levels. But with a 6 year old, I would definitely at least try!

 

[JBS]

Here are a couple...

https://chalkbucket.com/forums/thre...ed-or-a-mixture-of-the-two.47600/#post-322393

https://chalkbucket.com/forums/threads/mixed-dominance-twisting-direction.56082/

Search things like... "twisting direction"... "twisting which way"... "left right". Our search works very well now.

 

[Credence]

We switched it for one of my gymnasts. She was already like 12 at that time and had done the "wrong" side cartwheel and round off for years. The switch was suggested by one very experienced coach who coached at a camp that we attended, and she pretty much made the switch at that camp. The main reason for the switch was that her round off was very crooked and that coach said that switching would correct that issue. It took her only a couple of weeks to learn the right side round off (she already had a cartwheel on both legs, since we always teach it both ways equally) and then a couple more to learn the RO BHS again. It did fix the issue she had, but sadly it has come back now. And she has gone back to her old cartwheel on beam, even if she learn the right side. But she insisted that it was too scary and inconsistent, so we let her switch it back for comp season.

Now, when I look back to this situation, I would not do the switch again with a kid that age. It caused so much drama and wasn't worth the struggle in the end. She's still in compulsories at 14 so she's probably never going to face the problems that mixed dominance can cause in the upper levels. But with a 6 year old, I would definitely at least try!

Thanks for sharing your experience. My daughter has been working on switching for some months now. She is determined to get it, but said she would stay with her left leg if she could. I’m hoping that switching legs is the right thing for her.

 

[gymdog]

It's almost impossible to do a normal feeling full power roundoff on your non dominant cartwheeling side unless you have a high degree of ambidexterity. I feel like that would be pretty apparent to anyone who has tried gymnastics. sure you can do it but I'm not convinced you could get used to it that easily. Do a roundoff on your bad side feels very insane. When I was in high school one summer a friend and I had a running contest of what tumbling we could get out of a bad side roundoff.

Now kids who have a high degree of ambidexterity which is more common in left sided and left handed people for whatever reason, may be able to be assigned a cartwheel way or change it. But it usually doesn't "feel wrong" to them.

There would have to be some really compelling reasons for me to switch a naturally appearing cartwheel side. I have successfully switched young gymnasts on their handstands and kickovers to their cartwheel side.

 

[Credence]

It's almost impossible to do a normal feeling full power roundoff on your non dominant cartwheeling side unless you have a high degree of ambidexterity. I feel like that would be pretty apparent to anyone who has tried gymnastics. sure you can do it but I'm not convinced you could get used to it that easily. Do a roundoff on your bad side feels very insane. When I was in high school one summer a friend and I had a running contest of what tumbling we could get out of a bad side roundoff.

Now kids who have a high degree of ambidexterity which is more common in left sided and left handed people for whatever reason, may be able to be assigned a cartwheel way or change it. But it usually doesn't "feel wrong" to them.

There would have to be some really compelling reasons for me to switch a naturally appearing cartwheel side. I have successfully switched young gymnasts on their handstands and kickovers to their cartwheel side.

That was my thought too. And at first they did say they would switch handstand to cartwheel side. But after a while it was decided to switch her cartwheel because everything else was right side like her splits, kick over, front handspring, leaps, etc. If you ask her to kick her leg, it is always her right. But that cartwheel/RO is left! I’m a little concerned that she will spend all this time trying to switch sides and then end up not having it work out and then her good side will be bad from never practicing.

 

[rjb123]

My DD has mixed dominance. She could do most things either way and as a young compulsory would switch back and forth. Finally her coach watched her do a bunch of stuff and told her “from now on do everything THIS way, but cartwheel and RO the other way.” It seemed to work for her and she just finished her L9 season with no ill effects that I can see. Lol! It does come in handy on beam combos now too- she can do some things in combo easier because of it- this is what she tells me at least?

 

[JBS]

“from now on do everything THIS way, but cartwheel and RO the other way.”

Yes... there is no real reason why you can't do things on different legs. If the coach and athlete are aware of the way that they do things... then why should it really matter?

 

[Credence]

Thanks for all the input so far. I went back and looked at videos of my daughter when she was super tiny and trying to learn a cartwheel and handstand. She started each on a different leg, but started her cartwheel with her left leg lifted up by her knee. So she really was using her right leg to power through her left leg forward cartwheel. Now I’m thinking she learned it on the wrong leg all this time?

 

[Credence]

Yes... there is no real reason why you can't do things on different legs. If the coach and athlete are aware of the way that they do things... then why should it really matter?

Okay, that is something to think about. I have no gymnastics background so this is all very new to me. I was told that they have to have all the skills on one side when they compete (for her that will be level 3).

 

[JBS]

have to have all the skills on one side when they compete (for her that will be level 3).

I personally don't worry too much about Level 3 (but that's just me)...

From the text...

The routine may be reversed in its entirety; however, no single element may be reversed unless indicated by an asterisk. (*)

For Level 3 beam... the handstand and dismount both have an *.

For Level 3 floor... the handstands and round off both have and *.

Now I would probably try to change her so she is all the same too... but if it doesn't work... it's really not the end of the world.

 

[coachmolly]

I like kids to be all on the same leg, if nothing else than for consistency and the possibility of certain connecting skills down the road, but a cartwheel/ro on the opposite leg isn't the end of the world. Possibly an inconvenience at times, but it can be worked through. So have her try it, if it doesn't work it doesn't work. I've had a few kids with this same issue and they have been able to manage just fine.

 

[JBS]

My focus is always twisting... I like them to twist the same direction as the first hand in their round off. In other words I want the option to perform a Kasamatsu. And front and back twisting the same direction.

If they don’t end up twisting the same direction as their first round off hand... it’s not the end of the world... only a couple of this that is useful for anyways.

 

[gymdog]

Thanks for all the input so far. I went back and looked at videos of my daughter when she was super tiny and trying to learn a cartwheel and handstand. She started each on a different leg, but started her cartwheel with her left leg lifted up by her knee. So she really was using her right leg to power through her left leg forward cartwheel. Now I’m thinking she learned it on the wrong leg all this time?

It's not super uncommon. A left sided CW is a left sided CW. For whatever reason cartwheel seems to be a thing that can transcend whatever is your more natural foot.

It is definitely preferable for them to do all one side. I will let them switch the roundoff but that's it. Everything else is on the better split side.