WAG Tight shoulders?

[triplethreat+1]

Reading through a recent post on bridging and some related older posts got me thinking...
My dd7 really struggles with bridging skills. She can't do a kickover without a light spot or her feet raised a bit. So obviously can't do a back walkover, and at her gym the walkover is taught before bhs. I read that girls who aren't as flexible will have an easier time with bhs than bwo. Can/should she be focusing on that instead?
I believe her problem is tight shoulders as she has a hard time pushing over her shoulders in a bridge. I don't think it's arm strength as she can do a handstand hold (against the wall) for over a minute (or is that not long enough?).
She loves stretching and conditioning at home (only has gym 2x a week). What are some exercises she can do to help? I know cat stretch is one.
Do I mention any of this to the coach?

 

[MabelSt]

Yes they should be stretching her shoulders, at home she can stretch against a wall and also use a broom handle to go back and forth that stretches shoulders well

 

[2gymkids]

I would definitely check in with the coach. DD has a girl in her group who has very tight shoulders and she is often sent to stretch before and/or in the middle of certain rotations during practice. Also, coaches will often be seen helping her to stretch out. I'm fairly certain they gave her some things to work on at home, too.

 

[triplethreat+1]

I guess I'm worried about coming across cgm or too involved. *coach thinks: Crazy lady, her DD is only level 1-2, she should chill out. Plus DD isn't likely to get very far anyways, doesn't she know she's not THAT talented?*
Aack maybe I am cgm. But she really wants to get that bwo and bhs, and she always wants to practice at home, she might as well be doing something that will help her, right?

 

[vbdb]

My YDD had tight shoulders, tight everything actually, she's strung like a violin bow. Her tight shoulders caused unending trouble with front walk overs and she couldn't open them in handstand to save her life, nor was she ever going to get down in the splits sadly.
Her coach likely knows she has tight shoulders, you can see it in a kid in their handstand if they can't open.
Mine could do handstand for ages but her shape was wrong, she also had a sway back, her gym career was doomed from the beginning She's moved on to other activities since.

 

[MabelSt]

Does her back hurt from doing bridges?

 

[Aussie_coach]

The vast majority of gyms will teach a back walkover before a back handspring. We do, and we wouldn't generally teach a back handspring until the gymnast has a back walkover.

However, the exception is kids with very inflexible shoulders. I find that if a kid is flexible enough to do a back walkover but can't do it, then they are not ready to do a back handspring because there is generally a fear issue about going backwards. However, if they aren't flexible in the shoulders this is usually what is stopping them so I don't make it a prerequisite.

That being said a certain amount of shoulder flexibility is needed to make the back handspring safe and functional, so if there is not enough flexibility here I would not teach a BHS until it improves. Have your DD stand up tall and try to put her arms to her ears while keeping her back perfectly straight. If she has to arch her back to get her arms to her ears then learning the BHS should be put off until the flexibility improves.

 

[triplethreat+1]

No, she's never said that it hurts at all. She just doesn't have the best form, and can't hold it for long. Collapses when she tries to kick over.
I've seen the broom handle stretch, will work that in. Against the wall, do you mean pushing armpits downwards with both hands on the wall?

 

[MabelSt]

The stretch my daughter was given is to put one hand at a time against a wall/door frame and turn her body to stretch the shoulder- I'll try to find an example.

Can you post a pick of her bridge? If her back isn't hurting that's a good sign I think that maybe she doesn't have really bad shoulders, maybe stretching will help some but maybe it's just time, form, something else. Because from what I understand if a kid has tight shoulders they compensate by pivoting at their lower back more and it causes back pain, I'll try to find pics.

 

[GYM0M]

It's more like dropping the head. Arms should be behind the ears. Stand facing the wall, arms length. Place both hands on the wall and 'look' toward the ground. I don't technically know how to explain it so I'm trying to describe it the best I can.

 

[MabelSt]

http://gymnasticsnewsnetwork.com/preventing-low-back-injuries-with-correct-bridge-mobility/

 

[MabelSt]

Yeah my daughter has been told to do that one too but doesn't do it because it hurts her back- it's like doing a bridge and then trying to push your armpits into the wall right?

 

[MabelSt]

http://swingbig.org/shoulder-flexibility-in-developing-gymnasts/

 

[triplethreat+1]

It's more like dropping the head. Arms should be behind the ears. Stand facing the wall, arms length. Place both hands on the wall and 'look' toward the ground. I don't technically know how to explain it so I'm trying to describe it the best I can.

GYM0M do you mean this one?

 

[triplethreat+1]

http://gymnasticsnewsnetwork.com/preventing-low-back-injuries-with-correct-bridge-mobility/

That's a great link, thanks! I will take and post a pic of her bridge tomorrow.

 

[triplethreat+1]

The vast majority of gyms will teach a back walkover before a back handspring. We do, and we wouldn't generally teach a back handspring until the gymnast has a back walkover.

However, the exception is kids with very inflexible shoulders. I find that if a kid is flexible enough to do a back walkover but can't do it, then they are not ready to do a back handspring because there is generally a fear issue about going backwards. However, if they aren't flexible in the shoulders this is usually what is stopping them so I don't make it a prerequisite.

That being said a certain amount of shoulder flexibility is needed to make the back handspring safe and functional, so if there is not enough flexibility here I would not teach a BHS until it improves. Have your DD stand up tall and try to put her arms to her ears while keeping her back perfectly straight. If she has to arch her back to get her arms to her ears then learning the BHS should be put off until the flexibility improves.

Thanks a lot Aussie! I will have her try tomorrow. So just to cover her ears is sufficient? I tried it myself and can do it, but only just. My ODD can go quite a bit further back.

 

[Aussie_coach]

Yes, make sure arms are straight and are touching the ears. Look at the shoulder angle between her arms and body, she should be able to make it 180 degrees.

 

[GYM0M]

GYM0M do you mean this one?

Yep. I didn't look at the links, [emoji51].

 

[Iwannabemargo]

we were always told to practice bridging with the feet on a raised surface to take the pressure off the back

 

[sce]

we were always told to practice bridging with the feet on a raised surface to take the pressure off the back

Yes, this and it encourages proper shoulder position.