What skills did you/your DD struggle with?

[gymnastgets10]

I've seen a couple threads lately about struggling with skills and it was interesting to see how some skills were easy for some to pick up and harder for others... so I thought I'd start a thread about it. I struggled with:

Level 4 - single leg shoot-through (I always fell forward) and ro bhs (I made it over, but it wasn't pretty )
Level 5 - vault (I could make it over ok, but I had the hardest time getting my steps) and casting high enough, especially on the high bar
Level 6 - bwo and dismount on beam (I never got them consistent, ended up hurting my back from going crooked so many times on the walkover and now I'm not allowed to do them on beam) and bars in general
Level 7 - giants (off and on the whole year; I think I only had 1 or 2 no fall bar routines all season) and cw cw on beam (I would lose focus after I made my bhs and then not connect it)

So far in level 8 every event has come with it's own challenges... right now the biggest thing is rehabing my injured knee and getting my skills back in time for States in March.

So what skills have you/your dd struggled with? Were there any that were really easy? I got my ro-bhs-bt and cartwheel on beam really easily.

 

[Optionals United]

Level 4- not really anything. I fell on my shoot through at state which was dumb. And I had my bhs on floor before I went to my competitive gym(at rec gym before)But I did struggle on my FHC on bars at my rec gym.
Level 5-Cartwheel on beam just inconsistent sometimes. I hated scales And I had my kip and vault before I started competing level 4.
Level 6-The front handspring step out fhs pass. I had my back tuck and backwalkover before I started level 4. Bars were a little rocky because it was a time of horifc coaching and every other month we would have a new coach, with new methods,techniques ect.
Level 7- Cast hs. Everything else was very easy for me, but that darn cast hs. I had my giants before that cast hs even a double back dismount before I got it.
Level 8-when i was training level 8 last summer( was going to compete it but repeated level 7 this season) pirouette(I had just started getting my cast hs consistent after a year) and a flipping vault. Was doing yurchenkos but got a fear of them(cant remember why) started doing tsukes. Almost got them on competition ground. But they are really hard for me because I have VERY long legs.

 

[fishchimes]

FHC, ROBHS, handstand on beam, kips, vault, consistent cartwheel on beam (had it almost since I started gymnastics, but fell a lot), currently scared to death of backwalkover on beam, back extension roll, dive roll, form in general... Everything really, except 1. basic things like cartwheels, handstands, splits and 2. level 5 beam dismount xD

 

[loveforgym]

(skipped level 4)
level 5- well on bars my kip would always go to my stomach and i'd have to push up, on vault i had piking issues and didn't run that fast, then on my ro bhs bhs my legs were bent.
level 6- on floor my back tucks were a little low. and my vault i ran faster but still had piking and blocking issues.
now- since i was out i'm not competing, but i'm getting my skills down for high school in the fall. i'm STILL having trouble with blocking right away on vault, and on bars i'm having trouble with connecting all of my skills

 

[coachmolly]

I'm sure there are plenty I'm not thinking of, but ones that quickly come to mind from my whole gymnastics experience the skills that gave me the most trouble:
BEAM! By far my worst event and something I struggled terribly with from early on, I was scared of it and just never managed to conquer that fear. Bhs probably take the cake for being the worst, but my split leaps were never good and full turns were a battle as well. I think this was the event where most of my gym struggles happened.
Other than that, fhs vault- it improved greatly over the years but I just never really got the hang of it, cast hs on bars, controlling twisting on floor.

 

[busymomof4]

My DD is level 7 and is struggling with her clear hip to handstand. She can do them pretty well on the "strap" bar but is very inconsistent on the regular bar. I'm sure she will have a lot more difficult skills coming up soon that she will struggle with as she finishes her level 7 season and moves on to level 8. Sometimes it is hard as a parent to see our children struggle but it is teaching them hard work and a sense of accomplishment when they finally "get" a skill. As a parent, it is rewarding to see how proud they are of themselves.....and somehow all the time, money and hard work is worth it for both the gymnast and the parent

 

[gymnastbeth]

level 4- Don't remember struggling with anything. A friend of mine actually taught me a shoot through at school on the metal playground bar. Mill circles too. Looking back, it wasn't a good idea, but at least I got the skill! LOL I was a sort of old level 4, so I didn't have too much of a problem getting the skills.
level 5- vault... I had a phase where I would just run up to the table and ram into it.
level 6- THAT DARN FLYAWAY! Took me a ridiculous amount of time to get a flyaway. I still randomly get plagued with fear on it, and literally won't go for even a simple tuck flyaway. It's something that will probably always be a struggle for me, I just hate letting go of the bar! I only competed one level 6 meet before going to 7, so not so much else at that level.
level 7- layout on floor. Took forever to get even something resembling a layout. Had some fear with BHS on beam, but repetitions helped that to go away.
level 8- Flipping a tsuk, and a flight series on beam. Flipping a tsuk was just scary for me because I've never been great at vault. Its hard for me to get any block off the table. On the flight series, I got a BHS fear again, this time a little worse. Also in my first year of level 8, I broke my hand. Had a lot of scares in level 8.

And then, there's level 9. It has presented its own set of challenges. I would say in particular, getting swing out of my toe up on bars, and getting my pac to the point where I didn't almost hit my face to the bar when I caught it. Let's just say bars in general is a tough one. I finally competed a piked yurchenko though, so no more vault problems! I have been having consistency problems on EVERYTHING this season though!

 

[Aussie_coach]

Our kids of course struggle with different skills for different kids (australia a little different to the US)

Level 1 - remembering the routines and not leaving anything out
Level 2 - pullovers
Levels 3 - 3/4 handstands on beam, basically jumping and leaping off the beam
Level 4 - Cast to squat on low bar, and getting over the vault table for handspring flat back, hitting 180 split leaps on floor
Level 5 - hitting 180 split leaps and jumps on beam, kips
Level 6 - Getting clear hip circles to horizontal
Level 7-10 - bars in general seems to cause the most issue's to meet requirements

 

[hawaii_gymnast]

Cast handstand!! ( I finally got it but it took forever)
My front handspring vault used to be horrible and had many fears over the years, but now they are so much better
Flyaway ( I hated them and was scared of them)
Clear hip to handstand, I dont have the right timing, and can't seem to figure it out, or get my hands shifted

 

[Bajanswife]

L3 DD (6 going on 7) struggled mainly with mill circle and tightness/straight legs. Her handstands were weak - archy back and not hollow enough.
L4 DD (7 going on 8) now struggles with mill circle, but not as much - she still tends to put on the brakes by bending the front leg and almost hooking it rather than using her hands/thumbs; her handstands are improving, but lack of a good hollow body is preventing her from being able to get the beam dismount; shoot through was giving trouble, but she just figured out how to make her arms very strong and tight so that she could keep her shoulders above the bar and totally control what the leg was doing. ROBHS is untidy still.

 

[All Chalked Up]

Right now, as I only started last year:
Consistant cartwheel on beam. I've had it FOREVER (even from gym class gymnastics!), I just fall off a lot now.

A GOOD uprise on bars. When I do it correctly it's beautiful, when I don't it doesn't even resemble one. Consistant though.

Back handspring x281897839678926579346754. Once I got the standing BHS I got my RO-BHS & RO-BHS-BHS, but it took so long!

1-and-a-half and double turns on floor. I can do them on beam, but not on floor. What's up with that!?

RO-BHS-BT. Oh goodness, that RO-BHS-BT. I better get it soon!

 

[grizzoline]

Bars mostly came easy to me. Handspring vaults as well (we used to compete squat throughs and then at some point I crashed them so badly I was just told to do FHS for safetty reasons). I am very inconsistent on vault though, because I tend to freak out about it every now and then. Mostly, when I wonder what to do with all that power.

I've definitely struggled with flexibility, and type of walkover (my back's just not made for those, even though you're meant to do them through your shoulders), back tumbling in general but BHS in particular (I can do them, but they scare me (still!) and feel awkward, never really use them to set up for any tumbling and will just do a roundoff into back tumbling - so far. I kinda think that to end my career I'd like to get over the biggest demon in my gymnastics life
Also round offs on beam. They're terrible.

 

[gymnastjess]

level 1: forward roll to tuck hang on bars (had trouble with this because of my height, most level 1's are 8 or 9 here so they are little and it's easy for them) also my candlestick- the getting up part- i always stepped.
level 2: handstand forward roll(could never get up) candlestick again, beam handstand (height), straight jump beam dismount (always took a step). im still currently doing level 2 bars and working on my pullover and glide (very close on my pullover) glide is really bad haha
level 3: beam is the full turn stop thing haha cant remember what it's called basically you bring your leg out then in and do a half turn then without putting your leg down go straight into another half, punch jump dismount, leap, nothing on floor really maybe my straddle jump, and vault is the same as level 2 so no probs there (i dont score high on vault but i can DO it)

 

[Mack_the_Ripper]

I struggle a lot with backwards stuff, since I used to be really scared and I developed some bad habits that made me feel safer. Not BE safer...like throwing my head out to spot the ground. So, back handsprings on beam and standing back tucks on floor (still don't have that last one). On bars, cast handstands especially in straddle, and consistant clear hips. Tumbling both ways I struggle with - i.e., I can do a really good front handspring but I change it when I try to connect it to a front tuck. Back tumbling took me a looooong time to get back after I broke my foot. Vault...really, really can't do Yurchenko timers. Really. I have a ton of trouble coming on to the board.

 

[lhmom]

For my daughter, it was the front hip circle and ROBHS. Those seemed to take forever to get! They've just started working on the kip (even though she will do another year of level 4), so it'll be interesting to see how that will go.

 

[Ribbon]

One of the skills that I've been struggling for a long time is the backwalkover I just CAN'T do it. I'm afraid...
And about other skills... The Godunko leap, it's like instead three normal steps you do three leaps... I had to work for a entire year for get it.
Another leap that I don't know the name, it's which a lot of gymnast do on the Beam, you start with one leg in the front and you finish with the other (?)
It was pretty hard to me for not being afraid of the clubs falling on my head and have good and clear figures with the ribbon.
That's all I can remember right now...

 

[CoachGoofy]

I did both T&T and artistic, so I've had a lot of skills to struggle with:

Vault: When I started doing them my handsprings were just depressing. I ran into the vault at high speed repeatedly.

Bars: Everything, by which I mean "pullovers and baby giants". I could NOT baby giant to save my life. Stalder, yes. Baby giant? Nope.

Beam: Cartwheel. Stupid cartwheels...

Floor (artistic): Switch leaps. I did ring leaps instead.

Tumbling (T&T): twisting. I got hung up on a full for a YEAR.

Trampoline: Twisting. And ballouts. SO inconsistent.

Double mini: Spotter back tuck/pike/layout. I fell off the back of the double mini at least 20 times.

 

[gymnastjess]

@ribbon it's a switch leap

 

[tumblerK]

LONG HANG KIPS are EVIL

I got the low bar kip in about 6 months, and made a few long hang ones. Then competition season started and I didn't make another long hang kip until December. After that it was a solid 1.5 years before I made another one and got them consistently. The funny thing was that I would attempt the kip, make it to my knees, and fall, swing out of the fall and do a perfect straight arm kip out of my fall. All the coaches tried to fix it, I went to camp and tried to fix it. No one could figure it out. The problem was that it looked like I was just giving up on the kip half way through, but I wasn't at all. Because I was so tall I didn't jump to the bar the right way and it just screwed everything up.

 

[gymnastbeth]

LONG HANG KIPS are EVIL

I got the low bar kip in about 6 months, and made a few long hang ones. Then competition season started and I didn't make another long hang kip until December. After that it was a solid 1.5 years before I made another one and got them consistently. The funny thing was that I would attempt the kip, make it to my knees, and fall, swing out of the fall and do a perfect straight arm kip out of my fall. All the coaches tried to fix it, I went to camp and tried to fix it. No one could figure it out. The problem was that it looked like I was just giving up on the kip half way through, but I wasn't at all. Because I was so tall I didn't jump to the bar the right way and it just screwed everything up.

LOL I was the complete opposite! I got my long hang kip before the glide kip, because of my height! Haha, I couldn't hold my legs up on the glide for the life of me.