WAG Fronthandspring Front Tuck Vault

[shadow]

I need some help!
I am doing private lessons with a high school gymnast who would like to compete a front handspring front tuck vault but i know nothing about this!What are the things that I should know to help her ? Are there any drills that I could have her do with me and/or at her high school practices? As far as I know, she just started working on these vaults so she said that she would take any advice she could get. Can some one help me please? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[bionickoolaid]

assuming she has a very strong front handspring already. do a lot of uphill vaulting to where she over rotates to her hands and knees also do a lot of double fronts to get the air awareness and landing. I also recently started doing the uphills to a sideways mat then front tucking off. and these
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4OIFCfvzokg

 

[Deleted member D3987]

my recommendation is to go in to a gym with her with somebody that DOES know what they're doing with this particular vault. these can be dangerous and you shouldn't be figuring out how to teach it and all the nuances that go with this particular vault on your own. it's too risky for both you and the athlete.

 

[shadow]

Thanks for these! Actually, her front handspring could be a little bit stronger, as in she needs a little bit more block so I'm trying to work on those also. But these will definitely help!

 

[shadow]

Thanks for the advice dunno! The trouble is that the closet gym is an hour away and I'm not sure if they do these! I never see these done in competitions that we go to so I'm sure who to contact. This girl we to a camp recently and she worked on this vault there. This was a bigger facility and had a lot more to work with then what we do. so I'm trying to work with what I have.

I know that these are dangerous!! But it makes me feel better when she is working on them with me in a resi pit rather than a 4" mat and no coach at all!!!!!!!

 

[fliptwisttwirl]

Make sure she's coming in really low--the lower she comes in, the more time she has in the air. I'm competing these this year and a drill my coach has made me do a lot is standing fronts. Maybe do them from a panel mat to an 8 incher so she doesn't bust too hard. Not step or jump just standing ones. 30 a day is what we've been doing. If she has to start with 2 panel mats then do that.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

Thanks for the advice dunno! The trouble is that the closet gym is an hour away and I'm not sure if they do these! I never see these done in competitions that we go to so I'm sure who to contact. This girl we to a camp recently and she worked on this vault there. This was a bigger facility and had a lot more to work with then what we do. so I'm trying to work with what I have.

I know that these are dangerous!! But it makes me feel better when she is working on them with me in a resi pit rather than a 4" mat and no coach at all!!!!!!!

the 2 hour drive RT is better than 578308767496508765 hours rehabbing a surgically repaired ACL or fractured lower back. just saying...

 

[shadow]

I understand that and I think thats a great Idea!! I'm just not sure that her parents and the girl is up for it... She told me that she tried it by herself and i asked her to PLEASE DON'T try it by herself... and since she had just started working on them, I thought that i could give her some drills to work on and to see if she progresses at those. I will suggest the idea of going somewhere else with the experience. If she is not in favor of that then we could see about a different vault is she would like. I just really don't her to try these by herself anymore...

 

[gym monkeys mom]

While I know nothing about coaching this vault I have a bit of parent advice.

I think you need to sit down with this gymnast and her parents and let them honestly know you can't train this vault. Then if they want her to really do this vault they will need to find a club that can.

I am not sure your gymnast and her parents truly grasp the ramifications of this vault being done poorly even when trained by an experienced coach. I know of 2 situation of MN gymnasts taken out of a meet by ambulance after competing this vault. They by the way had done it sucessfully before also. One was ok the other shattered the bones in her shins spent countless days in the hospital out of state and then months of rehab just to walk again.

I am sure Dunno has seen many more horror stories then myself.

This is just my humble opinion but, one that I feel strongly about voicing for the sake of your gymnasts and others thinking about this vault and reading it.

 

[marie83]

I have read on here that gymnasts train a lot of skills at camps which they aren't actually ready for, but they have 2 very strong spotters and a big pit to land in!

Definitely chat with the gymnast and parents and explain that you are willing to work 'towards' this vault, but it is a long process and the first strep us to improve her handspring. Then explain that she may have to travel to another gym as well!

Good luck!

 

[Aussie_coach]

Don't do it, gymnastics is not a sport to just play around with. Select a vault that you do know how to coach safely and work on increasing your own knowledge as a coach in other ways.

This girl will get hurt, it's not a matter of might get hurt, she will get hurt if you coach her on it with no knowledge of what you are doing.

 

[shadow]

Thanks for the replies everyone! I just wanted some things for her to start working on towards this vault. I will try to talk to her about the safety issues and the idea of working on a safer vault but the choice is not mine. She is basically asking for gym time and while I'm there, I thought that I would help her do this safely. I thank everyone for their concerns and I will retell them to her!

 

[gym law mom]

Thanks for the replies everyone! I just wanted some things for her to start working on towards this vault. I will try to talk to her about the safety issues and the idea of working on a safer vault but the choice is not mine. She is basically asking for gym time and while I'm there, I thought that I would help her do this safely. I thank everyone for their concerns and I will retell them to her!

The choice is absolutely yours!! If she's not ready and you have no experience with the vault then tell her you will help her with a vault you are comfortable coaching, but nothing else.

 

[shadow]

I feel that the choice is not mine. She is not my gymnast but she is asking for pointers and thats what I am trying to give her. I do really appreciate everyone's concerns and I will address them the next time she comes to the gym.

 

[Gymmonkeymomma]

I feel that the choice is not mine. She is not my gymnast but she is asking for pointers and thats what I am trying to give her. I do really appreciate everyone's concerns and I will address them the next time she comes to the gym.

No disrespect intended, but why would anyone (parent or gymnast) pay for private lessons for a particular skill from someone who is not familiar with the skill? If the choice is "not yours" as you say, then perhaps you need to address the situation with her regular coach. The best pointer you could give with be to do a different vault or get lessons from a coach who knows how to coach this vault. Someone needs to stop this girl from doing things on her own... This just sounds like an accident waiting to happen!

 

[shadow]

Gymmonkeymomma, I know this girl really well and I'm assuming that she feels comfortable doing a private lesson with someone that she is familiar with? She mentioned she would like me for her private because I went to state with my vault in high school. So she feels like that I could give her some tips. My vault was a very different vault and she knows this. She has had only one private lesson and I told her at the beginning that I never coach this vault and no not much about it. So, as I mentioned before, she is wanting gym time. And no disrespect was taken.

 

[bionickoolaid]

I am apparently the only one not alarmed by this. Every coach has to teach there first something sometime. Find your ideal version of that skill and begin from the start by drilling it in small parts then make sure you proceed safely by working it uphill quite a bit and only flipping it when you and the athlete are confident that they are ready and find a pit to start off with.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

yikes!............

 

[iwannacoach]

You asked for help from experienced coaches, and that's what you got. Sorry if it's not solving your problem, but it's better to have the burden of telling her you can't help than it is to have to call her parents with bad news about their daughter....who's on the way to the emergency room.

It's not about technique alone....it's an over all awareness of the hazards and warning signs this skill operates with. We can't possibly tell you all of the right things to teach, and a new don't is invented by every kid who under takes this skill....or so it seems.

The only way you should proceed, if still convinced the kid needs your help, is to tell her parents to enlist the help of a coach who's taught the skill before. That coach can act as your mentor, and guide the process in a way the coach feels appropriate, with in person supervision through the key moments of the skill.

 

[Kiwi]

Every coach has to teach there first something sometime.

Well, yes, but preferably under the guidance of a more experienced coach who knows a lot more about coaching that something.