WAG Has your gymnast ever done a vault drill like this?

[kandkfunk]

I am wondering if any of your gymmies have ever done a vault drill with a set up similar to the picture below. In case the pic is too dark, there is a large spotting block covered with a sting mat behind the table. My understanding is that the girls were trying to clear the spotting block and land on their feet. This drill was for levels 5-8. The only thing that changed for the different gymnasts was the height of the table. It ranged from 115 for the smallest girls to 135 to the biggest. My DD cleared it at 125, but she sat down on the block after each attempt. She is a level 7.

I am assuming the purpose of this drill is to get the gymnasts to increase their flight distance after blocking off the table. Do any other gyms do a similar vault drill?

 

[CoachTodd]

Going by what I can see in the picture, I'm guessing they want the kids to bounce past the spotting block? As log as it's a soft block it would make sense. The best I can tell (again from the photo) the springboard is too far away. if that is a safety zone mat in the back ground, the board is 3 feet from the table. If it isn't a soft mat, someone is asking for injury.
Just form a coaching point of view, it's hard to sit down the landing if she's tight. I'm guessing they want the kids to stay tight until they slide off the mat (if they don't clear it) and then stick the landing. I've used a sideways level 4 vault mat for this kind of thing just to get them used to going over the table. If she's made it to level 7, I'm not sure why she'd need that drill.
Just my opinion on it.

 

[iwannacoach]

She sat down because she had to reach forward with her feet to clear the block, but she didn't clear the block with her center of mass. That's a problem for me, because I don't want kids reaching with their feet, I want them to improve their distance from the table.

There's also a safety issue. This drill is going to encourage kids to put themselves into "reach mode" at the cost of proper body tensioning as they arrive at the landing. That's meaning they could land with anything, from their cute little piggies all the way up to their noggins, in a bad position. Maybe owwwwweeee?

 

[Deleted member D3987]

don't see the point of this drill as described.

 

[Gr8spring]

I took the picture and moved the safety zone there only for dinstance reference. The board was 3 feet 7.5 inches from the table and the kids are expected to hurdle 9.5 feet no matter how small or big the are. It was a 9 year old that was injured (hitting her bum on the vault table). That was in a meet this past weekend, so this was what they had to do to make sure it didn't happen again.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

i could drive my truck between the board and table.

 

[Gr8spring]

I am the one that took the picture. The safety zone is there as a reference only. The board reads 3 fee 7.5 inches away. All kids are expected to go from that distance, no matter how big or small. Yes. it is a big spotting block with a folding mat and then a sting mad on top. This was devised because a kid (9 Yr old) hit her bum on the vault table in competition. All kids are expected to hurdle 9.5 feet or longer, but not shorter. Why so much emphasis on the hurdle? Why is the distance so important?

 

[Deleted member D3987]

only the coach's hairdresser knows for sure...but that board is much to far. i would say that the distance between what the coach knows and what the coach should know is more than 3 1/2 feet. that's all.


btw, that's the strangest looking safety zone i've ever seen. you sure that's what it is? if it is, turn it around and the high part would have to be at the table. so if the kid goes long on the board by just a bit, they're gonna hit the top of that? i don't think that's a safety zone. if it is, well, the coach's knowledge of having a safety zone constructed like that would be consistent with where that board is for ALL vaulters. God save the Queen!

 

[Gr8spring]

It is a fold up mat that typically goes around the spring board. I moved it there as a reference for how far the board is away from the table. Maybe I am calling it the wrong thing.

 

[gymgal]

btw, that's the strangest looking safety zone i've ever seen. you sure that's what it is? if it is, turn it around and the high part would have to be at the table. so if the kid goes long on the board by just a bit, they're gonna hit the top of that? i don't think that's a safety zone.

Looks like its a folding one. Laid flat, it would fit around the spring board.

 

[Deanna]

Never seen it set up like this. At DD gym they will sometimes place a 4 inch safety mat (I hope I am calling it the right thing...lol) at the backside of the table. The mat stands on its end/side so it sticks up over the end of the table by about 6 -12 inches (seeing it from across the gym, so not positive on the exact measurements). The idea is that they have to clear that mat coming off the table. I am assuming it is a blocking deal.

 

[wandrewsjr]

Not sure I would call this a drill. Drills are designed to develop better technique. It is the technique when hitting the board, technique whne flying from board to table and technique when hitting the table that will get a bigger vault. This is pretty much just - "get better distance on your vault or you will hit something".

 

[iwannacoach]

I guess the coach had a choice of coaching the kids, or having the block coach the kids. Next you know, we'll have college professors using blocks to take their place teaching political science or whatever.

 

[gymgurl]

Never done this drill but I agree the board is too far out not sure how far out the bored is exactly but it's pretty close. We used to vault with the bored really far out or where we liked it until our coach went to a comp as a judge and saw that the girls with the best vaults had the bored fairly close. She did her research and then introduced it to us

 

[kandkfunk]

Thanks everyone for the input. My DD was one of the lucky ones who cleared the block. Other girls, especially the younger & smaller ones actually landed on it. Some fell back against the vault and hit their backs quite hard. And, this wasn't a soft mat they were landing on. It was a spotting block capable of supporting the full weight of our coaches for spotting bars & beam. There isn't a lot of give in those blocks.

Iwannacoach - I think your explanation of why my DD kept sitting down is spot on. She was trying so hard to make sure her feet cleared the block that she couldn't get the upper portion of body over her feet. She was reaching with her feet rather than using technique to carry her.


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[gymdog]

I don't think this drill is going to fix technique issues to the extent described, but there clearly seems to be a mat thicker than a sting mat on top of those blocks. If they are really getting injured with that set up I am not sure they should be attempting a front handspring vault over the table.

Also confused about the relation of the two posters on the thread.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

i could park my truck between that board and table...longways.

 

[Deanna]

never mind. I seemed to have lost my mind momentarily..lol

 

[Deleted member D3987]

not at all ^^^i have lost mine.

 

[iwannacoach]

not at all ^^^i have lost mine.

Maybe you left it in the trailer you hitched to your truck, just before you parked it lengthwise.