help on beam arabesque...young gymmie

[UnoMas]

Hello wise coaches,

My younger DD is 5, will be 6 in February. She has been training and "competing" level 2 (in-house meets only) for almost a year. She is doing really well and has recently increased her hours and has made some nice improvements. I think she is getting close to finally scoring out of level 2.

The event she has trouble with is beam. She cannot, cannot get the concept of an arabesque. It is like she has no clue what it is supposed to look or feel like.

Are there any drills or ANYTHING that one can do to help her get the concept? Something that might make sense to a 5 yr old brain? She just raises her back leg the tiniest bit off the beam, you can barely slide a coin under there. She is a little scared of the high beam but this has improved but this skill just isn't getting much better.

Thanks for any tips...we will try just about anything!

 

[gymdog]

I always explain this on the floor and very slowly with physical help. They need to keep their upper body "like a statue" - it doesn't move forward to lift the leg. Instead they need to "scrunch" their back muscles on that side to lift their leg. Then I help hold them in that position and show them how it feels to "scrunch." You can explain it makes their leotard and skin feel all "wrinkly." If she still really doesn't get it she can try thinking about crunching her bottom to her back.

But eh, sometimes they still struggle. I know it can be frustrating. But the kids get this eventually when they mature a little, and then these are the funny stories of "remember when." It takes a lot of patience for the kids to get really good at the finer points like this. If they're just getting more comfortable at movement and building a good base and getting stronger and most of all having fun and appreciating their improvement, their skill acquiescence will come. 5 is very young.

 

[bogwoppit]

She'll get it eventually. All gymmies have something they get stuck on and the coaches know each and every gymmies achilles heel. She's so little, and she has so much time to "get" the nuances of competition. A good arabesque will not make her a great gymnast, but just enjoying gym might make her stick with it for longer.

I know I sound like an old gym lady, but if I tried to "fix" every issue my girls have had in the gym over the past 10 years I would've gone crazy by now. I trust the coach to fix things, if I really felt that the coach wouldn't or couldn't do it I would be leaving.

As usual this is just my humble opinion!

 

[nevertooold]

ANYTHING that one can do to help her get the concept?

Put her in front of a full length mirror so she can SEE what she is doing with her back leg. Let her see how high she is lifting so she knows what it FEELS like when her leg is only lifted a tiny bit, and what it FEELS like when her leg is lifted beyond 45 degrees.

Tell her bring the back of her thigh toward her shoulders... ie. shoulders back, back arched, straight leg lifting. Tell her to push her standing foot down into the beam, with the standing leg "long and strong". Maybe she won't/cannot lift the back leg b/c the standing leg is not providing a sturdy/stable base?

We tell our kids to make the "Nike Swoosh" with their body. And then to hold the "swoosh" and pivot at the hip for the scale in levels 4-6. Helps our kids.