Coaches How to teach HOLLOW to 5 and 6 yr old

[CoachAngela]

Hello fellow coaches

A few of my talented pre teamers (5 and 6) just don't get "hollow" in handstand.

We do TONS of body shaping drills and some girls are AWESOME at it. Others, not so much. Not sure if they are not getting what I am saying or if they cannot get their body to that position.

For the spotting drill where the girls start on their belly and squeeze tight, I have them focus on a long body, squeezed tucked bum, belly button not touching floor, but the few I am talking about then tend to stick their bum in the air, completely losing hollow. Any good suggestions on ways to teach hollow position to youngsters?

We do front support holds with toes elevated. We do shoulders over hands on line, bum squeezed. Boat holds, Handstand holds.. but there are a fwe who just cannot get it. It especially shows when I lift them to handstand and they are flopping around like noodles.

The one girl who is having problems is so strong (very tight core), but very weak in the legs. The other 2 are just weaker in general. I am finding that my stronger ones are getting this more naturally.

 

[Linsul]

I'm teaching the same stuff to my pre team group, we're in the same boat

Here's a video from the gymnastic minute by Tony Retrosi. I use these drills, and they've helped TONS! They've really helped the girls associate the feel of the 3 positions so they can identify the differences quite well. Without the weight bearing factor, they can concentrate purely on the feel of the differences.

YouTube - Strengthening Body Shapes - Tony Retrosi

For what it's worth, so far we've been doing wall handstands, I don't spot them. I did some handstands with them (off the wall) where I did spot, and found they rely on it WAY too much. If they expected to be caught, the tightness and alignment weren't there. We're doing press handstand drills, and I'm spotting the full skill as well. Lots of shaping drills, spotted press hs, standard hs on their own has worked great so far for me. When it's all up to them the difference in effort and the quality of the result has been huge!

Edit: Another thing we do to practice hollows in conditioning is wheel barrows. When their feet are elevated and you ask them to squeeze their tummies, the hips have a way of rolling down so they can do the walking motion with the least amount of wobble. In this case, doing them tightly is the shortcut, so they find the position with very little direction aside from squeezing the tummy. We play a game with it by seeing who can walk the farthest without breaking their hollow or bending their legs.

 

[BlairBob]

They need to know how to do that drill stomach on the floor where they squeeze their butt cheeks and pull their belly button off the floor just as much as holding an arch hold/supergirl/man position. Make sure you cannot pry their legs apart.

Poke them in the butt cheeks constantly so they know to keep them clenched. If this is offensive or not allowed, tap lightly with a stick of some kind. I have my "concentration" stick but it can be anything, really. Btw, it's just a joke. I don't beat kids with a stick, I just give them lots and lots of burpees.

Another "Hollow" position is what I call a candlestick or body lever. Preferably they brace themselves with their hands on something heavy or that will not move. Another gymnast/coach's legs or the base of a beam or bar support works well.

 

[gymdog]

Start with knees bent. They can do this laying on their back, or on their knees. With the knees bent is easier for the kids to understand. They will not pike and arch. Not bent all the way to the stomach. Around 90 degrees or less. You can use something like an exercise ball to remind them of the position. And they do it with arms straight up to the ceiling first (to round from the shoulders) not pointing back. With the arms stretching back again they are encouraged to arch.

Once they can do this shape well with the legs bent, then they can do crunches. They can lay down on the floor and round from the shoulders and lift the legs to this position. Then go back to laying. If they have trouble, they might just have to work on the rounded shoulder lift with you holding the legs. This is "hollow" also. Usually we are telling them to lift the legs, but rounded upper body and flat hips is the "hollow" position we look for a lot anyway. So if lifting the legs is making them pike, this isn't necessary to do yet. Another way to do it is to stand facing the wall, flat hips, tight bottom, and round the shoulders to touch the wall with the hands. They want to push the space with the shoulder blades up and out. Show them where that space is and how to round it. You can make this more dynamic by adding a jump, it's good for them to hold something because then they'll keep the arms by the ears better, and have them stand straight up, and jump up round shoulders to tap the wall with what they're holding. They can also do this over a mat that is at their arm height, etc. Make sure they aren't piking (flat hips).

Also, from front support on a bar or box. Have them start at their hips and push up to their thighs. Mark a chalk line on the leg. This makes them round the shoulders and naturally they keep flat hips. It is also of course good bar positioning and strength. They can do this many times, like 10 times, "press" up and down. Maybe more. I have them do 10 per turn or round of whatever cycle we're doing. Don't let them press all the way until they're piking (some kids will be able to do that) just to mid thigh.