WAG Improving Form

[ivyagogo]

Most of the girls on our team (Xcel) have come from doing rec classes one hour a week. We never had a team until this year and form wasn't anything that was stressed during the rec classes. Now that they are on a team, they are really lacking the polish of a lot of the girls they are competing against. They have the skills, but not the grace.

Other than constantly telling them to point their toes, keep legs and arms straight, squeeze tight, etc, what can I do? Even the way they walk and position their hands looks unprofessional.

I want them all to do well and they have really improved in the month since their first meet, but not enough.

 

[coachmolly]

I'm going through the same thing with my pre-team kids and I'm wondering some of the same things. We do lots of basics focusing on good form- handstands, tight body drills, isolating parts of skills. And constant reminders on top of that, some girls need more than others. We've also started doing these- http://swingbig.org/quick-tip-leg-straightening/
But it's a continuing struggle, especially on dance skills, so I'm looking forward to other input.

 

[Dr Maleficent]

I'm not a coach and I'm sure you've already thought of this, but what about videoing them then showing them the official USAG video and then their videos and getting them to spot the differences themselves? Sometimes it is easier to understand what the corrections mean this way (I have seem something like this done in ski lessons and it really helped).

 

[GymRays]

We also struggle with this with pre-team. I think a good part of this is them not having the body awareness required to fix a body position. Even simple things. One girl always has bent elbows when reaching over her head while walking, I ask her if they were bent or not and she couldn't answer or said they were straight when they were actually bent. I try to do a simple exercise before conditioning where they all lay on the ground completely relaxed, then I tell them what part of their body to tighten/contract. Sometimes I go up or down the body in order, sometimes I randomize it. Point your toes, squeeze your knees together, contract your thighs, etc. I have noticed my girls that have been with me for longer have a better sense of body awareness, finally, and can make those changes on command. It's definitely a process.

 

[Darby Scott]

I am currently struggling with this same issue, bronze level XCEL gymnasts, especially with my younger girls, 6-8 esp. Our JO head coach Kenya Tyler does a great job of keeping her team very tight and they have amazing body awareness, thats because they are constantly doing conditioning in order to keep their form. Hollow body rocks really help with the tightness involving legs and stomach, but be careful of the girls starting to pike. Another thing I've been doing that has seemed to help is having an assistant coach on a station that is SPECIFICALLY focused on a tightness exercise for that event. ie, vault - handstand flat backs into a resi or soft mat with the coach spotting and correcting body shape. bars - a push to hollow body for back hip circles and spotting the child through the trick while they maintain the tight shape. When I went to regional congress in texas, one of the instructors really stressed that it is just PRACTICE OF THE SHAPE. It takes a child anywhere from 500-5000 times to get something to be automatic, without having to think about it, and this applies to body shape as well. Constant practice of the shape will help them improve! Hope this helps!

 

[mandkmom]

Ok- I'm a parent with no gymnastics background. But my YDD sometimes needs to be physically touched and have her arms moved up & straight or whatever. When she was on preteam the coach was constantly touching or pulling on the girls to get them in the right position and with good form.

It always seemed like a lot of work for the coach and there was only 6 girls. But my YDD has lovely form.

For my EDD video works best. She needs to see what she looks like to get it.

 

[Aero]

You have to be super detail-oriented. Sit them all down and show them exactly what you want them to do for everything, and explain why.

Here are some things I have been going over with my girls over the months, constantly reinforcing them through every practice:

• Show them some finger, hand, and wrist positions for "pretty hands."
• Show them the difference between pointing their whole foot, and just pointing their toes (sickled feet). I say I want "dangerous feet," as in "pointy."
• Explain about arm and leg turnout (supination and pronation) in skills where it's important, like scales, walkovers and leaps.
• Teach them a correct, stable, high relevé stand.
• Teach them to always squeeze their butt for nice open hips and stand tall with tight tummies and a slightly upward-tilted head, especially on beam.
• Get them to stand in attention on command (I like to randomly clap my hands at any given time and they have to immediately jump into attention).
• Teach them EWF (Elbows, Wrists, Fingers), which will help with fluid, graceful arm movements on everything from dance passages to finishing a skill.
• Teach them a pretty, yet professional march and to always salute with confidence and a smile.
• Teach them to stride into leaps, rather than run or jog into them.
• Cover the lever position in great detail, and how they will use this capital "T" position their entire gymnastics career, on countless skills.
• Teach them and quiz them on the standard dance positions, like attitude, passé, coupé, tendu, arabesque, the five ballet foot positions, and all the basic scales.

Also, NAG THEM! Literally, every single time you see a mistake in form, tap them on the offending body part and say, "show me what this is supposed to look like." Once they demonstrate the correction, have them try the skill again. Repeat as needed. Fix the more severe form problems first, and then move on from there. Seriously, don't let anything get by you. If the entire team (or close to it) has the same problem, have them all do a tightening drill or form drill for it together for a minute or two, and then have them return to what they were doing and look for improvements. Rinse, and repeat.

Every time they make a correction, acknowledge it and use adjectives that describe aesthetics, like "that was pretty," or "that looked beautiful," or "you looked very graceful on that turn!" Also, show lots of example videos of what you want, and take videos of them to show them how they're doing. If you nag the hell out of them, and give positive reinforcement for every good effort, they should show some improvement and it will start to become second nature. You have to keep reinforcing it though. Constantly, all the time, forever. I REPEAT: Constantly, all the time, forever. This is gymnastics, after all.

 

[ivyagogo]

Thanks all - nothing I'm not already doing.

 

[JBS]

Form is a choice...tell them to make the right choice.

 

[JBS]

Ok...so there has to be a bit of training....like this muscles straightens that...and they must have strength and flex...but form is perfected by high expectations...that's all.

 

[JBS]

Oh...and technique and form...those are the same...kids / clubs with good technique will have good form

 

[coachmolly]

Form is a choice...tell them to make the right choice.

I want to take a permanent marker and write this on my girls arms. My biggest struggle is that they KNOW how to keep their legs straight/bodies tight/pay attention to detail they just choose not to. And if I nag and repeat myself enough they will do it, but their default is to rush through stuff. I've even given them a speech about "Why do you make me get mean before you make the correction? I don't like to get mean." (mean for me is VERY mild- more like excessive nagging coupled with a stern glance, but they get what I'm saying with "mean").
I have one girl who seems to "get it" more than others, and I think that might be because she has an older sister on the team and has been to meets and seen what nice gymnastics should look like. So like a previous poster suggested, maybe you could show them some videos of really nice routines and ask them what they see and how they can improve themselves.

 

[SXS524]

I struggle with form with my girls. But one things that helped was going through the corrections. I was finding that they would apply the corrections when I reminded them but rushed and were messy when I wasn't there reminding. So i asked them what I would ask them to do, ie stretch before you start, legs straight etc, I then told them to remember these corrections in their head when doing skills- seemed to work really well think sometimes gymnasts forget if we aren't there giving them reminders!

 

[Redford]

Okay, so I'm going to be repeating some things.
It's important to not just correct but to make them understand.
Understand what body tension and form is.
Understand why it is important.
Understand how it looks when it's done write and how it looks when it's done wrong.
Understand how wrong and right feels and how to realize it. First in simple and then in more complex movements.
Rhythm (Music/Clapping/Counting) has helped my upper level girls with -well- the rhythm and the general tightness on beam and floor.
But what I found most important is to make them understand: All this doesn't end with the skill. It is part of being a gymnast. We move differently. Taller, tighter, with elegance and pride because we are and can be proud of what we do and achieve. Once they get that feel of pride for being a gymnast, the awareness for details and will to improve form will most likely increase.

 

[sce]

Do you ever use a mirror, so they can see the difference too? My dd's coach will bring in a rolling mirror. Sometimes she has them all work on dance as she directs them, other times it's one of the stations with a specific thing they are to do in the mirror and sometimes she has it so they can see themselves for part of the floor routine.

 

[Redford]

Sorry, forgot to add: With my little ones (5-7) I have been doing "walks of emotions" lately. Walk sad, walk happy, walk with pride, walk like a soldier, walk as if you just stole something... They did a wonderful job applying those emotions and associations to their gymnastics.
Also, you said they are the only team in your gym? They are very likely missing the role models , "the big team kids" a rec or lower level would normally look up to. So it's even more important for you to be their role model and have a tight and straight posture when demonstrating something or even just walking around.

 

[ivyagogo]

I don't use a mirror, but I do video them all the time and show them.

 

[sce]

I don't use a mirror, but I do video them all the time and show them.

The mirror give different feedback, because can see themselves as they do it and see the difference when they make any corrections.

 

[iwannacoach]

Tell them to stop being lazy and concentrate on being productively lazy.......

The thing is, poor form introduces variable body parts such as arm length, leg length, and body length. Each of those parts can bend to various degrees and every few degrees, like leg bend, changes what the gymnast must do with other body parts, and therefore the entire skill is constantly changing. Ask them if they want to learn each skill three or four times over..... just to get it and never score well with the skill because poor form is one thing the judges instantly recognize.

Be lazy or be lazy (efficient).....

 

[Pineapple_Lump]

My first suggestion is to asses the goals and potential/resources of your program. What is it you are hoping to achieve?.. and what are the goals of your gymnasts?

I coach two groups of gymnasts
The first group is where perfect form is expected all the time and skills/ positions and body shaping is progressed from very basic beginnings. Many of the things mentioned above. They do not attempt anything new until they can make positions sitting, then standing or supported.
If you can't align your body standing on two feet, how on earth are they going to do it on their hands.
Obviously the demands of gymnastics means we do move ahead often before gymnasts have perfected these basics (they would all quit due to boredom) but they are revisited with a sharp coach eye at least weekly.
For straight arms and legs, I always ask them to squeeze their muscles as that is what straightens the joint. This is all practiced sitting, often we do seated are and leg squeezing with pretty hands. For new gymnasts I get them to touch and feel the difference between a tight muscle and soft muscle. I ask them to squeese their muscles so they stand out and praise good muscle definition so the kids understand what they should look like. The end goal for this group is higher levels

My second group is lower hours/commitment, they do a little work on tension and shaping, but ultimately they are in gymnastics to learn skills, not to win competitions, although they do try. So long as they are safe, I don't really care if their legs are bent. I do remind them about form and they know if they want to score well they do need to stretch and present better.
As JSB said - its a choice, this group I give the choice, the other group - it is my choice that they will have good form. The goals of each group are understood by all and generally everyone is happy with their group as they know what is expected. Some of my second group are successful in competitions as they choose to keep tight, and place well against other teams who simply work on perfection competition routines.

In this group I do coach each child differently, some like to get it right from the beginning and move slowly, some just like to learn skills, some like to get skills then slow down and fix, others are never going to be winners and struggle to even get skills, but when they do - they are the most rewarding kids to coach as it is always a surprise to realise that this kid can actually do it after all that time put into the skill.

I guess you need to be careful before you launch into a campaign of perfect form with your gymnasts, is it what they truly want from their gymnastics and is that the goal of your program.
We all have limits on our time in the gym and you need to carefully assess what is important to your gymnasts and program and equally if the gymnasts are the right fit for what you wish to offer.