Parents Landing hard

[beyondmyfootsteps]

My daughter tends to be more of a bull in a China shop than a delicate ballerina. Her landings concern me for a few reasons, whether it's landing on her hands in a back handspring or landing on her feet. I hope that makes sense. She seems pretty strong, isn't terribly tall but far from the most petite in her group. I'm not sure if she just isn't tightening her body enough, but I'm concerned about her joints hitting the ground so hard. Is there anything she can do at home to learn to tighten up or something to add to her conditioning routine that might help her land more gently? She is starting back handsprings on beam, but her back handspring on floor scares me because her hands hit the floor very hard, you hear her smack down on the mat, her legs are also not straight and hit the floor hard at the end. I trust her coach, but if there is something she can work on at home specific to her needs, I'd like her to try to work on this. Could it also be a flexibility thing? Her legs bend a lot despite constant correction from coaches and she thinks she is keeping her legs straight. Tight hamstrings? I had knee trouble as a kid so I worry about that for her.

 

[CoachTodd]

Hands hitting hard either means she is jamming the handspring or snapping over a bit late. landing hard on the feet usually means they are landing flat footed or on their heels. She needs to think more about bouncing that landing . Hope that makes sense.