WAG Level 4 floor critique, please?

[Gymettemom]

Tight. She must think tight. She looked loose. Dancing wasnt crisp. Be sure to dance, finish, tumble. She should stretch before every tumble skill. Especially in the corner before her last pass. Arms up and stretch, then tumble. Toes! Point, point, point. The routine could just be cleaned up a bit. Crisp dancing, tight body, pointed toes and stuck tumbling would really help a lot

 

[Judybird]

She needs to put some sass in that routine. She appears just doing it 'to do it'. Have her smile, chin up, throw the arms back. The judges like to see something 'different'!

This!! Coaches can drill girls into being tight, pointing through toes, and having crisp movements. But I wonder sometimes how to bring a sense of artistry into floor and beam. This season my DD has been technically correct in these events and scores between 9.0 and 9.4 on either. But her face looks blank and robotic. The girls on her team who have pretty smiles and hand movements and make it look more like entertainment... their scores exceed 9.5.

I wish I knew how to impart "artistry". Good luck!!

 

[IreneKa]

She does step left and turn right in the first corner which is correct directionally. It's incorrect that she doesn't take a longer straight step facing the corner before snapping around on her turn. It was hard to tell if she usually does this or just lost her footing. It's not a major element though. The biggest deductions come off the major elements.

If you mean the side lunge pose, a righty should have their weight on a bent right leg with their leg leg extended to their left side. She did. She just took a small slightly diagonal left step on a bent leg so it looked wrong.

I understand about the handsprings but they probably are her single biggest deduction between the bent legs, lack of acceleration, and arms. They're not the worst compulsory back handsprings, but they do have a lot of deductions. There are smaller deductions that she can try to fix. Artistry, lack of high releve throughout the routine.

OK, I think I see what you mean. After jump, jump, step to the side, she needs to step forward with the same foot before turning. She doesn't do that, I checked her other videos too. Also, looks like she lifts her other leg up after she finishes her turn. Looking at the illustration, the leg should go up while she is turning?

I understand that her BHSs need a lot of work, and that makes sense. She had a back injury during the summer, and wasn't even allowed to practice any of her back skills for 3 months. And when she was finally allowed to do them, she got the mental block. I'm so happy she finally does them consistently. We just need to get through the remainder of the season, and hopefully they can fix her tumbling during the summer while preparing for L5.

 

[IreneKa]

Tight. She must think tight. She looked loose. Dancing wasnt crisp. Be sure to dance, finish, tumble. She should stretch before every tumble skill. Especially in the corner before her last pass. Arms up and stretch, then tumble. Toes! Point, point, point. The routine could just be cleaned up a bit. Crisp dancing, tight body, pointed toes and stuck tumbling would really help a lot

Thank you! I told her about being tight and sharp, pointing her toes (she knows that!), and extending her arms. Hopefully she can remember all of this at states.

 

[twinmomma]

I'd make sure you touch base with her coach. She's not going to magically do these things at state if they aren't practicing these things. When they step out there they go on autopilot, and whatever is drilled is what's performed.

I think it's awesome she's got her BHS back. That shows an immense amount of dedication and work. She should be so proud of herself.

If you want her watching high 9 scores on YouTube, make sure you're watching high 9 scores from your area/region. I'm amazed at the differences in scoring regionally.

 

[gwenmom]

One thing to keep in mind with younger girls is they don't always understand the difference between

and

.

And because I'm adding pictures here is one that always stuck with me while working on toe point as a dancer

 

[Kcanflip]

Just an additional thought. Our coaches have the USAG scoring book with pictures and detailed information as to the deductions for certain elements. At times, my DD's coach will pull out the book and show my DD how much she is losing for things like a straddle jump that is not high enough, or leaps without the right amplitude or not sticking after a back handspring. Is it possible your DD could go through the routine with her coach using this book and viewing the pictures and reviewing the deduction possibilities? She looks old enough to 'get' it and maybe it would draw attention to areas where she could easily gain tenths.

 

[gymdog]

OK, I think I see what you mean. After jump, jump, step to the side, she needs to step forward with the same foot before turning. She doesn't do that, I checked her other videos too. Also, looks like she lifts her other leg up after she finishes her turn. Looking at the illustration, the leg should go up while she is turning?

No. She does do it. She just does it with incorrect form. She should and does do the side lunge pose out of the jumps with her weight on her right leg and her left extended to the side. Then the leg extended to side (left) is the turning foot. A righty would step left and turn right (right shoulder back).

The problem with her execution of the step left turn right is:

-bent support leg (needs to step on a straight left leg)
-turning before putting her weight on her left leg (likely before it's bent)

So, she needs to take a longer step towards the corner (facing the corner) on a straight left leg in releve, then as she pulls her right foot to passé she should snap around right to execute a full 180 backward turn in passé. Because of the direction of her body on the step, she doesn't really execute a full half turn.

But again this isn't a major element.

 

[OrangeArt]

This is interesting to me, because my DD is in a similar position (except your DD BHS series looks better!). Her scores hovered around mid-8 this season (8.3-8.7).

I'm curious, for any coaches, how much of a deduction are bent leg/froggy bhs's. It seems to me that her acceleration is fine, and shaping is ok in the air, but on contact with the floor she just lets her legs go saggy.

 

[ashleyp1601]

KEEP TIGHT!!!

I cannot stress that enough to my girls! Also, it helps when you keep your movements, especially poses, very sharp. For instance, the part of her routine after the from handspring. One thing that helps my girls is when I tell them to act like a model- strike that pose, and make it sassy! That's their favourite thing for me to tell them!

 

[Deleted member 14190]

jump at the beginning no punch out of the front handspring, more like a jump.
Here is a pretty good example of jumps/ leaps and Front H spring.

 

[IreneKa]

jump at the beginning no punch out of the front handspring, more like a jump.
Here is a pretty good example of jumps/ leaps and Front H spring.

Thanks! Great example. I can see the difference.

 

[wgymmom]

This is interesting to me, because my DD is in a similar position (except your DD BHS series looks better!). Her scores hovered around mid-8 this season (8.3-8.7).

I'm curious, for any coaches, how much of a deduction are bent leg/froggy bhs's. It seems to me that her acceleration is fine, and shaping is ok in the air, but on contact with the floor she just lets her legs go saggy.

I'm not a coach, but bent/froggy BHS's are really going to kill that score.

OP, another thing is her arms. There were a couple of times in the video where she dropped her arms to the side and just looked very "casual," as if she were just standing there. Everything should be purposeful.

(I watched a whole season's worth of new 4, and my gymmie got 2nd place at states, just so you know I'm not talking out of my ear.)

 

[IreneKa]

I'll update too.
She scored 8.7 at states! She screwed up her other events, but at least she improved her floor.

 

[vans2]

I'm new here but by daughter competed XL Bronze, and Lvl 3 & 4 (now she's in Lvl 5). My DD would come out of her front handspring similar to this. A little out of control, legs apart, double hop/step. We estimated she was getting a total of .3 deducted from her routine. She would get 8.6, 8.7 on her floor routine. Not until she fixed her front handspring did she start getting 9s on the floor.

Sometimes there is just too much to "fix" and you have to decide what is easiest to fix that would give her an instant boost in scores. It's a lot easier fixing 1, 2, 3 things than 10. Hope this advice helps!