Coaches Problems with steps in Vaulting

[Bumblebee462]

I have a kid that continue's to hit the back of the board when vaulting. She's working Tsuks now but even when she was in the compulsory's she did the same thing. She has very long legs and short torso. I tried fixing her hurdle because she was taking a lonnng ::laughs:: step onto the spring board ... but she still has problems I ask her to step back and even forth ... am I missing something?

 

[Mustanggal99]

I'm not sure myself because I'm trying to figure out the same thing! We're still working front handsprings though and no matter what I tried she hit the back of the board. I even attempted moving the springboard a little. So I'm curious as to what others have to say also.

 

[iwannacoach]

try moving the board away from the table, 6 inches the first two days, and then 3 inches every two days until the board ends up under her punch. The idea is that she has a fixed distance she wants to be from the table when she punches, so adjust.... for now... the board instead of her run.

 

[CoachTodd]

Leave the board as close to the table as she can use it.
Start with one step hurdle and land on the sweet spot of the board. You can do this with or without the table.
Have her take a few steps back and do the same thing until she's used to hitting the sweet spot. 3 steps should give enough power for a front handspring vault.
Once she's taking enough steps to get some speed, note where she's hurdling from and see if she's still hitting the sweet spot of the board. Draw a chalk line or get a hurdle mat to give he a queue as to when to leave the ground.
This should get the steps and hurdle distance at least close to what you are looking for.

 

[Deleted member 14190]

Befor you spend workout moving the board all over the place, can you tell us if she has good speed ? Or of she is slowing down? Is she speeding up? What do her last steps and hurdle look like now?

 

[Deleted member D3987]

okay coaches, brace yourselves. and don't call me crazy until you try it. turn the board backwards. that's right, backwards.

and you only do this for the problem that has been described. got that? only for gymnasts hitting way back on the board when everything else looks right and fails.

and of course only for conventional entries. NOT YURCHENKOS. got that too??

 

[Deleted member 14190]

Might want to move the vault out of the way too!!!

 

[raenndrops]

We put a tape line down on the vault strip. The gymnast has to hurdle by the time they reach the tape line. We also tend to move them up or back by half steps. Another thing to do is have her start AT the sweetspot of the springboard and run up the vault strip and do her hurdle to "mark" her start spot.

 

[ACoach78]

I guess my question is how did you determine the running steps to begin with? Did you just arbitrarily pick a # or do you have a system for determining the approach steps?

 

[herrmannt]

If she is not sprinting at full speed then always fix that first. Stride length and number of steps are inconsistent when they are not sprinting. This is what we have started doing:
Always start run on same foot. No jump/hop/skip to start
Start at same measurement.
Know the number of steps each girl is taking during run.
Time runs to make sure they are sprinting full speed on each vault. You can figure this by:

1. Time and record three 70 ft. sprints and average them. These need to be done WITHOUT a vault or board, just sprints in open space.
2. Divide 70 by the average time to get feet per second.
3. Record gymnasts start number.
4. Subtract 4 from the start number for front entry vault and 8 from round off entry vaults.
5. Divide that number by the feet per second score to get a target time for their vault.

The target time will represent the time the gymnast should get if they are running as fast when they vault as they do when they sprint.

 

[CoachTodd]

I guess my question is how did you determine the running steps to begin with? Did you just arbitrarily pick a # or do you have a system for determining the approach steps?

I got to where I could usually pick a spot close to where they should start according to their height. If that doesn't work, the method I posted above tends to do the trick

 

[Deleted member 14190]

First determine which is the hurdle leg, (take off leg). I then split the group into two groups, (right leg and left leg). I put a chalk mark on all of the right legs (thighs) and same with the lefts (thighs). Then I have them just sprint by me, counting the chalked leg steps only, (trying to get 7 steps out of that leg, last being the push off). Once I get them running consistent (takes a few days for some kids) I draw a chalk line on the floor and have them sprint by me over and over again, (no vault in the way). I move them forward or backward until they are consistently taking 7 steps with the chalked leg and hitting the mark I put on the floor. Once they are consistent with this, (THIS TAKES DAYS). I put a 4 inch mat at the edge of the chalk mark and have them sprint and hurdle to a sprint again, (no 2 foot landing, run hurdle sprint). Once this is mastered (may take a few days!) I add the desired arm circle or underswing. Then put a board in, watch them all change their steps, get frustrated and back up and go through it again until they are sprinting full on and hitting the board with top speed. hope that helps.

 

[Deleted member 14190]

I forgot to add the most important part, When I put the chalk line on the floor and move them forward or backward trying to get them to hit that line with the take off leg, I DON"T TELL THEM I AM DOING THIS. I want them sprinting naturally, no worrying about where the foot is supposed to go.

 

[iwannacoach]

okay coaches, brace yourselves. and don't call me crazy until you try it. turn the board backwards. that's right, backwards.

and you only do this for the problem that has been described. got that? only for gymnasts hitting way back on the board when everything else looks right and fails.

and of course only for conventional entries. NOT YURCHENKOS. got that too??

I love the simplicity of this, and really appreciate that each child has three options in this drill/correction.

Option 1....... hit the board in the only spot possible

Option 2....... hit the first part of the board you can get to

Option 3....... repeat options 1-2

 

[Deleted member D3987]

thank you, iwannacoach.