Switching from tsuks to yurchenkos

[momof5]

DD competed this last season as a L8. She is hoping to compete 9 next year. She worked on yurchenko drills last spring and summer but was not doing super great on those. She started learning tsuks in the fall and ended up competing the tsuk tuck this season. She has a lot a power off the table and was also a very good level 7 vaulter. Even competing a vault that started out of a 9.8 she scored in the top 4 at states and regionals. Now that season is over she is working on yurchenko drills again. Again struggling. Some of the level 7 also training this have already progressed further on this then she has and they have been making comments to her that make her feel awful. My questions are; Is there an advantage to already being a good vaulter when learning this vault or is it so different than past vault sucess does not translate? Also did working on the tsuk at all help her progress to the yurchenko vault?

 

[iwannacoach]

I wouldn't worry about your dd's coach "re-visiting" yuri vaults with her. I see at least two "positives" with this change. You could look favorably at the coach's interest and faith in your daughter's ability, as there is usually more to a child's "ability" than any of us can see. A few month's off from tsuk entries may be benificial if there were any "limiting" habits being refined by daily repetition. I'm a big believer in subliminal learning where the mind experiences every skill as the body moves through them. With-out the athlete being aware, their brain collects and "saves" the best of what the body has presented to it through movement. In the absence of continuous input (time off), the mind is free to process the movement and passively teach the body what it has learned.

I've come to this belief as a result of the time off that was customarily taken after each of my collegiate seasons. What I noticed when I came back is that my technique had improved, and everything was easier. It could have just been me, but I feel this has happened several times with gymnasts that I've coached. I attribute part of it to an individual's positive attitude about their potential in their chosen sport.

So my advice is to let the coach provide the training experience he or she feels best for your daughter, get "on board" and take comfort in the realization that most coaches care about their child athletes, if not their own reputations.....Failure to provide for a child's success feels bad, and looks even worse on a resume'.