Parents Your definition of "lines"?

[Faith]

I think it's about the way the body is held, and the shapes made.

I'm going to disagree with margo and think it can be learned . I've known a few "ungainly" kids who with work on flexibility and practice become beautiful gymnasts.

I have one who's a powerhouse. Struggles with flexibility, bent knees- skills like BWO her lines are terrible, knees always look slightly bent and her angles are always slightly off, never 180 splits etc . However she looks amazing in the air, neat, tight, straight body, every bit in the right place.

The other is leaner and longer. She's still only 7- she's also not flexible and looks a tangled mess of arms, legs, elbows and knees most of the time. However, she practices, and when she gets it right she is very aesthetically pleasing- she did a competition recently and several coaches came up to me after and commented on her lines, but it's taken quite a bit of work for her to get to this point.

 

[Iwannabemargo]

can they come and work on my lad then cause he looks like a spider on the tramp ! lol, I think he looks so bad to me because his brother and sister just looked so neat.

 

[profmom]

Both of my ectomorphs started off very gangly and spidery and have improved -- I wouldn't say either has beautiful lines yet, but they both have the potential to get there. DS's coach told me to stop feeding him because he thinks the dear boy's growth in recent months has caused him to get sloppy again.

Laughing hard, Margo, because I always say DS looks like a dying salmon flopping about on tramp.

 

[Iwannabemargo]

B. DS's coach told me to stop feeding him because he thinks the dear boy's growth in recent months has caused him to get sloppy again.

Stop feeding them ? Middle lad will eat anything that isn't moving, and have a go at anything going reasonably slowly ! The boy eats for Britain and still the widest part of his leg is his knee. There would be a riot without his six square a day !

 

[BachFlyer]

Too funny, Margo! LOL

 

[Iwannabemargo]

the mums of teen boys know my pain !

Thanks be for discount supermarkets

 

[Deleted member 18037]

I wouldn't say it has anything to do with actual muscles lines. I consider it having a nice, straight body positions. They usually just look long and lithe.

This. No bends, smooth completion of movement. Taking the movement all the way to completion, not stops or hesitations.

Its one of those things when you see it you know it.

 

[Taurus]

I think it's one of those things that new parents wonder/ I just attend level 3 meets- tummies & chubby little arms & legs although in the last year, dd has gotten alarmingly tall!

 

[Taurus]

This. No bends, smooth completion of movement. Taking the movement all the way to completion, not stops or hesitations.

Its one of those things when you see it you know it.

That helps- reminds me of a golf swing/ like "full swing through"!

 

[Deleted member 18037]

That helps- reminds me of a golf swing/ like "full swing through"!

Funny my husband was just using that example when we were discussing our daughters vault.

Yep you know a good swing when see/have one.

 

[cadybearsmommy]

Body alignment and build. You need both for nice lines. Being fair, here is one of my kids who I think has pretty nice lines. Notice the head position, posture and body alignment in H stands. Part of the reason she has nice lines is her physical build the other is attention to alignment. You need both to have nice lines in my opinion. I have other kids with good lines, but I save the term "nice lines" for the select few.
Hannah
oh and you may want to turn the volume down some lady was screaming at her kid in the middle of Hannahs routine....

Wow! She really does have beautiful lines! Amazing job!


My dd's body type has recently changed and I have seen a big difference in her gymnastics. She used to be a little thicker (not in a bad way, just compact and muscular like a lot of gymnasts) but she has had a growth spurt and grew several inches and at the same time has stayed around the same weight, and she is really long and lean now, with long torso and legs. And it has made her gymnastics look totally different, when she fully extends her legs, it looks sooooo pretty! But at the same time the height that makes for pretty nice lines now may actually hinder her gymnastics later on. =(. In the growth calculators I look up she is on track to be about 5"6 ish or taller. She certainly doesn't get it from me! (I'm 5'2 lol.) But she just turned 10 and is already 4 ft. 7 and a half inches.

 

[gymjunkie]

Keep in mind that the term "lines" is borrowed from the dance world. Some gymnasts have the "lines of a dancer." The current code does not favor this body type so you don't see it so much with our girls, who are little power houses. Internationally, Victoria Komova has the look that everyone is describing.

 

[Gymmommy71]

Keep in mind that the term "lines" is borrowed from the dance world. Some gymnasts have the "lines of a dancer." The current code does not favor this body type so you don't see it so much with our girls, who are little power houses. Internationally, Victoria Komova has the look that everyone is describing.

This is very true. Nastia Liukin had the look too, but I don't think any of our top girls since have had what I'd describe as good lines (cause you get a lot more points for being able to do an amanar and other big power skills than you do for having a balletically correct split leap ). Norah Flatley possibly.

 

[BachFlyer]

I don't think any of our top girls since have had what I'd describe as good lines (cause you get a lot more points for being able to do an amanar and other big power skills than you do for having a balletically correct split leap ). Norah Flatley possibly.

I was thinking the same thing, that the scoring system doesn't reward these girls like it used to.

I wonder if good lines translates to good scores in college gym, or if power wins there too...

 

[leotardmakermum]

I think that a long, lean body type helps with these "lines". These girls are the ones who might be more likely to win the Longines Prize for Elegance.

 

[marie83]

Some gymnasts who in my opinion, have pretty lines, not so pretty lines and those "ugly bent wrists"

Pretty Lines
https://www.dropbox.com/s/5s9bth6knim0q7h/anna pavlova.jpg?dl=0

Not So pretty lines
https://www.dropbox.com/s/51pl2kko3cnvqc9/Shawn Johnson.jpg?dl=0

"Ugly Bent Wrists"
https://www.dropbox.com/s/nxuw3nvg2jzbnrd/Chellsie Memmell.jpg?dl=0

Again, in my opinion, pretty lines can be enhanced, regardless of body type.

Flexibility does play a big part but flexibility can and should be worked on every day.

Our gym club has had a new lead artistic coach for the past year and as coaches we have now realised how much more work we should have been doing on artistry. Not just in the sense of having well choreographed routines, but mainly in the way we allow skills to be performed.

We have spent a year teaching the girls how to make their gymnastics look pretty. We have a 0 tolerance policy on bent legs and flexed feet. It's been very tough on the gymnasts and the coaches but it has started to pay off. EG, this year's level 5's didn't compete any different skills to last year's level 5's, but the scores we received were much much better, purely for the fact that they are now neater gymnasts.

It's amazing how much I have noticed the gymnasts who haven't been told how to point their feet or stretch their knees or pull their shoulders back at competitions now that it's something that is ingrained in me! I always thought I did tell our gymnasts, but apparently not to the extent I needed to! lol

 

[profmom]

I think it's more than just finishing skills and does indeed have something to do with both body type and fluidity of motion. I'd disagree that it's gone from the US women's team. What about our top bars workers -- Locklear, Kocian, Douglas at her best?

And if Kiwan Watts does not move you, you have no appreciation for art, nor do you have any poetry in your soul.

 

[BachFlyer]

^^That landing!!

 

[sce]

I have to say though, watching that he does not really point his feet and it does detract form otherwise gorgoeous lines

 

[Gymmommy71]

Douglass definitely does what it takes to get minimal deductions when it comes to flexibility and straight limbs, and she is probably our most photogenic gymnast since Nastia, but she does not have what I'd call good lines (no turnout or extension, shoulders too high, and is very stiff - ballet teachers would be merciless ).

Kocian does have very good lines though - I forgot about her.