A cool place for friends and family members of Santa Monica Gymnastics Center to come hang out. So nuke the popcorn in the microwave; Snoopy dance...dance..dance around the room...then pull up a chair, and be prepared to laugh and cry; to feel embarrassed and inspired; and to just sit back, relax and enjoy these music videos.
Several years ago, I took this hurdle to flatback drill (for exaggerating and emphasizing hurdling feet in front) for vault and added in a bit of fun factor:
I've done the same sort of slip n slide idea for ro bhs drilling and handstand flatbacks, dropping from an elevated height. Kids love it. Because it slides!
When non-athletes want to run fast they set about moving their legs
as fast as they can, so you might assume that Bolt has achieved this
exceptional record by making his legs move faster than everyone else
has. But this idea doesn't stand up - in fact, it falls flat on its
face. "Elite sprinters don't swing their legs any faster than recreational runners," says Dr Sam Allen of Loughborough University. Instead, the difference is that a top sprinter takes longer and more powerful strides. Research
shows that an amateur runner often takes between 50 and 55 steps to
complete 100m, while an elite sprinter takes in the region of 45. "Elite
athletes generate so much more power, owing to the fact they naturally
have more fast-twitch muscle fibres. These elite athletes therefore
spend a lot less time on the ground which results in them being
propelled forward much quicker," says Allen. Studies led by the American based researcher Peter
Weyand have found that at top speed an elite sprinter's foot will
typically spend 0.08 seconds in contact with the ground at the beginning
of each stride compared with about 0.12 seconds for an amateur athlete. Sam
Allen says the fastest sprinters seem to be spend about 60% of the time
in the air, with no foot on the ground, while for amateur athletes it's
more like 50%.
At my old gym, counting steps was so ingrained in them, that they seemed to have to count their steps in EVERYTHING. It can be a helpful tool, however, in building a consistent run and hurdle that does not slow down or balk. Although I had never been taught to count steps myself, I remember being able to always build up my run to a crescendo and adjust my strides accordingly as I neared the springboard without slowing down (and on rare occasions, hurdle off of my bad leg if need be from being way off). I heard that young kids, however, have not fully developed their depth perception (I'd love to know if anyone can verify this).
the basics. start the run with the same leg that they hurdle off of. and
keep the number to 9/11/13 etc; running steps. yes, there are
exceptions as i'm sure someone will point out. but these are the basics
and they work consistently across the board with most kids and both boys
and girls.
Teaching from odd number stepping to a hurdle makes sense when considering future vaults down the road- a hurdle will eventually lead into a yurchenko (step with the bad leg and skip up with the good). So odd number of steps as opposed to even number (unless your intention really is to train your gymnasts to hurdle off of their dominant leg as the last step before the hurdle).
Due to compulsory State Championships this weekend, we canceled team practices yesterday. I offered a makeup practice today and one level 3 and two mini-shots came in. Here's something I experimented with:
This idea came to me while driving to work; so I tested it out at the gym today.
My
spacing was a bit off on the number placements; but it definitely
helped encourage a longer stride (the lvl 3 gymnast shown is in between
deer runs and sprinting) and getting consistent number of steps down
(had the girls go up to 9 running steps, stepping first with the "bad"
leg- i.e., the non-dominant leg that is used to push from one a hurdle
into round off or front handspring).
The original idea was to
take a permanent marker to some foam blocks (but I didn't think the gym
would fully appreciate that) and set them up as markers; but then I
remembered that we had these placement mats for preschool.
Something else I used to do (and should still do) at my old gym with the optionals was to have them front flip over the table. Wade encouraged me to do this as opposed to having the girls do "run bys". Why? Because the tendency of a lot of kids is to slow down as they get closer to the hurdle line and veer off the runway. With the front tuck (or layout) to avoid hitting the table, the vaulter maintains the acceleration all the way to the hurdle and punch. No need to hurdle off course into the "gutter". With a powerful punch, the gymnast should be able to clear the table at her table-height setting.
It reminds me slightly of something I came up with a few years ago while working with lower level compulsory girls. It involves using a rainbow (donut mat):
Stand the rainbow mat up so that it looks like a “C”. Gymnast kicks up
to handstand facing the doughnut hole side of the “C”. The rainbow mat
tips over to become a backward C, which puts the gymnast from upside
down to rightside up. Like Troy’s drill in the first video, the gymnast
must maintain body tension, or else she will sag into the well of the
“C”.
I had filmed it, the one time I did this; but that footage is now lost. The gym I am currently at does not have these donut halves. Hopefully my description makes sense.
"If I have 10 kids on vault, I'll have 8 stations."
-Tony Retrosi
I love idle stations for vault. I hate having a line of gymnasts standing around. If they aren't staying actively engaged and focused on gymnastics, they're going to naturally find other means of entertainment- namely distractions.
Even though my gym tries to maintain a rotation schedule with the other programs going on at the same time, besides team, finding space to set up extra stations is in part a "make it up when you get there" affair. That's because being scheduled for vault doesn't entitle me to the area outside of the vaulting runway.
On one end of the runway we have a resi pit for handstand flatbackers. The boys pommel horse area is next to this. On the opposite end, a table that stands at the edge of the pit. It's the only vaulting table and if want gymnasts to land on a firm surface, we have to go through the pain of moving the table onto the runway to stick a couple of 8 inchers behind it; then move it back when we're done. Aside from that, it's stacking mats over the pit foam- which still leaves for an unstable landing surface. For hosted meets, floor boards are placed over the pit.
To one side of the vaulting runway is a tumbletrak; and on the other side of that, some floor space and a carpeted wall, which I love.
On the other side of the vault runway we sometimes have a trampoline to use.
Amidst all this, I like to set up side stations and minimize any standing around. Keep them moving as much as possible and utilize as much space and equipment as I can set up in a reasonable amount of time.
I haven't had them set this up in a while; but it's got the built in fun-factor:
If their vaults don't need constant hands-on supervision, it frees me up to be hands-on with a new side station until I feel confident that they at least understand the standard expected on it
Other things they sometimes do in their circuit:
Toe-slide drill against the wall.
10 sec high knee running against the wall
10-20 sec shaped handstand against the wall
10 20 sec inclined handstand against the wall
Block pushes
Handstand blocking
Jumping off the beam or horse to work on sticks
We only have one vault runway. A resi is on one end; on the other, a vaulting table whose permanent station is to be in front of the pit. So the gymnasts only get to practice landing on a stable surface if we "arrange the furnishings". It's unfortunate, but we make due with what we can.
Sometimes I have a couple of different groups combined, giving an added challenge. Remember: We live in an imperfect world. (I have to keep reminding myself of this). So sometimes I will have the girls take turns in both directions, taking advantage of the table and the resi.
I often go for time (move legs as fast as possible within allotted amount of time); but when first starting out with little ones, I first check their form and positioning; and will call out numbers. So for example, when I say "one", they lift one leg only and hold the pose. If I say, "two", they switch their legs twice; "three", 3 quick switches. And so on. (I guess I'm not the only one who does this. :-) ) If I say, "thirty", they do 30 leg switches as fast as they can without short-changing getting the knee to drive up and forward. Here's another progression (the wall march):
The problem with having gymnasts do run-bys where they hurdle off the runway is that a number of kids will tend to slow down as they near the hurdle line. Having them do a front tuck instead, with the table on their vault height setting, encourages the gymnasts to accelerate all the way to the hurdle without fear of crashing into an immovable object.
