January 28, 2011
The inside endo starts with the gymnast beginning to pike as the body is already bailing over, and keeping the shoulder angle as open as possible while the pike compression increases. Aiming to get the feet between the arms and the rail cleared before the hips, the center of mass moves down lower than a horizontal line with the bar. Soon after achieving a full compression that is kept through the bottom, and as long as possible, while when swinging up beyond the horizontal, the hips start to roll out and the arms perform a strong pull and wrist's shift toward the vertical line to clear the legs off from in between the arms while the body is brought back to support finishing with a with a hips opening to return to a handstand support. Yellow shirt Check again the great deep pike compression this gymnast demonstrates when his inside endo is swinging through the bottom. Look now at some still frames of the previous example.
January 28, 2011
The gymnast demonstrating this combination bails over with a little arch to begin the inside endo, but then shows a good compression, and on the swing up and comes out of the skill with the correct hip roll-out action. On the pirouette to mixed grip he again has a slight arch that could be refined to a straighter position and keeps his head slightly out to maintain visual contact with the rail during his pirouette which helps him to regrasp the bar more consistently.
January 28, 2011
In general, one of the most common learning mistakes of either straddle or inside endo to full pirouette is to swing down crooked after the pirouette. The reason for this mistake is an excess of support transfer to the post arm. The gymnasts shift their weight like they were going to perform the regular front pirouette that they have learned before, and that really requires a support transfer beyond the vertical of the post arm to finish square in a different bar position. The full pirouette ends with the hand re-grasping the bar in the same area that the skill begins so the weight support transfer to let go of the hand must be minimum and momentary, and must not go beyond the vertical like this correct example shows. Still 2 - Notice how the hand re-grasps the bar in the same area that it let go of the rail. In this far view example the gymnast could pull stronger to support to flow without pause and pirouette straighter. In this other example the endo to pirouette should flow without a pause in between. Last clip - The combination flows much better here.
January 28, 2011
As mentioned before for the endo to mixed grip full pirouette combination, some of the gymnasts' main goals are to clear the rail, to flow from the endo to the pirouette without a large pause, and to swing down square. Notice how the gymnast keeps his eyes on the bar during the full pirouette.
January 26, 2011
Back hip circles begin from a regular cast when the gymnast leans the shoulder back off support. When the body is coming back to the bar, but before it makes contact, the gymnast's aim is to complete the skill with a straight or hollow body that moves around in a single unit. After the shrugged-shoulder straight-arms cast, the gymnast moves her shoulders off support to begin the single unit circle around.
January 26, 2011
Gymnasts begin learning back hip circles from a small cast. Right when their bodies start coming back down to the support, the coach standing on the opposite side of the bar, reaches with his arms under the rail and places one hand on the lower back and the other on the hamstring area. The hand that was on the lower back then reaches under the bar to stop the gymnast from "over rotating" the skill. The hand that was previously on the hamstring moves to the abdominal area to help in case the gymnast lacks the momentum to complete the circle.
January 26, 2011
It is very important to understand the dynamic nature of spotting any gymnastics skill. The spotting patterns must be adapted to what happens on each individual attempt. the coach must be ready to move his hands to different areas according to the occurrences of each situation.
January 26, 2011
Gymnasts having problems with leaning the shoulders back out of support and turning over in one body unit for under-shoot dismounts, may benefit from learning how to make a complete back hip circle without having any momentum from a cast.
January 26, 2011
"Throwing the head out" is a very common mistake that does not add any technical or presentational value to this skill.
