NASTICS TEAM GAZETTE

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1 NASTICS TEAM GAZETTE Volume 1 Issue 1 Wayne Thoden Flexibility Hello everyone, I am often asked by parents as to what they can do at home to help their daughter with gymnastics. The advice I give most of the time is strength, flexibility and balance. I have decided to put together a series of articles that will elaborate a bit in these areas. I might even try to put together some videos as well but that will be in the future. These articles are designed for you as parents to help your child with things they can safely do at home. Hopefully these exercises will enable them to perform better and excel in this sport. The first piece of advice I would like to give is do not try and be their coach. Please do not attempt to teach gymnastics skills at home as this can be dangerous. If you try to teach skills at home they could be learning things improperly and it takes longer for us as coaches to re-teach skills that were learned incorrectly this often happens with backyard trampolines, which by the way I would suggest never getting as they are dangerous if used incorrectly. This will be the first article in the series and it will focus on flexibility. There are several reasons that make flexibility a very important component of a great gymnast. 1. Flexibility can help prevent injury to the gymnast. The greater range of motion the gymnast has the more likely they are to defend against injuries. 2. Flexibility also enables the gymnast to acquire skills more rapidly. A more limber body can simply do things a tight body cannot. The lack of flexibility can prevent a gymnast from doing certain skills. 3. Flexibility also adds to the artistry of the sport, it enables the gymnast to perform skills with seemingly little effort, although we know there is much effort involved. More flexible gymnasts simple look better aesthetically and will score better. Some things I would like to stress when stretching are proper alignment and body shaping. You might hear me talking to the girls about shaping, it is so important to achieve and maintain proper body shapes in gymnastics. Proper body shapes enable the gymnast to perform skills with correct technique thus making the skill easier to do and also making 1

2 the gymnast look better when doing the skill. Also go easy when stretching if you are assisting by adding pressure do not overdo this as you do not want to cause injury. I am going to start with leg flexibility. Of course one thing every gymnast wants is a good split or three good splits. Splits are a required element in gymnastics. When we are working forward splits again we need to stress proper alignment and shaping. Ultimately we want a hyper-split which means beyond 180 if a gymnast can barely do a split on the floor with their body weight pulling them down it is nearly impossible to do a full 180 split in a split leap. In order to achieve a hyper-split the gymnast must stretch at home in addition to the stretching they do in the gym. All children have different strengths and weaknesses some are physically stronger than others while some are more flexible. Some are better in competition, some are better dancers etc. So let s talk about splits there are several stretches that are very beneficial when trying to get full or hyper splits the first is the lunge (Figure 1). When doing a lunge it is important to try and keep the front leg bent so the ankle is directly under the knee, keep the back leg straight and the back foot flexed under so the gymnast is doing a split from the back leg to the front knee. The parent can help here by assuring that the hips are square and by applying a slight downward pressure in the hips. (Figure 1) The next stretch is a great stretch for working splits, and stretching the hamstring. I call this a reverse lunge, sounds good (Figure 2). It is a bit different from the lunge in that we will be bending the back leg and straightening the front leg. Assure the hips are square and the front leg is straight. Once in the proper position as seen below, with hips square the gymnast leans forward to stretch, to add a bit more stretch flex the front foot. (Figure 2) Again the parent can assure the hips remain square and put slight pressure on back when the gymnast leans forward. Also look to see that the legs are in a straight line as if they were on a beam with back foot flat and front 2

3 foot up toe pointed or flexed for more stretch. Remember these stretches are to be done on both legs. Stretch with slight pressure for a count of 10 seconds, relax and repeat 5 to 8 times each leg. Now we move towards the split. Starting in the last position we move the front leg forward towards the split. It is okay to let the front leg bend a bit as long as the hips are square and alignment is correct. Parents can put a slight downward pressure on the hips. In Figure 3 below the back knee is slightly tilted outward and should be underneath with the pinky toe touching the floor. (Figure 3) It is also important for the gymnast to be upright with shoulders back for better leaps. If the gymnast can do a full split then the bending of the front leg is not necessary. The parent can put slight downward pressure on the gymnast while keeping the hips square as in Figure 4 below. If the gymnast can do a full split then the front foot can be placed on something to make it higher and you can work on that hyper split. (Figure 4) Okay one more for the front splits before we move on to middle splits. This one looks more painful than it really is. The parent stands behind the gymnast. The gymnast, in a kneeling position with one leg in front reaches behind the parent and holds their legs as the parent lifts the front leg upward and towards the gymnast s body. Important go easy with this keep use even slow pressure and ask if it hurts we should be feeling a stretch not bad pain. The gymnasts hips will tend to turn with this it is important to keep them square by the parent using their knees to control the gymnast s body from behind. Also do not just let go of the leg when you are done stretching you must ease the leg down slowly to avoid injuring the muscle. See Figure 5 3

4 The next stretch is to reach one arm up and over the head reaching for the opposite foot while the other arm reaches under allowing the shoulder to go towards the ground. Some gymnasts might be able to get their shoulder all the way to the ground while grabbing their ankle with the hand that is reaching over their head. Parents can add slight pressure by pushing down. (Figure 5) Things to look for here are that the gymnast s knees point up they will have a tendency to roll forward as the gymnast leans forward. The parent can gently pull on the legs to rotate the legs back up or to hold them there. Figure 7 shows the gymnast doing a Pancake with the right foot rolling forward and the left foot up with assistance. Okay let s move on to the middle split seen in Figure 6. (Figure 7) (Figure 6) There are several great stretches for middle splits. The gymnast can sit in a wide straddle and lean to the side with their stomach on their thigh stretching both hands towards the foot. If they can go all the way down then flexing the foot will add more stretch. Again we want to stretch both sides and we also want to go down the middle or pancake as shown in (Figure 7). Hold each stretch for a count of 10 seconds, relax and repeat 5 to 8 times each leg as well as the middle. Let s move on to the back and shoulders the first stretch I want to talk about there is the bridge. There are a few variations of bridges but I will discuss two here. The first bridge is 4

5 to stretch the mid to upper back and shoulders. If you cannot get your shoulders directly over your hands while in a bridge, doing a back walkover becomes difficult and even more so on the balance beam. See Figure 8 below. (Figure 9) (Figure 8) As you can see here with Carley and Laura their shoulders are over their hands and their legs are pushed so that they are straight. This helps considerably with their back walkovers. The parent can help here by getting in front of your daughter and giving a gentle pull from behind the shoulders to bring the shoulders over the hands or at least closer to the hands. Hold for 10 seconds and do this 5 to 8 times with rest in between. The next bridge is for stretching the lower back and hips. The gymnast pushes the shoulders back towards the feet so that the hips are trying to push over the feet. See Figure 9. The parents can stand by your daughter s legs and gentle pull the hips towards the feet. Remember go easy with all stretching and ask if it hurts; if so do not pull any further and ease up a little. Do the same amount of repetitions and time here as with the other stretches. Now I would like to move on to some more stretches for the shoulders. Shoulder flexibility is very important as it allows skills such as walkovers to be done more easily but it is also very important for vault and bars. Flexible shoulders allow the gymnast to get a better line in gymnastics. For example if a girl with great body line did a handstand an I tied a string to her little toe with a small weight it would make a straight line down her body through the middle of her leg and torso right through the middle of her shoulder and down to the wrist. Tight shoulders cause an angle and usually an arch in the back to compensate for the shoulder and this tends to deductions in competition and difficulty learning skills. The first stretch the gymnast lays flat on their stomach on the floor with their arms at their sides. The parent stands over their daughter and gently lifts the arms upward by holding the forearms as in Figure 10. BE VERY CAREFUL here as it does not take much to 5

6 hurt the shoulders. You can also push the hands closer together to stretch the muscles in a different direction. Do this for 10 seconds and rest 10 seconds for 5 to 8 sets. (Figure 10) The second shoulder stretch starts the same as the first stretch with the gymnast lying face down but with the hands on the back of the head. The parent will stand over their daughter and gently pull the elbows up as in Figure 11. Hold this position for a count of 10 seconds and as with all stretching lower the arms slowly when done. This will be repeated 5 to 8 times. The final shoulder stretch the gymnast again starts lying face down but with the arms stretched out straight overhead. The parent stands over their daughter and lifts the arms gently up from the elbows see Figure 12. Sometimes when doing this stretch the body will arch up off the floor, the parent can put a knee on the middle of the back holding it there to allow the arms to raise up a bit more. Be careful and do not put any weight on the back this is just done to stop the body from arching up. A good test for this flexibility can be performed with the gymnast lying on the stomach face down. They gymnast should a stick like a broom handle with an over-grip with the thumbs extended and touching. The gymnast must keep the forehead on the floor and should be able to lift the stick 6 inches or more off the ground. (Figure 12) (Figure 11) There is one more stretch I wanted to mention and it is great to help with splits and to enable a gymnast to get into positions that are required for many skills. It is a simple pike stretch and we want to see a good compression. The gymnast sits on the floor 6

7 and leans forward reaching the hands towards the feet. We want the stomach and chest to lie flat on the legs and the hands to extend beyond the feet. See Figure 13 daughter would push up for 10 seconds with the parent pushing down. Then they will relax for 10 seconds with the parents giving a bit less of a push. This can be done for 5 sets of compress and relax. Be warned these girls are strong so don t be surprised if they push you all the way up. I hope this will help you to help your daughter at home to enable her to get flexible. (Figure 13) The parent can sit behind the gymnast and put a downward pressure on their daughter s back and hold for 10 seconds and rest for 10 seconds and do 5 to 8 sets. For those girls who can get down flat flexing the feet up will add a lot more to the stretch as in Figure 14. (Figure 14) There is one more thing you can do with this stretch it is called compress and relax. The parent would lean over their daughter and the 7