Coach Wayne,I
coach 8th grade cheerleading and many of my girls are working on round
off back handsprings and round off back tucks. Can you give me some tips
to spot them. I get scared because I am not real sure where they land
and it all happens so fast. I am fine spotting standing BHS and tucks.
Thank you so much
Gretchen
Hey Gretchan,
The best approach is
to become VERY comfortable spotting your girls in VERY fast Round-off RE-BOUND
jumps … an full speed back Handspring Rebounds. Make
sure you are COMPLETELY behind the kids in their rebound and help to lift/direct… and
then decelerate their bodies for soft landings.
If they aren’t
at a significant speed (power) then you don’t have much work to do
and it probably is premature to be working on combinations. However
if they have got some SERIOUS power in their rebounds… you need
to start moving BEHIND them to FULLY support the rebound…. A REBOUND-CATCH.
Have them practice BOTH
vertical rebounds and horizontal rebounds… and learn to spot BOTH. Depending upon their HEIGHT and SPEED
in the rebounds… you’ll be grabbing them (from behind) at
the hips… or slightly higher.
On BOTH skills… you’ll
need to be standing BESIDE them as they enter the skill… and then
QUICKLY (as you know) move BEHIND them for the rebound-CATCH. Yes
it’s fast… yes it takes
finesse… NO you cannot EVER miss the spot. YES
you should help them in the pre-rebound skill… to accelerate & guide
it… and THEN… be behind them to lift (or guide back) the
rebound… and then slow their decent.
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come to YOUR gym!!!
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Coach
Wayne is the Head Coach for the Savannah College of
Art and Design Cheerleading team and Executive Coach
of Olympic Gymnast Zuzana Sekerova. His articles, videos
and books have been used by students and instructors
world wide since 1991. Coach Wayne is available for
in-gym instructor training and performance tumbling
clinics throughout the year. For booking information,
coaches/owners should call 912.398.8082. Students and
parents should request coaches/owners to contact Coach
Wayne: www.CoachWayne.com, coach@coachwayne.com or
912-238-1747, 912-398-8082.
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Practice 50-100 rebound-catches….
Just to get your body accustomed to moving quickly into position. AFTER
that the transition to spotting a skill should come much easier.
HOWEVER, make sure your
girls have VERY good handsprings and tucks STANDING… then moving
them to combination skills is MUCH easier on YOU.
---
I’ve begun offering
instructor (and student) training sessions here in Savannah. I also offer new session called “Certification
Practicum." The other option is to set
up a private clinic at your gym… Private clinic would usually include a training session
for instructors before the kids come in.
For more information on Savannah instructor/student clinics and certification
practicum visit "camps" page here.
For private clinics call 912-398-8082.
~CW
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