Beam series: Start them now

Hi All,

Today I’m going to talk a little bit about beam series. My personal philosophy? Start them as early as possible. There is no reason to wait, and teaching gymnasts how to transition between skills on beam needs to be something they develop muscle memory for. Say you have a level 4 who now has her back walkover on the high beam for next season. Do something like making her assignment 5 back walkovers on high beam and 5 high stand hold, back walkovers or tic toc back walkovers on low beam. By the time it’s time to compete the series in two years it will be an after thought.

Like I mentioned in the previous paragraph, tic tocs are a great option for beginning series gymnasts. Back walkovers can be iffy in terms of direction sometimes, but tic tocs can often lend themselves to more consistency, which means doing less back walkovers, which can save your gymnasts back.

Also, don’t limit the series your gymnasts do. Let them try HS BWO, and tic toc BWO and BWO BWO and let them start playing with BWO BHS on the floor (even if it’s to two feet) when they are ready. If you wait until the year before they compete it to start getting them to connect skills, it will be frantic, rushed and anxiety provoking for both of you. Make this process easier. Start early.

Train hard!

Photo Credit:
Parker Knight