Hard To Watch
Hi All,
Today I’m going to talk a little about split leaps. And the title is fairly accurate especially when it comes to compulsory ones…they are OFTEN hard to watch. Granted, split leaps are kind of a funky thing to teach, and some kids get them instantly, and some kids look like they are trying to swim out of the ocean more than do a split leap. So I thought I’d share a couple videos today that might help.
This first video is actually targeted towards Tour Jete conditioning. But almost all of of it is applicable to split leaps as well. I promise you if you incorporate this stuff into your workouts your split leaps will improve drastically. I also find myself teaching sissonnes along side split leaps, because it seems to solve that “your back leg isn’t high enough” problem.
This second video I am putting up for a few reasons: 1) because it’s a nice little split leap, not perfect but good for this little one 2) look at her posture THIS part should be stressed from the very beginning, chest up shoulder back no matter what arm position you choose and 3) because she goes from ONE step. This is my preferred method at first the more steps you add the more time there is for things to go wrong BEFORE the leap happens. One step and leap is always a good way to start. Once they have that I add a second step, making sure the final step before the leap is as Tammy Biggs would put it “long, low and leapy.”
Once your kids have good split leaps (posture, knees etc) doing leaps with Therabands is one of my favorite ways to improve leaps.
Train hard!
