Quick Tip: Developing Glides

Hi All,

Today I thought I would talk a little about glides. This is a drill that I particularly like, and is an advanced form of a drill I often have gymnasts who are just learning glides do, which is glides with feet on a barrel or octagon. This drill can be done with a ball (in this case, the ball has a small bit of sand in it to make it easier), an ab roller or even, in some cases, sliders.

I particularly like this drill because it requires a lot of core stability. In order to keep the ball
moving straight back and forth, the gymnast has to be tight and focused on what she is doing.

This is my replacement for things like doing glides in a row. I personally tend to stay away from doing glides in a row, because while I find that they are good conditioning, the shapes that come out of them are less than desirable. So I like to find drills that, while they may not develop as much strength, they develop better shapes (straight knees, head position etc), and then find other ways to incorporate the strength later. [Click photo to make larger]