Yurchenko drills without a vault

Today I wanted to share some beginning yurchenko drills – especially as lots of us are headed into off season it’s important to both have fun AND make sure that we’re giving our gymnasts the tools to be successful down the road. Ie. correct technique and good coaching.

Drill yurchenko entries

This video goes through a whole bunch of beginning progressions, but the biggest thing to remember is that when teaching these – head position is a critical factor. Head out on a yurchenko is the fastest way to destroy and good vault and make it dangerous and unpredictable. It’s worth it to take the time to correct head position in the beginning.

This second video is one of the most critical steps in my opinion in yurchenkos and that is making sure that gymnasts can turn over their round offs. Making sure that gymnasts can round off up to a panel mat (or two) with good technique will go a long way toward making sure they don’t buckle on the board.

This is one I’ve been seeing a lot recently. I like that it’s an easy way to incorporate another station and that it gets gymnasts from upside down to rightside up without any spotting involved.

This is another great video from Mary Lee Tracy about turning upside down. Like I said before – head position – head position – head position. Any and all of these can be used to make a great intro to yurchenko circuit.

Finally I thought I would add this oldy-but-goody from Justin Laury. He does a great job of drilling everything from the run to the needle kick to the middle of the round off etc. All things that will make a big difference in your yurchenkos.