Yurchenkos: Why rush? — Even more drills

Hi All,

So I did a post earlier this week in which I talked a little bit about my personal philosophy when it comes to yurchenko development. I thought I would expand on that a little more today by providing you with some more drills. Yurchenkos are just one of those things that I don’t understand why people rush. It’s not like there aren’t hundreds of drills you can do in the mean time while your kid ISN’T going over the horse. Spending that extra few months fine tuning drills isn’t going to end her career, but when she’s scared of yurchenkos because her round off is off, or she isn’t getting them all the way around you may have big problems. So use the drills wisely, you can even start some of them VERY early. But this is a skill you need to respect.

Drill yurchenko entries

This first drill is one that I like for a few reasons. 1) It helps prevent fear. It gets kids running full speed at the horse, but that it’s once they’ve done their round off they’re done. It helps build confidence and muscle memory. 2) Getting the round off right is the key to this vault. If the round off is off, crooked, weird, you name it, this vault is exponentially harder. By stopping the vault after the round off it lets you focus on the little details. You aren’t bogged down with “did she make it to her feet?”

This second drill is also a really great one if you’ve got someone that can spot it.Things I like about this drill: 1) low impact 2) simulates the second half of the vault well 3) develops air awareness. Like I said, there is no shortage of yurchenko drills. Wait to put the vault together until all of the pieces look good. Then you will end up with confident, successful gymnasts.

Train hard!

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