I’ve seen and heard of more serious accidents from a seemingly “harmless” skill than from any other single difficult skill.
What is it?
Cast to low bar. Then jump from low to high bar. (There are 2 places where kids are often injured.)
Click PLAY or watch the short video clip on YouTube.
The frequency of injury has increased steadily as the rails have widened for younger and younger girls.
Gymnastics Zone cautions:
Don’t Underestimate this Maneuver
Perhaps the apparent simplicity of this movement is one of the causes of accidents. The dangers, as evidenced by the accidents we have seen, are real and significant. All of the injuries occurred the same way with a jump to the high bar from a stand on the low bar (as in the Level 5 and Level 6 bar routines). The bar is caught initially, the feet swing forward and the grip is lost.
Often Causes Arm Injuries
During the resulting fall, the gymnast instinctively reaches back with one or both arms and the weight of the body on the arm causes an injury ranging from shoulder or elbow sprain, fracture, compound fracture to dislocation. It is possible that this skill could cause a neck or back injury, if the gymnast peels very late. …
Spotting This Skill Safely is Very, Very Difficult
Spotting this skill is deceptively difficult. We do not believe that any coach can safely spot this skill standing under the high bar waiting to see if the gymnast catches the bar or not. There are two reasons for this. The first is that often the gymnast appears to have caught the bar, which makes the coach instinctively relax, and then the gymnast peels. Even coaches with the most determined level of spotting concentration can fall victim to this predicament.
This Fall Happens Faster Than the Reflex Capabilities of a Spotter
The second problem with spotting this skill from the ground is that the swinging action rockets the gymnast straight down to the floor very, very quickly during a fall from this skill. This is especially true when the gymnast jumps to the high bar with an arch jump, which causes an involuntary tap action when the feet get out in front of the bar and speeds the hands peeling off and the speed of the fall. Even coaches with the fastest of reflexes will be unable to safely and consistently catch gymnasts falling this fast, especially if it is unexpected.
Gymnastics Safety for Gymnasts
Injuries Seem to Occur with Gymnasts New To The Skill
8 comments ↓
Thanks for keeping us on our toes, Rick.
1) GRIP STRENGTH!
Too many level 4′s transition to level 5 and haven’t acquired the grip strength necessary to even dream of executing the Level 5 routine with any competence.
Add hanging on the bar for 1-3 minute intervals to your Level 4′s training regimen.
2) get them swinging properly EARLY.
I’ve never seen such a fall occur with a gymnast who has learned to properly jump to the bar (ie, without the body of a rag doll) and has a good tap swing. No matter the age or size.
3) TEACH YOUR GIRLS HOW TO FALL!!!!!!!! Make them aware of the dangers of falling forward, back, to the side, over the bar, off the beam and teach them how to handle themselves. No human being “instinctively” does gymnastics, they are trained. Train your gymnasts to fall properly. Don’t allow accidents to happen and chalk it up to a child’s instincts. Don’t forget, the safety of your athletes should be first on your list of priorities before the acquisition of ANY gymnastics skill. Especially at such a young age, and low level.
4) Throw out the level 4 bar routine. (Or rather, reduce the hours you spend training it)
Take some time away from that dangerous level 4 routine and have your 4′s focus on swinging (and casting and circling.) ALL YEAR ROUND. There are so many safe and fun drills your girls will enjoy doing that will drill the correct technique into their muscle memory before they even realize what it’s for.
Once your 4s become 5s the transition to the high bar will be a lot less stressful, for you and for your girls, for the simple fact that they have been training tap swings and technique for jumping the high bar for an entire year. Not a single one of your athletes will be new to the skill come time to introduce it into their regular training schedule.
Interesting.
Completely opposite of how I learned it (had a very good bars day and a big crashmat under the bars, got the cast-squat-jump all at once, but I’m weird. And old) but I like it. Similar to how my much younger & smaller teammates learned it, except we don’t have a mini tramp so we all had to cast into all of our attempts.
Good to see coaches blogging about safety!
How about just plain teaching the skill with correct catching of the bar. I teach every one of my kids to learn only how to cast then stand up under control on the bar until told to jump. If they do not have control, they do not jump. They are only allowed to hop off to the floor on a mat. Once they can consistently control the stand (with arms overhead,locked and knees locked) I will spot at the waist or hand across their waist. They must be able to resist bending the arms as they catch( avoids snapping/jerking). Sometimes I will have a hand on their wrist or arm, especially smaller kids. I agree, this is probably one of the most dangerous action we perform. I also feel it is the coach that controls the proper skill progressions. Thanks for letting me have a say. Talk to me at chalkbucket.com, look for davjam
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The simpleness (or perception) has a lot to do with it. Most of the falls I saw were because the girls weren’t thinking about it as they were doing it. They were all focused on the next move that they weren’t paying attention to the squat on.
That first year of Level 5 was darn scary. Even the counterswings – if done correctly – were dangerous. I saw lots of clipped foots on top of the low bar that resulted in slips off the high bar.
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