That’s the title of a post on Chalk Bucket by Nightflare514.
… It was a clean break, Thank God. She was doing a squat on, and kind of tumbled of the low bar, and put her right arm down and *SNAP*, it was broken. Nobody else thought it was broken, but I saw the way it jerked, and then after that she couldn’t move it. And I also knew something was wrong, because Mattie … she just doesn’t cry unless something is seriously, majorly wrong.
How many times have I heard this story?
Many coaches underestimate this “easy” combination, the one I always refer to as: “the most dangerous skill in gymnasticsâ€
At the start of the school year, all the girls in my club must “pass” these progressions:
Click PLAY or watch the short video clip on YouTube.
related post: teaching REGRASP on a gymnastics bar
8 comments ↓
We don’t have a pit in my gym. I have no fear spotting kids doing tsuks, double-backs, Gienger’s or anything… but by god have I seen some nasty injuries on the humble “squat on”. An elbow so badly dislocated I nearly fainted, one broken collarbone and one broken arm… these were good solid gymnasts, who had done the skill many times before and progressed through all the drills. They just either got there feet caught or missed them altogether and lurched forward onto the crash mats below. I always start these with similar drills above + plenty of squats onto boxes from the floor. Another good one is to stack 2 boxes between the low and high bars, so that way if they get their feet stuck, they fall onto the boxes – which are on the same level as the bar rather than the mat 1.5 metres below. Either way it definitely is THE MOST DANGEROUS SKILL!!!
Rick, could you comment on why you first have them do pike jumpups, then pike jumpups with foam, then straddle jumpups? It seems that straddles would be the easiest and therefore taught first?
Any tips on how to “bail” out of a squat-on gone wrong? Even experienced gymnasts can catch a foot on the bar, any way to avoid falling on your face?
Many gyms are like yours Hannah.
Kids don’t expect that squat on can be dangerous, no matter how many times we tell them it is.
We once had a broken arm on a fall from Pommel Horse. But that is rare.
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The sequence of jumps is not critical. Certainly straddle on can be more easily done than pike.
The strategy I have them practice when the fall is from the low bar, is to TRY TO HANG ON AS LONG AS POSSIBLE. The goal is to allow the feet to be the first part of the body to hit the ground on the fall, rather than one hand.
… Thanks for the reminder Kathryn. Will add that in today.
I appreciate things like this in your blog. Ever since I read your original post I’ve been more vigiliant of this skill. Being a rec club, we only have a handful of girls who even do them but we’ve never had an issue…even when they catch their toe and bail. I wonder if it’s because of the fact that our bars are ‘wall bars’ and fully adjustable so our low bar is only about chest height on them and the highbar is less of a jump. Or could it have something to do with the fact that we mostly do straddle ons?
Also, is it the falling off the low bar that’s dangerous or catching the high bar poorly and peeling off?
I like these drills, had used some before myself. I like to start every first jump to the high bar with mats at “standing height”. They also have to pass a bajillion squat-ons in various drills before doing that but yeah, I tell ‘em HOLD ON if you get caught. It definitely is a skill that is more than meeting the eye, but I wouldn’t say the most dangerous. Anything is dangerous if you underestimate it.
Reverse grip (front giant grip) one hand if you’re falling and going over. You’ll swing around like forward rolling out of a pullover and feet will hit the mats.
Best thing you can do for your gymnasts from what I’ve learned is to teach them how to fall/bail out of a skill before they even get to learn the skill. That way they know what to do rather than just praying for their life if they’re bailing/freaking out.
SteveL – I like the reverse grip method. I was hoping to find a way to fall that my girls could “practice” before they need it. It’s hard to practice hanging on for a long time before falling
Rec Coach, there are 2 risky parts of this combination.
By far the most dangerous in my experience is on the low bar. And far more common is the injury caused by landing on 1 arm first.
There are also some bad injuries “slipping” from the high bar on regrasp. But that one seems to be less dangerous, in my experience.
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