DrillsAndSkills.com

[Cherripie23]

My boys are having trouble with their circles on mushroom. Without these they can not do a complete routine. I have tried just about everything with them and I need some more ideas. If you can help me out it is much appreciated.

Thanks!

[TipGuy]

There's a lot of good info on circles under pommel horse on this site. The keys are to get the swing going around the musroom, not forward. Most folks try to kick forward and pike resulting in sitting on the musroom. The swing should be a distinct circle and drives with the hips on initiation. Do not neglect push. There's a lot to a proper circle and it makes an enourmous difference long term if they get proper technique early.
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TipGuy
Webmaster DrillsAndSkills.com

[braindx]

1. Swing around with a straight body (see TipGuy's post)

2. Turn and counterturn the hips -- make sure they are turning their hips so that they can get their hand placements in otherwise they will fall off easily.

3. If you can, set up a bucket to help aid them in getting the feeling of the circle(s). You can also carry their feet through the motion of the circle on the mushroom or pommel horse. This helps a lot as well.

4. Make sure they are shifting their weight -- it's pretty much a given that whatever side they are falling off they need to lean more towards the other side to avoid from falling off. Make sure that this doesn't start limiting their cirlces by slowing them down though.

5. REPS. Lots of repetitions... yeah.

6. Make sure they are keeping good technique and form. Otherwise this will come back to haunt them in a VERY VERY BAD way.

[flip factory]

Bucket, Bucket, Bucket! Every boy who walks in our gym we get working circles in a bucket right away. Help them make sure their hips are doing the rotating so they aren't piking. Help them understand how to turn the hips over.
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Todd

[Levski]

Hi

It took almost a year...well actually yeah about a year to get one of my boys to do circles.. A lot of it was a because of lack of knowladge from my behalf, but the rest was him.. anyways no i know what i am talking about so i fee like i might be able to help

Key points
a - Initiation of circle with hip - vital, and I do mean complete initiation with the hip, not sort of, kind of, just about..(which are all good enough to get the circles started but not good enough in the long term) an
b - Keep the double arm support possition with the arms for as long as possible
c- FAST FAST FAST arms on and of
d- circle start of low and builds up, but that does not mean it start of slow.
e- At front of it push down with arm and make sure there is no shrug in the shoulders..most people never fully push down..ther gap between the back and the arms should be as big as possible.
d- TIGHT!!!
f- counter turn should start at about 2o'clock (assuming circles are going clockwise), but if you tell them about 1o'clock to start of with especially if you are calling it you will have better success..
g- FAST ARMS on the counter turn, and drive the heels out of the circle.

Drills
a- Walking the circle around
b- Just doing Faint 1/4 circle initiating with the hip. lots and lots and lots of these...what i did is play like a gameif you get the 1/4 you can do a 1/2, if you stuff up the first 1/4 in the half you start again at the quarter, and so on..can play it groups
c- Bucket
d- film them! show them where and what is going wrong, show them vids of Xiao Quin, and show them what they need to aim for
e- Put a spotting block at the 1/4 point and get them to Faint, step join and go 1/4 circle and stop perfectly flat against the block, or with just a slight (more is better than less, but perfect is best) unbalance falling backwards (aka they have shown that they hips have initiated the circle...look the they way their feet finish...the top foot should be exactly on top or a little behind the top foot (once again showing the initiation has taken part)....do the same for the counter turn except top foot should be infront on underneath foot (preferably they top foot should be ontop of the bottom but you would rather see the former than seeing the top foot behind the bottom foot).showing counterturn.
f- Rythm (spelling??) you should not hear THUG!!! on first hand placement...that means hands are to slow which means that there was no initiation or counter turn if its on second replacement... rythm and flowing beat with the hands...tap tap..tap tap..tap..tap

I hope that helps

Levski

PS.. what have you tried
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Valentin Uzunov
The Gym Press
www.thegympress.net

[braindx]

LOL. Lev, walking the circle around.. is seriously underestimated! I have people coming in all the time who just try to do circles and when I have them try to just walk it, they can't even do it right. If they're a beginner I most definitely have them do this TONS of times before even attempting circles.

[headcoach]

I agree. The first thing i do is have them do bucket circles, and lots of them. I dont let them move to the mushroom until they can do at least 20 bucket circles without breaking form. Then I have them walk the circles on the mushroom, and then we start with 1/2 circles to get the swing (so they dont jump) At first i just have them stop in the front, and then I sit (stand) there and tell them to go for a full circle (not stop) and I stop them when they get to the front. WHen they can do that and i can catch them in the correct position, then i let them try the ful circle, if the form slips i back them up a step (or more if necessary) and they cannot move back up to the next step until they have the correct form again.

Hope this help (I have one kid i taught mushroom circles to in 1/2 hour and he had never even been in the bucket before this but he is a powerhouse with some serious muscle memory.)
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PNF stretching, the coaches revenge

[Levski]

haha... yeah i agree it is understimated...its basic but its hard...if you can't do that they chances are you aren't even strong enough to do circles. Its a basic step that is is usually not taken by people.. I personally spend most of the time on one basic little thing like that and until its right i don't get to far ahead... Because i NZ there is a serious lack of MAG i have to be very carefull not to hold back the boys to much or they get bored and than quit or do diving hahaha... But i am lucky that i have cultured 2-3 boys that want to be champions and by GOD they will be... well one of them will be cause you can't really tie hahaha i don't think anyways at their level haha
Ohh the next step to walking the circles is to actually bounce them around.. feet together in small little hops..maybe not as good as the walking to start of with...but you watch how form brakes when you get someone to do that hahaha
A drill i just came up with is...you get a chair with wheels and you can put their feet on and than you move the chair around and you can direct them... haha it would actually work quite well for shaping and technique wise

Levski
Levski
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Valentin Uzunov
The Gym Press
www.thegympress.net

[headcoach]

I was just flipping back through what levski said, and i forgot to mention the hips. If your kids are having problems with their circles, watch the hips. Alot of times the problem with the circle is that the hips are not rotating fast enough. The hip needs to be nearly vertical as he is lifting his arm and not waiting until the hand is returned to the mushroom before rotating over, fast hips are the key.

also watch the shoulders. If the kid is always falling off at the same point in the circle make sure his shoulders are ont he opposite side of his hands as his body i know that one sounds obvious but it is easy to miss. I tell my kids that you have to keep the bellybutton in the middle of the mushroom at all times as a bit of a visual to help them understand the lean. If the shoulders go above the hands then they will swing off.
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PNF stretching, the coaches revenge