All-Star "some Girls Just Can't Fly"

[ShutItDown]

I don't have much to add except she's a lucky kid to have a coach so invested in her future happiness

awwwww your my new favorite person!

 

[Aussiekat]

awwwww your my new favorite person!

I also really like cats

 

[Tealxblack25]

I had a flyer who was really tiny and she was a good flyer but sometimes she would lose her balance and just fall and it was because she didnt have enough muscle in her legs to squeeze enough. We did some leg lunches and squats and she has improved so much ! It really makes a big difference ! I am not positive this is going to help your cause but just by doing a quick scan of everyones rreplies it sounds appropriate

 

[ECcheer]

Well I don't think it's necessarily an issue with coaching experience or flying on the opposite leg..this flyer stands on a bent knee in the air, so of course she is going to have balance issues in the air. Increasing her flexibility would definitely help, because when she reaches for her scorp she has a tendency to bend the knee she is flying on even more to compensate for her lack of back flexibility.

 

[StuntMonkey]

Sadly, past experience has shown me that not everyone can learn to fly.

Case in point: I used to be on a university team and we had a girl come out. Back then most of the people didn't have any cheer background at all but this girl had been doing it for four years in high school. She was tiny, flexible and really wanted to be in the air. The problem lay in the fact that she had been a top on an all-girl team and the university team was co-ed. 10 guys, 10 girls. Every girl flew and for games we did our stunts without assists (simple stuff, liberties, cupies). When this girl was put in ANY overhead stunt she became a total noodle and very quickly came crashing down. We eventually learned that she NEEDED to have someone gripping her ankle tightly or she just could not mentally hold the skill. You have no idea how frustrating it is to be able to toss a girl, with no effort, to a heel-stretch or scorpion and then have her go all wonky the second after you make contact with her foot. She stuck it out for four months, trying with all the different bases and it just never clicked, so she quit.

I have found over the years that gymnasts often have the worst time initially learning to trust that someone else is responsible for holding them up there and to give up having total control. Some eventually learn a modicum of stability but never will realize their full potential, but of course that is true of any sport or activity. Some have natural gifts but can't quite capitalize on them to be the elite. It takes just a little bit more for the full package, and more often it's the ones who don't quite have all the natural advantages (height, strength, whatever...) that end up excelling through sheer determination and dedication to training.

Oh, and having a team of girls that has already learned to fly on the opposite leg... I'd call that solid gold! I teach the girls to fly on the opposite leg as soon as I can (and guys learn to base with the opposite grip as well), makes them way more versatile, especially now with all the switches and tick-tocks required in routines. Waiting too long before starting the opposite leg skills is one of my biggest pet peeves when training people.

 

[dianaasanchez]

if she really wants it, she will get good at it with work.