AboutJack Leonard Expertise Former 5 time Natl. Tumbling Champ, 3 time Natl. Vaulting Champ, Natl. Floor
Exercise Champ; Ass`t coach of Dominique Dawes for 6 years; Owner/Director/Head coach of Kauai Gymnastics Academy on the island of Kauai in Hawaii; Retired Physical Ed teacher; Childrens Fitness Expert; Expert Consultant for gymnastics litigation; Retired Mens & Womens HS Gymnastics coach for 32 years. National coaching honors for Men in 1981 & Women in 2001.
Experience I value the following awards because they were given by acknowlegement through my peers: The Nissen/Grissold Award given to the outstanding Tumbling and Tramp Athlete(1972), National High School coach of the year in 1981 for men and 2001 for women, 10 time County Coach of the Year. Medal Award given at the first World Tumbling Championships in London, England for dedication to the sport. Lastly, having the opportunity to coach Wes Suter(1988 Olympian)in his intermediate years and Dominique Dawes(1992 & 1996)
Question QUESTION: My child's gym discovered recently that she turns, leaps, splits better on her left side but, when she goes to tumble, she round-offs to the right. They decided to train her to round-off to the left(claiming they don't want her to get a deduction), and she can round-off to the left, but it's not nearly as powerful as when she round-offs to the right. She can already do a back tuck when it is connected to a right roundoff. They also discovered she does her cartwheel on beam to the right but can only do a back walkover on beam to the left.
My question is, what if any, is the deduction for a "lefty" gymnast roundoffing into her tumbling and cartwheeling(on beam) to the right? She is competing level 4, but since she learned her 5 and 6 skills suddenly, they are considering scoring her out of the three levels in one year. so is it more worth it to train her on those two skills to the left. Or should she compete as a "lefty" gymnast and take the deduction, if any, for doing those two skills to the right? Please keep in mind the "lefty" skills are leap, turn and split which are amazing when done to the left and nit nearly as good on the right side. As well as, her backwalkover on beam and dismounts on beam are to the left.
ANSWER: Hello Holly,
I am glad to help you. I must first tell you I am not a judge….but I can help you with the twisting question. Proper twisting direction is very important now and especially for the future. The first thing to identify the twisting direction of a cartwheel is to determine if the gymnast is a natural righty or lefty. I learned this process from a Russian gymnastics coach many years ago. The Russians would make sure that their young athletes would learn the intricacies of gymnastics correctly in the beginning of their training…. so they would not have to relearn or stifle their learning process. I do believe you can learn skills on the opposite side....but the athlete will be held back at the advanced levels. Sports that have artistic expressions should be carefully taught with this in mind. The sports I speak of are gymnastics, diving, ballet, figure skating, aerial skiing etc. One of my pet peeves is to not learn the same skill twice and the following strategy allows you not to do this. I know....I am a little long winded on the subject but it is oh so important. The student needs to put their hands together and cross their fingers. The thumb that is on top is the dominate side. For example, if the right thumb is on top....it would indicate that the student will put their right hand down when doing forward skills or in simple terms they would be called a righty. This also means that they would twist left forward and right backward. The only place this concept does not apply is on the tramp or aerial skiing for multiply flipping/twisting skills. I know you will be excited about knowing whether your athlete is a natural righty or lefty. I also want to put emphasis on patience. I strongly believe that the more ways you can break down a skill, the better you are at communicating what you know. Understanding twisting direction is huge. I wish you the very best in your decision making in this very important matter and take care – Jack Leonard
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QUESTION: Thankyou for your wonderful advice and for your time. I appreciate it:). I noticed you are originally from Hills. My child is excited about competing there this Jan.
We did the test, and it came out that she is a lefty. I agree with the Russian philosopy that early good training is important, and unfortunately she did not have the best pre-team training. She has improved dramatically with her new team though. Since she is only 7, they said it shouldn't be a problem fixing her up, but she was going to skip 4 entirely until they noticed she wasn't consistent with her left and right skills. So, your right, it has set her back but hopefully it will all work out in the end.
Thanks alot:)
Answer Hello Holly,
I have a big smile on my face and am very happy for you and your daughter. I was last there from 1988 – 2005. FYI, I was one of Kelli Hill’s coaches when she was a gymnast at the University of Maryland. We go way back (mid 70’s). Tell your daughter I wish her the BEST! For the umcoming season and take care – Jack Leonard
