Bow 'n Arrow

[Jule]

One of our flyers really wants to get her bow 'n arrow. She cand hold it, when she lies on the groud or holds on to the wall. She can however not hold it up in the air or standing freely on the ground. She says she doesn't have the strengh to get her leg up high enough and hold it there.

Me being a base ;) I'm wondering: Is it strengh that is needed or does she not yet have enough flexibility to hold her bow?

Any insight and conditioning you guys do?

 

[Aussiekat]

What's her heel stretch like?

 

[marissa.d]

in a bow 'n arrow, the strength needed to hold it comes from the arm! stretching will definitely make it easier to PUT up there but in order to hold it, her arms need to be strong!

 

[Keep_Believing]

in a bow 'n arrow, the strength needed to hold it comes from the arm! stretching will definitely make it easier to PUT up there but in order to hold it, her arms need to be strong!

My daughter can hold her bow & arrow, scale, & scorpian, but she really struggles with her heel stretch. Her hip always ends up popping out/ sticking out. What do you think specifically is her problem area for this skill? Any advice is appreciated.

 

[marissa.d]

My daughter can hold her bow & arrow, scale, & scorpian, but she really struggles with her heel stretch. Her hip always ends up popping out/ sticking out. What do you think specifically is her problem area for this skill? Any advice is appreciated.

squeeze her stomach and butt the WHOLE time - no relaxing!
and whenever the girls i coach have this problem i always tell them to pull their hell stretch how it is now (open hip) and rotate the leg under to show them how it should feel when held properly (closed hip)
it definitely will take some practice and just getting used to. making sure her she is stretching her split properly is key! the knees should be in opposite directions, her chest should be completely to the front (aka he needs to stretch her split with a closed hip :P) and lean forward. it will most likely stretch the upper portion of her quads more than she is used to.
also while this is a struggle and she is learning, arm strength will help again!

 

[Keep_Believing]

squeeze her stomach and butt the WHOLE time - no relaxing!
and whenever the girls i coach have this problem i always tell them to pull their hell stretch how it is now (open hip) and rotate the leg under to show them how it should feel when held properly (closed hip)
it definitely will take some practice and just getting used to. making sure her she is stretching her split properly is key! the knees should be in opposite directions, her chest should be completely to the front (aka he needs to stretch her split with a closed hip :p) and lean forward. it will most likely stretch the upper portion of her quads more than she is used to.
also while this is a struggle and she is learning, arm strength will help again!

Thanks! :)

 

[Jule]

What's her heel stretch like?

It used to be awful but she worked on it a lot and it actually looks nice now.

 

[Jule]

in a bow 'n arrow, the strength needed to hold it comes from the arm! stretching will definitely make it easier to PUT up there but in order to hold it, her arms need to be strong!

Thanks!! I'll definitly make sure, she works on arme strength then. One thing that is probably underdeveloped in some of our flyers.

 

[Jule]

Also, all the flyers in my team that are currently working on or already got their Bow 'n Arrow pull it over a heel stretch and not over the side. It seems easier to them but it also makes their hip "pop" a little when switching from holding the leg in front to the Bow position... I wonder if this is correct.

 

[Aussiekat]

Practice pulling front stretches - basically a heel stretch with both arms. You need really to really squeeze your butt and core, stand up straight (don't lean into the stretch) and LOCK your standing leg. Doing splits with your back knee facing the ground is crucial, and then oversplits propping up your front leg and leaning forward over the front leg. Straddle splits, lean to the side grabbing your leg to get that reach and flexibility. My favourite is getting into position and having a partner pull my bow arm towards them while pushing my leg away further into me. Your partner has to be gentle and not push you off your centre axis! Check out fortheloveoftumbling.com Debbie Love is amazing and has heaps of stretches.

 

[Jule]

Thank you! I'll definitly check it out, that site looks awesome!!

Here's a pic of the latest try:

 

[JerricaLynn]

Lock out that knee!

 

[The_cheer_obsessed]

Yeah just make sure she stretches and practices it enough at home as well...I'm a base too but I flew before and I know what it's like lol. Splits always helped me, and I would just imagine that when I go up in the air, to just picture myself doing it on the floor (Since she seems to have it on the floor, but just practice...it's not gonna happen in a day. :)

 

[TheVipersMom]

My 6yr old cp has a problem with hers! She stretches all the time and you can tell it's helping. She is not naturally flexible but she finally has a good split. She can pull the stretch on the ground or if I hold her waist she can pull it standing up. However she can't just kick it up by herself and grab it when standing up unless she wants to fall over. It kind of leans when she sticks her arm through as well. Like her arm barely sticks out in front of her leg. Haha it's just hard to explain I will try to upload a pic or video later! Maybe y'all can help!