As basic as the split jump is, there are still a large number of gymnasts who cannot perform this skill correctly. Many gymnasts achieve a 180-degree leg split, but don’t keep their hips square, in line with their shoulders. Once the gymnast has become accustomed to rotating the hips to achieve a larger leg split, it can be very difficult to correct.
Training a gymnast to keep her hips square during a split jump should be a goal from the day she walks into her first gym class. If she trains herself to stay square from the start, there will be a greater chance that her split jumps will be performed correctly throughout her gymnastics career. It is helpful to encourage gymnasts to keep their hips square while stretching for splits, splits, vaults, vaults, and somersaults.
Another common problem with the split jump is that many gymnasts have enough flexibility in their hamstrings, but not enough flexibility in their hip flexors and quads to properly split their legs for the split jump, among other skills. The hip flexors are the group of muscles that lift the leg forward and up. When these muscle groups lack flexibility, the opposite movement of lifting the leg back and up (for the split) becomes difficult.
Here is a simple way to assess your gymnast’s hip placement and flexibility in regards to a split and ultimately their split jump. Have your gymnast perform a split the way she normally does this skill. Even if she can’t get to the ground in a split, this assessment can still be done. Once your gymnast is in a split, ask her to bend her back leg so that her back foot lifts off the floor and reaches a 90-degree angle with that leg. Your gymnast’s back foot should not touch the ground and her back knee will remain on the ground. If your athlete’s back foot naturally points toward a wall rather than the ceiling, she may benefit from additional work regarding hip placement. Your gymnast may also benefit from increased flexibility training for the hip flexor and quadriceps areas. If her back foot immediately points toward the ceiling instead of a wall, she may already have the correct hip placement.
Your gymnast may need to lift their body slightly from the split to perform this gymnastics test or make adjustments with hip placement. If you’ve found that your athlete’s hips haven’t stayed square while performing this simple gymnastics assessment, you can easily help her correct hip placement by having her pull the hip on the same side as her back leg forward. Once asked to pull the hips forward, the gymnast’s back foot can point toward the ceiling. At that point, many gymnasts can feel the difference between correct and incorrect hip placement during splits. Sometimes awareness is all that is needed to correct the hip placement problem, but many gymnasts will also require a change in their flexibility training.
You may have determined that your athlete will benefit from further stretching the hip flexor and quadriceps areas. The following stretch is simple, but very effective for gymnasts of all levels.
Block hip flexor stretch.
Have your gymnast lie on their back on a stack of mats or a support block.
Make sure your buttocks area is at the edge of the mat stack or block.
Instruct your gymnast to bring one thigh to the chest with the knee bent.
Next, instruct your athlete to place their hands on top of their shin to keep that leg close to their chest during this stretch.
Next, instruct your gymnast to lift the other leg above their body so their toes point toward the ceiling. This leg may be slightly flexed/relaxed. The knee and heel of this leg should be in line with the hip bone and shoulder on the same side throughout this stretch.
Once in the starting position, instruct your athlete to slowly lower the raised leg so that their thigh is level with the block and then lower than the level of the block.
Once lowered as far as the gymnast’s hip flexor muscles allow, that leg will hang below the top level of the mat block or stack.
Again, make sure the leg hanging below the level of the block is in line with your athlete’s hip and not off to the side.
Allow your gymnast to stay in this position so their hip flexor muscles stretch. Gravity will do the work of slowly and steadily stretching your gymnast. If your gymnast has done this stretch before and feels that this stretch is no longer effective, allow them to use light weights on their ankles.
For safety, your gymnast should hold the opposite leg in place to keep her lower back on the block.
This second stretch is quite common, but many coaches do not ask their athletes to bend their back leg, thus depriving their athletes of a full stretch in this position.
Hip flexor/hamstring stretch
Instruct your gymnast to kneel on the floor with one leg in front of their body.
Next, instruct your gymnast to shift her weight to her front leg, pressing her hips down and forward.
Once your gymnast’s hips are pressed down and forward, instruct her to lift her back foot off the floor, bending at the knee. Make sure you keep your knee on the ground.
Make sure your gymnast’s front foot is no higher than the knee for a safer and more efficient stretch.
Look at your gymnast’s back foot to see if it’s pointing toward the wall or the ceiling. If your rear toe isn’t pointed toward the ceiling, your hips probably aren’t square. Instruct your athlete to pull the hip on the same side as the rear leg forward and press the hip on the same side as the front leg forward.
For the hamstrings: Keeping their feet in place, have your athlete move their hips back and then flex their front foot to stretch the hamstrings in their front leg.
Make sure your gymnast is not sitting on their back foot. If she is sitting on her back foot, instruct your athlete to move her front foot forward.
To help your gymnast understand how to stay square in this stretch, you can ask them to make sure the tops of your inner thighs are touching each other. Stretching square will help keep your gymnast’s splits and vaults square.
Focus on the position of your gymnast’s hips in relation to their shoulders in all stretches of this nature because once you allow a gymnast to rotate at the hips instead of remaining square, you will allow the muscles to move and gain flexibility in a different address than intended.
It takes time, focus and a commitment to excellence to insist that a gymnast perform her warm-ups, vaults, vaults and somersaults with square hips, but the safety benefits and time saved when training advanced skills or routines are invaluable. .
The Gymnastics Drills and Conditioning Drills book has a dance drills section that includes drills for the split jump and the straddle jump.