FLAT PARALLEL BARS

COACH SOMMER

Do you think the benefits of these bars are worth having a set if possible. I think training support skill on these would be very productive, but i think it might make a hard to transition this skill to the real bars!?

Respectfuly

Coach Jacob Marks

These flat p-bars are a good training tool, however they are somewhat specialized and will need to be custom-made, they take up valuable gym space and are not always applicable for your daily training needs. I have found that simply using two small sting mats (either in a single or double layer) laid over the rails of regular parallel bars provides nearly the same training benefits.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

Thanks Coach

This is very helpful !

Aren't these used mainly to allow for a softer more absorbing surface for upper arm work and to teach a PB swing that isnt so "grippy" in that gymnasts won't squeeze the rails?

Are these easier on the wrists? I would think they might require the wrists to flex more.

Blairbob said:

Aren't these used mainly to allow for a softer more absorbing surface for upper arm work and to teach a PB swing that isnt so "grippy" in that gymnasts won't squeeze the rails? ... Are these easier on the wrists? I would think they might require the wrists to flex more.

To mimic the less "grippy" swings performed on the flat P-Bars, simply have your gymnasts perform their swings on the regular P-Bars with open hands.

No, the flat P-Bars are harder on the wrists; but easier on the legs when the gymnasts bump the bar.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

"To mimic the less "grippy" swings performed on the flat P-Bars, simply have your gymnasts perform their swings on the regular P-Bars with open hands."

Coach

Can you go into this a bit farther?

When is training with open hands encouraged, and when does squeezing to hard become a problem with the swing? Is this to prepare the gymnast for the smooth tranition of shifting to one rail and posting on the shoulder during the ascention into stutz and diamodov more efficiently???

Also, when transitioning the floor healy to the the higher rails do you have a prefered method of padding or spotting?? When watching Alan's P-Bar set from Nationals I noticed he paused, then twisted the healy, do you recommend this more then swinging directly to the turn? I might add this was done very fluid! :shock:

Thank You

Very Much Appreciated Topic

Respectfuly

Coach Jacob Marks

Coach Marks said:

When is training with open hands encouraged, and when does squeezing to hard become a problem with the swing? Is this to prepare the gymnast for the smooth tranition of shifting to one rail and posting on the shoulder during the ascention into stutz and diamodov more efficiently???

When transitioning from a rigid beginner's swing to a technically more advanced swing, it is important to grasp that a correctly performed swing is a "hang" rather than a support. Essentially this means that the term "support" swing is actually a misnomer as in actuality the body is "hanging" inbetween the arms in much the same way that the body hangs in between the arms on high bar or the still rings. There should be no tension in the shoulder girdle at anytime during the swing, unless a blocking action is being applied for a specific skill.

Coach Marks said:

Also, when transitioning the floor healy to the the higher rails do you have a prefered method of padding or spotting?? When watching Alan's P-Bar set from Nationals I noticed he paused, then twisted the healy, do you recommend this more then swinging directly to the turn? I might add this was done very fluid!

Thank you for the compliment but, even though he won the gold medal on parallel bars, that was not one of Allan's best healys. He had insufficient extension through the "top" of the post and was forced to adjust his swing to compensate.

Healys are a rather involved skill and will take several years at a minimum to master. There are a myriad of technical nuances that are quite important and which must all flow seamlessly together (flat back in the HS, neutral head position, extension of the posting shoulder, pressure during that extention, placement of the hips during the first 1/4 twist, levering the arm during the twist etc etc etc). However in brief my recommended progression is:

1) First use a dumbbell to simulate the movement of the healy while standing.

2) then slowly handspot the healy on the floor (this allows the athlete to become more familiar with the extension of the shoulder through the top of the movement)

3) then proceed to healys on the floor

4) then floor healys onto a cheese mat supported on a wall or pole (aim for achieving support on the arms prior to the feet contacting the mat at 45 degrees)

5) then proceed to panel mats placed across the parallel bars

6) then a sting mat across the parallel bars

7) then sting mats on the rails only

8 ) then finally no matting.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer