Pommel Horse Question

I'm currently working on loops and the horse and a coach told me that loops are different from circles because the loops are more of a pendulum (elliptical) motion, similar to flares. Can Coach or anyone familiar with PH clarify/explain this a bit?

I do not agree with this. A beginner's loops often certainly appear more elliptical, however this is merely a consequence of them not yet being proficient on pommel horse. As an athlete improves their basic mechanics, the flatter their circle will become. This is easily verified by observing some of the best pommel horse workers in the work; e.g. Teng Haibin and Xiao Qin.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

So how should I progress with my circles? I already practice circles on the floor mushroom, so should I lay-off on working loops a little bit and work circles on the horse?

Also, is there a particular exercise you recommend for gymnasts that work on pommel horse? I know AG walks, PPPUs, dips, and a couple of ab exercises.

Also, feel free to add more information. I want to learn about circles as much as possible.

The development of a correct pommel circle is quite intricate technically and beyond the scope of a forum discussion format. As a general rule however I would recommend that you perform the majority of your work on a floor horse while doing all variations of circles; front loops, back loops, leather magyars, leather sivados, double pommels, single pommels etc etc.

Yours in Fitness,

Coach Sommer

If you can, start working the loops on a pommel-less horse on the floor or an EGE pommel trainer.

There are a lot of pommel threads archived over at drills&skills. There should be a few on GB. I know I have seen your pommel videos a few times.

I haven't looked at drillsandskills forums for a while, and I found some very good information. Thanks Blair. I'll keep on working on my circles.

It seems that my hip turn isn't sharp enough when I do it on the floor mushroom. Also, I often bend my legs on the 2nd half of the circles when I do circles on the floor mushroom. (my max is about 3 with decent form)

more extension

more wrist lean in the front and rear supports of the circle and side support transition phases of the circle

Questions:

1. I don't quite understand about what do in my abdominal areas for Chinese-esque circles. Am I supposed to contract the muscles like when holding a handstand, or am I supposed to contract it similar to a arch hold with only my abs on the floor?

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2. How can I get into reverse scissors like this? Is there something more than kicking my rear leg as high as possible?

For Scissor, kick high leg really high. You only need to lean on that shoulder, A LOT. As much as possible. Lean a lot and push hips in other direction as you are leaning. Hips need to rise and get up in the air. Lean on hand, kick leg high, don't bring leg over as soon as possible. Wait on it, patience.

The ability to lean on one pommel is a function of how strong you are basically and working it. You can do lots of 1 arm side planks focusing on leaning as much as possible. Obviously it's good for circle work too since it has to do with weight shifting.

For extended circles, work inverse/reverse plank. Now lean back as much as possible on the wrists and push belly up so you can't see your toes while trying to look at your toes. Your butt/glutes should be tight. This will teach you how your body should feel in extended circles.

I recently thought about this...but if I'm going to do extended circles, should I push my chest out as much as possible or keep them slightly in like in a handstand?

focus on a tight arch in the front. like the chinese.

To keep body straight in circles (loops) is extremly hard (technical-wise). Is very har to teach especialy like Hong Tao does his loops.

You must push pommel horse backwards with chests out and hips forward. But easly said then done.

So if you look closely, almost only pommel horse specialists are truly extended and even they are not all.

For forward support leans, should I tuck my chest in like a planche or not? I'm not sure which one to do because you're not supposed to activate your shoulder blades(girlde) when doing circles.

If you want a chinese circle, the body should be straight or slightly arched in the back swing (front support) moving through seal support.

To hollow in the back swing tends to mean it just pikes in the front swing.

Maybe I didn't clarify it enough, but I was talking about an exercise to improve my shoulder strength so I can lean more in the front while being stable, not the actual form when doing circles.

Hold the ag walk positions with your feet propped up as high as your shoulders. Get more lean.