General
A rhythmic gymnasts is expected to pay attention to all these little details:
- Static apparatus - gripping/clawing the ball, holding the clubs tightly, dead rope or ribbon where it is lying on the floor unintentionally.
- Irregular movements - slack of the rope between hands, uncontrolled bounce of ball, club mills that are not swing freely but stirred because of a firm grip, rope that goes wild whiles shaking the hips, etc.
- Imprecise planes - notice the intended plane of movement relative to the gymnasts body. For eg. Above the head rotations (helicopters) are intended to be horizontal over the head, wheels-on-the-side rotation is indended to be on the gymnast side, etc. Image on the right illustrate the common planes used.
- Throws and catches - should have enough amplitude and catch absorbing the momentum to eliminate irregular movements.
Apparatus Skills
- Rope - most common errors are: imprecise planes, irregular movements and slack rope in between the two hands when it should be tight.
Tips for planes: Use the wall to help gain perspective on the plane. As an example, the progression for the side chasse with rotation in front should start from a stationary pose with rope rotation facing the wall, a side chasse with static arms without the rope,then combine the two elements and complete the sideways chasse with the rope rotation. Note: if the gymnast still have the habit of lifting herself up using arms or shoulders, it may cause irregular rotations, then get her to relax the upper body and yet focus on the legs and calfs as source for power.
- Hoop - most common errors are: imprecise planes, wobbles, drooping (when it is suppose to be flat), sticky handovers or transitions.
Tips to remove wobbles and irregular twists: Some of the wobbles are caused by not maintaining enough momentum in the correct plane. Incorrect wrist position (like palms out/in) may be the root cause for certain extra unnecessary flip/ twist of the hoop.
- Ball
Tips against grip: Practice balancing the ball on hand without the grip with arms in front, horizontal on the side, straight down on the side, etc. Wrist flexibility and fear of dropping the ball may make it diffificult initially for some.
- Ribbon - most common mistakes are: ribbon to lie on the floor in between moves, loose patterns (i.e. snakes and spirals).
Tips for tighter patterns: The gymnast must hold the ribbon stick at the end. The movements must originate from the wrist and fingers. Another source of mistake is the plane and lines of movement. Do use metaphores like write on the floor, or snakes moving down from side to side, etc.
Tips to avoid tangling: The ribbon must catch the air and be moving. Furthermore, the ribbon stick must lead the way move into new space and not cross into the path of riboon. As an example, wiggling the ribbon stick from side-to-side on a static path will create a big knot.
- Clubs - most common mistakes are: mills where the wrist are apart or the clubs are tightly gripped like a weapon.
Tips for mills: Wrist flexibility is required for good mills. Furthermore, the clubs have to be hang loose so that part of the movement actually originates from tis own momentum and the wrist and fingers only help to originate as well as to finish the rotation. To practice hanging loose, get gymnasts to dangle the apparatus and then initiate small quarter circles back and forth and then adding momentum to it to complete a full circle.