For the uninitiated, the Yurchenko vault (named after Russian Natalia Yurchencko) requires a gymnast to perform a round-off on to the springboard and a back handspring on to the horse or vaulting table. The gymnast then performs a salto, which may range in difficulty from a simple single tuck to a triple twist layout.
Needless to say it isn't a breeze for Kelly who this time last year decided she needed to push outside her comfort zone after winning gold in step 5 handspring vault in Auckland.
In fact, the the Hawke's Bay/Poverty Bay representative's build up towards the nationals scaringly landed her in a mind swamp.
"I had a mental block. I couldn't go backwards," she says, revealing the psychological wall had robbed her of the ability to perform a handspring on a beam and tumbling on the floor routine as well.
"You just kind of stand there and you can't do anything about it.
Just as it had entered her psyche akin to an unwelcomed visitor, the mental intruder left after tormenting her for a month.
A fortnight before the nationals the year 10 pupil was back to her handspringing best in tucking, piking and somersaulting.
"I just left it for a while and it just came back naturally. I did tell myself that I just had to do it."
The beam and floor routines aren't Kelly's favourite but she embraces her seventh and sixth placings on the heels of an overall fifth at the nationals.
That's because her effort at last year's nationals in Auckland wasn't much to write home about.
Also, she went down to the wire in trying to make the cut in August to Invercargill this year.
Requiring more than 44 points at a regional champs in Waitara in Taranaki, the teenager's last-ditch attempt yielded 45 points to her relief.
She used a landing mat raised to the height of the vault in Invercargill but next year she will have to clear another mental hurdle because there won't be any cushioned landing.
At 6 Kelly followed in the steps of her elder sister, Morgan, who was 8 after their mother, Liz Read, took them to the Omni Gymnastic Centre in Napier because she couldn't find the Hastings club, which now boasts 300 members.
Morgan, a year 12 pupil at Havelock North High, quit but Kelly carried on.
"Morgan quits a lot of things. She quit ballet and went to dancing and quit that too so I had to beat at her something," says the younger sister with a laugh.
Kelly says her family members think she's spoilt because it's an expensive sport and so more emphasis is placed on buying her things but she likes to think coming back with bling from champs endorses that outlay.
She would love to scale the three remaining steps to enter the realm of junior and senior international competition some day but is mindful that requires moving to Christchurch or Auckland where elite coaches can hone her skills if she wants to make it to Commonwealth Games level.
The facilities are good here and she's indebted to co-coaches Debbie Simspon and Greg Ireland for helping her over the years but it means leaving home.
The idea of attending Canterbury University does tickle her fancy but she prefers to focus on doing well at regionals and nationals for now.
She makes special mention of teammate Harriet Coyle, 13, who didn't get on the podium but was consistent at other champs throughout the year.
