The following gymnast is training to master further arabian double progressive steps like the arabian double pike to a soft mat on the floor area. He does a good job landing on his feet, but he could have created better rotation with a closer pike. He could grab lower and compress more to increase his rotational speed. This is another good effort at attempting arabian double lay outs to a loose foam pit.
Maximizing the gymnast's power through the appropriate physical preparation and applying this power to build tumbling speed and quick rebounds helps to create upper level tumbling skills. Observe this demonstrator's quick round-off to handspring rebound.
The arabian double requires a strong thrust of the knees and hips up to the ceiling during the setup to create a fast rotating motion. Before attempting this powerful skill on the floor besides knowing the regular arabian tuck the gymnast must be familiar with double front progressions on the pit using spring board or minitramps. Bringing the knees up but failing to do the same with the hips produces a slower rotation/. /This gymnast round offs left and twists right though he still makes a fair arabian double the skill is easier to set up with a round off left and arabian twist left round off right arabian twist right. The amount of set up blocking is related to the tumbling horizontal speed. Too much blocking for a slow speed hurts the somersault rotation. Weak hips up can also cause under rotation as mentioned before and a poor tuck position hurts the skill rotation too/. /This example has better blocking hips up action and a little closer tuck position/. Gymnasts usually warm up the arabian double with slightly over rotated single arabians. Proper basics progressions and careful air sense training are very important for safe timers or for bailing out of skills problems/. /This is another powerful arabian double tuck example/ observe in slow motion how the arm on the twisting side drops early during the set up to create the twist. This gymnast shows a very peculiar arabian double tuck grabbing position with one hand on the hamstring and the other on the knee.
These are front views of arabian double fronts. There are some technical basic round off back handspring mistakes such as not keeping a straighter forward motion toward the round off, arms bent on the back handspring, and open cowboy tuck position on the arabian. Some other basics are fine and the tumbling speed and power are very good. /Still/ The arms bent hurt the turn over quickness for punching the somersault. Round off back handspring mistakes can be improved with some weekly time dedicated to basics refinement. Great power combined with great basic techniques result in the greatest skills execution. This is a fine arabian double landing example.
The gymnast is timing for an arabian double front but in these timers she is moving the knees up without also throwing the hips up to create a strong rotation. The same mistake in the actual arabian double will produce an insufficient rotational momentum and the skill will underrotate and sit down. /Still/ Observe how from this setup the knees are moving up without the hips also moving up strong.
Notice on these three arabian examples how minimal changes on technical factors such as speed, set up, blocking position, hips up action, tuck position in flying phase, or landing timing can make a big difference on the end result.
These are a fair couple of arabian double tuck competition examples. This gymnast shows great powerful action, but his tuck position can be improved. Again notice the great speed and the great quick rebounding back handspring with minimal feet ground support, though he has a little too much cowboy tuck during the somersault. Gymnasts can always continue polishing details and striving for perfect execution and presentation.
An arabian can be defined as a somersault that begins backwards completes a half twist before the gymnast feet reach the vertical and then continues rotating forward. /On a layout half the 180 degree twist can still be incomplete through the vertical. The main difference then between a true arabian and a back somersault with a half twist is determined by the moment the half twist is accomplished. A somersault may begin twisting on the vertical or even later. To be called an arabian the gymnast must complete the half twist before passing through the vertical.
This is a very good example of a well executed arabian tuck showing full body extension before the tuck. Rushing early to tuck is a common mistake that detracts from the skill beauty and presentation. Still Observe the excellent full body extension prior to the tuck position.
Before the gymnasts attempt arabian sommersaults they should learn to perform round off half turns to a handstand onto stacked mats. It is an excellent drill to master how to show a full body extension before rushing into the tuck position. After the drill to a handstand is understood fairly well the gymnasts can begin to add a roll to mimic the tuck position. It is not advisable to skip the drill to handstand and start first with the rolling one because often it causes the gymnast to pike or tuck too early before showing an extended body turn over to the handstand. During the drills to roll it is important to place the palms of the hands on the mat then roll. This is an incorrect example where the gymnast rolls without using the hands.
