February 9, 2011
Once the gymnast have learned how to perform some basic jumps on floor and have a good understanding of how to land safely, they may also practice basic dismounts. In the tuck jump, emphasis is placed on bringing the knees up close to the chest. For a pike jump, the gymnast brings the legs up close to a horizontal line. The goal is to show a deep pike at peak height. The straddle jump dismount must emphasize hip turn-out so at peak height the front part of the legs are facing up toward the ceiling. We don't recommend half-turn or full turn jumps for novice gymnasts because they are hard to contact and land safely.
February 9, 2011
Although in the round-off basic dismount the feet do not land on the beam after the arms repulsion, this skill is a useful drill to introduce advanced recreational gymnasts and entry level team gymnasts to hand placements on the beam. Notice the attention to proper posture and presentation to begin the round-off. The arms up by the ears, the feet pointing, the body facing forward. The arm repulsion comes mostly from the wrists and shoulder joints.
February 9, 2011
To perform the round off back tuck dismount the gymnasts must become comfortable with making beam round-offs from two steps and a hurdle. As with many other beam skills or combinations, this dismount is mastered following a beam progression beginning on a floor line. In the round off dismount, one of the progressive steps is performing the combination to loose foam pits and resi mats. The gymnasts must focus on learning to rebound the take off and continue refining their tuck position during the flying phase. Notice how the back tuck take off is performed with one foot in front of the other.
February 9, 2011
This is a fair example of back handspring landing on two feet to a back tuck dismount. Gymnasts must know how to perform the combination on floor, and also how to perform a beam standing back handspring to two feet and rebound. The combination is trained first on a low beam with folded mats on the sides, and the apparatus end pointing to a loose foam pit. Notice how the feet are placed slightly in front of the other for the back tuck off. Placing the feet this way allow gymnasts more room to punch, and is safer too.
February 9, 2011
Gymnasts that already know how to perform back handsprings to two feet can practice rebounding them on a low beam and then learn to connect the handspring with a basic back tuck dismount to a pit. From there they can follow the general beam learning progression and eventually execute the combination on a regular height beam. Since one of the most common mistakes for these dismounts is to hold back on the rebounding power, it may help the gymnast to train some rebounds separately to prepare the dismount take off placement and get an initial feeling for the rebound.
February 9, 2011
To perform this combination the athlete must have mastered tumbling double fulls, beam back handspring to two feet landings, and progressively learn to connect the back handsprings to back tucks, and layouts to full twist dismounts. The gymnast must also develop an increased in speed and power while practicing those combinations. Notice how the gymnast punches the back handspring to the double full dismount with one foot slightly in front of the other.
February 9, 2011
Once the gymnast has mastered a good round off back tuck dismount, they can begin learning the round off double back dismount on the beam. All the regular tumbling techniques for creating a rebounding setup apply for the double back dismount. Training the dismount into a pit until it shows great technical consistency is crucial.
February 9, 2011
To reach this level of front dismounts, as with any other gymnastics activity, the gymnast must progress step by step from the easiest basic skills to the most difficult ones. In the case of front dismounts, they must develop increasing confidence and balance to be able to run across the beam and punch the dismount takeoff. Gymnasts must also get used to punching with one foot in front of the other, and first learn each dismount into a pit until the skill can be performed safely and consistently.
February 9, 2011
With a gainer dismount, the gymnast should travel forward and sideways to avoid the beam. To accomplish this during the take-off, this gymnast leans her body away from the vertical in the desired traveling direction. Check a couple of technical motions for the side gainer.
February 9, 2011
Once a gymnast has mastered a fair layout gainer, they can progress to a gainer full. Gymnasts should start practicing this skill from an elevated surface to a loose foam pit. The gymnast must focus on creating a good rotation during the layout. To create the desired rotation, the gymnast must swing up strongly with the free leg.
