Practicing straddle L to endo presses on beam is a good drill to develop balance, body control and strength. One of the gymnast's goals must be to show a good straddle L, and also move in and out of that position with as much compression as possible. If a gymnast is planning to use the straddle L press as a beam mount, they must remember to keep the chin up on the straddle before starting the press to enhance the skill's presentation.
The inside endo starts with the gymnast beginning to pike as the body is already bailing over, and keeping the shoulder angle as open as possible while the pike compression increases. Aiming to get the feet between the arms and the rail cleared before the hips, the center of mass moves down lower than a horizontal line with the bar. Soon after achieving a full compression that is kept through the bottom, and as long as possible, while when swinging up beyond the horizontal, the hips start to roll out and the arms perform a strong pull and wrist's shift toward the vertical line to clear the legs off from in between the arms while the body is brought back to support finishing with a with a hips opening to return to a handstand support. Yellow shirt Check again the great deep pike compression this gymnast demonstrates when his inside endo is swinging through the bottom. Look now at some still frames of the previous example.
The gymnast demonstrating this combination bails over with a little arch to begin the inside endo, but then shows a good compression, and on the swing up and comes out of the skill with the correct hip roll-out action. On the pirouette to mixed grip he again has a slight arch that could be refined to a straighter position and keeps his head slightly out to maintain visual contact with the rail during his pirouette which helps him to regrasp the bar more consistently.
In general, one of the most common learning mistakes of either straddle or inside endo to full pirouette is to swing down crooked after the pirouette. The reason for this mistake is an excess of support transfer to the post arm. The gymnasts shift their weight like they were going to perform the regular front pirouette that they have learned before, and that really requires a support transfer beyond the vertical of the post arm to finish square in a different bar position. The full pirouette ends with the hand re-grasping the bar in the same area that the skill begins so the weight support transfer to let go of the hand must be minimum and momentary, and must not go beyond the vertical like this correct example shows. Still 2 - Notice how the hand re-grasps the bar in the same area that it let go of the rail. In this far view example the gymnast could pull stronger to support to flow without pause and pirouette straighter. In this other example the endo to pirouette should flow without a pause in between. Last clip - The combination flows much better here.
As mentioned before for the endo to mixed grip full pirouette combination, some of the gymnasts' main goals are to clear the rail, to flow from the endo to the pirouette without a large pause, and to swing down square. Notice how the gymnast keeps his eyes on the bar during the full pirouette.
Begining with an undergrip during the front part of the swing the gymnast brings the legs to a deep pancake in which the body passes through the bottom and is kept during the swing up while the athlete initiates a strong straight arms pull to support. The support ends with a wrist shift while the legs move out of the pancake compression. 2nd clip In this closer example check onc more how the deep pancake position is kept during the swing up while the athlete initiates a strong straight arms pull to support that ends with a wrist shift meantime the legs finally begin to move out of the pancake compression. Still 1 Pancake compression when hips close to horizontal. Still 2 Legs begin to come out after horizontal wrists are begining to shift. Still 3 Legs are clearing the bars wrist shift is moving to support. Still 4 Legs are clear the arms are closer to full support. Last clip Once the gymnasts understand the drill they may begin to train full endos coming out of front giants. For the whole skill the body should bail a little forward beyond the handstand to create some circular momentum for the endo and maintain a nicer flowing motion from skill to skill.
