Before an athlete attempts any difficult yurchenko half-turn vault, they must master a consistent round-off half onto elevated mats. Observe in this back view how the half-turn is performed, anchoring the twist from the board. Take a final look at this back view of a yurchenko half-turn timer and notice how these type of skills require an early controlled twist without killing the turnover.
For the yurchenko half-on the shoulders are moved from a blocking position in front of the feet to slightly behind the feet. The gymnast is performing an early twist and a quick half turn to get a good amount of air off the table. The gymnast contacts the table with the hands ahead of the shoulders. Grabbing the shins is the best way to speed up the rotation. Watch a few yurchenko halfs at regular video speed.
These are some helpful progressive skills to introduce yurchenko vaults. First the gymnast roundoffs to a higher mat. The roundoff should be landed with the center of mass in front of the feet. In the next step the gymnast practices roundoffs to rebound on a springboard. When they demonstrate consistent rebounds, the gymnast can begin practicing some tuck somersaults and eventually layouts and high whip backs. The gymnast hollows too early in this example. In this better example, the gymnast kept the tight arch position longer, but his head is too far out and his shoulders should be more open.
Practicing yurchenko timers to stacked mats is a useful way to train different vaulting techniques without having to worry about injuries. As the gymnasts get better, they can raise the height to make the drill more challenging. Observe the table repulsion on this yurchenko timer. Watch the previous video example again with a couple of still frames of the take-off. This gymnast is already straight and off the table by the vertical.
The Yurchenko layouts follow the same principles required for all other round-off entry vaults. The hurdle should move up and forward. This gymnast has some problems to refine during her round-off; a round-off flying phase that could be more hollow instead of piked. Her arms bend a little too much on the vault. As a result, she leaves the table late. Notice the dive to a round-off with the hands touching the floor almost at the same time. Watch another example from a different angle. Observe a yurchenko layout performed by an elite athlete.
Yurchenko layouts are commonly used by competitive gymnasts as warm-ups for more difficult yurchenko vaults involving multiple twists. Take a look at these varied yurchenko timers from different video angles.
A low single rail is a very useful piece of equipment to master different technical aspects of several horizontal bar or uneven bar skills. The back bail is the beginning part of back giants. The drill is performed falling very stretched from the handstand and landing flat down on soft mats approximately at the same height as the low rail. The pointed feet must contact the mat before the hips or abdominal are with the body showing a subtle hollow position. The arms should be by the ears bailing down straight and pushing away with the shoulders area very stretched.
In the front bail drill to prepare the first part of the front giants the gymnasts bail down with the shoulders very stretched and the body straight aiming to land on the mat as flat as possible without any hips pike or shoulder angle. By the time the body hits the mat the wrists must be in line with the arms by the ears with elbows locked and head neutral. The coach must check to be sure that the gymnasts are not arching or piking down during the drill execution.
This low single rail drill helps gymnasts to understand how to cast to a handstand with straddled legs. Beginning from a hollow prone support the gymnast moves down to a tight arch, and from there quickly snaps the hips up, aiming to bring the body weight on top of the arm support without letting the legs come down too much. The straddle cast handstand action somehow mimics the regular straddle press handstand on the floor, but the feet and legs should not come dramatically down when the hips move up or the whole action becomes neutral and does not go up to a handstand. The goal is to bring the piking hips on top of the support with the straddle legs also moving up.
Technically correct front pirouettes on the horizontal bar or the uneven bars must be completed by the vertical or even slightly before. Kicking up with an undergrip short of reaching a complete vertical handstand performing a front pirouette and falling over flat in overgrip lend the athlete valuable understanding and experience about how to begin an early pirouette ahead of the body reaching the vertical line. The drill also helps the athletes to train their body weight transfer actions so their front pirouettes finish totally square, not tilted or swinging down crooked. When the gymnast kicks up at the same time that the arms support moves on the pirouette direction, the rest of the body from the feet down must move together with the arms and shoulder support.
