January 12, 2011
If the gymnast is having problems showing a tight arch and the coach is confident of being able to handle the gymnast's weight he places a hand on the upper back reaching toward the further shoulder area while keeping the other hand on the hamstring. When the gymnast jumps back the coach stops the motion in mid air to allow the athlete to position her body into the correct shape. If the coach is spotting on the left side of the gymnast his right hand goes on the upperback to the far shoulder area and his left hand spots on the closer hamstring. This drill also allows the gymnast to work on her head position during the first flying phase. The head should not be stuck all the way down forward nor should it be all the way out backwards. It is more desirable to aim for a neutral head position or just slightly out in the flying direction. To master the second flying phase from hands to feet the gymnast must practice different drills because this one does not offer a good opportunity for arms repulsion. No coach should attempt this kind of spotting with gymnasts whose weight they have not tested first by lifting them from a standing position to a tight arch without any jumping back. For the large majority of gymnasts learning standing back handsprings the coach must spot standing up himself and placing his hands on the middle or far side of he gymnast's lower back and the close hamstring. A coach may decide to kneel down only to spot very light or small gymnasts so he can reach under their weight better. A coach should never attempt to spot from a sitting position because he will be unable to follow the gymnast motions and move himself quickly and effectively too.
January 12, 2011
Starting to teach back handsprings without arm swings may help the gymnasts to get used to keeping the arms closer to the head in the early learning stages plus it can save the coach a couple of face slaps. Place the gymnast on a position as if they were coming from a round off or another back handspring. Because this gymnast is light and already knows the skill the hand spotting the lower back is placed on the middle instead of farther across. Coaches must only spot back handsprings from kneeling when the gymnast is so light that her weight can be handled easy from this spotting position.
January 12, 2011
When spotting new gymnasts on backhandsprings we must keep our head further back away from them to avoid getting hit if they open the arms too much. The gymnast may get used to keeping the arms closer by practicing swing drills and some spotted standing backhandsprings without swinging the arms.
January 12, 2011
Once we are relatively sure that the gymnast is not going to throw the arms out too open we can add the arms swing to their spotted back handsprings. This gymnast is trying to master a hollow turn over second flying phase instead of just piking it down. Coaches may use every training opportunity to help establish good posture habits like standing up with stomach area in and buttocks tucked in too. Starting with a hollow instead of a totally straight back allows for a more explosive upper body range of motion and mimics an effective way to connect back tumbling skills like a roung off to back handspring a handspring to another handspring or to different types of somersaults.
January 12, 2011
Swinging both arms tilted to one side and twisting the body on that direction as if the gymnasts were trying to look over their shoulder to see where their body is going instead of keeping it square is another common back handspring mistake. Barrel back handsprings may help the gymnasts to work out the problem emphasizing to feel their backs landing on the barrell square and without turning the head sideways. / Also training back handspring set ups with a spot can help to solve the problem. /Double bouncing forward to begin the back handspring does not add any significant power. It complicates the skill and detracts the gymnasts mind from focusing on the correct body motions to accomplish the skill. In this slow motion replay notice several other mistakes such as elbows bent when the arms swing and when the hands touch floor and of course there was no blocking and arms repulsion. /Coaches must always search for and apply a variety of drills to enrich the gymnasts learning process increase their growing body awareness and their skills' execution mastery.
January 11, 2011
Once the gymnast has a fair snap down from folding mats, they can start practicing back handsprings with a spot. This is a good introduction to connecting a handspring from the hands-to-feet flying phase and is very helpful as an initial preparation for roundoff back handsprings. The spotting is similar to the one for roundoff back handsprings. If on the left of the athlete during the way down, the right hand moves to the lower back, and the left follows moving to the left hamstring.
January 11, 2011
The snap down back handspring is a very helpful progressive step toward the round off back handspring. Advanced gymnasts may practice this combination to refine some back tumbling technical details such as turning over from hands to feet on a hollow single body unit and rebounding with a tight arch first flying phase while the shoulder area is open. This gymnast is trying to turn over some more during the snap down. He is squating a little too much he needs to turn over and rebound more. /Last turn/ This example has a little better turn over than the ones before.
January 11, 2011
Piking down with knees bent and no arm repulsion at all is a very common novice mistake. There is not a flying phase and the feet touch the floor with the hands still down. Now the legs are straight coming down but still there is no arms repulsion. Observe once more these common novice mistakes. Bending the legs down without arms repulsion and piking down also without arms repulsion.
January 11, 2011
Here are several snap down examples some better than others. Back handsprings have two flying phases one from feet to hands and the second turning from hands to feet. Snap downs help gymnast to understand the second flying phase. She could open the shoulders more to begin the snap down. In this example notice a much better shoulder opening to begin the snap down. /4th clip/ Better shoulder opening. /6thclip/ After Gymnasts can snap down safely from folded mats they can try from spring boards. The extra bounciness facilitates to train the deep hollow turn over without having to pike down. This is an incorrect snap down with an excessive pike. This gymnast shows a better turnover with a deep hollow position.
January 11, 2011
Snap down drills are closely related to the hands-to-feet motion on back handsprings required to add power and turn over to the rebound connecting a handspring to another handspring or to a somersault. The goal is to open the shoulder area and then pushing from shoulders and wrists snap the whole body into a deep hollow while turning on one unit from hands to feet. /Still1/ Shoulder Opening. /Still2/ Straight up handstand. /Still 3/ Shoulders opening. /Still 4/ Aiming for hollow turn over down.
