January 14, 2011
In this drill the gymnast begins with both hands in an eagle grip and jumps up to a handstand with eagle grip support afterwards to land flat down while maintaining a fully streched position and without loosing the grip on the bar. The drill can also be performed bouncing from a board, but either way, one of the goals is to show a vertically supported handstand without any pike before falling down. In these examples the male gymnast is moving over a little too quick before showing a fully extended vertical handstand. For eagle giants male gymnasts tend to keep the head neutral during the handstand support while many female gymnast approach the skill keeping a visual contact with the rail. Either way is valid as long as the body shows a great extended line during the eagle grip handstand support.
January 13, 2011
To swing in the straps with an eagle grip the hands are placed through the straps like for undergrip swings. The gymnast then makes a backwards roll to dislocate. The athlete must shift the wrists to maintain proper weight support at peak height or his body may collapse against the bar. Notice also the wrists shift on each inverted giants ascending phase to support. To come out of the straps once the athlete stops he uses the elevated spotting surface to initiate a forward roll coming in this way out of the eagle grip toward an undergrip. Clip #2 Check again in this closer view how the gymnast sets his hands on the straps for undergrip swings and by means of a backward roll with a dislocate he gets into the disired position to practice his eagle grip swings and inverted giants. Notcie also how in each inverted giant the body shortens with a pike to facilitate the return to support and then straightens up again for maximum presentation amplitude and to increase the swing down.
