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.
When a gymnast performs this combination, some of the goals are to show the V with the legs pointing up close to vertical. Then continue to show a straddle press with straight arms and eventually a good handstand.
This is an interesting mount that can usually be accomplished without too much trouble. Starting on the spring board, the athlete jumps up and a little back, straddling the legs as much as possible and quickly placing the hands on the apparatus.
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.
In this stalder drill the aim is to land in a pancake position with the arms straight and shoulders pushing and stretching away from the bar. Gymnast that have some personal difficulty with the pancake position need to develop better flexibilty to be able to perform great stalders. During the stalder drill the gymnast should not rush to straddle right on the handstand but planche down a little and then push away while moving into the pancake position. Keeping good form in any training drill helps to establish long lasting excellent presentation habits.
