October 19, 2016
American Athletic, Inc. (AAI) is proud to announce that in September 2016, we received FIG approval (and certification) for the Graphite “E” Rail to be used during competition on our Elite Uneven Bar System (407-109). The Graphite E Rail is made with less graphite strands than our Graphite X Rail, allowing the gymnast a “softer” feel. The Graphite E Rail has been in use at the USA Gymnastics Junior Olympic level for approximately 5 years, and now is approved for use during all competition.
November 6, 2013
The Frame Bar and Quick Flex Bar are the most popular accessories to attach to your Tumbl Trak. But, how do you decide which one is best for your gym? The Frame Bar can be attached to any of the Tumbl Trak brand Tumbl Traks, while the Quick Flex Bar can not be attached to the In-ground Tumbl Trak or Porta Trak. Watch our product videos and read further descriptions below for more details on each of these essential Tumbl Trak accessories.
January 14, 2011
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.
January 14, 2011
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.
January 14, 2011
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.
January 14, 2011
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.
January 14, 2011
This low single rail drill helps gymnast beginning to learn a higgins to understand how to transfer their body weight over the post arm. Gymnasts must aim to keep a straight body line, and during the turn, maintain eye contact with the bar for catching the rail. Athletes with flexible shoulders can finish the skill with their eaglegrip closer to shoulder-width for better presentation and a more ample swing.
January 14, 2011
Low single rail full pirouette drills can be trained to a mixed-grip first, and then to a complete eagle grip. Some of the goals are to keep the body fully stretched during the turn without any arch or pike, and when coming down, to land straight on the soft mat instead of crooked to either the left or right side of a perfect perpendicular line in relation to the rail. The gymnasts can also learn how to keep visual contact with the rail to for catching it, and aim to grab the bar close to shoulder-width.
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 14, 2011
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.
