Round off

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jayGatsby

Gymnast
Here a video of my round off and of some drills I have been doing, any suggestions on how to improve would be very welcome!



I have heard that one should get the legs together when hitting the handstand, which clearly I am not doing, however I have also read that in order to do so one would need to slow down the kicking leg, thus reducing power, and instead the legs should join past vertical not much before landing, which more similar to what I am doing, which one is correct?

Thanks and happy 2020!
 
Feet should come together right at the end, just before contacting the floor.

Anyway, I'll take a look at the video and comment as I go. Stream-of-consciousness first, then I'll try to break it down and make suggestions on what to focus on.
-Hurdle is too high; it should be low, long, and fast
-Lunge upon landing the hurdle should also be lower
-Timing of the turn in the first phase of the RO is excellent -- you avoid the extremely-common mistake of turning early, well done.
-Hand position looks correct from what I can tell
-Bent knees while your legs go over the top make it much harder for you to pivot efficiently; straightening the legs won't just make it look nicer, it will make a noticeable mechanical difference as well.

Regarding your drills:
-The roundoff to the knees drill.... I'm not sure it's helping you where you're at right now. It's a good drill for certain aspects of the skill, but I don't think it really addresses any of your issues that well. I'd leave it out for now, possibly come back to it as a backhandspring/snapdown drill down the road

Alright, so as for suggestions, the first thing I would suggest is a TON of cartwheel-step-ins, both from fall-step and from knee lunge. Do them on a line, make them fast and powerful, and focus on straight legs going over top and also on the landing position. When you finish the skill, your arms should be right around horizontal (not vertical, horizontal), with your head between your arms, eyes on the floor in front of your feet, upper-back aggressively rounded. You may have too much speed to hold this position, and might stumble back or roll back to candlestick afterward, and that's fine; controlled landings aren't the goal at this point.

Are you working with a coach, and is it somebody strong enough to spot you? If so, I recommend training standing backhandsprings; imo, standing BHS is easier than a proper roundoff, and should generally be learned (or at least drilled) before the roundoff if possible.
 
So, hurdle and lunge lower/longer/more forward, straightening legs and the landing position you described. Thanks a lot, I'll work on that and the cartwheel step in and maybe post another video once I've progressed a bit.

I'm following some adult gymnastics classes and can get spotting for back handsprings so I'll put that in too. The problem with adult classes is that kinda landing a skill is often considered more than enough, with little care about proper progressions and polishing technique. I'd like to learn proper technique even if it takes longer, but often I do not know what are the important bits to focus on, good thing there are coaches around willing to help :)
 
Yes, as others have said your hurdle is to high. You want to aim for the hurdle to your round off to be low and long, picture in your mind hurdling forwards not upwards.

You need to have a deep lunge in your front leg. Ideally you start in a straight position, and the deep lunge allows you to go into the round off without picking or bending your body. Practice this in a handstands, lunge deep and try not to pike, if you practice it enough you will naturally do it in your round off too. Doing it in the handstand allows you to isolate the movement, rather than having to focus on many things at once.

You have good shoulder flexibility for a guy! When you hurdle with your arms to your ears, make sure your shoulders are fully extended (shrugged up) and your chest is rounded (like in a hollow position) to allow for maximum amplitude in the block off your hands.

Try to rebound off the balls off your feet, it looks like your heels are touching the ground at the end of the skill. Your feet act like springs, if your heels touch the floor you will loose that spring action. You can practise this just by lifting up onto your toes and rebounding along the floor (little bounces on your toes) without letting your heels touch the floor.
 

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