WAG Adult Gymnast - Back Walkovers?

[gymnast5]

I'm wondering about the necessity of back walkovers as an adult gymnast and whether it's worth it to (re)train them.

I am a former DP gymnast who quit at level 4 after 3 years of competition (the season after the 2013 level changes, bet you can guess why) and rediscovered the sport about a year ago through my college club. I am now competing NAIGC at xcel platinum. I've regained a lot of my skills and in some cases have surpassed my former abilities. However, the one basic I have not regained is my kickover/walkover. I always had problems with my shoulder/upper back mobility when I was younger, and it seems age has just made me crazy stiff there, so I have pretty ugly bridges and backbends and kickovers and walkovers have not been my friend.

It would be nice to regain some back flexibility, and walkovers are good for floor choreography and that sort of thing. But in terms of skill development/good physical foundations, are back walkovers something I should be working on right now or does it really not matter for more advanced skills? I'll be working on them regardless, I'm just not sure how much to focus on it compared to other skills/strength work.

 

[GymnastPotterhead]

I'm not an adult but I competed Xcel Platinum last year and have also avoided walkovers for a while after my back injury (basically didn't do them much after the L4 season). Back walkovers hurt my back whenever I did them so I eventually just stopped doing them. I'd say some use it as a stepping stone towards back handsprings (going backwards, landing on your hands that sort of thing). It can be useful for L7 connections like back walkover-back handsprings. It's nice to have if you ever want to do a back handspring step out on beam because you'd typically warm up with a back walkover.
That said, you can absolutely not do them and still do fine. You don't need back walkovers to learn back handsprings. You don't even need back handsprings either but they are good to have for tumbling. But, you can compete Platinum with a round off if you'd like (thats what I did)

Hopefully that made sense lol