Back handspring for adult gymnast

[sythiel]

Hi,
I am a 28 year old female trying to learn a BHS for the first time. I can do the correct movements using a barrel but as soon as I switch to a spotted BHS I don't seem to be able to keep the correct upper back arch position. Do you know any drills/conditioning exercises that I could do to work on this problem?
Thanks a lot in advance

 

[pattymello]

Tricky i already replied to your other post. I will repeat my question anyway. How is your shoulder and bridge flexibility?

 

[sythiel]

Hi, I posted it twice because I realized that as you said the previous post was pretty old. My bridge on the floor is ok but I can't do a standing bridge because we never train them at the gym. My coach seems to think that my problem is that I don't keep the right arched shape during the jumping movement even if physically I can do it. I just don't know how to fix it since there are so many things to keep in mind when doing a BHS :-(

 

[pattymello]

It could be that you need to work on your strength especially in your ability to hold an arch. Learning limbers can help with this. Also arch rocks on floor and heel kicks. As for learning the backflip have you tried it on a wedge or stating it up so you flip downhill, flipping each time you make contact with the floor you are dropping down a few inches? If you have the body prep, and understanding of the skill and a spotter than it is only a matter of time. Just keep trying new things to solve the problem until you find something that works.

 

[Kiwi]

I am also an adult learning BHS! It's hard to guess what the problem is without a video. Are you practising lots of jumpbacks? Another thing to be aware of is your head position. I'm not sure how your coach is training your BHS, but I was taught to start in the question mark position (rather than the big knee bend and big arm swing approach), and I find it really helps with making the shapes. Another thing to be aware of is to jump back in a rainbow shape. A lot of people jump up and do a kind of mid-air flip then land on their hands. I've found thinking about keeping my legs straight helps this, actually I think about pointing my feet as I spring.

As well as shoulder flexibility, you could work on your spinal flexibility, particularly in the upper back. For example, cat stretches: Cat Stretch - YouTube.
Also, this video has lots of stretches for back and shoulders: Shoulder & Upper back stretches for contortion - YouTube
I don't have good shoulder flexibility either. I also had no extension in the upper back until I started doing exercises specifically for the upper back and it has improved although I'm still not what you would call flexible. Sometimes flexibility can be improved by working on other stretches than the obvious ones, for example stretching pecs and lats can help with shoulder flexibility.