Coaches Back Handspring Help!

[CoachLili]

Need advice please. I have an athlete that won’t do her beautiful back handspring anymore, running or standing. She’s paying for private lessons with me and I’m at a loss on what to do with her. We’ve done many many jump backs, visualizations, worked over barrel, drills that break down the skill, etc. All of which she does perfectly. No pressure from me (which she does not do well with) She tells me she’s afraid of “not doing it perfectly” but I think it’s the jump that scares her. Back limbers with no issue. She will do a BHS into the pit only. Won’t do it with a spot anywhere! So… do I repeat BHS into the pit 1,000x until she’s comfortable to move it to the track surface? That’s literally all I can think of to do. Any advice appreciated!

 

[rd7]

You may have reached a point where private lessons are doing more harm than good. I would take the pressure off the skill completely for now. Work them into the pit in her usual training sessions (assuming it's a covered pit) not directly into foam) and no privates. Build from there.

 

[CoachLili]

Thanks for the reply. I’m happy to update this worked fine and for the most part, the block is gone. We switched to working other new skills to build confidence back up and eventually she just “did it” without any pressure from me.