Back Handspring Question!!!!

[mygymnastrocks]

I have noticed that my daughters are bent when she does her back handsprings and that's for most of the girls that I've seen.. Some of the other girls whose tumbling looks better, their arms are totally straight. Can anyone tell me why this is happening?

Thanks!!

 

[ShootingStaRr]

I think this i because she is taking all the pressure through her arms, so its making her elbows bend. Try getting her to stretch it out. A good drill for this is snap downs. At the end of a springboard(springy part), do a handstand keeping the arms straight and by using the arms, prop off onto her feet. This helps build arm power.

I would get her to get in the habit of straight arms now before its too late, and this is one of the skills that isn't easy to break a habit.

 

[mygymnastrocks]

HI,

thanks for your reply. I was also told it might be that her arms/shoulders aren't close enough to her ears, that they are too spread out, which will cause them to bend... She does practice the snap downs, so I guess that's a good thing. thanks for your help.

 

[Wally]

Hi Jean (No Pun intended) - Has your daughter been progressed into BHS too quickly. Are her handstands really strong and can not only hold her weight but also push off through her blocking? Hard to know without seeing?

 

[Pineapple_Lump]

I was also told it might be that her arms/shoulders aren't close enough to her ears, that they are too spread out, which will cause them to bend...

This sounds like a shoulder flexibilty issue. Can she do a bridge with her shoulders directly over her hands or further?
How far off the ground can she lift a stick (broom handle etc...), while keeping her chin on the ground and hands at shoulder width?

 

[ShootingStaRr]

HI,

thanks for your reply. I was also told it might be that her arms/shoulders aren't close enough to her ears, that they are too spread out, which will cause them to bend... She does practice the snap downs, so I guess that's a good thing. thanks for your help.

Yup, that also another one.
Thats the one thing I was doing when I learnt them.

Make sure that she is tight through the whole skill, especially when connecting it. Thats the easiest way for the arms to bend when she isn't tight.
Also get her to practise backwards walkover and kick overs making sure that her shoulders are over her hands

 

[Deleted member D3987]

This sounds like a shoulder flexibilty issue. Can she do a bridge with her shoulders directly over her hands or further?
How far off the ground can she lift a stick (broom handle etc...), while keeping her chin on the ground and hands at shoulder width?

this is the correct answer.

 

[kflipz]

Try getting her to push up and backwards through her shoulders, she could be leaning too far over her shoulders, or she could not be strong enough. At my gym, all the girls who first learn bhs start with arms bent, and gradually get them straight, you just have to spend lots of time on it!

 

[CoachTodd]

I have noticed that my daughters are bent when she does her back handsprings and that's for most of the girls that I've seen.. Some of the other girls whose tumbling looks better, their arms are totally straight. Can anyone tell me why this is happening?

Thanks!!

As all of the responses I've seen are good ways of looking at the end effect (the arms bending) it's really hard to say what is causing it without a video. She may just simply be bending her arms for no reason. It could be shoulder flexibility, strength or any other number of things. She could be buckling her knees and under cutting and not giving herself time to get her arms into the correct position... and so on.

I'd hate to second guess what the fix would be without seeing the exact problem. That'd be like giving cough medicine for a soar throat but they swallowed a nail to make it sore.

 

[mygymnastrocks]

Thanks for all the suggestions etc.. Sorry for the late reply to answering my question ( almost a year, yikes) I never saw that my question was answered and haven't been on as much, due to other obligations etc.

My daughter has poor shoulder flexibility. She does stretching etc.. Some of her issue was also not being taught the correct way. We changed gyms and they are very much into technique in everything. Our old gym (she was there for 8 years) just said when she gets it, she gets it.. Her BHS has improved, but know she will continue to have issues with her shoulder flex. I see it more in her front walkover ( hard time doing it) but she has a nice front tuck !! She is a level 5 right now.

Thanks for your replies and again sorry for the late reply ..