Coaches Backbends & Private Lessons

[RecAcro4Fun]

Hello!

TLDR: I'm teaching a 30 min private lesson - what are some stretches, drills, etc. that can help a cheerleader progress into a back handspring? Her arms/shoulders look odd in her backbend; she needs more flexibility in shoulders and hips. She can currently push up into a backbend but cannot do it from standing, kick over, or hold it for very long.

First of all I am a novice coach. I participated in competitive gymnastics in my youth (and I can still do a few moves at the ripe old age of 33!), but I am not a formally trained coach by any means.

I recently starting teaching a rec class at my old studio since I recently moved back to town with my daughter. Anywho, they've asked me to take on a private lesson for a high school cheerleader who wants to learn how to do a back handspring. Our first class was last week and I kind of fumbled my way through the 30 minute lesson with her mom watching me like a hawk (gulp).

I don't want to just have her do all different kinds of backbends for 30 minutes, so I'm in desperate need of some other ideas. Our studio doesn't have a ton of equipment, but we do have a trampoline, mini tramp, springtrack, spring board, cheese mats, and octagon mats.

I had her do chest rocks, backbend walks, backbend pushups, straight legs in the backbend, straddle rolls... kind of anything I could think of to take up 30 min because I didn't know what to expect or plan for the first class. I explained to her and her mom that she wouldn't be able to jump right into working on a back handspring at her current level. They understood.

Our second class is coming up and I don't want to let anyone down and/or look like a fumbling fool. Please please please help me with some ideas of what I can do during this class knowing that she really only wants to focus on working towards a back handspring. Note, she can already do things like a cartwheel, roundoff, handstand, etc. I appreciate any and all feedback and input here.

Thank you kindly, fellow coaches!

 

[raenndrops]

With so much focus on backbends, please make sure she is doing "rock-n-rolls" after any extended backbend (like backbend walks). She should curl into a ball and rock back and forth a few times.
What about handstands (stomach to the wall), then drop into a backbend on a panel mat (with a spot at first, until you are barely touching her)?
Then, she can try to walk her hands up the wall (also with a spot) to standing.
There are a lot of tutorials on you tube (but don't choose the "learn quickly" ones).




These should give you some ideas.

 

[RecAcro4Fun]

With so much focus on backbends, please make sure she is doing "rock-n-rolls" after any extended backbend (like backbend walks). She should curl into a ball and rock back and forth a few times.
What about handstands (stomach to the wall), then drop into a backbend on a panel mat (with a spot at first, until you are barely touching her)?
Then, she can try to walk her hands up the wall (also with a spot) to standing.
There are a lot of tutorials on you tube (but don't choose the "learn quickly" ones).




These should give you some ideas.

Thank you!! And yes, I do have her do the "egg roll" frequently since we are doing so many backbends, I appreciate the reminder! Thank you for linking specific videos as well! I sincerely appreciate your response!

I also wonder, am I right to focus on the flexibility and backbend improvement first? My gut feeling is its too soon to be working on like the back handspring specific drills/basics since she cant even do a backbend from standing yet? Her backbend is currently pretty flat since her shoulders are lacking in flexibility. I'm sure she would find those things more "fun", though!

 

[raenndrops]

Thank you!! And yes, I do have her do the "egg roll" frequently since we are doing so many backbends, I appreciate the reminder! Thank you for linking specific videos as well! I sincerely appreciate your response!

I also wonder, am I right to focus on the flexibility and backbend improvement first? My gut feeling is its too soon to be working on like the back handspring specific drills/basics since she cant even do a backbend from standing yet? Her backbend is currently pretty flat since her shoulders are lacking in flexibility. I'm sure she would find those things more "fun", though!

Some of the drills shown actually do work on shoulder flexibility (arched handstand with or without shoulder shrug, for example).To keep it all from being too much at once, throw in a few of the drills that help with the prep that comes before the back handspring, like the ones that practice the sit to jump back. If you have a vault stack (gymnastics L2/L3/XB/XS vault), she could practice that ... and our girls find it kinda fun (even the older girls who have had their BHS for years).
Good luck.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Hello!

TLDR: I'm teaching a 30 min private lesson - what are some stretches, drills, etc. that can help a cheerleader progress into a back handspring? Her arms/shoulders look odd in her backbend; she needs more flexibility in shoulders and hips. She can currently push up into a backbend but cannot do it from standing, kick over, or hold it for very long.

First of all I am a novice coach. I participated in competitive gymnastics in my youth (and I can still do a few moves at the ripe old age of 33!), but I am not a formally trained coach by any means.

I recently starting teaching a rec class at my old studio since I recently moved back to town with my daughter. Anywho, they've asked me to take on a private lesson for a high school cheerleader who wants to learn how to do a back handspring. Our first class was last week and I kind of fumbled my way through the 30 minute lesson with her mom watching me like a hawk (gulp).

I don't want to just have her do all different kinds of backbends for 30 minutes, so I'm in desperate need of some other ideas. Our studio doesn't have a ton of equipment, but we do have a trampoline, mini tramp, springtrack, spring board, cheese mats, and octagon mats.

I had her do chest rocks, backbend walks, backbend pushups, straight legs in the backbend, straddle rolls... kind of anything I could think of to take up 30 min because I didn't know what to expect or plan for the first class. I explained to her and her mom that she wouldn't be able to jump right into working on a back handspring at her current level. They understood.

Our second class is coming up and I don't want to let anyone down and/or look like a fumbling fool. Please please please help me with some ideas of what I can do during this class knowing that she really only wants to focus on working towards a back handspring. Note, she can already do things like a cartwheel, roundoff, handstand, etc. I appreciate any and all feedback and input here.

Thank you kindly, fellow coaches!

I saw your post on reddit! It makes me happy to see new coaches using online resources to learn about technique! I'll copypaste my response from there, and I'm expand on any of it if you like:

A backbend/bridge kickover doesn't really have much to do with a backhandspring, honestly. A good backhandspring doesn't arch nearly as much as a back bend. Shoulder flexibility is nice to have, but not a requirement. The best and most important prerequisite skill is a solid handstand; as a general rule at all levels of tumbling, time spent perfecting the handstand is always always always time well spent.

Before we get to technique, let's talk physical preparation. Strength is much more important to a backhandspring than flexibility. Lower body strength for the takeoff (calf raises, squats, box jumps, anything plyometric, any sort of jumping at all). Midsection/core strength (hollow rockers, arch rockers, hanging tuck ups or leg lifts, planks) for the flight phases and the support phase. Upper body strength (handstands, push-ups, handstand push-ups) for the support phase. Wrist and ankle stability for injury prevention (exercising this is a bit more complicated, and I'm sure there are resources out there better than I).

With a backhandspring -- and with absolutely any skill you could ever possibly want to teach or improve -- the best way to train it is to break it down into simpler components. Figure out which of those components needs work, and break them down into their own simpler components. Etc, etc, etc. Once you can't break it down any smaller, perfect each component and build your way back up.

Anyway as far as technique goes, here's how I'd go about this with a backhandspring:

First, we can separate the BHS into three phases, with their own points of emphasis and their own goals:

1. The takeoff and first flight phase There are two main things we're looking for: first, we want to travel back as far as possible; second, we want to hit a tight, *slight* arch. The athlete should not so much be trying to arch their back, as they should be trying to open their hips and shoulders while remaining tight and extended. And to emphasize again: the farther we can travel in this phase, the better.
2. The support phase The biggest thing to do here is wait. Maintain a tight extended position, and keep the hips and shoulders extended until the body is past vertical.
3. The snap and landing Snapdown/snapup/tap/kurbet/there's a million names for this motion, but the idea is to snap from an extended arch to a closed hollow shape. This snap occurs primarily in the chest, and secondarily in the hips. On landing, the upper back should be hunched, the knees slightly bent, and the head and arms should be the last thing to come up (in fact, I like to train athletes to land with head and arms still down in front).

Figure out which of these phases needs work (and the answer may well be "all of them"), then look for ways to break those down into smaller components. I'll use the first part as an example:

The takeoff and first flight can be broken down into a lean, a jump, and an extended tight arch.
You can work the lean by sitting back into a wall. Stand about a foot or two away from a wall with the arms in front and the chest hollow, and sit back until you hit the wall, trying to keep your core tight throughout.
You can work the jump by, well jumping. Jumping up onto a box, jumping on trampoline, jumping up to a bar and then dropping, anything you can think of involving jumping.
You can work the tight extended arch simply on the floor. Have the athlete lie on her back on a squishy mat with arms extended by her ears, body tight and extended. Next tell her to try to lift her hips up while pushing her hands and feet down into the mat.

So we take the time to practice each of these pieces until they seem easy. Then we put the pieces back together into bigger chunks. For example, we can combine the lean and jump by having the athlete jump backwards to her back on a thick mat, trying to travel as far as she can. And we can combine the jump and tight arch by having the athlete stand on a squishy mat, jump as high as she can, and land on her back in a tight extended arch.

We can similarly break down the support phase into its components and rebuild it. And the same with the snap and landing phase. Then we can combine the takeoff and support phase; the way I do this is to spot the athlete on only the first half of the backhandspring, stopping them in a tight extended arch with the weight on their hands and their feet off the floor (or have them do something similar over a barrel -- BUT DON'T LET THEM PIKE OVER AT THE END WE DON'T WANT THAT PIKE!). And we can do handstand snapdowns to combine the support phase and the snap/landing phase.

And then we put it all together and, if we've taken the time to perfect each component, we should end up with a clean, long, beautiful, consistent backhandspring.