Women Be Tight and Suck in the Abs Core during Cartwheel

[michellethomas]

My coach asked me to suck in my abs core when doing cartwheels. Doesn't that lead to a stiff body and feel kind of like robot? In basketball and softball, a relaxed body leads to a quicker/smoother motion rather than being tight. Just trying to understand this concept.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Think of it like solving an algebra equation. The fewer variables there are, the simpler the equation, and the easier it is to solve. Every additional variable makes the equation more complicated.

Tightness removes variables in your movement. When your body is loose, it moves in ways that are more complex and harder to predict; being tight means control over everything your body is doing, making the skill more predictable and more reliably replicable.

Sports like soccer are less reliant on very precise, practiced movements, and more reliant on things like running and jumping, with improvised changes in direction and speed. These movements are far more mechanically complex than a cartwheel, but fortunately our bodies and brains have spent millions of years learning to do each of these things as efficiently as possible, so in these cases it's best to just relax and let the body do what it already knows how to do.

 

[michellethomas]

Think of it like solving an algebra equation. The fewer variables there are, the simpler the equation, and the easier it is to solve. Every additional variable makes the equation more complicated.

Tightness removes variables in your movement. When your body is loose, it moves in ways that are more complex and harder to predict; being tight means control over everything your body is doing, making the skill more predictable and more reliably replicable.

Sports like soccer are less reliant on very precise, practiced movements, and more reliant on things like running and jumping, with improvised changes in direction and speed. These movements are far more mechanically complex than a cartwheel, but fortunately our bodies and brains have spent millions of years learning to do each of these things as efficiently as possible, so in these cases it's best to just relax and let the body do what it already knows how to do.

and I should be mildly somewhat tight, but not overtight so I'm not like a robot? correct? thanks for the answer/explanations. , also it just feels awkward and I cannot move as well when I am tight, I will practice more

 

[sun]

The way I see it there are several levels of muscle control
At the beginning, you just try to make the cartwheel, no muscle squeezing required.
Then, you learn how to squeeze a few things. Raising your shoulders, actively pulling your legs apart, locking out your legs perfectly etc.
The "Robot" level is somewhere around here in my opinion. I think the "Robot" level is where you are trying to squeeze everything that you know is part of your technique, but you haven't learned to move smoothly while squeezing.


Plus, if you aren't squeezing your muscles (bouncy, soft, spring-like), then something else in your body is taking all the impact, bones and joints (Hard, fragile).

Use the bouncy things!

 

[MuggleMom]

Watch a higher level gymnast do a cartwheel, or a cartwheel on beam. They definitely aren't loose, you can look at every muscle and see its engaged to achieve good form (the right body shape, straight legs, pointed toes etc) but they dont look like a robot its still a fluid motion. Maybe you need to think about it as engaging all your muscles to achieve the right shapes instead of tight which can give you that robot blocky feel to the motions.

 

[melissaallen59425]

Think of it like solving an algebra equation. The fewer variables there are, the simpler the equation, and the easier it is to solve. Every additional variable makes the equation more complicated.

Tightness removes variables in your movement. When your body is loose, it moves in ways that are more complex and harder to predict; being tight means control over everything your body is doing, making the skill more predictable and more reliably replicable.

Sports like soccer are less reliant on very precise, practiced movements, and more reliant on things like running and jumping, with improvised changes in direction and speed. These movements are far more mechanically complex than a cartwheel, but fortunately our bodies and brains have spent millions of years learning to do each of these things as efficiently as possible, so in these cases it's best to just relax and let the body do what it already knows how to do.

I've looked at some cartwheel tutorials/instructions, never really saw suck in the abs/stomach part a lot in reading

 

[sun]

I've looked at some cartwheel tutorials/instructions, never really saw suck in the abs/stomach part a lot in reading

Your abs are like the spokes on a wheel. the wheel is supported by the strength of the spokes.
If you make your abs tighter, your whole body will move better. It takes practice, but controlling your body (squeezing) will give you more control in your gymnastics. Like I said earlier, when you get good at it, you'll look like a robot, and when you're excellent at it, you'll move quickly smoothly and consistently.

I've never found a tutorial on this either.

 

[melissaallen59425]

Your abs are like the spokes on a wheel. the wheel is supported by the strength of the spokes.
If you make your abs tighter, your whole body will move better. It takes practice, but controlling your body (squeezing) will give you more control in your gymnastics. Like I said earlier, when you get good at it, you'll look like a robot, and when you're excellent at it, you'll move quickly smoothly and consistently.

I've never found a tutorial on this either.

yeah, thanks! they need to have better tutorials and resources on the web,

 

[sun]

Totally. There are really great nuggets out there if you look hard enough, but there's also tons of fluff.

Here's one of the better ones. Almost everything in this will improve a cartwheel, too, cuz handstand.