Cartwheels on Beam

[gymnast_bre]

I'm starting cartwheels on beam. I usually land my first foot RIGHT next to the beam, and very rarely, I land the first foot on the beam but not the second one. How do I get the first foot to land on the beam EVERY time? And my second foot at least closer?

 

[Iwannabemargo]

generally it means that you are not cartwheeling upright enough - your head and bottome are sticking out - tuck your head in and make sure that your legs go oever the top of your head

 

[marie83]

My standard response for a beam skill:

Hundreds on a line on the floor. Pay close attention to your hand placement. Your head should be in between your arms, ears covered and you should look at the beam/line where you want your foot to land.

For the cartwheel, unless you are scared of the skill I usually suggest starting straight onto the high beam, but mat it right up. Do hundreds like this. Do not remove a single mat until you stick the cartwheels consistently - I usually have my gymnasts stick 10 in a row for a good week, if not more, before moving on - very very time consuming, but it seems to work!
When you reach that stage, remove one mat at a time and repeat the process!

If you still don't stick it after persevering, you can even put a pad on the beam to make it a bit wider.

Good luck!

ETA - Stay tight!!!

 

[2gymbratz]

You can look for your first foo to land. You can also try T-ing your hands which usually puts you in a better position (if your not already doing that). It helps some of our gymnasts. Make sure you are kicking straight over. A lot of girls want to kick around the side and it just doesn't work. Then it just comes down to practice, practice and more practice. Good Luck!

 

[gymgurl]

Sorry if this sounds like I am treating you like a baby because how I learnt to cartwheel was when I was fairly small.

It sounds to me like you are going around the world i.e. you are not vertical above the beam.

What you need to do is imagine your feet drawing a rainbow from the place they take off to the place you land.

Sorry its very childish but when ever i do a cartwheel I always think of drawing the rainbow, ever since i was 7

 

[Kiwi]

Keep your head in, look under your armpit to where your feet are going to land. Practise lots on a line on the floor. Also, don't rush it, slowing it down a bit can help to give you more control over where your feet go. I've found it helps me to think of going into it like a 'sideways handstand', thinking of it that way seems to stop me going around the side.

 

[Blessed4x]

My DD does them over and over on the tape line in our living room. Marie83, I was glad to hear that helps. She's still L3 so not working on them on the beam yet, but good to hear it may help her when she does