Coaches Front and back walk overs.

[ryantroop]

Since we did a front-handspring development, I was hoping we could talk a little about another skills (or group of skills)..

Front and back walk overs.

I can get front and back limbers easy. The pretty extended body, leg up front walk over and back walk over are not so easy for me.. Unless Im just having too high hopes for circuit training in one day (which is pretty true Im sure), I am looking for a good development for these skills.

Right now, I do 2 stations.

Hand walk down the wall, walk back up.

Back bend on a spotting block (side ways), bend knees, straighten legs, kick over to stand up. Eventually use a lower mat, or folding mat, removing folds as necessary.

Dont have much more... I would LOVE suggestions..

Thanks all,

Ryan

 

[Linsul]

Do you have big round barrel mats? I don't know the actual name of them, they're like octagons actually but they roll. We call them barrels at our gym. Those are great for giving them the confidence to extend up on one leg since they can backbend over the mat with no worries. They're also good for just laying on their backs with their arms straight and learning how to stand up from there without moving their arms.

 

[gymdog]

Those are good for them to get the flex and mechanics of the basic walkover, for perfection, I would integrate a lot of kicks (front and back). If they can't do 5-10 high front and back kicks with good form they'll have trouble staying tight throughout.

You can also use a wedge mat to make it easier (hands and head on the low side).

I tell kids to push all the way through their leg and send rockets through their toes. Most times, they aren't really pushing through their leg, just trying to pull over from the kick. Push armpits forwards, block out of shoulder, keep head in (otherwise probably will cause shoulder angle problems as they kick over).

 

[CoachGoofy]

I use wedge mats a lot, and attempts on an 8 incher for front walkover, as well as the barrell for front walkover. We also sometimes do the front walkover down the wedge (back, not so much, because it's hard for them to control the backbend down hill).

Back walkover, I have them place their toe on something first to remind them not to shift weight onto the front foot.

BEfore they even START front walkovers I'd like them to be able to do front limber and stand up, and before doing back walkovers they need a backbend kickover with reasonably good form and a solid backbend.

And we spend time shaping a good bridge with weight shifting onto the hands and the upper back arched with their feet elevated a bit...for some reason I have a lot of kids this year with very tight shoulders and this helps that whole set of skills.

 

[ryantroop]

Thank you for all of your feedback!

Im glad to know Im on the right track.

I dont have a barrel, unfortunately, but I do use the wedge. I will work on body shaping some.


How long should I expect this to take? For reference, we have 2 classes a week, for 1.5 hours. I spend about 35 minutes every other class on floor/beam skills.

I was kind of hoping that in a 3 week session, they would be able to get decent front and back walk overs, but with how the first session went, Im not so sure..

a lot of them complained about wrists hurting. Ive been doing wrist warm-ups and strength work to help combat it, and telling them to work on wrist work at home (squeeze socks/stress ball 100 times a day, etc..) but it doesn't seem to help much... any suggestions on that?

Thanks again!

Ryan

 

[gymdog]

It really depends on their flexibility and strength. FWO especially takes a lot, plus stability from core and upper body muscles for both. Especially with kids who are already older, if they don't have that natural flexibility, it's going to be an uphill battle to develop it. 3 weeks is unrealistic I'd have to say. I think you should start more slowly with bridging and elevated kickovers so they can develop shoulder and core stability, that will help with wrist issues and smoothness in the skill.