WAG Front Flip Tuck: How to handle bad sessions

[MichelleCat]

I am learning front flip tuck in Gymnastics class. We are going through all the drills with rolls and cushioned mats.
During a floor routine, what if I have a bad moment or round or under rotate, and accidentally land on my head. Is there room for error in a floor routine? I also play other sports like basketball and soccer, and if I miss a shot, oh well. However, with gymnastics I can end with potential head injury.

I can pull muscle, or get distracted, or lose train of thought. Just wondering if there is any safe mechanism to prevent these issues. Is there any way to break a fall like in Judo or Basketball? Thanks !

 

[MichelleCat]

see this example of how to break falls in Judo, curious if there is a way in Gymnastics

 

[MichelleCat]

Also in Parkour there is ways to side roll from a large fall, curious if Gymnastics has any methods,

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

If you're not confident in your ability to make it safely past your head, you're not ready to do a front tuck.

Regarding learning how to fall safely, the specifics are skill-dependent. It's a generally good idea to get comfortable rolling in any direction you can think of. Forward, diagonal (like in parkour), sideways, backwards. If the rolls themselves are uncomfortable for you, then that's where you should start. Of particular use are a roll to candlestick and backward roll for anything going backwards. For skills that rotate forwards, it's good to be comfortable doing both a straight forward roll and a PK roll as shown in the video. I don't know your age, but the older you are, the more important rolls are.

As for how to bail from a front tuck:
If you get a halfway decent takeoff and tuck even a little, that should be enough for you to rotate past your head and neck. In other words, if either your strength, your takeoff technique, or your confidence are not at a level where you feel absolutely certain in your ability to at least make it past your head, then you're not ready to work a front tuck.

I don't think a dive roll is useful as a bail from a front tuck. You more or less have to know which one you're going to do before you take off; if you take off like you should for a front tuck, then by the time your feet leave the floor you're already too late to turn it into a dive roll. If you take off for a front tuck and then bail, the best you can realistically hope for is to land flat on your back. On a spring floor or softer, that hurts only slightly less than it sounds like it would; on anything harder than a spring floor, you'll be feeling it for awhile.

The usefulness of a dive roll as a lead up to a front tuck depends on the training context. For young gymnasts (say, under 12) or gymnasts training onto a soft landing surface (preferably an 8-inch mat on a spring floor, or softer), it's a good skill to train in parallel to a front tuck. Building both skills in parallel reinforces strong orientation and control over rotation. However, I don't think a dive roll is necessary as a lead-up to a front tuck, simply because a clean and correct dive roll is at least as hard as a front tuck, if not harder.

 

[MichelleCat]

If you're not confident in your ability to make it safely past your head, you're not ready to do a front tuck.

Regarding learning how to fall safely, the specifics are skill-dependent. It's a generally good idea to get comfortable rolling in any direction you can think of. Forward, diagonal (like in parkour), sideways, backwards. If the rolls themselves are uncomfortable for you, then that's where you should start. Of particular use are a roll to candlestick and backward roll for anything going backwards. For skills that rotate forwards, it's good to be comfortable doing both a straight forward roll and a PK roll as shown in the video. I don't know your age, but the older you are, the more important rolls are.

As for how to bail from a front tuck:
The short answer is that if you're worried you might need to bail to a roll, you're not ready to work a front tuck.

If you get a halfway decent takeoff and tuck even a little, that should be enough for you to rotate past your head and neck. In other words, if either your strength, your takeoff technique, or your confidence are not at a level where you feel absolutely certain in your ability to at least make it past your head, then you're not ready to work a front tuck.

I don't think a dive roll is useful as a bail from a front tuck. You more or less have to know which one you're going to do before you take off; if you take off like you should for a front tuck, then by the time your feet leave the floor you're already too late to turn it into a dive roll. If you take off for a front tuck and then bail, the best you can realistically hope for is to land flat on your back. On a spring floor or softer, that hurts only slightly less than it sounds like it would; on anything harder than a spring floor, you'll be feeling it for awhile.

The usefulness of a dive roll as a lead up to a front tuck depends on the training context. For young gymnasts (say, under 12) or gymnasts training onto a soft landing surface (preferably an 8-inch mat on a spring floor, or softer), it's a good skill to train in parallel to a front tuck. Building both skills in parallel reinforces strong orientation and control over rotation. However, I don't think a dive roll is necessary as a lead-up to a front tuck, simply because a clean and correct dive roll is at least as hard as a front tuck, if not harder.

I have done front tuck multiple times, its just that there is always a 0.001% chance that something may happen. Mental Interruptions, painful muscle twitch, if there is no escape strategy, seems like there is no room for error in gymnastics. You can Youtube multiple videos where trained expert gymnasts have neck injuries. Just curious what strategy way to avoid them, (just like Judo, Parkour, Karate) instead of saying "people are not ready" etc.
Thanks

 

[ReluctantGymMom]

So my kid had a very specific fear about this. Because that’s exactly what happened to her. She’s a naturally fearless person who will throw skills all day and isn’t afraid to fall and she is usually naturally good at rolling safely out of things. But one day, a kid ran across her path when she was taking off for her front tuck and it was too late to stop, she under rotated and landed on her neck.

That is truly a freak accident though because even when she was just learning front tucks and in watching little kids learning them, when they under rotate, they land flat on their butt. Eventually they move from landing on their butt to on their feet.

so since she knows very much that this is a real thing that can happen if you bail in midair instead of continuing the rotation (even if it’s not all the way), she has had to work mentally a lot more on focusing before she goes; checking the coast is clear; telling her brain that this is the skill she’s committed to at that moment and it’s safer to try to finish it than to stop in midair. You always hope muscle memory carries you through, but it’s good to be intentional with your thoughts