Front handspring from the very beginning

[BarCoach]

My method for teaching front handsprings has been to just let the kids try them and then correct. Probably not the best way. With my new group of training 5's, I would like to break it down. What are some good front handspring drills? Especially to correct ducking the head forward when landing.

 

[AmandaLynn]

Lots of front limbers (focusing on the head and arm placement as the gymnast stands up), Front handsprings with hands on a slightly elevated surface (like a folded panel mat), and spotted front handsprings so that they feel the correct shapes.

I've found that once a gymnast starts learning a FHS incorrectly (and crunching up/ducking the head at the end, landing in a deep squat, etc.), it's a lot harder to fix it than it is to just take your time and get the shapes correct from the beginning.

 

[pattymello]

The way I break it down works pretty well in my opinion. First I have them practice a kick to handstand where they end up kind of kicking towards me and if they kick hard enough they rotate over my shoulder with me spotting at the waist. I like this drill because I can slow down the skill as much as I want. Once they are getting a strong kick and the correct shapes then I will start to spot them around onto their feet from the same position.

Next we move to a raised surface like a big box or the edge of the pit and they practice doing a handspring downhill.

After that we do handspring on floor with the hands placed on a small box. I usually sport this from the side with one hand on their lower backs and one hand supporting the shoulder. Once they can do that by themselves I take away the box and have them do it on floor. To start introducing fly springs or connected handspring series I creat a tumbling tower.

A big box is set up with a mini trampoline in front of it. In fron of the mini tramp we set up a springboard from vault with a fair bit of give. A thin sting mat goes over the board and a sting mat goes in front of it. The gymnast jumps from the box to the mini trap. That launches them onto the board with their hands and they finish the handspring on their feet. This is a pretty fun drill so it's pretty popular when we do it, however I recommend you wait until they can do a handspring on the floor or Re at least very close to it before this drill.

If I didn't explain a drill very well feel free to ask me to try again.