Women HELP! Froggy back handspring needs fixing

[Gymmum16]

My daughter has always struggled with keeping her knees together in her backhandsprings (I think it’s something to do with her hips) but it’s much more obvious in her round off backhandsprings (see attached pics). She ends up squatting really low with her knees open and throwing her head back which she gets heavily penalised for at comps. Has anyone got any advice on how to fix?

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Short answer: rows and rows and rows of multiple backhandsprings from a stand on tumbletrak, and lots of straight jumps on trampoline.

Long answer: the problem is most likely not the backhandspring itself, with the transition between the roundoff and the backhandspring. The snapdown and subsequent takeoff.

Doing rows and rows of connected backhandsprings from a stand is a good way of practicing this motion without the complexity of a roundoff, many times in succession, making it easier to feel where things are going wrong. Doing lots of straight jumps on trampoline works both the strength and the muscle memory of going from landing to takeoff with clean form and maximum power.

 

[Gymmum16]

Thank you! Yes I’ve taken her to fast tracks for her to practice basics like continuous flics and even seat drops to flics but she seems to be able to keep her knees together (and have pretty good form - attached video) so it’s really confusing!

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

I'm not a fan of trampoline parks, or of working tumbling at home. Happy to discuss what I'd focus on as a coach if she were at the gym working with me, but let the records show I do not encourage going to trampoline parks to train without a coach.

Anyway, having said that

If she's doing ROBHS, she practices that key transition once per tumbling pass. If she's doing a row of three or four backhandsprings from a stand, she's practicing it three or four times in the same pass. Much more efficient.

The fact that it's so much cleaner on tumbletrak confirms to me that the problem is that she doesn't have enough power to do it cleanly on floor. So again, lots and lots of straight jumps, and lots of standing backhandsprings to build the strength and muscle memory.

 

[Gymmum16]

I'm not a fan of trampoline parks, or of working tumbling at home. Happy to discuss what I'd focus on as a coach if she were at the gym working with me, but let the records show I do not encourage going to trampoline parks to train without a coach.

Anyway, having said that

If she's doing ROBHS, she practices that key transition once per tumbling pass. If she's doing a row of three or four backhandsprings from a stand, she's practicing it three or four times in the same pass. Much more efficient.

The fact that it's so much cleaner on tumbletrak confirms to me that the problem is that she doesn't have enough power to do it cleanly on floor. So again, lots and lots of straight jumps, and lots of standing backhandsprings to build the strength and muscle memory.

That makes so much sense, I did think it was a power thing so will definitely look to focusing on multiple standing flics and jumping. Thanks for taking your time out to help!

 

[Gymnast_13]

This might not fix the root cause but she could do multiple connected standing BHS on tumble track or rod floor or normal floor with a sponge in between her knees so she learns to keep them together. Something else I've seen coaches do (and experienced myself) is that every time the sponge drops, five push ups (or more). Hope this helps!

 

[Gymmum16]

This might not fix the root cause but she could do multiple connected standing BHS on tumble track or rod floor or normal floor with a sponge in between her knees so she learns to keep them together. Something else I've seen coaches do (and experienced myself) is that every time the sponge drops, five push ups (or more). Hope this helps!

Great idea! I’m going to try this and hopefully after loads of repetitions it will become muscle memory. Thank you x

 

[Gymnast_13]

Great idea! I’m going to try this and hopefully after loads of repetitions it will become muscle memory. Thank you x

You're welcome!

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

This might not fix the root cause but she could do multiple connected standing BHS on tumble track or rod floor or normal floor with a sponge in between her knees so she learns to keep them together. Something else I've seen coaches do (and experienced myself) is that every time the sponge drops, five push ups (or more). Hope this helps!

Not a fan of conditioning as punishment if it drops.

Otherwise, this is not a bad idea