Women Is there a preferred way to do a BHS on beam?

[gymdog]

For fun, here's Aly Raisman doing the same routine during one of the last years it was used. They had changed the music by then. Her back handspring step out is more of an early split although she does block a little:

 

[sevenatenine2]

No worries, I didn't think you were doubting me. I enjoyed the video!

 

[mmcmanus]

You should't split too early, nor too late. Once you hit the handstand, snap your legs out into a split, and step down and snap up fast. Hope that makes sense.

 

[flippinam]

Sorry to hijack, but is a late split a deduction in optionals? I know in compulsories the timing of the split on level 5 beam is optional. Is it the same for optionals?

 

[mmcmanus]

No, it's not a deduction as long as it's not like a jumping back walkover.

 

[lovegymnastics22]

Love the videos!! They look like future Olympic stars!

 

[gymdog]

You should't split too early, nor too late. Once you hit the handstand, snap your legs out into a split, and step down and snap up fast. Hope that makes sense.

If you jump to a handstand and then snap your legs "out into a split" the back leg would have to pull you in the opposite direction that you want to go. Those are the handsprings where you see (though, not perhaps as dramatic and jumping all the way to the handstand and then split, but still wrong timing) the child basically stop on their hands and they are "stuck" and have no acceleration to go into another skill. In order to accelerate your legs have to essentially be kicking you over in the same direction, not in competing ones, the only way I know how to do that is to split before handstand.