roundoff

[Raikage]

hi

I'm trying to learn roundoff - bhs right now but i keep undercutting. My neighbor(cheer coach)told me theres 2 types of ro, to a flip and to a bhs. What's the difference between those 2? any drill to make my ro better cause it seems like im closing my shoulder angle badly when i'm snapping down*

thanks in advance

 

[CoachTodd]

A round off to back handspring lands with your feet slightly in front of you to propel you back at an angle for the back handspring.
A round off to flip lands with your feet under to slightly behind you to propel you up for a flip.

Try doing round off up onto an 8" mat. Once you are standing them up straight with a hollow body, it should transition into a good round off for a back handspring.
To me the round off is the hardest skill you will work on since very few do it exactly right. There are also a lot of parts to the skill that could be making the end result less that what you are looking for. You would have to go back to the hurdle, lunge, arm position in the reach and so forth.

 

[Raikage]

Very informative post, thanks. I tried snapping my leg in front of me but my shoulder angle is extremely closed, leaving my torso leaning forward causing me to undercut. Any drills for that?

 

[Brittany jacueline]

If your shoulder angle is closed in the BHS than you head placement is probably what needs the focus. Make sure your body is leaning backwards with the knees behind the feet, hips behind knees, shoulders behind hips and arms tight against your ears. This backwards angle on take off will correct the undercutting. Then jump back with a tight arch to your hands, head neutral, look for the wall your belly is now facing while you are in handstand. if you can make eye contact with the wall you shoulder angle is open. Snap down through the chest arms straight up instead of closing the shoulders and throwing the arms down to get the BHS to your feet. As your muscles get the hang of it slowly try to get your eyes looking at your hands without moving the head from between your arms.

 

[Raikage]

I just cant get that "chair position" after the roundoff, making me undercut and it's hurting my wrist :I. I'm used to the roundoff that lands behind you.

YouTube - ‪hilarious failed back handspring‬‏

mine looks like this but i can still manage to land on my hands, my wrist is killing me :O

Any help for the roundoff?

 

[marie83]

For starters please stop doing them in your garden and get yourself into a gym with a coach - sorry if I sound mean, not my intention, but as others will no doubt agree, grass is not a good surface!

 

[tumble-ready]

I use to love tumbling on grass, but back then I would tumble on anything.
I like some of the posts above but would like to comment a little on the "snap down". Too often athletes and coaches focus too much on the legs and forget that the snap down ultimately should be done with a relatively straight body. As the feet come down to land slightly in front of the body, the upper body should be lifting at the same time. You also have a timing issue to consider. The legs should come together slightly past vertical by squeezing the hamstrings together and that squeeze should happen at the same time the athlete is pushing off the floor with their hands. This timing really helps the RO finish with the athlete standing tall with the feet slightly in front. Last, the push off the floor with the hands should be in the direction away from the athlete, not down and/or toward the athlete. The push away will help finish the RO standing up, and the push down and/or toward the athlete will cause a delay (or dragging) of the hands. This can cause the athlete to finish bent over, piked, or what ever you want to call it. Finishing that way can cause a short or undercut back handspring. I have corrected many ROs simply by explaining the timing and the push off and the results happened immediately.
I agree with CoachTodd that the RO is one of the hardest skill to do properly and it will cause problems even two skills further down the pass after the RO.
Good Luck1

 

[Raikage]

I use to love tumbling on grass, but back then I would tumble on anything.
I like some of the posts above but would like to comment a little on the "snap down". Too often athletes and coaches focus too much on the legs and forget that the snap down ultimately should be done with a relatively straight body. As the feet come down to land slightly in front of the body, the upper body should be lifting at the same time. You also have a timing issue to consider. The legs should come together slightly past vertical by squeezing the hamstrings together and that squeeze should happen at the same time the athlete is pushing off the floor with their hands. This timing really helps the RO finish with the athlete standing tall with the feet slightly in front. Last, the push off the floor with the hands should be in the direction away from the athlete, not down and/or toward the athlete. The push away will help finish the RO standing up, and the push down and/or toward the athlete will cause a delay (or dragging) of the hands. This can cause the athlete to finish bent over, piked, or what ever you want to call it. Finishing that way can cause a short or undercut back handspring. I have corrected many ROs simply by explaining the timing and the push off and the results happened immediately.
I agree with CoachTodd that the RO is one of the hardest skill to do properly and it will cause problems even two skills further down the pass after the RO.
Good Luck1

EXTREMELY helpful post, that makes more sense now, my ro-bhs is a little better. still undercutting a little bit though but this help a lot! *thanks

 

[CoachTodd]

I just cant get that "chair position" after the roundoff, making me undercut and it's hurting my wrist :I. I'm used to the roundoff that lands behind you.

YouTube - ‪hilarious failed back handspring‬‏

mine looks like this but i can still manage to land on my hands, my wrist is killing me :O

Any help for the roundoff?

You aren't actually completing the round off in the video. I like tell kids to let the round off do the back handspring for you. From what was said about the "chair position", it sounds like you are trying to do a round off into a standing back handspring. Technically there isn't a knee bend between the round off and the handspring, it's a bounce.
I would focus on getting a round off that bounces back at an angle. (Basically the ones describe above in this post) I would also follow Marie's advice and get with a coach in a safe environment.

 

[ivyagogo]

How about a gymnast who tends to lag one hand behind. I have a girl I'm private coaching so she can get a r-o-bhs for cheerleading. She's actually come a long way in just a week, but there are several things she is doing wrong: leaving one hand behind, not getting both legs together, and not snapping down hard enough. I'm trying to work through all these things at once. Should I instead focus on one bad habit at a time?

 

[tumble-ready]

The best way to fix someone with multiple problems is to start at the beginning of the skill and work toward the end. By the time you get to the end you may already have the round-off and some of the other problems fixed.