Gymnasts Vault fhs help?

[FrozenMode]

I struggle a lot with not falling forwards in a handstand. I'm just afraid of handstands in general unfortunately. I need a vault front handspring by next week ideally. Problem is I go forward and put my feet on the table instead of going up and over. What can I practice to fix this?

 

[GymDadWA]

What does your coach say?

Without a video it's hard to follow what you are describing, sounds like you are stuck in a handstand and just letting yourself down?

In general All vaults even a FHS vault is something you should be learning in a gym with a coach not self teaching yourself.

 

[FrozenMode]

Well my coach says my body is not tight enough. He also says I need to use my feet more. I can't even get into a handstand on the vault.

 

[Dahlialover]

Have you worked on the front handspring on the vault using a mini tramp rather than a spring board to give you more bounce? Have you worked on flat backs onto a stack of mats?

 

[FrozenMode]

Spring board might work, but I don't know if my coach would let me use it. I can do a handstand flatback onto a wedge.

 

[Carly]

Spring board might work, but I don't know if my coach would let me use it. I can do a handstand flatback onto a wedge.

Aren't you already using a spring board for the front handspring vault? I can't see how you can do that vault on the vault table without one.
I'm not understanding your description of what you are currently doing. I can only suggest to work on mastering a handstand flat back on a mat stack using a spring board. Then trying a handstand on a mat stack using a spring board and landing on your feet. This seems to be the progression before a front handspring on the actual vault table.

 

[Dahlialover]

Can you do something like this?



Or this?



Or this?

 

[elleb123]

focus on like scooping your feet behind you before your hands hit the table if that makes any sense. its called a heel drive

 

[FrozenMode]

Aren't you already using a spring board for the front handspring vault? I can't see how you can do that vault on the vault table without one.
I'm not understanding your description of what you are currently doing. I can only suggest to work on mastering a handstand flat back on a mat stack using a spring board. Then trying a handstand on a mat stack using a spring board and landing on your feet. This seems to be the progression before a front handspring on the actual vault table.

Ahh sorry, I ment little trampoline.

 

[FrozenMode]

Now that look at it, the springboard might be too close to the table.

 

[Gymst4r]

I struggle a lot with not falling forwards in a handstand. I'm just afraid of handstands in general unfortunately. I need a vault front handspring by next week ideally. Problem is I go forward and put my feet on the table instead of going up and over. What can I practice to fix this?

I am a cheerleader as well so i do handstand snap downs or handstand flatback and slowly decrease the mats

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

I need a vault front handspring by next week ideally.

"I need X skill by Y date" is almost always the wrong mindset. Skills come when they come, and rushing them for a deadline will at best lead you to stress about it too much, and at worst will lead to poor and dangerous technique and injuries.

So my first and most important piece of advice is to relax, and recognize that you'll get it when you get it.

My second piece of advice is this: 99.9% of low- to mid-level vault problems occur in one of three places:
1) The run
All that's really important here is that your last three steps are at a full sprint. The rest of the run is just setup for that. So make sure you're accelerating throughout, and adjust your starting point as needed so you can keep your strides even at the end of the run. Lower body conditioning and running in general will help with this

2) The hurdle
Long, low, and fast. Think about pushing the board forward, like you're trying to make it slide under the table.

3) Your head
Let's be honest: approaching something as solid and immovable as a vault table at a full sprint is scary. And there isn't a surefire way to make it less scary, but one thing I've found can help is doing a front handspring or 3/4 front over something smaller (say, a spotting block), just to get used to it.