whip back

[gymgirl19]

I'm hopefully going to be prep op advanced next year and found out that i am allowed to do a roundoff whipback, backhandspring, back tuck as one of my passes. i was wondering if anyone has done this pass and would be able to give me any pointers. is a whip back hard to learn? is it hard to connect? anything is helpful! thanks!!

 

[triptwister]

Link Removed
How to a Whip Back in Gymnastics | eHow.com
YouTube - Whip Backs - Tony Retrosi
YouTube - Tumbling - 'whips'
Link Removed

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

I tend towards the method used by Tony Retrosi -- that is, introducing the whip within a series of backhandsprings.

I never found a whip to be a particularly difficult skill, but I've seen some kids struggle with it. I think it varies a lot from person to person.

Not much specific advice I can give you without having worked with you in person, but here's one important thing to keep in mind: a whip is NOT a low layout -- it's a backhandspring with no hands.

 

[triptwister]

Many gymnasts tumble out of layouts and many are so strong and built up in tumbling that they can't help but do either low layouts, or an "archy version" of their straight body layout for whip backs.

Some coaches teach whip backs as archy layouts or low layouts to avoid picking up habits that may interfere with learning a proper layout. Or to avoid not losing the good technique the gymnast has acquired over the years in layouts.

I agree that technically and historically, a whip back is indeed a back handspring with no hands. Some coaches have gone so far as to compare whip backs to hurdlers that stay level over the hurdles as they go over them. Same thing with whip backs and back handsprings. They can look identical and the spectator may have to look twice to see that sometimes the hands do not touch the floor on back handsprings because the whip backs stay level.

Layout saltos on balance beam are often performed very much like many versions of what judges and coaches would deem to be whip backs on floor. Yet I have never heard what looks like a whip back on balance beam called a whip back. We seem to pretend that those archy whipped back layouts on beam are not whip backs. Vice versa on floor, those rigid whip backs that look way more like low layouts are always considered whip backs. Especially if they are performed in series and often executed much higher than a back handspring with no hands.

Ambiguity exists on this skill and it is apparent. To ignore the ambiguity without qualifying an arbitrary proclamation can be confusing to onlookers. It can be even more confusing to a gymnast that encounters a coach who insists on teaching a low or archy layout for whip backs.

Is the low layout or archy layout for a whip back a bad or incorrect technique? Technically according to history and definition I would say yes. Its the wrong way to do it. But in today's playing field reality says there are many ways to do whip backs and many ways to do layouts. They overlap one another. That is reality and condoned by coaches, judges, commentators and spectators.

 

[gymkat]

For the twenty gazillionth time, go away.

 

[triptwister]

Take a look at Tony Retrosi's video, gymkat and optinals rocks!!. Examine the difference between the first gymnast who does a back handspring with no hands versus the second gymnast who markedly changes the height and style of what the first gymnast did.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Link Removed

 

[CoachTodd]

Aside from the long ambiguous post in the middle, I'm with GT on this. You want to work it as a series of handsprings. i.e. handspring, whip, handspring. You work the second handspring as a little higher and faster than the other 2 so you get used to pulling the hips through instead of piking them like we've all seen so often.
I think once you get the rhythm down it won't be difficult to get the skill.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Agreed; it's all about rythm.

Regarding the tendency to pike, I would compare it to a back handspring -- a minor pike in the hips is not really a problem in my opinion, as long as the power is coming primarily from a snap through the chest and shoulders. A slight knee-bend on the landing or pike in the hips is acceptable if you're connecting it to another whip or back handspring. Of course, none of this applies if you're punching higher salto straight out of the whip -- in that case, the hips and legs should remain straight.

 

[KyraGymnast]

umm...

Lol. wow well i was just going to say that i think that it's kind of hard to connect a whip back into a BHS, but after reading everyone's long and complicated replies, I almost didn't want to post.

 

[CoachGoofy]

As a gymnast, I thought whips were not hard. I also found whip-tuck to be easier than whip-backhandspring-tuck.

When teaching whips, I like them to be long with the toe-throw of a backhandspring. If you try to loft it (like a layout) there's just nothing to keep going with.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

I tend towards the method used by Tony Retrosi -- that is, introducing the whip within a series of backhandsprings.

I never found a whip to be a particularly difficult skill, but I've seen some kids struggle with it. I think it varies a lot from person to person.

Not much specific advice I can give you without having worked with you in person, but here's one important thing to keep in mind: a whip is NOT a low layout -- it's a backhandspring with no hands.

good enough advice.