Help With Twisted Front Handspring

[MomentumToni]

Hi guys, I'm currently working on front handsrings with some of my girls for a transition section of our routine.

One of our tumblers is leaving her hand behind and twisting to land sideways. I was wondering if anyone had any tips to help us out.

Thanks in advance!

 

[Sparkle&Shine]

I have encountered a few athletes who do that (similar to 'dragging' one hand in round offs); if one hand is getting left behind it means she's not popping from it, so have her do lots of handstand pops (easier variation: front support (pushup position) pops, harder variation: handstand pops which fall to her back on a crashmat).
If I see one of my kids is having this problem, I'll also usually make them go back to front walk overs or handstand fall to bridge and standing up with their arms by their ears; I know it's not the same for a front walkover to a front handspring, but it'll get them used to always coming out of the skill with their arms straight by their ears.
The last thing I can recommend is to have her push her hips into an outcurve as she's popping; since she's piking, she might not be able to pop off of her hands because her body's not tight as it goes over. I'd recommend spotting her so she can focus on the hips/arm technique and doesn't feel like she's not going to make it

 

[Sparkle&Shine]

(ahh! It posted before I was done!)
... or if you have access to a trampoline, flysprings on the trampoline has worked wonders for some of my athletes who struggle with this.

Good luck! :)

 

[kkinsley]

Tell her to keep her arms by her ears and look at her hands. Also don't let her land in a sit position the body should be in a slight arch still, if you stick your behind out and bend at the knees it will never rebound.
Good luck

 

[NCMom]

My oldest cp used to do this and it drove me nuts. Lots of handstand snap downs and eventually her handspring was great. Now younger cp is doing the same thing. Ugh! Must be common.

 

[scottish_cheerleader]

front limbers are awesome to get their body in the right shapes for handsprings.
everything has to stay super tight, i tell my kids to think about whipping their feet over as if they are trying to put them where their hands were, and their hands need to flick off the floor then get them up asap to help them land in a tight upright position.

if you have a box it is good to fix technique handspring with hands on the box and feet on the floor, this gives them the extra time to whip through and land in a nice shape

 

[MomentumToni]

Thanks everyone, this is all great advice! I'll try it at training on friday night!

 

[scottish_cheerleader]

@MomentumToni how did it go at practice?

 

[MomentumToni]

It went ok. She's twisting her body less but we still don't have any 'spring' in the handspring. A couple of them have homework to do handstand pops and walkovers over the weekend. We'll get there :) Thanks everyone. In other news, the same girl got her walk-in to hands which was great for her as she's always flown all-girl in the past. It was a good practice.

 

[scottish_cheerleader]

It went ok. She's twisting her body less but we still don't have any 'spring' in the handspring. A couple of them have homework to do handstand pops and walkovers over the weekend. We'll get there :) Thanks everyone. In other news, the same girl got her walk-in to hands which was great for her as she's always flown all-girl in the past. It was a good practice.

i just realised your from england! what team are you from??

 

[MomentumToni]

i just realised your from england! what team are you from??

Hey, yeah I coach a small team called Momentum. We're a community project based in Stoke-on-Trent.

 

[Morgankay88]

I agree with everything that everyone is saying. I would just add to have them look up at their hands the whole time. I had a girl doing this once and I noticed that her head would look to the side which also contributed to the twisting. Also if they look up at their hands it might help them to remember that their arms should be up.

Also along with piking at the hips make sure they aren't piking in the shoulder too.

Good luck.