Fundamental Tumbling Presentation
Fundamental Tumbling Presentation
• Stretch (straight)
• Round (hollow)
• Arch
• Tuck
Stretch (or Straight) Body Position
The stretched body position is the most
basic of the body positions. You should
look for the following:
• Handstand
• Cartwheel
• Roundoff
The Handstand
The Handstand is one of the single most important
basic skills to learn. Executing a good handstand
involves good technique, body position, and body
awareness, which are all essential when expecting to
progress to more difficult skills.
• Stretch
• Lift
• Lunge
• Handstand
• Finish
Phase 1: Stretch
There is no difference between the stretch phase of
the handstand and the stretched body position
discussed earlier. However, all five phases of the
handstand are equally important.
• The arms should never leave the head going into the
handstand. If they reach down instead of forward the
mistake listed above is likely to occur.
• Stretch
• Lift
• Lunge
• Cartwheel
• Finish
Phases 1 and 2: Stretch & Lift
Both the Stretch and Lift Phases of the Cartwheel
are the exact same as the Handstand.
Phase 3: Lunge
As you can see, the lower body of the Lunge Phase is the
exact same as the handstand.
• The front arm (in this picture it’s the right arm) has to
reach away from the head in a forward direction. Like the
handstand, the arm should reach away from the front leg,
making the cartwheel long.
• The back arm (here it’s the left) needs to stay closer to
the head to start, and it needs to reach over the second
arm (almost like a traditional over-arm swim stroke.)
Hands
• The hands need to reach directly out and centered from
the body (as if you drew a straight line from the foot to the
hand.)
This drill starts with a very slight bend in the knees, and each
bend in the knee after each repetition should be for absorbing
the landing, and not for increasing height for the next repetition.
Remember, this is NOT a run and jump. The jump implies slowing down, letting the weight of
the body go down into the ground, and then recovering by straightening the knees to get
height.
The push implies absorbing the weight from the landing of the hurdle by slightly bending the
knees and quickly and forcefully pushing through the toes in order to take-off with
maximum height.
Power Hurdle
The Power Hurdle is not only a great drill, but it’s actually the
starting phase for a power hurdle roundoff (a forward power
hurdle) and a standing backhandspring (a backward power hurdle.)
The first three phases are the same whether the power hurdle is
performed forwards or backwards. Here they are:
• Swing – the swing should involve the arms only until they start to
pass behind the body. Notice in the second picture, the knees are
slightly bent. Again, this occurs just as the arms pass behind the
body. If the knees bend as the arms are still in front of the body
while being swung, the coordination will be off and performing the
rest of the power hurdle will be very difficult. The body would be
in a slight round position during the swing phase.
Power Hurdle Con’t
Phases of the Power Hurdle
• Weight Transfer – after the arms are swung behind the body and
the slight knee bend occurs, the weight of the body is transferred
from the flat feet to the balls of the feet. This is seen in the first
picture, however, it is slightly exaggerated (almost to pointed toes)
because of the black surface the demo is standing on.)
Two Feet Landing is done with the arms above the head, the feet
landing together, and a slight bend in the knees to absorb the
weight and reduce stress. The core should be slightly round.
Lunge landing is done with the arms above the head, the legs
landing in a standing lunge position (front knee bent and back
leg straight) and in a round body position. This would be a
more advanced type of landing which would be the next
progression for the power hurdle roundoff.
Basic Philosophies
• Body Angles
• Jumping vs. Pushing
Body Angles
Although the angle from which the body either takes off or
lands can be extremely complex at times, it is also very
important too. The two major factors that affect and
determine what the angle of the body should be are the skill
being performed and the surface for which it is being
performed on.
• In the first picture (on the clock as hands “11” feet “5”) this
would be a great angle to enter a handstand, cartwheel, or
roundoff because those skills are traveling forwards. However, this
would be a terrible angle to finish a roundoff into a
backhandspring because the angle of the body would carry the
person forwards, which is opposite of what is wanted.
Although bending of the knees is extremely important to reduce the stress caused on impact
(mostly from landing a skill) the degree of the knee bend and for how long determines if
the action is more jumping or pushing.
If someone were to dismount from one stack of mats, land on the ground, and propel to
another stack of mats, she could do this two different ways.
• First, she could land on the ground, allow enough bending of the knees to absorb the
impact, continue to bend some more, and finally stand up onto the second stack of mats.
This would be considered jumping.
• Second, she could land on the ground, bend the knees slightly to avoid a stressful impact
on the ground, and immediately recruit her calf muscles to quickly and forcefully point her
toes into the ground, causing her body to rise quickly onto the second set of mats. This
would be considered pushing.
Jumping vs. Pushing Con’t
Now that the differences between jumping and pushing are understood, there now has to be a preference
over which one to use. In almost every circumstance, pushing is a better way to create movement
towards the direction the athlete is looking to travel. The faster, more forceful movement of pushing
through the toes rather than jumping with the legs allows little change in the momentum or direction of
the tumbling skill.
For example, if a roundoff backhandspring was being performed, it’s already been established the
momentum and weight of the athlete wants to go one direction – straight ahead. When the power
hurdle or run is started, the athlete is moving straight ahead. Reaching the arms forward continues the
straight ahead movement. Now the legs from the roundoff have landed on the ground.
• If they are directly underneath the hips (feet at “6”) then what does the athlete have to do in order to
travel backwards? If she stays fairly tall and pushes through her toes, she will travel up, but not
backwards (and backwards at this point would be straight ahead which is what she wants to
accomplish.) If she allows herself to bend her knees to absorb the landing, and continue to bend them
some more in order to jump, she is now traveling down, which again is not straight ahead as she wants.
• Now if she lands with her feet slightly in front of her (feet at “7) absorbs the impact by bending her
knees slightly, and then immediately starting the pushing phase, she will then travel backwards. Add the
reaching of the arms, and her momentum is carrying her body exactly the direction she wants to travel,
which is straight ahead (and backwards.)
Jumping vs. Pushing Con’t
• Not only would the momentum be affected if the athlete were to jump from the
roundoff to the backhandspring, but so would the speed and her overall effort.
The amount of energy spent sitting and jumping backwards would greatly reduce
the speed created from the run or power hurdle, the angle and long reach into the
roundoff, and the forceful pushing through the hands to help in the snapdown.
As you can see, the angle of the body and the ability to push through the toes go hand
in hand. If the angle of the legs, either starting a skill or going from one skill to
another, is correct, then the ability to push through the toes is easier. This makes
achieving the skill far more effective than excessively bending the knees in order to
jump from one skill to the next.
Now here’s the hard part as a coach – can you take jump out of your “tumbling
vocabulary?”
Bonus: Phases of the Backhandspring
Phases One and Two:
Stretch and Swing
(with Weight Transfer)
Just like the Backwards Power Hurdle, the Backhandspring starts with
the same two phases.
• The arms can start either in front of the body (pictured) or directly
above the head (standard stretch position.)
• The knees don’t bend until the arms are just about to pass behind
the body.
• For the sake of consolidating the phases, this step can now include
the weight transfer to the toes. If the athlete can properly do this
when executing the power hurdle, this should not be a difficult
concept to understand and demonstrate.
Phase Three:
Push and Reach
Although there are three pictures in this slide, they all
represent the same action, the push and reach. When the
backhandspring is spotted all the way through (as pictured)
you can isolate how this is accomplished from the feet
leaving the ground (picture one) to the stretched out aerial
position (picture two) to the hands touching the ground
(picture three.)
The Push refers to the force created by the feet as they resist
against the floor. The reach refers to the arms being thrown
behind the head as quickly as possible. Doing both
powerfully and quickly is imperative if the athlete wants to
accomplish this on her own without a spot. You should also
notice:
• Notice in the first picture, the hands are still touching the ground.
However, now the body position goes from an arch (seen in the previous
slide) to a straighter one. This is because the legs are being forced in a
downward motion towards the ground. That will change the body to go
from the arch to the stretch.
• The hands are also in a good position to push through the ground. This
will help the upper body recover from the inversion to the upright position.
• In the last picture, the force created from the push through the hands has
caused the upper body to recover from being at a hands “6” feet “12” angle
to a drastically different hands “1” feet “5” angle.
• This should clearly illustrate how important it is to push through both the
hands and feet in order to put the body in a position to either rebound or go
into another skill.
About Steve Wright
Steve is a graduate of Westfield State College. There, he cheered all
four years, his final two serving as captain. He is the former Head
Coach of the University of Hartford, and former Program Director and
Head Coach of the Centre Stage All Stars. He is also the former Head
Coach for the women’s gymnastics team at the Gymnastics Training
Center in Simsbury, CT.
Eric D. Wallis
413. 364. 1269
[email protected]
DistinctiveDigitalImages.com
A Very Special Thanks:
Both girls who appeared as skills demos are competitive gymnasts at the
Gymnastics Training Center in Simsbury, CT. Lauren is a level 4 gymnast.
Ellen is a level 8 gymnast.
Thanks girls!