Round off turnover and developing a long backhandspring

Back handspring and round off drills for pike down technique

The pike down action has been somewhat controversial.

Last month, after posting a video clip taken by Irving Nochez onto my gym's FB page, I offered the following explanation, as I understand it:

Can anyone identify the clinician in the video clip? It looks to be Valeri Liukin; but I'm not 100% sure.
At any event, notice that the lecturer has the coach doing the traditional turnover with arms and chest up fast? Then has her do it without standing upright, but keeping the chest low, ending in a pike sit?
I've been asked a few times "Why are you teaching kids to pike down?" out of round-offs and backhandsprings. To save myself some time, here's a concise answer I gave in a comment on a previous video a while back ago:
"As a gymnast and as a coach, I was always told, "Arms by the ears; arms and chest up fast". The problem with young kids (or beginners) is that when they try and connect a RO and BHS without having learned how to turnover a fast RO, get off the hands, and land off-balanced right away, what happens is the classic undercutting where the knees buckle forward, the head throws back early, causing the chest to go out, resulting in a high, loopy back handspring.
I first got the idea of allowing kids to pike down from an Australian coach, Wade Petersen (who is now our head boys coach since last February; and who I think will eventually oversee all the programs at GW).
He has a back tumbling video (it used to be on YouTube but he's since deleted his channel) where one of the drills is to sit in a pike and slide down to your back (a sit up exercise). That's, in part, where I got my inspiration for the pike sit on the block, followed by the fall to handstand (essentially doing the same job as an octagon barrel or pac-man). I want my gymnasts to get it out of their heads that a backhandspring is an archy, bridgie action; I want them to think of it more as a stretched handstand.
Wade teaches both round-offs- ones where the objective is to get the arms and chest up and the strong turnover; the other technique (the pike down) for physically weak kids who can't do that. What's important isn't that they get their chest and arms up quick for the turnover, but that they land off balanced right away (due to the pike down, the hips are already behind the feet) and hold the coiled shape (the hollow in the chest) as long as possible before unraveling occurs into the backhandspring.
I hope my explanation makes theoretical sense. Clarity over agreement.
I've seen others teach the pike down method, too, btw. At National Congress, both Justin Laury and Ivan Ivanov teach the pike action. Their explanations are slightly different. But they are really emphasizing the pike. Ivanov also showed video footage of Valeri Liukin teaching kids to pike. It's essentially an overexaggerated scooped hollow position and eventually it should look "normal". Just the drilling of the position and shape is pronounced (i.e., exaggerated). ;)In Laury's presentation at National Congress, he also showed video footage of kids basically doing a round-off rebound into a piked seat drop shape; he'd catch them and then they'd unfurl into the back handspring. Wade's old video had one of his kids rebound the same way onto an 8 inch mat, and then unfurl into a supine, lying position.
I hope this helps. I know it's a bit unorthodox.

Front headsprings as connected front tumbling drill

Stinky Roundoffs

Our level 5s who just got done with compulsory season are going to try and jump right into the optional season as new 7s.  They aren't entirely ready and are still acquiring skills (*cough*giants*cough*); but they've definitely come a long way in a short time.

Last Saturday one of their return stations was round-off slams.  We once worked with putting a whoopie cushion up as a target a long time ago.  Decided to pull it back out and use it (I bought three of these, with two still functional).

I think the rec parents in the bleachers were greatly entertained.

Backhandspring Shape Drill

We only have one vault table and I normally don't get to do this drill setup with my girls on a regular basis.  This was a preteam/new level 3 kid on Saturday.  She made some big improvements on her backhandspring.

Technique for connected front tumbling

Drill for set in front tumbling

Wade had introduced me to this drill for front tumbling:

Round-off snap up shaping and positioning drill

Wade into this?

I just happened across this discussion of the BHS clinic Wade gave a few years ago at BGS.  My videos.

It's an old thread.  Not sure whether I should bother to take the time to wade into it.

Hurdle Drills

Hand Placement Drill for Round-offs

 Different coaches have different ideas about round-off hand placement.

As far as I know, standard/orthodox is the upside down "T".

Illustration source

Some coaches teach both hands turned inward.

On a straight line.

Or hands straddling the line:

Power tumblers might "hop 1/2-turn":

 The common "no-no" is hands turned out.


I saw this drill the other day:

Post by GymDrills.NET.

Description:

This exercise teaches gymnasts the correct hand placement during round off and encourages to perform the movement in a straight line. This drill has a positive influence on apparatus such as Floor Exercise and Balance Beam.

Since the single floor rail only allows the fingers to face sideways, I decided to use piroullettes to play around with this drill:

What I like about the floor bar(s) over symbols on the ground or drawing an upside down "T" and other markers, is that the gymnast has to turn the hands to face the desired direction in order to grab the push-up blocks (piroullettes).

Hurdles

Conditioning the Cartwheel

Backhandspring Training

Backhandspring drills with the vault table

Translated GymneoTV DVD Excerpt on Backhandsprings

The quality of not just the content but of the presentation is so good,  I am seriously considering purchasing.

It bothers me that in USAG, compulsory RO BHs require ears covered by the arms.  It's a technique-thing.  Instead of penalizing and making that the restriction (since a short arm-swing is a viable if not superior technique to no-arm swing), I think what should be judged is whether or not the head whips back ahead of the arms in turning over the backhandspring.

Backhandspring Drills

Unconventional Backhandspring Progression Drills?

These are my Hot Shots a week ago:

And here I was thinking I was the only one that thought of using a spotting block as a station drill for backhandsprings, as opposed to a rolling device (Boulder, Pacman, octagon...).  But there really is nothing new under the sun:

This looks like the same exact setup I came up with last year:

If it was discovered independently, since there's very little that's ever completely new and original under the sun, then maybe I should be encouraged that I must be doing something right if others are doing it as well.

I don't know many who use a pike sit as a starting position/progression for drilling the backhandspring.

I've got several other progression drills I've been doing that I hope to eventually piece together and share, once I have a sort of "end" product to show for it.

I'm hoping that all the pieces of the puzzle I've been doing will eventually come together.

I realize that much of this looks unconventional.  It's all been influenced by my mentor, Wade Petersen.

Here's a setup that these Hot Shots absolutely had a blast with:

In order to make the top wedge slide back effectively, they have to get off balance and jump long.  Because the top wedge is also narrow, they have to do their cartwheel step-in or round off straight, or else...

Progression for Building a Strong Back Handspring

I like that Travis Rainer uses the octagon in such a way as to not allow the gymnast to simply be draped over it, in an arch.  One reason why I used to prefer the pac-man over the octagon was because it forced the gymnast to squeeze the butt and have an active shape change and active muscles in order to get it to move- not just sagging like a limp rag, coasting along like a passenger for the ride rather than being the driver.

My current preference these days, as far as unassisted, spotting devices is to use a simple spotting block to slide off of.  I might post a clip to better illustrate what I mean.  I'm probably the only one in the world who is doing it (and I swear, it's not because I'm crazy.  I only came up with it recently and think the results will validate and lend credibility, although it's only a drill with a specific purpose; and it alone isn't enough to acquire a backhandspring.  It is also technique-specific).

I also like Rainer's emphasis on the snap off the hands happening through the chest and shoulders and not piking in the hips.

Why?!?!

Apparently an MIT student at the time...aren't they supposed to be really, really smart?

I don't know who has less sense- the spotter or the spottee.