Front Handspring and BWO help

[Nischal]

Hi,

We sometimes practice gymnastics(tumbling) in our Kung Fu class...currently i have been working on the following 3 skills

Front Handspring:

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I almost have my front handspring.. except for the landing.. i seem to land on my heels, instead of my toes.. Does anyone help me with either drills, or explain the proper landing technique for the front handspring. Note, we werent taught front limbers or walkovers before the handspring.. We were just taught forward rolls,dive rolls, and handstand before this..

Also, sometimes i end up in a squat position.. is this bad technique? When i do my FHS, i focus on keeping a tight arc and blocking off my shoulders out of it.. any other cues would be very helpful

BWO:

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As many have suggested.. i tried Backbend walkover with legs over a mat.. Most of the time.. i kick my legs over and reach into a handstand and fall back.. How do i know if it is a technique, flexibility and strength issue.. I have pretty good bridge(straight arms and legs, shoulders above hands).. My guess is i have a weak lower back. If so, how do i strengthen it? And could somebody explain in detail the technique for BWO. As in, like what is the order in which u kick ur leading leg, push off from the other and push the chest over the shoulders?

[Blairbob]

FHS:

Many people tuck their chin in after they get inverted through the HS block off the shoulders. Tucking the chin in causes the upper back to round like a front tuck salto/somersault.

Some people after the block may keep the chin tilted up/neutral but will tuck their legs which will cause them to land in the squat. When the body is in the air uncomfortably, the natural reaction will be to right itself (or flail).

Get a spot for front limbers, especially open shoulders, chin neutral or chin up (head tilted back but ears covered by arms/shoulders).

BWO:

Learn a backbend from stand to bridge. Doing this on a wall first is a no brainer.

How do i know if it is a technique, flexibility and strength issue

What's your active split like. Mine is pretty crummy but enough to make it over. Seriously somewhere between 90-120 degrees maybe at best, but more likely 100 or so. When the split is less, it's harder to walkover because of leverage. Having that big split makes a big lever to get you over.

Have you looked at much video for Back Walkovers? I can only imagine there are thousands of girls on youtube doing them at home, on their lawns, in cheer practice or gym.

Before trying BWO, make sure you can do a Standing back bend to bridge, immediate bridge kickover. Once this can be connected, it sort of figures itself out though perhaps a bit of spotting is necessary for some.

Another drill is to also backbend into bridge from a staggered foot position where one leg is in front of the other. Put the leg in front that is going to kickover.

Bare in mind your feet and hands have to be somewhat close together. Shoulders over and slightly pass the hands ideally. It can be done with a closed shoulder angle, but you'll need to be stronger in your upper body so as to not collapse on your head if your arms give out because of the "planche" angle.

My guess is i have a weak lower back. If so, how do i strengthen it?

Standing back bend to bridge and stand up with open hips and shoulders.

A fun drill which will help during limbo is to get into a bridge and slowly lean into your legs and feet pulling your hands off the ground. Now try to keep them just there on your fingertrips or off the ground. Fun drill to impress with the "Matrix bridge." I like to ask the kids if they ever want to see a no-handed bridge. It's really about leaning into your legs to counterbalance yourself and being strong through the back to feet.

[Nischal]

Thanks blairbob...

Ill work on the suggestions regarding the chin position for the FHS

For the BWO,

When exactly do you push off from the foot that is on the ground?. I started off in a bridge with my feet over a crash mat.. and was playing around with various timings.. like.. first i would push my chest forward, then kick the leading foot and finally push off from the foot on the ground.. and sometimes i would change the order.. what is the proper way to do it.

Because my backbend walkover was highly inconsistent.. sometimes i would complete the backbend walkover, sometimes i would go till the HS position and fall back.. and sometimes my feet wont even rise. This is what made me think that i have the technique wrong.

Also, I can go into a bridge from a standing position.. it is getting back up which is a problem.. especially the initial part from the ground.. I have been working on these using the wall. When I lift up from the bridge,only for the first few inches do i need help from the wall. After that, i can get up without support.

[Blairbob]

One more advanced drill for BWO is to start off one leg with the free leg at roughly horizontal.

Basically the body needs to be supported in bridge/HS before the kick/pullover of the leg really happens for a basic/new BWO.

Basically think as the hands reach back and go down, the first leg goes up like a teeter-totter. As the hands plant, the second leg kicks over pushing off the ground.

Again, I'd use the play/pause function of youtube or download the videos off youtube and play them in a media player frame by frame if you really care to.