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Front Handspring - Gymnastics
This lesson is for the
front handspring with closed legs.
Before you try this gymnastic
skill, you should work on your handstand and
your cartwheel. The front
handspring stepout (
with spread legs ) is slightly
easier than the front handspring
with closed legs.
Find more gymnastics at gymnastics main.
Technical description: Front Handspring - Gymnastics
- Stand upright and extend your arms over head.
Look straight forward like if you were going to do a handstand and
keep your arms,
your trunk and your legs in a vertical line.
Doing a front handspring from a standing position ( static f-handspring
) is the most
difficult front handspring variation.
If you do a hop or run a few steps before the handspring, this skill
becomes
much easier. The front handspring stepout is easier than the front
handspring
with closed legs. This lesson is for the front handspring with closed
legs.
- Lift your left leg, ( knee and ankle fully extended ) and step forward very far.
Then plant your hands about 1 body & arm length in front of you and kick
up
the right leg. ( knee and ankle fully extended )
Right leg, trunk and arms stay in one line. Ears stick with the shoulders.
If you want to do the front handspring from a hop, do the same thing,
but
jump forward from both legs, lift your arms, land on the right leg
first and
then plant the left leg like shown here.
If you wanna do the front handspring with a runup, run a few steps,
hop
from the right leg, land on the right foot and then put the left
foot down.
The hands can be planted while the left foot is still on the floor.
There is no need to fly forward before the hands touch the floor,
but the distance form the last step to where your hands are planted
should be
as large as possible.
- Close your legs before you reach vertical level
and make sure both knees and
ankles are fully extended.
The later you close your legs, the harder your landing will be.
(
hard landing = bad for the back )
You should pass a perfect vertical handstand position with closed legs.
Also keep your abs tight and make sure you keep your elbows straight.
If you bend your arms at this point, the second phase of the front
handspring
will become very low and slow, which will lead to a bad landing.
- When you reach vertical level and your legs are
closed,
push your arms back ( see illustration ) and hollow your back.
But keep your knees extended.
If this seems hard at the beginning, you can do also bend your knees a bit.
But if you don't get your legs straight on later tries, you will
never be able
to combine you front handsprings with front flips
etc.
At the beginning you should keep your elbows fully extended.
Later you can use a minimal elbow bend to create a better push.
- Push yourself off and fly forward onto your feet.
Keep your legs straight and make sure your arms stick with your ears.
The most common mistake at this point is to open the arms sideways
or
let them hang. It often seem easier with hanging arms, but its wrong
form and
much harder to control if you want to combine the front handspring
with another skill.
Land on the balls of your feet and look 45 degrees up. ( knees straight )
Don't try to combine the front handspring with a flyspring or a front flip
if you can't land with your hips in a vertical line with your feet
or with the
hips in front of the feet. ( see illustration )
If you can't, I recommend you practice flysprings on a trampoline
first.
Trainer advice: Front Handspring - Gymnastics
- If you can do the front handspring from a standing
position,
you can also do it with hop or runup. The runup is the easiest variation.
- The front handspring is much easier if you run
and / or if you push
yourself off a reuther springboard.
The front handspring stepout is
easier than the front handspring with closed legs.
- 4 Exercises for beginners.
- Exercise 1: If you never did a front handspring
before,
place a soft landing mat in front of you, do a handstand and
then
drop over onto your back.
- Exercise 2: Then place a reuther springboard in front of the mat.
Try the front handspring planting your hands on the springboard.
(
easier to push off from )
- Exercise 3: Learn handstand hop ( to learn how to push yourself off the floor )
- Exercise 4: Learn the flyspring using a trampoline and a landing mat.
- Another skill that's similar to the front
handspring is the headspring.
Related instructional: Front Handspring - Gymnastics
Videos: Front Handspring - Gymnastics
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