Learn the Gymnastic Flyspring

Execution

  • Run forward make a flat, fast hop. Jump from the balls of your feet. You can also do the flyspring after a front handspring or after another flyspring. The most difficult flyspring variation would be a flyspring after a front flip variation. Keep your elbows fully extended throughout the entire technique. Your upper arms should stick with your ears the whole time. Your arms and your head move as one unit.
  • When you jump off the balls of your feet, your hips should not be behind the spot where your feet touch the floor. Jump forward very far and keep your arms straight. Don't bend your knees too much as you jump off. The take-off is dynamic, which means that it is fast and your knees remain pretty straight.
  • Keep your abdominals tight and round your back a little (but not too much). You can also keep your back straight as long as your abdominals remain tight. But don't hollow your back.
  • Don't reach for the ground too early or too close to where you jumped off. Keep in mind that your arms should stay aligned with your upper body. It's like if somebody throws forward a stick that first lands after an 180 degree rotation and then stands upright again after another 180° rotation.
  • Land on your hands (plant hands at shoulder width) and then kick your legs up without bending your knees. Look down to your hands, fully extend go through a perfect, straight handstand position.
  • Then push your hands back and down and hollow your back. Keep looking down to the floor as long as possible. Make sure your elbows, your knees and your ankles are fully extended. It should feel like your are kicking your legs 45° forward and up - not like if you were just kicking your legs forward!
  • Fly forward and keep your arm aligned with your upper body. Don't open your arm sideways when you do a flyspring. Keep looking ar your hands.
  • Then land on the balls of your feet and look 45° up. Your hands should point straight up, your arms and your legs should be extended.
  • Additional gymnastic flyspring exercise: Bounce off the balls of your feet, try to add a front roll, a handstand or another flyspring.

Advice

  • I can't say it often enough: Try to keep your body extended and don't reach for the floor close to the spot where you jumped off. A flyspring is like a dive roll where you don't roll after your hands touch the floor. Instead you extend your entire body even more and whip your legs over (and not only over).
  • Try to 2 gymnastic flysprings in a row.
  • Don't buckle down as you jump off.
  • Practice your flysprings on mats. Run and bounce off from the gymnastics floor or a springboard, plant your hands on mats and land on mats.
  • Training Methods:
    • Do a handstand on mats and let yourself fall (fully extend your body).
    • Practice the gymnastic front handsprings.
    • Practice the gymnastic dive roll.
    • Jump from a trampoline or a reuther springboard onto a pile of mats.
    • Stand on something about 1 meter high and down onto a trampoline. Then do a flyspring onto a pile of mats. This way you can concentrate on going forward instead of going down. Keep in mind that your feet have to be behind hip level as you jump off from the trampoline.
    • Video tape your flysprings. Check how straight and far your flysprings are.