How to do a Front Flip Full Twist - Gymnastics

Front Flip Full Twist - Gymnastics

Welcome to instruction number 666. In this lesson you will learn how to do a gymnastic front flip with a full twist. Full Twist = One 360° Rotation. Before you try the gymnastic front flip with a full twist, you should learn the front flip layout and the front flip half twist. You should be able to land your front flip layout in a vertical position on the balls of your feet, and your front flip half twist should be good too. Find more gymnastics skills at artistic gymnastics main.

Execution

  • Run forward and jump off the balls of your feet just like if you were doing a front flip layout without twist. Find detailed info in the front flip layout tutorial. Summary: Close your legs and bounce off from the balls of the feet. Plant you feet slightly in front of your center of gravity. There are different arm strikes for this jump.
    One would be: Extend your arms vertically (overhead) shortly before you bounce off. Bend your elbows a bit when your feet touch the floor and extend them again when you jump off. Don't look down to your feet or bend your head down. Keep your upper body straight and contract your abdominal slightly.
  • Extend your knees, your ankles and your elbows, so that your entire body is in a straight line. Keep looking straight forward (not down) until you initiate the twist.
  • Kick your heels up and open your arms a little bit. Keep looking straight forward.
  • Now close your arms in front of your chest and at the beginning you can also turn your head to the left, so that you look over your left shoulder. Turn your head, but don't look down. Make sure your spine and your legs are in a straight line when you initiate the twist. Later you should initiate the twist turning your entire upper body at once - Not only the head. At the beginning, turning the head makes the twist easier. Beginners who don't turn the head, often lose control and twist back after 180 degrees.
  • Twist while looking over your left shoulder. Your knees should remain extended and your feet together. Your hands should be close together and in front of the chest.
  • To stop the rotation, open and lift your arms and look straight forward.
  • Land as soft as possible and look straight forward again. Keep your abdominals tight (to protect your spine - don't hollow your back). Land on the balls of your feet. When you first learn the gymnastic front flip full twist, jump from a mini tramp onto a pile of mats or into a foam pit. Later you can practice this jump on a reuther-springboard and then on the gymnastics floor.
  • Extra: Try to land in a stuck landing. Stuck Landing: Landing on both feet at the same time. No extra steps to balance out the landing of your front flip twist. Raise your arms.

Advice

  • Learn the gymnastic front flip layout and the front flip half twist before you try your first front flip full twist.
  • When you first practice this flip, jump from a trampoline onto a pile of mats or into a foam pit.
  • Some gyms have special belts for the practice of gymnastic flips with rotations.
  • The head turn is very important at the beginning. But if you wanna learn flips with multiple twists, you should learn how to initiate the twist turning the upper body as one unit.
  • This tutorial is for the "EXTENDED" front full only (front full = front flip full twist). If you would do a tucked front flip, it would be very hard to add a full twist.