I'm currently working towards my level 2 women's artistic coaching qualification (UK) and one of the skills on the syllabus is back somersault. I'm fairly new to spotting these and was wondering what technique people used? My mentor taught me to support with one arm going round the gymnasts back and then the other arm going round to catch the gymnasts stomach (shown here at 12.14 How To Back Tuck - YouTube). I can see its a good way to make sure the gymnast doesn't fall at the end and doesn't require us coaches to swap hands to catch at the end. However I find it quite hard to give the gymnasts height supporting that way, not sure whether I just need more practice or whether it is quite difficult to do! I noticed my old coach (not my mentor) supports by having one hand on the gymnasts back and the other on the gymnasts thigh- this strikes me as easier but my mentor reckoned that wasn't as safe a way to spot?!
So just wonder what the general consensus was? Or does anyone else have any other techniques?
Additional note: I'm a 5ft2 female coach so its quite hard for me to just flip gymnasts over especially if they're not really tiny
So just wonder what the general consensus was? Or does anyone else have any other techniques?
Additional note: I'm a 5ft2 female coach so its quite hard for me to just flip gymnasts over especially if they're not really tiny