WAG Teaching a back handspring

[gymgurl]

I know this is quite often asked but I do circus as an extra activity and its sort of learn from each other. There is one guy who is learning a back handspring and the way I see it is his hands land practically where his feet take off which I think is to do with the fact that when he leans back he's not really leaning back at all he is squatting but he leans his chest forward so arcs upwards and cuts his BHS really short. He also sometimes struggles to get his hands on the ground but it's a carry on effect from going too high. My question is what can I do to help him know how to lean back properly. I don't have any equipment really other than a fold up mat as we do it on the lawn at uni we do have access to a gym (martial arts gym so basically a sprung floor with one crash mat) where he learnt to do it basically but now we are fixing it.is there any drills or anything I can say to get him to understand how to lean back properly? I can't spot him as I'm about 5'3 and he's about 6' but there are other people there to spot him. I know you don't approve of gym outside the gym but its his choice and I"m just trying to make it a better BHS

 

[iwannacoach]

Sounds like he's throwing his head back first, an in sequence arching through his rib cage and hips, and his leg push probably provides the energy needed to arch through is hips. That sequence creates a condition where his upper body is complete outside the influence of his legs' effort to push him through the skill, and the result is what you see..... His upper body travels only the distance his arch motion makes possible, and his hips get all the legs' energy because they were the only object in the direct line of his push from the squat. So pretty much his torso drops back while his hips soar into the air dragging his legs along for the ride.

He needs to push into a straight line (sort of) and then follow through into a slight chest and shoulder arch, and the direction of his straight line should be half backwards and half upwards..... so a 45 degree angle. The jump ito the straight line at 45 degrees will put the correct (or close enough) amount of energy into the major body segments used for the skill.........


With the size of this guy, I would get somebody else to do the spotting. A cue that's worked for me is to tell the beginner to jump as hard as possible away from the wall they're facing. It seems to get them going in the right direction.

Remember when you were learning these. Did they get easier when you stopped worrying about getting upside down far enough to be safe. Probably, and that probably why they got better.... because upside down and jump don't work well together.

 

[gymgurl]

Thank you IWC sounds like that could be the problem and I was never planning on spotting him Haha luckily there are plenty of other guys who can spot him, although he can do them safely just not well by himself