WAG Legs for backhand springs

[Hannahmariee00]

My legs are slightly bent in my back handsprings. But, my left leg is always bending even more than my right. No matter how hard I try to get that one leg to stay straight, it always ends up bending. Any tips for getting straighter legs?

 

[CoachTodd]

Think "Toes". Sometimes if you think about pushing out your toes/feet instead of thinking about the legs, the legs tend to go straight.

 

[JBS]

Work form and technique on an "easier" surface...like trampoline or down a wedge mat.

Have a coach move you through the BHS in slow motion making sure your form is correct.

 

[iwannacoach]

My feeling is that bent legs just don't show up in your mental view of what you're doing..... like you can't feel them bending. Really I don't think you can feel them because hmmm, well kinda think of it this way....... If you were to stand next to the smallest/lightest car in the world you would have no sense of it's weight until you pushed it to make it roll. So you can't feel it when you're not pushing, but you can really feel it when you do push it.

Your legs are just like the car. If you don't do something to them, you won't feel them as they do nothing. I should say that my definition of nothing, for this moment, is doing the same thing the same way as you've always done it. Try the following process to learn what straight legs should feel like......

If you jump straight up, and finish the push off the floor as completely as possible, you should leave the floor with straight legs, If you don't leave the floor with straight legs, then you're not finishing your push as much as you can and you'll end up with less height on your jump.... or.... you're picking your feet up by bending your knees slightly as soon as you leave the floor.

Try a bunch of straight jumps and squeeze the muscles just above your knees as you finish your push off the floor, and then point your toes. Hold that squeeze and keep your toes pointed until you make it to the top of your jump begin to come down. Try to feel, up to that moment, those muscles working as they keep your legs straight and toes pointed. If you can't feel them working, it's because they aren't,
and you just have to keep doing it until you can feel them working the way they should.

Once you've proven that you can do a straight jump and feel your legs and toes doing what they need to do for good form you're ready to make tat effort during a bhs. I'm assuming your bhs is good enough that you can spare a little concentration on feeling your knee muscles lock your legs into a straight position. So make that your focus as you get about midway through the sit/push phase.