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Stuck at home and worried you’ll lose your tumbling progress?
Although you may not be able to practice your skills fully (unless you’re one of the lucky ones with mats and air tracks), you can still work on other important aspects of tumbling, like strength!
Adequate strength training is often overlooked in cheerleading, but it is extremely important for all tumbling skills, including handsprings.
To do a good back handspring, you must have a powerful jump, a strong core (particularly in hollow and arch positions) and stable shoulders.
Below are 4 exercises that can easily be done at home to help develop the areas listed above:
1. Frog Jumps
Helps With: Developing a powerful initial BHS jump and reach.
- Squat depth should be about parallel with the ground or slightly lower
- In the jump, bring feet together and reach up as high as you can
- Stay tight and squeeze everything in the jump
2. Hollow Rockers
Helps With: The snap to a hollow position at the end of a BHS.
- Heels can tap ground lightly in between rocks
- Keep shoulders and back rounded
- Knees must be straight and squeezed, toes pointed and feet together
- Do not sit up all the way or lift your legs up all the way – remain relatively close to the ground
3. Superman Rockers
Helps With: The reach and slight arch position (mostly through the shoulders) after the initial jump.
- Don’t let hands or feet touch the ground while rocking
- Arms should be straight, by your ears and reaching forward
- Knees must be straight and squeezed, toes pointed and feet together
4. Handstand Hold
Helps With: Developing a strong, solid handstand so your body can take the impact of landing on the hands without collapsing.
- Best to do it using a wall unless you can hold a handstand with proper technique for an extended period of time
- Stomach should be against the wall (nose, hips and feet should make contact)
- Keep elbows straight and push upward through your shoulders
- Squeeze everything tight!!
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