Back Handspring Drills/Tips

Posted by michigancheerleader on May 19, 2011 · 5 Comments 

Standing back handsprings are very important to MHSAA cheerleading teams in round 2. It is also very difficult for some people because it requires a lot of technique and strength. Its also not a skill that you can just do, there are stepping stones that should be adhered to.

Main Stone: Hand Stand

I don’t know if you’ve ever noticed, but in the middle of a back handspring you hit a hand stand (very briefly). It’s  important to have a good hand stand before you move on to more complicated skills; hand stands are the building block for basically everything tumbling/gymnastics related. It’s the body positioning that’s important: chin tucked to your chest, arms straight and glued to your ears, hollowed out body.

Once you understand this body position you’re on your way.

Next: DRILLS

It’s not very smart to jump right into doing a back handspring. Here are some drills to get you ready for the real thing:

1. The Sit ~ The first thing you do in a back handspring is sit back. The sit is the most important part of the skill; in a correct sit your knees will be behind your ankles, the tops of your thighs will be parallel with the ground, and your upper body will be slightly leaned back. If you hit this position you will fall on your butt or you will jump for a back handspring. To get the sit just right without falling on your tukis, have a teammate/coach kneel behind you with one leg boxed out. Sit back as instructed above, but instead of falling you end up on their leg.

2. The Sit & Jump ~ Now that you know the feeling of the sit, get a big soft mat (a port-a-pit or bed work perfectly) do your sit then jump back, pushing all the way through your legs, onto the mat to land in a hollowed out position on your back.  Make sure your arms are above your head, glued to your ears and locked out the whole time.

3. Shoulder Pops ~ In a handspring, as soon as your hands hit the ground the force of your weight is absorbed by your shoulders and then your shoulders push back to get your hands of the ground. So the drill for this motion is to kneel with your arms straight and  glued to your ears and your palms facing the ceiling. A teammate/coach stands behind you and pushes down on your palms. Your job is to keep your arms locked as you absorb the weight with your shoulders, then push back so that you shoulders are up as much as possible.

4. Snap Downs ~ The last part of a back handspring is when you snap your legs down so that your feet are completely underneath you when you land, this happens right after your shoulders pop your hands off the floor. To practice this part of the spring kick up to a hand stand, let your shoulders absorb your weight then push back, now use your ab muscles to pull your legs underneath you.

The Whole Spring: Now that you’ve perfected every element of the back handspring, grab a cheese mat if available and a couple spots. The cheese mat (which slants down) will help increase your speed in the handspring. As the handspring gets easier, move down the mat until you reach the floor.

Use a spot until you feel comfortable by yourself on the floor. That being said, don’t get a mental block either, if your coach says you can do it by yourself you probably can. Just make sure that you put more and not less effort in the first time you try on your own.

I hope this is helpful!

Filed under Tumbling · Tagged with back handspring, cheerleading, competitive cheerleading, drills, exercise, gymnastics, Justine McGuire, MHSAA, practice, tips