click to watch
Many of our once-a-week kids will NEVER do a walkover or limber – forward or backward- in their lives. And that’s OK.
But for those who do, best are drills with the feet elevated. Most of the weight should be on the shoulders and upper back, not the lower back.
Click PLAY or watch some drills on YouTube.
by site editor Rick McCharles
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
Click PLAY or watch them on Facebook.
That’s Euro Stars Gymnastics in Plymouth Township, MI. Justin Laury’s club.
If you’d like to see more, LIKE the Gymnastic Progressions Facebook page.
The backward roll is a very difficult skill for beginner gymnasts to learn. Here Christopher Brown from California Sports Centers shows a drill he uses to teach this basic gymnastic skill.
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
The head is disproportionately large relative to the rest of the body in young children. That makes backward rolling significantly more difficult.
Nick English, a non-gymnast adult, for some reason decided to learn a “back flip”:
… As I entered the sprawling gymnastics playground that is New York’s Chelsea Piers, I tried to forget that the piers were the Titanic’s intended final destination. …
3 Exercises to Prepare Your Body to Backflip
1. Hanging tuck-up: While keeping the chin tucked ever so slightly downward, bend the knees up toward the head, crunching the core and rotating the body as far backward as possible. Perform the move very fast, as the goal is to improve flipping speed.
2. Box jump: Focusing on height, rather than depth, leap onto as high a platform as possible. Repeat as much as is comfortable.
3. Lying bent-knee leg raise : With the knees bent and the lower torso rising off the ground, lift your legs towards your head. This is like a horizontal version of the hanging tuck-up. Perform the movement with arms stretched above the head, and it will train the body to not swing them too far backward during a flip. …
Did it work?
Click PLAY or watch it on YouTube.
(Okay, I acknowledge that Jon gave me a teeny tiny spot in this video—we didn’t film the two flips I did on my own. You’ll have to take my word for it.)
read more – Greatest – Don’t Try This at Home: How I Learned to Do a Backflip in Just 4 Weeks
by Darlene “the Bean”.
GymtasticsGymTools.com – Progressive Exercise Programs Keep Building on the Basics
Gymnastics Zone posted the best summary of this issue I’ve seen:
Beginner Backward Roll Safety Concerns
Bottom line, … do backward roll activities very, very cautiously. The younger the children, the bigger their heads relative to the rest of the body.
If they need spot, they are not ready for backward roll.
I’ve even seen Adult Recreation gymnasts sore after doing backward roll on a hard, flat surface. 😦
It’s a tricky skill.
Downhill is far safer.
HI COACH RICK,
THIS IS COACH BOOTS TY FROM THE PHIL. THANK YOU FOR SHARING YOUR EXPERTISE TO US. I HAVE BEEN RECEIVING A LOT OF NOTES AND EMAIL FROM RECREATIONAL GYMNASTICS WHICH WE HAVE BEEN USING AS A REFERENCE IN MY OWN GYM.
WE REALLY APPRECIATE IT. THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS YOU ALWAYS! HOPE I WILL HAVE THE CHANCE TO MEET YOU BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE PHIL.
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Recreational Gymnastics 
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