Question

Coach Wayne,
I happily landed on your web site today! My daughter consistently lands her backhandspring in a squat position, sometimes even landing on her knees. One gymnastic instructor told her she wasn't hitting her handstand while another said she needed to work on her snap down. We have been at this same spot for almost TWO years! Can you help? I'm sure they are giving me good advice but I need drills OR SOMETHING to correct these problems.

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Answer

TRY THIS:

Switch her to a 'step-out' for the exit from her handSPRING. YES she MUST pass through a handSTAND position... and then.. .instead of snapping down together have her split the legs and step backwards as far as possible to finish in a basic gymnastic stance (arms overhead) That will pretty well FORCE her into good form. After she's completed a couple of HUNDRED step-outs... she'll get the snap-down quite easily.

It's EASY to practice this at home by giving her a clear wall to work against... and simply practice her "step-to-handstand" AGAINST the wall. IMPORTANTLY she must place her feet into the EXACT same positions when moving UP and stepping DOWN. fingers must be about 6" from the wall...and she should start as FAR away from the wall as possible.

ANY error in her handSTAND position will be MAGNIFIED in ANY other skill that UTILIZES the handstand as a basic element. (handspring, cartwheel, walk-over, round-off) The surest way to strengthen her tumbling is to strengthen her handstand.

My handSTAND and handSPRING videos WILL help her. 100% guaranteed

~CW