Is it okay if I need lots of momentum to do my round off back handspring?

Question

When I do my round off back handspring, i usually have to run kinda fast, but the fast running throws off my round offs so my feet aren't that together.

Is that normal?

Answer 1

I know exactly what you're talking about! Its so funny because I had the exact same problem a while ago. My coach said that  my round-offs were great on their own, but whenever I did them with a back handspring I always screwed them up. After a while I figured out that the problem was me being a little bit nervous and going with too much speed into my round-off back handspring. To properly execute a round-off back handspring you should take no more than 5 or so steps and then do your hurdle.

What I did to help myself with this was I just did my normal round-off paused briefly and then did my back handspring. Eventually you'll be able to put the two together without all the running before your round-off.

Good luck!

Answer 2

You know that the faster you go the worse your technique becomes. What was a small issue when you go slower becomes a huge issue when you add speed. So what you really need to do is slow down and perfect that technique. After that you can add speed.

Keep practicing your round-offs alone until you can do them perfectly with your feet together when going faster.  For the connection drills, do a round-off and when you land stay in a perfect chair position, then go into your BHS. Once your technique is cleaned up you should be able to speed everything up and have it go just right.

You might find these BHS drills and videos of ROBHSs helpful: http://search.yahoo.com/search?p=Back+ha...

Good luck!

Answer 3

I did this same thing! It took me a while before I felt comfortable enough to stop running as fast. You shouldn't have to run fast or long, but I find with the girls I coach that it's easier for them to go fast until they get used to it, and then play around with how fast they run. Once they get the feel of the roundoff back handspring down, it's just a matter of tweaking the running. Good luck!