- Dec 5, 2013
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As I sit here and write this, the current tallest man-made structure in the world is the Burj Khalifa. It stands an impressive 2,722 feet high and took 22 million man hours to build.
It has so many windows that it takes 36 workers about 3-4 months just to clean the whole damn thing.
Talk about patience.
But have you ever wondered what keeps the Burj Khalifa and other super-tall structures erect? It may sound trivial, but the structure we see above ground only tells half the story.
There’s another 50 feet of the Burj that we can’t see – and that’s the foundation. It’s made of 192 steel columns that are 1.5m (4.9 feet) in diameter each!
That is one thick hunk of steel. And there’s 192 of em!
But that’s what it takes to keep the structure we can see and enjoy today, from falling over.
They started with a rock solid foundation, and guess what? Tumbling is no different.
If you want a crowd-stopping, heart pumping speciality tumbling pass, you can’t start with the high level stuff. You need to have a solid foundation of skills that everything else can build on.
Below are some of the fundamental skills you should not only take time to learn, but I’ll also show you how to master them. Because it’s one thing to have a handstand, but it’s quite another to hold it for 5 seconds without moving.
Speaking of handstands…
Fundamental #1: The handstand
There is literally no tumbling skill that doesn’t hit the handstand position at some point during it’s brief life. Think about it…
Round off? Check
Back handspring? Check
Back tuck? Check
Layout? Well that’s basically a handstand upside down…
I could go on, but there’s no need. The bottom line is, the quality of your handstand will determine the quality of your tumbling. Period (tweet this)
If you don’t know what a good handstand position should look like, check the picture on the right as a great example (notice the head position please – that’s the correct way to do it!)
Once you get the straight body position, it’s time to achieve mastery. To do this, try and hold it for 5 seconds flat with zero movement.
This means no walking, arching or opening of the legs.
Think it’s easy? Well grab a stop watch and give it a try. It’s much harder than it looks – but the benefits of a solid handstand are worth their weight in gold.
In fact, if you stopped doing any actual tumbling, and just spent your next month on mastering a handstand, I can practically guarantee you’ll come back and your tumbling will be stronger, faster and cleaner.
Fundamental #2: Hollow Body Position
Just like a handstand, the hollow body position can be considered of the “popular kids” that appears everywhere in tumbling.
While doing it on the floor is no big deal, (since you can master it within a few minutes) the real challenge comes when you either hold it for long periods of times, or while performing your tumbling skills like the layout.
credit: fitstream.com
In case you don’t know what a good hollow body position should look like, see the picture on the right. Notice the details like the arms by the ears and how the body is curved, sort of like a banana.
The correct eye position should be to look at your own toes, which is also a great cue while doing layouts. Finally, make sure to squeeze everything – and I mean literally everything: arms, shoulders, fingers, toes, abs, butt, quads, hamstrings… hell even your jaw if you want.
But how do you master the hollow hold? Simple, try the following two things:
1. Grab a timer and see if you can hold it for 2 minutes without much movement. If you can, you’ve reached elite hollow body status. If I had a medal, I’d give you one. But I don’t so pat yourself on the back instead.
2. Practice hitting the position during your actual tumbling skills. Layouts are an obvious example, but there are other places you can try it too, such as:
If you have any more that you’ve tried or think I might have missed, throw them in the comment section below!
Fundamental #3: The Bridge
The bridge is another one of the fundamental skills that is easy to get but takes time to master. The biggest mistake is that people think a bridge is meant to increase and improve back flexibility.
Not exactly. The bridge is meant to improve back and shoulder flexibility. It’s a two in one deal, and if you aren’t feeling it in your shoulders, you’re only doing half of what you’re supposed to do.
Here are some of the most common mistakes I see in the bridge:
credit: Jessica – Ocean Gymnastics
So how do we master it?
Well first, make sure your bridge looks something similar to the one in the picture. Then after that, you can turn it into other skills such as:
One final thing I want to leave you with about the bridge is that while it definitely is a pre-requisite for the back handspring and whip, you don’t need to get super obsessed over it.
A “good enough” bridge combined with a solid handstand and hollow position will lead to near-perfect handsprings. That’s how important the first two fundamentals are.
Now I want to hear from you: What other fundamentals do you practice that have helped your tumbling? Or do you have any other variations to these 3 that you’d like to list? Head over to the comments section below, and let me know!
The post 3 Tumbling Fundamentals Every Cheerleader Should Master appeared first on .
As I sit here and write this, the current tallest man-made structure in the world is the Burj Khalifa. It stands an impressive 2,722 feet high and took 22 million man hours to build.
It has so many windows that it takes 36 workers about 3-4 months just to clean the whole damn thing.
Talk about patience.
But have you ever wondered what keeps the Burj Khalifa and other super-tall structures erect? It may sound trivial, but the structure we see above ground only tells half the story.
There’s another 50 feet of the Burj that we can’t see – and that’s the foundation. It’s made of 192 steel columns that are 1.5m (4.9 feet) in diameter each!
That is one thick hunk of steel. And there’s 192 of em!
But that’s what it takes to keep the structure we can see and enjoy today, from falling over.
They started with a rock solid foundation, and guess what? Tumbling is no different.
If you want a crowd-stopping, heart pumping speciality tumbling pass, you can’t start with the high level stuff. You need to have a solid foundation of skills that everything else can build on.
Below are some of the fundamental skills you should not only take time to learn, but I’ll also show you how to master them. Because it’s one thing to have a handstand, but it’s quite another to hold it for 5 seconds without moving.
Speaking of handstands…
Fundamental #1: The handstand
There is literally no tumbling skill that doesn’t hit the handstand position at some point during it’s brief life. Think about it…
Round off? Check
Back handspring? Check
Back tuck? Check
Layout? Well that’s basically a handstand upside down…
I could go on, but there’s no need. The bottom line is, the quality of your handstand will determine the quality of your tumbling. Period (tweet this)
If you don’t know what a good handstand position should look like, check the picture on the right as a great example (notice the head position please – that’s the correct way to do it!)
Once you get the straight body position, it’s time to achieve mastery. To do this, try and hold it for 5 seconds flat with zero movement.
This means no walking, arching or opening of the legs.
Think it’s easy? Well grab a stop watch and give it a try. It’s much harder than it looks – but the benefits of a solid handstand are worth their weight in gold.
In fact, if you stopped doing any actual tumbling, and just spent your next month on mastering a handstand, I can practically guarantee you’ll come back and your tumbling will be stronger, faster and cleaner.
Fundamental #2: Hollow Body Position
Just like a handstand, the hollow body position can be considered of the “popular kids” that appears everywhere in tumbling.
While doing it on the floor is no big deal, (since you can master it within a few minutes) the real challenge comes when you either hold it for long periods of times, or while performing your tumbling skills like the layout.
credit: fitstream.com
In case you don’t know what a good hollow body position should look like, see the picture on the right. Notice the details like the arms by the ears and how the body is curved, sort of like a banana.
The correct eye position should be to look at your own toes, which is also a great cue while doing layouts. Finally, make sure to squeeze everything – and I mean literally everything: arms, shoulders, fingers, toes, abs, butt, quads, hamstrings… hell even your jaw if you want.
But how do you master the hollow hold? Simple, try the following two things:
1. Grab a timer and see if you can hold it for 2 minutes without much movement. If you can, you’ve reached elite hollow body status. If I had a medal, I’d give you one. But I don’t so pat yourself on the back instead.
2. Practice hitting the position during your actual tumbling skills. Layouts are an obvious example, but there are other places you can try it too, such as:
- rebound out of a round off
- rebound from a back handspring snap down
- the punch for a front tuck
- blocking out of a back handspring for height
- rebound form a whip snap down
- half twist out of a front tuck
- and the punch for a front layout.
If you have any more that you’ve tried or think I might have missed, throw them in the comment section below!
Fundamental #3: The Bridge
The bridge is another one of the fundamental skills that is easy to get but takes time to master. The biggest mistake is that people think a bridge is meant to increase and improve back flexibility.
Not exactly. The bridge is meant to improve back and shoulder flexibility. It’s a two in one deal, and if you aren’t feeling it in your shoulders, you’re only doing half of what you’re supposed to do.
Here are some of the most common mistakes I see in the bridge:
- legs far apart (should be tight and together)
- knees bent (they should be pushing you back, into the shoulders)
- staying on the toes (feet should be flat on the ground)
- not pushing your head through (shoulders should be by your ears)
credit: Jessica – Ocean Gymnastics
So how do we master it?
Well first, make sure your bridge looks something similar to the one in the picture. Then after that, you can turn it into other skills such as:
- Back walk over
- Handstand to bridge
- Back limber (kick your legs over from a bridge like a back handspring)
- Tick tocks (handstand into bridge then pop into a back limber)
One final thing I want to leave you with about the bridge is that while it definitely is a pre-requisite for the back handspring and whip, you don’t need to get super obsessed over it.
A “good enough” bridge combined with a solid handstand and hollow position will lead to near-perfect handsprings. That’s how important the first two fundamentals are.
Now I want to hear from you: What other fundamentals do you practice that have helped your tumbling? Or do you have any other variations to these 3 that you’d like to list? Head over to the comments section below, and let me know!
The post 3 Tumbling Fundamentals Every Cheerleader Should Master appeared first on .
