Kick Singles And Backhandsprings.

[Tori Vandepas]

I coach a jv cheerleading team who have come so far and just keep pushing but were having some issues that i need help with.
Does anyone know some drills or just help with kick singles? she sorta gets the concept she does a little kick then twists. Im not sure how to get her kick right.
Also i have a girl who has all the power to throw her backhandspring and her confidence is getting there but when she does it by herself she kinda undercuts to her elbows, her arms are close to her ears and when i give her a light spot she locks and doesn't really undercut, i just cant figure out how to fix it.
any help would be great.!

 

[youbetterwork]

She hops back and turns a little before her feet leaves the ground. Maybe the uneven weight on her hands or the angle she is in causes her to bend one arm? Also she throws her head back very early. I would work on jump backs to a stack of mats. She can have something (like a big piece of foam) under her chin to hold on to when she do the jump backs, so she doesn't throw her head back as much. Also back handsprings on a leaning mat (cheese mat) is good.

 

[cheerforeverever]

Watching the video in slow motion or freeze framing it always helps when trying to fix technique on skills:

Part One: She goes for the sit, but then throws her head back.
Part Two: Hence throwing the head back, she arches back before she has even jumped off the floor. (She is reaching as if she is going for a backbend kickover rather than a BHS. The timing of her jump & reach is not correct.)
Part Three: Since she is not jumping with correct timing, she is low to the ground and does not have time to block (arms squeezed to temples of head). Additionally, she is not hitting vertical due to the timing issues above (see how much she is still arched with hips far over the head when she trying to push off the ground with the arms)

Try doing some jump to flat back drills with her (@ 2:47 in this Back Handspring Common Mistakes and Solutions - YouTube ) to get parts 1 & 2 corrected. Once she is not throwing the head back and has the timing of sit, jump (explode through the toes!), reach back, then you can focus on the block(hands glued to temples of head) & snap (handstand snap down drills to rebound will help drill this)

 

[Tori Vandepas]

thank you so much!!

 

[Tori Vandepas]

Watching the video in slow motion or freeze framing it always helps when trying to fix technique on skills:

Part One: She goes for the sit, but then throws her head back.
Part Two: Hence throwing the head back, she arches back before she has even jumped off the floor. (She is reaching as if she is going for a backbend kickover rather than a BHS. The timing of her jump & reach is not correct.)
Part Three: Since she is not jumping with correct timing, she is low to the ground and does not have time to block (arms squeezed to temples of head). Additionally, she is not hitting vertical due to the timing issues above (see how much she is still arched with hips far over the head when she trying to push off the ground with the arms)

Try doing some jump to flat back drills with her (@ 2:47 in this Back Handspring Common Mistakes and Solutions - YouTube ) to get parts 1 & 2 corrected. Once she is not throwing the head back and has the timing of sit, jump (explode through the toes!), reach back, then you can focus on the block(hands glued to temples of head) & snap (handstand snap down drills to rebound will help drill this)

do you have any tips on this one? she doesn't normally land with her legs bent like that.

 

[cheerforeverever]

do you have any tips on this one? she doesn't normally land with her legs bent like that.

She is blocking with the arms, but not hitting a hollow body (See the 5th pic above)
For hollow body, there should be emphasis on nice straightened legs squeezed together, tight hollow core & arms squeezed straight by the temples.

Hence, since she is not squeezed into a hollow, her head comes up to look at her hands as she goes over and the body is bent(back bent, legs bent)...makes it very difficult to stand up (great example of it in the 2nd link below). She will need to work on lots of blocking drills and snapdown drills to correct this, as the hollow & snap is not there at the moment. Additional core work is great for this as well (i.e. planks, hollow body holds, hollow body leg lifts, caterpillars (bend over & touch toes then walk hands out until in plank,then walk feet towards hands until back in first position. Go across the floor doing this))

Blocking & Hollow Body Drills: BH-spring Blocking Drill.wmv - YouTube
Snapdown Drills: BACK HANDSPRING! The Snap-Down! PART 3 of 5! - YouTube

Also, side note: It's hard to tell for certain from the video, but it looks like she may be pretty low to the ground when she sits for her BHS. If she is sitting past 90 degrees (think sitting in a chair....does it look past that when you are at practices with her?), that will take away power in her BHS. Fixing that issue can help with making the skill faster and stronger.

 

[Tori Vandepas]

She is blocking with the arms, but not hitting a hollow body (See the 5th pic above)
For hollow body, there should be emphasis on nice straightened legs squeezed together, tight hollow core & arms squeezed straight by the temples.

Hence, since she is not squeezed into a hollow, her head comes up to look at her hands as she goes over and the body is bent(back bent, legs bent)...makes it very difficult to stand up (great example of it in the 2nd link below). She will need to work on lots of blocking drills and snapdown drills to correct this, as the hollow & snap is not there at the moment. Additional core work is great for this as well (i.e. planks, hollow body holds, hollow body leg lifts, caterpillars (bend over & touch toes then walk hands out until in plank,then walk feet towards hands until back in first position. Go across the floor doing this))

Blocking & Hollow Body Drills: BH-spring Blocking Drill.wmv - YouTube
Snapdown Drills: BACK HANDSPRING! The Snap-Down! PART 3 of 5! - YouTube

Also, side note: It's hard to tell for certain from the video, but it looks like she may be pretty low to the ground when she sits for her BHS. If she is sitting past 90 degrees (think sitting in a chair....does it look past that when you are at practices with her?), that will take away power in her BHS. Fixing that issue can help with making the skill faster and stronger.

she normally has a good hollow body position, she just wont do it by herself im not doing a single thing spotting her and she doesnt normally sit low.

 

[Tori Vandepas]

She is blocking with the arms, but not hitting a hollow body (See the 5th pic above)
For hollow body, there should be emphasis on nice straightened legs squeezed together, tight hollow core & arms squeezed straight by the temples.

Hence, since she is not squeezed into a hollow, her head comes up to look at her hands as she goes over and the body is bent(back bent, legs bent)...makes it very difficult to stand up (great example of it in the 2nd link below). She will need to work on lots of blocking drills and snapdown drills to correct this, as the hollow & snap is not there at the moment. Additional core work is great for this as well (i.e. planks, hollow body holds, hollow body leg lifts, caterpillars (bend over & touch toes then walk hands out until in plank,then walk feet towards hands until back in first position. Go across the floor doing this))

Blocking & Hollow Body Drills: BH-spring Blocking Drill.wmv - YouTube
Snapdown Drills: BACK HANDSPRING! The Snap-Down! PART 3 of 5! - YouTube

Also, side note: It's hard to tell for certain from the video, but it looks like she may be pretty low to the ground when she sits for her BHS. If she is sitting past 90 degrees (think sitting in a chair....does it look past that when you are at practices with her?), that will take away power in her BHS. Fixing that issue can help with making the skill faster and stronger.

you've been so helpful i have two more for you! thank you the girls appreciate it so much.

 

[cheerforeverever]

you've been so helpful i have two more for you! thank you the girls appreciate it so much.

Both girls are undercutting their BHS. They need to focus on making that reach back nice and stretched out, pushing back through their toes in the jump into hitting that nice "rainbow"as they go over (ideally a BHS should be the length of a person's body). Side note: This "rainbow" should not be a true arch, as there should be very little arch in a BHS actually. What people many times perceive as an arch is really the "reach" part. The back should not be receiving pressure from arching/flexing/bending it)

Jump to flat back drills/ reach drills:
-Have them sit like going for a BHS and jump back onto a mat (pole vaulting mat works well for HS's that dont have gymnastics mats) really focusing on stretching that jump back with arms glued to their ears nice and tight. Should not just be a jump to their back all loosy goosy. Remember, nice and tight reach straight back, pushing through the toes. Again, ideally they should be jumping around 1/2 of their body back, with the other 1/2 being done in the snap down.

Specifics between the two however:
The girl in the first video is also beginning to twist in her BHS, as she goes into her handstand. Some kids twist when being spotted because they mentally don't want to hit you. Others are just not reaching straight back or are favoring one side. Make sure her hand placement is not angled, hence angling her shoulders (check in her handstands, roundoffs,etc.). If the arm placement is straight, then work on same thing as below in combination with lengthening that BHS.......

The girl in the second video is making her BHS very high and then her arms cave as she tries to block in that handstand. Lengthening out that BHS will help greatly, but it will also help to do some arm blocking drills such as handstand blocks & focus on getting those arms glued to the head. Tell her to put her arms up in the air (attached near her temples) and then tell her to shrug her shoulders. That is where her arms need to be as she blocks in that BHS.