Gym Momentum Training Camp (which was unfortunately canceled this year) coach, Rob Wing posted some videos on body shaping drills for tumbling and gave me permission to share them.
There has been some misunderstandings and controversy I have seen recently on the exaggerated “C” shape turnover in the roundoff and back handspring.
Basic mechanics dictates that you must load and release. OR, as I tell the gymnasts, LOAD and EXPLODE. The shapes you see in the video are exaggerated. The faster something is traveling the less change of shape is necessary. Think of a dowel being thrown across the floor. If you throw it with enough force, it will “tumble”, where as a ruler or something more flexible can bend (load) and release (explode) to “tumble” . This is certainly an over simplification.
I plan on revisiting this when I find where I have put Dr. Gerald George’s book, CHAMPIONSHIP GYMNASTICS. I have recently moved and it is still in a box someplace. I used to have 2 copes but I must have let someone borrow it.
- IF I LET YOU BORROW IT- PLEASE GIVE IT BACK!
- IF YOU DON’T HAVE ONE- YOU SHOULD BUY ONE!
Thanks again to Rob Wing from Apex Athletics in NY for sending me these videos. (Hey college coaches! – these kids are recruitable!)
