Gymnastics: everybody knows it as “people who do flips. ” One might have even wanted to be a gymnast when he or she was little. Like any sport, you always have t vbo start with the basics before you can go on and learn the harder skills that the sport has to offer. When you first start gymnastics, you might learn the basic skills like cartwheels, handstands, and backbends. Even though these are just basic skills, they have a lot of importance with more complex skills. Take, for example, a front walkover. This skill is one of the more basic skills, but it requires a couple of skills that are important to know in order to do it safely.
People who want to learn how to control the body and use different muscles in their body might want to learn this basic skill. If you break down skills little by little it will be easier to do. Before doing a front walkover you need to find a safe spot to do it on, like grass or carpet. Another safety precaution is making sure your body is prepared. Anything in gymnastics requires a bit of flexibility. So making sure you are nice and stretched is very beneficial. Also, strength is a key factor. In gymnastics, you use many different muscles in the body. Needing arm, leg, and core strength in this skill is very important.
When you do this skill, you need to know how to do a backbend, which is where the body is bent backwards and downwards from an upright position until the hands touch the floor, and a handstand, balancing on one’s hands. Make sure you can do this without fail before moving on. When you first start the front walkover you want you want your right or dominant leg in front. Make sure it is pointed forward and not turned in or out. Like any sport you play, you must be on the balls of your feet at all times in this skill. Your arms must be by your ears and hips should be squared with the front leg and not turned out.
Once you get your body in the correct form at the beginning then you are ready to do the front walkover. First, step forward into a lunging position with your right leg slightly bent. The leg that is bent will be the leg that you push off. The right leg will be your push off leg, so you want a lot of strength in this leg. Next, you want to start to reach for the ground while your arms are still by your ears. When your hands hit the ground your left leg should be in the air while your right leg is bent. Also the moment your hands hit the ground your legs should be off the ground as well. Keep in mind that a front walkover is one fluent motion.
Now that you are in a handstand your legs should be in a split position, which is when one leg is in front and the other is behind. In the handstand it’s important to put more tension on your shoulders than on the middles of your arms. This will help not to drop the chest but keep it lifted throughout the skill. Also make sure that your eyes are looking at your hands. When you start to go over into the backbend keep your core tight as possible. Once your first leg that hits the ground your back should be bent as far as it can go. The more your back is bent the easier it is to do and also the nicer it will look.
Each leg should land at different times not all at once, and be on the balls of your feet when you land. Once the first leg hits the ground, which should be the left if your are right handed, your hands should immediately come off the ground just like in the beginning. Make sure that your left foot lands very close to your hands, this will make getting up from your front walkover easier. When you’re about to come up from the front walkover push your hips forward and keep bending your back as much as you can. Make sure that your do not straighten your back until you are standing up afterward.
Legs should be in the same position from the beginning and arms should still be by your ears. Controlling how your body movement can help with other sports you might want to try in the long run. For example, basketball, having control of the body when passing, dribbling is important, and let’s not forget good footwork is important with defense. There are many other sports that are the same way like, football, soccer, baseball and so many more. Just having the fundamental of basic gymnastics moves can help with different kinds of other fundamentals with all kinds of sports.
