Stunting

Just got back from camp. wanted to let you know how it went. I did a fullup one arm arabesque and a low lib to full up to high right lib. you were about the only one who could appreciate this so i thought i would let you know. still cant do a damn backhandspring though.

Good for you. As for that back hand spring,I learned to do one by having a rolled up floor mat behind me to guide me.
Best of Luck.

I can do it with a spot. but as soon as the spot leaves i freak out and cant move. the funny thing is is I can do a back tuck as soon as i roll out of bed in the morning. but backhandsprings freak me out.

I landed on my head when I was doing back hand springs as a kid, and I suddenly couldn’t do them anymore. I was too psyched out from the very painfull head landing incident. It really freaked me out because I heard a popping sound in my kneck and thought I broke it for a minute. My kneck turned out fine, but it took me awhile to work back up to being able to do them again. I found that walking on my hands alot helped to aleviate the fear of falling on my head and making me feel more balanced and comfortable being upside down. With all that hand walking I became confident that I could catch myself even if I screwed it up. Hope this helps, I haven’t done any gymnastics in years or I would probably have some better ideas.

Goldberg, that is so far beyond what I ever even THOUGHT about doing. That’s amazing that you’ve gotten that far in only a year or so. A HUGE congratulations to you…




Now, don’t make me get nasty and start calling you names for having a stinkin’ mental block. For the love of God, man, I KNOW you can do handstand pushups, back tucks, and probably have a 30+" vertical. But you won’t do a back handspring? C’mon!!!

“I fell on my head and heard a pop…hope that helps”
Ha! With friends like you who needs enemies?

Goldberg - Can you do a standing backwards somersault? I too had problems with the bad handsprings and even with the help of the rolled up mat, it was until I could do a standing back somersault that I really got good at back handsprings. The good thing about back somersaults is that the are pretty easy to learn, but at your size you will needed two sotter at first.
Also how are your back walk overs?
Best of Luck.

I know, I know, I know. The funny thing is i started doing them one day by myself and even pulled a back tuck out of it with a spot. Then one day i couldnt do a back handspring anymore. I dont know what happened. I havent done one in a month or so. Ive never even had an accident with them either so i dont know why i cant do them. I have this picture in my head of my forearms splitting in half. That runs through my mind before i do it everytime. But during practice i stuck 17 out of 24 tucks without a step. But no back handspring. go figure.

What is a standing backwards somersault? Im willing to do anything that would help.

Sorry man, I guess that probably wasn’t all that helpfull. Just add another horrifying mental image to your phobia, haha. I was just trying to let you know that I was in the same boat once, and I got over it, so you can too. Besides, the reason I fell was because I was showing off to some girls in my friends back yard, and I didn’t check the grass for sharp objects first.(BTW falling on your head doesn’t impress girls very much) If you are attempting your handspring on a padded mat or on a clean level surface, you have nothing to worry about. And to tell you the truth, falling on my head only hurt for as few minutes. You can get over this, you psych yourself up to do it just like anything scary. You can do all those other tough tricks, your fear is the only thing holding you back. If encouragement and positive thinking aren’t working, then you need to get pissed off. Come on pussy, put down your purse and do a backhandspring. You call yourself a T-Man?

There are several coaching bookis for gymnasties available. Check them out. they should hepl with the progresssion of each stunt.
Best of Luck.

already tried that

Yah I figured, but it was a good excuse to make fun of you so I did. Seriously though, just keep practicing with a spotter and one day will just click.

You need to learn proper visualization. You obviously have the physical capability you need the mental. Get a book called Psycho-psybernetics by maxell maltz it runs down several techniques to overcome sports related blocks. It helped me to do inwards after I smashed my head on the board.

thanks. ill check that out.

I used to be able to put my legs behind my head…I always thought that was an impressive stunt.

Knuckle:

I’m reading Psycho-Cybernetics right now. Interesting stuff.

Gold:

Teach me how to do some flips brother. Kidding of course but but it just looks so impressive. I would love to learn. Is 26 to old to learn? :slight_smile: