Developing The Headspring

Gym Coach, Vol.1 (2007) 1-4

Methodological

Article

Developing the headspring Valentin Uzunov Hataitai Gymnastics, Wellington, New Zealand ABSTRACT The headspring is recognized by many coaches as a prerequisite skill to the progression of flysprings and handsprings. The headspring has generally been incorporated into the MAG compulsory levels programs of countries like the United States, New Zealand, and Australia. However a good understanding and execution of the headspring can help speed up the teaching and learning of the more advanced front accelerator skills like handsprings and flysprings for both, boys and girls. The method presented in this article is considered to be applicable for gymnasts of all ages and levels due to its simplicity and progressional teaching. The method used breaks down the headspring into 3 critical phases that are taught simultaneously, before combined into the full skill. Successful execution of the actual headspring is dependent on the mastery of each crucial phase and their coordination during the full skill. The simplicity and progressive approach to the teaching of the headspring used in this article can be used in recreational and competitive classes. Because this skill is considered as fairly easy all coaches should start their young athletes on headsprings as a developmental step before teaching the handspring and flyspring. Key Words: Front accelerator, basic tumbling, handspring, flyspring

INTRODUCTION Traditionally the headspring has been used as a developmental skill in MAG compulsory levels programs, as a lead on to the headspring and flyspring. The skill tends to be complete disregarded by WAG levels programs usually, and tends not be taught by WAG coaches as well. Teaching this skill as a lead on to front accelerator skills is purely a matter of preference. From the author’s practical experience with coaching this skill before the handspring has been positive and advantageous. However there is not evidence to suggest that one way or the other is better.

The headspring is considered basic enough to be taught as whole skill; however this could be disadvantageous to gymnasts who do not have the necessary understanding of the body shapes, strength, and or flexibility to execute the skill. By breaking the skill down it is easier for the gymnast and coach to identify the cause for errors (effect) and focus more specifically on targeting these problem areas. The purpose of this article is present a method for training and developing the headspring, that is easy, and practical to be applied to gymnasts of all ages and level.

METHODOLOGY The method presented has been used on gymnasts between the ages of 7 and 8, who have had 1 yr of gymnastics training prior to starting to learn the headspring. However, training for this skill can begin even earlier. The gymnasts did 2 sessions a week for 3hrs with a total of 6hrs a week. Time devoted to floor was usually about 45min a week. This required that drills and progressions are predominantly independent of coach assistance; however ©2008 The Gym Press. All rights reserved

the gymnasts are taught how to spot each other for basic progressions, and the coach assists are the more difficult or complex drill/s. Gymnasts would rotate around 3-4 stations aimed specifically to headspring training for about 15min before moving on to other skill training. The headspring (Figure 1) is a progression towards the handspring and flyspring. Gym Coach Vol.1, May, 2007

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V.Uzunov, Gym Coach, Vol.1 (2007) 1-4

Figure 1 -

Illustration of the ideal technical execution of the

headspring

The primary cross over training benefits to other tumbling skills is the development of powerful hip extension, and shaping for the handspring, flyspring and front layout. The method presented brakes down the headspring into three critical phases that are shared by all tumbling skills. All the progression can and should be taught simultaneously. Once a basic understanding of each progression is developed, the gymnast can start to practice the full skill safely on their own. The three critical phases are 1. Entry 2. Repulsion/push 3. Shape and landing Entry It is recommended that the headspring is taught following a forward roll. This allows the gymnast to enter into the headspring with some momentum which makes the skill a little easier, plus it has the added benefit of training the gymnasts ability to coordinate consecutive movements and conserving momentum while changing direction (from a horizontal to vertical). The benefit of this to the teaching of handspring is clear. Essentially to train the entry for the headspring the gymnast has to work on the coordination of the movement from position (a) into (c) (ref to figure 1). If the forward roll slows down, stops, or there is any hesitation by the gymnast, as he/she transitions from (a) to (c) than any benefit of doing a forward roll into the headspring will be negated. It is crucially that the transition from a-c is executed smoothly and momentum conserved. Common errors to look out for in the entry are: • Head being left behind as the gymnast is coming out of the forward roll • Finishing the forward roll in a deep squat (such as ankles to butt) • Poor body tension during and following the forward roll • Lack of control throughout the skill and transition phase • Not reaching out of the forward roll into the entry, thus placing the hands to close to the feet. • Hands position relative to the head. When the gymnast places his/her hands on the floor (c) it’s vital that the hands not be too close to the feet. The gymnast should reach forward from the forward roll rather than for the ground. As the gymnast extends the legs to push from the forward roll ((b) into (c)) he/she does so by ©2008 The Gym Press. All rights reserved

Methodological Article almost jumping onto the hands so that when the head touches he arrives in an almost piked headstand position (c). This distance the gymnast reaches will vary, but it can be up to a meter, depending on the gymnast’s height (2). It is important that the gymnast practices this position (c), and is able to hit this position consistently following the forward roll, before being allowed to perform the full skill. In position (c) it’s important that the gymnast place his forehead on the ground and not on the top of his head. This will help the gymnast to keep a neutral head position, as well as to reach longer into his/her entry, and prevents the shoulders from rolling over the hands. The shoulders should be over the hands during position (c) and should remain so until the flight phase when the hands have left the ground. The gymnast should rest most of his/her weight in position (c) on his/her hands rather then on the head (2). By keeping the weight more on the arms the muscle groups involved in the repulsion are pre-engaged enabling them to produce an explosive force more effectively (1), which is vital to the successful execution of the skill The elbows should be in (closer to the rib cage) rather than fanned out on hand contact (figure 2), as this will affect force production efficiency. However, if the gymnast is used to doing pressing movements (like push-ups) with the elbows fanned out, than based on the specificity principle (3) the gymnast would be stronger with the elbows out, and it might pay to let the gymnast continue training the headspring with the elbows out. Nonetheless executing the skill with elbows out is not ideal and should be avoided if possible.

Figure 2 -

Illustration of the correct arm placement position on entry of the headspring

Repulsion The repulsion phase is dependent on a correct entry and a strong harmonized hip and elbows extension. As the gymnast moves from position (b) into position (c) the legs continue the drive up and over. The coordinated movement between the leg drive and arm push is critical to a seemingly effortless repulsion of the ground. During the transition between (b) and (c), head contact serves as the horizontal breaks, and the starting point of the aggressive hip and elbow extension. Contact time with the ground should be minimal; in order to prevent unnecessary pressure to the neck, minimize any loss of momentum, and to effectively utilize the horizontal momentum to facilitate the repulsion.

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V.Uzunov, Gym Coach, Vol.1 (2007) 1-4 During the leg drive and arm extension it is important not to let the hips move too far over the shoulders (the ideal position is depicted in figure 1 as position (d)). If the hips are too far over the shoulders during (d) the gymnast will get insufficient lift from the repulsion to land correctly. The repulsion can be trained effectively using the following drill/s. At first the coach should use the spotted version of the drill (figure 3) and than when the gymnast has obtained consistency and competence of the entry phase he can progress to do the drill on his own (figure 4). These drills can and should be eventually combined with e forward roll entry. This drill also serves as a good step between training and eventually spotting the actual headspring. It is important that the gymnast do most of the work, and is made to understand that he/she needs to try to perform the hip extension (leg drive) and arm extension (push) at his/her maximal ability only. The coach should be vigilant about hip and shoulder positioning on the repulsion phase to ensure that a streamline shape is kept and the gymnast is not arching over the coach’s shoulder or mats. The gymnast should be looking constantly in between their hands (I tell my gymnasts to look at their thumbs at all times).

Methodological Article his/her heels and stand upright. Learning to land the headspring in position (f), rather then flat footed, this will aid the learning of the correct handspring and flyspring shape. This should be the coaches’ number one priority in spotting and working on to ensure it is done perfectly. The most common mistake unfortunately by gymnasts is to rush the lifting of the head and arms; when they do this; it results in picking of hips and a loss of rotation. It is important to stress to the gymnast NOT to rush the lifting of the shoulders, arms, and head on foot contact, but rather to finish looking up, with the chest as open, and hips pressing forward with tight butt muscles if position (f) is to be achieved. The drill of choice to train this phase is to have the gymnast perform the repulsion drill into a bridge onto an elevated surface of about 5-10cm) (figure 5), followed by a front limber to stand (this will require coach spotting for most kids, as this action requires a considerable amount of leg, hip, and core strength). This drill allows the coach to shape the standing up position as well as condition the gymnast.

Figure 5 – Diagram of ½ of the drill described above. From the final position illustrated the gymnast with the help of the coach can complete the standing up. (Note: bridge position drawn is not correctly depicted to allow the gymnast to stand up on his/her own)

Figure 3 -

Spotted repulsion drill. It is vital the coach reinforce the correct body positions described, before allowing the gymnast too do to many independent attempts.

Figure 4 –

The same drill as above but done independently against

a pile of mats.

Shaping and Landing This is the essentially the flight phase and landing. Once the gymnast’s hands have left the floor (e), he/she must try and pull the legs underneath him/her self. It’s not enough to just to drive the legs up and over, but rather up, over, and under. The effort should be constant especially during the flight phase. This will help facilitate the gymnasts to understand that they need to get their feet under them and not in front in order to successfully complete the skill. The gymnast must strive to land on his toes with the hips pressed forward, with the head, shoulders, and arms behind (open chest position) as show in position (f). Only once this shape is achieved should the gymnast lower to ©2008 The Gym Press. All rights reserved

Along with this drill the coach should carry the gymnast through the flight phase so the gymnast can develop the necessary body awareness, understand the feeling of the legs pulling under, to refine the body shapes during flight and landing. The coach should be constantly aiming to progressively do less and less spotting, while encouraging the gymnasts to do more and more , so that by the time the gymnast has to do the skill independently spotting require will be minimal or not required. Putting It All Together The final stage in teaching the skill is to have the gymnasts perform the skill independently. Initially, even though the gymnast may be able to do all drills perfectly, there will be a period of neurological learning for the gymnast to string all these movements together. To make this easier the skill should be done from a raised surface onto a lower soft floor surface. As the gymnast’s confidence, skill comprehension and ability improves, the surfaces height difference can be gradually reduced. Along with the drills its advised that if possible the gymnast can perform several conditioning exercises to help speed up the learning process. -3-

V.Uzunov, Gym Coach, Vol.1 (2007) 1-4 Conditioning 1- Headstand handstand – With partner or coach assistance the gymnast pushes explosively from a headstand hold to a handstand. Focus is on explosive motion rather than repetition. Recommended volume: 23sets of 4-5 reps. The speed of movement should be as fast as possible. Slow pressing up movements are not effective for power development.

Methodological Article 2- Donkey kicks – Starting from a handstand the gymnast pikes down by allowing the lets to drop down, when his feet hit the floor the gymnast rebound pike press up to a handstand again. Gymnast must aim to do this with speed and control. Recommended volume: 2-3 sets of 10 rebounds 3- Anything specific to front limbers, elbow extension, and hip extension from a piked position. Eg. Pike press in headstand.

DISCUSSION The headspring is a relatively simple skill to teach from a progressional point of view. It requires only a moderate degree of shoulder and hip joint flexibility, with the strength component greatly reduced with effective timing and coordination. The best advantage of training this skill is that it can be taught from a very early age, safely and relatively quickly. Learning this skill has show (from author’s personal experience) to speed up the progression into handsprings and flysprings. It is particularly beneficial for the early training of multiple flysprings.

The methodology applied is based on the rationale that though effective progressional training the gymnast will be able to coordinate the 3 critical phases of the skill more effectively than just through trial and error of the full skill. This coordination between the execution of each phase is the key to the greatly reducing the need for strength in performing the headspring, making this skill far more achievable for the beginner gymnasts (recreational and competitive). This specific coordination has particular benefits to the execution of multiple front bounding skills (eg. multiple flysprings). It also teaches the gymnast how to stop horizontal momentum and transfer it to vertical lift, which is critical facet of successful front and back tumbling (4).

CONCLUSIONS The training of the headspring can begin at an early age with moderate physical preparation. This allows coaches to introduce young gymnast to front bounding skills like the flyspring and handspring at much earlier age with much more success due to the similarities of these skills. The method used assumes that a progressional teaching approach is much more effective in developing the correct

coordination of the critical phases, as compared to a whole skill learning approach to teaching. Every care is taken to assure the accuracy of the information published within this article. The views and opinions expressed within this article are those of the author/s, and no responsibility can be accepted by The Gym Press, Gym Coach or the author for the consequences of actions based on the advice contained herein

Address for correspondence: Valentin Uzunov, Hataitai Gymnastics, Wellington, New Zealand. [email protected].

REFERENCES and RECOMMENDED READINGS 1 - Gordon Chalmers (2002). Do Golgi tendon organs really inhibit muscle activity at high force levels to save muscles from injury and adapt with strength training? Sports Biomechanics. Vol.1(2) 239-249 2 - Arnold, E., Stocks, B. (1979). EP Sport : Men’s Gymnastics. UK: West Yorkshire, EP Publishing Ltd. 3 - W, Sands.(2005). Strength and Conditioning Lecture. USAG Summer Training Camp. Texas 4 - Smith T. (1982). Gymnastics A mechanical understanding. New York: New York. Holmes & Meier Publishers, Inc.

©2008 The Gym Press. All rights reserved

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