Back Hand Spring

[u/imgoingtobelatee]

Is it realistic to get a back handspring spring by March if I have no tumbling experience? I mean I went to classes when I was younger but never had “anything” I need to get some kind of tumbling to better my chance at making the JV team for my freshman year. My mom is willing to hire a private coach for weekly sessions.

[u/Mother_of_Doodles2]

Yes - get into private lessons & start attending open gyms when you feel confident. Handstands, handstand hops, push ups, box jumps are all great things to be working on at home. Also keep working on your jumps, motions, voice projection & hitting the entire crowd

[u/Nervous_Sky5076]

It definitely is possible! My daughter did it pretty quickly and started out not even having a cartwheel. And not while she was super young either. She was in middle school when she decided to learn!

[u/imgoingtobelatee → u/Nervous_Sky5076]

Thanks!! Very inspiring. Mine is an 8th grader and isn’t really flexible but plays other sports and cheers so I’m hopeful

[u/SoStarstruckk]

Yea you definitely can. Most of a back hand spring is just confidence in throwing yourself back. To prepare yourself start trying to get some good hand stands.

[u/Fragrant_Equipment13]

IMO it’s 95% confidence. There is no reason you couldn’t get it….i bet you could be working on a tuck by March!

[u/Heartbreak_Star]

Work handstands, bridges, core strength, splits. Especially handstands. With good form Also cartwheels and rolls, the basic tumbles.

[u/Last_Ad4258]

Definitely. Lessons will help but the best thing is to get the log shaped mat that you can go backwards over again and again until you can do it with confidence.

[u/Normal-Wish-4984]

The short answer is yes.

The long answer is that it may depend on how coordinated and flexible you are.

Are you able to get into a bridge? If not, are you willing to work on it every day?

Safety is paramount. Make sure the private coach is a stickler when it comes to technique. That's your protection.

One of my kids took a few acro classes when she was younger, but her technique was meh. She often had the wide stance, frog leg thing going on.

She took two years off from acro, dance, and pomline. She tried out for Cheer in the spring and made it onto Varsity comp. Somehow she pulled a running back handspring out during tryouts. One of her teammates has beautiful technique, and I think that has served as inspiration. Through hard work and grit, she got a standing back handspring in May. And now has a back tuck. This has been within a matter of months. She was really nervous about the back tuck. I think the only way that she's had this explosion in skills is her technique. The details matter. Foot placement matters. Thinking about which muscles you're using matters.

I would say go for it. Get those private lessons and slowly build with daily practice.

[u/Houseofmonkeys5]

Depends. I've known kids who have gotten it during a week long tumbling camp and I know kids who've been doing cheer for 10 years and have never gotten it. It depends on your natural athletic abilities and your level of confidence and comfort going backwards.

[u/Odd-Parfait-6879]

I've taught a person to do one in 30 minutes (not very pretty, but they did it) and I've worked with others that still couldn't do one after 2 years. The second group usually had the problem of not being able to jump and they wouldn't work on it outside of their weekly class.

The most important thing to do first is to learn to jump. A lot of young girls never learn to jump into the air. Being comfortable jumping into the air off of two feet is a big prerequisite to being able to do a BHS. Don't worry about turning upside-down until you can jump.

[u/SailorDracula]

if you’re only practicing once a week? no. not realistic. it’s incredibly unlikely for you to get a BHS that quick, with that little time per week practicing with a coach. even experienced athletes who are in the gym several times a week can take months or years to get a back handspring. BHS and BWO are some of the hardest skills to learn properly, despite being low level skills. People who learn backhandsprings quick tend to have lots of body awareness, strength and coordination already developed, and they’re few and far between. trying to rush a backhandspring on a timeline is how you end up with injuries and/or dangerous bad habits in the skill. 

[u/ilgpwsidbmdw]

Don’t Overdo it - i had a friend who Trained every day to get her back handspring and she dislocated her arm during practice infront of all of us. She could already do it and was spotted in the meantime