Kasamatsu Timers to Stacked Mats
The goal of this drill is to land on top of an elevated surface without having to arch the body. The gymnast can't arch and twist, which is why the drill is so important.
The goal of this drill is to land on top of an elevated surface without having to arch the body. The gymnast can't arch and twist, which is why the drill is so important.
The following clip shows a drill that helps gymnasts learn the Kasamatsu. At first, the gymnasts get familiar with performing a cartwheel into the pit. Then, as they improve, they add a side somersault. The next step would be to add a quarter twist. Now they are ready for the Kasamatsu.
The Carballo begins like an in-bar endo. After passing through the bottom with a full deep pike compression, the gymnast performs a strong pull to support. He releases the rail when the shoulders have moved up beyond the horizontal bar. During the flying phase, the athlete travels toward the vertical and performs a straddle cut. He then extends with the aim of grabbing the bar in an undergrip while the body is as close to a handstand as possible.
This skill begins exactly like a regular Carballo would begin. As the athlete grabs the bar and his body swings down, he completes the one arm front pirouette.
Once the gymnast have learned how to perform some basic jumps on floor and have a good understanding of how to land safely, they may also practice basic dismounts. In the tuck jump, emphasis is placed on bringing the knees up close to the chest. For a pike jump, the gymnast brings the legs up close to a horizontal line. The goal is to show a deep pike at peak height. The straddle jump dismount must emphasize hip turn-out so at peak height the front part of the legs are facing up toward the ceiling.
Although in the round-off basic dismount the feet do not land on the beam after the arms repulsion, this skill is a useful drill to introduce advanced recreational gymnasts and entry level team gymnasts to hand placements on the beam. Notice the attention to proper posture and presentation to begin the round-off.
To perform the round off back tuck dismount the gymnasts must become comfortable with making beam round-offs from two steps and a hurdle. As with many other beam skills or combinations, this dismount is mastered following a beam progression beginning on a floor line.
This is a fair example of back handspring landing on two feet to a back tuck dismount. Gymnasts must know how to perform the combination on floor, and also how to perform a beam standing back handspring to two feet and rebound. The combination is trained first on a low beam with folded mats on the sides, and the apparatus end pointing to a loose foam pit.
Gymnasts that already know how to perform back handsprings to two feet can practice rebounding them on a low beam and then learn to connect the handspring with a basic back tuck dismount to a pit. From there they can follow the general beam learning progression and eventually execute the combination on a regular height beam.
To perform this combination the athlete must have mastered tumbling double fulls, beam back handspring to two feet landings, and progressively learn to connect the back handsprings to back tucks, and layouts to full twist dismounts. The gymnast must also develop an increased in speed and power while practicing those combinations.
Once the gymnast has mastered a good round off back tuck dismount, they can begin learning the round off double back dismount on the beam. All the regular tumbling techniques for creating a rebounding setup apply for the double back dismount. Training the dismount into a pit until it shows great technical consistency is crucial.
To reach this level of front dismounts, as with any other gymnastics activity, the gymnast must progress step by step from the easiest basic skills to the most difficult ones. In the case of front dismounts, they must develop increasing confidence and balance to be able to run across the beam and punch the dismount takeoff. Gymnasts must also get used to punching with one foot in front of the other, and first learn each dismount into a pit until the skill can be performed safely and consistently.