The giant swing to handstand begins from a handstand. The gymnast should perform a bail with a fully extended body, tight legs, and with no shoulder angle. This helps the gymnast enlarge the circle during the first part of the giant, which adds more acceleration. Taller gymnasts may bend their legs from the horizontal and after. The gymnast should pass through the bottom with a completely extended body, with bent legs from the knees, and their head in the middle position. After passing through the bottom, the athlete should cut the circle of the giant, transforming the body into a hollow tucked position. They should kick with tight legs (or knees if the legs are bent), and slightly close the angle of the body from their hips. In this position the body should begin to rise above the bars, circling around the hands. Starting in the bottom there should begin a very strong push back on the bars from the arms. This helps the gymnast to accelerate the move upward. Holding is provided as long as the gymnast can hold the rails inward. At the last possible moment, the gymnast should regrasp their hands. This is done through a blocking action with a hop. The gymnast then finishes the giant in a handstand. Taller gymnasts should gradually tighten their legs to handstand after the lower vertical. There are several important points that the coach should emphasize - “long” first half circle, holding the rails as long as possible, and pushing the bars back with the arms during the second half of the giant.
The long swing starts from the highest point of the backswing. The gymnast’s body should be straight and tight, so should their legs. Their head should be in the middle position. Down to the bottom of the swing, the gymnast should extend their shoulders and try to perform a “long” circle. Taller gymnasts may bend their legs from their knees. As they pass through the bottom of the swing, the athlete should shorten the radius of the circle. This can be done by kicking the knees and piking from the hips. Shortening the angle of the shoulders can help as well. The front swing finishes at the highest point. Next, the gymnast should perform a backswing and finish at the position of the skill.
From a standing position the gymnast should pike their body and begin the move with a backward roll. Their arms should be up, tight, and close to their head. Their head should be tucked slightly in. Their body should roll back until their arms are laying on the floor. At this point the gymnast should start pushing back. Their body should raise to vertical, gradually opening from the piked position to hollow. The push should be strong in order to perform a hop. The gymnast should finish in handstand. During the entire skill the gymnast should keep their arms and legs completely tight. Pushing back on the floor from the arms helps the gymnast interrupt rolling back, accelerate the move, and to raise their body to handstand with a hop. The legs should open from the pike to give direction up to handstand.
Hook an elastic band on one of the swedish wall rails. Have the gymnast grab both ends of the elastic and lay back with their feet in front of the wall. The gymnast should be far enough away that they feel resistance from the bands. With straight arms, the gymnast should pull back on the elastic and hit the floor above their heads. Their back should remain on the ground at all times. This should be repeated several times.
This drill is a modification of the back extension roll. Have the gymnast start from sitting in a piked position with their arms straight next to their head. They should perform the back extension roll with bent legs. The gymnast should kick with their knees upward, in order to add more acceleration to the move.
Place a cheese mat or springboard onto a set of parallettes. The gymnast should roll backwards down the incline, grab the parallettes inward and perform a back extension to handstand. The drill should be performed with bent legs, the Gymnast should not switch their hands.
The gymnast should perform the back extension to handstand with a spotter. They should keep their legs bent, so that the coach can tuck their arm behind their knees. This will allow them to assist the gymnast in lifting their body up to handstand.
This drill should be started from a moderately high back swing. The gymnast should bail with an extended body. After the lower vertical, the gymnast should perform a back tucked flip between the rails.
The gymnast should perform the giant at the end of the rails. This makes it much more comfortable to spot for the coach. The athlete should not shift their hands, and keep them inward.
The gymnast is already performing the giant in the middle of the bars. The scope of this drill is to rotate without the help from a spotter, and without shifting the arms. The gymnast should finish this drill with their feet straddled on the bars.
The previous drill helps the gymnast become comfortable holding onto the rails without shifting their arms. This move is important, because it helps to push back on the bars until the very end. When this gymnast develops this habit, they may begin doing the giant with the hand shift. In this drill the gymnast should not emphasize on finishing in handstand
Integral part of gymnastics coaching process are skill drills. They help gymnasts to learn easier and technically correct. With GYM DRILL PRO you will find variety of ideas for the most the basic gymnastics skills. There are plenty of images with skill drill progressions. It is intended to support explicitly the qualified coaches in their daily coaching business. DO NOT practice without the guidance of proper professionals.