Nfl Gymnast: Jason Pierre Paul Does Multiple Consecutive Handsprings / Backflips

NFL Gymnast: Jason Pierre Paul does Multiple Consecutive Handsprings / Backflips

Searched forums and did not find it and I figured it'd be interesting to share. 

Found it via this article

Jason Pierre-Paul, the Late-Blooming Defensive Wunderkind

PS: Admins/ Mods - I am not sure which was the right sub-forum to post into so feel free to move it 

That's pretty cool! Abominable form, to be kind lol, but there's no doubt that immense power comes from Gymnastic Strength Training™

Handsprings are somewhat simple as far as acrobatics go, but I swear almost nothing else looks so cool

I wonder if the bent legs and arms is actually beneficial to his strength training. Ordinarily while tumbling you want to avoid bending the knees and elbows in order to maintain momentum: your muscles are not strong or fast enough to maintain the load [you want your skeletal structure to be bearing it], so bent arms or legs results in lost energy. But if you're doing it as a form of strength training, placing that load on your muscles might actually be better. 

But yeah, I cringed at that form.

 It tends to be a good idea and beneficial to bend the limbs when tumbling on harder surfaces. Grass gives a bit but not much really. Compare that to a track, concrete, or basketball floor.

I don't disagree. The pads also get in the way.

looks like to get stronger, I'll need to get over my fear of flipping

Joshua Naterman said:

I don't disagree. The pads also get in the way.

I think that's likely a big part of it. Doesn't look to me like he could get his arms straight up with those pads, so the bending looks to me just so that he can REACH the ground before the helmet.

Joshua Naterman said:

I don't disagree. The pads also get in the way.

Depends on what pads he's wearing. Lineman/linebacker/tight end/full back pads will restrict arm movements the most. On the other hand wide receiver/quarterback/defensive back/running back pads has the least restriction to favour maneuverability but less protective.

I've tried wearing my shoulder pad and can't open out my shoulders fully despite being a defensive back style pad. I wouldn't dare do a handspring in them.

Oooh. Did anyone else see some collapsed arches in a few of those? He's definitely working harder with the bent limbs, but I fear for his knees a little bit. He is a football player though, I'm sure he sees worse.

Big guy doing backhandsprings = cool, although better form would have been much more impressive, but saying backhandsprings are responsible for his enormous power off the line is a bit of a stretch, in my opinion. I would venture to say that most of his power comes from squatting/other leg work and training speed and jumps, not from training backhandsprings. Quite a few of these guys can throw standing tucks, given the form isn't any better than the back handsprings in the video.
 

Blairbob said:

 It
tends to be a good idea and beneficial to bend the limbs when tumbling
on harder surfaces. Grass gives a bit but not much really. Compare that
to a track, concrete, or basketball floor.

Technique and shoes play a large role here as well here. I use to have to tumble on basketball floor, shoes make a pretty big difference here. The nice cheer ones with the gel inserts help a ton with joint stress. But I totally agree, a slight bend in the elbows and knees is kind of a necessity for hard surfaces vs spring floor. If the tumbler's technique is good enough the bend is usually very small.