When am I ready for skill defelopment?

I started gymnastics as an adult and have been doing gymnastics on and off for over 10 years now. The approach I was taught and found online early on emphasized focused skill development and neglected conditioning as a necessary means of attaining skills. Most of what I did was trampoline and tumbling learning basic front and back tumbling, handstands, flipping, twisting, but I also dabbled in leg circles and kips on bars and even some static elements like planche and levers. I got to the point where I could not move forward with my skills any further as a result of recurring or chronic injuries that I tried to ignore for a long time.

 

My lack of strength and mobility became too much. So for the last year or two I have taken a step back from tumbling to try and focus on prehab, mobility, basic strength, and get over my injuries. Most recently I have been doing Foundation 1 and I have been doing a lot of focused handstand work that I have researched but I will likely start handstand 1 soon as well. I am very happy to report that my injuries and resulting restrictions in movement have all but faded away. My shoulders feel great, my wrists are not hurting in handstands, I'm not worried about groin issues when doing cartwheels, and I am seeing great results from the training. I am gaining back confidence in my movements and I'm not worried about injuries because I feel stronger and more mobile.

 

I have still stayed away from tumbling and skill development though because I want to make sure I am absolutely prepared before going back to minimize my risk of revisiting my old injuries. And I am very early on with F1, I expect it will be close to a year before I complete F1.

 

My question is this:

When should I go back to skill development? At what point do I know I am truly ready to attempt back handsprings, flips, or even a cartwheel? What kind of mobility and strength is necessary for a cartwheel to be executed correctly? Is a bridge pull a necessary skill to have nailed before handspring work? I have read many tutorials about tumbling elements and none of them really discuss what is necessary in terms of strength and mobility to attempt the basic elements. Although the elements may overlap and have carry over they mainly discuss what you have to do in order to execute them, not really what you have to demonstrate before even thinking about attempting them. Sure I was able to do some tumbling with no prior background, poor mobility, and lack of strength, but it was not sustainable and ultimately lead to injuries and me almost having to quit entirely.

 

Can anyone shed some light on this? Gymnastics is something I see as a life long pursuit because I really enjoy it. I want to do it as sustainably as possible.

 

Thank you for the help.

As an addendum I realize that many sites like Drills and Skills and many of the coaches I have interacted with may mention some things to work on to help with a specific skill. However, there's not really a measurable quality given as is given for progress in the foundation series. For example to move from SL/PE1 to SL/PE2 I have to show mastery of that element. To attempt a cartwheel or back handspring what do I need to show mastery of beforehand? Ditto for all other basic tumbling skills.

There isn't really a "Foundation Equivalent" for basic tumbling skills. Progressing all the way through F1 and the first 7 H1 pe's would give you a solid base for learning basic tumbling, I'd say.