Request - video of roundoff for height

There doesn't seem to be an appropriate forum for this, but this seemed closest.

Someone I know claims that they get more roundoff height by bending the arms, and that gymnasts don't get good height out of their roundoffs. I have a feeling that it's just because they don't know how to push with the shoulders and haven't seen a good gymnast do a roundoff for height.

But then I realized I haven't seen it either. Elites never seem to do their skills directly from a roundoff, and the person I know gets more height his way than the random amateurs on youtube. Does anyone have a link of someone getting massive height from a correct form gymnast roundoff?

The only reason you would RO for height is to set for a double/triple back or double arabian. You get the point.

Some elites do bend the arms to get a bit more push. If you go into slow-mo, typically you will see their ankles and knees flex. I've never looked for arms bending but it may happen in that instance of a moment.

Height depends on rebound.

Rebound has 3 factors: entry speed, angle, and tightness (can also be thought of as exit speed).

The higher you want to go, the tighter you have to be, minimal bends in your body lines. This ensures a greater transmission of power and momentum into the connecting skill.

Ideal entry speed depends on the height you require. The faster your entry speed, the higher you will rebound (assuming tight body).

Ideal angle depends partially on your speed (which depends on required height). Your should try to get your feet behind you for height (feet in front for backwards momentum). The faster you can go, the more drastic of an angle is acceptable. If the magnitude of your angle overcomes your entry speed, you won't be able to get enough rotation for your next skill. If your angle is too little and your entry speed to fast, you will probably have too much rotation and not enough height. Finding an equilibrium of entry speed and rebound angle is a matter of practice though.

Blairbob said:

The only reason you would RO for height is to set for a double/triple back or double arabian. You get the point.

Some elites do bend the arms to get a bit more push. If you go into slow-mo, typically you will see their ankles and knees flex. I've never looked for arms bending but it may happen in that instance of a moment.

On twisting, most people also cut the snap down to a similar "snap out" angle to offset some of their extra rotation into height.

Arm bend sometimes happens on back handsprings because they increase the length span while accelerating, this results in lower height when you "catch" in the handstand. This is all aimed at getting the feet behind the shoulders while maintaining speed to increase height of the rebound. I've never heard of bent arms in a round off though. This sounds like poor technique.

I just reread what i wrote and it barely makes sense to me. Hopefully someone will make a video.

Tsoonami, that was a very good post but very technical. It's been awhile since I've read or talked about the technicalities of round-off to that degree.

Blairbob,

Thank you. This is better taught with a video, best taught hands on, and probably beyond the scope of a few posts but I'll give it one more shot.

Dlsso,

Here's a simplified version if that was too technical.

For now face toward a wall with your shoulder angle completely open an extended, hips slightly under, but not closed. Walk your feet about a foot back. Squeeze everything as tight as possible. Raise up onto the balls of your feet and fall forward into the wall.

-Note that your heels do not contact the floor.

-Note the angle that your body makes with the floor.

-Note the open angle of your body at the hips and shoulders.

This is where you want to land your roundoff, get there as fast and tight as possible. As you get better, you can intuitively play around with the angle quite a bit.

The first half of your roundoff if done correctly should generate the speed and the snap down will seamlessly transfer your momentum. There are drills to increase the speed of the first half of your roundoff, and to increase the smoothness of your snap down etc, but those are best taught hands on.

There's probably no need to make things less difficult for Dlsso to understand... I'd say he's pretty darn smart.

However, the simplicity does always help those onlookers who see this post and think "wut?"

Thanks for the vote of confidence Seiji

I've got college level physics and and a fair grasp of biokinetics so terminology is usually the only thing that gives me any trouble. As far as I'm concerned the more detailed the explanation the better.

Blairbob said:

The only reason you would RO for height is to set for a double/triple back or double arabian. You get the point.

Yes. Does anyone have clips of a high level gymnast doing this?

Darnit, apparently I am talking out of my back because the only triple backs and double arabians I found were out of a RO-BHS series. This disappoints me.

Here's a video of the arms bending on the back handspring in a setup for a triple arabian into pit.

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To successfully and purposefully bend your arms in your tumbling and then straighten them out quickly takes a whole lot of strength and power. I wouldn't teach this to pretty much anybody.

EXOuSTYIZW8 Here you can see a gymnast bend his arms into a double or triple. It's hard to find video where you can actually see the arms bend.

Daniel Keatings does it quite often. This routine from world's is pretty unique since it all his passes are from a roundoff.

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I found something pretty interesting as I was watching a video of myself doing a RO back tuck.

I also figured out what I was doing wrong; check out a great roundoff by watching this guy:

See what he does? (referring to lil b, the black guy) In my old roundoff, I bent my arms a lot. (then again, hard floor, i thought it would be better to be lower) The angle my legs made with the floor was almost perfect... but my upper body wasn't. My upper body was parallel to the ground. I snapped down, but in the wrong way. The snap down being referred to is a hollow position- you try to get distance from your hands without having to pike your hips farther than 10 degrees. Mine were about 60 degrees. I got head height, but I travelled far. Going with a straight body gives your more momentum for rebounding as well, compared to snapping down with a small pike.