Floor C Skills

C SKILLS

The gymnast must have a strong arabian front before moving on to this skill. It must have a good set, be square after the twist, and the gymnast should be very clear on the rotation.
Work front 1 3/4 into a pit first to develop a good sense of the skill.
Do a LOT of front 1 3/4s onto mats. Knowing where you are in this skill is crucial. Coming up short can cause serious injury.
The skill should finish just past vertical with an extended body. The hands should contact the floor and absorb some of the impact, but the majority of the energy should be dissipated through the roll.
Keep tight and extended on the roll.

Once a back 1/1 is learned, learning a 2/1, 3/2 is a matter of developing a feel for an aggressive wrap and what the various twists feel like.
The set becomes more crucial. Keeping the head in and arms up is extremely important, as the gymnast will need more flight time, and a very tight lay out to be successful.
Front 3/2 (Rudi) feels very similar when the gymnast twists the same direction for backwards and forwards flipping skills. This should be the case and should be directed for younger gymnasts.

The key to a double back is simply a strong set, a good punch and air sense.
Timer: Work back 1 1/4 to stacked mats.
The gymnast should be able to land high on their back, on a stack of mats at least as high as their middle back.

After the gymnast has a good sense of a front then twisting the skill is a natural progression.
The twist should be initiated late in the skill. The gymnast should work fronts trying to twist a split second before they land.
The twist will be initiated in the head and shoulders. As the gymnast is reaching the peak of the flight they should look in the direction of the twist, and drop the opposite arm slightly across their body.
As the twist becomes more natural increasing the amount of twist is just a matter of being more aggressive and tight.

Learning a front-front is a progression from slower rebounding surfaces to the floor.
Start on a trampoline or tumble tramp doing consecutive fronts. It is essential that the first front finishes fully standing with the arms extended upwards.
Lots of repetitions of consecutive fronts will develop a good feel for this skill.
From the trampoline gymnasts can transition to a resilient 8" mat or a 4" "sting" mat on the floor. Then take the mat away.

This skill requires good tricep, ab, and hip flexor strength, as well as shoulder flexibility.
To stretch the shoulders, work skin the cat on rings, or sit in a pike on floor, reach back with the hands and walk the hands back keeping them as close together as possible.
Conditioning: manna swings on P-bars, bar dips, tricep pushups, leg lifts. See my conditioning page for descriptions.
Some young gymnasts have a relatively easy time developing this skill as their shoulders and pike are very flexible. They should be encouraged to work it consistantly to maintain it throughout their training.

Good compression in the V position is key to this skill.
Conditioning: In a pike sit with palms flat on the floor near the gymnasts feet, work sets of 20 leg lifts.
Work V-press handstand on progressively lower paralettes.

The gymnast should work press handstands with the fingers turned directly outward. As they get stronger they can widen their arms.
This skill also helps develop an inverted cross on rings.