Want to learn to do a handstand? Well, lets get the foundations right first!
Did you know, Bunny Jumps are an integral part of gymnastics development and key to learning a great handstand (and loads of other awesome gymnastics skills)?
That’s why our Jnr Gym Kids through to Aspire Foundations gymnasts are busy bunny jumping around the gym!
All Gymnastics skills can be defined and broken down into three key points:
- Pressure through arms
- Pressure through legs; and
- Body posture
I am sure most of us have tried a handstand at some stage in our lives (and most of our gymnastics loving kids spend a lot of time practicing their handstands, there and everywhere!). The handstand is one of a very few skills in gymnastics that is used in each of the four Women’s Apparatus (Vault, Bars, Beam and Floor) and in all six of the Men’s apparatus (Vault, High Bar, Parallel Bars, Pommel Horse, Rings and Floor).
This means that as gymnast you need to be pretty good at doing handstands and believe us, they look easier than what they are!
A really great handstand will take years to develop correctly! This is where the bunny jump comes in and why we take the time to teach and develop bunny jumps correctly at gymnastics class. Bunny jumps are a pre-requisite to handstands and require all of the three key points above!
We learn pressure through arms (straight arms, use of fingers to balance the handstand), pressure through legs (the leg drive to kick up to the handstand and leg tension to keep the body tight) and Posture (key body posture and middle body control).
As children progress, so too does the Bunny Jump:
- hands/feet pattern on the ground
- bunny jump up to a height
- bottom up Bunny Jumps (where we are looking for bottom-hips to hit above the hands/shoulders). This will teach the children the support phase of the Bunny Jump which will lead to a good support position in a handstand
- Bunny Jump to pike position (half handstand – picture the letter L turned upside down!)
There are many more drills and progressions from here to be able to do a great handstand (Click here for our blog about handstands).
By learning the basics and getting the foundations and development right, our Gym Kids and Aspire gymnasts will be bunny jumping to amazing handstands in no time!