The back handspring landing on the stomach is a little easier than the regular back handspring because you don’t have to keep your upper body as tight and you don’t really have to push with your arms. Many people learn the back handspring with a stomach landing before they even try a regular gymnastic back handspring. There are two variations of this technique:
Execution
Stand upright with your legs together and look straight ahead.
When you do a back handspring, you should not throw your upper body and arms out too much, and you should also not bend your knees excessively. But most people learn the back handspring with stomach landing before the real back handspring, so form is not that important yet. However, here is what you should try: Keep your upper body vertical, and don’t throw it below horizontal level. Jump backward and push your hips up.
Then plant your hands and look down at the floor.
Hollow your back and bend your arms slowly. Roll down onto your chest. I recommend you practice the handstand roll down onto your chest before you try this in a back handspring.
If you want to try the gymnastics variation of the back handspring with stomach landing, you should learn the back flip and the normal back handspring first. For the gymnastics variation, your timing has to be very precise. The risk of injuring your toes or hands is much higher. When you learn the gymnastics variation, I recommend you start with a piked landing position and later try to land with your entire body fully extended.
Advice
Don’t try this on hard ground right away. Practice on mats!
Exercise: Do a handstand, hollow your back, and then roll down onto your chest. Once you can do this, try the back handspring landing on the stomach on mats.
The gymnastics variation of the back handspring with stomach landing is an excellent preparation for the back flip twist. Basically, jump from a trampoline and land on your stomach. Make sure you keep your body fully extended and twist shortly before you land.
Suggestions
