In partnership with
Part 1: Familiarizing Yourself with the Motions
1. Master the prerequisites. Gymnastics skills build off of each other, and before you attempt the front aerial, you'll want to have mastered similar, more basic skills. This includes the front walk-over, the front handspring step-out, and the side aerial.
These skills involve attributes and motions comparable to the front aerial, and mastery will result in better execution.
2. Ask your coach if you're ready. Unless you have learned the right prerequisites, doing a front aerial without the proper equipment and supervision could result in serious neck or back injury. Your coach is the person who knows your skill level best, so ask them for their opinion and advice.
Ad break
The article’s primary sponsor: 1440 Daily Digest is a popular daily email newsletter from the American company 1440 (Chicago), which has been in operation since 2017.
Arnold Schwarzenegger has a newsletter.
Yeah. That Arnold Schwarzenegger.
So do Codie Sanchez, Scott Galloway, Colin & Samir, Shaan Puri, and Jay Shetty. And none of them are doing it for fun. They're doing it because a list you own compounds in ways that social media never will.
beehiiv is where they built it. You can start yours for 30% off your first 3 months with code PLATFORM30. Start building today.
… back to the articleу 👇🏻
3. Prepare to simulate the motion. To help your body become accustomed to the uncanny sensation of doing an entire forward revolution without the use of your hands, you're going to practice the motion into a foam pit. Stack two panel mats at the edge of the floor, near the foam pit.
If your gym doesn't have a foam pit, talk with your coach and see if there's one nearby you can use for practice.
4. Perform the motion by splitting your legs and tumbling forward. Stand on one foot, push off by bending at the knee and driving with your leg, flip forward by leaning in and splitting your legs, and finally allow yourself to fall into the foam pit. This will help your body acclimate to the sensation of being upside down while unsupported and in motion.
Your distance from the foam pit will depend on your height. Be sure you are close enough to the foam pit that you clear its lip and the intervening space in the course of your tumble. Generally, about six inches (15¼ cm) should be sufficient.
Repeat this process several times until you are comfortable with the sensation.
5. Remove a mat and practice into the foam pit again. The less vertical assistance you have from the mats, the more you will have to engage your legs and core to launch your body through the air. The fewer mats you use, the more like the real thing your practice will become.
6. Flip on a trampoline or tumble track. Your flip differs from a front aerial in that the an aerial requires you to keep your legs extended, which will slow your rotational velocity. Approach your flip at a run and then execute. Once you feel comfortable, try to step into a front aerial.
7. Attempt a front aerial on the floor with height aids. If you are comfortable with the previous drills and have mastered the prerequisite skills, ask your coach if you're ready to try a front aerial on the floor with height assistance. Take an eight-inch mat and put it on a soft, padded gymnastics floor or carpet. Then stack three panel mats on top of each other, and another three behind those.
Stand on the panel mats. Push off, flip, and land on the eight-inch mat. Try to stick your landing!
Lower height by removing mats once you perfect this motion. Then do it with two panel mats, one panel mat, then no panel mats!
8. Protect yourself from injury while learning. Before trying to do a front aerial on a plain floor, get a really thin mat, or a "pit pillow," and place it on a bouncy floor or a regular floor. Start off from the floor, and aim to land on the thin mat.
In this part, I covered the basics of how to prepare for a no-hands somersault. In the second part, I'll cover how to master the somersault.
Artemus Vazhui