The roundoff begins with a jump in which the straight body leans forward and the arms are put far in front of the leg in a T position. At the same time, one lower limb performs a quick swing, followed by a push-off from the mat of the other lower limb. When passing the handstand, we perform a 90° turn, which is led by feet. The dynamic transition from handstand to standing upright is conditioned by the push-off of the upper limbs. Then, the athlete puts his legs close to each other and lands on the mat with the feet together.

• Technique variants

  Advanced technigue.

  Advanced technigue.

View of the practitioner

In roundoff, the body rotates around the longitudinal and sagittal axes. The initial velocity or kinetic energy is acquired during the jump. The conversion of the initial horizontal to vertical velocity is conditioned by placing the hands far in front of the foot. The moments of the following forces are involved in the rotational motion: the force of inertia from the jump, the force of the swinging limb, and the ground reaction forces caused by the rebound of the lower and upper limbs. The rotation about the longitudinal axis of the body begins before the body passes through the handstand and is completed after the hands leave the floor.

• Insufficient swing of the lower limb, leading to overall slow movement. As a result of the low speed, it is not possible to rebound off of the floor effectively with the hands.
• Another fault is insufficient hip rotation.

• Physical preparation 1

  Hip flexibility is essential for this element. It is advisable to practise this flexibility in a dynamic mode, e.g., backward leg swings.

• Physical preparation 2

  Strengthen the muscles of the shoulder joints.

• Drill 1

  The drill is based on performing cartwheel. In the final phase, the body rotates and the take-off leg adds to the other.

• Drill 2

  In the following exercise we perform the turn earlier and put the legs together before their contact with the mat. The hands remain on the floor, their support is necessary. The correct position of the hands on the mat is essential.

• Drill 3

  For beginners, it is recommended to use the elevated mat surface to eliminate the lack of rotation of the body and the poor support of the arms.

Spotting is not necessary when cartwheel is well performed. The spotting is possible as the handstand passes: we catch the gymnast in the hip area to help with rotation and control the final phase of the element.