AA2 Analysis
My weakness is a Back Somersault.
At my most recent competition, the Oxfordshire County Gymnastics Championships on the 5th of May.
During my floor routine, I made a series of mistakes during my backwards tumble sequence. The tumble
started off with a round-off followed by a back somersault. I noticed this was a weakness of mine as I
struggled with my amplitude during the skill as well as my landing after the somersault.
The back somersault is an acrobatic element in which the person's body rotates
360∘ around the transverse axis in the air. It can be performed in 3 different shapes:
tucked, piked or stretched. In my competition I performed it in a tucked position. In
Gymnastics, each skill element is given a value, which represents how difficult it is.
The values are represented from letters A-J, which corresponds to how many tenths
they are worth. A back somersault has the value A in the Women's Artistic
Gymnastics Code of Points published by Federation of International Gymnastics
(FIG). This code is used for all major national and international competitions in this
discipline including the Olympics. As it is value A, this means that it is worth 0.1. It
can be performed in isolation on beam and floor from standing or it can be linked
into a combination. Each combination provides you with a bonus of 0.1 or 0.2
depending on the difficulty of the skill. It can be seen to be performed in
combination on all apparatus such as a tumble or an acrobatic combination on
beam eg. cartwheel into the back somersault. As I performed the back somersault in combination with a
roundoff in my recent competition, this meant that I gained a bonus of 0.1. It can also be performed on
vault, such as a tsukahara vault. It can be performed on bars in dismounts such as a backaway. This makes
the back somersault a vital skill for a gymnast as they can incorporate the skill into all 4 apparatus.
A back somersault is a closed skill because it cannot be impacted by the surrounding environment, it is a
skill part of a pre learnt and rehearsed routine which isn’t changed when performed. This means that my
mistake at the recent competition wasn’t caused by the environment and perhaps instead was a result of
the tumble not being practised as much as it should have been and now that I have identified it as a
weakness of mine I can focus on improving this in my training plans and goals. As the skill is closed, this
makes it a simple skill as there aren’t many decisions that have to be made during the back somersault.
The skill is already pre-learnt and the gymnast doesn’t have to adapt to a changing environment, it is stable
and predetermined in the floor routine, what is going to be performed, when and where during the floor
routine. It is a discrete skill as it has a clear beginning and end - starts with the lift up off the floor and ends
when you land on your feet. It is a gross skill as many large muscles are used during the skill including the
legs when they move from being bent to straight in the take off position for power in the jump upwards
and then they move in and out of the tucked position in the air dynamically to then be in the correct body
position for landing correctly. as well as the arms as they drive upwards from being down behind the hips
out of the roundoff into the arm swing which initiates the somersault. This provides power and momentum
for the somersault which allows height to be gained to ensure the skill isn’t under rotated. The arms then
move down to horizontal during the somersault and for the landing in order for it to be well executed and
,for the gymnast to maintain balance without wobbling. These gross movements classify the back
somersault as being a powerful and dynamic skill. The back somersault is a self-paced skill as the gymnast
initiates the movement and they are in control of executing it. It is also a highly organised skill as it is made
up of many sub-routines linked together which is difficult to break down in stages which can be practised
individually.
The back somersault consists of 3 main stages: The preparation phase, execution phase and landing phase.
In my routine, the back somersault was mid way through the backwards tumble: Round-off, Back
somersault.
The preparation stage including the strides and hurdle step into the backwards tumble in this case, into the
first skill the round-off. The preparation phase also includes the arm swing and immediate rebound jump
out of the round-off. The next stage is the rotation of the somersault in the air otherwise known as the
execution stage which includes the quality of the technique performed as well as the amplitude and body
placement. The final stage consists of landing the somersault on the feet as well as the result including
intrinsic feedback from kinaesthetic feel and extrinsic feedback from external sources such as coaches and
knowledge of performance and results which include success such as scores and rankings at competition.
When performing the back somersault, I noticed that the amplitude and landing reduced the quality of the
back somersault.
Preparation/take off
The preparation stage of gymnastics floor tumbles are vital to perform a successful tumble sequence. Every
tumble begins with a few running strides followed by a hurdle step. Due to the fluency of accumulating
skills in a tumble, the take off must be perfectly successful to allow the following skills to go to plan, and
every skill's success depends on the success of the one before. There are two preparation phases which
contribute to the success of the back somersault which are the strides and hurdle step into the round-off as
well as the rebound out of the round-off and into the back somersault.
Unfortunately, during the Oxfordshire County Championships, I performed 3 strides that were too small
and slow which didn’t travel far across the floor therefore this had a negative impact on the success of my
tumble as it didn’t allow me to build the momentum that was needed for the hurdle step. The hurdle step
is a very important movement which follows on from the strides and can determine the success of the
tumble. This movement consists of me pushing off my dominant right leg where the knee joint is in flexion
and before my right foot leaves the floor through plantar flexion, my left leg is extended out behind in a
lunge position and then it drives forwards into flexion at the hip and knee joint which generates horizontal
momentum into the roundoff. The lack of speed in my strides resulted in my hurdle step being slow and I
didn’t gain sufficient height when my dominant leg left the floor. This meant that when I landed out of the
hurdle step in the lunge position, my legs were in too close proximity to each other and also the majority of
my body weight was distributed to the back extended leg as I was leaning too far backwards which made it
difficult for me to push out of the floor off of my front leg. Therefore this meant it was hard for me to
generate much power out of the lunge and into the roundoff.
While the hurdle step is taking place, an arm swing is performed by the gymnast as the arms move from
the flexed stride position either side of the body to then extend straight behind the hips to drive upwards
by the ears to generate speed at the same time as the knee drives upwards and the gymnast leaves the
, floor in the hurdle. My arm swing was minimal in my recent performance as when my right leg left the
floor, at the same time my arms moved upwards slowly up to my ears achieved by flexion at the shoulder
joint. My arms weren’t in the correct position for take-off as the angle at my shoulders was too small, they
should be completely in line with the torso but instead they were at about a 145 degree angle to the
shoulders. This incorrect arm position could be due to a lack of shoulder flexibility however it could also
have been caused by the incorrect body position in the hurdle step so it was difficult for me to lift my chest
up quickly. It meant my arms were in front of my shoulders and so this resulted in my body leaning too far
forwards so full extension at the hips couldn’t take place and the angle of my body in relation to the floor
was incorrect. This made it difficult for me to convert momentum into height for the hop in the hurdle step.
It also resulted in me receiving a moderate deduction for execution of the hurdle step of 0.1.
The next preparation phase is the immediate rebound out of the round-off and into the back somersault.
When I landed my round-off, my arms were placed horizontally at a 90 degree angle to my hips which was
unfortunately the incorrect position. The correct arm position at the end of a round-off is placing them up
by your ears parallel perfectly in line from the fingertips to the hips in the sagittal axis. This positioning of
the arms allows them to drive upwards out of the round-off at a fast speed achieved from moving to
extension to flexion at the shoulder through the sagittal plane. If this correct arm motion is achieved, this
allows sufficient height to be built into the following skill (back somersault). As the arms were horizontal
when I landed my round-off, this meant that they acted as a brake and had a negative impact on my
rebound into the back somersault as horizontal arms is the correct position for a successful landing as it
helps to stop the momentum and maintain stability and balance which is the opposite to what you want to
achieve when linking acrobatic elements together in a tumbling sequence. During the immediate rebound
out of the round-off, my knee joints moved from flexion to extension as they landed slightly bent at
approximately a 165 degree angle and then they extended straight during the push out of the floor, this is
achieved by the quadriceps and hamstrings working together as an antagonistic pair. The quadriceps
contract and shorten isometrically as the agonist during the extension at the knee joint. This occurs at the
same time as the hamstrings relax isometrically as the antagonist and lengthen to allow the movement to
take place. This occurs at the same time as both feet lift up into the rebound jump achieved by plantar
flexion and the strength in my metatarsals and gastrocnemius allows me to gain as much height as possible
into the back somersault.
After the round-off, I landed with my feet too far beneath my body, which meant my shoulders were over
my knees so I couldn’t lift my body upwards to perform a vertical rebound out of the round-off to gain
height for the somersault. I also landed the round-off with my knees too bent at an angle of around 100
degrees which meant my body was leaning forwards and this placement meant that I lost the momentum
and speed which I should have gained from the round-off. Therefore, after the round-off this resulted in a
pause where I stopped before the arm swing into the back somersault. This meant that I experienced a lack
of amplitude as it was difficult for me to gain height in the rebound jump into the back somersault
impacting my landing. The pause between the elements also led to me receiving an execution deduction
for a lack of fluency 0.1 as well as me losing the bonus of 0.1 for linking together the combination of skills
during the backwards tumble sequence, therefore this also had a negative impact on my final floor and
overall score.
The benefits of buying summaries with Stuvia:
Guaranteed quality through customer reviews
Stuvia customers have reviewed more than 700,000 summaries. This how you know that you are buying the best documents.
Quick and easy check-out
You can quickly pay through credit card for the summaries. There is no membership needed.
Focus on what matters
Your fellow students write the study notes themselves, which is why the documents are always reliable and up-to-date. This ensures you quickly get to the core!
Frequently asked questions
What do I get when I buy this document?
You get a PDF, available immediately after your purchase. The purchased document is accessible anytime, anywhere and indefinitely through your profile.
Satisfaction guarantee: how does it work?
Our satisfaction guarantee ensures that you always find a study document that suits you well. You fill out a form, and our customer service team takes care of the rest.
Who am I buying these notes from?
Stuvia is a marketplace, so you are not buying this document from us, but from seller daisystevens. Stuvia facilitates payment to the seller.
Will I be stuck with a subscription?
No, you only buy these notes for £25.16. You're not tied to anything after your purchase.
