Learning a Cartwheel

There are three rotations in a cartwheel, instructor Sean Lind says at this CrossFit Gymnastics Advanced Trainer Course. There’s also a handstand component and a hamstring component.

“We need to master all of them,” he says.

The class begins learning the movement by simply placing their hands on a stack of mats and swinging their legs around the end of the mats.

“When I land I want to stabilize my position,” Lind emphasizes.

Next is a full cartwheel on mats with feet placed on the same line, and cartwheels on a low balance beam close out the progression.

“Make that leg straight and that toe point happen because when you start bringing this over your head, if you create an angle with the leg, that’s now a counterweight and it’s also gonna be a shitty landing,” says gymnastics guru Jeff Tucker.

Video by Again Faster.

10min 1sec

HD file size: 272 MB
SD wmv file size: 68 MB
SD mov file size: 64 MB

Please note: For smoother viewing of HD videos, please download the entire file to your hard drive before watching it (right-click and choose Save Link As...).

Additional reading: Getting Inverted by Jeff Tucker and Dusty Hyland, published Sept. 30, 2011.