How It's Possible to Get Started With Handstands

When you want to do a handstand, be certain to focus on your form.

The very first thing you want to do to prepare for all the stuff we are talking about here is wrist preparation.

To do this, put your hands on the floor shoulder width apart and rock your body backwards and forwards. Hold the forward position for a few seconds before moving on the back.

Next, turn your fingers back and do the same thing, but hold the back position instead of the forward position.

And ultimately turn the wrists over and lay the back of your hands on the floor. This might be uncomfortable, but if it is too uncomfortable for you, just simply move your hands closer to your knees.

Next work on the Hollow Body Hold to help you prepare to achieve the handstand.

Lie of the floor. Move your chin to your chest, and keep your shoulders down. Bring your legs off of the ground to hold a 90 degree angle with the rest of your body and also keep your knees at 90 degrees.

Then straighten your legs and slowly lower them back down, and extend your arms.

Start handstands with the Wall In position.

Start doing handstands against a wall with your belly facing in toward the wall. If you have difficulty with this, it is maybe a sign that you need to work at improving your shoulders.

Walk your feet up the wall. Then lock your arms and hold the position. Bend your ankles so your toes flatten out against the wall. When you're feeling confident, move your feet away from the wall and balance. Try to keep the hollow body hold here.

To get out of this position, bring your feet back to the wall and then walk them down again.

Then progress to the Wall Out position.

With your head facing toward the wall, kick up in the handstand position. Straighten your body and perform the Hollow Body Hold. Practice pulling your feet from the wall without falling down.

If you're ready to attain this, you are most likely prepared to move on to the free standing handstand.

Before you do this though, practice the L-Stand position to open your shoulders.

Back as if you were doing the Wall In position, walk up the wall and bring your legs to 90 degrees with the wall and your body. Push down and away from the floor.

You ought to be ready for the free standing handstand at this point and there should not be much effort concerned in achieving it, if you have spent a bit of time to master the previous positions.

If you're doing a free standing handstand, and you feel as though you are going to fall, turn your body out as if you were doing a cartwheel to safely come down.

If you're a newbie and you need to build up to doing these exercises. Start with the Hollow Body Hold, then progress to Wall In, then Wall Out, then the L-Stand, and then the freestanding handstand.

To start with do one position for 5-10 seconds and do 6 sets. When you are able to do this, then add 5 seconds... And at last work up to one minute. When you can do this for one minute, move to the next challenging position. Ultimately you can work your way up to the freestanding handstand.

How It's Possible to Get Started With Handstands   

My Son Was Born a Gymnast

My son was born a gymnast. He was so still in the womb, I was constantly afraid there was something wrong. My first pregnancy I carried a boy who never stopped moving. They switched at birth. My oldest after birth was content to sit for hours and play beside me as I folded socks. My second son came out with two pushes and was not content to sit still, ever. Before he could even sit up, he would roll and roll till he hit a wall or something else he could not move and then roll the other way till he was stopped again. The first time he crawled he went out the nursery door, across the hall and down an entire flight of stairs before I could even react. I screamed in horror, and his reaction, when he landed at the bottom was a smile. Till I freaked him out by screaming, then he cried. It was not his last trip down the stairs or up the beds, over the crib, under things, over things, life was often seen by him upside down because he would stand on his head.

When he was two or three years old, my mom put him down for his nap, came back to check on him later and he was not in his bed. He was not in his bed, he was not in his room, he was not in the hall, he was not as far as we could tell anywhere in the house. We looked for what seemed like forever and were beginning to panic, the pattern with this child you will see is... panic. We went to his room one more time, before I could begin to dial ALL the emergency numbers, and heard a sound. It was a little giggle, and then another one. I looked, up, yes, up.

And there sitting on the top of the door was my son. Grinning from ear to ear and beaming with great pride and joy, not that he was able to climb an 8 foot door, no, it was I gotcha. The years that followed were full of stories much like this, whatever he could climb, jump, flip over, that was him. When you wanted to find him, you looked up. He was just built differently, from the first day. Life was full of challenges, that had to be met head on.

There was no fear, except from me. I remember the day I realized I had to let it go and came to understand that it was not my job as a mom to change him, but to figure out why he was made that way, how he could use it for good and how we could both survive. We were at my oldest sons' baseball practice and I was nursing my daughter and suddenly heard a scream, followed by shouts of "whose child is this?" I looked up to see, my son at the top of the backstop fence. I placed my daughter in her car seat, walked over to the fence, asked my son to please come down and proceeded to go back to my chair. I was met with a barrage of comments from bystanders including, "what kind of a mother are you?" I turned and said, "the kind that knows that all kids are unique and yelling at one at the top of a 18 foot fence will likely do more harm than good." I determined then and there to find something, where my son would feel at home, be safe and not feel like there was something wrong with him.

So the journey began. We tried, football, soccer, baseball, fencing, cooking, art. In baseball they had to catch him at third base because he wasn't suppose to steal home. In football, he would line up and then do a backflip just before the hand-off. In soccer a summersault usually came with throwing in the ball, front flips to do basketball, you get the picture. Then it happened, we moved and one day I found my son and the little girl next door sitting up on the basketball net. Her mom came across the yard, looked up and said," Its time to get down." No panic, no shock, no "what is my child doing up there with your child?" Her daughter had always been this way, the solution, gymnastics. I was thinking... padding.

I called around and found several places that wanted to see him. They led him out onto the floor and put him in the team group, so he could try out. He was almost nine years old, as I sat there some people asked about my son. They were quick to inform me that at nine, he was really too old to start this type of sport. I watched, he was not able to do the flips they way the rest of the boys could, but he sure did try. In fact there was not anything that he wouldn't try. He climbed the ropes, he ran, he jumped, he flipped... he smiled. When it was done, my husband and I walked over to meet one of the coaches. I held my breath, I just knew that his would be so great for my son, but would they see what I saw? Was I fooling myself? Maybe it was too late. The coach shook our hands, smiled down at my son and then said, "we would love to have him on our team." I am not completely sure how to tell you what my mother's heart was feeling, but it was a lot like gratitude, a little peace and whole lot of joy. I watched him everyday grow more in love with the sport and with each day become content, happy, and excited. He found friends, and a place to belong, who doesn't want a place to belong?

It would not be honest to tell you we lived happily ever after, because gymnastics is a hard sport. It requires every muscle in your body and hours and hours of training. We have had our ups and downs. Gymnastics like many sports can be a hit or miss depending on the day. Unlike other sports, you only get one chance in front of the judges for a few seconds to show them what hours and hours, sometimes years, of doing the same skills over and over has taught you. And as you propel your body into the air end over end and if your feet are not pointed the right way or you bend your knee, after flipping 2 1/ 2 times, they will deduct. The judges will point out each way you missed the mark of perfection and the coaches will tell you too. But, if you ask my son if he wants to quit, even at the lowest moment, he still says no. He won state and regionals for level 5, the second year he competed, then went to level 7, won state and regionals and we are now in level 9. As I write this I am at the Men's Jr. Olympic Nationals, awaiting the competition to begin. I do not know if this will be a good day or a bad one, what I do know is that there is no other place my son would rather be and for that, I will sit here, cheer him on and tell him that he is a champion to me no matter what the score says. My son was born a gymnast and I am grateful to be along for the crazy ride and grateful that I am his mom.

How It's Possible to Get Started With Handstands   

How It's Possible to Get Started With Handstands

When you want to do a handstand, be certain to focus on your form.

The very first thing you want to do to prepare for all the stuff we are talking about here is wrist preparation.

To do this, put your hands on the floor shoulder width apart and rock your body backwards and forwards. Hold the forward position for a few seconds before moving on the back.

Next, turn your fingers back and do the same thing, but hold the back position instead of the forward position.

And ultimately turn the wrists over and lay the back of your hands on the floor. This might be uncomfortable, but if it is too uncomfortable for you, just simply move your hands closer to your knees.

Next work on the Hollow Body Hold to help you prepare to achieve the handstand.

Lie of the floor. Move your chin to your chest, and keep your shoulders down. Bring your legs off of the ground to hold a 90 degree angle with the rest of your body and also keep your knees at 90 degrees.

Then straighten your legs and slowly lower them back down, and extend your arms.

Start handstands with the Wall In position.

Start doing handstands against a wall with your belly facing in toward the wall. If you have difficulty with this, it is maybe a sign that you need to work at improving your shoulders.

Walk your feet up the wall. Then lock your arms and hold the position. Bend your ankles so your toes flatten out against the wall. When you're feeling confident, move your feet away from the wall and balance. Try to keep the hollow body hold here.

To get out of this position, bring your feet back to the wall and then walk them down again.

Then progress to the Wall Out position.

With your head facing toward the wall, kick up in the handstand position. Straighten your body and perform the Hollow Body Hold. Practice pulling your feet from the wall without falling down.

If you're ready to attain this, you are most likely prepared to move on to the free standing handstand.

Before you do this though, practice the L-Stand position to open your shoulders.

Back as if you were doing the Wall In position, walk up the wall and bring your legs to 90 degrees with the wall and your body. Push down and away from the floor.

You ought to be ready for the free standing handstand at this point and there should not be much effort concerned in achieving it, if you have spent a bit of time to master the previous positions.

If you're doing a free standing handstand, and you feel as though you are going to fall, turn your body out as if you were doing a cartwheel to safely come down.

If you're a newbie and you need to build up to doing these exercises. Start with the Hollow Body Hold, then progress to Wall In, then Wall Out, then the L-Stand, and then the freestanding handstand.

To start with do one position for 5-10 seconds and do 6 sets. When you are able to do this, then add 5 seconds... And at last work up to one minute. When you can do this for one minute, move to the next challenging position. Ultimately you can work your way up to the freestanding handstand.

How It's Possible to Get Started With Handstands   

How It's Possible to Get Started With Handstands

When you want to do a handstand, be certain to focus on your form.

The very first thing you want to do to prepare for all the stuff we are talking about here is wrist preparation.

To do this, put your hands on the floor shoulder width apart and rock your body backwards and forwards. Hold the forward position for a few seconds before moving on the back.

Next, turn your fingers back and do the same thing, but hold the back position instead of the forward position.

And ultimately turn the wrists over and lay the back of your hands on the floor. This might be uncomfortable, but if it is too uncomfortable for you, just simply move your hands closer to your knees.

Next work on the Hollow Body Hold to help you prepare to achieve the handstand.

Lie of the floor. Move your chin to your chest, and keep your shoulders down. Bring your legs off of the ground to hold a 90 degree angle with the rest of your body and also keep your knees at 90 degrees.

Then straighten your legs and slowly lower them back down, and extend your arms.

Start handstands with the Wall In position.

Start doing handstands against a wall with your belly facing in toward the wall. If you have difficulty with this, it is maybe a sign that you need to work at improving your shoulders.

Walk your feet up the wall. Then lock your arms and hold the position. Bend your ankles so your toes flatten out against the wall. When you're feeling confident, move your feet away from the wall and balance. Try to keep the hollow body hold here.

To get out of this position, bring your feet back to the wall and then walk them down again.

Then progress to the Wall Out position.

With your head facing toward the wall, kick up in the handstand position. Straighten your body and perform the Hollow Body Hold. Practice pulling your feet from the wall without falling down.

If you're ready to attain this, you are most likely prepared to move on to the free standing handstand.

Before you do this though, practice the L-Stand position to open your shoulders.

Back as if you were doing the Wall In position, walk up the wall and bring your legs to 90 degrees with the wall and your body. Push down and away from the floor.

You ought to be ready for the free standing handstand at this point and there should not be much effort concerned in achieving it, if you have spent a bit of time to master the previous positions.

If you're doing a free standing handstand, and you feel as though you are going to fall, turn your body out as if you were doing a cartwheel to safely come down.

If you're a newbie and you need to build up to doing these exercises. Start with the Hollow Body Hold, then progress to Wall In, then Wall Out, then the L-Stand, and then the freestanding handstand.

To start with do one position for 5-10 seconds and do 6 sets. When you are able to do this, then add 5 seconds... And at last work up to one minute. When you can do this for one minute, move to the next challenging position. Ultimately you can work your way up to the freestanding handstand.

How It's Possible to Get Started With Handstands   

A Robotics Gymnast Coach, Is It Feasible With Today's Technology?

While watching the 2012 Olympics in London on NBC I was wowed by the performance of the US and Chinese athletes in diving and gymnastics, along with the freeze frame shots of the dives, vaults, and floor exercises. It occurred to me that we could easily design a computerized robotic coach which would analyze, judge, and grade not only events, but also work as a coach in practice offering strategic advice to help the athletes better themselves, and I hate to say it, but the robotic system I am envisioning would be even better than the human eye, or a human coach. Let's talk.

You see, there was an interesting piece in the Wall Street Journal recently titled; "My Life as a Telecommuting Robot - Meet QB-82, A Skinny Robot With Bad Wi-Fi Problem, Testing the Boundaries of Remote Worker" by Rachel Emma Silverman published on August 8, 2012. Okay so, go to Google Images and search "QB-82 Robot" and then come back to this article if you will.

Now then, can you see how a robot like this could work autonomously, collecting video, analyzing the athletes in practice. All the video would be downloaded to the cloud for later review by the athlete. Once the athlete made perfect scores on various dives or gymnastics routines, let's say 10 in a row, then they'd be able to advance to the next set of tougher routines. The robotic system could play back in freeze frames, explaining to the athlete where they went wrong, based on position recognition, head angle, and how their feet, hands, and body were placed each step of the way.

Okay so, what if we had one of these robots in every single high school in the country, or every gymnast school, ballet school, diving school, and at specialty summer camps? We'd have an Olympic team which would sweep every event from figure skating to ski jumping, and from archery to pole vault. Why wouldn't we invest in this? We'd keep the computer scientists busy on worthy applied science projects, and help anyone and everyone who wanted to excel in their sport the tools they need to up the ante and take it up a few notches.

Imagine the USA winning all the gold medals even though our nation only has 325 million people to China's 1.4 billion citizens to choose from? I'd say that would make a huge statement for team USA. Let's make it happen! Indeed, I ask that you please consider all this and think on it.

How It's Possible to Get Started With Handstands   

How It's Possible to Get Started With Handstands

When you want to do a handstand, be certain to focus on your form.

The very first thing you want to do to prepare for all the stuff we are talking about here is wrist preparation.

To do this, put your hands on the floor shoulder width apart and rock your body backwards and forwards. Hold the forward position for a few seconds before moving on the back.

Next, turn your fingers back and do the same thing, but hold the back position instead of the forward position.

And ultimately turn the wrists over and lay the back of your hands on the floor. This might be uncomfortable, but if it is too uncomfortable for you, just simply move your hands closer to your knees.

Next work on the Hollow Body Hold to help you prepare to achieve the handstand.

Lie of the floor. Move your chin to your chest, and keep your shoulders down. Bring your legs off of the ground to hold a 90 degree angle with the rest of your body and also keep your knees at 90 degrees.

Then straighten your legs and slowly lower them back down, and extend your arms.

Start handstands with the Wall In position.

Start doing handstands against a wall with your belly facing in toward the wall. If you have difficulty with this, it is maybe a sign that you need to work at improving your shoulders.

Walk your feet up the wall. Then lock your arms and hold the position. Bend your ankles so your toes flatten out against the wall. When you're feeling confident, move your feet away from the wall and balance. Try to keep the hollow body hold here.

To get out of this position, bring your feet back to the wall and then walk them down again.

Then progress to the Wall Out position.

With your head facing toward the wall, kick up in the handstand position. Straighten your body and perform the Hollow Body Hold. Practice pulling your feet from the wall without falling down.

If you're ready to attain this, you are most likely prepared to move on to the free standing handstand.

Before you do this though, practice the L-Stand position to open your shoulders.

Back as if you were doing the Wall In position, walk up the wall and bring your legs to 90 degrees with the wall and your body. Push down and away from the floor.

You ought to be ready for the free standing handstand at this point and there should not be much effort concerned in achieving it, if you have spent a bit of time to master the previous positions.

If you're doing a free standing handstand, and you feel as though you are going to fall, turn your body out as if you were doing a cartwheel to safely come down.

If you're a newbie and you need to build up to doing these exercises. Start with the Hollow Body Hold, then progress to Wall In, then Wall Out, then the L-Stand, and then the freestanding handstand.

To start with do one position for 5-10 seconds and do 6 sets. When you are able to do this, then add 5 seconds... And at last work up to one minute. When you can do this for one minute, move to the next challenging position. Ultimately you can work your way up to the freestanding handstand.

How It's Possible to Get Started With Handstands   

My Son Was Born a Gymnast

My son was born a gymnast. He was so still in the womb, I was constantly afraid there was something wrong. My first pregnancy I carried a boy who never stopped moving. They switched at birth. My oldest after birth was content to sit for hours and play beside me as I folded socks. My second son came out with two pushes and was not content to sit still, ever. Before he could even sit up, he would roll and roll till he hit a wall or something else he could not move and then roll the other way till he was stopped again. The first time he crawled he went out the nursery door, across the hall and down an entire flight of stairs before I could even react. I screamed in horror, and his reaction, when he landed at the bottom was a smile. Till I freaked him out by screaming, then he cried. It was not his last trip down the stairs or up the beds, over the crib, under things, over things, life was often seen by him upside down because he would stand on his head.

When he was two or three years old, my mom put him down for his nap, came back to check on him later and he was not in his bed. He was not in his bed, he was not in his room, he was not in the hall, he was not as far as we could tell anywhere in the house. We looked for what seemed like forever and were beginning to panic, the pattern with this child you will see is... panic. We went to his room one more time, before I could begin to dial ALL the emergency numbers, and heard a sound. It was a little giggle, and then another one. I looked, up, yes, up.

And there sitting on the top of the door was my son. Grinning from ear to ear and beaming with great pride and joy, not that he was able to climb an 8 foot door, no, it was I gotcha. The years that followed were full of stories much like this, whatever he could climb, jump, flip over, that was him. When you wanted to find him, you looked up. He was just built differently, from the first day. Life was full of challenges, that had to be met head on.

There was no fear, except from me. I remember the day I realized I had to let it go and came to understand that it was not my job as a mom to change him, but to figure out why he was made that way, how he could use it for good and how we could both survive. We were at my oldest sons' baseball practice and I was nursing my daughter and suddenly heard a scream, followed by shouts of "whose child is this?" I looked up to see, my son at the top of the backstop fence. I placed my daughter in her car seat, walked over to the fence, asked my son to please come down and proceeded to go back to my chair. I was met with a barrage of comments from bystanders including, "what kind of a mother are you?" I turned and said, "the kind that knows that all kids are unique and yelling at one at the top of a 18 foot fence will likely do more harm than good." I determined then and there to find something, where my son would feel at home, be safe and not feel like there was something wrong with him.

So the journey began. We tried, football, soccer, baseball, fencing, cooking, art. In baseball they had to catch him at third base because he wasn't suppose to steal home. In football, he would line up and then do a backflip just before the hand-off. In soccer a summersault usually came with throwing in the ball, front flips to do basketball, you get the picture. Then it happened, we moved and one day I found my son and the little girl next door sitting up on the basketball net. Her mom came across the yard, looked up and said," Its time to get down." No panic, no shock, no "what is my child doing up there with your child?" Her daughter had always been this way, the solution, gymnastics. I was thinking... padding.

I called around and found several places that wanted to see him. They led him out onto the floor and put him in the team group, so he could try out. He was almost nine years old, as I sat there some people asked about my son. They were quick to inform me that at nine, he was really too old to start this type of sport. I watched, he was not able to do the flips they way the rest of the boys could, but he sure did try. In fact there was not anything that he wouldn't try. He climbed the ropes, he ran, he jumped, he flipped... he smiled. When it was done, my husband and I walked over to meet one of the coaches. I held my breath, I just knew that his would be so great for my son, but would they see what I saw? Was I fooling myself? Maybe it was too late. The coach shook our hands, smiled down at my son and then said, "we would love to have him on our team." I am not completely sure how to tell you what my mother's heart was feeling, but it was a lot like gratitude, a little peace and whole lot of joy. I watched him everyday grow more in love with the sport and with each day become content, happy, and excited. He found friends, and a place to belong, who doesn't want a place to belong?

It would not be honest to tell you we lived happily ever after, because gymnastics is a hard sport. It requires every muscle in your body and hours and hours of training. We have had our ups and downs. Gymnastics like many sports can be a hit or miss depending on the day. Unlike other sports, you only get one chance in front of the judges for a few seconds to show them what hours and hours, sometimes years, of doing the same skills over and over has taught you. And as you propel your body into the air end over end and if your feet are not pointed the right way or you bend your knee, after flipping 2 1/ 2 times, they will deduct. The judges will point out each way you missed the mark of perfection and the coaches will tell you too. But, if you ask my son if he wants to quit, even at the lowest moment, he still says no. He won state and regionals for level 5, the second year he competed, then went to level 7, won state and regionals and we are now in level 9. As I write this I am at the Men's Jr. Olympic Nationals, awaiting the competition to begin. I do not know if this will be a good day or a bad one, what I do know is that there is no other place my son would rather be and for that, I will sit here, cheer him on and tell him that he is a champion to me no matter what the score says. My son was born a gymnast and I am grateful to be along for the crazy ride and grateful that I am his mom.

How It's Possible to Get Started With Handstands   

Performance Springs Are Widely Used For Competitions

What competitor would not want to show off their best abilities during a competition? Generally all individuals involved in any competitive sport which involves a trampoline prefer competition springs, so they provide the optimum level of performance. Equal performance opportunity, long-term durability, and increased bounce height are all reasons that professionals recommend competition springs.

Competitive activities and/or sports involving trampolines prefer competitive instead of recreational because they provide a fair performance opportunity. It is possible for recreational springs to over stretch during a competition because they are not designed to withstand the force that competition are produced to handle. Competition springs are produced with a thicker wire to resist force. They are also designed at longer lengths to combat over stretching. The performance provided by competition cannot be obtained with recreational springs.

Due to the design and material used to produce competition springs, they provide the highest possible bounce. The extensive length of the spring grants the jumper deeper penetration, which results in the jumper going higher in the air. Professionals recommend DR competition springs for jumpers who are most concerned with going higher in the air. These springs provide half the tension of a recreational trampoline spring, supporting deeper penetration.

Please note that competition springs are recommended for experienced jumpers only. Standard size for these types of springs is 10.25 inch.

Before you place the order for this, you need to make sure that you measured the length of the trampoline springs. The length includes the hook so when you are taking the measurement of the spring you need to make sure that you have included the full length including the hook. Replace over stretched or loose springs to make mat tense, in result to get the jump higher.

Trampoline springs can be separated into two main categories i.e. recreational and competition.

Recreational trampoline springs mainly used by families in their backyard and these springs comes in various sizes such as 10 inch, 9 inch, 8.25 inch, 8.5 inch, 8 inch, 7.5 inch, 7.25 inch, 7 inch, 6.5 inch, 6.25 inch, 5.5 inch, 4.375 inch, 4 inch and 3.3 inch.

Popular Performance Trampoline springs are Competition 10.25 inch GME and Competition 10.25 inch DR. These competitive types of springs usually made to be more bouncy especially for the Competition and events.

The main differences between recreation and competition are the quality of the material used, and the tension of the springs.

How It's Possible to Get Started With Handstands   

My Son Was Born a Gymnast

My son was born a gymnast. He was so still in the womb, I was constantly afraid there was something wrong. My first pregnancy I carried a boy who never stopped moving. They switched at birth. My oldest after birth was content to sit for hours and play beside me as I folded socks. My second son came out with two pushes and was not content to sit still, ever. Before he could even sit up, he would roll and roll till he hit a wall or something else he could not move and then roll the other way till he was stopped again. The first time he crawled he went out the nursery door, across the hall and down an entire flight of stairs before I could even react. I screamed in horror, and his reaction, when he landed at the bottom was a smile. Till I freaked him out by screaming, then he cried. It was not his last trip down the stairs or up the beds, over the crib, under things, over things, life was often seen by him upside down because he would stand on his head.

When he was two or three years old, my mom put him down for his nap, came back to check on him later and he was not in his bed. He was not in his bed, he was not in his room, he was not in the hall, he was not as far as we could tell anywhere in the house. We looked for what seemed like forever and were beginning to panic, the pattern with this child you will see is... panic. We went to his room one more time, before I could begin to dial ALL the emergency numbers, and heard a sound. It was a little giggle, and then another one. I looked, up, yes, up.

And there sitting on the top of the door was my son. Grinning from ear to ear and beaming with great pride and joy, not that he was able to climb an 8 foot door, no, it was I gotcha. The years that followed were full of stories much like this, whatever he could climb, jump, flip over, that was him. When you wanted to find him, you looked up. He was just built differently, from the first day. Life was full of challenges, that had to be met head on.

There was no fear, except from me. I remember the day I realized I had to let it go and came to understand that it was not my job as a mom to change him, but to figure out why he was made that way, how he could use it for good and how we could both survive. We were at my oldest sons' baseball practice and I was nursing my daughter and suddenly heard a scream, followed by shouts of "whose child is this?" I looked up to see, my son at the top of the backstop fence. I placed my daughter in her car seat, walked over to the fence, asked my son to please come down and proceeded to go back to my chair. I was met with a barrage of comments from bystanders including, "what kind of a mother are you?" I turned and said, "the kind that knows that all kids are unique and yelling at one at the top of a 18 foot fence will likely do more harm than good." I determined then and there to find something, where my son would feel at home, be safe and not feel like there was something wrong with him.

So the journey began. We tried, football, soccer, baseball, fencing, cooking, art. In baseball they had to catch him at third base because he wasn't suppose to steal home. In football, he would line up and then do a backflip just before the hand-off. In soccer a summersault usually came with throwing in the ball, front flips to do basketball, you get the picture. Then it happened, we moved and one day I found my son and the little girl next door sitting up on the basketball net. Her mom came across the yard, looked up and said," Its time to get down." No panic, no shock, no "what is my child doing up there with your child?" Her daughter had always been this way, the solution, gymnastics. I was thinking... padding.

I called around and found several places that wanted to see him. They led him out onto the floor and put him in the team group, so he could try out. He was almost nine years old, as I sat there some people asked about my son. They were quick to inform me that at nine, he was really too old to start this type of sport. I watched, he was not able to do the flips they way the rest of the boys could, but he sure did try. In fact there was not anything that he wouldn't try. He climbed the ropes, he ran, he jumped, he flipped... he smiled. When it was done, my husband and I walked over to meet one of the coaches. I held my breath, I just knew that his would be so great for my son, but would they see what I saw? Was I fooling myself? Maybe it was too late. The coach shook our hands, smiled down at my son and then said, "we would love to have him on our team." I am not completely sure how to tell you what my mother's heart was feeling, but it was a lot like gratitude, a little peace and whole lot of joy. I watched him everyday grow more in love with the sport and with each day become content, happy, and excited. He found friends, and a place to belong, who doesn't want a place to belong?

It would not be honest to tell you we lived happily ever after, because gymnastics is a hard sport. It requires every muscle in your body and hours and hours of training. We have had our ups and downs. Gymnastics like many sports can be a hit or miss depending on the day. Unlike other sports, you only get one chance in front of the judges for a few seconds to show them what hours and hours, sometimes years, of doing the same skills over and over has taught you. And as you propel your body into the air end over end and if your feet are not pointed the right way or you bend your knee, after flipping 2 1/ 2 times, they will deduct. The judges will point out each way you missed the mark of perfection and the coaches will tell you too. But, if you ask my son if he wants to quit, even at the lowest moment, he still says no. He won state and regionals for level 5, the second year he competed, then went to level 7, won state and regionals and we are now in level 9. As I write this I am at the Men's Jr. Olympic Nationals, awaiting the competition to begin. I do not know if this will be a good day or a bad one, what I do know is that there is no other place my son would rather be and for that, I will sit here, cheer him on and tell him that he is a champion to me no matter what the score says. My son was born a gymnast and I am grateful to be along for the crazy ride and grateful that I am his mom.

How It's Possible to Get Started With Handstands   

How It's Possible to Get Started With Handstands

When you want to do a handstand, be certain to focus on your form.

The very first thing you want to do to prepare for all the stuff we are talking about here is wrist preparation.

To do this, put your hands on the floor shoulder width apart and rock your body backwards and forwards. Hold the forward position for a few seconds before moving on the back.

Next, turn your fingers back and do the same thing, but hold the back position instead of the forward position.

And ultimately turn the wrists over and lay the back of your hands on the floor. This might be uncomfortable, but if it is too uncomfortable for you, just simply move your hands closer to your knees.

Next work on the Hollow Body Hold to help you prepare to achieve the handstand.

Lie of the floor. Move your chin to your chest, and keep your shoulders down. Bring your legs off of the ground to hold a 90 degree angle with the rest of your body and also keep your knees at 90 degrees.

Then straighten your legs and slowly lower them back down, and extend your arms.

Start handstands with the Wall In position.

Start doing handstands against a wall with your belly facing in toward the wall. If you have difficulty with this, it is maybe a sign that you need to work at improving your shoulders.

Walk your feet up the wall. Then lock your arms and hold the position. Bend your ankles so your toes flatten out against the wall. When you're feeling confident, move your feet away from the wall and balance. Try to keep the hollow body hold here.

To get out of this position, bring your feet back to the wall and then walk them down again.

Then progress to the Wall Out position.

With your head facing toward the wall, kick up in the handstand position. Straighten your body and perform the Hollow Body Hold. Practice pulling your feet from the wall without falling down.

If you're ready to attain this, you are most likely prepared to move on to the free standing handstand.

Before you do this though, practice the L-Stand position to open your shoulders.

Back as if you were doing the Wall In position, walk up the wall and bring your legs to 90 degrees with the wall and your body. Push down and away from the floor.

You ought to be ready for the free standing handstand at this point and there should not be much effort concerned in achieving it, if you have spent a bit of time to master the previous positions.

If you're doing a free standing handstand, and you feel as though you are going to fall, turn your body out as if you were doing a cartwheel to safely come down.

If you're a newbie and you need to build up to doing these exercises. Start with the Hollow Body Hold, then progress to Wall In, then Wall Out, then the L-Stand, and then the freestanding handstand.

To start with do one position for 5-10 seconds and do 6 sets. When you are able to do this, then add 5 seconds... And at last work up to one minute. When you can do this for one minute, move to the next challenging position. Ultimately you can work your way up to the freestanding handstand.

How It's Possible to Get Started With Handstands   

A Robotics Gymnast Coach, Is It Feasible With Today's Technology?

While watching the 2012 Olympics in London on NBC I was wowed by the performance of the US and Chinese athletes in diving and gymnastics, along with the freeze frame shots of the dives, vaults, and floor exercises. It occurred to me that we could easily design a computerized robotic coach which would analyze, judge, and grade not only events, but also work as a coach in practice offering strategic advice to help the athletes better themselves, and I hate to say it, but the robotic system I am envisioning would be even better than the human eye, or a human coach. Let's talk.

You see, there was an interesting piece in the Wall Street Journal recently titled; "My Life as a Telecommuting Robot - Meet QB-82, A Skinny Robot With Bad Wi-Fi Problem, Testing the Boundaries of Remote Worker" by Rachel Emma Silverman published on August 8, 2012. Okay so, go to Google Images and search "QB-82 Robot" and then come back to this article if you will.

Now then, can you see how a robot like this could work autonomously, collecting video, analyzing the athletes in practice. All the video would be downloaded to the cloud for later review by the athlete. Once the athlete made perfect scores on various dives or gymnastics routines, let's say 10 in a row, then they'd be able to advance to the next set of tougher routines. The robotic system could play back in freeze frames, explaining to the athlete where they went wrong, based on position recognition, head angle, and how their feet, hands, and body were placed each step of the way.

Okay so, what if we had one of these robots in every single high school in the country, or every gymnast school, ballet school, diving school, and at specialty summer camps? We'd have an Olympic team which would sweep every event from figure skating to ski jumping, and from archery to pole vault. Why wouldn't we invest in this? We'd keep the computer scientists busy on worthy applied science projects, and help anyone and everyone who wanted to excel in their sport the tools they need to up the ante and take it up a few notches.

Imagine the USA winning all the gold medals even though our nation only has 325 million people to China's 1.4 billion citizens to choose from? I'd say that would make a huge statement for team USA. Let's make it happen! Indeed, I ask that you please consider all this and think on it.

How It's Possible to Get Started With Handstands   

A Robotics Gymnast Coach, Is It Feasible With Today's Technology?

While watching the 2012 Olympics in London on NBC I was wowed by the performance of the US and Chinese athletes in diving and gymnastics, along with the freeze frame shots of the dives, vaults, and floor exercises. It occurred to me that we could easily design a computerized robotic coach which would analyze, judge, and grade not only events, but also work as a coach in practice offering strategic advice to help the athletes better themselves, and I hate to say it, but the robotic system I am envisioning would be even better than the human eye, or a human coach. Let's talk.

You see, there was an interesting piece in the Wall Street Journal recently titled; "My Life as a Telecommuting Robot - Meet QB-82, A Skinny Robot With Bad Wi-Fi Problem, Testing the Boundaries of Remote Worker" by Rachel Emma Silverman published on August 8, 2012. Okay so, go to Google Images and search "QB-82 Robot" and then come back to this article if you will.

Now then, can you see how a robot like this could work autonomously, collecting video, analyzing the athletes in practice. All the video would be downloaded to the cloud for later review by the athlete. Once the athlete made perfect scores on various dives or gymnastics routines, let's say 10 in a row, then they'd be able to advance to the next set of tougher routines. The robotic system could play back in freeze frames, explaining to the athlete where they went wrong, based on position recognition, head angle, and how their feet, hands, and body were placed each step of the way.

Okay so, what if we had one of these robots in every single high school in the country, or every gymnast school, ballet school, diving school, and at specialty summer camps? We'd have an Olympic team which would sweep every event from figure skating to ski jumping, and from archery to pole vault. Why wouldn't we invest in this? We'd keep the computer scientists busy on worthy applied science projects, and help anyone and everyone who wanted to excel in their sport the tools they need to up the ante and take it up a few notches.

Imagine the USA winning all the gold medals even though our nation only has 325 million people to China's 1.4 billion citizens to choose from? I'd say that would make a huge statement for team USA. Let's make it happen! Indeed, I ask that you please consider all this and think on it.

How It's Possible to Get Started With Handstands   

A Robotics Gymnast Coach, Is It Feasible With Today's Technology?

While watching the 2012 Olympics in London on NBC I was wowed by the performance of the US and Chinese athletes in diving and gymnastics, along with the freeze frame shots of the dives, vaults, and floor exercises. It occurred to me that we could easily design a computerized robotic coach which would analyze, judge, and grade not only events, but also work as a coach in practice offering strategic advice to help the athletes better themselves, and I hate to say it, but the robotic system I am envisioning would be even better than the human eye, or a human coach. Let's talk.

You see, there was an interesting piece in the Wall Street Journal recently titled; "My Life as a Telecommuting Robot - Meet QB-82, A Skinny Robot With Bad Wi-Fi Problem, Testing the Boundaries of Remote Worker" by Rachel Emma Silverman published on August 8, 2012. Okay so, go to Google Images and search "QB-82 Robot" and then come back to this article if you will.

Now then, can you see how a robot like this could work autonomously, collecting video, analyzing the athletes in practice. All the video would be downloaded to the cloud for later review by the athlete. Once the athlete made perfect scores on various dives or gymnastics routines, let's say 10 in a row, then they'd be able to advance to the next set of tougher routines. The robotic system could play back in freeze frames, explaining to the athlete where they went wrong, based on position recognition, head angle, and how their feet, hands, and body were placed each step of the way.

Okay so, what if we had one of these robots in every single high school in the country, or every gymnast school, ballet school, diving school, and at specialty summer camps? We'd have an Olympic team which would sweep every event from figure skating to ski jumping, and from archery to pole vault. Why wouldn't we invest in this? We'd keep the computer scientists busy on worthy applied science projects, and help anyone and everyone who wanted to excel in their sport the tools they need to up the ante and take it up a few notches.

Imagine the USA winning all the gold medals even though our nation only has 325 million people to China's 1.4 billion citizens to choose from? I'd say that would make a huge statement for team USA. Let's make it happen! Indeed, I ask that you please consider all this and think on it.

How It's Possible to Get Started With Handstands   

Performance Springs Are Widely Used For Competitions

What competitor would not want to show off their best abilities during a competition? Generally all individuals involved in any competitive sport which involves a trampoline prefer competition springs, so they provide the optimum level of performance. Equal performance opportunity, long-term durability, and increased bounce height are all reasons that professionals recommend competition springs.

Competitive activities and/or sports involving trampolines prefer competitive instead of recreational because they provide a fair performance opportunity. It is possible for recreational springs to over stretch during a competition because they are not designed to withstand the force that competition are produced to handle. Competition springs are produced with a thicker wire to resist force. They are also designed at longer lengths to combat over stretching. The performance provided by competition cannot be obtained with recreational springs.

Due to the design and material used to produce competition springs, they provide the highest possible bounce. The extensive length of the spring grants the jumper deeper penetration, which results in the jumper going higher in the air. Professionals recommend DR competition springs for jumpers who are most concerned with going higher in the air. These springs provide half the tension of a recreational trampoline spring, supporting deeper penetration.

Please note that competition springs are recommended for experienced jumpers only. Standard size for these types of springs is 10.25 inch.

Before you place the order for this, you need to make sure that you measured the length of the trampoline springs. The length includes the hook so when you are taking the measurement of the spring you need to make sure that you have included the full length including the hook. Replace over stretched or loose springs to make mat tense, in result to get the jump higher.

Trampoline springs can be separated into two main categories i.e. recreational and competition.

Recreational trampoline springs mainly used by families in their backyard and these springs comes in various sizes such as 10 inch, 9 inch, 8.25 inch, 8.5 inch, 8 inch, 7.5 inch, 7.25 inch, 7 inch, 6.5 inch, 6.25 inch, 5.5 inch, 4.375 inch, 4 inch and 3.3 inch.

Popular Performance Trampoline springs are Competition 10.25 inch GME and Competition 10.25 inch DR. These competitive types of springs usually made to be more bouncy especially for the Competition and events.

The main differences between recreation and competition are the quality of the material used, and the tension of the springs.

How It's Possible to Get Started With Handstands