How to Do Forward Tumbling for Beginner Gymnastics

Do a forward roll. The first forward tumbling skill that a gymnast learns is a forward roll. To do a forward roll, you need to put your hands on the floor right in front of your toes, tuck your head in keeping your chin on your chest and roll forward. You should put your hands down at the start and not stand up and try to keep your knees and feet together.^[1]

To first learn a forward roll, you want to do it down an incline to make it easier. You can try it down a hill or on a wedged mat.

Avoid common mistakes. The most common mistakes are putting your hands too far away from your feet to start, not tucking your head to keep your back round, using your hands to stand up and crossing feet, or opening knees to stand up.

Try putting a bean bag between your knees or feet to keep them together. Also, try under your chin to keep it on your chest.

Once you can do a forward roll, you can try many other variations. For example, try a continuous forward roll, forward rolls that start and finish in different positions and so on.

Once you have an excellent forward roll and an excellent handstand, you will learn a handstand forward roll. To do this, kick up to a handstand, then tip over further putting your chin on your chest and rounding your back so you roll out.^[2]

• When you first learn this skill, you should get a coach to help you or do it down an incline or onto a soft mat.

Try doing a forward roll, then tuck up to a handstand to roll out.^[3]

Learn a front limber. This is when you kick up to a handstand, land in a bridge and then stand up.^[4]

To do a front limber you need a good bridge with arms straight and shoulders over your hands. Do lots of bridges every day to increase your shoulder flexibility.

Practise doing limbers when you bend back to a bridge and stand up. First try this going up and down a wall with your hands, over a cylinder, with your coach spotting or up onto a raised surface.^[5]

When you are flexible enough to do a front limber, kick up to a good handstand. Arch your back and let you feet fall into a bridge relatively close to your hands. Then rock your hips forward over your feet to stand up. Roll up from your hips, your head and arms should come up last.