Using Pac Mans and Octagons for Tumbling

Hi All,

Today I’m going to talk a little about using pac mans (back handspring trainers) and octagons for tumbling. Let me preface this by saying in general I’m not a HUGE fan, but, the technique has been growing on me (I’m seeing better and better drills using them), and I do understand that spotting especially older gymnasts who are learning these skills is hard and these tools are necessary. So I thought I would share some drills today using them.

This is a back handspring drill using an octagon that I like. Part of the reason I find back handspring trainers and octagons not as great as hand spotting is that it’s difficult to get the gymnasts upright without piking. This takes away that problem by stopping the back handspring half way through. Also, I think a lot of times in gyms I see people using octagons that are either to squishy or too small. When using the right size the result comes out better.

Again, this second drill eliminates the need for the gymnast to stand up after performing her back handspring and because she started on a tumbl trak she probably had a little more momentum than she would have on the floor and didn’t need to pike over the top like I see with a lot of back handsprings on octagons.

Train hard!
back handspring drill.jpg

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