I thought today would be the perfect day to share some handstand forward roll drills. This is one of those skills that more often than not I see people spot one and then tell their kids to “just do it” but there are actually a huge number of drills (as you can see below) that can help kids be really confident when rolling out of their handstand and help them learn how to keep their arms straight.

This first one is a really nice handstand/handstand forward rolling circuit. As you can see it drills a lot of things – but doesn’t take up much space. You can easily have two kids on each station. I especially like the last station in this video and how it’s explained – as in “dragging feet down the wall.”

The panel mat drill in this video is one that I’ve had a lot of success with. It helps kids feel that the fall/roll to the floor isn’t such a long distance.

I really like this drill 1) because it looks like fun and different but 2) because it helps kids learn to lean their shoulders over their handstand while keeping their arms straight, but it takes the handstand concept out of it.

Anyone who reads here frequently knows I LOVE pike handstands, but I had never though of using it in a handstand forward roll context. What a great idea?! It gives the kids a little stability to have one foot on the mat but still helps them feel the concept of the skill.

Train hard!

Video credits: 

1 & 2 : Cincinnati Gymnastics

3 & 4 : Mismo Gymnastics