Quick Tip: Punching the Board

Hi All,

Today I’m going to share a quick drill I like to use with gymnasts so that they can really feel what punching the board is like. Especially with little ones, I’ve found that they don’t really understand the compression and bounce the board can give.

This drill is easy enough to set up. All you need is a long sturdy theraband and a springboard. You can also do a variation of this drill where you are holding the gymnasts hands and pulling them down on the board which has a similar effect (because what you’re trying to do is get them feeling the compression and springy-ness), though I find sometimes this causes the gymnast to bend at the shoulders or hips, so I like this a little better.

If you have a spare board, it is a great side station to set up on the way back from a turn on vault.

I find that after gymnasts do this drill for a while I can start saying “did the board feel like it does when you do the theraband drill?” and the gymnasts start figuring out how to really punch much more quickly.

Train hard!