Sports & Gaming

Floor Basics

Lesson time 12:02 min

With help from nine-year-old Leah, Simone breaks down the basics of floor, including skills like cartwheels, roundoffs, front handsprings, pike fronts, and back handspring back tucks.

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Topics include: Cartwheel • Roundoff • Power Hurdle Front Handspring • 3 Bounce to Bounder • Front Handspring • 3 Bounce to Front Tuck • Front Handspring Pike Front • 3 Standing Back Handsprings • Roundoff Back Handspring • Roundoff Back Handspring Tuck • Roundoff Back Handspring Back Layout

Simone Biles

Teaches Gymnastics Fundamentals

Gold-winning Olympic gymnast Simone Biles teaches her training techniques—from beginner to advanced—so you can practice like a champion.

Preview

[MUSIC PLAYING] SIMONE: We're at the floor exercise. This is Leah. She's going to demonstrate fundamental skills and drills for the floor such as cartwheel, roundoff, and handspring progressions. In this section, we'll also share some timing, power, and rebounding drills that will help you strengthen your technique and build air awareness. [MUSIC PLAYING] Let's start with cartwheel progressions. Your rhythm should be hand, hand, foot, foot. That's hand, hand, foot, foot. Right when your feet land, your hand should come up. And your chest should be vertical. Keep your legs straight and squared over the top. And your movements should be in one straight line. Once you've got the cartwheel down, practice with a step in. It's a great drill to lead into a roundoff. Your hands need to come up fast off the floor. And you should be in a hollow shape at the end. Make sure your feet are side-by-side overhead, but together at the finish. Your feet should land under you or a little in front of you. This way, you're ready to add on more skills as you progress. [MUSIC PLAYING] Now let's move into some roundoff progressions. A roundoff is a sped up cartwheel step in. The rebound means that you're trying to bounce really high at the finish. The goal is to have a powerful snap down, and use your momentum to rebound backwards. This way, it's easy to add on more skills. Just like on the cartwheel step in, it's important to land with your feet under you. If your feet land behind you, you're going to rebound forward, instead of up and back. [MUSIC PLAYING] This is a power hurdle for a handspring. Reach for the floor in a hollow shape, then snap your heels over. When your feet hit, keep that tight shape with your bum squeezed so that you can rebound off the ground. For the rebound, make sure your eyes are up, and your hips are forward and open. And your chest bone is pointing toward the ceiling. This will make sure that you don't land vertically or with your chest too far forward. Your head should be the last thing up so look at the floor as long as possible. [MUSIC PLAYING] On this drill, Leah is doing three jumps into a bounder. A bounder is like a front handspring, except you start with your legs together. Your shoulders should be slightly over your fingers, and your arms straight by your ears. Make sure to gaze past your fingertips. Then squeeze your bum when your feet hit the ground so that you rebound up high. This way you can add on skills. To keep your legs together on the jumps, you need a lot of forward momentum. Practice doing a few in a row to help you build up your technique and strength. [MUSIC PLAYING] A front handspring bounder is another drill to help you work on timing. To start, remember to look at your hands throughout the handspring. And keep your arms by your ears. You have to land in that tight arch shape, and snap your heels down, landing with both feet at the same t...

About the Instructor

At 22, Simone Biles is already a legend. With 14 medals, including 10 gold, Simone is the most decorated World Championship American gymnast of all time. Now the Olympic gymnast—part of the gold-medal-winning USA gymnastics "Final Five"—breaks down her techniques for vault, uneven bars, balance beam, and floor. Discover how Simone performs under pressure, learn to practice like a champion, and claim your competitive edge.

Featured MasterClass Instructor

Simone Biles

Gold-winning Olympic gymnast Simone Biles teaches her training techniques—from beginner to advanced—so you can practice like a champion.

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