GYMWHEEL -
GYMNASTICS
By No rbert Dill
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th e apparatu ,
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a nd lift s him se lf onto th e boa rd s. (See pi c· ture # 21 . Imm ediately aft er jumpin g all th e board s gymnast bend s down and slid es each fuut in binding by holdin g; bindings with hi s hand s and turning hi " foot tn out er edge of board . {See pi cture #3 ...
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und e r the apparatus. In gy m whee l gy m· na , t ic the apparat us moves with th e gym · nas t a nd that is why it attra cts most p~opl e . Gymwheel gymna sti cs is relatively easy to learn for eit her sex, whatever the a!!l'. \I' l' reco mm end that all in stru r to;·s u,e th e sam e express ion s and nam es so th e work is ea'y to und erstand (and the sam e nat ionw id e) . STRAIGHTROLL IS when the wh ee l roll s on both hoops to th e left or to tlw r ight , exe rcises a re usually I'x~c ut~d during on e wheel·rotation. SPI RA LROLL is when the wheel rolb in a c ircle on only one hoop I' ith er on front or in so me cases on back hoop to th e le ft or to th e right. There are two differ ent angl es a hi gher ca ll ed bi g s piralroll and a lower call ed small s piralroll. JUMPS are e ith er over and so metim cs through wh ee l are are only done by mal .. gym nas ts. Each gymnast has to move the gym wheel and it must be rollin g when gymnast does th e jump. W e di stin gui s h 5 different gro ups of ('xer· cises: 1. Hang and suppor t exerci ses 2. Backbends 3. German s (exe rcises without using hand s as support) 4. Han g and support ex erci ses, also ba ckb end s without usin g the bindin gs. 5. Combinations, us ually executed in one wh eelrotation. Be tween the foo tboard s and the brace on th e wh ee l is a dis tan ce of about 2" for th e mounting of th e bindings. Bindings should be ti ght ened so that the uphols tered part is on to-p for gy mnas t's in ste p, but loose .. noug h to move the foot from one ed ge of th e board to th e other with out havin g the binding ;; Iid e down from the in ste p. It ha s to be und ers tood , that because of thi s th e bindin gs have to be adju s ted for each gym · na s t indi vidually. (See picture #1)
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th e kn ees s hould be rigid and body should l10t arch or sag -in any way. To stop th e whee l ! (O m maki ng another rotation simpl y drop the arm in roll directi on down to th e body. Th c Sid es up port as described can be e xec ut ed in th e sam e manner in both direc· ti ons and a lso with out using th e bindings.
FRO NTSUPPORT 11 3
To start th e !'xercises it de pend s first of all which direc tion parti cipant is goi ng to roll and al so what kind of exer cises he or she is going to do.
SIDESUPPORT Sid esupport is th e eas ies t and yet one of the most important exercise and should be done as followin g: Sta ndin g in sid e positi on gy mnas t rea ches with hi s hand in undergrip to grip brace opposi te of rolldirection. Body is turn ed to front without movin g foot from outer ed ge of board and other hand is stretched out to th e sid e. (See picture #4)
#9
#4
#1
It work s out very well to start partici· pant s out by lettin g th em stand on the bo a rd s with bindings on their fee t and havin g parti c ipants move wh ee l fr om one side to othe r without takin g a wh ole wh eel· r otat ion. We r eco mm end that th e teacher star t with th e followin g exercises to get th e gy mna st use to th e feelin g of the wheel· rotation and a lso to the different startin g positi ons.
To execut e the front support we start in front positi on (front is the directi on th e wh eel is go in g to r ol!). Th e gymnast moves hi s back foot from out er edge o f board to inn e r edge and moves hi s body to lo ok at th e directi on of th e wheel. (See picture # 9).
By havin g both arms stretched out to th!' sid es and by bendin g th e bod y sli ghtly to the front , th e wheel s tart s to roll. As soon as the wheel start s to roll the gy mna st puts both hands in upper grip on th e front gripbrace. (See pi cture # 10 ) . Arms and legs, al so entire body must be s trai ght durin g ent ire wh eel rotation. ( See picture # 11 and 12). P osition of head should be in lin e with th e bod y and not drop be· tween the arms or to the back.
Immediately after this th e gymnast moves hi s weight toward roll direction by putting oth er hand in und er grip to gripbrace. Arm in roll direction must be strai ght and other arm must be bent. (See picture # 5). When gy mnast is up sid e down both arm s have to bend (See pi cture # 6). As th e wheel rolls furth er other arm is straight. (See picture #7). During entire wheel rotation
APPROACHING THE GYMWHEEL:
Gymnas t walk s fr om behind to the wheel. reac hes with both hands to the backh oop
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# 10
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