Cartwheel

1. 1

   Start sideways

   Stand sideways to the line you will travel along, with both arms up by the ears and one leg lifted in the direction of travel (NRG).^{1Foundation Teaching Progressions: CartwheelsNRG Foundation Gymnastics, a UK gymnastics club; an undated coaching sheet, uploaded in 2018 accor…}

2. 2

   Lunge and reach

   Go down into a deep side lunge and put the first hand on the floor with the fingers pointing sideways to the line (NRG). The Oide cards ask for a big kick and a big push.^{1Foundation Teaching Progressions: CartwheelsNRG Foundation Gymnastics, a UK gymnastics club; an undated coaching sheet, uploaded in 2018 accor…2Gymnastic Skills: Teacher Resource Cards (cartwheel)Oide Primary PE Team, an Irish Department of Education support service; teaching points, safety po…}

3. 3

   Second hand at once

   Keep both arms by the ears so the second hand follows straight away. NRG says a pause between the hands usually comes from counting.^{1Foundation Teaching Progressions: CartwheelsNRG Foundation Gymnastics, a UK gymnastics club; an undated coaching sheet, uploaded in 2018 accor…}

4. 4

   Over the top

   Split the legs wide on an arc through vertical, with the back straight and the legs stretched (NRG, Oide).^{1Foundation Teaching Progressions: CartwheelsNRG Foundation Gymnastics, a UK gymnastics club; an undated coaching sheet, uploaded in 2018 accor…2Gymnastic Skills: Teacher Resource Cards (cartwheel)Oide Primary PE Team, an Irish Department of Education support service; teaching points, safety po…}

5. 5

   Land and stand

   The first foot comes down close to the hand, the second just ahead of the first, and you finish upright with the arms up (NRG, Oide).^{1Foundation Teaching Progressions: CartwheelsNRG Foundation Gymnastics, a UK gymnastics club; an undated coaching sheet, uploaded in 2018 accor…2Gymnastic Skills: Teacher Resource Cards (cartwheel)Oide Primary PE Team, an Irish Department of Education support service; teaching points, safety po…}

These are common steps, not the only road. Both sheets are written for children's classes, and NRG describes spotting; an adult learning alone has less to rely on.

• A pause between the hands

  NRG says the second hand often lands late because the person is counting; keep both arms by the ears.

• Collapsing the shoulders

  NRG describes the shoulder angle closing and the back arching to make up for it. It suggests stopping upside down with a spotter to show where the shoulders should be.

• The first foot too far from the hand

  NRG says that if the first foot lands far from the hand there is no chance of standing up. The fix it gives is to split the legs wide and straight and lower the first foot close to the hand.

• The second foot behind the first

  NRG says the body then turns outwards and the person ends up facing forward; place the second foot slightly in front of the first, and look back the way you came.

• Twisting at the end

  Oide says that if the body twists towards the end, go back to the preparation activities rather than carrying on.

• Hands in a position that loads the joints more

  In studies of young gymnasts, two of the three hand positions raised the peak force on the floor and the compression in the elbow and wrist. The abstracts do not describe them. See the safety note.

• Front-to-back cartwheel

  A cartwheel with a quarter turn in: the first hand as in the sideways one, the second turned so the fingers point backwards. NRG calls it the step before the round-off and says it is the preferred style. No picture here.

• Round-off

  Named by NRG as what the front-to-back cartwheel leads to. We did not read a source that describes it, so we say no more.

• Cartwheel, step, cartwheel

  A variation on Oide's card, with a step between two cartwheels.

• Handstand

  The position the legs pass through; the handstand page is about holding it.

On Calisthenics Balkan

• Read about Acrobatic & dynamic skills in LearnThe movement family this skill belongs to, and how it fits into calisthenics.
• Athletes with Cartwheel on their profileSkill labels on profiles are set by the athletes themselves and are not verified.
• All movements in the AtlasCalisthenics movements, one at a time: what they are, how they are done and the steps that lead to them.

What this page relies on. Titles and publishers are written as published.

The small numbers in the text point to the entries below.

1. 1Foundation Teaching Progressions: CartwheelsNRG Foundation Gymnastics, a UK gymnastics club; an undated coaching sheet, uploaded in 2018 according to its address (PDF read in full); the side-to-side and the front-to-back cartwheel
2. 2Gymnastic Skills: Teacher Resource Cards (cartwheel)Oide Primary PE Team, an Irish Department of Education support service; teaching points, safety points and preparation activities for primary school (PDF read in full, 2024 according to its address)
3. 3Technique selection in young female gymnasts: Elbow and wrist joint loading during the cartwheel and round-offFarana, Exell, Strutzenberger and Irwin, European Journal of Sport Science 2018; 17 young female gymnasts, three hand positions (abstract read)
4. 4Sex differences in elbow and wrist joint loading during the cartwheel and round off with different hand positions performed by young gymnastsFarana, Strutzenberger, Exell, Skypala, Wiltshire and Irwin, Journal of Sports Sciences 2019; 8 male and 8 female young gymnasts (abstract read)

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