Cartwheels and Back Walk-Overs

Doing a Cartwheel

PULLING OFF a cartwheel is easy enough. But looking good while doing one is the real trick. To really nail the master cartwheel you need to practice your form and presentation. First imagine a line on the floor in front of you—if you’re outside, and a piece of chalk is handy, you can draw one; if you’re inside with access to masking tape, you can tape one. This line is the track you’ll follow as you cartwheel. Also, bendy, collapsing elbows are the bane of a good cartwheel, so try to imagine when you raise your arms overhead that they are straight, strong rods, with no pesky bending places.

Everyone who cartwheels has a favorite side, or favorite leg. For these instructions, we’ll assume you’re cartwheeling on the left, with your left leg in front, and with your arms up by your ears. (If you’re cartwheeling on the right side, with your right leg in front, just switch the lefts and rights in the following directions.)

Start out standing in a lunge—your front leg (the left) bent slightly at the knee, your other leg straight. Lunging will give you some leverage when you push off your front leg onto your hand.

Reach out and down with your left arm, pushing off with your left leg and kicking up your right leg so that your weight transfers to your left hand. Your momentum should be propelling you into the cartwheel at this point, as your right hand is placed on the ground.

Go with your momentum, passing through a momentary handstand, and land your

right foot on the ground. Then, as you stand up, put your left foot on the ground, finishing in a lunge with your arms up, just the way you started.

Try it a couple of times, and keep in mind the rhythm of the cartwheel as you touch your left hand, then right hand, then right foot, then left foot on the ground. If you can pace yourself with that “hand, hand, foot, foot; one, two, three, four” rhythm, you’ll be well on your way to smooth, easy cartwheeling.

TAKING IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL

Once you’ve got this down, try doing a cartwheel one-handed—just don’t put that second hand down! This will mean kicking your legs over a bit harder than with a twohanded cartwheel, but once you get the hang of it you’ll be windmilling with the best of them.

Doing a Back Walk-Over

If you can go into a back-bend from a standing position, you can most likely do a back walk-over. Before trying a back walk-over, it’s a good idea to practice back-bends, making sure your arms are strong enough not to collapse when you land your hands on the ground. Otherwise you’ll land on your head, and while that may appear amusing to onlookers, it won’t feel that way to you. If you haven’t done a standing back-bend or a back walk-over by yourself before, don’t try it alone—have an adult help you by holding your waist as you go over.

Start standing up, with plenty of room behind you. If you’re right-handed, put your right leg in front, toe pointed. If you’re left-handed, lead with your left leg. Put your arms up and look straight ahead. Your arms should be straight and solid, like in cartwheel, and they should be right up against your ears. They should also stay right there through the entire move. You can look up at your hands, but try not to tip your head back.

Begin bending backwards, keeping your leading leg pointed out in front of your other leg.

When your hands touch the ground, push up through your supporting leg.

Kick over with your leading leg into a kind of split handstand.

After you pass through the split handstand, your leading leg should come down first, then your other leg. Stand up straight, with your arms still up by your ears, finishing in the same position in which you started.

TAKING IT TO THE NEXT LEVEL

Once you can do a back walk-over with ease, mix it up by landing in a split instead of on your feet. Just slide that leading leg down and through your arms instead of placing it on the ground to finish the move.