Thursday, December 3, 2009

Back Handspring

When I was about seven years old, it was my dream to be a gymnast. My mom had me in acrobats when I was about that old and I stayed in long enough to learn front and back walk-overs. We couldn't afford it anymore, so I wasn't able to get far enough to do a back handspring. I would dream about doing one, though, all the time. My little sister, Liz, also wanted to learn how to do one, so I would spot her. I thought for sure she could do one if she just thought I was going to spot her, so I let go almost every time, and almost every time, she would fall on her head. (I know it sounds mean, but I never meant to hurt her.....by the way, she never really got hurt, thank goodness). As a teenager, my parents bought a trampoline and I seriously wanted to try, but by then I was a coward and would chicken out every time. Now, I have a seven and eight year old that are fearless and have both mastered the back handspring on the trampoline and Abi can now do it on the ground as well. I'm so proud (and honestly jealous) of their achievement!

Below is a video of Abi doing a back handspring on the ground for the first time and Ariel doing one on the trampoline for the first time.

1 comment:

Lizzie said...

I am so jealous too!!! I am just like you...took gymnastics long enough to do walk-overs by myself, but back-handsprings I always did with a spot. I still wish I could do them.