Slow Motion: Notice how the coach is holding the gymnast’s forearm for most of the skill and how he catches her legs to slow down the decent toward ground contact. If the gymnast hits the floor too fast with straight legs, there is a risk of hyper extending the knees.

Gymnasts that show a good understanding of how to roll down may be spotted without holding the forearm. Standing on the left side, the coach spots the gymnast’s legs while the right hand assists on the gymnast’s back. As gymnasts gets better they can begin to handle a faster roll down. They can also start pushing the body up higher to a hollow support. Instead of rolling down with the bar closer to the hips, the bar comes in contact with the middle of the legs. This raises the center of mass, so when the gymnast begins to lean forward, there will be more weight on the trunk than on the legs and gravity will speed up the skill. Since the gymnast is moving faster the coach may decide to continue slowing down the ground contact.

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Shrugging the shoulders down a little brings the hips and center of mass lower so the skill can be performed without the body falling down as fast as when the hips and center of mass are higher up. A good goal for gymnasts is to try to lower down to hanging “L” position before bringing the feet down to the floor. This activity has a basic physical preparation value for the beginner and intermediate gymnast.

When the novice gymnast is attempting the front hip circle down for the first time, placing soft extra mats under the bar minimizing the chances of undesirable mishaps or accidents.

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Notice how after the back pull over the coach switched sides to spot the front hip circle to support when the gymnast begins to speed around. The coach standing on the left side spots the hamstring area with his left hand and his right hand spots the gymnast’s back. If he is just spotting a front hip down he switches to the other bar side again.

In the front hip circle to support one of the functions of the hand spotting the hamstring area is keeping the pressure of the legs against the bar; a technical requirement to complete the whole skill. If the legs fall away from the bar while circling, the skill can not be completed correctly. The hand spotting on the back also helps to keep the body pressure on the bar and assist bringing the gymnast back to the support if she runs out of circle momentum.

To create front hip circle speed, it helps to begin with the legs making bar contact around the mid thigh. In this example, the gymnast may push up some more because the bar is too close to the hips so her center of mass is low and she will come down slower.

Another important component of a succesful front hip circle to support is using the arms to pull the legs against the bar. When the gymnast with her center of mass raised leans forward from the support position it creates a slight imbalance that makes the body fall down by gravity.

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Observe a few more front hip circle spotting examples. If the gymnast has too much rotational speed at the end of the skill, the spotter may have to reposition his hands to slow her down.

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Still Frame 1: Fall forward has began with the thighs pressed against the bar.

Still Frame 2: Grip is shifting around while the legs maintain bar contact

Still Frame 3: Throughout the skill, the goal is to continue pressing the legs against the bar instead of allowing them to move away.

Check once more some of the skill technical details.

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This next gymnast demonstrates a nice starting hollow body position with the bar correctly placed approximately at mid-thighs and a fair cast to horizontal. Check in this slow motion example how when the body starts falling down by gravity, the gymnasts pikes to accelerate the circle around. At that same time, she re-shifts her grip to come back to the support ready for the cast. Look again how she raises her center of mass to speed up her circle initiation with the extra pike down when the body is already falling by gravity. Observe now the quick hands strip shifting right when the body is going to pike.

Still Frame 1: Center of mass, hollow body, with bar around mid thighs.

Still Frame 2: Hollow body leans forward into fall, arms pressure legs against the bar. Still Frame 3: Hollow body falling down by gravity, bar resting on legs quick hands shifting begins.

Still Frame 4: Final cast moves up with a subtle tight arch.

Still Frame 6: By the horizontal, the gymnast has changed her body shape to a hollow, elbows are locked with the shoulders in front of the vertical line.

Once more, search for some of the technical details at regular speed.

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