Gymnastics Drills For Beginners

If you're a gymnastics beginner, you'll need to develop a range of skills and abilities, including strength, agility, balance, bodily awareness and coordination. Regular practice of a well-rounded selection of drills can help you master the necessary qualities for success in traditional gymnastics exercises. As you progress, you can include simplified versions of more expert gymnastics movements.

Strength

To perform gymnastics, you must develop a considerable degree of both upper and lower body strength. Beginners can get used to supporting their bodies with their arms and shoulders by practicing handstands. Start out using the wall for support. Stand with your back against the wall and lean over to set your hands on the floor. Let your feet "walk" up the wall behind you until you are in a handstand position. Once you can maintain the position fairly easily, try opening your legs into a straddle position while doing the handstand. Practice pushups with several variations to work your arms and upper body. Strengthen your core by holding a plank position with your body straightened and your weight on your elbows, forearms and toes.

Stability and Awareness

In addition to strength, a gymnast must be able to stabilize her body in a range of positions. As a beginner, you can rapidly advance by improving your body awareness and stability. Practice the "pressure stand" by standing with a rigid or tightened body; have your instructor press down on your shoulders in short, forceful bursts. Notice which body parts move the most under pressure and which parts you can keep stabilized. To improve your stability when your center of gravity doesn't align with your base, stand with a rigid, upright posture. Have your instructor push your body left, right, forward and backward. See how well you can remain standing without moving your feet.

Medicine Ball

A medicine ball can help with flexibility, posture, strength, power and more. For hand-offs, stand back-to-back with a partner. Both partners keep their arms bent, with their elbows at their sides and their forearms sticking out at a 90-degree angle. One partner holds a medicine ball. At a given signal, both twist to one side and pass the medicine ball, keeping their feet planted on the ground. They then twist to the other side and pass the ball, again, continuing the circuit. To make the exercise more challenging, stand a few feet away from your partner. For another variation, alternate between passing the medicine ball overhead and between your legs.

Gymnastics Equipment

If you have access to gymnastics equipment, such as rings, the pommel horse or parallel bars, your options for drills expand exponentially. Beginners can use the rings to practice swinging, maintaining pressure on the rings at all times. On the parallel bars, practice the "back uprise" using the momentum of a strong initial swing and taking advantage of your strengthened arms to support your weight. Late in the swing, use a rapid, forceful push to bring your torso up in relation to the bars.