How to Do Cartwheel from the Knee

Video Transcript

"I'm Mandy Butler on behalf of Expert Village and we're going to talk about tumble track warm ups today. Next, we're going to do a cartwheel from the knee. The reason I'm having you start with a cartwheel from the knee rather than just a standard cartwheel from a standing position is because a lot of people have a habit of lifting their front leg and propelling themselves forward rather than lifting their back leg. What that does is send your momentum straight into the mat. When you do your cartwheel, you want your cartwheel to be as long as your body. Your cartwheel should be as long as your body. Your cartwheel should be as a wide as your shoulders and as long as your body. In order to teach my athletes to reach forward rather than up and down, I teach them cartwheels from the knee first, and then move them on to cartwheels from a standing position. I'm going to have my cartwheel leg in front. I'm going to be in a lunge on my knee. Notice that my back leg is in a nice straight position. I'm not leaning forward. My chest is up, nice and tight, my arms are above my head. This keeps me from being able to lift my front leg, and forces me to drive by lifting my back leg. This is important. Make sure you leave your back foot pointed, because you're cheating if you flex it and push off o f your toes. Make sure you keep it pointed, so you learn how to use your leg and you can translate the same technique into a standing cartwheel. You're going to have your arms above your head, chest up, you're going to reach forward, turning your hand sideways just as you would do in a standard cartwheel, and you're going to cartwheel and land in a standing position. Here we go. This is the cartwheel from the knee."