Starting With the Basics

The importance of proper technical walking for injury prevention!

To start off this program, we worked on simply walking across the floor in various ways. The main focus of these walks was to understand how to "roll down" through the toes (phalangeal region), ball of the foot (metatarsal region), and heel (tarsal region).

Rolling through the foot occurs in every jump, flip, leap, and step during gymnastics. Strengthening each part of the foot is essential so that when a rapid landing occurs, the feet do not land flat or twisted.

For the exercises, we did basic flat and relieve walking, followed by basic combinations and step patterns such as "grapevines" or "torso twisting" walks.

To incorporate dance into these simple walks, we would practice strung together in a group while walking to the beat of the music. We would also do exercises where the gymnasts had their own freedom to walk in any manner or pattern they wanted and use their hands freely to pose! This works on musicality, artistry, and creativity!