How to do a Cartwheel

Performing the Skill

The most basic tumbling skill in gymnastics is the cartwheel. To make a cartwheel you need to pick your lead foot. This is the foot that you feel most comfortable in placing it front of you at the beginning of a race. This is usually the stronger leg. If you don’t know which foot to use, try both feet. For most, the lead foot is the opposite of the dominant hand. Usually, a right handed person has the left foot as the lead foot.

Place your lead foot in front and raise the arms high above the head. Put your entire weight on the back foot and point the toes on the lead foot. You must rock back on your back leg. Lunge forward with the front foot. The front leg should bend but the entire body must form a straight line with the back leg, arms and body.

Keep the body aligned with the back leg, then move the arms towards the ground and twist the body so that you will be looking sideways. The hands should touch the ground slightly at different times. Your first hand should touch the ground is the one closest to the lead foot or the foot that is the farthest forward.

With both hands on the ground, the arms should be fully extended, using your lead leg push your body off the ground and propel it upward. The legs must spread out like a V and the body must be perpendicular to the ground.

The conclusion of the cartwheel should mirror the image you had at the start. What was once your back foot must land first on the ground and the lead foot must land behind it. You must be looking at the opposite direction from when you started and the arms must be up in the air.

Helpful Tips

The body must be travelling in a straight line. It helps to draw the line on the floor using a piece of chalk. Start with the lead foot on one side of the line and the other foot on the reverse side. You must end with your feet on each side of the center line. This helps make your cartwheel look more graceful and it is helpful in making your future tumbling skills.

When the body is in the air, the legs and arms must be completely extended. Record on video the cartwheels that you are making so you will know what to improve. Control the body all through the cartwheel. It is difficult to add tumbling skills later on if you end your primary tumbling skill off balance.