Gymnastics
Roundoff
A roundoff is a cartwheel-like tumbling skill that finishes with both feet landing together, facing your starting point. It develops coordination, upper-body support, and explosive leg power.
Higher injury risk. Read the safety notes before adding weight.
- Advanced
- Compound
- Higher injury risk
- Rest 1 min 30 sec
How to do it
- Step forward into a lunge with your arms overhead.
- Place your lead-leg-side hand on the floor ahead of you.
- Kick your trailing leg overhead.
- Plant your second hand beyond the first, with that hand turned inward.
- Bring your legs together as your hips pass over your shoulders.
- Push the floor away through straight arms to lift your hands clear.
- Snap your joined legs down toward the floor beneath your hips.
- Land on both feet together facing your starting point, with your knees slightly bent.
Form cues
- Keep your head between your arms.
- Reach tall through your shoulders.
- Keep your ribs tucked.
Common mistakes
- Turning too earlyEnter forward through your lunge rather than twisting your chest sideways before hand contact.
- Reaching too closeLengthen your reach so your hands contact the floor beyond your lunging foot rather than directly beside it.
- Using speed to compensateUse a controlled step-in entry until you can consistently finish balanced without extra steps.
Safety
Collapsing arms or losing control while inverted can cause a fall onto your head or neck. A mistimed snap-down or uneven landing can injure your wrists, ankles, or knees.
- Learn with a qualified gymnastics instructor and appropriate spotting.
- Use a spring floor with a secured gymnastics landing mat and a clear landing area.
- Establish a controlled cartwheel and straight-arm handstand support before attempting the full skill.
- End the set when fatigue changes your hand support or landing control.
If you have wrist, shoulder, neck, back, or lower-limb pain, get advice from a physiotherapist or doctor before attempting inverted tumbling.
Muscles worked
Primary muscles
Secondary muscles
Equipment
- Gymnastics Landing Mat
- Spring Floor
Sets and reps
- Sets
- 2–3
- Target
- 3–5 reps
- Rest
- 1 min 30 sec
Treat each repetition as a separate skill attempt, resetting fully rather than linking rebounds.