Flippin Awesome

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! I hope you all are fat now from all the turkey stuffing, and pumpkin pie. Did you watch the Summer Olympics in China two years ago? But, most importantly, did you watch gymnastics?? If you did, you were probably wondering why the gymnasts could do double tucks (when legs are tucked in) and double pikes (when legs are straight but body bent at hips) in their tumbling passes but not layouts (when body is straight). In this video, you can see that I am demonstrating a standing back tuck. And I can tell you, as a gymnast and a cheerleader a tuck is much easier than a layout. In order to execute a more precise back tuck, the legs must fully be tucked in as close to your body as possible. If my legs were out or floppy, it would be harder to land it. This directly relates to torque. Remember? Torque equals the distance from the axis times the amount of perpendicular force. When my legs are tucked in the radius from the axis, my hips, is shorter therefore the amount of force needed to make a complete rotation is less (easier), compared to if I was to do a layout (harder).