A front aerial is an acrobatic move in which a person executes a complete forward revolution of the body without touching the floor. Front aerials are performed in various physical activities, including acro dance and

gymnastics Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...

. The front aerial is known by other names, including ''aerial walkover'', ''front aerial walkover'', ''front flip'' and ''front somersault''.

Technical

The front aerial differs from a

front tuck An acrobatic flip is a sequence of body movements in which a person leaps into the air and then rotates one or more times while airborne. Acrobatic flips are performed in acro dance, free running, gymnastics, cheerleading, high jumping, tricki ...

in that the body assumes a form similar to that of a front walkover, with legs extended and split along the plane of rotation, whereas in a front tuck the knees are bent and held against the chest (i.e., "tucked") so as to maximize rotational velocity. To compensate for lack of support from the floor, as well as the decreased rotational velocity that results from extended (versus "tucked") legs, a front aerial performer uses the inertia of the legs to keep the body aloft until the move is completed. A front aerial can be executed either from a run or from a stationary, standing position. When starting from a standing position, a forward step is typically taken prior to the front aerial in order to develop forward

momentum In Newtonian mechanics, momentum (more specifically linear momentum or translational momentum) is the product of the mass and velocity of an object. It is a vector quantity, possessing a magnitude and a direction. If is an object's mass ...

. In either case, at the beginning of a front aerial the performer's forward momentum is converted to the angular momentum needed for execution of the front aerial.

Performance requirements

Front aerials require a great degree of lower back flexibility. From the moment a front aerial performer leaves the floor until touching down again, the

torso The torso or trunk is an anatomical term for the central part, or the core, of the body of many animals (including humans), from which the head, neck The neck is the part of the body on many vertebrates that connects the head with the tors ...

must remain in a stationary, inverted orientation while the lower body rotates about the torso. Adequate muscle strength is also required to execute a front aerial. In particular, the calf muscle of the leading leg is responsible for imparting additional upward

to the body at the final moment of launch. The total upward momentum must be sufficient to keep the performer aloft while the lower body completes its rotation about the torso.

References

{{Reflist, refs= Murray, Mimi. ''Women's Gymnastics: coach, participant, spectator''. Allyn and Bacon, 1979, p. 49. Gymnastics elements Acro dance moves

Technical

Performance requirements

See also

References