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Event
Floor exercise
Skill type
Hand support
Value
A
Known as
Back handspring
BHS
Flic-flac
Flip-flop
About
Ranking second only to the round-off in terms of floor ubiquity, the back handspring exists in nearly every floor routine—except from those gymnasts who physically can no longer do back handsprings anymore. The back handspring is a (near) necessity in gaining the momentum necessary to do back tumbling passes.
And because it’s common and necessary, it can be treated as an afterthought. If you really want to make an argument about how a college gymnast is getting overscored, a cool-kid thing to say is, “It’s like the judges aren’t even watching her mushy knees on those back handsprings.” You’ll get invited to the velvet-rope room if you do that.