how important are handsprings?

Taucer started a good thread on the Chalk Bucket forum:

… handsprings (both forward and backward) … are becoming less and less important to the construction of high-level routines. The front handspring seems all but extinct at the top levels of the sport (especially on the men’s side) and even back handsprings are becoming less common.

Front saltos are, more and more, being done from a punch (or connected from a backwards skill with a forward landing).

Backward saltos are, more and more, being done directly out of a roundoff.

There are a number of clear advantages to this. …

Click through to read responses and/or comment: The role of handsprings (both front and back) in development of high-level gymnasts

Some very good points. Still, I doubt you’ll find many coaches who have stopped training handsprings with developmental gymnasts. Girls need them for beam, certainly.

Olympic Floor Champion Kyle Shewfelt insists that Forward Handspring step-out > Handspring two foot > Flyspring is an essential tumbling pass for those wanting (later) to compete forward salto series. There are many mid-level gymnasts, on the other hand, for whom I’ve given up on forward handspring. And a few … very few … with whom I’ve given up on backward handspring.

What do you think?