The Front Somersault

Progressions: (1)Forward roll on the trampoline. (2)From a crouched position with no bounce, place hands on the bed forwards of the shoulders, head up, hips higher than shoulders. With one push from feet execute a front somersault to the back. Body position should be open rather than tucked. Hands should remain in contact with the bed and support the body weight during the somersault. (3)Repeat step two until (a)student can perform the skill with almost no weight on the hands (fingertips just touching the bed) (b)there is less than one foot of travel (c)there is consistent coordination of the push of the feet and the initiation of the somersault with the upper body (d)there is no evidence of sideways tilt. Check to ensure student has eyes open throughout the skill. (4)Continue step three until student can consistently develop sufficient rotation from that position to go past the back drop landing to a seat drop position. Caution: Explain to the student that as they rotate to the seat position, the legs must be straight to avoid hitting the face with a knee. (5)Somersault to seat drop from same position except hands are held 1-4 inches from bed. Keep arms outstretched in front of shoulders as far as possible. Allow only one jump. If any problems arise such as slow rotation (failure to get all the way to the seat position), travel, tilting or going crooked, then return to step four. (6)Gradually allow the student to start the somersault with the hands further from the bed until they can perform it from a fairly upright position. Still allow only one bounce. The shoulder angle should remain open, arms extended upward at the initiation of the somersault. There should be no travel at this stage. Be patient and do not rush through these progressions. (7)Spot front somersault to feet. Student starts with arms up. Take two or three low bounces. If steps one through six were mastered, the student should have no problem completing a good front somersault with control and very little travel. If not, then it's time to back up! (8)Continue spotting the somersault until it is learned. For this you must call upon your experienced judgement (not the student's!) to make this determination. If in doubt, always err on the conservative side. (9)Develop the skill by putting it in combinations and learning all three different positions, tuck, pike and straight. This is a very important step that is sometimes overlooked.

The Back Somersault

Progressions: (1)Teach and spot the back handspring on the trampoline. This is an excellent place to start learning the back handspring for tumbling and it provides a good first step to learning the back somersault on the trampoline. (2)Once the back handspring is learned progress from it to a standing whip-back somersault. Most students can make this transition without a spot if you don't hurry them. Do not allow them to bounce and understand that this somersault will and should travel. (3)Continue doing whip-backs either from a stand or a maximum of one low bounce and work on reducing the amount of travel. This is done by (a)teaching the student to keep their weight more on their toes than heels during the initiation stage and (b)improving the student's ability to rotate efficiently. The more efficient the rotation is, the less they will lean into the somersault. At this time do not be too concerned about the body position of the somersault except there should be enough rotation to get around in a fairly open position. (4)When a one-bounce whip-back is achieved without travel the student is ready to take a few bounces and go a little higher. With the additional height and increased rotation force the student should now be encouraged to work toward a more stretched somersault(less arched). Progressing from an arched back somersault to a straight body will take some time and should not be hurried. (5)The tuck and pike position somersaults can now be introduced. It is safer and easier to go back do doing these from a stand or one bounce just as in learning the whip-back. (6)Remember, like with the front somersault, teaching the back somersault includes the important step of drilling the skill with various combinations of bounces and skills.

The Cody

Progressions: Like the porpoise, there are not a lot of progressions to learning the cody and it is a skill that needs to be spotted very carefully. The rotation comes from the push on the hands and a vigourous extension of the knees as the body leaves the bed from the stomach position. The head should remain neutral and not be thrown back during the initiation. (1)Learn the cody action by doing a front drop to back drop while keeping the body straight. (2)Use a three-quarter back to get to the stomach. Caution: THE THREE-QUARTER BACK WILL GIVE MUCH MORE ROTATION TO THE SKILL AND YOU MUST SPOT FOR OVERTURN ON THE FRONT TO BACK DROP. FAILURE TO DO SO WILL CAUSE THE UNEXPECTING STUDENT TO OVERTURN TO THE BACK OF THE NECK! (3)Lastly, carefully spot the cody. Beware of over-rotation as well as under-rotation.

The Barani

Controlled front somersaults in all three positions are required. The branny should be learned by doing a front somersault and adding a half twist at the very end of the somersault. Once a front half twist is completed it is usually not necessary to teach the branny. The more times the front half is done the more the student will tend to twist earlier and eventually do the branny. As this happens, remind the athlete to try to see the bed upon landing. As they look for the bed earlier and earlier they will eventually watch it the whole way and be doing the branny. It is not recommended that the branny be learned by doing a round-off. Brannies learned that way usually have a distinctively different look than ones learned from a front half twist.

Barani Ballout

Use the same progressions as for the barani. Prerequisites are a barani and a strong(preferably open position) ballout. Learn late ballout half twist. Continue doing until you begins to see the barani.

One and Three

Progresions-

forward somersault to front landing- this only requires a little more force than the forward somersault  but a tighter tuck. instead of kicking out at 12 oclock, you need to kick out at around 3 oclock and remain straight until you land in a front shape. have the crash mat thrown in if needed.

one and three- you need even more power for this than you needed for the forward somi to front. drive hard into the bed to gain the hight needed but not full height (you can work up to full height). make sure strech up out of the bed then drive forward with your arms making sure that you don't drop your head and shoulders, then snap into a tight tuck then when you spot the end of the trampoline kick out stright (like a crash dive) then when you can see the red cross pike into the landing.