How to learn to do back and forth flips
Sport And Fitness Educational Program / / December 30, 2020
What you need to remember before learning how to do somersaults
The somersault is an acrobatic exercise that requires good coordination and explosive leg strength. From the outside, it seems incredibly difficult, but any healthy person can master it.
We'll show you how to prepare your body, choose a safe training location, and master the lead exercises. All of this will strengthen your self-confidence, help you overcome fear and gradually learn the cool and spectacular element.
You can injure yourself by doing the lead exercises and the exercise itself. The life hacker is not responsible for what happens to you in the learning process.
How to prepare your body for a front and back flip
If you do not play sports, first you should prepare your muscles for stress. Below we will tell you what exercises to perform to develop the strength necessary to successfully master the front and back flips. Exercise for 1–2 weeks before starting the lead-in exercises.
If you are an athletic person and have good control of your body, you can develop jump height and abdominal strength in parallel with mastering the lead exercises.
Jumping
A good jump is very important to perform a somersault. If you don't get off the ground high enough, you simply won't have enough time to roll over and land on your feet. A little training will help you develop explosive leg strength and jump higher. Do it three times a week with one rest day between sessions.
Before training, do a short warm-up: 20 Jumping Jacks and 30 seconds of running in place and jumping in motion.
Then do 4 sets of 4-5 reps of each exercise. Rest for 1.5-2 minutes between sets.
Jumping into the pit
Stand on a stable chair or curbstone about 30-50 cm tall. Jump off it on both feet and immediately jump up to the maximum height.
Knee jumping
Get on your knees, first bend your hips, and then with a sharp extension, push yourself up and land on your feet.
The point is to jump from kneesrather than stand up on your toes and get out that way. The movement should be explosive and sharp so that your feet are off the floor before you land on it.
You can also complement this movement with a high jump, long jump and sideways.
Jump to maximum height
In this exercise, it is important to try your best with each rep. Do a gentle dip and jump up to maximum height, as if trying to reach the ceiling.
Stretch your arms up - this movement will be useful to you during somersaults. You can also do one or three steps before jumping.
Work on the muscles of the press
Another movement important for somersaults is the rapid twisting of the body. And this requires strong abdominal muscles. We will show you some good exercises to strengthen them.
Do them every day: the abdominal muscles are very hardy and have time to rest in a day.
Bicycle
This is one of the most effective abs exercises.
Lie on your back, press your lower back to the floor and put your hands behind your head, lift your shoulder blades and legs off the floor. At the same time, unfold your torso to the right, bend your right knee and pull it towards your left elbow.
Then change the position to the opposite and continue to move in this way, alternating sides.
Do three sets of 20 times "bike»With a rest of 30-60 seconds between them.
Twisting
Lie on the floor, place your hands behind your head, bend your knees and press your feet to the floor. Break off your shoulder blades and lower yourself back down.
Perform three sets of 20-30 times with a rest of 30 seconds between them.
Raising the legs
The exercise works well on the lower part of the rectus abdominis muscle and hip flexors.
Lie on your back, place your arms along your body, raise your legs and bend your knees at right angles. Lift your pelvis off the floor, pointing your legs up and back.
Do three sets of 20-25 times with a rest of 30 seconds between them.
How to choose a place to study
You can exercise at home, provided you have enough space and a thick mattress to place on the floor. If this is not possible, find a gym that has thick safety mats for gymnastics or several thin mats that can be stacked on top of each other.
It is also worth going to the trampoline center several times: a pit with foam cubes will help you overcome your fear.
It is best not to exercise with furniture, even if you weigh a little. I already have one broken section of the sofa on my account: don't repeat my mistakes.
After the trampoline center, I trained on the soft surface under the bouldering wall and on the crash pads, the small mats that are used on outdoor trips. If your gym has the same space, this might be a good option. Just ask in advance if you can jump there.
What leading exercises will help you learn how to do forward flips
First of all, you need to learn the lead exercises. They will help overcome fear and lay the foundation for technically correct movement.
Master all movements in turn. Move on to the next one as soon as the previous one starts to work out well.
Roll in the "birch"
Stand in "birch”, Place your hands on your lower back, supporting your body in an upright position. Then bring your legs down, round your back and roll onto your bottom. When your feet are on the floor, make a fold, touching your feet with your hands, and fix it for 2 seconds.
Tighten your abs and legs, make sure your back is round. In this case, you can make a soft roll, and not flop on it.
Roll with grouping
Stand in the "birch" and extend your arms above your head. Bring your legs down, round your back and roll smoothly onto your bottom.
At the moment when the buttocks touch the floor, bend your knees, swing your straight arms forward and come out into the support squatting. Grasp your knees with your hands, press your chin to your chest.
Somersault forward
Take a crouch position, stretch your arms forward and press your chin to your chest. Push off with your legs, transfer your body weight to your shoulders and make a smooth roll, as in the previous exercise.
At the end, wrap your arms around your knees while continuing to press your chin to your chest.
Squat flip-flop
This exercise should be done on safety mats. And if possible - with a partner.
Stand in front of the mats, place your feet together, extend your arms up and press your chin against your chest. Then pull your pelvis back a little, do a shallow squat and round loins.
Your partner should place one hand on his stomach and the other on the top of his back and give you direction to spin. If you don't have a person to back you up, it's okay, do it without him.
Jump up from the starting position while simultaneously twisting the body forward. Touch the mat with your hands, roll over a round back and come out to a crouch position with your hands around your knees.
Flip forward from place to bottom
This is the last approach exercise, during which you will almost do a forward somersault, only land not on your feet, but on your bottom.
The starting position coincides with the previous one: hands are up, chin is pressed to the chest, the pelvis is pulled back.
After the jump, make a powerful swing with your arms, helping yourself to twist, and grab your knees. In this case, be sure to spread your legs slightly to the sides. If you keep your knees together, you can hit your face hard during landing. Tucking your chin against your chest will help you spin well and land on your butt, not your back.
When you master this movement, you can move on to a real forward somersault.
How to do front flips correctly
- Stand about two wide strides away from the mats with your arms extended over your head as in the starting position in the lead exercises.
- Take a wide step forward and then jump on two feet in front of the mats. This is necessary to gain momentum and climb higher. Therefore, it is important that the feet land on the pads and are slightly in front of the body.
- Jump up sharply and twist your body with a powerful hand swing and pressing your chin to your chest.
- After spinning in tuck position, land on your feet. Leave your arms extended forward.
What mistakes should be avoided when performing forward flips
Inaccuracies in technique will prevent you from doing the flip or make it much more energy-consuming and dangerous. Therefore, often ask to film your movements on video and track your mistakes.
Improper or weak hand movement
Hands help you twist your body. Without a powerful movement in a circle, you will not be able to spin quickly and you will simply fall on your back or on your butt.
Hanging in the air before spinning
Begin to twist right after jumping up. If you hover in the air, you will not have time to scroll.
Separate hand and body work
If you start the movement with only your hands, and then connect the body and bend your knees, the rotation is not as fast and powerful. In order not to lose momentum, after the jump, immediately work with your hands and body.
Loss of body stiffness before jumping
Your whole body should be like a cocked spring. If you relax back at the moment of the jump, the belly will come out forward, you will lose momentum and will not be able to push off and spin well enough.
What training exercises will help you learn how to do back flips
Some people find it easier to do back flips than forward flips. The movement itself is really easier because you twist with your legs and you don't need to swing your arms so hard and jump so high.
But at the same time, many experience severe psychological discomfort, jumping backwards, which can greatly slow down learning and make it much more difficult. Be that as it may, lead exercises will help you overcome fear and master the back flip.
For some exercises, you will need a gymnastic cube. You can experiment with the available gear to make it. For example, stack many thin mats or crashpads on top of each other.
If this is not possible, do the first three approach exercises, and then find two reliable people and try to perform a backflip with a belay. We will explain how to do this in the next chapter.
Backward roll
This skill is useful for quickly twisting in the air during somersaults.
Lower yourself into a squatting position, place your hands on the floor and transfer your body weight to them. From this position, push off with your hands and, pressing your knees to your shoulders, perform a backward roll. When you pass over the head, the palms are placed on either side of it, so that the weight of the body is distributed between the hands, rather than falling on the neck.
Make sure that the back is round during the roll, and press - tense. Spread your knees to the sides and press against your shoulders. It is important to develop a habit so that you do not hit your knees with your face during the somersault.
Swing up the knees while lying on the floor
This exercise trains the correct sequence of movements in somersaults.
Lie on the floor, straighten your legs and stretch your arms along your body. Raise your straight arms and move them behind your head. When your palms are over your shoulders, begin to pull your bent knees towards your chest.
Press your heels to your buttocks, lift your pelvis off the floor at the end of the movement. Hold in the fully twisted position for 2 seconds and come back.
Jump upward with a swing of hands
Stand up straight with your feet together. Bring your arms straight back and do a shallow squat with a straight back, look forward.
Swing your arms forward and jump up to the maximum height. The legs begin to straighten at the moment when the arms reach parallel with the floor. At the top of the jump, the arms and legs should be fully extended. Bend your knees gently upon landing, leaving your hands up.
Rolling down from a height
This exercise will help you practice landing.
Lie on a dais so that your body is in an even horizontal position and your head hangs down. Swing your arms, pull your knees to your chest, and roll backward, landing on your slightly bent legs. Arms leave in front of the body.
You can do this exercise with a partner - ask during a somersault to support you by the legs under the knees.
Jump up the cube
Stand with your back to the gymnastic cube, take one small step away from it. Do a squat with a straight back and bring your arms back. In this position, your fingers should touch the cube.
Swing straight arms and jump up, as in an approach exercise. By swinging your hands behind your head, your body will go back and land on the edge of the cube.
Jump to the cube with somersault
This exercise will teach you how to twist after jumping out.
Stand with your back to the cube, as in the previous exercise, and in the same way jump out as high as possible with a swing of your arms. At the top, bend your knees and press them against your shoulders, twisting your body. Roll backwards on the cube and end the movement in a crouch position.
When this movement works well, try the next option - place the cube across.
Now, after a roll back, you will roll off the cube and land on your feet. This is almost a finished somersault.
How to do back flips with belay
If you can find two reliable and strong people to belay, your first back flip is nearly safe.
You will need a sturdy belt for this type of insurance. Tie it tightly as in the video below.
Ask helpers grab the belt on both sides. To check if belayers can support your body weight, do a few test jumps.
If the assistants were able to keep you at the top of the jump and in an inverted position, you will not fall during a somersault.
Stand on the edge of the mat with your back to the body. Assistants should grasp the belt on both sides and, turning their arms, accompany your rotation.
The one who is on your right should grip the belt with the right hand with a reverse grip, the one on the left with the left hand with a reverse grip. If the person on the right is also supporting your legs to help twist, they can grab the belt with their left hand in a straight grip.
Over time, as you get used to the movement and land on your feet each time, belayers can weaken the grip on the belt and only slightly hold you, not helping to jump and spin.
Then you can perform the movement without belt support and with one belayer. During the somersault, the person will hold you behind your back in the area of the shoulder blades and help you rotate with the other hand.
Once you get used to this movement, you can try a flip without support.
How to do back flips with the right technique
Put your legs together, do a squat with a straight back and bring your straight arms back. Do not squat deeply and do not lean your body forward too much - all this will prevent you from jumping straight up.
Make a powerful jump upward while simultaneously waving your straight arms. At the top, sharply pull your knees to shouldersas in lead exercises. Spread your knees to the sides so as not to hit your face if you land unsuccessfully.
After cranking, straighten your legs and land on bent knees.
What mistakes should be avoided when doing back flips
At first, it is very important not to fix the wrong technique - later it will be difficult to get rid of the usual movements.
Jump back instead of up
If you jump backwards instead of upwards, you will lose jump height. In this case, you may not have enough time to twist and you will land on your feet much lower.
Therefore, jump up and only then begin to twist.
Bad grouping in flight
Bad grouping takes away the speed from rotation. As a result, you will have less time to finish the twist and land on your feet.
Close chin
Unlike forward somersaults, where you need to press your chin in order to twist well, in the backward motion this position, on the contrary, stops rotation and can lead to a fall.
How quickly to master the flip
If you have good physical fitness and are not afraid to perform acrobatic elements, a couple of days may be enough to master all the lead exercises and perform your first somersault.
Those who are not so good at controlling their bodies or who can hardly overcome their fear of movement will need much more time - from several weeks to months.
Do not despair anyway. Train as often as possible, film yourself - better slow, track mistakes and correct them before inaccuracies in technique become a habit.
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