For the past year, we’ve done hundreds (if not thousands) of reps of double backs and double fronts in the harness with athletes who were ready. Recently, some of our athletes have been getting super close to being able to take the harness off and try it with a mat and a spot. In preparation for this, we have been backing up their knowledge with tons of drills to enhance aerial awareness. We are very cautious when it comes to taking bigger skills out of the belt, not only because of safety, but also because of the potential mental-block repercussions the athlete may experience if something goes wrong the first time they try a new skill without a safety harness. That’s why we DRILL Aerial Awareness – If something were to go wrong, they could bail out of the skill in the safest way possible.
Here are a few of the drills we teach for learning double fronts:
- Front tuck -> front tuck
- Front tuck -> 1 1/4 front to stomach
- 1 1/4 front tuck to stomach -> stand up -> forward roll
- 1 1/4 front tuck to stomach -> stand up -> 3/4 front
- Doggy drop -> 1 1/4 front to stomach
- Doggy drop -> 1 3/4 front
Here are a few of the drills we teach for learning double backs:
- Back tuck -> back tuck
- Back tuck -> 1 1/4 back tuck
- 1 1/4 back tuck -> pullover to feet
- 1 1/4 back tuck -> pullover to back
- 1 1/4 back tuck -> 1 1/4 back tuck
- Double pullover
We want our athletes to feel safe and ready to do their new skill! Aerial awareness is perhaps one of the most important aspects of trampoline and gymnastics. Please feel free to try some of these out and let us know if they worked for your athletes!