Bhs On Trampoline To Floor

Welcome to our Cheerleading Community

Members see FEWER ads... join today!

Nikki Moore

Cheer Parent
Mar 23, 2016
263
286
My daughter has recently gotten her BHS on our trampoline and I am trying to determine what the next step is to get her to transition to the floor. This is a skill she has struggled with at the gym and has a rough time even with the coach helping her. She was finally able to do it on the trampoline about 2 weeks ago, on the mat this past weekend and she goes to tumbling again on Thursday.
She is going to try it on the trampoline they have there but is there anything else she should be working on there before trying again on the floor. Her biggest issue IMO is the initial jump.

I uploaded a video of her doing it in slow mo if anyone can give me some pointers on what she needs to correct. I know her legs are apart in the air but hopefully she can work on that...
Thanks for any help!
 
1. Doing something on a trampoline is VASTLY different than doing it on the floor. If she has only been able to do it on a trampoline for 2 weeks she likely isn't ready for the floor. She shouldn't try it on the floor without a coach's approval.
2. Our coaches don't like kids trying to learn skills on the trampoline at home. They say that the amount of give in the surface is much more than the tramp track at the gym and the kids don't always practice proper form on a skill they are just learning. This leads to bad habits they have to correct later.
3. It doesn't look to me like she is setting properly at all. She is not doing the proper, sit, swing, jump progression at the beginning of the skill. She never sits deep enough to get a proper take off, and her alignment is wrong. She can get away with not sitting on the tramp, but not on the floor. Again, hard to do properly on the tramp at home. She isn't pushing off enough out of the skill either. Her body is much too piked coming down. That's hard to impossible to do when just learning on a trampoline that springy but its vital to a correct handspring.
4. I will NEVER attempt to coach my kid on anything.
 
I'm not trying to coach her really - just trying to see what we can do to help her so when she is back at the gym - she can make sure to work on what she needs to.
She has been working on the swing but right now she is too scared to do the entire motion. Though I did feel like she was sitting into it more now - how much more does she need to do it? Is there stuff she is doing well?
Any ideas on how what else to add to reduce the bounce on the trampoline? I know it's not ideal but the only way we have right now to give her practice.
She has practice tonight where hopefully she'll be able to show her coach there but it's just normal practice so they don't really do as much tumbling (except what's in their current routine) so may not have time until Thursday..
 
I'm not trying to coach her really - just trying to see what we can do to help her so when she is back at the gym - she can make sure to work on what she needs to.
She has been working on the swing but right now she is too scared to do the entire motion. Though I did feel like she was sitting into it more now - how much more does she need to do it? Is there stuff she is doing well?
Any ideas on how what else to add to reduce the bounce on the trampoline? I know it's not ideal but the only way we have right now to give her practice.
She has practice tonight where hopefully she'll be able to show her coach there but it's just normal practice so they don't really do as much tumbling (except what's in their current routine) so may not have time until Thursday..
My CP doesn't practice skills she doesn't have outside of the gym so I'm not a lot of help there. I would honestly suggest NOT having her practice it on the trampoline. Particularly with this skill, it just builds so many bad habits that have to be fixed.

this is what the approach for a BHS should look like:
Technique: Athletic Stance - For the Love of Tumbling

here is a technique breakdown for the entire skill
Technique: Back Handspring - For the Love of Tumbling

CP's spent a LONG time on the proper athletic stance for her BHS before ever trying the skill. It's essential to good technique. It's not a natural position and hard to consistently get right every time when you are just learning it.

ETA: her hands are pointed out when she tumbles. they should point parallel to her direction of travel. Tumbling pointed out can lead to injury because the arm is twisted.
 
Last edited:
At gym with coach is best environment to get/do any skill. But she needs to sit more back so her body is heading in the right direction. Don't let her get too confident because she can do it on trampoline. Much different on floor.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Switching from the trampoline to the floor is a HUGE difference and honestly not something you can really help her with. If she's committed to it, then sign her up for a tumbling class or privates with a certified coach. Wanna talk about kids forming the nastiest tumbling habits ever? Parent lead coaching is how it happens---and I know you say you're not coaching her, but you kinda are.
 
I'm really not coaching her - I have no idea how to do it myself and am just encouraging her to keep trying. I keep telling her to talk to her coach about it. I feel like she has gotten over the biggest issue which was just being able to go back into it on the trampoline and now hopefully she has an idea of what it feels like and it would help her on the floor and with the coach. I just kind of wanted to see if she was doing anything right at all.
Her coach already tells her over and over about her hand placement.
Right now she is really motivated and excited about what she can do and I really don't want to discourage her but I do want her to do it correctly.
It's just really frustrating for her that she sees the girls younger than her able to do these skills and she is struggling so much with it.
 
I'm really not coaching her - I have no idea how to do it myself and am just encouraging her to keep trying. I keep telling her to talk to her coach about it. I feel like she has gotten over the biggest issue which was just being able to go back into it on the trampoline and now hopefully she has an idea of what it feels like and it would help her on the floor and with the coach. I just kind of wanted to see if she was doing anything right at all.
Her coach already tells her over and over about her hand placement.
Right now she is really motivated and excited about what she can do and I really don't want to discourage her but I do want her to do it correctly.
It's just really frustrating for her that she sees the girls younger than her able to do these skills and she is struggling so much with it.
If her coach is telling her over and over about her hand placement, I would argue that having her practice the hand placement *incorrectly* at home on her trampoline isn't helping, but rather reinforcing by repetition the incorrect technique that her coach is trying to fix.

Additionally, the hop that she does prior to going into the skill (right at the beginning of the video) is really detrimental. I can always tell the kids who teach themselves BHS on their home trampoline - they attempt to do this hop on the floor and it never works to give them the additional spring into the skill that they're used to getting.

If I were you, I would discourage her from doing this skill at home anymore - "I'm so proud that you're not scared to try! Let's get you to a private lesson/tumbling class/open gym where you can work on perfecting with the help of a coach! Now show me how high you can get your toe touch/tuck jump/straight jump/whatevernottumblingskill on the tramp. I'm so proud of your efforts!!!"
 
I'm really not coaching her - I have no idea how to do it myself and am just encouraging her to keep trying. I keep telling her to talk to her coach about it. I feel like she has gotten over the biggest issue which was just being able to go back into it on the trampoline and now hopefully she has an idea of what it feels like and it would help her on the floor and with the coach. I just kind of wanted to see if she was doing anything right at all.
Her coach already tells her over and over about her hand placement.
Right now she is really motivated and excited about what she can do and I really don't want to discourage her but I do want her to do it correctly.
It's just really frustrating for her that she sees the girls younger than her able to do these skills and she is struggling so much with it.
I totally understand where you're coming from; but how long has she cheered? It could be the younger girls have the skill because they have been cheering longer. We switched gyms last season, and when we came to our current gym, my CP was doing her bhs on the wedge mat. We have spent an entire season fixing her form; former gym didn't really care about that (and being brand new to cheer, I had NO idea). She has not even been able to think about or talk about a bhs all year haha! At first, it was hard for both of us; we were used to rushing skills and getting the next thing. But learning what SHOULD be taught and HOW....was very eye opening to me. Every once in awhile mine will ask me to spot her, or she will do hers on the trampoline and I make her stop or say no, because it is just going to be harder for her coaches to fix it if she is doing it wrong. Knowing what I know now, the bhs she was doing at former gym was not good technique. My CP is finally starting to understand that too. She looks at old videos and talks about her form a lot. She understands (most days lol) that doing a bhs when she hasn't been taught correctly will just slow down her progress. Our coaches won't even let the kids learning bhs do them at open gym unless they know they have the form down.
 
Unfortunately she started taking gymnastics when she was 5 but never really got much there - she's been in cheer for the last 4 years and only just last year got her back walkover.
She's been practicing handsprings at the gym for over 2 years and is afraid she just doesn't have the body for it and will never get it. I know that sometimes no matter how hard you try you can't do something with your body and it sucks when it's your daughter.
 
I'm really not coaching her - I have no idea how to do it myself and am just encouraging her to keep trying. I keep telling her to talk to her coach about it. I feel like she has gotten over the biggest issue which was just being able to go back into it on the trampoline and now hopefully she has an idea of what it feels like and it would help her on the floor and with the coach. I just kind of wanted to see if she was doing anything right at all.
Her coach already tells her over and over about her hand placement.
Right now she is really motivated and excited about what she can do and I really don't want to discourage her but I do want her to do it correctly.
It's just really frustrating for her that she sees the girls younger than her able to do these skills and she is struggling so much with it.

I completely understand where you're coming from. This is my daughter too. She started the tumbling game later (11, almost turning 12) and nothing comes easily to her. Each skill takes a lot of time. Be her support and listen to what the other parents are saying. We have a trampoline too and she has been training under one of the best tumbling coaches in the country (yes, we are super fortunate to have him available!!) and he told her to not do her BHS on our tramp at home for the simple reason that he was trying to correct her form. Legs apart, hand placement, just like your daughter.

She's now 15 and working on her running tuck. Snails pace this child. But she keeps trying and keeeps working. And she's having fun doing cheer. That's all I can ask for.
Sorry if you wrote this and you're already doing this, but get her into privates or classes and let the coaches do their thing with her. She'll get it. And yea for the elusive BHS!!!!
 
Unfortunately she started taking gymnastics when she was 5 but never really got much there - she's been in cheer for the last 4 years and only just last year got her back walkover.
She's been practicing handsprings at the gym for over 2 years and is afraid she just doesn't have the body for it and will never get it. I know that sometimes no matter how hard you try you can't do something with your body and it sucks when it's your daughter.
I totally get it. It took my kid 2 1/2 years to throw a BHS by herself. I just feel like what she is doing at home is sort of sabotaging what the instructor is trying to do in the gym and is probably slowing her down rather than helping her get it faster. More practice doesn't make anything better if it is practiced incorrectly. It seems like everyone here has been told by a tumbling coach at some point or another not to let their CP practice skills she doesn't have on the trampoline at home. She needs to be consistently working on it IN THE GYM with a qualified coach. Self coaching and parent coaching never ends well. I UNDERSTAND the mechanics of a BHS and can see what CP is doing wrong, but that doesn't make me qualified to correct it. I let her coaches do that in the controlled environment of the gym.
 
@THEJOEL

I tagged someone who can give you really good information.

My cp also did "the hop" when she first started learning her BHS and it took forever to break her of it but she was younger so I don't think she really understood what the coaches were telling her to correct it.
 
@Nikki Moore youve already gotten some great pointers and tips so I won't add to that only say I agree with what was said by previous comments.
Since she started a touch older it's normal to take a little additional time to get skills.
Yes she is doing a lot of things incorrectly that can and will be corrected by a good coach. The one thing she is doing right is she is throwing it. Tumbling isn't natural there is nothing natural about throwing yourself backwards with your head pointed towards the ground and she as at the age of realizing that this is dangerous. That's why so many younger kids pick up tumbling so quickly. They are a blank slates that have an abscence of fear that's why you see kids get tumbling blocks at age 12 and older.
Get her a one on one session to work on mechanics and get reps. Also show the coach the video so they can critique it with your CP.
 
I'm really not coaching her - I have no idea how to do it myself and am just encouraging her to keep trying. I keep telling her to talk to her coach about it. I feel like she has gotten over the biggest issue which was just being able to go back into it on the trampoline and now hopefully she has an idea of what it feels like and it would help her on the floor and with the coach. I just kind of wanted to see if she was doing anything right at all.
Her coach already tells her over and over about her hand placement.
Right now she is really motivated and excited about what she can do and I really don't want to discourage her but I do want her to do it correctly.
It's just really frustrating for her that she sees the girls younger than her able to do these skills and she is struggling so much with it.
We really can't give you/her advice. As a coach of gymnastic for YEARS, every athlete is different... Some move up quick , some slow and some just don't pick up skills their friends have. It's hard but she should never compare herself to her peers. Just work hard listen to her coaches, have fun and be safe!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
Back