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I agree that working on a dead floor to perfect technique and after you have a skill does help to improve your tumbling on a spring floor. It's kinda like drilling jumps with ankle weights on and then taking them off and your jumps are amazing. But, I don't think you'd learn to jump with weights on or practice with them on, either. I see the dead mat that way. Learn on the spring, practice on the spring and then drill on the dead for improvement. Either way, I'm sure you'll research it and do what is the safest for your athletes even if it means you have to invest a little more $$ up front.

even if i can get a spring floor me and my stuff of two would have to put it together and apart every practice :(
 
I agree that working on a dead floor to perfect technique and after you have a skill does help to improve your tumbling on a spring floor. It's kinda like drilling jumps with ankle weights on and then taking them off and your jumps are amazing. But, I don't think you'd learn to jump with weights on or practice with them on, either. I see the dead mat that way. Learn on the spring, practice on the spring and then drill on the dead for improvement. Either way, I'm sure you'll research it and do what is the safest for your athletes even if it means you have to invest a little more $$ up front.
Please be careful with this. IMO, and in the opinion of our coaches at the gym, teaching all star stunts on dead floor is unsafe, particularly for an inexperienced coach. They never allow new material to be stunted on dead floor, and very rarely stunt on it at all. Typically, only our coed stunt classes use it. Perhaps you should start out in a rec division if you will not have full access to a spring floor and wait to do all stars until you can practice full time on spring floor?
If he is only coaching level 1 teams, a dead floor isn't a deal breaker. Is it nicer to have a spring floor? Of course. However, the skills learned in level 1 (walkovers, cartwheels, roundoffs) don't utilize the extra bounce that a spring floor gives. They are skills that are meant to be slow and controlled, so learning on a dead floor isn't dangerous if proper progressions are used. Stunting is the same way -- I wouldn't want my kids throwing high level skills or baskets on a dead floor, but as long as proper technique is being taught and coaches are spotting, level 1 skills are safe to teach on a hard floor.

ETA: That's obviously my personal opinion.
 
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Yup, if you're starting a low level, low-cost program, it's not unreasonable to have a partial floor and rent once or twice before competition. My middle school team only has two panel mats, so we rent a local gym a few times before competition to run full out routines. Cleaning, stunts, pyramids and tumbling skills can all be done on a few panel mats.

that's what i'm doing just getting 2 or 3 mats and some equipment to start learning the basics like rolls and walkovers then move to a gym to clean stuff up
 
Please be careful with this. IMO, and in the opinion of our coaches at the gym, teaching all star stunts on dead floor is unsafe, particularly for an inexperienced coach. They never allow new material to be stunted on dead floor, and very rarely stunt on it at all. Typically, only our coed stunt classes use it. Perhaps you should start out in a rec division if you will not have full access to a spring floor and wait to do all stars until you can practice full time on spring floor?

level 1 skills are really safe so there's no need to worry
 
level 1 skills are really safe so there's no need to worry
Well, they can certainly be dangerous if not taught properly. You don't want your kids buckling their arms in walkovers and landing on their heads. Rogue cradles can also be really dangerous. However, that's an issue with a spring floor too, so you should be spotting and be super cautious regardless of what type of floor you're on.
 
level 1 skills are really safe so there's no need to worry
Even level 1 shouldn't learn new stunts on dead floor honestly. They are your least experienced athletes with the least understanding of how to safely dismount from something that goes wrong or how to catch a falling flyer. We have more injuries per capita at level 1 than any other level. They are less severe, but there are more bumps, bruises and sprains from stunting there than at any other level. Prep level is high enough to get a concussion of you fall, and we have had it happen from a prep with mini 1.


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that's what i'm doing just getting 2 or 3 mats and some equipment to start learning the basics like rolls and walkovers then move to a gym to clean stuff up

Oh, I agree with @retiredl5cheer that if you're just working level 1 tumbling and stunting then a dead mat should be ok. I assumed when you mentioned the pac-man mat that meant you'd be trying to teach skills beyond level 1.

FWIW, I've seen two broken arms on dead mats - one nasty compound fracture (think extra joint between the wrist and elbow) from a round off and one from just tripping during the dance. So, even level 1 skills can cause injury on a dead mat. :(
 
Well, they can certainly be dangerous if not taught properly. You don't want your kids buckling their arms in walkovers and landing on their heads. Rogue cradles can also be really dangerous. However, that's an issue with a spring floor too, so you should be spotting and be super cautious regardless of what type of floor you're on.

i never seen anyone get really hurt just broken lip at the most
 
Even level 1 shouldn't learn new stunts on dead floor honestly. They are your least experienced athletes with the least understanding of how to safely dismount from something that goes wrong or how to catch a falling flyer. We have more injuries per capita at level 1 than any other level. They are less severe, but there are more bumps, bruises and sprains from stunting there than at any other level. Prep level is high enough to get a concussion of you fall, and we have had it happen from a prep with mini 1.


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i'm going to teach everything slow and go over all the little things like over 100 times :)
 
Oh, I agree with @retiredl5cheer that if you're just working level 1 tumbling and stunting then a dead mat should be ok. I assumed when you mentioned the pac-man mat that meant you'd be trying to teach skills beyond level 1.

FWIW, I've seen two broken arms on dead mats - one nasty compound fracture (think extra joint between the wrist and elbow) from a round off and one from just tripping during the dance. So, even level 1 skills can cause injury on a dead mat. :(

the pac man will just be for walkovers
 
level 1 skills are really safe so there's no need to worry

You can still get hurt doing level one skills, last season a girl from CP's gym broke her arm doing a back walkover, it was a nasty break and she had to have surgery, poor thing was out for the rest of the season.
Not sure if you answered this, what part of OC are you considering to do this at? I think location is going to make a huge factor if you succeed in Orange County.


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You can still get hurt doing level one skills, last season a girl from CP's gym broke her arm doing a back walkover, it was a nasty break and she had to have surgery, poor thing was out for the rest of the season.
Not sure if you answered this, what part of OC are you considering to do this at? I think location is going to make a huge factor if you succeed in Orange County.


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it's a secret for now sorry ;)
 
so cool/cute ideal i have for the tryouts is to have white bows with the number on it act like
name tags what do you think and for the boys name tags if i get any
 
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