One of the best skills to teach to your students is a back landing. It is a simple skill that can be used in different ways to create more advanced moves such as a cat twist. Similar to the front landing, your students will need to build their confidence in the elements involved in this move before trying to complete it.
A back landing, (also known as a backdrop) is a straight jump from your feet onto your back. It is the reverse of a front landing, and once your students feel confident enough they can bounce back up from their backdrop and return to their feet. Your students will need to make a U shape, with their legs and arms reaching out at a ninety-degree angle from their body, keeping their back straight as they prepare to make contact with the trampoline.
The difficulty of this trick is 0.1 as students will need to hold their shape, pointing their arms, legs and toes into the air.
Here’s how to teach a back landing…
Step One: Get Your Students To Lie Down
The first step is to get your students to learn the position they need to be in when they land their backdrop. Get them to lie flat on their back in the middle of the trampoline. When they’re ready, your students should begin to raise their arms and legs parallel to each other up into the air creating the distinctive U shape from their feet, down their legs, across their body, and back up their arms to their toes.
Get your students to begin bouncing in this position by pushing off with their hips and starting a rhythm. This will replicate what their backdrop will be like when they start to land it it from their feet. Make sure that they keep their legs and arms as straight as possible in the air, every time they bounce.
Step Two: Get Out The Safety Mat
With this skill, your students may not feel confident in performing it from their feet straight away. The best way to build their confidence is to place a safety mat underneath them as they land.
Get your students to begin on the ground and simply fall back onto the safety mat. Your students need to remain in the shape they practised in step one as they land.
Step Three: Confidence Is Key For Your Students
Once your students feel confident enough, get them to start jumping on the trampoline and landing on the safety mat. When they peak their jump they should use their practice in step one and two to create their back landing shape. You will need to advise your students while they are on the trampoline to ensure that they don’t injure their neck or back.
Step Four: Prepare Them For Their Back Landing
Once your students have continued to practise their jump and feel confident completing it from their feet onto the trampoline, get them to complete their back landing by learning to return to their feet and continue straight jumping.
Don’t worry if your students aren’t getting it right the first time, it will take practise and body strength to bounce themselves back up. Try to make sure that their knees and feet are together, with their toes pointed to the ceiling as they remain strong in their shape.
What Might My Students Do Wrong?
Your students may tend to fall back and land on their bottom, rather than their back because they are nervous about their backdrop. To fix this, your students will need to continue to practise on their mats before they do it from their feet onto the trampoline.
It may be easier for you to teach them to bounce from a seat drop position and move back into the back landing position, as this can be a method to really boost their confidence.
How To Learn More…
A back landing can be a difficult trick to teach if your students are younger and aren’t as confident in their abilities. Your students may find it more difficult as they can’t actually see where they are landing. We can provide training for you to help boost your teaching skills and knowledge, and help you to engage your students even more. Get in touch if you’d like to benefit from learning with our highly-qualified experienced coaches, we’re proud to offer trampolining level 1 and 2 courses for teachers…
