There are many staple tricks that will allow your students to continue developing their trampolining skills. Once they know the basic skills such as the tuck jump, the straddle jump and a seat landing, you can move on to teaching your students how to complete more complex moves like a front landing.
A front landing is a jump from your feet onto your stomach, creating a straight and flat shape. Once your students feel more confident they will then be able to bounce back to their feet from their front landing position.
The difficulty for a front drop is 0.1, as your students will need to hold a strong shape, to avoid injuring their neck and back. The front landing is a great skill to teach as your students can begin to build a sequence of moves that grow increasingly complex to develop their trampolining further.
Here’s how to teach a front landing…
Step One: Get Your Students To Practice
The best way to teach a front landing (or front drop as it is often called), and get your students to complete it perfectly is to get them to practice on their hands and knees first. They will need to begin bouncing on their hands and knees, then push themselves forward onto their front. Their hands should be made into a triangle shape, with their arms supporting their shape, hands slightly under their face and chin.
One great tip to get your students to concentrate is to get them to land with their arms directly on the cross and middle of the trampoline. This should help them to keep their shape and gain confidence in completing this move.
Make sure they push their hips back as they are bouncing, and straighten their legs when they are ready to make the flat front landing shape.
Step Two: Use A Mat To Support Your Students
As this move can be daunting for your students, it is best to use a safety mat under their drop when they gain the confidence to attempt a front landing from their feet. Your students will need to repeat the same movements from step one, but they should begin with a standard straight jump first. As they begin to gain height and peak their jump, they will need to move into the flat shape they have practised, ready for their landing.
You will need to make sure that when a student is active on the trampoline, they have support from their spotters. This is not only to make sure that they are jumping safely on the trampoline but also so that there will be someone ready to push the mat under them before they land. Your spotters should count to three out loud so that the jumper knows when they should begin their front drop.
Step Three: Ready To Front Drop
After your students are confident in completing their landing from their feet onto a mat, it is time to teach them to complete the move from their feet onto the trampoline itself. Get your students to continue to straight jump and, once they’re ready, they can move into their flat front landing shape. Make sure that their arms and hands are in a strong position to create the perfect jump.
As their confidence builds, your students will be able to bounce back up from their stomach to their feet. Don’t worry if it takes them time – it is a tricky skill to build up a student’s confidence. It is important to engage with your students as much as possible and keep running through the process of learning a front landing, step-by-step until they do everything automatically.
What Might My Students Do Wrong?
When you’re teaching a front drop it is key to note that sometimes your students’ balance may be slightly out. This may prevent them from executing the jump perfectly.
A student may land with their feet or head first, which can cause an almost worm motion of the body. If your student’s feet land first, they will need to lift their hips and then push and point their toes more when they bounce and prepare to land. However, if your student’s head and shoulders touch the trampoline first they will need to stretch out first and prepare to be more straight when they move into their front landing shape.
Want To Know More Information?
Often it can be difficult to build a student’s confidence with skills like the front landing. Our teaching will show you how to push your students’ skills and your teaching ability to that next level. We provide courses in all areas of the UK from Trampolining Level 1 to Trampolining Judging. Get in touch if you need some extra support and information on how to improve your teaching…