There are certain staple moves that every trampolining teacher needs to be able to teach perfectly – core skills all your students need to master before they can move on to more complex forms. One of the easiest skills to teach is a basic tuck jump: a straight jump that sees your student change shape as they reach the peak of their bounce, and pull their knees into their body.

There are certain staple moves that every trampolining teacher needs to be able to teach perfectly – core skills all your students need to master before they can move on to more complex forms. One of the easiest skills to teach is a basic tuck jump: a straight jump that sees your student change shape as they reach the peak of their bounce, and pull their knees into their body.

It’s perfect for beginners, with a difficulty level of this skill is 0, meaning it’s easily taught and will allow students to rapidly build their trampolining skills.

How To Teach A Tuck Jump

Step 1: Get Your Student Jumping

Firstly, get your students to begin jumping. To do this, your students should begin with their arms pointing straight upward and their back straight. Their body should be in a pencil shape. As they begin to jump, they will need to reach up and, as they reach the peak of their jump, bring their arms down on either side of their body. This will help them build momentum and allow them to jump higher.

Try to get your students to feel confident in stopping and starting from a straight jump, so they are able to control their skills and balance throughout the tuck jump, including the landing and take off.

Step 2: Help Your Student Peak Their Tuck

Once your students are jumping safely and using the correct posture, you will need to teach them how to tuck. When your students are at the peak of their jump, the students need to bring their knees up to their torso and place their hands on top of their knees, or on each side of their bent legs. This is the core ‘tuck’ shape needed for the jump, and they need to remain strong in it by putting their hands on their knees and keeping their legs together.

Step 3: Teach Them To Stick Their Landing

Once your students have executed the tuck jump they will have to refine their landing skills to ensure they can perfectly stop themselves. After the tuck position, they will need to prepare to land by slightly bending their knees as come close to landing on the trampoline. Bending their knees correctly will reduce the impact on their hips and knees, and ensure a safe landing.

It’s important for students to keep their head up, rather than looking at the trampoline bed, otherwise they will fall forward. It’s helpful to have a focal point on the wall they can look at while jumping. Your students can also use their arms to create balance while jumping, by holding them straight out in front of their body as they bend their knees.

Step 4: Practice, Practice, Practice

Don’t forget to make sure that your students are practising and repeating this skill as much as possible – the more they practice the sooner they will nail it.

The most common fault students encounter with the tuck jump is falling forwards.

If your students aren’t focused on an object in their line of sight, it can affect their balance and position on the trampoline. To correct the issue, ensure there is a fixed point on a wall, or
somewhere else in the room, that is easy to focus on for the duration of their jump to keep them steady.

Teaching To Your Audience…

The tuck jump is a simple skill that can be learnt at any age, so it’s important to change how you teach to suit the age of your audience.

If your younger students are struggling to balance, giving them something interesting as a focal point, like a funny poster on the wall, will help them focus, rather than looking down and getting distracted. It is harder to get younger children to concentrate like adults, so you need to keep them engaged and create a more fun environment. You can create little games that will help them build their skills, as well as enjoy their time learning with you, as their teacher.

Teenagers and adults are better at concentrating, but still need to stay engaged. It takes a slightly different approach, however, and a good way of holding their attention is to get them engaged in a little competition. Get your students to partner up and rate each other on how good their tuck jumps are, with a prize for those who have the best jump. This will encourage them to keep improving and work on their skills.

Leading By Example…

Sometimes it can be hard to manage your classes and try to engage your students to the best of their abilities, particularly if they are younger learners. At Elite Performance North West we can provide you with high-quality training courses led by professional Olympic coaches. Our up-to-date advice and guidance provides a very refreshing approach. Get in touch if you are interested in taking your teaching to a new level and keeping your students engaged.