Ah yes, the layout. I personally think it’s the distant cousin of the Round Off. Now you might be thinking: “But coach, what does a layout have to do with the round off?”

Well just like the round off, the layout happens to be one of the skills that athletes should spend the most amount of time on, but usually spend the least (unless they’re told otherwise.)

In the rush to get a full twist, most athletes consider the layout more of a pain in the you-know-what, instead of one of the most fundamental saltos they can learn.

I usually get asked a lot of questions on Snapchat. One of them being: “How do your athletes full twist so nice? What drills do you use?”

And I tell them that twisting isn’t the secret to their success. Twisting is actually damn easy.

But you know what’s not easy? Doing a flip while holding your body in a perfectly straight or hollow position. That my friends, is the real challenge. And today, I’m going to help you take on this challenge called the layout.

Pre Requisites For The Layout

#1: Candlestick Shape

If there is one tumbling shape that I see most athletes absolutely butcher, it’s the candlestick. About 80% of them look like pikes straight out of Rachet Ville. Suffice to say if you cannot hold a perfect candlestick for one minute on the floor, you shouldn’t even bother trying to flip a layout in the air. Watch the video below to see the 4 keys to having the perfect candlestick shape (then film you own candles and see if yours is as good).

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#2: Back Tuck

There are some coaches that follow the philosophy of coaching the layout before teaching athletes how to back tuck. While this might seem like a head-scratcher to some, there is nothing wrong with that approach. However, for me personally, I think the tuck should be taught first for 3 main reasons:

1) Speed of Rotation: The faster a salto flips, the easier (and generally less scary) it is for an athlete to perform because you simply spend less time upside down. One of the things that can make the layout scary for beginners is that you are required to go high and flip so slow that it seems like you’re upside down forever. Humans aren’t designed to do this, so it makes sense.

2) Backup Plan: If you’ve ever seen anyone in the process of learning layouts, then you’ll most likely see a few attempts where they “tuck out” of the skill. And we definitely want this. You need to have mastered the tuck to such a degree that should something freaky happen in the air, your autonomous nervous system kicks in, and you can simply tuck out of the skill, saving your pretty (or handsome) face from destruction.

3) Progression: If you learn the back tuck using the correct shape and with proper progressions then the layout is actually very easy to learn. Your back tuck should be a builder skill to the layout instead of feeling like the two skills are independent of one another. Anyone who’s been to my layout clinics knows exactly what I’m talking about and the demo I do. If you haven’t seen this yet, just take my word for it. It’s also why I teach my girls how to back tuck without grabbing in a running tumbling pass. Your core strength is all you should need to rely on to flip you over, along with the proper steps.

#3: Back Pike

What’s funny about the back pike is that most athletes who are supposedly “throwing” a layout in their routines actually end up looking like they’re doing pikes. So why not learn the actual back pike correctly?

Another reason the pike is so key, is that if you add a hip drive to a pike (or in other words, “open” it up) then what you end up with is a layout anyway. You’ll see exactly how this work in the drills listed below. But suffice to say, learn how to do a great back pike out of your RO or RO BHS entry. The effort will pay off.

Let’s get to the drills.

Progression Drill #1: The 3 Steps (20 reps)

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Set, Hipdrive, Slap. Those are the basic 3 steps I use for the layout. This process assumes that you have the prerequisites down. I also use this process with my athletes to identify when corrections are not being applied. For example when their layouts look piked, I can ask which step was “missing,” and the answer should step 2 – hip drive. It’s a nice way for them to take ownership of their own skills.

Progression Drill #2: The Rolling Candle (20 reps)

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I love this drill because I can really hammer home the point of setting. You almost want to do a backward double-handed high five to the floor until a sound is heard before doing the hip-drive and candlestick hold. My general rule is if I can’t “hear” the set from my athletes, the rep didn’t count.

Progression Drill #3: Pike On Tramp (5 reps)

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After the first 2 drills have been mastered, it’s very likely that you’ll have gotten a “taste” of what a layout should feel like upside down. So now it’s time to head to the trampoline and start opening up the pike shape. Start off with basic pikes to warm up the skill, as shown here.

Progression Drill #4: Open Pike On Tramp (10 reps)

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Now I simply ask my athletes to hit a shape that’s “more open” than the L-Sit (you do know what an L-Sit is right?). Generally any shape that’s under 90 degrees can be considered a “pike” for our purposes so try and film yourself to see what positions you’re hitting. If you’re coaching athletes, film them. Sometimes what they “feel” is different than what it actually looks like.

Progression Drill #5: Max Open Pike On Tramp (20 reps)

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Finally, the 3rd step in the pike-open method is to get the body to hit the candlestick shape (or come as close as possible). You’ll see a clear difference in the animation above compared to the shapes my athlete was hitting in drill #2 and #3. One thing I’ll say is that the chin should be tucked in as much as possible. The animation above was an early attempt, so be sure to apply that correction on your own (or with your athletes).

Progression Drill #6: Hipe Drive (20 reps)

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I usually use this drill in conjunction with drill #5 as the hip drive is exactly what’s needed to open your pike so it makes sense to work them together. One very common mistake that athletes make during this drill is they arch their backs instead of squeezing their glutes (their butt) and driving the hips forward. There is a big difference between a hip drive and a back arch even though they may look similar from the 3rd person. It takes a trained eye to see the difference but when you’re actually performing the drill, you’ll feel that the two are actually miles apart!

Progression Drill #7: Layout Rollback (15 reps)

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This is a great orientation drill to get yourself accustomed to holding the candlestick shape while upside down. Shout out to my friends from PerfectAFlip for giving me the concept behind this. There are a multitude of ways to set this up. I recommend the octagon barrel if you have one. But if not, any type of rolling mat will work. You can even wedge a PacMan to the edge of a block so it doesn’t roll. Regardless of your set up, be sure to adjust the height as necessary. At a minimum, it should be at hip-level.

Progression Drill #8: Standing Candlestick Toe Drive (20 reps)

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While drill #7 will give you the feeling of how a layout should feel, this drill should actually be used in conjunction because it trains the one crucial element that most athletes forget — toe drive. If your toes don’t come up to the 12-o-clock position fast enough, you’ll most likely “tuck out” of the layout, or end up doing a whip. Be sure that when doing this drill, the glutes (your butt) never touch the mat (or if they do, it’s only for a brief moment). I tell my athletes to pretend they’re doing this on a hot plate and if they don’t hit the candlestick fast enough, they’ll “burn off” their rear-ends. And who wants to do that?!

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• All 16 Drills Available To Download In HD Video!
• 9 Bonus HD Video Drills (including my alternate layout method using tucks instead of pikes)
• All Videos Include Audio To Hear My Specific Praise/Corrections
• The “Open” Layout Technique That’s Crucial For Twisting
• PDF Download Option To Read The Guide Offline On Your Phone/PC/Tablet
• Print Permission Rights To Read The Guide On Paper & Share It Within Your Gym
• Unlimited Updates (you’ll be able to download all future layout drills for no extra charge)
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Progression Drill #9: Running Candlestick On Mat (20 reps)

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Once the toe drive to candle has been mastered, now it’s time to put it together in a running pass. I prefer to get my athletes to use a RO BHS entry whenever possible. But I do make exceptions based on what the athlete needs as far as their routine choreography is concerned. But seriously, coaches, stop putting RO Layouts in your routines. Demand that your athletes perfect the BHS entry. It will not only help their development as strong tumblers, but it will make your routines look legit.

Progression Drill #10: Running Candlestick Without Mat (20 reps)

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This drill is basically a substitute for the one above should you lack equipment. If you’re on a team with strong bases that have good timing (I don’t see why they wouldn’t) then ask them to spot you in this manner. Eventually, your toe drive candlestick should get faster until the spotter can basically flip you over their shoulders and into a layout. But I cannot emphasize enough that you need to take it one step at a time. Do not ask the spotter to flip your layout on the 3rd attempt, and especially not on the floor. The first time this gets flipped, should be after drill #13 and on a safe surface.

Progression Drill #11: Hanging Candlestick On Rings (15 reps)

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If you have rings or the TRX apparatus available at your gym, then this drill is as close as it gets to experiencing the tightness you need to hold for the layout while upside down. It can also be used as a conditioning station. Generally, I look to see if athletes can hold a ring candlestick for 10 seconds and stick their landing before I ask them to try the layout on a surface that’s not the trampoline.

Progression Drill #12: Handstand Snapdown Layout – Mini-Tramp (30 reps)

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This is one of my favorites because it allows the athletes to get in 3x as many reps as they normally would if they had to generate their power coming out of a RO or RO BHS. It’s one of those rare drills that can act as a “sandwich” station. By that I mean you can set it up in the beginning, then work on passes, then end off the tumbling class by setting it up again — effectively “sandwiching” your training session.

Enjoying This Guide? Then You’ll Love The Premium Edition!

Here’s Everything You Get:

• All 16 Drills Available To Download In HD Video!
• 9 Bonus HD Video Drills (including my alternate layout method using tucks instead of pikes)
• All Videos Include Audio To Hear My Specific Praise/Corrections
• The “Open” Layout Technique That’s Crucial For Twisting
• PDF Download Option To Read The Guide Offline On Your Phone/PC/Tablet
• Print Permission Rights To Read The Guide On Paper & Share It Within Your Gym
• Unlimited Updates (you’ll be able to download all future layout drills for no extra charge)
• The Warm Fuzzy Feeling Of Supporting This Site & Keeping It Ad-Free 🙂

Progression Drill #13: Layout On Tumble Trak (30 reps)

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It’s very likely that the previous drill will actually be more challenging or “scary” for some athletes than just putting their layout together on the Tumble Trak. But that’s all the more reason to spend time on drill #12. Most times when an athlete says the mini tramp drill scares them, it’s because their basics are weak. Any athlete that’s working layouts should already have a masterful RO BHS BT, and a rock-solid handstand. And if they do, the mini tramp drill is hardly scary. In fact, after the first 2-3 reps, it’s a total cake walk.

With that said, progression #13 is pretty self explanatory. One thing I’d suggest is to spend time tweaking angles. You want your entry pass to be as long and as powerful as possible, giving you maximum height. The Tumble Trak is like a microscope because in essence it will magnify your tiny little errors that you’re making on floor. Things you thought you could get away with, will all of a sudden become a “big deal”. But don’t let that bring you down. Fix  your angles on here and do it now before you go throw some layouts on floor.

Progression Drill #14: Layout In Pit (50 reps)

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Notice the number of reps? That’s because this progression stage should keep you busy for a few weeks. At this point it’s not just about doing the layout and applying corrections, but it’s about comfort and strengthening the neurological connections in the brain. This also requires a decent safety net like the pit (or crash mats if you don’t have a pit available). Drills #12, 13 and 14 are where I want my athletes to make the most amount of blunders or “failures.” This is where I want them falling the most often, because it’s realistic (as in, mistakes will occur during the actual skill) but the safety nets will ensure there are no injuries. It’s hard to learn a layout without a few bumps and scrapes. Actually, that goes for pretty much all tumbling skills. The advantage of failing in a “realistic” scenario is that you can shake it off, and learn from it. Thus, the likeliness of making that same mistake when it counts is drastically lowered.

Progression Drill #15: Spotted Layout (10 reps)

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Now it’s time to put it all together. Notice the drastic drop in reps that I recommend. There’s a simple reason for this: both the athlete and the coach should not become reliant on the spot for the success of a skill — let alone the layout. Truth be told, if you (or your athlete) followed every progression in this guide for the recommended number of reps, only 3-5 spotted layouts are needed before the athlete has enough confidence to try it by themselves. But just to be on the safe side, I recommend ten. Note: The spot on the first rep should be much heavier and “involved” than the spot on the 10th rep.

Progression Drill #16: Layout On Floor Un-spotted (30 reps)

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I don’t think there’s much of an explanation needed for this. It’s time to put the layout together with only a minor safety net (such as a landing mat). After about 30 reps, you can remove the mat and do layouts to your heart’s content.

Advanced Progression: Layout On High Surface (20 reps)

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Once you’ve mastered your layout, it’s very likely that you’ll want to start twisting. While the layout twisting guide is in the works, the one prerequisite you’ll need is the ability to layout higher than you normally do. And you can test this out by seeing if your layout can land on a surface that’s about as high as your knees (or higher, if you feel daring).

What’s Next?

Well first of all, I would love to know if you found this guide useful, so please be sure to leave a comment below. I’ll also check periodically should you have any questions about the drills listed in here.

As you can imagine, there was a tremendous amount of work put into this guide so sharing with your friends on social media would mean a lot to me personally. Of course, they will also love you for showing them the drills in this guide.

Finally, I get a lot of requests for guides on almost every tumbling skill you can imagine, so just know they are in the works!

Good luck!

Be Sure To Grab The Premium Edition Of This Guide

Here’s Everything You Get:

• All 16 Drills Available As Offline Video Files In HD!
• 9 Bonus HD Video Drills (including my alternate layout method using tucks instead of pikes)
• All Videos Include Audio To Hear My Specific Praise/Corrections
• The “Open” Layout Technique That’s Crucial For Twisting
• PDF Download Option To Read The Guide Offline On Your Phone/PC/Tablet
• Print Permission Rights To Read The Guide On Paper & Share It Within Your Gym
• Unlimited Updates (you’ll be able to download all future layout drills for no extra charge)
• The Warm Fuzzy Feeling Of Supporting This Site & Keeping It Ad-Free 🙂