The art of spotting is going through a bit of controversy at this point in time. A lot of coaches (and gyms) have decided to draw a line in the sand when it comes physically assisting athletes.

One side believes that being hands on with kids is detrimental to their confidence, and thus, has banned nearly all forms of spotting within the gym in favor of drills & progressions.

I receive emails almost weekly from parents and athletes who are concerned that their gym has adopted a “no spot” policy, and now they feel their progress will slow down.

Then you have another side which says that spotting is essential as it helps fix errors early and is especially useful (if not mandatory) when there is lack of safety equipment.

They both have a point. So, which side is right?

In my humble opinion, there is no right or wrong. Spotting is simply a tool. And like any tool, it’s useful when used at the right time for the right reasons. In the video below I not only reveal my philosophy behind spotting (such as when to use it and when not to) but I also showcase the 6 most useful spotting techniques that will keep your athletes safe and help them have a smoother transition from safety surfaces (such as TumbleTrak) to the floor.

Hope you find it useful ??

Prefer reading instead of watching a video? Then scroll down below for a full breakdown!

My Philosophy Behind Spotting

I believe there are three instances when you should considering spotting an athlete

1. Psychological Safety

Imagine that you’ve spent months with an athlete working drills, fixing technical details and having them do hundreds (if not thousands) of reps on all the safety surfaces and mats you could put together, and now it’s time for them to put it on floor.

If this makes your athletes a little nervous, that’s totally normal. We both know they don’t need it, but if giving them one or two spots means that on the 2nd or 3rd attempt they will start trying it, it’s well worth the effort. If after a few spots they are still nervous, that’s when you take it back a step to a previous progression. Spotting on floor shouldn’t be a taxing physical tax for the coach. In my opinion, 10-20% of your max physical effort is all that should be required.

2. Technique Intervention

There’s a golden rule of correction which goes like this: An athlete can’t fix what they can’t feel.

This is why if you’ve yelled “get your feet together” a thousand times, it happens exactly zero times. It’s not that the athlete isn’t trying to get their feet together, it’s that they THINK they are.

Try this: close your right eye and put your right arm straight out to the side. Next, point your index finger to the ceiling. Now, as quickly as possible, try and touch your earlobe with your index finger. If you missed, then you now know the difference between intention (what you wanted to do) vs what actually happened. This is similar to what’s happening with your athletes tumbling.

So what I like to do, is not only spot the skill, but PAUSE it midway. So if they’re constantly doing back handsprings with bent legs, I will spot their next few reps but pausing the skill at the point it breaks down. Then I’ll poke or tap the limb that needs fixing (so they can feel) and once they make the correction, allow them to finish.

While this does take considerable effort on the coach’s part, you can make it easier if you have equipment to assist you such as the Octagon Barrel.

3. Beginners / Newbies

I think we can all agree that spotting younger kids doing basic skills is much easier than spotting those who are nearly full grown adults. This is why prep, rec and Level 1 kids will get more hands on time than those who are working tucks, layouts or fulls.

Here are the skills that should need the most amount of spotting:

• Handstands
• Cartwheels
• Walkovers
• Handsprings

Again, not because they always need it, but because you want to make sure they’re perfect NOW so that you don’t have to do as much work later.

The 6 Spotting Techniques For Tumbling

1. The Bump Spot

This is the most common technique of them all. Nearly all coaches know it (even if they don’t know the official name) and have had enough practice to help assist their athletes.

While the Bump Spot is easy to learn, and can help you give an athlete a lot of power, it does have one downside: you’re not in constant contact with the athlete.

Usually after the bump, the athlete is on their own to finish the execution and landing. And since most tumbling injuries happen during the landing phase, I suggest coaches either learn how to reengage their athlete after the bump (see technique #3) or use it only when needed.

Another thing to be aware of, is that you should not bump using your wrist. If an athlete loses power needs an aggressive bump, their body weight will come crashing down on a joint not designed to handle that much load (regardless of how small they are). So when bump spotting, I prefer to wrap around the hip (almost like half a hug). The closer their center of mass is to your shoulder, the easier (and safer) it will be for the coach.

2. The Safety Spot

In my opinion, this is one of the most effective spotting techniques a tumbling coach can learn. Not only is it extremely versatile (can be used to assist everything from walkovers to fulls/doubles) but it’s one of the safest due to the fact that you are in constant contact with the athlete.

Hence the name, safety spot.

The downside is that it takes some practice in order to get the timing right, and feels a little awkward at first. And so, many coaches revert back to their comfort zone (i.e bump spot). But here’s the bottom line: if you care about the safety of your athletes AND you want to learn how to spot twisting skills, learning the Safety Spot is mandatory.

Start by standing on the side of the athlete you feel MOST comfortable. For me, I like standing to their left. Then, you put out the same arm and turn it upside down (so palm faces up). In my case, I’d put out my left arm. If you prefer standing on the athlete’s right side, you’d simply put out your right arm.

As the athlete goes into the skill (let’s use the BWO for now to keep it simple), your arm that’s sticking out will wait for the athlete to fall on to it, and while providing support, you will grab the hip, then rotate with their skill in a way that feels natural.

Do not let go of the athlete. If you did it correctly (and you’re following along from their left side such as myself) then your left arm will have rotated clockwise and have the thumb facing down as you still grab the hip.

Key point to remember: Whether you’re left or right handed DOES NOT matter. What matters is where you as a spotter are most confident & comfortable. Generally those who have bump spotted for years while standing on an athlete’s left side, should continue standing on their left side. That’s because when it comes time to practice the next technique, you will bring back the bump spot.

3. Bump-Safety Spot

This spotting technique is the holy grail of them all.

The only reason I don’t place its importance above all the others, is that most coaches simply aren’t willing to invest the amount of time required to master the coordination, timing, hand technique and precision needed to pull off an effective Bump-Safety spot.

And it’s a bit sad really, because once you become good at the Bump-Safety, you can rely on it about 99% of the time. This spot works exactly the way you think it does.

During the initiation of the skill, you “bump” the athlete as you normally would, then mid way through do a quick switch of hand, and finish in a safety position. This spot can do the following:

• Give athletes height on take off
• Stop over rotation on saltos and twists
• Brace an athlete from a bail or hard landing
• Provide extra rotation during stalls (e.g – pausing in a tuck)

It’s the jack of all trades, basically. But you need practice. The best way I’ve found is to practice on athletes who can do standing connected back handsprings. What you do is bump spot the 1st BHS, then ask them to pause and safety spot the 2nd one. Do this until your timing and hand placement gets faster, strong and more precise. Eventually you should be able to spot both BHS at the athlete’s full speed. Once you can do that, you’re ready to try the Bump-Safety on end skills such as the tuck.

4. Safety Catch Spot

For cheerleaders, this spotting technique will be quite similar as it’s practically the same as a cradle catch, except the coach doesn’t have a base partner.

The main advantage of this spot, is that it can allow the athlete to work their sets, especially in gyms where they lack equipment such as a pit or large crash mats to fall on.

Another advantage is that if you have smaller athletes that can be tossed around easily, you can combine it with the safety spot to build some confidence for end skills such as the tuck. The downside is that the coach needs to be physically capable. This is not a spot to be used if the coach has any physical injuries or limitations.

5. Shadow Spot

Also known by all athletes as: “Can you just stand there?”

The key with the shadow spot, is that the concept behind it, and should be well understood by your athletes. If you say you’re going to do a “shadow spot” they should know that you will jump in ONLY if needed. Compare this to all the other spotting techniques where they should generally expect to get some kind of assistance. Even if it’s just a light tap or bump.

There are 2 things that drives a massive amount of fear into athletes: the unknown, and uncertainty. So if an athlete just sees you standing there, or you tell them you’re “just standing there” and they are uncertain if you’ll jump in to save their life, they will not attempt their skill.

What technique you fall back on should you need to save an athlete during a Shadow Spot is completely up to you.

6. Shadow Run Spot

I’ve never revealed or talked about this spotting technique before, not because it isn’t effective (quite the contrary, actually) but because it’s a little on the risky side. It’s called a Shadow Run because initially when the athlete is setting up to do their pass, the coach’s job is to stand far away so they are not in the athlete’s visual range.

This helps athletes feel what they normally would when they tumble (being on their own). However, once the athlete initiates their round off, the coach’s job is to run in and get as close as possible to the end skill in case something goes wrong. Get there too late, and you’re taking a gamble. So my suggestion would be to practice (like all the other spots) and work on your timing.

Again just like with the regular shadow spot, the method you use to actually spot the athlete is irrelevant. Just use the most appropriate one from the list above.

Found This Content Useful? Be Sure To Share It!