As I sit here and write this, the current tallest man-made structure in the world is the Burj Khalifa. It stands an impressive 2,722 feet high and took 22 million man hours to build.
It has so many windows that it takes 36 workers about 3-4 months just to clean the whole damn thing.
Talk about patience.
But have you ever wondered what keeps the Burj Khalifa and other super-tall structures erect? It may sound trivial, but the structure we see above ground only tells half the story.
There’s another 50 feet of the Burj that we can’t see – and that’s the foundation. It’s made of 192 steel columns that are 1.5m (4.9 feet) in diameter each!
That is one thick hunk of steel. And there’s 192 of em!
But that’s what it takes to keep the structure we can see and enjoy today, from falling over.
They started with a rock solid foundation, and guess what? Tumbling is no different.
If you want a crowd-stopping, heart pumping speciality tumbling pass, you can’t start with the high level stuff. You need to have a solid foundation of skills that everything else can build on.
Below are some of the fundamental skills you should not only take time to learn, but I’ll also show you how to master them. Because it’s one thing to have a handstand, but it’s quite another to hold it for 5 seconds without moving.
Speaking of handstands…
Fundamental #1: The handstand
There is literally no tumbling skill that doesn’t hit the handstand position at some point during it’s brief life. Think about it…
Round off? Check
Back handspring? Check
Back tuck? Check
Layout? Well that’s basically a handstand upside down…
I could go on, but there’s no need. The bottom line is, the quality of your handstand will determine the quality of your tumbling. Period (tweet this)
If you don’t know what a good handstand position should look like, check the picture on the right as a great example (notice the head position please – that’s the correct way to do it!)
Once you get the straight body position, it’s time to achieve mastery. To do this, try and hold it for 5 seconds flat with zero movement.
This means no walking, arching or opening of the legs.
Think it’s easy? Well grab a stop watch and give it a try. It’s much harder than it looks – but the benefits of a solid handstand are worth their weight in gold.
In fact, if you stopped doing any actual tumbling, and just spent your next month on mastering a handstand, I can practically guarantee you’ll come back and your tumbling will be stronger, faster and cleaner.
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Fundamental #2: Hollow Body Position
Just like a handstand, the hollow body position can be considered of the “popular kids” that appears everywhere in tumbling.
While doing it on the floor is no big deal, (since you can master it within a few minutes) the real challenge comes when you either hold it for long periods of times, or while performing your tumbling skills like the layout.
In case you don’t know what a good hollow body position should look like, see the picture on the right. Notice the details like the arms by the ears and how the body is curved, sort of like a banana.
The correct eye position should be to look at your own toes, which is also a great cue while doing layouts. Finally, make sure to squeeze everything – and I mean literally everything: arms, shoulders, fingers, toes, abs, butt, quads, hamstrings… hell even your jaw if you want.
But how do you master the hollow hold? Simple, try the following two things:
1. Grab a timer and see if you can hold it for 2 minutes without much movement. If you can, you’ve reached elite hollow body status. If I had a medal, I’d give you one. But I don’t so pat yourself on the back instead.
2. Practice hitting the position during your actual tumbling skills. Layouts are an obvious example, but there are other places you can try it too, such as:
- rebound out of a round off
- rebound from a back handspring snap down
- the punch for a front tuck
- blocking out of a back handspring for height
- rebound form a whip snap down
- half twist out of a front tuck
- and the punch for a front layout.
If you have any more that you’ve tried or think I might have missed, throw them in the comment section below!
Fundamental #3: The Bridge
The bridge is another one of the fundamental skills that is easy to get but takes time to master. The biggest mistake is that people think a bridge is meant to increase and improve back flexibility.
Not exactly. The bridge is meant to improve back and shoulder flexibility. It’s a two in one deal, and if you aren’t feeling it in your shoulders, you’re only doing half of what you’re supposed to do.
Here are some of the most common mistakes I see in the bridge:
- legs far apart (should be tight and together)
- knees bent (they should be pushing you back, into the shoulders)
- staying on the toes (feet should be flat on the ground)
- not pushing your head through (shoulders should be by your ears)
So how do we master it?
Well first, make sure your bridge looks something similar to the one in the picture. Then after that, you can turn it into other skills such as:
- Back walk over
- Handstand to bridge
- Back limber (kick your legs over from a bridge like a back handspring)
- Tick tocks (handstand into bridge then pop into a back limber)
One final thing I want to leave you with about the bridge is that while it definitely is a pre-requisite for the back handspring and whip, you don’t need to get super obsessed over it.
A “good enough” bridge combined with a solid handstand and hollow position will lead to near-perfect handsprings. That’s how important the first two fundamentals are.
Now I want to hear from you: What other fundamentals do you practice that have helped your tumbling? Or do you have any other variations to these 3 that you’d like to list? Head over to the comments section below, and let me know!
Image Credits: Fitstream.com and Jessica from Ocean Gymnastics
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About Coach Sahil
For over 15 years, Coach Sahil has been on a mission to help athletes master their tumbling and acrobatic skills in the shortest amount of time possible without sacrificing safety or the quality of their technique. As a former Power Tumbler and Power Lifter himself, he fully understands the inner struggles of an athlete and how to help them get to the next level. To date, he has worked with thousands of athletes around the World and provided training to hundreds of coaches in almost every country you can imagine. He is also a Certified Gymnastics Coach, founder of Addicted To Tumbling, and former co-owner of a gym. He is also the author of the best-selling book The Cheer Diet.
You speak the truth coach… but basics are so damn boring even though I know you have to do them. *sigh*
Basics are a lot more fun once you master them. While my lower back is just not what it used to be, I still have more fun doing handstands NOW than I did when I first started.
Same with other “beginner” skills like round offs, dive rolls etc. So just keep at it!
What about the power hurdle step? That’s also pretty important IMO.
Yes you’re right, a power hurdle with a proper step lunge is very key and in fact is quite challenging to coach properly to someone new.
Thanks for that.
Ah Eva I was just going to say that! The power hurdle step is soo important.
But other than that, good article coach! I love your writing.
This is awesome! I just sent this link to the girls on my team that are having trouble with tumbling. I came from a gymnastics background and they always say how I’m talented but I keep telling them it’s the basics.
Your article is everything I’ve ever wanted to say so thank you. I do have a couple suggestions to include if you don’t mind:
* Front, Back, Side Support
* Motorcycle landing
* Needle kick
* Dive roll/front roll
* Back extensions
Haha thanks for the flattery, you’re more than welcome.
And that’s a great list Serenity! While I agree those are very important for artistic gymnastics, I’d categorize them more as “optional” instead of “mandatory” for cheerleaders.
But having said that, it sure wouldn’t hurt for a cheerleader to master them at all and I can only see good things coming from it. So if they had the time, why not? 🙂
Great article coach, but I’m rather confused about one thing. So when I do layouts should I look like the dude doing the hollow body position or should I be dead straight like the handstand? I feel like you’re saying two different things.
It depends on what you want to accomplish. If you JUST want to do a layout as your end skill, then yes it should be as straight as possible.
However if you’re starting to learn how to twist, then I’d recommend you start doing the layouts a bit more hollow. Just be careful though – sometimes people THINK they’re doing hollow layouts when in fact it just ends up look like a pike.
Lots of cheerleaders are guilty of this actually, and I think it looks hideous. I have an athlete that was doing layouts near the beginning of the year and now doing doubles on Tumble Trak and I used the same transition for her. And her doubles look rather world-class.
Ok I have a problem. I can easily do my handstand for 5 seconds on the floor without moving, but my body position is actually arched in my back. How do I fix this? I want my handstands like that little girl, she’s perfection!
Hey Miss Rezzy,
I just bumped into this article and felt like I can answer that, don’t know how long ago you asked though, so forgive me if it’s already too late and you’ve mastered it already 🙂
What I tend to do when teaching someone the handstand and they arch their back, is first – define if the problem is shoulder flexibility, or just technique. If it’s shoulder flexibility, bridges will help with that. And then I make them do it against a wall. No reason to be ‘ashamed’ to do it against a wall even if you can hold it for a minute, because shape is all that matters for us. I make them do the handstand against a wall both facing the wall and back-to-wall. Both times, your hands should be as close to the wall as possible, no more than a hand-length away from it, closer if you can, and you should be thinking hollow shape in your head. Really pushing through the shoulders, get those armpits nice and close to the wall. What also helps sometimes, is if the athlete sees for themselves on a video the shape they’re holding, or sometimes a mirror would do, so doing it next to a mirror, where you can just briefly look sideways to see your position and shape might be a big help.
Hope this helps and good luck 🙂
Coach,
I just got my full, but its not pretty, my upper body is down when I land and legs slightly apart. How do I make it a tight pretty twist?
Your articles are great, it’s great to have a professional share their knowledge in an article that can be shared so easily. Reaffirms the importance of fundamentals which I preach. However, can I make a suggestion, given that the end users are kids (predominantly) can we avoid using curse words. If it weren’t for that, I’d share it with some of my groups but I don’t want my 8-10 year olds reading something I shared with (to them or their parents)that is questionable. I know, you’re probably rolling your eyes and it’s not a huge deal, but it is to some. Thanks
Hi, I’m fairly new to cheer. I’be been doing it for about 1 year now. I have my backbend but for some reason I just can’t do a backbend kickover or a back walkover. I also cannot do a round off and I have a cartwheel. Please help. Thanks
One of the things we need to add to this conversation is the importance of conditioning and flexibility needed to achieve these all important fundamentals and body shapes. A strict conditioning program is needed to achieve the inner amplitude the athlete will have to possess to be successful.
All tumbling coaches should have a good working knowledge and understanding of bio mechanics- knowing how and why things work makes it easy to to come up with needed progressions to get from point A to B.
I have been coaching gymnastics for over 35 years, and work with a lot of cheer kids, teaching tumbling. In my opinion there are to many inexperienced and unqualified people in coaching positions. I find this this to be even more prevalent in beginning to intermediate cheer tumbling programs. Parents need to seek out qualified and experienced tumbling coaches. If the coach is not teaching and demanding the mastery of the basics and fundamentals of tumbling before moving on to harder skills, then find another coach! It’s good for a coach to be passionate, dedicated, and enthusiastic, but over zealousness in coaching tumbling should be avoided. To forgo the mastery of each skill before moving on to the next leads to unnecessary injuries and can even result in permanent damage to the athlete. In rare cases even death! Coaches should make sure that their athletes master each skill before moving on to the next. Gymnastics and Cheer can be fun sports, but are inherently dangerous. Find a good coach, put in the time and hard work, and have fun!!!
One question- Where in a back tuck is there a handstand?
The handstand in the back tuck is in the set.
I feel like I am.listening to my self. If’s CREEPY!!! Well done coach!!
Sincerely,
-Your friends at ForeverCheer.com
I get socks and put them in the middle of my knees and try to hold them during my backhandsprings. It helps keep my legs together.