Trampolining For Beginners

Beginners Guide To The Sport of Trampolining

Please do not try these trampoline tricks without proper supervision and training at a local trampolining club.

This page is designed to give complete newcomers a taste of trampolining. The
Basics Competitive trampolining is a judged sport (like gymnastics or diving)
whereby the competitor performs two routines each of ten moves, with one mark
awarded for each move performed perfectly. Deductions are made according to
performance imperfections in each move. The resultant individual scores are
then added up to give a total score out of ten for each routine. Marks are also
added on for the difficulty (we call it ‘tariff’) of the second routine. The
tariff of the routine is calculated by adding up the tariffs of each move in
it.

Trampoline Moves

Many moves are named with reference to how the trampolinist lands on the trampoline.
There are four possible landing positions:

to feet: landing in a standing position

to seat: landing in a sitting down position with the legs pointing straight
ahead

to front: landing on the stomach, or front, with hands under chin

to back: landing on the back with arms & legs pointing upward

 

The seat, front & back positions lend themselves to three basic moves:the
seat drop, the front drop & the back drop which are performed from a normal
upright jump. These can then be linked together one after another (this is what
happens in routines) with no upright jump in-between. So for example the linked
move we call seat drop to front drop means ‘land on your bottom & rebound straight
over onto your front’.

As well as these basic landing positions, we must consider twists. A 1/2 twist
jump is when the trampolinist simply jumps up and faces the other way (180 degrees).
From that it follows that a full twist involves a complete revolution to face
the same way again (360 degrees). These can obviously be extended to one and a half,
double, triple etc..

These two ideas (landing positions and twists) can be combined to form more
complex moves and links. For example:

A 1/2 twist to back drop involves the trampolinist in jumping up, twisting through
180degrees and landing on the back. A front drop 1/2 twist to seat drop means jump &
rotate forward into a front drop then on the rebound simply roll over through
180 degrees to land in a seat drop position.

 

Body Shapes In The Air

When in the air it is possible to do many things, some of which have been
mentioned above. In order to do any move, we must consider the body shape of
the trampolinist. When not performing a move, the body shape should normally
be ‘straight’ – i.e. upright and fully extended. There are three other possible
body shapes:

tucked: curled up in a little ball with the hands on the shins and the knees
together.

piked: in a ‘touching the toes’ like position with legs straight and together
and the hands near the feet.

straddled: the same as piked but with the feet well apart.

 

These shapes can be done whilst in the air and give rise to the most basic
moves of all: the tuck jump, the pike jump and the straddle jump. They can also
be done during somersaults (see below) with the exception of the straddle, which
is never used apart from in a straddle jump.

Somersaults

Somersaults are partial or complete rotations, forward or backwards around
the hips area. Never, never ever call them Flips!! Somersaults are named by
considering six things: The direction of rotation: forward or backward (very
occasionally also sideways) The amount of rotation: single, double, one and
three quarters etc. The amount of twist: in multiples of a half The body shape
in the air: straight, piked or tucked The take-off position: from feet, from
seat, from front or from back. The landing position: to feet, to seat, to front
or to back. From this, we can see that there are hundreds of types of somersaults
which are possible. Consider for example: A backward, one and three quarter
somersault, two and a 1/2 twisting, piked, from feet, to back drop somersault!
As far as I know, no-one actually does this move, but it is possible. Mathematical
types might like to note that if the take off position is from feet, the landing
MUST be to back drop (work it out !!).

Many everyday somersaults have special names of their own, and here are a few
examples:

Crash Dive : a three quarter front somersault to land on the back.

Lazy Back : a three quarter back somersault to land on the front.

Barani : a single front somersault with a 1/2 twist.

Rudi : a single front somersault with one and a 1/2 twists.

Randi : a single front somersault with two and a 1/2 twists.

Adolf : a single front somersault with three and a 1/2 twists.

Full Back : a full twisting single back somersault (usually done straight).

Ball-Out : a one & a quarter forward somersault done from a back landing to
feet.

Cody : a one & a quarter backward somersault done from a front drop position.

One & Three : a one & three-quarter front somersault, (lands on the back).

Half-Out : a double front somersault with a 1/2 twist at the end. (see illustration
in side panel).

 

Double somersaults and above

The more twists and somersaults you have in a move, the more combinations are
possible. The recognition and naming of multiple twisting, multiple somersaults
is a science in its own right, and being able to name the blur of body parts
you have just seen in the air will make you the envy of many. The number of
somersaults is rarely more than three, the number of twists rarely more than
four, and the position is normally feet to feet. This keeps things a bit simpler
than they might be, but the difficulty lies in working out both the rotational
direction and how many twists happened and WHEN. For example, a double front
somersault with a 1/2 twist can be done in two ways: With the twist in the first
somersault (called a Half-In) … or, in the second somersault (a Half-Out).
A double back with a full twist can be done in three ways: With a 1/2 twist in
each somersault (Half-In Half-Out), … all the twist in the first (Full-In)
… or all the twist in the second (Full-Out).

Tariff

The basic premise is that each quarter-somersault (90degrees forward or backward)
is awarded 0.1 point, and each half-twist (180degrees around the Longitudinal axis)
is also awarded 0.1 point. An additional 0.1 points is awarded per completed
somersault (each somersault is worth 0.5 instead of 0.4). Single somersaults
without twist performed in pike or straight position receive an additional 0.1
point bonus. [Single somersaults with twist are considered to be done in a 'free'
position, so do not qualify for the straight legs bonus]. Multiple somersaults
of 720degrees or more, with or without twist, executed in the straight or pike position
will receive an additional 0.2 points maximum bonus. These straight-legged bonuses
are only applicable to whole somersaults, e.g. there is no such bonus to Ball-Out
Barani, thus 0.6 for somersault (5 quarters plus 0.1 bonus for one completed
somersault) plus 0.1 for 1/2 twist, totals 0.7 points, regardless of shape. Repeated
skills do not receive any Tariff award. Here are some examples:

back drop = 0.1 (1/4 somersault rotation)

1/2 twist to front drop = 0.2 (1/4 somersault rotation plus a 1/2 twist)

seat drop = 0.0 (no upper body rotation or twist at all)

pike back somersault = 0.6 (four quarters of rotation plus 0.1 completed somersault
bonus, plus 0.1 for straight legs)

straight barani (single front somersault with 1/2 twist) = 0.6 (four quarters
rotation plus a 1/2 twist but no straight legs bonus)

tucked full twisting 1 3/4 front somersault to back = 1.0 (seven quarters rotation,
with 0.1 complete somersault bonus, plus two 1/2 twists)

Our thanks to the Ministry of Air for the material on this page

Read a full trampoline guide here.

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