Topic: Help With Front Flip

[Cooldude2542]

Hey,

I just recently found this site and thought that I shoud make an account. I have no gym in my area to teach my self how to do flips so I've been hardcoring it on the grass and mulch.

When I do a flip I always fall out of my tuck and land on my legs and my hands... I can't tell why I do this. Is it because I am not jumping up enough. Do I not tuck tight enough???

Here is a link to me doing my front flip:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XykkI7RT1xw

thanks in advance!

[Alex L.]

You amaze me. You have almost done like a front layout, lol. Anyways your tuck isn't anywhere close to being a tuck. I would write more; however, I'm about to go to a 4th of July barbecue. Maybe someone else will write something.

[Graham Hughes]

You're not tucking hardly at all.  Pull your knees in tight to your chest and you'll rotate much faster.  Some more height wouldn't hurt either, but just focus on tucking for now.

[Alec Furtado]

-Your initial jump is enormous. The more force you put into the ground like that, the more you need to redirect. Try a short quick step where you don't jump as high.
-Your arms are pretty much throwing down. You have to thrust them out in sequence with your jump. If you are familiar with dive rolls, that's that visualization I give everybody. Try some and hopefully you'll be pushing your arms out like that. You just gotta translate it into the flip.
-To get more height, I have people visualize the dive-roll technique over a high obstacle. This will force you to throw your arms up as well as "hollow out your chest" which, from experience, seems to make for a great flip. (Many people say you need more height but "jump higher" doesn't help on it's own.) You could also imagine you are flipping onto a surface higher than what you are starting at. What also happens with the dive-roll technique is there usually ends up to be a short pause between the take off and the tuck which also happens to have you tucking right at your peak height.

[Team Avian]

well then, that helps with my flips too... I was throwing my arms in a rotation... like, starting almost like you are grabbing suspenders but with your fingers pointing up, and throwing my elbows up and then my arms around in a circle like pattern to help the spin...

but throwing them like a dive roll then coiling them sounds a LOT more logical... never thought of that

(PS: My problem was under-rotation but my tuck is tight {So it must be my hands since when I throw them around the circle, the end result would be a downwards force that would severely take away from the jump})

so all in all, thanks for the Dive Roll example lol helps a LOT

-Kyle(Rage)

[Alec Furtado]

Yea the dive roll is the only thing that seems to help with that kind of motion. I was lost until then because I need some way to visualize the motion.

I can't take all the credit though... Adam Dunlap started me on exploring that technique.



Maybe I'll make a tutorial since a lot of people seem to have the same issues that would hopefully be fixed with this technique.

[Alex L.]

I love that technique. It's what makes a front flip a good front flip. I believe that's the way gymnasts do them anyways.