Freestyle Trampoline Coaching Terms

Types of awareness

• Physical awareness is knowledge of our own body and it’s movements. It is built through practicing basic forms of a trick. For example, practicing donkey kicks with the assistance of a raised platform to safely build an understanding of how to use heel drive and set forwards rotation with our lower body, before trying to use the same technique in the air for the whole front flip.

• Aerial awareness is the understanding of where we are in the air and is built through general time spent on a trampoline practicing a variety of tricks. Aerial awareness of specific tricks is built through practicing at different heights and by trying different grabs and body shapes. This will develop a sense of how the trick feels and also an understanding of how different body shapes can affect the trajectory of a rotation.

• Visual awareness is the ability to spot the trampoline and surrounding areas during take-off, mid-skill and also on landing. This can be quite hard to develop at a later stage as the body and mind will rely on physical and aerial awareness. Begin using correct spotting techniques from the beginning of the learning process to make this easier when moving onto more advanced techniques such as doubles and twisting flips.

Trampoline trick phases

• During every trick on a trampoline there are four main phases.

• Understanding and being able to identify issues during each of these phases is crucial to providing accurate feedback and being able to help correct athletes’ mistakes.

Approach is the set-up and positioning of the body as the athlete prepares to make final contact with the trampoline before initiating a trick.

Take-off is the motions the athlete’s body will go through as they make contact with and are leaving the trampoline bed, just before entering the flight phase of the trick.

Flight is the movements the body will go through once take-off has been completed and the athlete is in flight.

Landing is the way the athlete needs to exit the trick, where they should be spotting and how they should land.

• Keep in mind when looking to provide accurate feedback that 80% of mistakes are made during the first two phases, Approach and Take-off.