The SITE 5-step coaching model

We believe that by breaking things down into smaller more manageable steps, even the hardest tricks can be learned in a safe, fun and engaging way.

In our freestyle trampoline lessons, we cover a wide variety of tricks ranging from freestyle ski and snowboard tricks to traditional trampoline skills, and everything in between. It is important that we have a safe, effective and consistent approach to coaching any tricks to build trust with our students and provide a consistent experience for our guests.

1. Explanation / demonstration

• Before a student is to try a trick for themselves, they must first understand what is required of them and their body to perform it correctly.

• Describe the trick being worked on and the positions and movements it will involve before demonstrating what it would look like in its most basic form.

• It is important to demonstrate a realistic and achievable version of the trick to not put it beyond the students’ scope, this will help them to visualise themselves doing it.

2. Check understanding

• Once the trick has been demonstrated, it is important to check the students’ understanding.

• Ask students questions about what you have told them and have them demonstrate movements that you taught them to help prepare for a trick.

• This will greatly reduce the risk of injury by avoiding students trying a trick that they don’t understand.

3. Assisted practise

• It is important to provide physical assistance or verbal feedback as an individual begins practising a new trick for the very first time.

• If you spot someone practising with an incorrect technique, stop them immediately and guide them to practise with the correct techniques – remember “perfect practise makes perfect”.

4. Individual practise

• Once a student has been set up to practise the trick safely on their own and understands a couple of the main coaching points to reflect on by themselves, it is important to give them time to practise alone.

• Practising without direct coach input helps individuals to build their own understanding of the trick in a low-pressure environment.

• Practising alone gives the student time to work on the feedback they have already received, once they have been able to work on one piece of feedback, they may be ready for more.

5. Self reflect, analyze & provide feedback

• After a student has been given time to practise the skill they are working on, it is important to check in, analyse their progress, and provide some more feedback.

• Make the learning process as simple as possible and only provide necessary feedback, relative to the mental capacity of the student. Watch them perform the skill a couple of times before providing feedback as you want to look for the common cause of their mistake, not point out all of them.

• Ask if they still remember any key coaching points you have shared before they continue working on their trick to encourage self-reflection.

If continuing working on the same trick – repeat steps 4 and 5

• Use self-reflection as a tool to check understanding during this process.

• Remember to stop anyone performing tricks with incorrect techniques immediately. Fixing techniques later on down the road will be much more challenging for the coach and student.

If introducing a new trick or technique – start from step 1 again

• For the best and safest results when coaching, always follow this process.

• It can be easy to rush through the learning process when this is the case but still be aware that advanced students can still be overwhelmed – try not to introduce more than two or three new tricks and techniques in one session.

• Remember – “quality not quantity”.