How to do a Somersault on your Trampoline?

You’ve bought your family a trampoline. You’ve set it up in the perfect spot in your yard. Now it’s time to have fun. Jumping up and down, over and over, is not the only way to enjoy your trampoline. Tricks and flips are difficult to do, but having the softer, bouncy surface of a trampoline makes them a lot easier to accomplish. Flips are some of the most fun things you can do on a trampoline, but you have to make sure to do them in a safe way, starting with basic somersaults is the perfect way to practice flips safely until you’re ready to attempt more advanced tricks. In this article we will outline for you how to do a basic somersault, bouncing somersault, and a jumping somersault on your trampoline. We’ll also give you some specific safety tips to help avoid injuries. After reading this, you should be ready to get in that practice and accomplish the perfect trampoline somersault!

Step by Step Guide on How to do different types of Somersault

• Basic Somersault

Chances are, you’ve done a basic somersault at some point in your life. Doing a somersault on your trampoline is mostly just like doing one on your living room floor. But just in case you’ve never attempted a somersault before, we’ll walk you through step by step.

1. Start in a standing position, then crouch down to the ground.
2. Place your hands on the floor in front of you a little wider than shoulder length.
3. Place the top of your head on the ground in between your hands.
4. Push yourself over with your legs and use a rolling motion down your spine to roll onto your back.
5. Make sure to keep your neck and back in a “C” shaped position while you roll over, bend your neck and back so that you roll onto your back like a rolling ball, and keep your legs tucked in. If you keep your back and spine straight, or try to straighten out your legs, you will just slam onto the mat instead of rolling.

Now that you have the basic steps of a somersault you can start practicing. Just try practicing the motion of rolling onto your back, then get back up to your feet and start over. Keep doing this over and over again until you can do it from a standing position quickly without even thinking about it.

After you master rolling to your back, you can try to give yourself a harder push so that you have enough force to not only roll onto your back, but all the way through your body and back to your feet. Again, keep practicing this movement until you get to a point where you can start on your feet and end on your feet after coming out of the somersault without thought, and without falling over. This will take time and practice, especially if you’ve not done a lot of somersaults before. Once you master this movement, you can move onto learning how to jump into your somersaults.

• Bouncing Somersault

Now that you’ve mastered the basic somersault on your trampoline, you can move onto a bouncing somersault. It’s similar to doing a basic somersault, but you’re putting a little bounce into the initial flip.

1. Start by doing a few small bounces, your feet don’t even have to come off the mat. Just move yourself slightly up and down on the mat.
2. On one of your upward jumps push yourself slightly forward onto your hands and immediately into your somersault roll.
3. Having the initial bounce should give you plenty of momentum to roll right back to your feet, if not then just practice bouncing somersaults landing on your back.

Again, you’re going to have to practice this movement to get better. Keep doing a bouncing somersault over and over until you develop the muscle memory to do one without thinking about it. The more you practice, the better you’ll get and the more confidence you’ll have going into your flip. When you feel confident that you have a good bouncing somersault, and you’re able to start and end on your feet, you can make it a little harder by doing a jumping somersault.

• Jumping Somersault

Moving onto a jumping somersault will be easy once you’ve mastered a bouncing somersault. It’s not much different other than the fact that you will now be doing bigger jumps before your flip.

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1. Start off just like you did with a bouncing somersault, except now do slightly bigger jumps so that your feet are coming off the mat.
2. When you feel ready, do a jump up and lean forward, immediately go to your hands and into your somersault roll.
3. You should have plenty of momentum to get right back to your feet, but if you’re not yet confident going all the way just try jumping and rolling onto your back again.

Just like practicing the other somersaults, keep going until you get to a point where you can do a full somersault, starting on your feet and ending on your feet, without falling over. The more you practice the easier this will be for you and you will eventually get to a point where you don’t even have to think about the movements, your body will just know how to move and where to go!

Safety Considerations while doing Somersault

As with any physical activity, there are some risks involved. When doing somersaults, you increase your risk of head and neck injuries, even on the seemingly “soft” trampoline mat, especially when you move onto the jumping somersaults. So, it’s important to start out slow. Keep practicing the basic somersault over and over again until it really becomes second nature. This will train your body to develop muscle memory that will help you do the movement without thinking about it. Making sure your neck, back, and spine stay in that rounded “C” shaped position will help avoid injuries.

When you move onto the bouncing and jumping somersaults, it’s even more important to always keep that “C” position in your back and spine, otherwise you may slam your head down onto the mat and hurt your neck. If you ever feel uncomfortable or don’t feel confident in your movement, don’t do the flip. Go back and work on the basic somersault until you master the movement and feel comfortable doing it.

Learning how to fall correctly can also help keep you safer. If you ever feel like the flip is not going the way it should, try to just roll slowly onto your back from whatever position you’re in. This is another good thing to practice. If you practice falling when things are going well, your body will automatically know what to do when they aren’t going well. So, practice starting a somersault, then falling lightly to your back.

Always stay in the center of the trampoline, even if you’re just jumping up and down, staying in the center of the trampoline keeps you from falling over the edge. Don’t ever attempt any flips when more than one person is on the trampoline. If someone is doing flips or other tricks on a trampoline, they should be the only person on the trampoline. However, there should always be someone near the trampoline, watching, just in case an injury does occur.

Practice makes perfect, and helps you avoid potential injuries, so always practice your flips over and over until you are completely comfortable doing them before you attempt more advanced movements.

Conclusion

Hopefully this article has given you the tools you need to start doing flips and tricks on your trampoline. Just remember that practice is the most important thing you can do. Only move on to bigger flips when you feel completely comfortable accomplishing the basic movements of the somersault. Always keep your safety tips in mind and have someone watching you when you are on your trampoline. Stay safe, and happy jumping!