How to Do a Back Tuck
Stretch out your muscles., Practice doing it in your mind., Get a spotter., Get a mat., Start with your arms up and your body completely straight., Lower your arms, bend your knees, and then swing your arms back up as you jump straight up into the...
Step-by-Step Guide
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Step 1: Stretch out your muscles.
Do backbends, butterflies, along with leg and ankle stretches, too.
When you're ready you can warm up by doing a couple standing back handsprings.
Be careful: if you don't warm up, you could hurt your muscles.
After you get used to this, try to do round off twos.
These exercises will help stretch you out and prepare your muscles for the standing back tuck. -
Step 2: Practice doing it in your mind.
Research has proven that visualizing something helps in doing the same thing physically.
So practicing a back flip in your mind would help you to do it physically., A spotter is someone, usually a trainer, coach, or experienced gymnast, who will help hold you and give you good posture while you try your first back tuck.
Not only will they help you jump more into the air, but they'll also be able to give you great advice on anything you may be doing wrong, as well as safeguard against injury. , Mats ensure that any accidental falls won't be devastating for you.
They're also a great psychological motivator:
If you're not worried about falling down (don't worry, you shouldn't fall!) you'll jump higher and have better posture.
For beginners: try folding a mat up and standing on top of that for your first couple back tucks.
This will give you a little extra space (you'll be higher than the ground) to do the back tuck in the air.
For advanced gymnasts: try jumping back onto a folded-up mat.
Instead of having more space in the air to tuck and land, you'll have less.
This is a great technique if you're already pretty good at tucking and want to improve your technique! , Pretend that there's a string tied to each of your hands that's being pulled upwards.
This will help you extend your arms all the way up and straighten out your body. , Before you do a back tuck, practice swinging your arms upward as you jump.
This will give you the momentum you need to get high enough to actually do the back tuck.
Remember to jump up first and not backward.
Many beginners believe that because the back tuck is a backward somersault in the air, they need to backward first.
The proper technique for back tucks is jumping up first.
This will give you the height needed to tuck your legs and then move backward. , Bring your legs nearly up to your chest as you jump upward.
The momentum of bringing your legs into your chest will help make the backward jump much easier.
Try practicing the leg to chest tuck on the ground first.
Lie down with your back on a mat and your arms up above your head, as they are in the starting position. (Have a spotter hold your arms there, or pin them underneath something heavy but still comfortable.) Then practice, as quickly as you can, lifting your legs up to your chest, simulating the same motion of the back tuck.
Bring them up quickly and then back down, repeating. , You've bent your knees, jumped up, and then brought your knees into your chest while starting to lean back.
If you can, try to make yourself small at the top of your jump. , Never land with straight knees.
This will seriously hurt, and could put you at risk for hyperextended knees.
Try to land with your knees bent so that they can absorb some of the shock of the landing. , Quickly get your balance by straightening your bent knees and thrusting your arms back up into the air.
Your final stance should look almost identical to the way that you started. , That's pretty much how you do a back tuck.
Not too hard, is it? After practicing all the small fundamentals — jumping, tucking, landing, snapping up — you should begin to get the feel for what a back tuck feels like as one fluid motion.
Don't be afraid to work with a trainer or spotter in the early going; never attempt these tumbles alone if it's your first time. -
Step 3: Get a spotter.
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Step 4: Get a mat.
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Step 5: Start with your arms up and your body completely straight.
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Step 6: Lower your arms
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Step 7: bend your knees
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Step 8: and then swing your arms back up as you jump straight up into the air.
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Step 9: Tuck your legs as you jump up into the air.
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Step 10: Tuck yourself into a little ball in the middle of your mid-air jump.
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Step 11: Land with your knees bent.
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Step 12: Snap up with your body into starting position right after you land.
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Step 13: Practice the whole thing by putting all the parts together.
Detailed Guide
Do backbends, butterflies, along with leg and ankle stretches, too.
When you're ready you can warm up by doing a couple standing back handsprings.
Be careful: if you don't warm up, you could hurt your muscles.
After you get used to this, try to do round off twos.
These exercises will help stretch you out and prepare your muscles for the standing back tuck.
Research has proven that visualizing something helps in doing the same thing physically.
So practicing a back flip in your mind would help you to do it physically., A spotter is someone, usually a trainer, coach, or experienced gymnast, who will help hold you and give you good posture while you try your first back tuck.
Not only will they help you jump more into the air, but they'll also be able to give you great advice on anything you may be doing wrong, as well as safeguard against injury. , Mats ensure that any accidental falls won't be devastating for you.
They're also a great psychological motivator:
If you're not worried about falling down (don't worry, you shouldn't fall!) you'll jump higher and have better posture.
For beginners: try folding a mat up and standing on top of that for your first couple back tucks.
This will give you a little extra space (you'll be higher than the ground) to do the back tuck in the air.
For advanced gymnasts: try jumping back onto a folded-up mat.
Instead of having more space in the air to tuck and land, you'll have less.
This is a great technique if you're already pretty good at tucking and want to improve your technique! , Pretend that there's a string tied to each of your hands that's being pulled upwards.
This will help you extend your arms all the way up and straighten out your body. , Before you do a back tuck, practice swinging your arms upward as you jump.
This will give you the momentum you need to get high enough to actually do the back tuck.
Remember to jump up first and not backward.
Many beginners believe that because the back tuck is a backward somersault in the air, they need to backward first.
The proper technique for back tucks is jumping up first.
This will give you the height needed to tuck your legs and then move backward. , Bring your legs nearly up to your chest as you jump upward.
The momentum of bringing your legs into your chest will help make the backward jump much easier.
Try practicing the leg to chest tuck on the ground first.
Lie down with your back on a mat and your arms up above your head, as they are in the starting position. (Have a spotter hold your arms there, or pin them underneath something heavy but still comfortable.) Then practice, as quickly as you can, lifting your legs up to your chest, simulating the same motion of the back tuck.
Bring them up quickly and then back down, repeating. , You've bent your knees, jumped up, and then brought your knees into your chest while starting to lean back.
If you can, try to make yourself small at the top of your jump. , Never land with straight knees.
This will seriously hurt, and could put you at risk for hyperextended knees.
Try to land with your knees bent so that they can absorb some of the shock of the landing. , Quickly get your balance by straightening your bent knees and thrusting your arms back up into the air.
Your final stance should look almost identical to the way that you started. , That's pretty much how you do a back tuck.
Not too hard, is it? After practicing all the small fundamentals — jumping, tucking, landing, snapping up — you should begin to get the feel for what a back tuck feels like as one fluid motion.
Don't be afraid to work with a trainer or spotter in the early going; never attempt these tumbles alone if it's your first time.
About the Author
Marie Morris
Specializes in breaking down complex DIY projects topics into simple steps.
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