How to Do A FrontFlip for Beginners!

How to Do a Front Flip For Beginners!

 A front flip, also known as a front tuck in gymnastics, is an advanced gymnastics move. If you want to know how to execute an impressive front flip, you need to have the strength, flexibility, and determination to pull it off. You should first practice with a knowledgeable spotter in a safe environment equipped with mats and gymnastics blocks. Once you're comfortable, you'll be able to execute the flip on your own. If you want to know how to do a front flip, just follow these steps.

Preparing to do a Front Flip

1. 1
   Stretch. Warm up the muscles you'll be using to do a front flip, paying special attention to your ankles, hamstrings, calves, back, quadriceps, neck, and wrists. You can also use a wobble board to stretch out your ankles. Here are some great stretches that will help you warm up to do a front flip:
   
   
   • Stretch your wrists. Hold your hand out in front of you, like you're saying "stop," and gently pull your fingers back toward you.
   • Stretch your ankles. Sit down and cross the ankle of one leg over the knee of the other and roll the ankle of the crossed leg. Switch and roll the other ankle. You can even spell out the alphabet with the foot of the rolled ankle if you like.
   • Stretch your hamstrings. Stand up and fold one of your legs up until your ankle reaches your butt. Hold on to your ankle and pull your foot back until you feel the stretch.
   • Stretch your neck and shoulders. Roll your shoulders forward and back and roll your head clockwise and then counter-clockwise in a circular motion.
2. 2
   Take a few running steps and then "punch jump" straight up. This move will help you gain vertical momentum. Focus on the force of your jump upward, not down to the ground. Practice taking a few running steps, then bending your knees slightly and jumping straight up with your hands high in the air, with your elbows by your ears. 
   
   
   • Practice your landing too. You'll land with knees bent, at about a foot lower than your regular standing position, with your arms up straight in front of you.
   • After you land with your feet on the ground, you can straighten your body and lift your arms in the air for a graceful finish.
   • Once you've finished practicing the basic "punch jump," you can repeat the "punch jump" while tucking your knees up toward your chest instead of keeping them straight as you jump.
   • Once you get the jump down, you can move on to practice the rotation.

Executing a Front Flip

1. 1
   Practice the front flip on a trampoline. Start with the "punch jump" and then tuck your knees as you rotate forward, landing with your knees bent before you straighten up. Do this on a trampoline or into a pit until you feel comfortable enough to do it on the floor. You'll be adding a rotation to the "punch jump" to execute the flip on the trampoline. 
   
   
   • Have a knowledgeable spotter stand by you as you practice the flip. The spotter should keep his hand on or near your stomach so he can help you rotate forward.
2. 2
   Do a front flip off of a gymnastics block that faces a mat. Practice the same front flip skills while standing on a gymnastics block that faces a soft and durable mat. This will help get you even more comfortable than trying to do this on a trampoline. This will be harder because you won't have the extra upward bounce that the trampoline gave you, so you'll have to work on gathering your own momentum.
   
   
   • Work on going up more instead of leaning forward. Though you may think that leaning forward will help you land on your feet, you'll actually be making it harder for yourself to complete the rotation because you won't be gaining as much height.
3. 3
   Do a front flip on the gym floor. Once you've mastered the trampoline and gymnastics blocks and are comfortable doing a front flip without a spotter, it's time to find a sturdy and bouncy gymnastics mat that will help you do the flip. Though you'll be doing this on the floor, the gymnastics mat has more bounce that a regular floor, so it will help give you upward momentum. To do a front flip, just string together all of the steps that you've mastered while practicing while adding a rotation. 
   
   
   • Start with the punch jump, tuck your knees, and rotate forward while keeping your hands around or near your shins.
   • Land with your knees bent and your arms in front of you, and then straighten your body and raise your arms straight up for your finish.
   
   

Tips

• Have someone by in case you fall.
• As you begin to jump, keep your chest upright; don't pitch forward immediately. But, also make sure you watch where you are going before taking off.
• Don't try a flip on the ground until you can do a really good flip on the trampoline, so that you don't get injured!
• When jumping, do a hand punch up ways to make a jump higher and then swing it down to make a rotate.
• Make sure you don't bang your head

How to Back Flip!

 The standing backflip is one kind of advanced, backward somersault. The body rolls/flips end-over-end, making a complete 360 degree revolution and landing back on the feet, without contacting the floor with hands, head or shoulders, requiring practice and care to execute. (This is not like the backward shoulder roll nor the backward walkover.) It's not a skill for beginners, but if you take the time to practice your technique and build toward the backflip, you'll be able to do it. Just follow these easy steps to learn how.

Part One: Prepare to do a Backflip

1. 1
   Stretch well. Before you try to do a backflip or any other gymnastics skill, you should stretch your wrists, ankles, achilles tendon, and your neck. If you skip this step, you will be much more likely to get injured. Here's how to do it:
   
   
   • Stretch your achilles tendon. Place your toes on an elevated platform while your heel is on the ground until you feel a deep stretch running from your calf to your heel.
   • Stretch your ankles. Sit down and hold your ankle with one hand, while rolling your ankle. Stretch both ankles equally.
   • Stretch your wrists. Extend one hand with your palm away from you, and pull your fingers back with the other until you feel a nice stretch. Switch hands.
   • Stretch your neck. Roll your head in one direction, and then the other.
2. 2
   Practice the jump before a backflip. Before you do the backflip, you should practice the basic jump and arm whipping move to get comfortable with the beginning form. Simply jump straight up and whip your arms in the air over your head. Here's how to do it:
   
   
   
   • Jump up while whipping your arms over your head in the air.
   • Land straight back down with your knees bending no more than 90 degrees as you land. Lower your arms down by your knees.
   • Stand up and start again.
3. 3
   Practice your form while lying on the floor. This is another way to learn the beginning form. Lie down on your back on an exercise mat with your legs extended out straight and together. Extend your arms up in front of you and do an abdominal crunch. Raise your shoulders off of the ground, but keep you neck aligned with your spine. Still on the floor:
   
   
   
   • Whip your arms up over your head so that your arms contact the ground above your head.
   • Tuck your knees up to your chest and grab your legs. At the same time, roll backwards onto your shoulders as quickly as you can without a rollover; don't strain your neck!
     • Then untuck and extend your legs; repeat.
   • Practice repeating this set of rapid arm whipping, tucking and grabbing legs while rolling back onto your shoulders, and extending -- until you have good form, before attempting the standing backflip.

Part Two: Execute the Backflip

1. 1
   Practice the backflip with a spotter! Before you try the backflip on your own, you should work with a spotter, preferably a coach. Ideally, you should start practicing on a trampoline or a gymnastics floor, so you have a mat, coaching support, and so it's safer to jump high in the air.
   
   
   
   • Stand with your feet together. Extend your arms straight out in front of you.
2. 2
   Bend your knees. Pretend that you're going to sit in a chair. This builds potential energy in your legs. Don't let your knees bend more than 90 degrees or you may fall. Keep a slightly hollow chest. Avoid arching backward or putting your arms on or behind your butt.
   
   
   
   • Keep your eyes focused on a spot about eye level. Keep your head in that position throughout the flip instead of looking downward.
   • Swing your arms down by your hips ready to swing them upward as you jump.
3. 3
   Jump upwards. You should jump up from your vertical position. At the same time, whip your arms above your head. This arm movement will give you backward momentum for your rotation.
   
   Even though you may feel tempted to jump backward, do not do so. You will just lose height.
   
   
   
   • As you begin to revolve backwards, you should rotate at your hips, not at your shoulders.
4. 4
   Tuck your knees upward to your chest as you reach the high point of your jump. Your chest should be facing the ceiling as you finish pulling your knees into your chest. This fast raising/whipping the arms upward and then tucking motion will provide momentum to flip you backwards.
   
   
   
   • Don't bring your chest to your knees, bring your knees to your chest. Don't focus on tucking in really hard at first, but focus on ripping your knees to your chest as fast as possible, putting your arms around your calves once your legs are tucked.
5. 5
   Untuck.^[1] As you come close to the end of your flip, extend your lower back and legs to untuck for landing.
6. 6
   Land. You should ideally land on your feet in the same place where you started, or just a foot or two behind your starting spot.
   
   
   
   • As soon as your feet touch the ground, bend your knees toward the sitting position to shift the momentum toward the vertical again. Extend your arms straight out in front of you to give yourself more balance. This will keep you from falling backwards.
   • Rise up quickly from the bent knee form and elevate yourself into a standing position.
7. 7
   Keep practicing! Once you're comfortable without a spotter or a trampoline, find a soft surface and continue to practice the backflip on your own. As you keep improving your skills, you'll learn to flip more gracefully and to land in a more upright position.
   
   
   
   • Don't be discouraged if you're struggling. Learning to do a backflip is hard work and takes time.
   
   

Video

Tips

• You can backflip on a trampoline by starting near the edge and flipping backward into the center. Even though a trampoline is a more forgiving surface than the ground, it can still be dangerous, so be cautious.
• Learn to perform simpler moves like these before you start doing backflips:
  • Forward roll
  • Backward roll
  • Handstand
  • Cartwheel
  • Round Off
  • Front walkover
  • Back walkover
  • Back handspring
• Aside from physical conditioning, fear is usually the greatest roadblock for new back flippers. Visualization and adequate training are the best tools for overcoming fear.
• Use a spotter. The spotter stands slightly behind and to the side of you. Then, he or she extends an arm and presses a hand lightly against your back above your waist. The spotter gives you support and helps you maintain good form as you start your backflip
• After first learning how to do the back-tuck, you may experience muscle soreness. Make sure that you rest sore muscles and stretch them gently to alleviate pain.

EditWarnings

• Do not abort the flip in the middle of the tuck. A bad landing can cause broken bones and a trip to the hospital.
• Never do back flips when you are alone. If you hurt your neck or back, then you might not be able to get help.
• If you're doing a backflip off of a diving board, make sure to give yourself clearance so that you don't strike your head on the board. Also, make sure that the water is deep enough so that you don't injure yourself by landing on your head in shallow water.