The trampoline drills in this article will cover drills for teaching same bar releases and high to low bar release skills on trampoline. Using the trampoline is a great way to get hundreds of reps in a low impact environment building your athletes awareness and confidence to create high flying release moves. This article will cover the following drills to teach each release skill listed below in order.
Same Bar Release Skills
- Tkatchev straddle
- Ray
- Ricna
- Tkatchev pike
- Ray pike – Church
- Ricna pike – Downie
- Jaeger
- Jaeger pike
- Jaeger 1/2
- Jaeger 1/1
- Khorkina
- Shushunova
- Geinger
High to Low Bar Release Skills
- Flyback HS
- Ehjova
- Bail HS
- Pak 1/1
Let’s get started with the same bar releases. Reminder these are trampoline drills for uneven bar release moves. This is not a guide to teach a release move from start to finish. Use these drills to supplement your uneven bar releases. You can use these as quick fixes, body motion reminders, drills in-between turns on bars, or a way to get a lot of reps of uneven bar releases without the risk of falling from 12 feet in the air.
Same Bar Releases
Tkatchev Family
Tkatchev from long swing (Reverse Hecht)
Backdrop stand up – Have your athlete leave her arms back as long as possible. Once the action to sit-up is started make sure the arms come up over the top and to the chest to make a hollow upper body shape.
Jump through from stand – Jump from stand on the trampoline to sit through straddle to stomach drop reaching forward for the bar.
Backdrop with jump through to stomach – Combine the backdrop stand up and the jump through from stand into one smooth motion. This is where we add the sightline of the skill to look towards the athlete midsection and then see the trampoline (simulating the bar).
Tkatchev on trampoline – At this point we add the sit through in the air to see the trampoline and break to simulate reaching for the bar.
Ray
Like the Tkatchev with some important differences.
- Backdrop from a low small jump however maintain a pike shape. Then stop the feet to change momentum to the upper body to rotate and sit through with a hollow core. Do not kick to arch!
Ricna
- The Ricna has the same action as the Ray however we start the backdrop with a small straddle.
- Also shown is an example of how you can add a foam noodle to help the athletes look for and simulate catching the bar.
Side Notes: You can also do all the Tkatchev family of skills in the pike position.
- Piked Tkatchev (not shown on video)
- Piked Ray – Church
- Piked Ricna – Downey
All of the Tkatchev family of skills can add the ½ twist on the trampoline which you will see demonstrated in the Jaeger video series below.
Jaeger
I believe the Jaeger on trampoline most directly simulates the real release move on uneven bars. (We require this as a prerequisite to the Jaeger at Flips) The only problem with the Jaeger on trampoline is that it takes some time to learn as the athletes need to first learn a front kaboom. (In my humble opinion it is well worth the time)
- Front stomach to handstand – the gymnasts should start at the front on the trampoline to jump backwards into this kaboom action. They will jump back and have their upper body hit the trampoline right before the lower body, so the legs create the kicking action needed for the Jaeger. Once they have this understanding, they will create rotation and should be able to safely lift to a handstand. (Warning – be careful of the handstand bounce on trampoline as it can add a snapping action to the elbows if the athletes are not well prepared by being able to do handstand bounces on trampoline.
- Front stomach bounce straight through to their back
- Front stomach bounce to their back and then have them sit through their legs to their stomach reaching forward for the bar. (Similar to the Tkatchev sit through)
- Jaeger – Being a little more aggressive on their front kaboom they can put this all into one motion.
- Side note – you can always add a pool noodle to give your athlete the visual of looking for the bar and reaching for the catch of the bar.
Pike Jaeger
Once proficient in the straddle Jaeger we go back to the front stomach bounce to their back and sit through the pike position to their stomach. Then we have them perform the pike Jaeger.
You can add a ½ twist to all the Tkatchev drills from above along with the Jaeger drills.
Jaeger 1/2
- Front stomach bounce to their back and sit up through the straddle however one arm will reach slightly across the midline to help start the twist along with turning the shoulder.
- Just like performing the Jaeger on trampoline we put the drills together for the Jaeger ½.
Jaeger 1/1 – Coming Soon
Khorkina & Shushinova (Tkatchev full)
- Seat drop, ½ turn to plank – As the gymnast learns this release move make sure the turn direction is the same direction of their blind change. This will matter especially as we go onto the Shushinova. They perform a seat drop from a stand as we want minimal bounce on this drill to protect the elbows on the plank landing. As they are doing the seat drop, they lean back slightly to land in a plank position.
- Seat drop ½ plus action – Perform the same seat drop to plank however add from the plank to lift the elbow high to the ceiling pressing the hips open and splitting the legs to straddle. The arm that lifts to the ceiling is the same arm as the direction of their twist. (In the video this athlete is twisting left so she lifts her left arm) Then they can continue through the twist and sit to reach through their straddle.
- Shushinova – same drill as above however the athlete will plank off 1 arm and twist through all-in-one motion.
- Coaches Tip – over emphasize the elbow lifting to the ceiling with the hips up towards the ceiling before they sit through
Geinger – Coming Soon
High to Low Uneven Bar Releases
Flyback Handstand and Ezhova or Flyback 1/2
Flyback Handstand
Why do I still teach the flyback to handstand? I use this as a method of teaching the flyback 1/2 or Ezhova.
Jump to straddle handstand – The athlete should start with their feet on a line and jump to gainer as their hands need to land on the same line they started on while maintaining a hollow chest position throughout the downward reaching action. Once they arrive in handstand, they should be able to perform handstand bounces in this position.
Seat drop to straddle HS – Next drill the athlete should perform a straddled seat drop with her arms overhead throughout. Again, we want her center of mass to land on a line and have her reach down to land in a handstand on that same line. Just like the previous drill she should be able to perform handstand bounces once in handstand.
Ezhova or Flyback 1/2
- Working off the flyback handstand drills we have the gymnast perform a seat drop to straddle handstand with 1/2 pirouette or a Higgins pirouette
- Step 2 is doing the Ezhova action from the seat drop. Like the flyback handstand we want the gymnast to be able to perform handstand bounces with control at the end of the drill.
Bail to Handstand and Pak 1/1
Bail to Handstand
Back drop to handstand – the athlete will perform the backdrop leading with the toes straight to the ceiling and opening the hip simultaneously to arrive in a handstand. At this point we want the gymnast to be able to perform 3-5 bounce handstands.
Backdrop ½ turn to handstand – if this step is too advanced you can have your athlete perform the backdrop to handstand with a ½ pirouette once in handstand before moving onto this drill.
Back kaboom to handstand – if your gymnast does not know how to do a back kaboom on trampoline you can watch our other video on this website to teach that skill. The difference for this back kaboom is how long the hips will remain open to slow the rotation and end in a handstand.
Back kaboom ½ to handstand – the backdrop ½ to handstand must be mastered before moving onto this drill is performed at a higher speed which is more like the real bail to handstand.
Pak 1/1
Same backdrop ½ and then kaboom ½ to handstand and we add a ½ pirouette or Higgins turn to complete the full.
We hope these trampoline drills help both you and your gymnasts find success in learning and improving their uneven bar release moves.
Happy and successful training to all.