Mechanics · The set
The set is the first part of a backflip: the jump, and the start of the turn that happens inside it. Set it right and you do not actually have to tuck — pull your legs in — to get around, because the set alone starts the rotation, the spin that carries you all the way around, and the tuck only speeds it up. Throw your head back instead and you go straight to your head. This lesson is the set, which I call the most important part of the whole flip. It is for you if you are about to try your first backflip and want to understand the takeoff before you leave the ground, or if your attempts keep tipping you toward your head instead of sending you up.
In the video
- Why the set matters: set it right and you don't even have to tuck
- The three takeoff positions, and the too-low chest dip I often see
- At the top: hips forward and up, shoulders back, never the head
- Drill one: lying on the floor, swing your arms and raise your hips
- Drill two: the jump on its own, nobody behind you yet
- Drill three: a friend behind you with hands at your upper back
- Drill four: no friend? Jump backwards onto your bed or soft blocks
- The higher the bed, the better: stacked mattresses or soft gym boxes
What I want you to take from it
- Swing your arms back like you're trying to tickle someone behind you, then swing them, extend from your hips and jump from your feet. Don’t dip your chest too low on the way back.
- At the top of the jump, think about your hips coming slightly forward and up while your shoulders lean back. Don't think about throwing your head backwards; that sends you straight to your head.
- Let the set do the work. If you can get your hips up and your shoulders back while you jump, that is all you need to start the rotation — the tuck only speeds it up.
- Work the drills in order: lying on the floor first, then the jump by itself, then the jump with a friend's hands at your upper back — or, if you have no friend, the same jump backwards onto your bed or soft blocks.
- On the bed, keep going until your upper back is the first thing to touch down, not your bum and not your lower back, and build the landing surface as high as you can.
Before you try this
Don't think about throwing your head backwards, not even a little. That is what sends you straight to your head. The whole backflip happens from the hips.
On the jump drill with nobody behind you, be careful. If you send it really hard, you might fall on your back.
If you have a friend to spot you — to stand behind you and support you — they put their hands at your upper back so you can lean into those hands and not fall on your back. Once you are in the open position, stretched out at the top with hips up and shoulders back, you are not going for the tuck; your friend just pushes you back to your feet.
If you jump onto a bed or soft blocks instead, land on your bum first. Only from there start bringing your hips more over, working toward your upper back being the first point of contact.
Use something soft, and as high as you can make it: your bed, two big mattresses stacked on top of each other, or a couple of soft gym boxes. A higher landing forces you to jump higher and makes it more like a backflip.
Whatever you jump onto, practice on a soft surface with someone watching over you.
Set up the space so you cannot hit your head on anything. If there is a ledge or hard edge near your bed, be mindful of it and soften it with a blanket.
I run every one of these drills band by band on the First Flip Trainer in the full progression.