The full progression
When I learned my first backflip 12 years ago, outside in the sand, overcoming the fear was not easy, and the fear of falling on your head is exactly what this progression is built to break down. With the First Flip Trainer you strap in at full assistance — four bands, where one band is a pair of bungee cords, one clipped to each side of your harness, so four bands is all eight cords in the box — and float through your first backflip while your body and mind learn the movement, then take the bands off one at a time as your awareness, technique and strength improve. If you already own a trainer, this is the full plan to run; if you don't, you'll see exactly which steps I use before you decide.
If you already own one, watch the setup guide first. A trainer hung wrong is the most common reason a first session goes badly.
In the video
- Watch the setup video before you strap in
- What I ask you to be able to do first
- The three phases: the set (your jump), the rotation (the spin over your head) and the landing
- Four bands: your first supported backflip
- Three bands: first learn to lean back onto your hands (the back handspring)
- Two bands: more of the work is yours
- One band: this is an actual backflip now
- Your first backflip with nothing attached
What I want you to take from it
- Before you strap in, be able to do a backwards roll on the ground, jump to at least hip height and absorb a landing from that same height — a backflip is a jumping skill. A basic acrobatic foundation (a cartwheel, rolls in every direction, a handstand kick-up) makes it a whole lot easier, but it's recommended, not required; the trainer helps you build those skills as you go.
- Understand the three phases. The set is the jump and the start of the flip: hands in front, swing them back as you dip slightly with your knees and chest, then explode up with your arms all the way over your head so your chest opens toward the ceiling — practice that swing by itself. The rotation is the spin over your head; it comes from your shoulders going backwards while your hips go forward, and the tuck — pulling your knees to your chest — speeds it up. The landing is feeling where gravity is pulling you and getting your legs underneath you to absorb it.
- Start at your maximum assistance — for me that's four bands; if you're lighter than me it might be three. Hold the bands, lean back until you're parallel with the ground, pull your knees to your chest and let go. That is your first backflip. Do hundreds of reps until it feels nice and easy, then take your hands off — keep looking forward as long as you can, then spot the ground, which just means look for it so you know where to land — then add the arm swing, then add some jump.
- At three bands and two bands, learn the back handspring before the backflip: sit into your harness with your full weight, arms overhead, lean back, look for the ground and reach for it with your hands, going over onto them with your hips open. It's your escape route — if you freak out on the takeoff and put your hands down, you're safe. Once it's easy, jump more up instead of straight back and pull your knees, keeping your arms there for safety on every rep until you stop putting your hands down, and it turns into a backflip.
- Give every level hundreds, if not thousands, of repetitions, and stay longer than you think you need to. Move down a band only when the current one feels easy, and get out of the trainer only when you can do it at one band anytime — no effort, no hesitation.
Before you try this
Watch the full setup video and get your setup dialed in before you strap in and start jumping into backflips — anchor points mounted correctly, harness adjusted to fit, band assistance set properly. An incorrectly set up trainer is the single biggest cause of a bad first session, and this whole progression assumes your setup is right.
Always practice on a soft surface with someone watching over you. If you're training alone, make sure there is at least something soft underneath you — you never know.
Every time you move to a new band level, lean in, sit in and see what the case is before you test it. Depending on your setup you might be much lower to the ground, and there might be more danger.
If you use skin the cat — holding onto the bands to help you rotate around — let go of the bands as soon as you see the ground. If you hold on as you come around, they can jerk your shoulders, and that is dangerous.
While you're turning the back handspring into a backflip at three bands and two bands, keep your arms up and ready to put down on every rep. At three bands you're still supported enough that there is very little weight on your head when you're upside down, so as long as your arms are there to keep you safe, you should be fine; at two bands there is a little more danger involved, so have your arms ready to spot you. Keep them there until you stop putting your hands down, then give it more jump with each attempt. And on every back handspring, turn your wrists inwards, fingers in, every single time. Never twist them outwards: land badly that way and the leverage can dislocate your elbow. If you're landing hard on your hands, you need more jump.
At one band, no stunts. One band gives you a little boost on the jump and a little slow-down on the way down, and it doesn't keep you that safe anymore — you're doing an actual backflip. Be really comfortable with the previous levels before you get here, and don't rush this step.
For your first backflip with nothing attached, have someone standing over you giving a little spot, and do it on something soft — sand, a mat, or a trampoline if you have access to one. Only take this step once you can do it at one band anytime, with no hesitation.
When you practice the set on the ground and lean slightly backwards at the top of the jump, be careful — if you send it really hard, you might fall on your back.
I end the video with where to get one.
See the First Flip TrainerI learned my own first backflip twelve years before I built this. Here is how.