- Want tumbling advice and tips for cheerleading or gymnastics? Then you’ve come to the right place!
- This how-to article can help guide beginners as they learn how to tumble and refine their tumbling skills.
- Explore the basics as we guide you through beginner tumbling techniques, including the handstand, cartwheel, and back bend.
Beginner Tumbling Skills
Whether this is your first time auditioning for a cheer team or you’re part of a dance team that’s enhancing its skill repertoire, practicing your cheer tumbling is a task that should be a priority. With just a few beginner tumbling skills, you can enhance simple routines, bond with your team, and develop the building blocks for more complex techniques.
Wondering what tumbling is? Worried about which specific jumps and skills you should practice? The experts at Omni Cheer have answers! Check out our guide to learn more about the essentials of cheerleading and tumbling today.
What Is Tumbling?
Cheer tumbling is a form of gymnastics that requires athletes to perform flips, twists, rolls, and jumps. These are most often used at cheerleading competitions and during gymnastics routines at the Olympics. Still, dancers and other stage performers also tap into tumbling to give their show a “wow” factor. To excel in tumbling, you must be disciplined, skilled, fast, and strong. You also need to have maximum flexibility and stamina.
Essential Cheer Tumbling Moves
When you first join a cheer squad, you may be expected to be familiar with a few techniques and cheer flips. Let’s look at three basic cheer tumbling moves, including the handstand, cartwheel, and back bend.
These three moves are fundamental to tumbling, and you’ll be using the techniques that you learn from them when you perform any advanced moves. Before you start, remember that it is essential always to be safe! Use mats, training equipment, and spotters until you have practiced and mastered your cheer flips and tumbling moves. Don’t forget to wear appropriate clothing and shoes, stretch properly, and warm up before practicing and performing any tumbling moves.
Ready to dive in? Take a look at these beginner tumbling skills to start learning the basics.
How To Do A Handstand
Handstands are the gateway to cheer tumbling! They are great for learning balance, and practicing them even helps build your core strength and perfect your form. Follow these instructions to start working on handstands:
- Stand facing forward, with one foot slightly in front of the other and your arms straight up over your head.
- Exhale, tighten your abdominals, and begin bending forward to place your hands on the ground (fingers pointing forward).
- Prepare to lock your elbows when your hands hit the ground. Bending them during this move will cause you to collapse.
- As you place your hands on the ground, use your momentum to kick your back leg up into the air.
- Make sure you control your kick; if you kick too hard, you’ll just throw your entire body over. To maintain your balance, keep your hands flat and shoulder-width apart, with your fingers spread out slightly.
- As your first leg is approaching a vertical position, you should kick your other leg into the air as well, shifting your weight to your arms and shoulders.
- Your movement should stop when your entire body is in the vertical position, with your legs together and straight, and your toes pointed.
- Try to hold your weight just slightly over your shoulders.
- To dismount, you can somersault, split down, or make up your own cheer tumbling move!
Watch your form and positioning when practicing this move. Practice against a wall if you’re unsure of your skills to help ensure your body is as straight as possible. Keep your back from arching and your hips from bending by tightening your stomach. Once you’ve mastered the moves, try holding your handstand for a few seconds longer each time you do it to build strength and improve balance.
How to Do a Cartwheel
The basic cartwheel is an extension of the handstand and the perfect choice for your second beginner tumbling skill. The entry is switched from front to side, and you use your momentum to follow through after reaching a vertical position.
- Stand with one leg forward and slightly bent at the knee, and your arms straight up over your head.
- Reach toward the ground with the hand that matches the forward leg, turning your entire body to the side slightly. At the same time, you should be kicking your back leg up and out.
- Your other hand should hit the ground immediately after the first, and you should be simultaneously kicking your other leg into the air.
- Your hands should land flat with your fingers facing away from your head. Keep your legs straight and your toes pointed throughout the move.
- Keep your momentum to follow through with the entire move. Your legs should stay apart, in a “V” position, for the whole of the move.
- As your first foot reaches the ground on the other side, you should begin lifting your leading hand, followed by your other hand, to give you natural momentum to complete the move by pulling your second leg over until that foot reaches the ground as well.
- You will land in the same position you started in, just facing the other way. The leg that was originally the back leg will now be the forward leg.
It’s important to make sure that your weight goes completely up and over during this cheer tumbling move. If you stay close to the ground, you won’t pass through a vertical position, which could look awkward or clunky.
How to Do a Backbend
The last on our list of basic tumbling skills is the backbend. This move is fundamental if you’re hoping to do advanced cheer tumbling, like back handsprings and back tucks. Don’t rush your body when learning this move. Technique is key! Keep stretching and practicing, and you’ll get it!
- Start standing straight, feet shoulder-width apart, arms straight up in the air. Do NOT start this move with your arms crossed over your chest. You won’t have enough time to get your arms in the correct position to catch you.
- With arms up, start arching your back and reaching behind you.
- Your arms are going up and over your head, and your head is beginning to drop behind you, so that you are looking behind yourself upside down.
- Continue this movement, reaching for the ground. Let your hands hit the ground to catch you, and keep your head off the ground.
- Your arms will be close to your ears, with your thumb closest to your temple, your pinky furthest from your temple, and your fingers spread and pointed toward your feet.
- Keep your heels firmly on the ground; don’t go up on your tippy toes.
- To release a backbend at a basic level, you can just lift your head and lower yourself by bending your knees and elbows.
While a backbend seems like a cheer tumbling move that’s too simple to be interesting, it’s a building block for more complex tumbling, like cheer flips.
What’s Next?
Once you have mastered these basic tumbling moves, you can start combining them to make the move more complex. Here are some cheer tumbling moves you can try that will help you craft your technique into a controlled skill:
- One-handed cartwheels
- Handstand into a backbend
- Cartwheel into a handstand
- Cartwheel into a front walkover
You can also use these basic cheer tumbling moves with any other type of skill!
Practice Makes Perfect
Now that you know what tumbling is, you’re on your way to making the coolest cheer flips part of your routine. Just make sure you wear the correct cheerleading gear, shoes, and practice wear when learning how to tumble. Your shoes should be flexible and supportive, and your practice wear should be tight-fitting so your body won’t get tangled in extra material.
Learn more about the best cheerleading practices when you explore our blog!
