Introduction to trampoline

Introduction

The widely growing sport of trampoline has covered the globe in relatively short amount of time since the late 1940"s. It is my true passion and anyone who knows me knows I feel more comfortable airborne then on firm ground. I think it has to do with the freedom in the air, or maybe because it is an amazing way to stay in shape and remain completely oblivious to the effort involved, or maybe because it is an amazing growth mechanism for individuals of all ages, genders and capabilities. The trampoline is nothing more than a tool to mold, develop and hone an individual"s physical and mental state preparing them for anything life will through at them. I was highly restricted from the trampoline as a competing gymnast when I first was adopted and moved to Canada. There sure seems to be a stigma about trampoline in the gymnastics community. Some coaches are led to believe that trampoline and gymnastics are different techniques and in order to keep the athlete consistent and stable trampoline should be used minimally. My love for the sport has pushed me past the boundaries of Canada to explore, motivate and spread any knowledge I have for everyone who has an open ear.

History of Trampoline

It all started many years ago with the Intuits who would create a trampoline out of dried out walrus skin. Like today it was implied to be a tool for fun however the safety parameters may have been at a lower standard then they are today. Pablo Fanque, the first non-white Circus proprietor in Britain had a device in the mid 1800"s that resembled a trampoline but was more of a bouncy board. It resembled a bouncing bed to the audience, with coiled springs and sheets. Pablo"s performers would do comedy routines on this contraption and it is assumed the audience favoured the act very much.

According to Circus folklore the trampoline was created by Du Trampolin who got the idea from a trapeze set up where the safety net could be used to propel performers into the air. However, there is no documentation of this so let"s skip ahead to what we know today of the trampoline. George Nissen and Larry Griswold are credited for the development of the first official "Trampoline" in 1938 at the University of Iowa. Nissen was a gymnast and diver for the University and Griswold was a tumbler. Trampolin was the Spanish word for diving board which Nissen heard on a demonstration tour in Mexico. He added the "E" for trademarking purposes and that"s how we got the name Trampoline. By 1942 these two had created a company and started making and selling trampolines. Nissen and Griswold ended up separating for business reasons but remained great friends simply walking slightly different paths. Jeff Hennessy along with others were the pioneers of the competitive sport in the late 1950"s and gave spark to what we see today. The routines they would perform were much different from our own and not as linearly structured. After discussing this with some well-known members of the industry I am ensured that it is because they were "more focused on getting height then form" as the trampolines were not as powerful as today. As 50 years go by the trampolines started getting more powerful and with it the difficulty and execution increased. It got to the Olympic stage in 2000 where it has filled stadiums with cheering crowds from around the world encouraging their countries representative. George Nissen passed away only a few years ago but his legacy lives on and up to us to keep it growing.

My Background

My story begins in Moscow on May 17, 1990 where I was born and immediately put into an orphanage. I stayed in orphanage number 13 in the heart of Moscow for the first 5 years of my life. Many see this as sad and depressing however I am grateful as it has allowed me to see the world in a completely different way than anyone else I know. I was picked up one day by a nice Canadian family who took me is as oneof their own and I began a new life.

I was enrolled into all types of sports and recreational activities such as hockey, soccer, art class, music lessons and anything else my heart desired as my family wanted to give me opportunities I never thought existed. I fell in love with gymnastics and followed that for the long haul. I went from recreational all the way to junior national level in 12 years. I had changed gyms and coaches a few times like anyone else but I had a pretty standard training. My coaches were hard on me and forced me to learn tough lessons that I think about constantly even to this day. I was the "crazy kid" of the gym when I first started out and got beat down so bad that I was literally not allowed in the change room with the "Big Boys" as every time I went in I came out with large bruises or even crying. Do you think that stopped me? Of course not, I was programmed at birth for the first five years to fight and keep fighting until I got what I needed and to never stop or it"s game over one way or another. I was still in survival mode even though I was in fresh territory that did not require it. The constant beat downs, that I deserved 100%, kept me in line and allowed for me to find my place in the food chain. I ended up quitting gymnastics after I won National Gold on Parallel Bars in National level 6. I was 17 and ready for a new challenge. I was already taking trampoline classes at Skyriders Trampoline Place with Dave Ross and decided to try competitive. I, again, was seen as the "Crazy" kid who would do anything. Of course there was a lot more strategy then that but I was able to keep it hidden and because of this I was able to move through the ranks quickly winning Gold at Nationals my first year in trampoline in the Open Level. I then moved to Senior the next year and after another 2 years I was named to the Canadian Senior Trampoline National Team and was able to travel. I travelled for a few years competing and remained top 3 overall and even got a Syncho National Gold Medal along the way. Quickly I wanted more, and just like before I started looking for other ways to start spreading my wings as there was simply too much politics and extra headaches that I was not willing to deal with as my personality conflicted with those who had authority. I ended up missing 2012 London Olympics by just a few points and decided to experiment with other avenues until 2016 Rio Olympics came around. Now I have jumped, excuse the pun, fully into the business world where I use my experience to educate and motivate athletes who want a high level of success in Trampoline.

I have recently began the trend of "Freedropping" with BAGJUMP Action Sports Gmbh. This has opened a lot of doors that were never available to me and has simply reiterated the fact that I made the right decision to pause my athletic career to expand my knowledge. I currently travel the world now performing clinics for athletes and coaches such as Lords of Gravity in Hungary who are a NBA basketball slam dunk team and other various Cirque schools around the world such as CNAC. I am doing TV shows, live performances as well as videos for social media platforms. I also have created a small group of athletes in Ontario who have stayed by my side while I travel and spread my knowledge. I will be hoping to take some athletes to the Olympics one day.

Competitive Trampoline

If you are new to the trampoline world and are interested in the structure then pay attention. If you start from the bottom you would be put into a typical recreational class at any local gymnastics or trampoline club. Normally there will be levels corresponding to different skills learned. If the athlete shows willingness and a bit of talent the competitive head coach will usually try to pull them into the competitive stream. Many new recruits will start in Invitational level 1 which is lowest level and move up to level 3 after a few years. Invitational are competitions held at local gyms as a fundraiser, community builder and to help develop the athletes skill in a smaller environment.

If the athlete shows good form skill and eagerness to continue they will be put into the competitive Provincial stream where they will compete against any other athlete in the Province. These competitions have more pressure and minimum scores have to be met to continue through the levels. You can remain on one level as long as you want but once you start you can"t go down, you can only go up. This keeps the athlete skill level relative (usually). Some gyms will attend training camps and competitions outside of their province but these are special exceptions. Assuming the athlete does well and hits all their required scores out of 3 provincial qualifiers they will be asked to go to Provincial Championships. This would be equivocal to State Championship in the U.S or regional Championship in Europe and Asia. If the athlete chooses to continue he or she will hit the national stream which is another 4 levels above provincial. In national stream athletes must get scores from provincial qualifiers as well as national qualifiers where they compete against every trampolinist in their category across Canada. If the athletes get their required scores at the different meets they qualify for funding and to be on National Team. Funding is only enough to cover hours in the gym and many athletes need to still keep at least a part time job to keep afloat. Other countries have more money to allocate to sports then Canada as Canada is primarily a socialist country.

If Injury occurs athletes have the ability to not use all of the scores of that year and pick the best ones for submission to the federation for Team score or funding. If one year goes by and that athlete has not completed new scores they are removed and a new athlete takes his or her place. Athletes are constantly shuffling up and down the ranking list as trampoline is not a stable sport due to its nature. The top 4 athletes are sent around the world to compete and represent Canada at various world cups and if they do well at the world cups they will qualify for World Championships which is held every year.

To pick an athlete for the Olympics a scoring system is put in place the year before and only applies for those wishing to attend the Olympics. The system gives points for a medal finish with gold getting the most points and bronze only getting a point or two. After all three national qualifiers are completed the federation adds up the points and the top athlete for men and women go to the Olympics. Some countries get to send two competing athletes to the Olympics if these two athletes consistently did very well during the world tour. Only a few countries get this opportunity. An "Alternate" is picked who is usually ranked 2nd (Sometimes 3rd) in the country to go with the Olympian as a backup who can still represent the country if the other athlete gets hurt in warm up. Usually these Olympic athletes will do lots of Press and Media once they get home depending on their success at the games. After usually a few months off they are back on track for the next season.

This is the generic structure of the trampoline competitive world even though every country has different names and different numbers of levels.

How To Score Trampoline

PART 1: EXECUTION

Each athlete has to perform a "Compulsory" and an "Optional" routine which consist of 10 skills that must be linked together. The judges rate each of the 10 skills out of 5 (5 being terrible and 0 being perfect) and add them together. This will give the total number of deductions for the routine which is subtracted from 10.00. Ex. 8.1 means there were 19 points of deduction in the entire routine. There are four other judges who all do the same thing. You drop high and the low scores and add up the middle three.

Compulsory Routine/ Ex.

Assume we have a junior national athlete who just got these 5 scores:

8.1, 8.4, 8.3, 7.8, 9.0

7.8 and 9.0 are dropped and you are left with 8.1+8.4+8.3= 24.8

PART 2: DEGREE OF DIFFICULTY

Then you take the difficulty of the routine which is calculated by another judge and add it to the previous total.

Degree of Difficulty (DD) (Compulsory)

• Olympian: 3.3-3.5

• Senior National: 2.9-3.3

• Junior National: 2.3-2.7

• Provincial Level4: ****Given Mandatory Routine with No Difficulty in Compulsory****

• Provincial Level 2: ****Given Mandatory Routine with No Difficulty in Compulsory****

• Interclub/Invitational: ****Given Mandatory Routine with No Difficulty in Compulsory****

Ex. If our athlete was in Junior National and had a DD of 2.5 your score would be 24.8 +2.5= 27.3

PART 3: TIME OF FLIGHT

In the National Level recently they added in "Time of Flight" which is calculated by a laser system underneath the trampoline that measures how long each athlete is the air.(Time in the air subtract the time in the bed**)The larger the number, the higher the athlete is jumping and the higher his or her score will be. The key to a successful routine is balancing all three and working to your strengths.

** TIP: If you do not have a T.O.F set up you can time on a stop watch and subtract ~3.0 seconds to get a rough T.O.F. Most Coaches will time athletes with a stop watch and simply use that for comparison but it is important to note that these are two different numbers.

Time of Flight Scale (Compulsory):

• Olympian: 18.0 +

• Senior Team: 17.0-18.0

• Junior Team: 15.0-16.0

Ex. If our athlete is Junior National and got a Compulsory T.O.F of 15.5 then the total score for a compulsory for this athlete after adding up execution, DD and T.O.F = 27.3+ 15.5= 42.8

The same exact Scoring system is used for Optional routines but the execution and T.O.F tend to be lower as the Optional routine focuses on a higher DD.

Optional Degree of Difficulty (DD)

• Olympian: 16.5-17.0

• Senior Team: 15.5-16.5

• Junior Team: 13.0-14.5

• Provincial Level 4: 9.0-11.0

• Provincial Level 2: 4.5-6.0

• Interclub/ Invitational: 1.0-3.0

Ex. Let"s say our Athlete is very consistent and is able to get the same exact Execution score as on his compulsory with the same T.O.F but with a 13.8 DD on his optional. What is his optional total?

= Execution (24.8) + T.O.F (15.5) + DD (13.8) = 54.1

Combined Score: 42.8 + 54.1= 96.9

This athlete is doing well and will most likely continue to do well based on these scores in the Senior squad.

PART 4: FINALS

Assuming that our athlete made top ten in his category which with these scores most likely he did, he is required to do another Optional routine. Assuming his consistency stays the same and he gets the exact same score on his Final Optional as he did on his first one, his TOTAL SCORE would be: 96.9+ 54.1= 151.0

Education of Trampoline

There have been some rumours going around that a trampoline is one of the most dangerous tools you can use. Anyone who commits to using one regularly knows this is a myth but the issue is that the wrong message is going out to the public. As a community we have allowed ourselves to get wrapped up in the media and casted out by the insurance companies due to high risk. Many of us can think of many dangerous activities that do not nearly get as much bad publicity. As passionate enthusiasts of our beloved sport it should be our goal to spread the actual facts faster than the myths. I have had great success with injury prevention over my last 10 years of coaching due to the fact I knew one thing. If you know how to fall, you will know how to get back up again. So many coaches are focused on many other important aspects but seem to forget that instead of training not to fall, you should be training how to get back up. One of the techniques I teach is "Arms In!!!!!" which tells the athlete to hug themselves as tight as they can when they know they are not landing properly. The body is more solid and able to handle a greater impact as one unit rather than 4 separate limbs (5 if you count the head). When enforced over and over again, the athlete starts to make it a habit and broken arms and legs are a thing of the past. Not to say injuries do not occur but the risk is much lower. I also focus a lot of the mental GPS (Global Positioning System). This trains the athlete to know and "feel" where they are in time and space rather than depending simply on spotting. As the tricks get bigger and bigger your brain will not have time to coordinate your neural pathways fast enough to keep up with the demand. At a young age I do drills where they start feeling the rhythm of the jump and it feels a lot like music. There is a tempo and the higher the tempo the lower you are and vice versa. Once the athlete is able to read this tempo they will be able to map out where they are in the air. This will send off alarm bells right before they are about to land almost like a "Spidey Sense" and the athlete will learn to finish the skill or "bail". To bail means that you attempted a skill and realized before the landing that something was wrong and you could not make it so you made a movement to land on your back. This is safer as you have a wider surface area on your back which can absorb awkward landings better than two small feet. Sometimes you can bail to stomach or even feet with a slightly easier version of the intended skill however the idea of knowing before you land that you need to react is the key.

What is technically happening, is that the athlete is able to know the at top of the jump and calculate the amount of time it will take to get to the top from the trampoline and back down to the trampoline which is usually around Two seconds for a senior athlete. One second to the top of the jump and one second back down. Usually by the time the athlete is at the top he or she should have already decided if he or she can make it. This gives the athlete one whole second to make adjustments and bail if need to. That is a lot of time for an athlete as the brain works extremely fast. My trainings develop the GPS as well as safety with bails to ensure success and longevity in the sport. I am working with gymnastics experts to develop this training previously named "BIO-FLIGHT" by Ray Bright who is a former astronaut and first discovered this method of teaching. I of course work on many other aspects in terms of conditioning and psychology but I think the GPS is something over looked and undervalued. It can be developed and strengthened if done the correct way and is not simply a genetic trait that we have or don"t.

What Makes a Great Athlete?

A great foundation is key to any athlete. How can you make a pyramid as strong as the Egyptians with a foundation the size of even a gymnastics facility? Athletes need to see it all and travel to different clubs and learn from different coaches. No one knows it all and unfortunately greed and ego take over many coaches and may hinder the athlete"s ability to learn. Let the athletes spread their wings. If you were a good coach they will always remember you even if you were not their last or even their favourite. Know your own limits and if you know deep down your athlete would do better traveling to a specialized training facility, then let them go.

Usually the battle of a proper foundation is lost way before this becomes a problem. The reason? Reputation. Coaches will push the athletes for skills sometimes not because they want to see them do it for their own use but because the coach wants to see the other coaches in the industry see that their athlete can do that skill. It"s an ego boost, a fallacy committed usually by those who do not have a great deal of success in the coaching or competitive sectors. Just how a parent will live through their children, coaches are susceptible to the same corruption. It is better to have the athlete go at a slower pace and maybe train a few extra hours just to keep the pace regulated. Many athletes will not say if you are pushing too hard because they are scared to disappoint the coach and their parents. It is the coach"s job to be a psychologist and learn each athlete inside out and figure out what makes them tick.

ANYONE CAN TEACH TRAMPOLINE! The technique is very easy when you break it down and can be learned in a day, but that is not what determines an athlete"s success. Can the coach adapt to each individual athlete? Can the coach put away their psychological fallacies for the sake of their athletes? Can the coach motivate the athletes? Can the coach teach appropriate morals while doing so? My heart tells me that all coaches try to do this, but my brain is telling me otherwise. Like any human a coach has their own life, wants, needs and ambitions. Many do not know how to separate themselves for the best sake of the athletes. That"s simple psychology, and no one is above human nature no matter how much we pretend to be. Keep that in the back of your mind while coaching at all times.

I go over in great detail the technical aspect of the sport of trampoline in my clinics from entry angles to body alignment to routine structure. These techniques along with many others get more than adequate attention by my coaching team and I. I want to enforce that it is not WHAT YOU KNOW it is HOW YOU DELIVER.

Take aways

Trampoline needs a new kick start and fresh approach. Athletes and coaches have become complacent with the structure and rules to the point other sports are growing, adapting and changing and trampoline is being left in the dust. The coach is the key factor here because you can have a genetically great specimen but if the laboratory does not have up to date equipment then the tests are still invalid. The coach determines what that athlete amount to. The Olympics is not the "be all and end all" situation. There are gains to the athlete in terms of social awareness, mental toughness, determination, dealing with failure, working for success, and many other avenues that have nothing to do with carefully calculated outcomes such as medals and trophies. These are a disguise that allow the coach to take the focus away from learning life lessons which you can"t market to an 8 year old. The new generation coach is one that mentors athletes rather than simply "coaches" them.

CONTACT:

Feel free to connect with me to learn more about my coaching thoughts ideas and techniques.

[email protected]

Phone: (416) 999-318

Autor:

Greg Roe: Trampoline"s specialist

Edited and translated into Spanish by: Manuel Rojas Basan

MST. fitness science and gymnastics consultant

Canada, September 9th/ 2014