How to Do a Backflip

Knowing how to do a backflip can provide you with a guaranteed impressive party trick (although it’s probably best not to be too drunk when performing it!). This is not like a back handspring where your hands touch the floor, this is the full rotation backwards and landing back on your feet. Practice on soft ground/water first! If you land on your head or injure yourself in anyway, it’s purely by your own doing (MGTE claim no responsibility for your actions following the reading of this ‘how to’).

Photo Credit: Designlazy.com

Steps

1- Work on your confidence and courage. Backflips are easier to carry out than somersaults as you have the ability to spot your landing; they simply take courage as you’re rotating ‘into the unknown’. Should you attempt one without 100% effort and commitment then you won’t make it. The best way to ensure success is to ensure commitment through confidence, and the best way to ensure confidence is through practice. Each step is broken down into its practice stages:

2- Practice the take-off. Practice jumping straight up and throwing your arms up over your head. Jump repeatedly, but do not tuck, and land with your knees bending no more than 90 degrees on landing. Repeat the process over and over. As you improve, you should start to feel yourself struggling to stop your upper body from rotating backwards.

3- Tighten in your tuck. Lie down on your back on a soft surface with your legs straight and together. Place your arms by your side but off of the floor and crunch, raising your shoulders off of the floor but keeping your neck aligned with your spine. Throw your arms up over your head until they touch the floor and then immediately after, tuck your knees up to your chest and grip your hamstrings. You should feel yourself rolling backwards. Allow yourself to do so, rotating onto your shoulders.

4- Put it all together. I’d always recommend trying this over a body of water. Start from a couple of feet higher than the water’s surface before slowly jumping off of something closer as your rotation becomes more efficient. Alternatively you can seek the help of a coach over a soft mat.

Sit in an imaginary chair bending your knees no more than 90 degrees. Slightly crunch your chest. Keep your eyes forward. Jump at a slight angle backwards (but not attempting backwards distance as this will only serve to lose you height) and throw your arms over your head. Tuck your knees up to your chest when you reach the high point of your jump. Use your core to tightly and swiftly bring your knees up toward your chest. Leave your arms up and let your knees and lower body rotate around to meet them. Once you’ve spotted the floor, you should have full control of when to un-tuck in order to land in a controlled manner. Bend your knees and put your arms out in front of you in order to avoid falling backwards.

Tips

Don’t bring your chest to your knees, bring your knees to your chest.

Do not give up on the flip in the middle of the tuck as a bad landing can cause broken bones and a trip to the hospital.

Always make sure that there are people around to call an ambulance should you truly screw up!

Always check the depth of a pool before jumping in!