Harsh Truths

9 Harsh Truths Every Tumbling Coach Is Thinking, But Won’t Say Out Loud

by Coach Sahil | For Athletes, For Parents 

If you have a good tumbling coach, chances are you’re getting lots of verbal feedback already.

Things like corrections, praise, helpful tips, and in my case, an endless stream of dad jokes.

But have you ever wondered what your tumbling coach is really thinking?

Well, today I’m going to reveal the 9 harsh truths that your coach wants to say out loud… but won’t.

Likely because they don’t want to hurt your feelings or deal with drama.

Fortunately, this is a drama-free zone, and I firmly believe that athletes who can handle the truth not only become better but are more resilient in life!

#1: You are too weak to perform the skill you’re training for

Look, you can do drills till you’re blue in the face. In fact, I have over 300 tumbling drills that you can explore and try out.

But if you lack the strength, flexibility and mobility, you will almost never achieve the skill you’re training for.

To get a deeper understanding of why this is so important, I highly recommend you spend a few minutes understanding my Tumbling Pyramid of success…

As you can see, after mindset the base of the pyramid consists of strength and mobility. This means everything else is built on top of it. And you can’t build on top of a weak, soft foundation.

What’s more, every tumbling skill that’s on your wish list has a minimum level of physical strength required to pull it off. And if you fall below this minimum standard, there are only 3 possible outcomes you will face (at least, from my experience):

#2: You don’t fear the trampoline because you have “too much power”

No, you fear the trampoline because you lack control!

There’s a reason the real name for this sport is Power Tumbling. These skills should be performed at 100% of your effort and capability.

Tumbling skills that have power are generally safer and have a higher chance of success.

But when you have power without control, you end up with fear, doubt, and injuries.

If you’re an athlete that can tumble, then you know exactly what I mean. Ever done a Round Off Back Handspring that felt fast, smooth, and almost effortless?

Chances are it had some degree of power behind it (along with other factors).

The beauty of trampolines and Tumble Traks is that they bring out your deficiencies and corrections while allowing you more time to pull off the skill you’re working on.

They basically shed light on what you’re bad at, and they make it easy for coaches to spot the things you’re bad at.

So if your RO BHS is slightly high and loopy on the floor, then on a trampoline it will be really loopy.

I know this can feel demotivating at first. But once you learn to control your power and fix the corrections with the help of your coach, you will learn to love the trampoline. It makes learning newer and harder skills so much easier.

It also saves your joints, which is going to come in quite handy as you get older. Trust me on this one.

#3: Your need for constant attention is holding back your progress

Look, I get that it’s exciting when you throw a new skill for the very first time.

You want the whole World to see what you did!

But calling me over every 30 seconds to see how “good” you’re doing while I’m clearly in the middle of helping another athlete isn’t doing you any favors and only causing distractions in the class.

Nor is it helpful to jump up and down in the middle of a class, wave to your parents, and ask them to watch you over and over. The energy you spent trying to get their attention could be better used to pull off 5 more reps, getting you closer to your goal!

There is absolutely a time and place to showcase all the hard work you’ve been putting into your training, the main one being competitions!

If you genuinely need your coach to watch you to ensure you’re executing things properly, find the right time and ask the following question: “Coach, could you please watch my  [insert drill/skill] ? I’m not sure I’m doing it right.”

This is a much better approach than the “look at me! look at me!” vibes many athletes give out.

And let’s talk about your parents for a second. If you really need them to watch the amazing progress you made, here’s a better way:

Now here’s the most important part: whatever answer your Coach gives you (yes or no), you should respect it and move on.

There will be many more opportunities to show your parents, I promise. It just might not be the right time at that very moment.

#4: If a coach thinks you’re not ready, there’s a good reason!

No one knows your body better than you do, and you should absolutely listen to it.

However, when it comes to progressing on to a new skill, you need to trust my judgement.

Yes, I will always play it a little more safe than what you might like in the moment.

But that’s because it’s my job to think long-term on your behalf.

As a coach, not only am I thinking about how to best help you get the skill, I’m also thinking about the following:

In other words, as a Coach I’m playing the tumbling version of chess while you’re trying to force me to play checkers.

So trust our judgment. Your body (and mind) will thank you in the future.

#5: Judges don’t really care that you can throw a skill

I know this sounds harsh, but it’s true.

Judges couldn’t care less that you can throw a backhandspring, a backtuck, or any other skill on your own.

They see thousands of athletes throw these skills on a regular basis, so why would they?

What they care about is how well you can throw it.

I’ve seen millions of handsprings, tucks, layouts, and other tumbling skills in my time.

Heck, I’ve probably thrown millions of handsprings and tucks myself.

But to this day, I still take a moment to stop and admire the athlete that is able to execute a skill or pass to perfection… regardless of the difficulty.

Simone Biles is a good example. I’m just as intrigued and excited to see her perform a simple round-off backhandspring as I am when she throws her triple double.

Hell… I’d be happy just to watch how she does her basic handstand drills. I bet there is so much I could learn.

As an athlete, you need to adopt a similar mindset.

So instead of saying, “Hey, check out my back handspring!” I suggest you try, “Hey, check out how tight and straight my legs are in my back handspring!”

It’s a small mental change, but it’s one that will make a BIG difference. Just be sure to do this at the right time, just as I mentioned in point #3.

#6: Your ambition doesn’t match your work ethic

Do you have big goals? I’m talking like, “become World champion one day” type of goal?

That’s awesome, go you!

But let me ask you something: what’s the point of having a goal, if you don’t have the work ethic to back it up?

What’s the point of coming to class, if half way through you’re going to mentally check out?

Ask any athlete that’s taken my tumbling clinic or done a private lesson with me in the past. They will universally tell you that the training was no walk in the park.

Heck, ask the parents of those athletes. They’ll tell you their kid walked out sweating buckets!

But what separates the average athlete from the excellent ones, are those who love every minute of  hard training. Here’s an example of a text I received from a parent:

And these types of messages are common.

Now, I should mention that I’m not talking about mindless over-training.

If I wanted my athletes to be completely wiped after each practice, I’d just make them do suicide-sprints and handstand drills for 2 hours straight; ain’t nobody surviving that!

But that’s just hard work, for the sake of hard work.

I’m talking about putting in 100% effort at the things your Coaches have outlined for you during your class, clinic or private lesson.

From my experience, I’d say about 60-70% of athletes simply don’t have the work ethic required to achieve the high level tumbling skills they want.

So don’t be like the majority. Be the exception. And if you’ve managed to find a Coach that pushes you outside your comfort zone to help you become better, consider yourself blessed!

#7: Your mom and dad are not your coaches

First, let me just say that I think it’s fantastic when athletes have supportive parents. In fact, I highly encourage it.

However, there is a fine line where a parent can go from being supportive to being intrusive.

I remember one time an athlete came up to me and said: “my mom wanted me to tell you that she wants to see me throw my back handspring on the floor today.”

Funny, I don’t remember her mom being in charge of the tumbling class.

I had to calmly explain to them both that little Suzy will be allowed to throw her back handspring on the floor only after she has demonstrated each of my drills with perfect technique and gone through my other checks and balances to ensure she will be safe.

And if the plan I’ve outlined is unacceptable to them both, they are free to leave without any judgement from me.

As you can imagine, it was smooth sailing after that point. In fact, she did get to attempt her BHS on floor, but it was with a light spot, as I felt there was a small chance she may not jump high enough and thus might get hurt.

Bottom line for Athletes and Parents: please understand that experienced Coaches have spent years developing our craft, so let us do our jobs. Just as you know what’s best for your child inside your house, we know what’s best for your child inside the gym.

#8: You care too much about other people’s opinions

While it’s fun to train tumbling with your friends and your teammates, at the end of the day it is a solo journey.

Coaches can help guide you, parents can help support you, and your friends can cheer you on, but at the end of the day, nobody can do the skill for you.

It’s up to you, and you alone.

So don’t worry about what Suzy is doing. Or that your bestie now has her tuck and you’re still working drills. Or that you still need a spot, but everyone else in your group doesn’t. Or how “bad” you’re going to look if you try this new drill your Coach has set up.

You do you, because you are unique and special.

And if you put in the work, I promise that your time to shine will come.

One of the biggest realizations I’ve had from a Coach who’s been doing this for almost 20 years is that it’s impossible to predict exactly when an athlete will get their new skill. Everyone’s journey is slightly different and has its own timeline. You included.

I’ve seen literal twins who train together, wear the same outfit, do the same drills, and yet they end up getting their skills weeks apart.

So if two people who are basically physically identical can’t get their skill at the same time, don’t worry about whether you will get your backhandspring before your bestie.

This is like trying to predict who will win the lottery. It’s a waste of your time, energy, and mental sanity. Keep putting in the work, and your time will come.

It’s just the way tumbling works!

#9: You don’t like tumbling? That’s because you’re not good at it yet

There are times in life when you need to do things even if you don’t like doing them; stuff like homework, group projects, cleaning your room, washing dishes… and so on.

So logically, why add one more thing like tumbling to the list?

This is an un-natural sport. You’re literally going upside down, over and over, and are expected to land safely.

But before you throw in the towel, I have a suggestion: work hard and get a solid Round Off Back Handspring… and then decide if tumbling is still something that you want to give up on.

Why?

Because as humans, we all hate the things we suck at.

Take me, for example: When I was younger, I hated Jiu Jitsu at first. As someone who was a black belt in Karate, I was tossed in a whole new environment where white belts were tapping me out like every 30 seconds.

As you can imagine, that was no fun.

However, after about a year’s worth of work, the moves that would always “catch me” would no longer work that well because I knew the defenses. I was even able to catch others and tap them out!

All of a sudden, I started loving Jiu Jitsu. Go figure!

But if I didn’t allow myself to achieve some level of proficiency, I would’ve given up on one of my favorite hobbies!

So if tumbling really isn’t right for you, then you have my complete support to go try something else. Life is too short to do stuff you hate. But before you call it quits, at least try and see if you can get good at it.

You might just realize that you had a passion for it all along—it was just hidden and buried, waiting to be dug out!


Coach Sahil