Game version
Skill-card game: pick a card with a skill you already know and show it with your coach nearby. The pair collects five clean skills together.
Back Handspring Drills with a Coach
Learn the back handspring in parts on a barrel, with your coach spotting every rep.
By Coach Evan Waechtler Youth coach (U11, Cache Valley, Utah) and founder of SSTracker Updated October 30, 2026
Set up
Practice the sit-back with arms up against a wall.
Core: Your usual skill. Move up only with your coach’s OK.
- Ages
- 14 and up
- Time
- 15 min
- Space
- Gym or court
- Bring
- Barrel or mat roll, mats, coach
- Level · skill
- Advanced · Tumbling
The steps
How it works
- Practice the sit-back with arms up against a wall.
- With your coach, roll back over a barrel to your hands.
- Snap your feet down from a handstand on the barrel.
- Do 8 of each piece with your coach.
Coaching point
Sit, swing, push, snap.
Safety: Only in a gym with a qualified coach and proper mats. Never try this at home. Any hit to the head, or dizziness or a headache after a fall: stop, tell your coach, and no more stunting or tumbling until a doctor clears you. Pain in your lower back, worse when you bend back, is never normal: stop and tell a parent or coach. Keep back bends few and gentle.
Make it fun
Play it, don't drill it
Challenge
Pick a level: Less (a shape or roll), Core (your usual skill), More (a clean skill with a stuck landing). Move up only with your coach’s OK.
Story
You are a circus star performing your favorite act.
My best
Beat your own count
Move up only with your coach’s OK. Only your own number counts: today against last time.
Practice makes progress
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An email from you to the coach, with the words ready. Nothing is tracked and nobody is rewarded.