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Coached Cradle Catch

Learn the safe way down from a stunt into a cradle, step by step with your coach.

By Coach Evan Waechtler Youth coach (U11, Cache Valley, Utah) and founder of SSTracker Updated October 30, 2026

Set up

Practice the cradle shape on the floor: flyer in a V, bases with arms ready.

Core: Counts and positions on the ground. Move up only with your coach’s OK.

Ages
14 and up
Time
15 min
Space
Gym or court
Bring
Mats, coach, spotter, stunt group
Level · skill
Advanced · Stunts

The steps

How it works

  1. Practice the cradle shape on the floor: flyer in a V, bases with arms ready.
  2. With your coach, catch from a low level first.
  3. Bases catch under the back and legs, spotter protects the head and shoulders.
  4. Do 6 reps only with your coach and spotter.

Coaching point

Catch high, absorb low.

Safety: Only with a trained coach and spotters, on mats or a sprung floor. Never stunt 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.

Make it fun

Play it, don't drill it

Game version

Count-and-sync game: your stunt group practices the counts and positions at ground level while the coach watches, and every clean run of the counts earns the group a clap.

Challenge

Pick a level: Less (counts only), Core (counts and positions on the ground), More (the full routine with the coach spotting). Move up only with your coach’s OK.

Story

You are builders stacking a tower, one careful block at a time.

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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