Have you ever seen someone in person or on film do a backflip and think to yourself? “I want to learn how to do a BACKFLIP!”
In any movie, dance competition, social gathering, when you see a backflip being thrown. It makes the movie twice as great, makes the audience go crazy, or makes your friends think you’re a complete asshole.
It is universally accepted as Awesome.
You could fly to a different country, not say a word, do a backflip and you’ll have people clapping and cheering and thinking you’re a cool guy.
I’ll give you an example, from an experience I had with the backflip. My twin brother and I recently auditioned for America’s Got Talent, the biggest talent show in the world.
We were wearing the most ridiculous outfits we could find, a fat suit and a clown suit. When we took the stage to introduce ourselves to the judges, the crowd roared with BOOH! and they raised their hands and made an “X” gesture for us to leave. Pretty tough crowd as we hadn’t done anything yet haha. They all looked at us like we were idiots.
We made a cue to our music over the booing, it was “MC Hammer-Too Legit Too Quit” and when the music started my brother grabbed my hands and made me do a backflip.
As I was doing the somersault, I heard the booing stop and a huge wave of cheering broke out. I looked out at the crowd and everyone was on their feet cheering as we performed.
That’s the impact YOU can have with a backflip.
You can take thousands of angry, booing people and have them on their feet clapping and loving you in a split second.
Pretty impressive!
They even put that same backflip on the TV promo for America’s Got Talent.
So how do we learn the backflip and why can’t everyone do it? There are many factors but #1 is FEAR.
The backflip is the scariest flip to throw and learn. There’s a good reason we’re afraid to do a backflip. You could seriously injure yourself if you miss the backflip and possibly break your neck. All you have to do is make YouTube “fail the backflip” and you’ll vow to never attempt a backflip.
The backflip is dangerous for a few reasons, your body is not used to going upside down and upside down, so when your body is placed in that backflip position, its first reaction is to jump or flip out and lose control.
You also can’t see where you’re going with the backflip. You rotate back, so the only time you really see the ground is at the end of the backflip, when you’re already engaged. That’s why for most of us, the front cartwheel isn’t as scary because you can see where you’re going.
So how do we overcome the FEAR of doing the backflip?
The best way to get over it is NOT to just “man up” and go for it!
The best way to overcome fear is to train in gradual steps. Stay close to your comfort zone while learning the backflip. It’s like when you first learned to walk. You crawled, then you used the support of the side of the walls or your mother’s hand, and then you started to walk on your own.
The backflip is learned in the same way.
For support, use a trusted spotter, who can help you rotate. You can use mats (an old mattress can work well) to absorb your fall, allowing you to feel more comfortable and confident in attempting the backflip.
Start with an easier somersault to build confidence and gradually build up to the back somersault. Start by learning the cartwheel, the front cartwheel, and gradually work your way up to the back cartwheel.
This gradual progression and support helps your body and mind get used to the backflip motion. Take away the FEAR of doing a backflip.
Start implementing these techniques to get rid of the FEAR of the backflip.