Arm Movement in Trampoline

                Arm work during trampoline is a very controversial topic I find due to the fact that everyone has their own opinion of what is the “right” way. Many coaches say that you should land with your arms straight up over your head with elbows locked for the best pre-flight height and control. Some coaches stress the arm motion only after the trampolinist is in the air nearer to the top of the bounce. Some athletes do not use their arms at all; even though this is the minority it still is considered a technique. Beyond what I have just mentioned there are many differences of opinion on proper arm conduct during trampolining including what the athlete should be doing during the falling phase and the time spent in the bed both on the descending phase and the ascending phase before the feet leave the trampoline.

                My theory is a combination of what a few great coaches known around the world believe along with my own biomechanical expertise, which is not very great, if I do say so myself.  I do not claim to say that what I believe is the correct way or that everyone should aim for it, I am only giving my own opinion based on what I find works for myself.

                If you know me or have trained with me you would know I never use my arms to gain height in my pre bounces. I have been told over and over again to start using my arms but no one really told me why. They just expected me to do it because someone told me to. If you know me then you would understand that does not cut it for me. So I was watching some of the Chinese competitors on my laptop and was watching in slow mo their jumping technique and was trying to figure out how they jumped so high. I noticed they all did the same thing with their arms. When they landed in the bed the arms were down and as they lifted into the air the arms would shoot up by their ears extremely quickly (quicker than the other competitors). This got me thinking and the next day I went to training and spoke to Dave Ross, Team Canada’s head coach, and in my opinion one of the best technical coaches in trampolining.  He explained to me his idea of the arm movement during trampolining. He said that the arms basically give a lot of power to the jumper and without the use of arms you cannot get to your maximum height. It is the same reason why you jump on the ground with your arms; to gain more height by using the centrifugal force produced by the arms. If you stop the arms at the right spot the resultant force will cause the body to get an extra “bump” into the air. This seemed like a good reason to use my arms and it made sense. Maybe because it was said in a different way, or just at the right time and place for me to absorb it, but either way I got it and focused on it during my training that week.  I just worked on my pre bounces which I found got a lot better. I felt more stable in the air and I went higher quicker which is exactly what every trampolinist wants. I read a article that Jack Kelly wrote on arm use during pre bounces. Jack Kelly is another Olympic coach from Great Britain and produced a lot of great athletes, including world champions that jumped a body length higher than the competition.  He talked about trying to create long levers in the arms to increase the centrifugal  force produced that would transfer into vertical tangential force. I did not even notice that when I did my pre bounces that my arms were bent so to produce the most force I wanted to straighten my arms. I tried that and wow what a difference. At first I was off balance and unstable but after another few days I got the hang of it and not jumping with no arms seems very new to me.

Jack Kelly also mentioned that to get the best reaction out of the bed you need to put as much force as you can into the bed. This seems pretty obvious but ask yourself how often when you bounce on a trampoline, do you really focus on driving the bed down into the ground? I know I never really did. I am not sure of the height I thought I gained was purely mental or I actually changed something in my bounce but I did feel like I gained more height. Now I have pre bounces that my other coaches are commenting on saying how much it has improved. As for pre bounces I am now doing well.

                Now it gets tricky however. I was talking to Dave again and he was commenting on the arm work during the actually routine meaning after a skill getting ready to perform another one. Many athletes, including Rosi, Karen and Jason who are all Olympians do not do the right movement with their arms. Let me explain.

                When a trampolinist lands after any trick, every single one I have seen land with their arms perfectly straight up ready for the next skill which I thought, before talking to Dave, made sense. Now I see how it probably is not the best choice for arm action. Dave said that it is best to land with the arms at about horizontal from the body anteriorly give or take a few degrees. If you land like this then you can throw the arms up over your head to gain more height during the pre flight. Like how I explained earlier that the arms create a centrifugal force around the shoulder joint causes the body to increase height that could not be achieved without the arm action. Dave is saying that this arm action needs to occur at every bounce not just the pre bounces. I tried it. It is very tricky to land like that because it feels like you are unbalanced. But for back take offs it does wonders. I felt like it forced me to have to wait so it caused a straighter pre flight with more control instead of “chucking” the skill backwards.  If your coach has ever said to “wait” on the take off, or “don’t rush” then this is a good technique for you because it forces you to do that while giving you more force upwards due to the arm action.

               

After playing with this technique I decided to try and take it a bit further. What if instead of starting with the arms horizontal on the take off, you literally land like a pre bounce with them right by the sides. My theory is that if you start with your arms only moving 90 degrees of flexion how much force could you produce if you had 180 degrees of flexion. More momentum = more force output. So I started doing all my back tricks with my arms fully down by my sides and throw them up as fast as I can into my back skill. I found a difference with in the first day! I barley travelled at all, I maintained height easily and gained height faster than I had ever before. For singles it seems amazing but then I decided to try some doubles. This is where I have ran into trouble. I started with a half half tuck. The simplest back skill I know. I tried many times and could not get enough rotation. I tried about 20 and I just was not getting it. I can do it great from a pre bounce but not where there is a skill before it. I am currently working on it but I think it is a matter of slow arm movement. I think if my arms move faster it will work easier. That is all should power. I am going to work on it and I will write up an article in a month or so if I find a difference. Maybe the “pre bounce pre flight “(PBPF) as I call it only works on singles. More playing around needs to be done on this idea however and when I get more information I will write an article. Thanks.