Start by standing straight and your feet shoulder width apart. Lift up your arms and stand on the balls of your feet.
Backtuck
Prerequisites
none
Performing tricker: bam.defocus
The Backflip, or more precisely the backtuck, is a vertical jump followed up by pulling the knees to the chest to initiate a backflipping rotation. This infamous trick is technically not hard but can be mentally very challenging. First you have to get rid of the fear of flipping backwards and then you have to stop your body from jumping backwards.
You should also never bail out midair as that can be dangerous. So it’s important prepare the correct mindset for this trick.
How to get over Fear
01 Spotter
The most effective way of eliminating fear is a spotter. A spotter will guide you through your first backflips by standing by your side and making sure you don’t fall. The spotter places one hand on your back and the other right above the knee throat. The hand on the back will make sure you don’t fall and the other will initiate the flip rotation. All you need to do is jump up, lean back slightly and tuck. You will slowly get rid of flipping backwards entirely with this method. The spotter should lessen the amount of support little by little as you progress until you can eventually do it by yourself.
02 Backhandspring
If you don’t have anyone to spot you, you can slowly progress towards the backflip by learning the backhandspring. Start off with a macaco, which is a backhandspring over the side. Then you turn that into a valdez, which is a slanted backhandspring on one hand. Drill those until you can go straight backwards to turn it into a real backhandspring. This will let you get used to flipping backwards. But be careful because this technique will not teach you how to backflip as you need to jump upwards for a backtuck and backhandsprings work really well by jumping backwards.
03 Trampoline
Finally having a trampoline can do wonders to get rid of flipping fear in general. There is low risk of injury and the long time in the air will greatly improve your air awareness.
Squat down and throw your arms back ready to swing them upwards.
Stand up out of your squat while swinging your arms upwards as hard as you can. Make sure to jump up completely extended! That means no bend knees and arms. Everything should be extended all the way down to the toes.
As soon as you take off, start to lean back and bring your knees to your chest.
This is the part where most people bail out. Grab your knees or legs and stay there! Commit through and you WILL get around.
Spot the floor.
Land softly on the balls of your feet to absorb most of the impact. Done.
Tips
Always jump up! Imagine landing in the same spot where you took off.
Experiment what tuck fits you best. Most people grab their knees but you can also grab the backside of your thighs.
Practice jumping upwards and pulling your knees to the chest without actually flipping. This will let you get used to jumping upwards.
This goes for every trick but is especially useful for backflips: record yourself! Then compare your technique with others and figure out by yourself what you are doing wrong. Being able to analyze your own tricks is a big advantage!