How long did it take you, your daughter, ir your gymnasts to learn a doubleback?

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First time I did a doubleback anywhere without a spot was rings, around 14 years old.

First time I did one on floor was around 16 years old.

I have one student who's 10 and may well be ready to do his on floor within the next year or so, but he's the most insanely talented tumbler I've ever coached. Also, I'm probably not going to let him actually do it on floor for quite awhile, even if he's ready for it, since he can't compete it until he's 12 anyway.
 
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Well, i'm 15 and i could have had my doubleback last year, but my coaches at my gym wouldn't let me work them. (i went to a class with another coach in another town who is amazing)
At that coach's gym, he has girls who are 12 doing double backs.
Everyone learns at different paces, so there will be a lot of different answers.
:)

I guess i can do double backs off bars. i didn't think of that. i've competed those all year. The amazing coach has 9 yr. olds doing them.
 
I haven't learned double backs yet...but they look scary so it will probably take me a while.
HINT: my coach named me the gym's president of the SCA (ScaredyCatAssosiation)
i am know for haveing TONS of fears...lol
 
my dd is 11 - she can do her double back dismount off bars, and she has done her double back on floor with a spot. I know she is hoping to get it w/o a spot by the end of the summer. Her gym have several gymnast that learned theirs at @11yo.
 
My double back on (off whatever) bars.
I've always been known to over rotate my flyaways. I have done countless flyaways to my back in meets. (don't do it, it hurts)
I went to a camp last summer, and they asked me why i didn't do doubles. Nobody had ever said i could. They told me that i should have been doing them long time ago. So i pretty much got them the week that i was at camp, but when i went back to my gym, they wouldn't let me work them. Finally, one of my friends showed my coach a video of me doing it at camp, and then he finally let me do them. I competed them after working them for the week at camp and then two weeks of working them at the gym. The first one i competed was the first one i had ever done without spot and the coach did wierd stuff with his hands and stuff, and i got lost and opened too early landing on my hands and knees. It didn't hurt. The next weekend, i did it perfectly.

Short answer. 3-4 weeks.

On floor, i was doing them with 1 spot on the floor but my coach at my gym wouldn't let me work them and i didn't have any videos of it, so i still don't have it. i'm going to a different gym starting tomorrow (eeek!) and hopefully i will get them sometime soon.
:)
 
wow! let us have a bit more respect for the double back on floor. a sound and consistent double back will take upwards of 1 year of training. this is still considered the holy grail of floor ex. is still the most difficult to land properly and still causes the most injuries.

the double back is the equivalent force of standing on a 2 story building and jumping down to land. the forces can exceed upwards of 18x ones body mass. the sheer force under studies is quite remarkable. and when the tuning of the floors is considered, great patience and care must be given the double back.

only the triple back from boys high bar and the double layout on floor are greater. yur2 run a very close 2nd.

that 11 year olds can do doubles? what does that mean? and will they be around to do them when they are 16 is more impressive and indicative of how and when the double back was introduced to competition.
 
wow! let us have a bit more respect for the double back on floor. a sound and consistent double back will take upwards of 1 year of training. this is still considered the holy grail of floor ex. is still the most difficult to land properly and still causes the most injuries.

WHile I agree with the overall sentiment, I think this is a bit of an exaggeration. A double back is far from the holy grail of floor exercise.

As long as the skill is trained properly and not done until the kid is ready, it is neither difficult nor dangerous.

NOW, I want to immediately follow this up by repeating: IF THE SKILL IS TRAINED PROPERLY AND NOT DONE UNTIL THE KID IS READY. In order to train a double back, a gymnast must have a lot of power, excellent technique, and most importantly (and often most overlooked-ly by most coaches) the gymnast must have strong aerial awareness and be confident in their own ability to do the skill. It is not enough to simply be physically capable of turning over twice; a gymnast must not only know exactly where they are in the rotation, they must be confident in their ability to know where they are in the rotation. But once all of this is accounted for, the skill is, as I said, neither difficult nor dangerous.

You are completely correct about the amount of force it puts on the body -- while I would allow 10- and 11-year-olds to train the skill into a pit if they're ready, I would not allow kids that age to put the skill on floor, no matter how gifted they may be.

One thing of note when training a double back -- it is not necessary to try to stick the skill right off the bat. I allow and even encourage kids -- whether doing a double-back on floor, a double flyaway off rings, or a tsuk on vault -- to initially roll out of the landing as they are learning the skill. Once they are comfortable with the skill, then they may try to stick it, but I let them determine when they are ready for this.

Allowing them to roll out lets them get comfortable with the rotation and learn to spot the landing without having to commit to the kickout required to stop the rotation and stick. It also decreases the amount of force on the knees and ankles in the landing.
 
I did my first double at 8 off of high bar, I think I was 9-10 when I started flipping it into the pit on floor.

I have two seven yr old diamond tops kids that are both 7 doing doubles off of bars.
 
what do i know...i am published and have athletes, both boys and girls, at every level of competition, national and international, including olympic trials and world championships over the years. i'll go study harder though...and i NEVER exagerate the physics and sport science of what we do.
 
what do i know...i am published and have athletes, both boys and girls, at every level of competition, national and international, including olympic trials and world championships over the years. i'll go study harder though...and i NEVER exagerate the physics and sport science of what we do.

I'm not sure why you're getting so defensive here. You seem to have interpereted my reply as a challenge to your coaching knowledge, which I assure you it was not. I did, after all, agree with the bulk of what you said.

You're fairly new here, so I'll cut you a bit of slack, and give you some advice; don't act like you have something to prove. Don't wave your credentials around and expect people to be impressed by them. If you conduct yourself respectably and make good posts, other members will respect you. If you can't handle it when somebody expresses an opinion that differs from your own, don't expect much in the way of respect from this community.
 
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i'll keep that in mind. and i had no agenda other than seeing the double back receive the respect and safety consideration it so deserves. i assume there are young and inexperienced coaches that read here and i would not want them to be left with an impression that double backs are not the holy grail. our research and data supports that the double back on floor in artistic gymnastics is still, after all these years, the single leading cause of injury on floor followed by beams dismounts.
 
Depending on the gym - yes, the double is the pinnacle of what is expected.

For most gymnasts, recreational and competetive, the double back on floor is sort of the "I can do pretty much anything" skill. It leads into the more difficult skills, and separates a good gymnast from a really good/great gymnast.

That said, I gotta back GT. We are glad to have someone with your experiences and knowledge at our disposal, but please remember that we too have our own accomplishments and technical background. It's fun to compete, but compete by getting your drill or productive comment out first; not by telling us how great you are. If you want to show your credentials, show us by being supportive. We all love this sport. None of us need to prove that.

Glad to have your around!

Ryan
 
@ my gym we have 12yr olds double backing off bars. and most our lv 8-9 gymnasts double back into the pit ages 12-16 (no hs teams it sucks). i think it took them about a month to get the hang of it... it took me two weeks on bars just cuz i was willing to chuck them and my coaches knew how to fix it. it all depends
 
One thing of note when training a double back -- it is not necessary to try to stick the skill right off the bat. I allow and even encourage kids -- whether doing a double-back on floor, a double flyaway off rings, or a tsuk on vault -- to initially roll out of the landing as they are learning the skill. Once they are comfortable with the skill, then they may try to stick it, but I let them determine when they are ready for this.

Allowing them to roll out lets them get comfortable with the rotation and learn to spot the landing without having to commit to the kickout required to stop the rotation and stick. It also decreases the amount of force on the knees and ankles in the landing.
Even though this is a reply to GT, this question is open to anyone who would like to respond. My dd does a double back pike and then goes immediately into a back layout stepout. Is that easier or harder on her body than trying to stick a double back pike?
 
Even though this is a reply to GT, this question is open to anyone who would like to respond. My dd does a double back pike and then goes immediately into a back layout stepout. Is that easier or harder on her body than trying to stick a double back pike?

I'd have to see exactly what you mean to be sure -- it sounds like a very odd combination. If it works the way I'm picturing it, it's probably a lot harder.

When I say something puts a lot of force on the body, it is not NECESSARILY a bad thing that must always be avoided -- the body can take a surprising amount of force safely, so long as the kid is properly physically prepared for it.
 

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