Trampolining terms

Trampolining terms are used to describe various positions and types of skill performed in the sport of trampolining. The sport also has a number of terms which are related to competitions. A number of these terms are unique to trampolining, others are shared with related sports such as gymnastics or diving.

Basic skills

Straight Jump – A vertical jump with the body held straight and arms in a straight line above the body at take-off.

Tuck Jump – From a straight jump start, the knees are pulled up to the chest and the hands must at least briefly grasp the legs between the knees and ankle.

Pike Jump – Again from a straight jump start, the legs are straight, held together and lifted parallel to the trampoline and the arms and body reach forwards towards the pointed toes.

Straddle Jump – Similar to the pike jump except that the legs are spread sideways approximately 90° apart and the arms reach forward towards the pointed toes. Seat Drop – Landing in a seated position with the legs straight. The hands support the body one either side and very slightly behind the posterior, palms down with fingers pointed towards the pointed toes.

Swivel Hips – Performing a seat drop, bounce up to a straight position (without landing) and then perform a half twist and land in the second seat drop facing in the opposite direction.

Half Twist and Full Twist – While in a straight jump position rotating the body until facing the opposite direction for a half twist or a complete 360° rotation for a full twist.

Front Drop – Landing horizontally on the bed, face down, with the arms bent to form a diamond shape with the hands overlapping slightly in front of the face. The legs should be bent slightly at the knee but otherwise held in tension for a good landing. Back Drop – Landing on the bed on the back. The legs are bent up at about 90° on landing with legs held straight and the head is held in line with the body flat on the bed (to avoid whiplash injury).

Intermediate skills

Front Somersault – One complete forward rotation; the body can be in any of the tucked, piked or (rarely seen other than to develop straight barani) straight positions.

Back Somersault – One complete backward rotation; the body can be in any of the tucked, piked or straight positions.

Advanced skills

Barani – A front somersault with a half twist before landing; also known as a front-half.

3/4 Front (Crash Dive) – Three quarter straight front somersault that lands in the back drop position.

1 and 3/4 front (1 and 3) – One and three quarter front somersault (performed in tucked or pike shape) that lands in the backdrop position

3/4 Back (Lazy Back) – Three quarter straight back somersault that lands in front drop position.

1 and 3/4 Back (Suicide) – One and three quarter back somersault that lands in front drop position.

Back Cody – One and one quarter back somersault from front drop position that lands on feet.

Front Cody – Three quarter front somersault from front drop position that lands on feet following a 'kaboom'.

Jonah – Early ½ twist into back somersault with initial take-off being consistent with forward rotation.

Rudolph (or Rudy) – A single straight front somersault with one and a half twists.

Full – A full-twisting straight back somersault.

Full in or Full out – A double back somersault with a full twist in the first or second somersault respectively.

Full in full out – A double back somersault with a full twist in each somersault.

Full in half out – A double front somersault with a full twist in the first and a half twist in the second.

Miller – A double back somersault with one and a half twists in the first and one and a half twists in the second.

Miller Plus/ Killer/ Polyiarush – A double back somersault with a double full twist in the first and double full twist in the second.

Miller Plus Plus/ Thriller/ Polyiarush Plus – A double back somersault with 5 full twists: either 2 1/2 twists in both the first or second somersaults, or two full twists in the first somersault and three full twists in the second somersault.

Double Back – A double back somersault (may be performed in tuck, pike, or straight position).

Triple Back – A triple back somersault.

Half Out – A double front somersault with a half twist in the second somersault.

Rudy Out – A double front somersault with one and a half twists.

Fliffus – Any double somersault with at least one half twist.

Triffus – Any triple somersault with at least one half twist.

Quadriffus – Any quadruple somersault with at least one half twist.

Randolph (or Randy) – A single front somersault with two and a half twists.

Double Full – A single back somersault with two twists.

Triple Full – A single back somersault with three twists.

Ball out – one and 1/4 front somersault taking off from a back-drop position. Usually performed after a crash dive.

Barani ball out: the same as a Ball out, but with one half twist. May also be performed with varying degres of twist: e.g. rudolph/randolph/adolph Ball out

Adolph (Ady) – A single front somersault with three and a half twists.

A note about twisting somersaults - although it is not impossible to associate different amount of twist with either front or back somersaults it is universal practice that front twisting somersaults will always have an odd half twist while back twisting somersaults will always have a round number of twists. This is to make it easier for the performer to 'spot' the bed prior to landing.

Somersaults may be performed in one of four positions: tuck, pike, straight (or layout), and puck. The tuck position is considered the least difficult. Somersaults done in pike or straight position are more difficult, and each complete rotation is awarded a 0.1 bonus to Degree of Difficulty. Puck position is a body position intermediate between tuck and pike, and is used in multiple twisting somersaults.

Competition Terms

Degree of Difficulty (DD) or Tariff – A score added to the execution score which reflects the difficulty of the skills included in the routine.

Voluntary or Optional Routine (Vol) – A routine comprising skills chosen by the athlete or coach to reflect their best performance. Usually the routine must have a minimum (and sometimes at lower skill levels, a maximum) degree of difficulty.

Compulsory Routine (Set) – A routine which has a set list of skills and a set order which must be followed by all athletes in a competition. No degree of difficulty marks are given for this routine; the marks are purely for execution.