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Bouncing with Joy: How to Coach Trampolining to Children
Hermione Paul, a trampolining coach based in Bristol gives us her trampoline coaching top tips.
Included in this article:
- Top tips and need-to-knows
- JOURNEY: Tailor your leadership approach
- CHOICE: Be more flexible
- Safety tips
- CHOICE: How to plan a trampolining coaching session for kids
- JOURNEY: How to coach trampolining to beginners
- How to coach more advanced trampolining
- FAQs
- How to motivate players
- How to explain the rules
- What qualifications do you need to coach trampolining to children?
- FREE Resource: 5 Top Tips for Child-First Coaching
By Scheenagh Harrington
In 2021, trampoline world champion Bryony Page made sporting history by becoming the first British female gymnast in any gymnastic discipline to win medals in more than one Olympic Games.
Her success has inspired more youngsters to take up trampolining, heading to the gym to bounce around. They are under the eagle eyes of a growing number of coaches that are taking a child-first approach to the sport.
We’ll find out how they balance having a fun time with keeping everyone safe, and why trampolining can appeal to children long after they’ve outgrown the garden version.
How to coach trampolining to kids: tips and need-to-knows
When it comes to teaching trampolining to children, the most important thing is to make it fun, according to Hermione Paul, a coach at Axis Trampoline and Gymnastics Club in Bristol.
Top of her trampolining coaching tips for children is: "make sure they’re having fun and they’re engaged."
You’ve always got to be positive and have that child-first approach. If you make it all about what you want out of a session, they’re not going to care.”
Hermione Paul Coach from Axis Trampoline & Gymnastics Club Bristol
5 Tips for Child-First Coaching
Don't drop the ball! Download our free tools, tips and games and grow your coaching practice – like these 5 top tips which support children to Play Their Way.
FREE TIPS
Tailor your leadership approach
Hermione’s other trampolining coaching tips for kids target the importance of flexibility while maintaining a child-first approach: "adapt your coaching style to the children you’re teaching," she says.
She describes her coaching style for pre-school children and beginners as structured but that doesn’t involve not listening to the child, handing out orders or eliminating the fun from each session.
"Trampolining can be high risk, especially the kind we do, there’s no netting or anything."
Hermione recommends taking an approach rooted in safe practice is vital. Giving children and young people clear instructions will enable them to safely enjoy each session.
Be more flexible with older children
When asked how to teach children trampolining for older and more advanced youngsters, Hermione explains she deploys a democratic, more child-first approach to the sport.
"They understand the risks and might also understand a little bit more about trampolining itself," she explains, "so I give them the option of what they want to do."
Be on the ball at all times
One of the most important things to understand about how to coach trampolining to children is that coaches absolutely must be prepared in case of a fall.
"As a coach of trampolining and gymnastics, you have to be there to physically support them, if required," Hermione says.
"It can be a high-risk sport. You’ve always got to be switched on and be prepared in case an error is made because at the end of the day, they’re only children."
How to plan a trampolining coaching session for kids
Planning is imperative for coaches looking at how to teach trampolining to kids. For Hermione, everything hinges on the age of the children she’s going to be coaching.
"Pre-schoolers have just started potentially walking, talking and exploring for the first time, and it’s so important to keep them safe."
But you’ve got to plan that trampolining session purely for what children and young people want to achieve - you have to ensure they’re engaged and motivated and having a great time.”
Hermione Paul Coach from Axis Trampoline & Gymnastics Club Bristol
The bottom line is ensuring coaches allow each child to organically choose what they want from a session: whether that’s just playing games or progressing their trampolining or their gymnastic skills to a competitive level.
How to coach trampolining to beginners
As well as keeping a very close eye on smaller children, an important part of how to teach trampolining to kids is encouraging them to move around before they’ve even had a bounce.
"We do lots of different games with pre-schoolers," she explains. "We do songs, such as the hokey cokey, getting them active and engaged. It builds on teamwork because they have to hold hands, going in and out, getting them ready for the session."
She uses games with school-age and slightly older kids too. “We do pulse-raisers, such as Stuck in the Mud. We also do the colour game, because our gym is so colourful.
"They all sit in the middle, we call out a colour, they have to run and touch it and come back. It’s so engaging and it helps them learn the gym environment as well."
How to coach more advanced trampolining
Coaching youth trampolining for more advanced kids takes on a different focus, as Hermione explains.
"Your aims for the sessions will be slightly different," she says, explaining that the aim is to make those older children feel great about what they’re doing so it informs their:
- choices
- overall sporting journey.
"They’ll be thinking, ‘I just did that move really, really well, let’s video it and see’. They really like that positive reinforcement."
"There are opportunities for older kids to have a fun time because you have to remember: they are still children."
They may be more advanced in what they do but you have to remember their age. As a coach your qualities shouldn’t change."
Hermione Paul Coach from Axis Trampoline & Gymnastics Club Bristol
"You’re still that loving, caring, compassionate coach that will care about the child, as well as being that fun and engaging, motivational and inspirational person."
Coaching children trampolining: The FAQs
There are many things to remember when it comes to coaching children trampolining, from keeping them safe and building trust, to giving them the freedom to decide which moves they focus on.
How do you motivate youth trampolining players?
Hermione suggests using intrinsic and extrinsic motivation as part of her junior trampolining coaching tips.
"You have to know what sort of children you’re teaching and their aims," she explains. "Are they competitive or there for a bit of fun?"
She uses stickers as rewards for the kids who do put a lot of effort in as well as 'Effort Bears.'
"If you do something absolutely amazing, you take it home with you for the weekend and take pictures of it and bring it back.
"That motivates a lot of my children because sometimes their friends get it and they’re like 'I want to get it next week' so they try really hard the next session."
As for older children, intrinsic motivation is really important: it’s thinking about what they want to achieve.
How do you explain the rules of trampolining to kids?
For Hermione, because there is such a focus on safety when coaching trampolining to kids, understanding what they are being asked to do is key to the whole process.
"It’s about creating that good relationship," she says, stressing the importance of communication: "you need to be really clear with instructions because it is important they understand a move before attempting it," she says.
And of course, it’s just as crucial that children are given the space to voice their thoughts, feelings and opinions about everything they are doing on the trampoline, and that coaches listen to them at each stage of their sporting journey.
What qualifications do you need to coach trampolining to children?
The recommended route to coach Trampolining is to start at UKCC Level one and then progress through the levels. Each qualification level will enable you to coach more progressive and challenging skills, aligned to stages of development and appropriate progressions.
Hermione is currently doing her Level 2 UKCC Women’s Artistic Gymnastics coaching qualification, which features resource packs that cover moves, skills and the body, as well as nutrition and pastoral care.
"There’s so much to be learned, doing these courses really helps. It is important that you know the details before coaching children trampolining," she says.
Other resources you may like...
About the contributors
Hermione Paul is a Level 2 Community Activator Coach apprenticeship with Coach Core at Axis Trampoline and Gymnastics Club in Bristol. She competed with Greenhill Gymnastics Club, and was named South East regional champion and Kent champion. She also held a place in the county squad.
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