I have been practcing toe touch baskets form on my trampoline today, and i'm fine on the trampoline, but once I get up on a stunt I freak and start shaking.
I'm not sure about how other feel, but doing a toe touch on a trampoline could be giving you a false sense of ability. Trampolines provide spring and bounce that you won't have in a stunt, the technique is also very different from a trampoline. Your body does different things on a trampoline than it does in a stunt.
As a trampoline coach first I can answer this one
. Your body will indeed do different things. The main one is that when you do a straddle out of the bed of a trampoline you don’t 'ride' it like you do in a basket. I am rubbish with explanations would sooner demonstrate but let me try.
As soon as you leave the bed for a straddle jump your legs start to open so that when you reach the height of your bounce you are in the straddle position. On a toe touch you want to ride up straight and then quickly open into a toe touch and then snap back down. I have used the terms straddle jump and toe touch on purpose because they are actually two different moves - you use your body differently in both.
For the straddle jump you are taking off from a different position and having to generate all of the height yourself. You have to 'stomp' on the bed and push out of it. If any flyer tried to stomp on the hands of their bases it would be the last thing they did LOL.
If, and it is a big if, you can get a really high (thinking 8 foot+) bounce then it is almost possible to simulate the toe-touch. However, please do not try and bounce that high at home, do it at a gym with qualified instructors. I have my flyers come down to my sports centre once a week to be coached there; it helps with mechanics of moves. However, we always call the moves by their proper trampolining name not cheerleading name as they are different moves in terms of how you set and execute them.
Freaking out is all part and parcel of an intense sport such as cheerleading. It happens to the best of people at times. I only have a beginner-ish squad but my trampolinists get, what we call 'mentalism' from time to time. It comes from the fact that you are high up in the air with the possibility of being dropped and that is not a nice thought. One of my elite bouncers lost it last week at training whilst doing a really easy move (back sommie with a 1 1/2 twist) and then that put her out for the rest of her moves. She had to start back at square one again and luckily tonight was able to do the Rudi.
What I'm saying, whilst waffling, is that you need to take it slow, start at the beginning and don’t progress any further until you are happy with what you are doing. And if that means you are a while at one level then fine, at least you are safe and happy with the skill.
