The drill of the day is the back tuck going down the wedge. This drill is most popular with the kids I work with. Not only it is fun for them but also learning the proper back tuck at the same time. Who says you can’t have fun while learning?Set up: You will need one wedge mat and one spotting block or panel mat. Stand up the wedge with a block or panel mat behind the wedge. The block or panel mat should be at least 12 inches high. In the first video below notice the wedge is on a panel mat because the block I was using was 24 inches high. Having the block to high will make it difficult for the athlete to push it back unless they are tall. So I made the wedge taller by putting it on a panel mat. At times you may need to set up panel mat in front of the wedge for smaller kids to help them be taller.

This set up can also be used on the Double-mini Tramp (second video). Yes you can do it on the end of the tumble track!

The task: The idea is to have the athlete jump up against the wedge causing the wedge to tilt back. Once the wedge tilt back then the athlete will begin to pull their knees up and rolling their hips over their head doing a backward roll. The athlete should be able to jump at least half way up to the wedge in order to tilt the wedge over.

 The purpose: What makes this drill so great it really help avoid a lot of mistakes such as throwing the head back, arching their back, not setting up,  pulling the knees up to soon, and throwing the shoulder back during take off.  You will see this mistake toward the end of the second video. All these mistakes are quite common when they first learn the back tuck. This drill really fix it all in one!

Coach’s notes: If you have a folding wedge it can work as well. Having a folding wedge can be beneficial because if you don’t jump high enough or pulling the knees to soon, you may find yourself being eaten by the wedge (wedge being folded)…he he. If you don’t like it being folded then you can turn the wedge around using the back of the wedge.