Layout in cheerleading: the stretched back somersault. Which level allows it, prerequisites, why height and landing decide, and what your coach must master.
A layout is a somersault in which you rotate backward over your head in a stretched, hollow body position — the elegant big brother of the tuck. That is how the rulebook puts it: a flip with hip-over-head rotation in a stretched, hollow position [1]. The difference from its neighbours: in the tuck the knees are drawn to the chest, in the pike the body is bent at the hips with straight legs [1]. In the layout everything stays long.
The honest answer to "Is that just a bigger tuck?": no. From physics you know: the longer the body, the slower the rotation. So you need more height and more angular momentum than in the tuck. In a gymnastics study of twelve gymnasts, landing quality in stretched somersaults depended on the symmetry of the legs, and the gymnasts had to generate enough height to land symmetrically [7]. That is a transfer from gymnastics, but it fits practice.
Under the rules the layout is a milestone: at ICU level Median and CCVD level 3, layouts are explicitly not allowed, only the tuck from a round-off or round-off back handspring [2][3]. Only at level Advanced or level 4 are flips up to one rotation without a twist free, including the layout [2][3]. How long the way there takes cannot honestly be promised in weeks.
Important: this guide describes rules, prerequisites and safety data, but no somersault technique. You learn layouts only with a coach who masters spotting and methodology. The CCVD module "Tumbling Basic" of the coach C education covers floor gymnastics up to the back handspring [4] — ask where your coach's somersault qualification comes from.
The tuck is repeatable and the landing is stable. Milestone: ten spotted or unspotted tucks (depending on the coach's release) with the same landing position (practice value).
Practise stretch jumps with a hollow body: body long, ribs down, eyes forward. Milestone: ten high stretch jumps with consistent body tension and a quiet landing.
You learn the stretched rotation exclusively in an environment that forgives mistakes (for example tumble track, air track, trampoline, soft mats) and with trained spotting. Stages and aids are decided by your coach. Milestone: the coach confirms that the rotation is safely spotted and lands under control.
Only when the secured rotation sits does the coach connect it with round-off back handspring or the standing entry, first spotted, then with gradually less help. Milestone: five spotted passes without correction.
In standing tumbling at level 4, direct flip-flip combinations are prohibited, as are jumps in direct combination with a standing flip [2][3]; one example in the rulebook is the combination round-off, toe touch, back handspring, whip, layout [2][3]. Milestone: your choreography keeps the rules of your level.
Watch every pass afterwards: height, body line, landing. Milestone: the coach releases the layout for the routine, not you.
This guide explains and motivates but does not replace supervised training. Somersaults never without a coach, never without a cushioned surface, never alone.
Measure your height, not your rotation. Have yourself filmed from the side with your phone during the stretch jump and the spotted layout, and keep a reference object (for example a ceiling marking) in the frame. If height rises from week to week, the basis is right. That is coaching experience, not a study.
A somersault in which the body rotates over the head in a stretched, hollow position. The rulebook calls it a flip with hip-over-head rotation in a stretched position [1]. In the tuck the knees are drawn to the chest, in the pike the hips are bent [1].
Not at ICU level Median and CCVD level 3, where only tucks from a round-off or round-off back handspring are allowed [2][3]. At level Advanced or level 4, flips up to one rotation without a twist are allowed [2][3]; a layout with a twist, the full, is only allowed from level 5 up [2][3].
Not in standing tumbling at level 4: direct flip-flip combinations are prohibited, and the rulebook explicitly names the combination of a whip followed by a layout as an example [2][3]. Round-off and back handspring before the layout are allowed, because the back handspring is not a flip [1].
It cannot honestly be promised. It depends on strength, body tension, height, experience and the quality of your coach. The order matters: tuck secure, stretched position without rotation, secured rotation, then the pass, always with spotting and a cushioned surface [5].
Full in Cheerleading: Somersault With a Twist, Rules and Responsibility