Learn the tuck jump: prerequisites, build-up from knee raises to the jump with an opening before landing, typical mistakes and why it leads to the somersault.
The tuck jump is a straight jump in which you pull both knees to the chest in the flight phase and open the body again before landing. It is the simplest form of the "tucked" body position and thus the preliminary step for the squat vault, jumps on the trampoline and the somersault.
The honest answer to "How hard is it?": The movement is easy to understand but easy to spoil, because the upper body folds forward and the landing comes up short. With a few sessions of practice the tuck jump sits for many adults. That is an experience-based estimate, not a study figure.
Why the basics count: in an overview of injuries in young gymnasts, the skills that most often led to injury were handsprings and somersaults [1]. According to an evaluation of 22 studies, most injuries happen on the floor [2]. That is why you do not skip the tuck jump.
What to remember: there are three basic body positions in the somersault, tucked, piked and straight. The tuck is the most compact and therefore the easiest, because the rotation is fastest in it. That is exactly why people start there. The tuck jump on the floor is the dry run: you learn to pull the knees up actively in the air without rotating.
Straight jump, soft landing on balls of the feet and heels, knees over feet. Do this until it runs automatically. Milestone: ten straight jumps, each time landed on the same spot.
Alternately pull the knee to the chest, upper body upright, eyes straight ahead. This practices the direction: knees up, back straight. Milestone: 20 repetitions without bending forward.
Straight jump, in the air both knees to the chest. The hands may point to where the knees come to feel it. Milestone: five jumps in which the knees come above hip height.
Shortly before the floor straighten the legs again and absorb with bent knees. Whoever lands in the tuck has too little distance to absorb. Milestone: ten clean landings with an open body.
Do several tuck jumps in a row. That gives you the rhythm you later need on the trampoline. Milestone: eight jumps with even height.
In the air, let the hands point at the thighs. The hands are your spy: if they do not reach the knees, you did not pull high enough. That is a practical tip from training, not a study finding.
A second trick: count in your head "up, tuck, open, soft". Up for take-off, tuck for the tuck, open for opening, soft for the landing. Four short words, four phases. Whoever has the order in the head has fewer wobbles in the body.
Through build-up: secure the straight jump, knee raises in standing, small tuck jumps, open the tuck before landing. The upper body stays upright, the knees come to you. Only when the landing is calm ten times do you jump higher.
Usually take-off is missing or the upper body folds forward. First jump higher in the straight jump, then pull the knees to you instead of yourself to the knees. The side video shows whether the back stays straight.
Yes, the tucked body shape is the simplest one that somersault learning paths use. The somersault itself, however, belongs in the gym with a coach, soft landing mat and spotting [4], not in your living room.
For starting out, two to three short sessions per week with a few sets each are enough. This is a practical recommendation, not a study figure. More important than volume is the quality of the landing.
Learning the Shoulder Stand: Extended Hips Without Loading the Neck