Learn the low dive roll: prerequisites, build-up from the roll with raised hips to the small jump, mistakes like landing on the head and how to guard the neck.
The low dive roll is a forward roll with a short flight phase: you take off with both feet, land first on your hands and roll out over the rounded back. It is the bridge between the forward roll and the dive roll, and it also prepares the forward somersault.
The honest answer to "How hard is it?": whoever can do the forward roll securely usually learns the low dive roll in a few sessions, because you only add the flight phase. The crux is not the jump but the hands: they must come first and spring. That is an experience-based estimate, not a study figure.
What the sources say: the Swiss Youth and Sport material describes the forward roll as a movement that should happen "in a natural movement" and be possible very quickly without help, with the rounded position as its base [1]. In the international Code of Points for men, the dive roll is a separate element of the group "acrobatic elements forward" on floor [2] — the low dive roll is its little brother.
Why is this intermediate step worth it? Because here you practice the three things that carry every flying roll and later every rotation: hands first as springs, back rounded, chin tucked. Whoever learns that in the small version saves many repetitions later with fear in the stomach.
Do the forward roll ten times in a row without turning sideways. The Swiss material recommends an incline if the rotation is hard [1]. Milestone: ten rolls, straight, standing up without hands.
From standing with straight legs, fold forward, hips up, hands far forward, chin to chest. Then roll. Milestone: five rolls with a rounded back and without touching down on the head.
One step, small hop, two-footed take-off. The hands land first on the mat, the arms spring, you roll out. The flight phase is short, not high. Milestone: five low dive rolls with soft arm springing.
Roll into a squat, arms forward, stand up. The momentum of the roll carries you up. Milestone: five low dive rolls in a row cleanly into standing.
A rolled-up soft mat as an obstacle. Only with a coach and spotter. The aim is to cross the obstacle without touching. Milestone: three low dive rolls without touching.
Put a small rolled towel between chin and chest and hold it while rolling. If it falls, you did not tuck the chin. That is a practical tip from training, not a study finding.
A second trick: film yourself from the side and pause the video at the moment the hands touch the floor. If the crown of the head points there instead of the palms, the head is still too far forward.
Through the build-up: secure the forward roll, roll with raised hips, small jump into the roll, stand up without hands. Hands first, arms spring, chin to chest. Only when that sits five times does a low obstacle follow, and with a coach.
The low dive roll has a short, low flight phase. The dive roll flies farther in a stretched position and lands on the hands; in the Code of Points it is a separate element [2]. The low dive roll is the preliminary step; the dive roll is one of the critical elements and needs a coach and mats.
Usually the hands come too late or the arms are too stiff. Practice the roll with raised hips until the hands-first feeling sits, and have an experienced person spot you. If the head touches down repeatedly, go back two steps.
With correct technique and a good mat it is well manageable. The risk sits in the neck if the head touches down [3]. That is why the small build-up, the thick mat and the spotter. Pain in the neck is a stop signal.
Learning the Dive Roll: A Flying Roll With Hand Landing, Only With a Coach and Mats