Video exampler: coming soon…
Video tutorial: coming soon…
Recommended prerequisites: standing forward roll
Description: To some, training rolls is silly. They aren’t glamorous and flashy like other tricks. But if there’s one thing most people could use more training with, it’s learning how to fall. Learning the rolls teaches you how, with the dive roll being at the top of the list insofar as handling momentum is concerned.
Slide by slide breakdown
I’m not really going to dive off of anything, but this is just a few pointers for those that might. You can practice going into the roll with more momentum if you want to. I’m going to walk into it, but you can also hop into it off two feet and lose all contact with the ground once you get more familiar with it.
Get some forward momentum going. I’m diving into it off of one foot, but you can work into diving off both.
The dive roll makes for tougher control because you have less time to put your body into ideal positions. You have to deal with it on the fly, and that makes your body do some strange things. When you plant your hands into the ground with forward momentum, your hips will rise to the sky. And a lot higher than in any other roll that I’ve showed you.
With the hips flying high, you need to get into the tight and compact position as soon as possible. Tuck your chin to your chest and start to think about tucking your knees. Once again, having any sort of shoulder strength (specifically handstand strength) helps here because you’ll not only feel more comfortable, but you’ll also be able to control yourself a bit more.
In the above slide, my torso is perpendicular to the ground. This is really the point of no return. If you aren’t beginning to tuck by now, you probably won’t tuck at all.
And trust me. You probably won’t tuck all that good at first. I sometimes don’t tuck all that well. See the slide above? Torso is a little past perpendicular. I want to tuck, but I know that it’s too late. Legs are flailing all over the place in confusion.
I’m sure you can use your imagination to fill in what happened after…
Ah yes. Back to the good one. See how my upper back hasn’t even touched the ground yet? This is because I have the strength to keep all of the weight on my hands. If you don’t, you’ll likely have an earlier contact, but the technique doesn’t change.
And here we enter standard forward roll territory. From here, there’s not much to be done that you shouldn’t have already trained with the basic kneeling forward roll.
Recap cues:
- Use your arms to support the impact from the forward momentum.
- Once the arms dig in and the hips shoot into the air, tuck your chin and knees.
- Stay compact after.
Troubleshooting:
Freaking out? It’s really easy to get a little freaked out when your hips start to climb the escalator after your hands plant in the ground. Try not to freeze, because freezing means there’s no tucking. Feel your hips being carried up and get familiar with knowing when to tuck your knees.
Going off to the side? You’re probably bailing out of fear. Go over the top a few times. You’re going to crash this a few times, so try to just chuck it and get used to it.
Landing hard on your upper back? Could be technical or it could be strength. Really try to use your shoulders and arms to support your weight. If you think you are, then something is probably off with your tuck timing.
Also have fun with:
- Kneeling front shoulder roll
- Standing front shoulder roll
- Kneeling forward roll
- Standing forward roll