As the proud owner of Bays All Stars and a coach with 17 years of experience in the field of Dance, Acrobatics, and Cheer, I have witnessed many trends and methodologies in training young athletes.

But there's one prevailing issue in our industry that needs addressing urgently...

The misconception about the role of back flexibility in acrobatic skills.

Parents...
You may have seen coaches advocating excessive lower back stretching with the belief that this leads to better acrobatic performance.

However, majority of kids that start dance and acro don't have natural flexibility

(And that's OKAY! Sometimes it's actually safer - but that's a conversation for another day)

So what do we see?

Kids are being forced to "stretch their backs".

The thing is it's not the flexibility of the lower back that's the primary concern;

it's the mobility of the shoulders and the upper thoracic region where the underlying issue lies.

Time and time again, I meet athletes from other studios and gyms who are stuck on achieving their back and front walkovers.

They have spent months trying to achieve it with their coaches telling them

"Just do it faster"

"Just do it slower"

"Just stand up at the end"

"Just use your core"

Whilst this may be right... This advice isn't addressing the core problem...

And it's going to elongate your child's progress