Bailing on a front flip

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[Locky]

I've always been very careful with people learning front flips and always insist on seeing them doing a forward roll on to the mat without stilts first and then to do one with stilts on but at walking speed and putting their hands down on the mat.

Sometimes people have been practicing flips and they get lazy or complacent and I've asked them to stop, usually without giving a reason because I didn't have time to pull them aside and talk about it. It's always about safety.

With front flips, when people start bouncing into them, there is a golden rule called commitment. Whatever happens, you MUST go over. If you dont, bad things can happen and although I'd only seen it once, the stilts can bend over and whack in the back of the skull. This hurts a lot.
It's a nasty thing to do, and it is the equivalent of doing a backflip and opening up in the air. The same thing happens, you bounce high and your brain thinks omg this is too high and opens up and you reach for the ground. On a front or backflip, it is the single worst thing you can do.

Enough talking, this picture explains it pretty well. I dont know who this is or where it came from but it says all it needs to.

[Chic]

OMG !

[Ophiophagus]

Damn... that is a bad one !! Guess theres no news on how he was after since you dont know who it was. It is a eye opening reminder of the dangers of stilts when not practised properly

[Locky]

the scary thing is, I've seen people do this without as much height and I've seen stilts get very close to whacking people in the skull on a few occasions. Not at our gym sessions but when going to other groups sessions who dont do it as often as us.

I know bocking is all about being nuts and going for it, but I guess the experience over the years has taught me what to look out for and when to tell some people to stop.
I dont know how this bloke turned out, but 2 stilts on the back of the skull is going to hurt like hell and cause a lot of blood loss at best.
This is what I mean when I ask for everyone to have their eyes open at gym sessions. We all need to look out for each other and if someone needs to be told something then dont wait 5 mins as it could be 5 mins too late.