Photo: Front Row Cheer Photos
KICK HARD
A powerful kick is super important for an aerial. Practice kicks on their own to get the movement down and strengthen the muscles needed, then apply it to the skill.
KEEP YOUR CHEST UP
Dropping your upper body can work if you rely only on your legs to get you over, but I recommend keeping your chest up to get more height. When done correctly, swinging your arms forward powerfully + keeping your upper body up will make you float for a second mid-air, which will make your aerial look pretty and effortless.
DON’T WORRY ABOUT YOUR HANDS
Many athletes think just trying to pull their hands away from the floor will get them an aerial. It’s not as simple as that – the kick, arm swing, upper body position, etc. are all important components that work together to create the skill. If those are done correctly, you won’t need to worry about pulling your hands away from the floor.
PRACTICE JUMP CARTWHEELS
Think of these as half aerials, half cartwheels. Start with your leg out in front of you, like you’d do when going into a cartwheel, and start with your arms behind you, as if you’re going to swing and hurdle. Your entrance will include a powerful kick & forward arm swing, as well as an attempt to keep the chest up. Your hands still touch the ground after the initial jump & kick, so you finish it like a cartwheel. Jump cartwheels help you practice the beginning part of aerials.
DO IT OFF AN ELEVATED SURFACE
Practice aerials off of an elevated surface to give you more time to get around. This way, you can practice the whole skill and gradually try to decrease the height difference between your starting point and finishing point. An example of a way to do this is to start on a couple stacked boxes and land the aerial on a mat.
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