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A split jump is an important skill in gymnastics, very similar to a split leap. However, a split jump is off two feet, while a split leap is off of one. Both skills are worth improving! Jumps are a skill that you can work on perfecting at home since you don’t need much equipment. It’s also really fun to practice jumps on a trampoline or an air track!

You may be thinking, who cares about gymnastics jumps?  Here’s the thing – jumps are required in every floor and beam routine all the way up to the highest levels of gymnastics. A split jump is usually part of the dance in both your floor and beam routines.

Just like with split leaps, the angle of the split jump required depends on your level. With split jumps, an extra 1/4 turn added to the jump is typically the same skill value as the jump by itself. When you begin adding 1/2 + turns to the jump, the skill values increase – for example, a split jump with 1/1 turn is a “C” skill value and a split jump with a 1 1/2 turn is a “D” value.

Check out these drills and exercises you can do to help you learn a beautiful, perfect split jump.

How to Improve Your Split Jump

When you want to improve your split jump, here are the main areas to focus on:

• Height of your Split Jump
• Degree of Leg Separation (the split of your jump)
• Form (straight legs, pointed feet, body position)

You also want to make sure your legs are evenly split. Check out the video below!

Height of your Split Jump

To improve the height of your split jump you need to strengthen your leg muscles so you can push harder off of the ground. Doing conditioning exercises will help you strengthen your leg muscles and get higher off the ground.

Squats are a great example of a leg conditioning that will help strengthen the muscles which will help you get higher off of the ground in your jump.

Single Leg Hip Lifts are also a good exercise to to to improve not only your leg flexibility but also your strength. To do a single leg hip lift, lay on your back with your knees bent, your arms at your side and your feet on the ground. Then lift one leg and hold it straight with your knees together. Lift your hips toward the ceiling, hold for a second and then lower your hips back to the floor. Make sure you are keeping your back flat with your butt squeezed. You can also add a kick like in the video.

Plyometric exercises are an excellent way to improve your split jumps. They are essentially jump training exercises. Here are some plyo exercises that are helpful for gymnastics jumps.

Fast Feet Up & Downs: You want to move your feet fast and keep each foot in contact with the ground for as little time as possible. You want to be pushing through your feet and trying to point your feet as they come off the ground. Practice and master these on the ground before trying to go up on mats like in the video.

Single Leg Up & Downs: This is the same as the fast feet up & downs only you do it on one leg. After you do one leg do the other side.

Punching: This is where you push off the ground and try to point your feet (extend your ankles), curling your feet under. You want your legs to stay straight and your hips flat. Do these both forwards and backwards.

Those are some exercises you can do to improve the leg muscles you need to jump higher.

Degree of Leg Separation

This also includes making sure your legs are evenly split. To help with this, you’re going to need to improve your active flexibility. One of the best ways to do that is by doing different types of kicks. Here are the ones we do in SkillTrakker.

Forward Kicks

You can be flat-footed or in high relevé. Arms are out to the side, and try to keep a nice body shape – chest up, legs straight, and toes pointed…the usual. Do 10x.

Sidewards Kicks

Just like before, except before except this time you’re going to be kicking to the side. Do 10x.

Back Kicks

You’re going to face forwards and kick backwards as you are walking backwards. Try to keep both legs straight – the kicking leg and the base leg. Do 10x.

Needle Kicks

These can sometimes be a little complicated. Keep your arms by your ears, and as your chest goes down your back leg will go back up to the ceiling. When your chest comes up and your back leg comes down, swing your leg through onto the next step. Do 10x.

Alternating Split Leaps

When doing these, really try to push off of that back leg. You want to try to get your split even on both your good and bad legs. Do 10x.

Straight Leg Skips

These are just like regular skips, except while you leave the ground on one leg, your other leg will be straight out horizontally, making a 90º angle at your hips. Try to hold for 1 sec before alternating to the other leg. Do 10x.

Connected Sissonés

With a sissoné, your back leg is slightly higher than your front leg. You want to start on two feet, jump up in your split and land on your front leg before landing on your back leg. Do 10x.

Body Position/Form

The last main aspect of getting a good split jump is your body position/form. In a split jump you not only want your legs straight and pointed, but you want the amount they split to be even on both sides. Depending on what gymnastics level you compete, will depend on the degree of separation required.

Remember that judges can take deductions for the following:

• incorrect body posture or alignment during your jump
• insufficient height of your jump
• insufficient exactness of your body position during your jump
• insufficient dynamics of your routine overall (which would include the height of your jumps).

So working on your jumps at home is a great way to reduce your deductions and increase the score of your floor and beam routines!

Straight Body Pike

Sit in a straight body pike where you squeeze your legs together and lift your chest and chin up. Focus on squeezing the muscles and not letting go. You can also reach for your feet, but make sure your knees do not bend.

These drills should get you started improving your split jump.

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