How to Learn an Aerial
How to Do an Aerial
Learn how an aerial works step by step, from building the right approach and leg drive to creating enough lift to rotate sideways without putting your hands on the floor.
What Is an Aerial?
An aerial is a sideways tumbling skill that looks similar to a cartwheel, but the gymnast completes the entire rotation without placing either hand on the floor.
Because there are no hands supporting the body, an aerial depends on strong leg drive, speed, lift, split position, and precise timing.
Before You Work on an Aerial
An aerial is an advanced skill and should be learned with a qualified gymnastics coach. You should already have a fast, technically clean cartwheel and strong one-leg jumping power before attempting the full skill.
Practice only on appropriate gymnastics flooring or training equipment.
7 Steps to Understanding an Aerial
An aerial happens quickly, but each part helps create the height and sideways rotation needed to keep your hands completely off the floor.
Begin With a Controlled Approach
Start with the entry your coach has taught you, such as a few running steps, a chasse, or a step-hurdle combination.
The approach should create forward momentum while still allowing you to stay tall and controlled.
Step Into a Powerful Takeoff
Move from your approach into a strong leading-leg step. Your takeoff leg should contact the floor underneath you instead of reaching too far forward.
Keep your upper body active and prepare the opposite leg to swing aggressively upward.
Drive the Back Leg Up Fast
Swing your back leg upward as strongly and quickly as possible. This leg drive is one of the biggest sources of rotation in an aerial.
Your kicking leg should stay long with a pointed toe while your takeoff leg pushes forcefully away from the floor.
Lift Your Hips Before You Rotate Down
As you leave the floor, your goal is to create enough height for your hips to travel upward before your body rotates completely sideways.
Keep your core tight and avoid diving your chest toward the floor too early.
Keep Your Hands Off the Floor
As your body moves sideways through the skill, keep your arms active instead of automatically reaching toward the mat.
Depending on the technique your coach teaches, your arms may stay lifted, pull toward your body, or move through a controlled sweeping motion.
Show a Large Split in the Air
During the middle of the aerial, your legs should separate into a wide split position. The first leg continues toward the landing while the second leg stays extended behind you.
Straight knees and pointed toes make the aerial look longer, cleaner, and more controlled.
Land One Foot at a Time
Your first leg reaches the floor while the second leg continues traveling over and behind you.
Absorb the landing through your first leg, then allow your second foot to step down into a controlled finish.
How an Aerial Gets Off the Ground
What Makes an Aerial Work?
1. Leg Speed
Your kicking leg needs to move quickly enough to pull your hips through the sideways rotation before gravity brings you back down.
2. Upward Lift
A successful aerial is not just a cartwheel with the hands removed. You need enough upward push from the takeoff leg to create space between your body and the floor.
3. Commitment
Reaching for the floor at the last second can interrupt the rotation. Proper drills help you learn to trust the leg drive and stay committed to the no-hands motion.
Helpful Drills for Learning an Aerial
These drills help build the leg speed, confidence, takeoff power, and body positions used during an aerial.
Fast Cartwheels
Practice quick cartwheels with straight legs and a strong push through the entry leg. The goal is to make the legs move faster over your body.
One-Hand Cartwheels
With a coach's guidance, practice removing one hand at a time to reduce how much support you rely on during the cartwheel motion.
Cartwheel Pop Drills
Focus on pushing harder from the takeoff leg and making your hips rise higher than they would in a relaxed cartwheel.
Aerial Over a Raised Surface
With proper coaching, suitable training equipment can help teach the feeling of staying off the hands while the legs rotate over.
Split Jumps and Leap Drills
These can help improve leg separation, hip flexibility, and the ability to keep both knees straight while airborne.
Power Step Drills
Practice stepping onto your takeoff leg and immediately pushing upward while driving the opposite leg as high as possible.
Common Aerial Mistakes
Diving Toward the Floor
Dropping your chest too early makes the aerial low and increases the chance that your hands will touch down.
Fix:Push upward through the takeoff leg before allowing the sideways rotation to finish.
Weak Back-Leg Kick
A slow kicking leg may not generate enough rotation to get both legs over quickly.
Fix:Practice power steps and fast cartwheel entries with an aggressive first-leg drive.
Reaching for the Floor
Some gymnasts automatically put a hand down because they are used to doing a cartwheel.
Fix:Use progressive one-hand and no-hand drills with a coach to retrain the arm position.
Bending the Legs
Bent knees make the aerial smaller and can slow the movement of the legs overhead.
Fix:Focus on kicking long through the toes and maintaining tension through both legs.
Taking Off Too Far Forward
An oversized final step can put your body too stretched out to push upward efficiently.
Fix:Keep the final step quick and underneath your body so the leg can push strongly.
Twisting Out of the Skill
Turning your shoulders too early can make the aerial rotate incorrectly and affect the landing direction.
Fix:Keep the rotation sideways and follow the same pathway as a technically clean cartwheel.
Aerial vs. Cartwheel
Aerial
The body rotates sideways without either hand touching the floor. The skill requires more leg power, speed, lift, and commitment.
Cartwheel
The gymnast places both hands on the floor while the legs travel overhead in a split. The hands provide support throughout the middle of the skill.
What a Clean Aerial Should Have
Aerial Summary
A strong aerial comes from much more than simply trying a cartwheel without your hands. You need a quick approach, a powerful takeoff leg, an aggressive back-leg drive, enough upward lift to create space from the floor, and fast straight legs that rotate completely over your body. Build the skill through progressions with a coach, and focus on height, leg speed, and clean body positions before trying to make the aerial faster.