If your athlete has never performed the skill before, they belong in an Intro class. If they can already throw the skill but it is slow, disconnected, or shaky, they belong in Tech Work. That is the whole distinction, and it is the most useful thing a Wellington Allstars parent can understand about our class schedule. Intro classes hand an athlete a brand new skill. Tech Work takes a skill the athlete already owns and makes it clean, fast, and connected enough to earn a promotion. Signing up for the wrong one is the most common reason a family feels progress has stalled.
The two class types do opposite jobs
Think of it as acquisition versus refinement. An Intro class is acquisition: the athlete does not have the skill yet, and the hour is built around drills, spotting progressions, and shaping work that eventually produce a first successful attempt.
A Tech Work class is refinement. The athlete walks in already able to do the skill alone. The hour is spent fixing what is wrong with it: the arms at set, the depth of the block, the timing of the hips, the height of the rebound, and above all whether it can link to another skill without losing power. Nobody learns a new trick in Tech Work. Everybody makes an existing trick good enough to be counted.
What each session actually looks like
A typical Intro class
Intro sessions are built as a ladder. Athletes warm up and stretch for the range of motion the skill demands, then condition the muscles it requires. Coaches then run progressions: the shape first, then the shape on an incline or mat, then with a spot, then with a lighter spot. Most of the class happens with a coach's hands on the athlete.
The success measure is a single clean, unassisted repetition. It may take one session or a full six-week block, and both are normal. Coaches do not rush it, because a skill learned in bad shape has to be unlearned later, which costs more time than learning it correctly.
A typical Tech Work class
Tech Work sessions are built around volume and correction. After a warm-up, athletes go straight into repetitions of skills they already have. Coaches film, freeze, and correct. The drills are specific and unforgiving: hold this shape, hit this arm position, rebound this high, keep the feet together here.
The back half of a Tech Work class is almost always connection work, because the point is to build a pass rather than a trick. A coach wants the same clean skill many times in a row, then that skill linked to a second one without a pause, a step, or a loss of power.
Intro versus Tech Work at a glance
| Intro | Tech Work | |
|---|---|---|
| Purpose | Teach a skill the athlete does not have yet | Clean and connect a skill the athlete already has |
| Who it is for | Athletes who have mastered the level below and are ready to begin the next level | Athletes who can already perform the skill but need technique and connection |
| What a session looks like | Progressions, mats and inclines, heavy spotting, partial versions of the skill | High-repetition drills, filming and correction, series and connected passes |
| What success looks like | One clean unassisted repetition of a new skill | Consistent, connected, promotion-ready skills |
| Role in advancement | Opens the door to the next level | Required for promotion to the next level |
Why we separate them at all
It would be simpler to run one tumbling class per level. We do not, for three reasons.
Safety. Athletes learning a skill need a coach within arm's reach, while athletes refining one need space, a run-up, and permission to throw at full speed. Those needs cannot share a floor without one group being slowed and the other crowded.
Pacing. In a mixed class, a coach either spots beginners while advanced athletes stand in line, or drills advanced athletes while beginners wait.
Honesty about advancement. Getting a skill and being credited with a skill are not the same thing. Tech Work is the dedicated place to close that gap, so no athlete is surprised at evaluations by a standard nobody told them about.
What "connection" means, and why connected passes are scored differently
A connected pass is two or more skills performed in immediate sequence, with no pause, no extra step, and no reset. A round off back handspring back handspring is a connected running pass. A standing series is two or more back handsprings from a standing start. A back walkover back handspring links a flexibility-based skill directly into a power-based one.
Connection is harder than it sounds because the two skills fight each other. The first has to end in exactly the body position the second needs to begin, and leave enough momentum to power it. A single back handspring that lands soft and low cannot become a series. This is why athletes who "have their back handspring" often stall for months: the skill exists, but it is not built to carry anything after it.
Connected passes are also valued differently on a scoresheet, with linked skills sitting above isolated ones, and governing-body rules define which connections are permitted at which competitive level. In practical terms: the ability to connect, not just to throw, is what moves an athlete up.
How to read the prerequisites on our class schedule
Every Tech Work class on our schedule publishes the skills an athlete must already have to enroll. Read them as a checklist of what the athlete can do today, alone, without a spot. They are not goals for the class. They are the entry ticket.
- Level 1 Tech Work requires back walkover back walkover, cartwheel back walkover back walkover, back walkover switch leg, and front walkover.
- Level 2 Tech Work requires round off back handspring back handspring and back walkover back handspring.
- Level 3 Tech Work requires round off back handspring back tuck and a standing series of three back handsprings.
Notice the pattern: almost every prerequisite is itself a connection. Level 1 Tech Work does not ask for a back walkover; it asks for two in a row and a cartwheel into two more. Level 2 does not ask for a back handspring; it asks for a round off into two of them. If your athlete can do the listed skills only one at a time, or only with a spot, they are not ready for that Tech Work class yet, and the Intro class at that level is where to start.
The shorthand on the schedule: BHS is back handspring, RO is round off, BHSBT is back handspring back tuck, BWO is back walkover, CW is cartwheel, FR is forward roll, FWO is front walkover.
How to self-assess which class fits
Ask three questions, in this order.
- Can the athlete perform the skill alone, with no coach contact? If no, the answer is Intro. A skill that only happens with a spot is not yet a skill the athlete has.
- Can they do it consistently? If they hit it once in five attempts, Intro is still the better use of six weeks. Tech Work assumes a repeatable skill to correct.
- Can they connect it? If they land it alone nearly every time but it will not link into a second skill, that is exactly what Tech Work fixes.
If you are unsure, do not guess. Our coaching staff can watch your athlete tumble and tell you in about ninety seconds. Reach out through our contact page for Wellington Allstars.
What happens if an athlete picks the wrong one
Nothing dramatic, and nobody is embarrassed, but the six weeks are less productive than they should be. An athlete placed in Tech Work without the prerequisites spends the hour being spotted through drills designed for unassisted repetition. They get fewer turns and miss the volume that builds a skill. An athlete placed in Intro when they already own the skill has the opposite problem: six weeks of progressions for something they can already do, with connection work untouched. If a coach spots a mismatch early, they will recommend a move. That is routine, and far better than wasting a session.
How these classes ladder toward team placement
At Wellington Allstars, try-outs are evaluations and placements, not cuts. Every athlete who evaluates gets a team. What evaluations determine is which team, and tumbling is one of the biggest inputs, alongside stunting, jumps, flexibility, and coachability.
The ladder is straightforward. Beginner Tumble builds base shapes and body awareness, Intro classes add each new skill, and Tech Work turns those skills into connected, consistent passes a coach can place in a routine. Because a routine only counts what an athlete hits reliably in front of a judge, Tech Work athletes are the ones whose skills survive the jump from practice floor to competition mat. That is why it is required for promotion rather than optional.
If evaluations are new to you, our try-outs and evaluation process page walks through how placement day runs, and our cheer skills and try-outs hub collects everything in one place.
Where Beginner Tumble, Stretch, Jump, and Open Gym fit around them
Intro and Tech Work are the spine of the tumbling ladder, but not the whole schedule. The classes around them exist because tumbling problems are frequently not tumbling problems.
Beginner Tumble comes before Level 1 Intro, building forward rolls, cartwheels, bridges, and the body control every later skill assumes. Stretch and Flexibility is the quiet fix for many stalled skills; a back walkover that will not connect is often a shoulder and hip issue, not a technique issue. Jump builds the explosive hip and core strength that also powers a rebound out of a round off, and Flyer Focus serves the stunting side of the same problem.
Open Gym is the repetition multiplier: unstructured floor time where athletes drill what their coaches just corrected. It runs Monday through Thursday evenings and Saturday mornings from 9:30am to 12:55pm, plus Thursdays 3:30pm to 4:30pm. Tech Work athletes benefit most, because connection is built through volume. See the full grid on our weekly cheer class schedule.
How many classes per week makes sense
For most athletes, one Intro or Tech Work class per week plus one Open Gym session is the sweet spot. The class supplies the correction; Open Gym supplies the repetition that makes it stick. Two tumbling classes per week suits an athlete pushing toward a specific promotion, particularly if one is Intro at a new level and the other Tech Work at the level below.
Adding Stretch or Jump usually beats a third tumbling class, because those address the physical limits that cap progress in the first place. Athletes on a Prep, Limited Travel, or Full Travel All Star team should count team practices in this math. Rest is part of the program, which is why we are closed Sundays.
Parent FAQ
My athlete has their back handspring. Why can't they go into Level 3?
Level 3 Tech Work asks for a round off back handspring back tuck and a standing series of three back handsprings. A single standing back handspring is the beginning of Level 2 work, not the end of it.
Is Tech Work really required to move up a level?
Yes. Promotion depends on connected, consistent skills, and Tech Work is where connection and technique are built. Athletes who skip it tend to accumulate single skills that never assemble into a usable pass.
Can my athlete take Intro and Tech Work at the same level in one session?
Generally no, because they target different stages of the same skill. A more useful pairing is Intro at the level above with Tech Work at the level already reached.
How long does it take to get promoted?
It varies by athlete, age, flexibility, strength, and attendance. What is predictable is that consistent weekly attendance plus Open Gym repetition beats sporadic attendance at more classes.
Do we have to be on a Wellington Allstars team to take these classes?
No. Weekly classes are open to athletes who are not on one of our teams. Families not on a WA team pay a yearly registration fee of $50 for the first athlete and $25 for each sibling.
What does a six-week session cost?
Session 2 runs July 20 through August 29, 2026. Six-week pricing is $75 for a 30-minute class and $95 for a 55-minute class, with additional classes at $45. Drop-ins are $15 and $20 with 24 hours' notice.
Can I watch my athlete's class?
Yes. We have two parent viewing windows. Coaches do ask that corrections come from the floor rather than the window, so athletes hear one voice.
How do I register?
Through the Studio Pro Parent Portal at our online registration portal. If you are new to the gym, our frequently asked questions page and our overview of programs and classes we offer cover the basics.
Keep reading
- What to expect in your first month of beginner tumbling classes
- How cheer try-outs work: a parent's guide to evaluations and placement
- Choosing the right cheer program for your athlete
Ready to pick a class?
Wellington Allstars is a competitive all-star cheer gym at 17035 Persimmon Blvd West, Unit 800 in Westlake, Florida, serving Wellington, Royal Palm Beach, Loxahatchee, and The Acreage. We are open Monday through Friday 3:00pm to 9:30pm and Saturday 9:00am to 6:00pm. Our programs run from non-competitive Novice through Prep, Limited Travel, and Full Travel All Star, and include a 2025 Summit Youth Championship finalist team.
Read the prerequisites, be honest about what your athlete can do unassisted today, and pick the class that matches. Browse the current session on our Wellington Allstars class schedule and register before the block fills.