A skills lab is a class that spends its entire length on a single skill. Not a level, not a mixed tumbling hour, but one skill and the drills that build it. Our Skills Lab Saturdays run in a deliberate sequence: a Back Walkover and Front Walkover Lab, a Back Handspring Lab, a Tuck Lab, and a Layouts and Twists Lab, each focused on one rung of the tumbling ladder.
The format works because most athletes do not get stuck on a level. They get stuck on a specific skill, and a stuck skill needs concentrated repetition and correction rather than a general class where it gets ten minutes.
The tumbling ladder, in order
Skills build on each other, and almost every plateau traces back to a weakness a rung or two lower.
| Skill | What it actually demands | Usual reason athletes stall |
|---|---|---|
| Forward roll, cartwheel | Body awareness and basic shapes | Rushed past before shapes are clean |
| Back walkover (BWO) | Shoulder and back flexibility, controlled push through the legs | Flexibility, not technique |
| Front walkover (FWO) | The same range in the opposite direction, plus hip control | Weak bridge position |
| Back handspring (BHS) | Sitting back, a strong arm swing, blocking through the shoulders | Fear, and reaching instead of sitting |
| Back tuck | Jumping up rather than back, fast knee drive, tight shape | Throwing the head and traveling backward |
| Layout | Holding a hollow body through a full rotation | Not enough height, and piking early |
| Twisting | A completed layout first, then a late, controlled twist | Twisting early, before the set is finished |
Why a full hour on one skill works
Three reasons, and they compound.
Volume. Motor patterns are built by repetition. In a general class an athlete might get a handful of attempts at the skill blocking them. In a lab they get many, which is what actually rewires the movement.
Specific drills. Each skill has its own progressions and equipment: inclines, mats, and shaping drills that isolate one piece of the movement. A lab can set the floor up for exactly that and leave it there.
Focused coaching. Every athlete in the room is working the same thing, so a correction given to one athlete is useful to all of them.
Which lab does my athlete need?
Pick the lab for the skill they are currently working, not the skill they hope to have by winter.
- Back Walkover / Front Walkover Lab if they are learning walkovers, or if their walkovers exist but are slow, stiff, or cannot be linked together.
- Back Handspring Lab if they are learning a back handspring, or have one that will not connect into a second.
- Tuck Lab if they have a solid round off back handspring and are working toward a tuck.
- Layouts and Twists Lab if they have a consistent tuck and are progressing to layouts and twisting.
We also run a Beginner Tumble class on Saturday mornings for athletes earlier on the ladder. Every time and coach is listed on the weekly class schedule.
How labs differ from Intro and Tech Work classes
These three formats are complementary rather than competing, and knowing the difference prevents a wasted six weeks.
Intro classes teach a skill an athlete does not have yet, across a level. Tech Work takes skills an athlete already owns and makes them clean and connected, which is what promotion requires. Skills labs take one specific skill and give it concentrated volume.
A common and effective combination is a weekday Intro or Tech Work class plus a Saturday lab on the exact skill that is blocking progress. Our full comparison is in Intro vs. Tech Work classes.
The three things that actually unstick a skill
Flexibility, more often than anyone expects. A back walkover that will not improve is usually a shoulder and hip range problem. No amount of technique coaching fixes a range-of-motion ceiling, which is why Stretch classes appear throughout our schedule.
Strength, especially the core. A layout is a hollow-body hold under rotation. An athlete who cannot hold that shape on the floor will pike in the air every time. Kids CrossFit exists for this.
Fear, which is real and normal. Back tumbling asks an athlete to move backward into a space they cannot see. When fear is the blocker, more reps are not the answer; going back down the progression to rebuild trust is. See tumbling mental blocks.
Why we will not let athletes skip a rung
Parents sometimes ask why an athlete with a back handspring cannot start working tucks immediately. The answer is that a tuck launched from a weak handspring has no height, and a skill without height gets completed by throwing the head and hoping. That is how athletes get hurt and how bad habits get set that take longer to remove than they took to build.
The same logic governs twisting. A twist is added to a layout that is already finished. Twisting before the layout is complete produces a skill that goes sideways rather than over, and it is very difficult to correct later.
This is also why athletes do not throw advanced tumbling unsupervised. Open gym is always coach-supervised for exactly that reason.
How long does each skill take?
Honestly, it varies enormously by age, flexibility, strength, fear and attendance, and any gym quoting a fixed timeline is guessing. What is predictable is the shape of the curve: consistent weekly attendance plus repetition beats sporadic attendance at more classes, and athletes who address flexibility and strength alongside technique move faster than those who only drill the skill.
Open Gym is the cheapest accelerator available at $10 per session. It is where athletes drill what a coach corrected earlier in the week. Note that Open Gym is not included in the six-week class package.
Parent FAQ
What is a skills lab?
A class that spends its full length on one skill, with drills and equipment set up specifically for it.
Which Saturday lab should my athlete take?
The one matching the skill they are working right now. If you are unsure, ask a coach to watch them tumble.
Can my athlete take more than one lab?
Yes, and the Saturday labs run back to back so athletes can stack two. Pricing packages are available for three or more classes a week.
What do the abbreviations mean?
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, and FWO is front walkover.
Does my athlete need to be on a team?
No. Classes are open to athletes who are not on a Wellington Allstars team, with a one-time yearly registration fee of $50 for the first athlete and $25 per sibling.
What does a lab cost?
Six-week pricing is $95 for a 55-minute class and $75 for a 30-minute class. Adding a 30-minute class to a 55-minute class is $140 total, and two 30-minute classes is $120 total. Drop-ins are $20 and $15 with advance notice.
What if we miss a Saturday?
Notify us in advance and you will receive a make-up class within the current six-week session. One make-up pass is granted per session.
My athlete had a skill and lost it. Which class helps?
That is usually a mental block rather than a technique problem. A lab can help by rebuilding the progression, but talk to a coach first.
Keep reading
- Intro vs. Tech Work classes: which does my athlete need?
- Tumbling mental blocks: why athletes lose skills they had
- Beginner tumbling: what athletes learn in the first month
- What is Flight School? How cheer flyers learn to fly
Find the right lab
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. Our tumbling ladder runs from Beginner Tumble through Level 3 Technique, with Skills Lab Saturdays for concentrated work on a single skill.
Identify the one skill blocking your athlete, then book the lab that targets it. See the current lineup on our class schedule, or ask our coaching staff to assess where your athlete actually is on the ladder.