Double mini trampoline, sometimes referred to as double mini or DMT, is a
Gymnastics
Gymnastics is a type of sport that includes physical exercises requiring balance, strength, flexibility, agility, coordination, dedication and endurance. The movements involved in gymnastics contribute to the development of the arms, legs, s ...
discipline within
trampolining
Trampolining or trampoline gymnastics is a competitive Olympic sport in which athletes perform acrobatics while bouncing on a trampoline. In competition, these can include simple jumps in the straight, pike, tuck, or straddle position to more c ...
. Participants perform acrobatic skills on an apparatus smaller than a regular competition trampoline. The apparatus has both an angled section and a flat section.
Unlike individual trampoline, where scoring is predominantly determined by Execution, Time of Flight and Difficulty, the Difficulty in DMT plays a more prominent role in the final score.
A DMT routine or pass consist of two phases. The first phase is called a "mount"; during this phase the athlete jumps onto the angled part and flips off of it onto the flat part. The first phase can also be performed by jumping, without flips or twist, onto the flat part and then commencing the first flip or twist. In this case the first phase is called a "spotter". The second phase starts on the flat part and is called a "dismount"; the athlete lands the first flipping sequences from phase one and immediately launches into a second series of flips and twists before landing on a mat.
The athletes are judged on Difficulty and Execution.
There are both Individual and Team competitions in the sport.
DMT is governed by the FIG, the
International Federation of Gymnastics
The International Gymnastics Federation (French: Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique, FIG) is the body governing all disciplines of competitive gymnastics. Its headquarters is in Lausanne, Switzerland. It was founded on July 23, 1881, i ...
, and is included as an event within Trampoline Gymnastics. Although not an
Olympic
Olympic or Olympics may refer to
Sports
Competitions
* Olympic Games, international multi-sport event held since 1896
** Summer Olympic Games
** Winter Olympic Games
* Ancient Olympic Games, ancient multi-sport event held in Olympia, Greece b ...
event yet, Elite DMT athletes compete at International level and can compete in various events organised by the FIG as well as at the
World Games
The World Games are an international multi-sport event comprising sports and sporting disciplines that are not contested in the Olympic Games. They are usually held every four years, one year after a Summer Olympic Games, over the course of 11 ...
.
History
DMT can be sourced back to 1970 when its inventor
Robert F Bollingerand
George Nissen George Peter Nissen (1914 – 2010) was an American gymnast and inventor who developed the modern trampoline and made trampolining a worldwide sport and recreation.
Background
Born on February 3, 1914, in Blairstown, Iowa, Nissen became a keen ...
combined two
Mini trampolines with a small table and mat to cover in between. Later Robert F Bollinger combined the two Mini trampolines to create one 430 cm long Double Mini Trampoline and also designed the rules for competition and terms such as the mounter and spotter passes and he established its own difficulty system roughly based on the system used for diving.
Robert F Bollinger was part of George Nissen's trampoline act and just as Nissen can be seen as the father of
trampoline
A trampoline is a device consisting of a piece of taut, strong fabric stretched between a steel frame using many coiled springs. Not all trampolines have springs, as the Springfree Trampoline uses glass-reinforced plastic rods. People bounce ...
, Robert F Bollinger can be seen as the father of Double Mini Trampoline.
The first record of a Double mini competition comes from the Trampoline Gymnastics World Age Group Competitions in 1973 held in
London
London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...
, England.
Athletes competing had little experience in the new apparatus and Robert F Bollinger jumped in and provided personal training on the Friday afternoon for the athletes wishing to compete the following day.
Double mini was first introduced into the
Trampoline World Championships
The Trampoline and Tumbling Gymnastics World Championships are the world championships for trampoline gymnastics including Double mini trampoline and Tumbling (gymnastics). They were originally held annually from 1964–1968. The frequency was ...
, only six years after its invention, in the
1976, 9th Trampoline World Championships in
Tulsa
Tulsa () is the second-largest city in the state of Oklahoma and 47th-most populous city in the United States. The population was 413,066 as of the 2020 census. It is the principal municipality of the Tulsa Metropolitan Area, a region with ...
.
The DMT as we see it today is wider than the one Robert F Bollinger and George Nissen first created, and the change came mid 1990 when Horst Kunze, then President of the FIG Trampoline Technical Committee, asked Eurotramp Trampoline company if they could produce a DMT with a wider frame. This resulted in a wider DMT with a bed of 92 cm, which Horst Kunze states gave a real boost to the discipline. Since then this has been the international standard.
Skills
Some common skills performed at international level competitions are:
''A Comprehensive list of skills can be found in FIG Code of Point Difficulty.''
Full-In Full-Out
''Also known as Double-Twisting Double Back''
A somersault commonly used as a dismount in which the athlete takes off traveling backwards and does a double somersault with a double twist, full twist in the first somersault and full twist in the second somersault. This skill can be performed ether tucked, piked or straight.
Triple Back Somersault
A somersault commonly used as a dismount in which the athlete takes off traveling backwards and does a triple somersault. This skill can be performed either tucked, piked or, uncommonly, straight.
Miller
''Also known as Full in Double-Full Out or Triple-Twisting Double back''
A somersault used as a dismount in which the athlete takes off traveling backwards and does a double somersault with a triple twist. This skill is named after world champion
Wayne Miller (USA).
This skill can be performed ether tucked, piked or straight.
Full-In Half-Out
''Also known as Full-Half, Full-In Barani-Out or Full-Barani''
A somersault commonly used as a mount in which the athlete takes off traveling forwards and does a double somersault with a one and a half twist, full twist in the first somersault and half twist in the second somersault. This skill can be performed ether tucked, piked or straight.
Fliffis
''Also known as Half-Out''
A somersault commonly used as a mount in which the athlete takes off traveling forwards and does a double somersault with a half twist, no twist in the first somersault and half twist in the second somersault. This skill can be performed ether tucked, piked or straight.
Triffis
''Also known as Half-out Triffis or 'Triff
A somersault commonly used as a mount in which the athlete takes off traveling forwards and does a triple somersault with a half twist, no twist in the first two somersaults and a half twist in the third somersault. This skill can be performed either tucked or piked.
FIG Code of Point Difficulty
The difficulty in double mini is based upon a bonus system, where the number of rotation and twists are multiplied and then the position is added.
The positions are tuck, pike and straight which are represented by "O" for Tuck, "<" for Pike and "/" for Straight
The FIG numeric system works as follows, first number is the amount of 1/4-rotations second number is the amount of 1/2-twist, the twists are divided into where in the skill they occur.
''Example:'' Full-In Half-Out (8 2 1) has a total of 8 1/4-rotations corresponding to the first 8 then it has 2 1/2-twits in the first somersault corresponding to the 2 and 1 1/2-twits the second somersault corresponding to the 1
FIG World Championship results
Men's Individual
Result are correct according to FIG's database as well as official records from the competition
Women's Individual
''**Bianca Budler and Bianca Zoonekynd is the same person''
Result are correct according to FIG's database as well as official records from the competition
References
{{reflist
Trampolining
Gymnastics