How to Do a Forward Roll in Gymnastics: Steps and Common Mistakes

A forward roll, also called a front roll, is a roll forward in a tight tuck. Squat with your hands flat on the mat, tuck your chin to your chest, lift your hips and push off your feet so the back of your head and your shoulders meet the mat, then roll through and stand up without using your hands. The top of your head should never touch the mat.

Contents

The Forward Roll at a Glance
Before You Try a Forward Roll
How to Do a Forward Roll, Step by Step
Drills for a Smoother Forward Roll
Common Forward Roll Mistakes and How to Fix Them
How Judges Score a Forward Roll
Practicing Safely
What Comes After the Forward Roll
Common Questions
Final Takeaway
Main Sources

It is one of the first skills in gymnastics: the floor routine of USA Gymnastics’ Level 1, the first level of its Development Program, includes a tucked forward roll. The steps below follow USA Gymnastics’ own description of the skill, and the drills and fixes cover the usual beginner problems: landing on the head, opening the tuck and pushing off the floor to stand up.

The Forward Roll at a Glance

Phase	What happens	What to aim for
Start	Squat with the hands flat on the mat just in front of the feet	Lean forward so the hands take some weight
Tuck the head	Chin to chest, back rounded	Eyes on your stomach, not the far wall
Roll	The hips lift, the feet push, and the back of the head and the shoulders touch the mat	Never the top of the head
Stay in a ball	Knees pulled to the chest, heels close to the seat	A tight tuck the whole way; the hands may hold the shins
Stand up	The feet land, the body leans forward over them, the legs straighten	No hands on the floor; arms reach forward and up

For a step drawing and short videos, see the forward roll in our moves library.

Before You Try a Forward Roll

A forward roll travels along a rounded back, so the shape to learn first is the tuck: knees and hips bent and pulled into the chest. Our guide to controlling the tuck position covers it, and the rocking drill below gets a beginner used to rolling along the back before trying the whole roll.

Use a gym mat or another soft, flat surface with clear space in front and to the sides. Young children learn best in a class, where a coach can check the head position from the first try; at home, an adult should be watching.

How to Do a Forward Roll, Step by Step

Squat at the end of the mat. Feet together, knees bent, arms reaching forward.
Put your hands down. Place them flat on the mat a little in front of your feet and lean forward so they take some of your weight.
Tuck your chin. Bring your chin to your chest and round your back, as if you were looking at your stomach.
Lift your hips and push. Raise your hips, then push off both feet. The back of your head and your shoulders touch the mat first; the top of your head never does.
Stay in a tight ball. Pull your knees to your chest and your heels toward your seat as you roll along your back. Holding your shins helps.
Stand up without your hands. As your feet reach the mat, lean forward over them into a squat, reach your arms forward and stand up tall with your arms up.

Forward & Backward Roll Drills — USA Gymnastics University Channel. Watch on YouTube.

What to watch: This USA Gymnastics University compilation includes both forward and backward rolls, with several mat setups. For this guide, concentrate on the forward-roll examples and compare the starting shape, the rounded path across the back and the finish on the feet. The drills are examples for a coach to choose from; they are not a sequence every beginner should copy. Use the tucked-roll steps above as your reference, since the video also includes other roll shapes.

Drills for a Smoother Forward Roll

Rocking in a tuck

Sit holding your shins with your chin tucked, rock back onto your shoulders, then forward onto your feet. When the rocking feels smooth, try to rock all the way up to a squat on your feet without putting your hands down. It trains the round back and the stand-up at the end of the roll.

Rolling down an incline mat

A wedge-shaped incline mat, often called a cheese mat, lets the slope help the rotation, so a beginner feels the whole roll and arrives on the feet. Our guide to gymnastics mats explains the different types.

Chin check

Hold a small soft toy or a rolled sock between your chin and your chest and keep it there through the roll. If it falls out early, the chin lifted.

Rolling on a line

Roll along a strip of tape or the seam of a mat, with one hand on each side of it. A roll that drifts sideways usually comes from uneven hands or one foot pushing harder than the other.

Common Forward Roll Mistakes and How to Fix Them

Mistake	What it looks like	How to fix it
Rolling onto the top of the head	The head lands first, the neck bends and the roll stalls	Tuck the chin before the hips lift; use the chin check and the rocking drill
Opening the tuck	The legs straighten and the roll ends sitting or lying flat	Pull the knees in and hold the shins all the way round
Pushing off the floor to stand	The hands press the mat to get up at the end	Lean forward over the feet and reach the arms forward; practice rocking up to stand
Rolling off to one side	The roll curves and finishes on one hip	Keep the hands level, push evenly from both feet and roll on a line
Not enough push	The roll stops halfway, on the back	Push harder from both feet; try the incline mat

How Judges Score a Forward Roll

In the USA Gymnastics compulsory levels, each skill in the routine has a set value and judges take deductions from it. The current compulsory routines (2021–2029) list these faults:

Level and skill	Value	Listed faults
Level 1 floor: forward roll, tucked	0.40	Not keeping the tuck during the roll: up to 0.20. Pushing off the floor with the hands to reach the squat: 0.30
Level 3 floor: handstand forward roll	0.60	Handstand not reaching vertical: up to 0.30. Legs not together at vertical: 0.10. Handstand not held for one second: up to 0.10. Pushing off the floor with the hands to reach the squat: 0.30

Pushing off the floor to stand up costs 0.30 at both levels, three quarters of what the Level 1 roll is worth. The tables also refer to USA Gymnastics’ general faults and penalties, which can be taken as well. Our guides to Level 1 gymnastics skills and Level 3 gymnastics skills cover the rest of each routine.

Practicing Safely

The head matters most. The roll goes over the back of the head and the shoulders, and the top of the head stays off the mat. If a roll lands on the head, or the neck hurts afterward, stop and tell a coach or parent.

The American Academy of Pediatrics lists proper supervision and spotting among its tips for preventing gymnastics injuries. A helper shouldn’t push a child over to finish a roll; hands-on help is a coach’s job, and our guide to what spotting is explains what to expect. Handstand forward rolls and rolls that start from a jump or a dive are learned in a gym, with a coach and proper mats.

What Comes After the Forward Roll

The backward roll goes the other way and is part of the Level 1 floor routine too. In USA Gymnastics’ Level 1 text, the hands go down by the shoulders, fingers pointing toward the shoulders, and push against the floor to take weight off the head and neck. The backward roll entry in our moves library shows the steps.

Later the forward roll starts from a handstand: at Level 3 the gymnast holds the handstand for a second, then rolls out to stand. That version is learned with a coach once the handstand is steady; our guide to doing a handstand covers the shape it starts from.

Common Questions

Should your head touch the mat in a forward roll?

The back of your head can touch as your shoulders come down: USA Gymnastics’ description places the back of the head and the shoulders on the floor. The top of your head should never touch the mat.

Is a forward roll the same as a somersault?

In everyday speech, many people call a forward roll a somersault. In gymnastics the word usually means a salto, a flip in the air, so coaches say forward roll or front roll for the move on the mat.

Why do I end up sitting instead of standing?

Usually the tuck opens or the push from the feet is too soft, so the roll runs out of speed. Keep your knees pulled in and push harder from both feet.

What level is a forward roll in gymnastics?

In USA Gymnastics’ Development Program, the tucked forward roll is a Level 1 floor skill, and Level 3 floor does it from a handstand.

Final Takeaway

To do a forward roll, squat with your hands on the mat, tuck your chin, lift your hips and push off your feet so you roll over the back of your head and shoulders, then stay in a tight ball and stand up without your hands.

Judges look for the same things a coach does: a tuck held all the way round and a stand-up without pushing off the floor. Rocking in a tuck and rolling down an incline mat help the roll finish on your feet. Whatever the drill, the top of your head stays off the mat.