I started trampolining when I was six. I’m the youngest of five, and all three of my sisters did gymnastics. Once, when we were bouncing on the trampoline in our back garden, I accidentally did a tuck-back – basically, a backflip. My mum was worried I’d get injured, so she took me to classes. I’ve now represented Great Britain at three world championships.

A typical competition routine consists of 10 moves. There are a lot of elements the judges are looking at, including how high you jump, where you land on the trampoline, your shape and the difficulty of the routine. I’m usually pretty out of breath after finishing: 10 times you push yourself as high as you can in the air, spinning as hard as you can.

When you’re at the top of the jump, there’s a brief feeling of weightlessness. Everything slows down, everything is calm and it feels like you’re flying. It’s amazing. Then, on your way back down, you can feel the air rushing back up. We jump so high that, when we hit the trampoline, we experience the same amount of G-force as a Formula One driver going around a corner.

It feels great, but it puts a lot of stress on your bones and muscles. I’m currently recovering from a stress fracture in my right foot. The stronger you are, the higher you can jump and the easier it is to hold your positions, so I do a lot of strength and conditioning training – gym-based workouts that target specific muscles.

My friends think it’s cool. I show them videos and they’re like: “Wow, what was that flippy, twisty thing?” This year, Bryony Page won a silver medal at the Rio Olympics – Britain’s first in trampolining. That was amazing to watch. A lot of people see trampolining as a way to muck around in the garden; now they can see there’s actually a whole sport behind it. Hopefully that will inspire a lot more people to get involved.

My weekend workout

How often do you train? Four to five times a week.

Proudest achievement? Winning a silver medal in my age group at the 2014 world championships.

Hardest move? A Miller – a double backwards somersault with three full twists.

Five ways to get started

1 If you wanted to jump on flat ground, you’d bend your knees slightly and push into the floor. It’s the same in trampolining: keeping a slight flex in your legs, push the trampoline down, which in turn will push you up.

2 The key thing is to land with flat feet: this gives you a greater surface area in contact with the equipment, so you can push the trampoline properly and gain more height.

3 The trampolines we use have small holes on the surface and you don’t want to catch your toes in them. Olympic gymnasts wear specialist shoes; for beginners, thick socks are a must.

4 Trampoline gymnastics isn’t just for kids. The adult classes I used to run in Sheffield had a waiting list. It’s one of the best forms of full-body fitness you can do, and it’s great fun.

5 The best way to learn is in a club under supervision. Things can go wrong, so it’s better to do it in the safest environment possible. Visit the British Gymnastics website to find your nearest club.

Paul Greaves, British Gymnastics master coach

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