A trust fall is an activity in which a person deliberately falls, trusting the members of a group (spotters) to catch them. It has also at times been considered a popular
team-building
Team building is a collective term for various types of activities used to enhance social relations and define roles within teams, often involving collaborative tasks. It is distinct from team training, which is designed by a combine of business ...
exercise in corporate training events.
There are many variants of the trust fall. In one type, the group stands in a circle, with one person in the middle with arms folded against his chest and falls in various directions, being pushed by the group back to a standing position before falling again. In another variant, a person stands on an elevated position (such as a stage, stepping stool or tree stump) and relies on multiple people to catch them. This variant is potentially more dangerous and often leads to injuries.
The trust fall was a popular activity conducted as a part of corporate team building activities. However, it fell out of favor due to the legal liabilities associated with the trust fall and the fact that it is known to cause traumatic brain injury when the catcher or catchers fail at their task. Furthermore, while the fall may establish trust in the exercise, "there is little evidence that this trust spills over into day-to-day life".
See also
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Crowd surfing
Crowd surfing is the process in which a person is passed overhead from person to person (often during a concert), transferring the person from one part of the venue to another. The "crowd surfer" is passed above everyone's heads, with everyone's ...
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Stage diving
Stage diving is the act of leaping from a concert stage onto the crowd below, which occasionally causes serious injuries. It is often the precursor to crowd surfing.
Long before the word was invented, public stagediving took place during the fir ...
References
Human resource management
Games of physical skill
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