Twisting Direction vs Pirouetting Direction

[ihraxhunnie]

blantonnicks post has helped me most honestly. i like the more common analogies of turning a steering wheel. the optic and all the other articles almost left me more confused than i was when first arriving upon the question of which way do i turn and why does it feel more comfortable going left when i'm a righty?


in simple words - thanks.

[Valentin]

HUmm blantonnicks interesting points. I for one am not a great fan of the twisting directions topic, but glad to read on what others think. To me it make perfect sense to use ones dominant arm to create the twist..or to try to initiate the harder/faster wrap action.
I know the Chinease still! use the twist to the left don't care who you are rule. Seems to work for them, then again we only see the ones it works for haha.

Why does it feel more comfortable going left when you are a righty? Well that is a good question and i dont think anyone can give you a good scientific reason, the easy answer is definitely because you percive that motion more comfortable.

I think that twisting rules are a little over exagerated. I think that you should twist whatever way feels right to you, and the twisiting same way as front and back rule goes, i dont know how much inbuilt safety that causes, and i would like to reasoning behind that..
To me it makes perfect sense to allow a gymnast to twist whatever way feels right to them in back and front. Take a Back layout with a 3/1 punch front layout 1/1. How does twisting in the same direction increaase the safety. If anything i think it would encourage dropping of the shoulders im preparation of the front twist..kinda like rolling out of in it rather then having to square of your front take off.

Same story as the pirouetting, If you feel comfortable turning to the left turn to the left regardless of how you twist. Reason being that there is soooo few instance where it might become a problem it dont even matter (if it means you will be a better piroutter for it in general). I also agree on blinds to continue in the same direction of the turn so that it smooth and continuous that is vital.

I for one don't think i have come across anyone who has presented good evidence for twisting rules. The whole right handed so you should twist right or anything like that don't sound right.
On rule actually that i so kind of agree with is that if you round of to the left (left foot forward) (i see that as left turn) it might be a good idea to twist to the twist to the left..but that don't reallllly matter unless you really plan on doing round-off the something twist. In which case if aren't rushing to do the twist of the floor then it doesn't really even matter.

I don't know i just don't great logic behind hindering natural favouratism in direction. Its like asking a right hander to throw with the left hand.. it will happen and it can improve but its just extra work for nothing.

Ideas, suggestions? I am i wrong? why? etc...

[CoachL]

Quote:
I think that you should twist whatever way feels right to you, and the twisiting same way as front and back rule goes, i dont know how much inbuilt safety that causes, and i would like to reasoning behind that.. To me it makes perfect sense to allow a gymnast to twist whatever way feels right to them in back and front. Take a Back layout with a 3/1 punch front layout 1/1. How does twisting in the same direction increaase the safety.

I may be not taking this quote properly. But you can't teach a kid to twist front and back in different directions if you ever want to introduce multiple flip and twisting skills. Its impossible to do a skill like a half in full out if you twist in opposite directions.

[blantonnick]

blantonnicks post has helped me most honestly. i like the more common analogies of turning a steering wheel. the optic and all the other articles almost left me more confused than i was when first arriving upon the question of which way do i turn and why does it feel more comfortable going left when i'm a righty?


in simple words - thanks.



No problem....just remember this is not an iron clad rule that must be followed...when it comes down to it, do what is natural. There are plenty of tricks in the Code to choose from that will accomodate everyone!!!!

[Valentin]

Hi CoachL

humm.. you do have a point for the skill you mention 1/2 in full out. Twisting in opposite direction would definitely make things harder. However, i for one have never seen 1/2 in full out. i suppose Diego Hypolito arabian full out could! be an instance where twisting in opposite directions is a pain, but its definitely not impossible. If you nothing he initiates the twist quite seprately from the salto, its not like everything is merging. So really he could have twisted either way.
I am not diagreeing here with you, i think you do raise a valid point, i am just exploring the topic a little.
If we look at current trends in gymnastics i raelly dont think that twisting opposite ways will have any impact on any of the athletes haha.. so i dont think we can say that being such a twister is a problem. I have heard that when people do double doubles twisting in opposite directions can be problematic as it causes some disorientation, however don't know how true that is.
However. in the quote/example i gave it was regarding twisting salto connections. There is raelly dont think twisting in opposite directions is a problem. However i am would agree that generaly if you twist one way in your front tumbling you tend to twist the other in your back tumbling.

Interesting stuff..humm.. but how useful is it?

[cccam]

im not quite understanding this. I twist everything to the right. I read that article and everything it says gymnasts should do, is what feels correct to me. I can really comprehend anyone twisting things and pirouetting in two seperate ways.

i twist fulls to the right
and when i do handstand pirouettes i move my left hand first.
my roundoff starts with my right foot and i put my right hand down first.

it doesn't make sense for a gymnast to twist the wrong way because when you try to twist the other way, it just doesn't feel the same and you have to go with your natural instinct

the tests in that article is pointless because by having a gymnast actually do the skill, you'll find out what way their body tells them to twist

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Quote:
Originally Posted by cccam im not quite understanding this. I twist everything to the right. I read that article and everything it says gymnasts should do, is what feels correct to me. I can really comprehend anyone twisting things and pirouetting in two seperate ways. i twist fulls to the right and when i do handstand pirouettes i move my left hand first. my roundoff starts with my right foot and i put my right hand down first.

Haha, actually, you're a perfect example of this: your roundoff twists the opposite direction of all your other skills. If your roundoff starts with the right foot, your body is actually turning to the left.

I agree with what you're saying though; I just let my gymnasts twist whichever way feels more comfortable to them.

[lannamavity]

You know, while Carter has some good points, I think that his frustration with teaching a giant-hop-full is a weak reason for forcing a kid to twist and pirouette in the same direction. Once in a while, the justification for his theories make no sense to me.

I don't think that twisting and pirouetting are that closely related, especially for women. I'm inclined to think that the consequences for messing with an athlete's natural tendencies aren't worth the fight.

As long as all twisting goes the same direction forward and backward, and all blind changes and pirouettes are done in the same direction, pirouettes/twisting/roundoffs don't need to correspond to eachother. In fact, it may be better to separate the two concepts.

Bottom line is that there is no "right way" because someone always comes along and breaks all the rules.

[CoachL]

Quote:
humm.. you do have a point for the skill you mention 1/2 in full out.

Oops sometimes I should probably go back and read what I type, I meant to say half in / half out.

[ihraxhunnie]

Quote:
Originally Posted by cccam im not quite understanding this. I twist everything to the right. I read that article and everything it says gymnasts should do, is what feels correct to me. I can really comprehend anyone twisting things and pirouetting in two seperate ways. i twist fulls to the right and when i do handstand pirouettes i move my left hand first. my roundoff starts with my right foot and i put my right hand down first. it doesn't make sense for a gymnast to twist the wrong way because when you try to twist the other way, it just doesn't feel the same and you have to go with your natural instinct the tests in that article is pointless because by having a gymnast actually do the skill, you'll find out what way their body tells them to twist

see the difference between you and someone like me is that you already have your full and you've already decided which way is comfortable. for me i have no clue which way is comfortable for me. i find it extremely difficult to twist either way. honestly i feel just stupid to twisting it's quite frustrating. but i am a righty and do all of my twisting jumps on beam to the left. on vault i do half on half off twisting right onto the vault and left off.