The Twisties!!!

Conditioning Gymnastics Strength Stretch Technique

What are the twisties? Who gets them? What is the cause? How do you fix them?

         The “twisties” is a phenomonen that only happens to a few gymnasts, trampolinists and tumblers. It happens when the athlete is attempting a non-twisting salto or double salto and the “twisty” happens most often when he/she is in the straight position. The athlete is attempting to do a back straight, a whipback or a double layout and he/she suddenly twists without meaning to. This is frightening to both performer and coach and can be quite dangerous as the athlete can be seriously injured.

         The athletes most likely to get the “twisties” are those who have progressed very quickly and perhaps have not completely mastered all of the possible progressions for that particular skill, and may not have developed a good sense of body shape, body awareness and proprioperception.

         It takes only a very slight deviation from total symmetry to produce a twist during a flipping rotation in the straight body shape. An arm, leg, head or body not in the symmetrical plane will cause the twist.

         You must go back to the very beginning and carefully go through all the progressions taking care to ensure that the athlete understands and masters the concepts of symmetry during the flipping rotation. Start with 1/4 flips and progress until you reach the trick in question.

 Written by George Hery


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