technique 1 'step out' in Aerial

          Hi everyone! Over these few months I will be blogging on new techniques to help my aerial. For those who don't know, an aerial is basically a cart wheel but with no hands. They can be used in gymnastics, dance, or just for fun. When I was in fourth grade I taught myself how to do one in my front yard and it has stuck ever since. I thought it would be a good idea to learn different techniques so that I could improve and use it in dance. Being a part of the chats at Kentridge I have to do many tricks and using better techniques will help me make my aerial more clean (look more put together).  I read the book Gymnastic Skills, tips, and Tricks by Jeff Savage. It was a very interesting book for me because i go to see different techniques to do tricks that I would have never tried before. His book gave me the inspiration of my first correction in my aerial. 

          The first technique from the book Gymnastics Skills, Tips, and Tricks, is changing my step out. The 'step out' is basically your landing. I usually do my aerial by landing one foot the opposite way from my start then rotating 180 degrees to face the same way I started. In the book it says how you should body should be in scissor position. The author explains how you should rotate as you would in a cart wheel, (like how I did before but without the turn around) facing the opposite direction as started (13). In the book, the author says, "Land in a step out, hold your feet a few inches apart. Most important, bend your knees slightly while landing" (Savage 13). Through this technique I learned to change my step out. I end my aerial as the book says by facing the same way you started. 

          By using this new technique it helps me be able to add tricks. In the images below you see that I do my tricks and land just as the quote said to. I found this technique to be easier on even ground like regular wood gym floor. Landing with your knees slightly bent helps so your knees don't lock or snap. Doing it on uneven ground, like sand, was harder because while prepping you would sink into the sand. Once I  get more familiar with the technique, it should be easiest over all.  

Question: Do you think that my original and new technique take different amounts of strength? 

  

Savage, Jeff. Gymnastics Skills, Tips, and Tricks. Berkeley Heights, NJ.: Enslow, 2012. Print.