Stretching for Aerials blog post 5

          Hello! Thank you for coming back to my blog. This will be my final blog post! For my 5th blog post I'm not focusing on how to do my aerial, I am showing stretches recommended by Jeff Savage from Gymnastics Skills, Tips, and Tricks. It is a given that flexibility is very important in gymnastics, It's also very crucial you stretch to keep your flexibility also warm up your muscles so you don't pull one.

          Stretching is a key factor to be able to do tricks. You want to spend plenty of time stretching so your body can form in many ways. The reason I wanted to focus on stretching was because I know it is important, but I never stretch before doing tricks. Since I have been able to do most of the tricks I know for a long time, I don't feel the need for stretching. I am interested to see if stretching before doing my aerial would change and make doing aerials easier. Jeff Savage talks on how you must warm up first (Savage 42). Savage has many good ideas for stretching and warm up. He started off by saying "You need to get your heart pumping and blood flowing. Warm up with some jumping jacks or a light jog around the gym" (Savage 43). I used Savage's idea by doing 50 jumping jacks. This really got my heart racing and ready to stretch. Savage talks on how you must do splits, lungs, and neck rolls (Savage 43). Jeff Savage specifically explains how to do one of theses stretches by saying "Take a wide stance. Reach down and touch the floor" (Savage 43).  For stretching, I did that as well as all splits, rolling my neck and back stretches. While reading and analyzing the quotes, I was guessed these ideas would help me get over better in my aerial. After stretching, I was ready to try doing an aerial. 

          After stretching I tried doing an aerial and honestly there wasn't an aerial and honestly there wasn't a difference. I still got over perfectly fine, but not any better. Even though it didn't change my aerial, I decided I am still going to do this before I flip. The stretching felt really good and can help prevent from injury. Also stretching can help you from not being sore the next day which i like a lot! From past knowledge, I know stretching before and after you workout or do any physical activity is key for preventing soreness. Along with drinking water and coconut water. 

          I would like to thank you all so much for tuning into my blogs! It has been very fun sharing my passion for dance and gymnastics with you all! Thank you again for following me on this journey!

What tricks can you do? What's your favorite stretch?

Savage, Jeff. Gymnastics Skills, Tips, and Tricks. Enslow Publishers, Inc., 2012. 

Air Time in Aerial (blog post #4)

          Hello everyone! Welcome back to my bog. If you have never been to my blog, the purpose of my blog is to fix techniques in my aerial while in the air. This time I chose to fix what is did in the air. In the book Gymnastics Skills, Tips, and Tricks by Jeff Savage, there are many ideas to what to be working on mid-flight. I mostly focused on my head and arms. Throughout these blogs I have changed a lot about my aerial and have kept those changes. They have made my aerial a lot easier and I can see/feel a tremendous difference. One thins I was curious about was my mind air position. I never really focused on that, I only paid attention to getting over. 

          Author Jeff Savage, talks on body position as well as where your head should be in an aerial. As far as your body position you should be in a basic "straight" position in the air. The straight position is basically a pencil torso with scissor legs (Savage 6). Jeff Savage describes this in detail by saying "Hold your arms to your side, stand straight, hold your body tight by squeezing your muscles" (Savage 6). I believe the straight position is used to whip you around the fasted while making the trick look effortless and clean. The second technique to focus on in the air is your head position. Similar to blog post three, you have to spot, but this time you spot the ground. It is very important important to spot the ground in acrobatic tricks (Savage 12). Savage goes in to a deeper understanding of this by saying "Make sure you look down to see where you are going, At the the top of the move, you should be completely apart" (Savage 13).  I think this idea has a good concept but personally I'm guessing this won't help me. I feel the head position described would make me bend more backwards when the trick is suppose to be in a straight line. I sounds very dangerous.

          After trying these new techniques, there were a few problems. Like I had guessed, having your head arched back makes it nearly impossible to do an aerial. I couldn't take a picture because I put my hands down every time because it felt so uncomfortable and risky. To prevent injury, I decided to stop. For some people, this technique could have been helpful, which is why Jeff Savage wrote about it. On a good note, keeping my hands by my side looked very clean! It felt very comfortable and helped me whip a round fast.  

          My aerial is now very clean with all the changes made through this book! I am very pleased will the the results and feel all aspects of my aerial has been recognized and progressively gotten better. With this, my next blog will be on something other then flipping! Tune into my next blog post when I steer away from tricks and try something new!

What are your favorite stretches? What stretches do you think would be most helpful for aerials?

Savage, Jeff. Gymnastics Skills, Tips, and Tricks. Enslow Publishers, Inc., 2012.

Technique #3 Changing Run Up into aerial pt 2

         Welcome to my third blog! In my last blog, I went over what this blog was going to be on but for a recap, this is going to be changing my run up part two! There were two techniques in the book that I wanted to try, one was last blog and this is the second one. The second run up will be a chaines turn!

          The book this blog is based on, Top 25 gymnastics skills, tips, and tricks by Jeff Savage, had a lot of great information on chaines turns and using them as a run up. Instead of an actual run, a chaines is a type of turn. I chose to focus to focus on this because in a dance routine, a turn could look better than just running up. "A chaines is a three point turn that on the third step you use as a prep in to your aerial. The last step you need to make sure you do into a deep plie so you have enough power to do your aerial. Since you are turning in to it, it is very important to spot." (Savage 24). I think this will help me work on my strength in my aerial. Using just 2 steps and one prep takes a lot of strength for this chaines turn. Spotting is picking a point on the wall (or whatever you're facing) and looking at that point as you turn until your head cant reach to look at in anymore then whipping it around and continuing to turn and find that same spot (Savage 25). Spotting is very important when you add a trick after turning because it will help you not become as dizzy.

          Trying out this technique,  I went to  Metropolitan Gym. Using this skill was so far the most helpful. I would have never thought of turning into an aerial, but it comes very helpful in dance. Doing it on spring based gymnastics floor actually didn't effect the out come. I tried it on regular gym floor and dance floor and all three had the same positive outcome. I spotted hard so I didn't get dizzy and I noticed it worked really well. I tried not spotting and my aerial wasn't as strong and it was harder to do. Though it looks very nice it does take a lot more strength. In the book, Top 25 gymnastics skills, tips, and tricks, there are multiple workouts to help build up the strength needed. Even when I did spot, it still took a lot of strength. As you can see in the pictures, my head is pretty close to the ground compared to last week (you can see photos from then in my last blog), but i still feel very comfortable using this technique. It has changed me as a dancer/gymnast because it has made me gain more strength.

          Thank you so much for reading my blog! I'd like to end with the question of, what do you think the most used muscle is in an aerial? Why do you think the book says it takes so much strength to do this trick?


Savage, Jeff. Top 25 Gymnastics Skills, Tips, and Tricks. Enslow Publishers, Inc., 2012.

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.

Gifty Minhas- Soccer Tricks (Final)

Gifty Minhas

Ms. Meara

Honors English Period 4

Soccer Tricks

Hello everyone, and welcome to my final blog post. These blog posts have really helped me track my progress of learning new, challenging, and exciting tricks. I never thought keeping a blog about a hobby would help out so much, in fact, this blog has helped me to receive criticism, look at my mistakes and correct them, and also simply see the process of learning new tricks. Sean D'arcy, the author of Freestyle Soccer Tricks, has really helped me to learn tricks I never thought could be done. The clear step-by-step instructions make learning all the glamorous tricks simple and a matter of a little practice. Focusing on the juggling aspect of soccer has helped my overall play in game also, it now allows me to be even more confident on the ball and relaxed in pressure because I can rely on skill and keep my poise. Now, getting to the final trick, I've decided to go back to a more fundamental trick from the book that is very useful to prepare for volleys and shots. The trick is called the Heel Pop.

1. "Stand shoulder width apart with your body directly behind the ball. Maintain focus on the center of the ball" (D'arcy 58) 
2. "Bring your stronger leg to the front of the ball and twist your standing heel towards the ball" (D'arcy 59)
3. "Backheel the ball onto your standing heel while simultaneously twisted your heel a little to pop the ball up and set up for a shot or volley" (D'arcy 60)

   

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   Final Question: Did you guys find these blog posts cool or interesting?
   
    

Trent DeLucia: Teaching Your Dog Tricks 3

I decided to let my family choose the topic for my final blog post.  They all simultaneously agreed that "shaking hands" would be the most amusing.  I didn't want to let them down so of course I took on the challenge.  Luckily there was an entire section from the book Do As I Do, by Claudia Fugazza, dedicated to this trick in particular:

"I advise teaching your dog how to sit before shaking hands.  This will make the process of shaking a lot easier and smoother.  Once your dog to knows how to sit, you are ready to train (Fugazza 51)."
Fugazza, Claudia. "Imitation." Do as I Do: Using Social Learning to Train Dogs. Wenatchee: Dogwise, 2014. 51. Print.

This trick was a lot easier than I first suspected because half of it is teaching your dog how to sit (which I previously taught Bear).  The reason for this is because for dogs to "shake hands" they can't be on all four's.  I can now move on to the procedures listed for this trick:

"Shake:

1. Tell your dog to sit
2. Show them the treat that they will receive after they are sitting (so they don't think you're rewarding them to sit)
3. Grab one of their paws (Note: you must grab the same one each attempt)
4. Tell him/her 'shake'
5. Shake their paw up and down 3-4 times
6. Reward with treat

You'll know your dog has learned the trick when they offer their paw when they hear the word 'shake' (Fugazza 51)."
Fugazza, Claudia. "Imitation." Do as I Do: Using Social Learning to Train Dogs. Wenatchee: Dogwise, 2014. 51. Print.

Bear successfully completed this trick (without me having to shake his paw for him) after only three attempts!  I was very surprised yet pleased by this result.  I would have never suspected that the most entertaining trick would be the easiest to teach.  This is proof that the more Bear is taught, the easier it is for him to learn.  Is it common for dogs to learn faster with the more training they receive?

Gifty Minhas- Soccer Tricks (#4)

Gifty Minhas

Ms. Meara

Honors English Period 4

Soccer Tricks

Hey everyone! As you all know, tricks are meant to captivate and make you say 'Woah!', and unless the trick can make you think that, the trick isn't really a trick. This is why I changed it a little again this week from last week. Last post I went to a more fundamental trick that can help you to prepare for in-game situations. This week I'm going to a trick that may not seem very challenging, but the exact contact of the ball on your foot is key to pull of the trick. The trick is known as The Olympic in Freestyle Soccer Tricks, but more commonly known as the Around the World.

The Olympic is a difficult trick because it requires the ball to be hit in the perfect spot on the perfect spot on your foot. The ball must be hit on the outside of your foot so the ball spins in the air. This spinning effect of the ball makes it move in the direction opposite to where your leg is going, allowing your leg to circle the ball in the air and continue juggling. Unless all of these areas are done correctly, your leg will never go around the ball in time to keep it juggling. Hopefully this trick is sounding fairly difficult. After I learned the trick, I decided to make it a little more difficult more replacing a normal soccer ball with a small, hard-to-control tennis ball. 

1. "Place your stronger foot on top of the ball and use it to pull back and flick the ball to juggle" (D'arcy 61)
2. "On the second or third juggle, slice under the ball and quickly bring your leg around it" (D'arcy 62)
3. "Hit the ball with your foot as it is dropping and continue juggling" (D'arcy 63)

   

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   Step three

Question: Should I stick with a soccer ball or continue using a tennis ball for a lot more added difficulty (and a lot more hours to do the trick)?

Gifty Minhas- Soccer Tricks (#3)

Gifty Minhas

Ms. Meara 

Honors English Period 4

Soccer Tricks 

Hello everyone! Hopefully you guys have all had a relaxing break and are ready for some more soccer tricks. This week I wanted to bring it back to a more fundamental trick. The reason I chose to not go the crazy trick route is because I remembered my main goal in these tricks. My main goal is to focus on tricks that will actually help my in-game ability in soccer matches. Many juggling tricks are useful for practicing for real game situations and one example is the simple Side Roll.

The Side Roll, a juggling trick featured in Sean D'arcy's book Freestyle Soccer Tricks, is useful for actual games for many reasons. Although the trick is not typically used directly in a game, the movement required for the trick is very helpful. The trick requires the use of the soles of your feet, the inside part of your foot, and the laces of the shoe. These three area's are very important in soccer and are the most frequently used. The involvement of these three significant area's makes the Side Roll a fairly simple yet greatly helping trick.

1. "Start with both feet on the ground. The ball should be just a little bit to your stronger side, with your stronger foot on top of it." (D'arcy, 70)
2. "Roll the ball as fast as you can so that the ball hits the inside of your weaker foot" (D'arcy, 71)
3. "Swing your stronger foot under the ball when it bounces up off the inside of your weaker foot" (D'arcy, 72) 

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My question for the day: is it a good approach to do tricks that may be simple but help on field? 

Gifty Minhas- Soccer Tricks (#2

Gifty Minhas

Ms. Meara

Honors English Period 4

Soccer Tricks


Hey everyone! As you all know I am on a journey to improve my juggling skills in soccer because I feel like I need to improve in this area the most. The weather hasn't been perfect for some soccer but that's another thing I love about soccer, the weather doesn't need to be perfect to play. Last post I asked all of you guys if I should increase the difficulty of tricks I am learning, and almost everyone responded that I should increase the difficulty, so I did. The next trick I learned in Freestyle Soccer Tricks is the Back of the Neck Catch. This trick is probably one of the most popular tricks around the world because it involves not just your legs but also your back. The trick may look easy, but it requires very good balance and you have to time the catch perfectly. Also, to make the trick a little harder I hit the ball up with my foot instead of throwing it up with my hands. 

1. "Start with the ball in your hands. Throw it just above head height so that, if you don't move, the ball will drop straight into your hands" (D'arcy, 81). Here I hit the ball up with my foot for added difficulty. 
2. "Keep watching the ball all the time. Just as it is coming down to about the height of your head, drop into the hold so that the ball will hit the back of your neck" (D'arcy, 82)
3. "When the ball touches the back of your neck, bend your knees. This way you'll cushion the impact and the ball will nestle gently into the hold" (D'arcy, 83)

Step 1

Step 2

Step 3 

Hopefully you guys all found this trick a little more entertaining to watch than the last one. I'll leave everyone with this: In which ways do you believe these tricks could be made even cooler?