Twisty Turny — It’s a progression — Part 3

Hi All,

Okay, so this is the 3rd (well really the 4th) installment of this segment of drills for pirouettes (Part 1, Part 2, Blind changes). Every time I write one of these I realize how many pirouetting drills there are, THOUSANDS. While the stuff I have shown and will show you is great, it isn’t always necessary to do ALL of it. Find the drills that you teach well, and that seem to click with your kids. Write down the drills you find most effective and make a pirouette complex out of that. It will do wonders for your kids.

This first drill is one I REALLY like especially for those kids that turn really late and complete their pirouettes somewhere near horizontal. A lot of the time coaches have gymnasts pirouette and fall to their stomach, and that’s all well and good and encourages open shoulders, but a lot of the time kids get away with turning SUPER late. This drill encourages gymnasts to hit their handstands before falling to their back.

This second video is a nice one of a couple pirouetting drills that are super easy to set-up. The thing about pirouettes is developing the shaping and muscle memory is SO important. That being said it doesn’t have to be limited to bar time. There is no reason you cant set-up some of these stations during conditioning. Or do a quick handstand/pirouette/shaping circuit after warm-up for 10 minutes a couple days a week. However you work it into your workout make sure you insist on correctness.

Train hard!