Women Can't twist

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I don't understand front and back twisting at all. I have good front and back layouts, but whenever I try to twist at all back I get super lost in the air (for example I tried doing a half but did a full instead, or tried doing a full but only made a half), and whenever I twist more than a half forward I get lost (trying to do a front full but doing a 3/2 instead.) I think I might just be better at flipping, as I tried double backs before and found them much more straightforward than trying to twist a layout, but I don't want to be limited by not understanding how to twist properly and consistently. Additionally, I have done good back and front fulls before, but it is very rare that I make one and I eventually lose the skills again.
 
What am I supposed to look at when I'm twisting, and when am I supposed to pull my arms? I think I just don't understand the mechanics of twisting.
Will try to remember to get back to this later today; if you don't hear from me by tonight, ping me a reminder

In the meantime, here's an earlier post I made about this: Post in thread 'Setting in back full' https://chalkbucket.com/threads/setting-in-back-full.73349/post-651118

But I have some more specific trampoline progressions for training the visual cues. Will get back to this when I have a chance to type with all ten fingers
 
Ok, I'm going to give you some lists of trampoline skills. Start at the top of each list, read down until you see a skill you DO NOT already have down perfectly, confidently, consistently on a trampoline. Basically, tell me what's the first skill on each list that you would NOT be able to nail cleanly on the first try.

BACKWARDS SALTOS, LATE TWISTING:
-Back drop
-Back drop pullover (ie flip backwards from back drop) to hands and knees
-Back drop pullover to front drop
-3/4 back tuck from feet to hands/knees
-3/4 back tuck from feet to front drop
-3/4 back layout from feet to front drop
-3/4 back layout from feet to front drop, 1/2 turn to feet
-Back layout from feet to feet with LATE 1/2 turn (see the trampoline first, then turn)

ARABIANS:
-Back drop
-Airplane (take off backwards like a back drop, but 1/2 turn before landing so you end up in front drop)
-Arabian 3/4 to back drop
-Arabian tucked to feet
-Arabian piked to feet

FORWARD SALTOS, TWISTING:
-Controlled bounce on hands and knees
-Hands and knees, front drop, return to hands and knees
-Seat drop, hands and knees, 3/4 front to back drop
-From feet, 3/4 front to back drop
-Front 3/4 layout to flatback (can use a mat throw-in for this, or do it off the end of a tumbletrak)
-Front 3/4 pike-open to flatback
-Front pike-open to feet, with arms wide in the pike phase
-Front pike-open-1/2 to feet

Let me know on all 3 of those lists how far down you get before you see something you don't think you could nail cleanly on the first try on a trampoline. I'll use those as a starting point for progressions to suggest.

Once you have a correct back late 1/2, arabian, and front 1/2, you can do anything up to about 1.5 twists per flip without ever losing sight of the ground.
 
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Alright, so there are three things we'll work in parallel here. And for the sake of simplicity, I'll assume you're twisting left; just reverse everything for a right twist.

BACK LATE TWIST:
First, we'll look at back 1/2. You want to work that 3/4 back layout with arms somewhere between a T-shape and a Y-shape -- so out, and slightly up. Pay very close attention to what you see while you do it; you should see the wall in front of you on takeoff, watch it as long as you can, then see the trampoline before you land. On your next bounce after the front drop, do a half turn as you come back up to your feet, watching the trampoline over your right shoulder so your head is the last thing to turn.
Once you've got that down, we're going to add an arm drop. So do the exact same as above, nothing changes until you see the trampoline; once you do see it, right arm stays put, but left arm drops to your side. Assuming the rest of your body stays tight, this should be enough to cause you to twist and land on your back instead of front drop.
Do lots of these, make sure you're seeing the trampoline before you turn. Even better is if you can keep watching the trampoline as long as possible while turning.
Next, you'll repeat all that with a back layout to your feet. Flip with arms wide, see the trampoline, drop the left arm, watch the trampoline as long as possible while your body turns. Your head should be the last thing to finish the twist, so you're seeing the trampoline over your right shoulder as you land.

ARABIAN:
First, let's review visual cues and timing on the airplane (1/2 to front drop). See the wall on takeoff, make sure your feet are completely clear of the trampoline before you start turning. Initiate the turn by dropping the left arm and looking to the left; after the first 1/4 turn, you should be looking down your left arm and seeing the trampoline before you land in front drop.
From here, we're just going to take that takeoff a little more aggressively, and duck under to a back drop at the end. Same visual cues as before; see the wall, left arm goes out, look left to see the trampoline, then duck it under as late as you can.
Now do the same thing again, just a little more aggressively so you can flip it to your feet (can be tucked, piked, whatever, doesn't matter yet). Same visual cues and timing; see the wall, drop the arm, see the trampoline, flip. Once you get confident enough with this, pike the arabian. It might feel a bit "wobbly" after the half as you complete the arabian; that's normal, and not really a problem that needs to be fixed. The important part is the visual cues and timing; see the wall, drop the arm, see the trampoline, flip.

FRONT PIKE 1/2:
Generally, when we do a front pike, we do it with the arms narrow, grabbing the legs during the pike. We're not going to do that here; instead, we want arms out in a T or Y shape as we hit the pike position, and for the moment, keep them there as you open up for landing. You want to be able to do this high enough and aggressively enough that you can feel your body hit a full straight position before landing.
Now, this next step you might want to do into a pit if you can, or have somebody throw a mat under you. As you open from pike to straight body, drop your right arm to your side. Again, this arm drop should trigger a 1/2 twist if the rest of your body remains tight. When you're first getting the hang of the pike-open-1/2, going too late is better than going too early; we really really REALLY want to make sure your not changing your takeoff when you anticipate the twist. However, once you get it down, start focusing on the visuals again; your goal is to find the latest timing where you DO NOT lose sight of the trampoline; that is, you should be able to watch the trampoline for the entire skill, from takeoff all the way to landing, never losing it for even an instant.

Once you have all three of these, we can just Frankenstein them together into whatever twisting you want to do. For example, say you want to do a front 1/1; you start with the front 1/2 you already have, tack on the late back 1/2 at the end, and boom: you have a front 1/1 without ever losing sight of the floor.
Similar for a back 1/1; you start with your arabian (where you see the landing before going through inversion), and then combine that with your front 1/2 (where you see the landing while you pass through inversion), and boom: back 1/1 without ever losing sight of the landing.
Or you can put all 3 parts together: arabian takeoff, front 1/2, late 1/2 at the end, and you're now up to back 3/2 without losing sight of the landing.

(Past 3/2, things get a little dicier, but this should at least give you a solid foundation)

Hope this helps! Let me know if you'd like a further breakdown of any of these steps
 
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