front twisting

[littlegirllost]

I can back twist pretty easily, but when it comes to front twisting I can't even get a half, I can barely do 1/4th of a turn. Any advice?

 

[ameragym]

Basically your question is asking how to front twist and your question is asking how to correct your attempts at front twisting. Either way this is a tough call. Coaches vary as much on teaching twisting methods as they do on what salad dressings they like. Without seeing or knowing what you are doing it would be pure conjecture as to how to correct your attempts.

Some coaches like to teach late twisting and others like early twisting. Some teach full twists from a half-half aspect. Some teach quarter-three quarter. Some teach the complete full with no breakdown.

In back twisting you initiate the twist without seeing where you are going but you see everything at the end. In front full twisting you see everything at the beginning but the end is a blind landing. Seeing where you are at the beginning on front fulls can work against you if you do not turn your focus around for the somersault. Sometimes this error translates into a quarter twist in and a quarter twist back out netting no twist at all. Maybe this is what you are doing? A half twisting front layout will land you as if you were coming down from a back twisting full. Its called a barani and you will see your landing clearly before you hit the ground. If you twist late on a half twisting front layout (barani) then you may lose sight of the floor half way through the flip. But you will catch sight of the landing on the second half. If you twist early on a barani, then you will see where you are the whole way over. A barani in effect, is the second half of a full twisting back layout. And as mentioned, in a full twisting back layout you do see where you are on the second half.

Some coaches like to teach front twisting from a measured degree of a pike position at the beginning of the flip. Some like to teach a complete layout with no pike whatsoever. A pike has several advantages such as delaying the twist so that you do not twist too early and possibly get lost. The pike can also help initiate the twist by the snap that occurs when you come out of the pike to stretch into the twist. Pike-open-turn might be what you hear the coach saying. After a barani is learned then you can add a turn out at the end to make it a full twist. It is possible to turn the body out at the end of a barani for a full without turning the head. After you get the feel for turning out at the end then you can concentrate on turning your head with your body for a blind landing on the full. Or if you can manage to keep your head down as you turn your head, then you will see the floor down under your feet before they hit the ground.

Make sure you are not attempting front twisting by twisting to the wrong side. Some gymnasts use round-offs as a reference for front twisting. Here's the correct way to figure which way to twist: A front twist usually is initiated using the opposite side round-off as a reference. If you have a left round-off for example, then you would be starting your front fulls by twisting as if you are doing right round-off in mid air. If you have a right round-off then you would be using a left round-off in mid air.