WAG How to figure out which way you twist?

[Paint A Melody]

Is there any way to determine which way you twist without doing twisting flips? I would use which way my jump go bit they're all different. Some I twist right and some I twist left.

 

[Ponyshine]

Hmm...I am also a bit mixed up when it comes to jumps. I would normally say if you do a straight jump full turn right, then twist right, but I twist right and straight jump full turn left!

Which leg do you straight jump full turn on & spin on and which leg do you round-off on?

 

[Paint A Melody]

Right for both, but isn't it normally opposite? From what I've heard righties seem to twist left.

 

[Ponyshine]

I was never taught to do the opposite...but that doesn't mean I'm right. SOmeone else will have to answer that

 

[GymRays]

Do a back layout on tramp or into a pit and right before landing, twist, without thinking about it and see which way you naturally want to go. Personally, I'm a rightie but always twist left. I think it's cause I want to pull my dominate arm across my body to twist, so I pull to the left so my right arm crosses my body. Depends also on the technique you use to twist.

 

[Alyssa S.]

Do a back layout on tramp or into a pit and right before landing, twist, without thinking about it and see which way you naturally want to go. Personally, I'm a rightie but always twist left. I think it's cause I want to pull my dominate arm across my body to twist, so I pull to the left so my right arm crosses my body. Depends also on the technique you use to twist.

I think many coaches who study this topic follow some compelling logic to show that a right-handed person will perform better with a left-hurdle round off (which itself includes a 1/2 TWIST to turn from facing front to back). But I'm also interested in the counter argument....if any remain.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

a left foot forward hurdle to left hand down first round off IS a right handed dominant round off.

neuropathic consideration: gymnasts should twist the same direction whether flipping forward or backwards. may don't and are still successful.

example: a left round off for a beam dismount finds the right foot forward and left foot back for the punch. the right hand is dominant and present for the push and the right foot is dominant and forward for the punch. they should twist left. and they will twist more given their biology. some kids will twist opposite that dominant punch. they will twist right. they will not twist as far and without risk of injury (cross hip flexion) sans Nastia. she tripled for awhile till she grew. then POOF! gone. but then there was Patterson...

example: a left round off entry finds the load on the right foot on the punch and the right arm up on the table. hard to see in fast motion but easy to see upon close slow motion analysis. it would be much easier to "kasamatsu" and twist left. path of least resistance if you will. yet Biles twists "against" the load and performs a flawless 2 1/2.

i'm old and have seen many things in my gymnastics life. like athletes that twist different directions from their hands (apparatus dismounts) than they do from their feet (vault and tumble) and then the other nuances like a left twisting stutz on p-bars and a right arm pushing dismount and that same athlete twisting a right twisting geinger. i've seen more iterations and direction nuances than most.

some of these things defy biomechanical logic. yet, the brain and nervous system along with musculature will find a way to adapt.

it's one of the many mysteries of gymnastics as well as human biology.

and as soon as you rely on logic, the kids shows you that they can perform (fill in the blank) better than the way you want them to do it or which direction biomechanics/physics/logic tells you they should do it.

bottom line? the (their) vestibular system rules.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

Is there any way to determine which way you twist without doing twisting flips? I would use which way my jump go bit they're all different. Some I twist right and some I twist left.

a swivel hips on trampoline can be a good way to find out which way you "feel" (vestibular system) better. one way you will feel like a fish out of water. the other will "feel" natural and easy like you were born to do it that way.

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Here's how I'd determine it, in order of preference:

1) Which way feels best at the end of a back layout (best to try this into a pit)? Twist that way. If both feel the same, then...
2) Which hand/foot do you lead with in a cartwheel? Twist that way. (Note that this means twisting the opposite way on roundoffs and cartwheels as on other skills, since a left-handed roundoff actually twists to the right).

Ideally, a gymnast should turn the same way on all twists and pirouettes. Pirouettes are negotiable, and if the gymnast is more comfortable twisting one direction in, say, a blind, and the other way in, say, a higgins, I wouldn't really fight the tendency that much. Twisting the same direction while flipping forward and backward, though, is extremely important.

 

[Aussie_coach]

In general the first "twisting skill" a gymnast does is a round off. A right round off IS a left twist and a left round off IS a right twist.

If a gymnast does a right round off they are actually twisting towards their left shoulder when they are upside down.

I have found this to be the single most accurate way to determine twisting direction.

 

[Alyssa S.]

a left foot forward hurdle to left hand down first round off IS a right handed dominant
...
example: a left round off for a beam dismount finds the right foot forward and left foot back for the punch.

Would you characterize Gabby Douglas as "right dominant" (given her Left-knee-up-hurdle Left-hand-down-first RO)?

 

[GymnastMomX2]

This is really interesting to me, when I was a gymnast (90s) I twisted forward to the left (competed handspring full vault and working front fulls on floor) but twisted my back full to the right. I was a "leftie" as far as my round off and leaps went. I never got past level 8 though, so maybe doesn't matter as much if you aren't twisting past a full?

 

[Geoffrey Taucer]

In general the first "twisting skill" a gymnast does is a round off. A right round off IS a left twist and a left round off IS a right twist.

If a gymnast does a right round off they are actually twisting towards their left shoulder when they are upside down.

I have found this to be the single most accurate way to determine twisting direction.

One would think so, but studies have shown that about 80% of gymnasts do exactly the opposite (ie left roundoff & left twist, right roundoff & right twist). This has the distinct advantage on vault of allowing Kazamatsu-type vaults.

 

[profmom]

One test I know the coaches used for DD was to have her work on 1/1 straight jumps on and off the trampoline to see which way felt more natural.

 

[Shooosh]

Our coach just had us layout and do a last minute half to see what felt natural (back in the late 80's). The girls i coach are not at twisting level so I have no need to do this with them.
For reference; I am a right handed person who is a 'leftie' in gym. I kick over a cartwheel with my right leg and my left goes over first in a backwalkover. My left knee comes up in a hurdle. I always was called a leftie at the gym, anyway. I twist clockwise (pull to right shoulder). I wrap my left arm to the right when front twisting.
If that is standard or abnormal I have no idea.

 

[Paint A Melody]

Thanks for all the replies! I think I'm trying so hard that both ways feel weird, lol. I'm probably just going to twist right since I think that feels more normal for most things.

 

[wgymmom]

Our coach just had us layout and do a last minute half to see what felt natural (back in the late 80's). The girls i coach are not at twisting level so I have no need to do this with them.
For reference; I am a right handed person who is a 'leftie' in gym. I kick over a cartwheel with my right leg and my left goes over first in a backwalkover. My left knee comes up in a hurdle. I always was called a leftie at the gym, anyway. I twist clockwise (pull to right shoulder). I wrap my left arm to the right when front twisting.
If that is standard or abnormal I have no idea.

DD is also a right handed person who's a leftie in gym. It's a mystery to me.

 

[Aussie_coach]

One test I know the coaches used for DD was to have her work on 1/1 straight jumps on and off the trampoline to see which way felt more natural.

The problem here is that for many gymnasts both ways feel quite natural in a jump full turn. Its difficult for them to tell which way is dominant.

 

[LJL07]

DD just started working on twisting on tumble trak. She does right hand dominant roundoff so is jumping off of her left leg for round off. Coach had her do straight jumps to figure out which way was more comfortable. Apparently twisting to right was much easier, so she is twisting to right. But right hand dominant round offs typically twist to left? i have a hard enough time keeping my right and left straight just walking forward.

 

[Deleted member D3987]

trampoline: if an athlete does a left round off, which means left hand down first then the right hand, this means a left direction left shoulder down first barani. a barani is a no handed round off in the air. a left barani and left round off is right twisting. a trampolinist will then do EVERYTHING twisting to the left if he performs a left round off/barani..

artistic: using the left round off example, when the left round off completes itself and stands up on the feet and the body is vertical right side up, the body is already twisting to the left. although a left round off is twisting right, this is because the body is on its hands. once the body snaps both feet together and the hands leave the floor and the feet hit the floor, the body starts twisting to the left. this is the mechanical nature of a left round off. it can't be altered. and reverse the above if you do a right round off.

therefore, an artistic gymnast will more often than not do a left round off (remember a left round off is right twisting) and then a left twisting somi. and this works most efficiently for tumbling, vault (kasamatsu vs. tsuk full) and backward twisting off beam as in round off to fulls, double fulls, etc; and because the right foot will be forward and the left foot back because the root skill of a round off is a cartwheel. a left cartwheel goes left hand>right hand>right foot>left foot.

there can be exceptions, but those exceptions are where you start defying physics.