Full Downs

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Apr 14, 2015
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Help! I just started full downs today at
Practice, but they're really rough. I'm twisting right, but I'm not leaning back. It is scary. I keep twisting forward for some reason, and I'm literally scared of cradles now since I got the wind knocked out of me going forward. Can anyone help and give me advice on how to lean back and not freak out?


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Go back to straight pop cradles. Make sure that you're pulling your belly button to the ceiling when you cradle so that you can achieve that hollow body, "laid back" cradle position. If your straight cradles are perfect but your full downs are weird, I encourage my flyers to open their high-v the first couple of full downs to get them cradling into the correct position. Once they get the hang of that, I take them back to a proper high-v. Usually that helps.
 
I would hazard a guess that you are bending your knees/jumping. Go back to straight cradles and focus on keeping your legs locked through the skill. The height in a cradle comes from the bases using their legs to pop, not from the flyer jumping. You may not even be conscious that you're jumping. Focus on where your body is in the air - keep a tight hollow shape and try to notice how that feels in straight cradles. Your body should be in that same shape for twisting cradles.
 
You've gotten some good advice on physically what to do. Mentally, make sure those corrections are what you're focusing on so that you don't have time to worry about other things. Before you do the skill, think about taking deep breaths and creating some strong positive thoughts such as "I've got this, I'm ready, etc."
 
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