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Butterfly barrier! help :o(
I cannot do any form of butterfly to save my life! I'm happy inverting and can do caterpillar no problem so I don't think it's strength as such, I just seem to have a mental block when it comes to having faith in my arms in that position…
I've been trying it for ages but keep giving up and really wanna nail it soon! Help please…
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10 Replies
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I like to have ppl start with a basic butterfly first. This uses the forearm or elbow grip not a split grip like in the butterfly or extended butterfly. Have you tried that?
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I've been sllloooowwwllly working on this one as well and am just starting to be able to take my leg off the pole and get the feel of the position in forearm grip as Veena suggested. Another thing that has helped me with the feel of the legs is doing it in a handstand, maybe that might help?
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I can do the basic butterfly but have not been able to do the extended because I keep sliding with my hands!!
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I can sort of do it, but my problem is that I can't hold it for very long at all. My body weigh always seems to tilt to one side making my body fall (slowly) to the side and "around" the pole (hard to explain in words), but if anyone has any tips on how to keep the body straight let me know.
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I had this problem for awhile and it turned out that it was just that I was taking the wrong foot off the pole. As soon as I switched I could do it. If your right hand is your strong hand, invert with the pole on your right side, make your right hand your bottom hand, and take your right leg off the pole. (Or if your left hand is on the bottom, your left leg comes off, obviously.)
Otherwise, the only thing I can think of is an old gymnastics trick: Just try to tilt to the other side of the pole instead 🙂
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I had a huge mental block to get over before I could do a butterfly…I'll tell you the little progression that helped me to get it.
First do a basic invert. I invert with the pole on my right side, so my right hand is below my left. I drop my right hand down to become my low hand. Left hand stays in the same place on the pole, close to my hips. (If you invert opposite me, just switch all the L/R)
I started doing this with a wide split grip (keep it wide so your body stays close to the pole), but many people find the forearm grip more stable and secure. So try both, also try both sides, you may surprise yourself.
Ok, so get your arms into whichever position you choose and this is where I would get stuck…I could not for the life of me make my leg (the one behind the pole, for me it is my left) let go. I felt like I desperately needed it to stay up. So instead of trying to drop the entire leg back, I kept squeezing at the knees, and began by just trying to bend my left leg at the knee and taking my foot off the pole.
It was just enough to help me realize that I didn't need that leg on the pole. Once I did that a few times, I realized that I could drop the rest of the leg. The thought of it didn't scare me anymore, so I did. I bent at the knee first, then slowly released the knee squeeze and dropped the leg behind me.
Butterfly, tada! I hope it works for you too, Good luck. 🙂
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Here are the 3 Butterfly Variations I teach for any of you taking the lessons
Basic Butterfly intermediate https://www.studioveena.com/lessons/view/4ccec7a3-6ed8-4907-befb-61210ac37250
Butterfly Intermediate https://www.studioveena.com/lessons/view/4cd0054b-9630-42dd-9748-057f0ac37250
Extended Butterfly Advanced https://www.studioveena.com/lessons/view/4d0f72c7-bb30-4035-8905-6a420ac37250
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Finally got it! Thanks for all the help :o) I managed it once and have been too scared to try it again since lol. I always invert with the pole on my right side but an instructor last year told me this was the wrong side and made us all do it on the other….this might have been where I was going wrong I sort of got mixed up about which arm and leg went where. Retried it the other night with the pole on my right side putting my right arm low and felt quite secure for the first time.
Quick question though – if my right hand is my dominant one but goes at the bottom for this, would it be the same sort of hand positioning later on for cartwheels etc or would that be the other way round?
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I have found I use the same hand as my low hand for other inverted poses as well. But I still always try both sides.
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I am strange because I started with Extended butterfly before any other butterfly and never really had much trouble with it, but then when I tried to backtrack and do the Basic Butterfly (forearm grip) I had trouble because I couldn't caterpillar up into a secure forearm grip very well! I still prefer the advanced split grip version. Caterpillar things are harder for me than balancing my weight in a split grip (maybe I'm a freak)
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