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Useful aysha tip
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I could not for the life of me figure out how to do the split grip aysha until I started hanging from the top arm. Even though I already know this from doing the TG aysha/TG handspring. Unfortunately, I still can't do the split grip aysha without grip aid, because I'm fairly certain my hands are too small to do it without, even on a 45mm pole (never tried a 38mm pole). My top hand still starts to slip after a few seconds of holding the pose. Bending my top elbow slightly to engage my forearm muscles also helps quite a bit.
What also helped me in learning the split grip aysha was figuring out, through watching a million videos of it trying to figure out what I was doing wrong, that my body isn't quite "square" with the pole, or as straight-up-and-down as it looks. To give an analogy, my head isn't at "6 o'clock" and my butt is not at "12 o'clock." My body is tilted slightly; I keep my torso close to my upper top arm, and my lower arm is more sideways than over my head. This also keeps me from hyperextending my lower shoulder. So, this means my butt is at about "1 o'clock" and my head is at "7 o'clock."
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I am not fond of the hanging method, but for those who use smaller diameter poles and use this method….please… make sure your engaging the scapula first and also be careful not to hyperextend the elbows. The Split Grip Straight Edge is easier the father apart your hands are placed but it always makes me nervous to hear the words "hang" when referring to grips. xoxo
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This is dangerous? https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_surprised.gif I thought "hanging" here means so use the biceps of the top arm more and keeping the top arm bent. When I tried this technique with a split grip butterfly it felt so much better on my lower shoulder.
So just to clarify … in a "normal" inverted split glit most of the weight is really resting on the bottom arm?
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Nope your always using the top arm the most even when up right but I would not say you are hanging from it. To me the term hang means your not using the muscles of the shoulder or arm to support you, but rather holding with the hand and letting the limb take on all of the force without engaging the muscles. It’s only the term “hang” that worries me. 😉 Even when I teach spins I explain how to engage the scapula and muscles of the arms so you are not just hanging from the limb.
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I think I get it…..basically we are doing the same move/grip, but pshychologically I am now to think, "squeeze my upper hand and try to hold my body in place as though I am hanging from my upper arm"? Although I will still be holding on like hell with my bottom arm hand grip, are we just talking about thinking a little diffrently with this?
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Some interesting views on here. I am engaging the shoulder and muscles in top arm. I was previously taking both legs off together as I thought that taking them off seperately was unbalancing me. But going through Veena’s lesson on it, I went back to taking one leg off at a time. Taking my left leg off first and trying to over balance to the left has helped me. I am still falling out of the move to to right but it is more controlled and managed to hold it for3 seconds! Does anyone have any more tips on holding balance in this move?
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Lyme I still teach a split grip ayasha by pushing away with the bottom arm just like in an extended butterfly. This position does push you farther away from your pole so it is a bit more difficult but i like the lines it produces better. But when up right I teach you to focus on using mostly the top arm.
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Ah I understand now, thanks for clarifying this Veena 🙂
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Whew! Been moving this weekend and finally have internet access!
@ PaulettePoles: I actually don't have any video of my split grip aysha for some reason but I can see if I can get a chance to film this week. Sadly, my x-pole has done the same thing as everyone elses and the x-joint has twisted, despite careful alternating tightening, so I'll have to see if I can get to a relatively empty practice time somewhere. Unless, everyone else has already helped you enough!
@ Veena: Good point about keeping the scapula engaged! Being an ex-gymnast it didn't even occur to me that how to hang safely isn't something everyone just knows! That plus being an implicit learner is why I probably wouldn't make a good instructor – at least for beginners. Definitely the scapula needs to remain engaged which brings me to…
@ LymeLite: That's exactly how I should have said it! You don't literally hang, but the idea is to have the pole in line with your arm – at least in a side-to-side plane like it would be if hanging. We do get taught to take most of the weight on the top hand, which is a lot safer and less painful for me. But I will admit it took me a good year to get strong enough grip and it's still shaky on 50mm poles.
@ Amy: Yes! Looking at my elbow does help keep it straight. Now, I'm not a Dr or physio, just a human bio nerd, but my understanding is that hyperextended joints tend to have poor proprioception, because one of the cues the brain uses to determine if your arm is straight is signals from stretch receptors in the muscles. In most people a straight arm means a stretched (in the general, not flexibility) sense, so the stretch receptors fire and you know the arm is straight. In a hyperextended arm, the ligaments are looser (or maybe the joint is different for some people? not sure on that one), and so when the arm is straight the muscle is not at full length because the ligaments and I guess tendons still have some give, so you don't get the signal that the arm is straight until it's at hyperextension. So visualising is a way of compensating for reduced proprioception. Just geeking out here, the more knowledgeable can feel free to correct.
These days I'm pretty good at not hyperextending too much when my elbow takes weight (after 25 or so years, this is starting to get painful), but I have to film and refilm my moves constantly to get my arm not to hyperextend in moves like geminis and scorpios.
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