The Inverted Straddle and Inverted Straddle Mount on the bottom bar are two important fundamentals skills on Aerial Hoop. Inverted Straddles are such a foundational move in aerial, that a lot of times aerialists will rush through them in order to get to the fun stuff. But, inverted straddles lead to so many fun skills, it’s extra important to take the time to develop great technique in your students. And, establishing great technique as a foundation will leave students with plenty of strength and brain power to focus on the really exciting skills that come after.
We have a general order that we take our students through. We start students with lowering down into an inverted straddle from sitting on the hoop so they can save their energy and focus on finding a good inverted straddle shape with proper body position and correct muscle actions. Then once they can hold the inverted straddle shape we switch the focus to exiting slowly and with control to the floor. After students have built the strength to hold a nice inverted straddle and exit without slamming down onto the mat, we will focus on the inverted straddle mount. We start with a bent arm mount and then finally we take them to a straight arm mount.
It is important to mention that this video covers a variety of easy, intermediate and hard inverted straddle variations that are all from the bottom bar. Progressing through these variations will likely take a student many, many months if not years.
Become an Aerial Fit Online member to access the video for Inverted Straddle. This in-depth video will explain how to properly train this skill. It also includes cross references to the most important Building Blocks, Common Mistakes, Related Drills, Ground Drills, Variations, Next Steps and Sequences.
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Some of the most important aerial hoop skills, related movements, and prerequisites from our aerial video tutorial library that students should be very comfortable doing to succeed at Inverted Straddle.
These are the most common mistakes we see with students when they are learning how to do the aerial hoop skill Inverted Straddle and detailed directions on how to fix these problems to make the skill look and feel easy.
These similar aerial hoop skills and aerial drills are helpful to troubleshoot and help with problems. Students don't need to have mastered the Inverted Straddle to work on these related skills and drills. These drills may help your students make important connections and answer the question "What am I doing wrong?".
These are some of our favorite ground drills for aerialists for Inverted Straddle. They can be used as part of the ground warm up or as part of the aerial class teaching progression.
These are different variations of Inverted Straddle. Students should be very comfortable with the current skill before working on these different or more advanced variations. They can be used for further exploration, managing students with different levels and adding variety to aerial hoop choreography.
These are the next steps we teach to our aerial hoop students after they’re comfortable with Inverted Straddle. The next steps can be started right away and they lead toward specific future goals which are often the most advanced aerial hoop skills.
These are some of the more advanced hoop skills that build on the strength and control taught in Inverted Straddle. They are not the next immediate steps, but rather long term planning goals.
These are aerial hoop sequences, transitions, and combinations that include the aerial skill Inverted Straddle. They are fun, creative, and challenging sequences from our aerial video tutorial library.
