Skin the Cat from the Top Bar on Aerial Hoop is nearly identical to doing it on the bottom bar. All of the basic body mechanics and pathways are the same. However, when we are doing a skin the cat from the top bar, we also have to navigate the bottom bar underneath our heads which can make getting into and out of the skill much more challenging and dangerous. We consider this skill to be advanced, because we want our students to be able to both enter and exit from the skill. Getting into the skill can feel much easier because gravity assists the pathway, but gravity can be mean when exiting the skill.
Skin the Cat from the top bar is usually used to get the knees on the hoop as part of an entrance to another skill, but it can also be done as a dramatic shape by itself. A lot of preparation and care should be taken to keep students working in a safe range of motion. While it is possible to teach the skin the cat entrance without teaching reversing to exit, students should circle back to reversing the skill to exit over time.
Become an Aerial Fit Online member to access the video for Skin the Cat: Top Bar. 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 Skin the Cat: Top Bar.
These are the most common mistakes we see with students when they are learning how to do the aerial hoop skill Skin the Cat: Top Bar 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 Skin the Cat: Top Bar 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 Skin the Cat: Top Bar. 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 Skin the Cat: Top Bar. 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 Skin the Cat: Top Bar. 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 Skin the Cat: Top Bar. 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 Skin the Cat: Top Bar. They are fun, creative, and challenging sequences from our aerial video tutorial library.
