Conditioning:
1) eagle (hold for 4 counts), then bring outside leg to the pole (like sideways V) without leg touching the pole, then bring top / outside leg to join inside leg. repeated 3x (twice on good side, once on bad). i only did the first 2 sections (ie. did not join legs), but even then, really struggled.
2) undergrips (blade, matrix, swan) – two cycles for L5, three cycles for L3 x 2 (once on good side, once on bad side)
Technique:
1) Lean-back
– extremely poor performance. i was struggling to bring my feet / legs downward to the ground, so i was “top heavy” and my body was tilting to the ground
– i tried it several times but still failed miserably, good thing this move isn’t part of the assessment!
>> the bottom in class for this one
2) Half-flag / flag
– did very well… much better than expected
– the first time i managed it, i was so surprised that i almost fell off
– managed to do half flag and flag (? – the version where both legs are straight out together) and held them for a while too
– EG taught us to face the pole in starting position (instead of facing downwards to the floor then turning to the pole, although this is probably needed for aerial half flag)
>> one of the better / best n00bs
3) Butterfly
– i almost fell off the first time because i was confused about which way around to go – at splash beauty, we would change into a forearm grip, whereas we used a split grip here, which confused me
– i was generally doing pretty alright, but was struggling to get my body straight in line with the pole, and i felt quite stressed / slightly dizzy / slippy.. like i was going to fall off
>> started off being among the best n00bs (because i was just going for it), but others quickly caught up, so i was about average
4) Standing shoulder mount
– was struggling to get up without help, partly because i was trying to avoid kicking into it / avoid using momentum
– i was managing to tuck quick high and almost reach my toes onto the pole without momentum / aid… but in the end, EG helped me up and i got there – yay 🙂
– she told me to kick into it next time, oh well
>> i was kind of average among the n00bs. most people got up at least once (i got up once too), but i think i was trying not to kick, which is a good thing
5) Superman
– EG made it look super graceful and easy, i thought it was going to be a walk in the park. SO WRONG. it hurt like a b*tch!!!
– nonetheless, did twice from caterpillar, once from standing… which was tougher than it looks
– the difficult part is getting the bum onto the pole before “flipping” into superman. the steps are: i) to get the inside hip close to the pole: so drop the weight into the upper body / lean into the shoulder, ii) get the bum close to the pole: again, lean away from the legs on the pole and onto shoulders, iii) straighten the legs and twist body around, iv) only remove the bottom hand when everything feels stable
– EG held my upper hand while i was doing this, which kept me on the pole (instead of sliding down)
>> average / above average
Cool-down/stretching:
Stretching was uneventful. we worked on the box splits in pairs: legs in V, feet against the partner’s legs, one partner would pull the other girl forward. I managed to almost go all the way down to the floor, so my partner and EG was impressed at my flexibility. but then, i don’t think i opened my legs as wide as i could’ve.. which would have made it more difficult i think…
Technique: