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swirlygrrlSILVER Member newbie 34 posts Location: Baton Rouge, LA, USA
Posted: Hi everyone!
I guess I'm an intermediate beginner or beginning intermediate spinner, but I am have the worst trouble getting my planes straight at the small of my back and over my head. They keep turning into diagonals, moving toward floor/ceiling planes, especially when I try to do a windmill.
Any advice on hand/arm positioning? Or anything else that might help?
MuckySILVER Member Rum-Swilling Combustioneer 227 posts Location: Macungie, PA, USA
Posted: Yep, stretch your arms daily (as part of your warmup/stretching routine, if you do that, otherwise just work it in when you can) to improve flexibility and stability. If you're straining your arms you can't focus on good technique. Clasp your hands together behind your back and use your shoulders (not a ledge or prop) to pull them up while keeping your elbows straight. This will strengthen the correct muscles and make it easier for you to keep your arms in that position. Also, make sure to stand up straight; don't bend or crouch if you can help it. It'll make the moves look better overall, and it'll force you to keep your form.
And do lots of btb butterflies! It will also help if you do reels while standing with your back to a wall so that you can hear/feel the poi hit, and it will help you keep it vertical.
The real trouble I've had wasn't so much keeping them straight was switching back and forth in reels; that's where it started to wobble. Pay attention to your wrist orientation, and think about using wrist rolls (where you bend your palm as close to the wrist as you can; the following hand in a 5-beat weave is rolled for the last beat) with reels. It helped me, and I think it looks cooler.
Bouncing Baby Pipe!
Mother_Natures_SonSILVER Member Rampant whirler. 2,418 posts Location: Geelong, Victoria, Australia!
Posted: Just try learning to bend your planes in front of you... so start with poi by your sides, spinning same direction, going forwards, bend the planes around so you're in a butterfly, continue on until you're in a REVERSE buzzsaw and then go back. Play around with this kind of control and it should help you refine the movements you need to be making in order to control your planes.
Also... that kind of wild planar action is normal... you've just got to keep at it, try even just spinning in circles in the areas you're having difficulty with just one poi and work out how to control your plane there...
Mucky dropped the reply about the same time I did... glad to see the advice is different! Good luck! EDITED_BY: Mother_Natures_Son (1218416519)
swirlygrrlSILVER Member newbie 34 posts Location: Baton Rouge, LA, USA
Posted: Mucky: I've suspected the shoulder issues I have are causing some trouble. I do yoga a lot, so it's improving, but I need to keep working on it. Thanks for the suggested exercise! I just started working against a wall and it definitely helps.
MNS: I just watched the Scales of Poi video the other night so today I started doing exactly what you suggested. It didn't occur to me that doing that might improve me btb stuff. I should try exercise moving toward the back and see what happens. Thanks!
Mother_Natures_SonSILVER Member Rampant whirler. 2,418 posts Location: Geelong, Victoria, Australia!
Posted: Scales of poi has a bunch of stuff to help improve your btb stuff.
And depending on the seriousness of your injuries it'll probably just take more time to get there.
I've got shoulder issues and wrist issues, mostly in my left arm, they were only very minor, since I did the injuries at a young age and my body is good at repairing itself... increasing flexibility with poi has helped those joints hugely.
swirlygrrlSILVER Member newbie 34 posts Location: Baton Rouge, LA, USA
Posted: I have to say that Scales of Poi definitely offers a great deal to chew on. I'm going to have to break it down and go piece by piece.
The shoulder thing isn't actually an injury, it's just where I carry my stress. I don't know if you know what trigger points are, but I have them a lot in my shoulders, causing a decrease in flexibility along with pain when moving certain ways. Fortunately, spinning actually helps with that AND my carpal tunnel. (No honey, I'm not goofing off...I"m doing my physical therapy! lol) And it's so much more fun than doing whatever exercises they like to prescribe.
Yay for poi!
Mother_Natures_SonSILVER Member Rampant whirler. 2,418 posts Location: Geelong, Victoria, Australia!
Posted: Hey, swirlygrrl... how are you doing with the behind the back planes now? ^_^
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