STILL cannot nail this stunt

[debbimac]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8ZdyVssHGg&feature=related
14 seconds    i know i am missing some tip that will help me with this ..  its soooo frustrating .. i usaully pick up stunts quickly  any advice would be great .. when the split comes down they are losing control of the foot and having a hard time popping it back together
thanjs

[Jen H]

We've done it before, but slower from a straight and not 180 prep and with a double bounce to get back up. The back and front had to do a lot of the work with taking the weight & pushing it back up so that the sides could deal with the feet. And the flyer rested her hands on the sides' heads to help keep it stable and assist a little with the push up. (I think in the video they are going for the sides' shoulders instead?) It helps if the sides really squeeze the foot so that when they let go with one hand to help with the split they still have the other hand ready to go back to prep position.

I'm not sure if that would help when the stunt is done so much more quickly & from a 180 or not. Have you tried it slower from prep level at all, and do you have a video of your own team doing it? (And you'll probably have to post it via PM since links aren't allowed here if they don't go to a Varsity company site.) I'm PMing you videos of my kids doing their little bitty youth version.

[wrn1979]

Control yourself and "resist" the split on the way down. The back and front also play a key role in this as they reach high to catch and slow the stunt down before it hits bottom. The bases holding feet should keep their "foot" hand (with the foot in it) close to their shoulder or they'll be forced into using their arms too much and not their legs enough.

After doing all of that to control the descent of the split, it turns into an explosion to the top, making sure they get close and the top ends up in an extension with feet shoulder width apart.

Those are fun stunts that have been around a long time. Used the same skill 13 years ago at my second high school nationals, except we drove all the way through the top and tossed it.

[RPCmme]

When we did a variation of this stunt, what helped our stunt groups control the split to extension were a couple of things:
--flyer (as stated in previous posts) needs to really "set" or "place" her split.  Resist the downward movement and isolate the hip flexer muscle to really control the downward split, as well as the squeeze up to extension
--bases really use their legs and absorb the split.  Our bases held the flyer legs around the shoulder or upper chest area.  However, the bend in the knees was very deep--knees of the base and seat of the base almost at the same level.  The control in the legs helped control not just the explosion to the top, but also controlled the split

Great stunt to wow the crowd, but really reinforces true technique.  Thanks for sharing the video link.

[CoachErin]

It is frustrating to me to see teams continuing to do stunts that are illegal on the basketball court without mats...

[Jen H]

It is frustrating to me to see teams continuing to do stunts that are illegal on the basketball court without mats...

Were they illegal in 2007? I can't remember. (Swiss cheese for brains tonight.)

[RPCmme]

In order to represent my program in the best (and safest) light--the stunt I described in an earlier post on this forum was always performed on mats.  However, our split variation is legal on the gym floor--no release move.

[CoachErin]

Yeah at the very least the full downs were illegal, even back in '07