Freestyle Elements – Racket Twirls, Part 1

Freestyle Elements – Racket Twirls, Part 1

In this new series of blogs covering Freestyle Elements we introduce “Racket Twirls”. We will start with a basic rotation and then learn various rotational movements featuring the racket twirl. In this case, the term “twirl” means turning the racket around its longitudinal axis. It is often used to compose various combinations of movements in freestyle.

There are many variations of such movements. For example, racket twirls inside vertical and horizontal coils, twirls inside the top and bottom circle around the body, twirls behind the back, different versions of point twirls etc.

In this blog, let us learn how to do twirls, racket pointing down, rotating left and right of the body:

• At first – the preparatory exercise comprises of twisting the body around the vertical axis
• Then you can add racket turns to the left and right
• After that you can add body rotations at 360˚

Be sure to hold the racket perpendicular to the ground. The ball draws a symmetrical circular trajectory around the body. Some tips:

1. It is necessary to use the support reaction force, i.e. feet power as well as the rotational force of the waist
2. Staying in motion, you can not swing left-right or fall forward and backward
3. It is important to keep the balance to your center of gravity – a vertical axis going through your body.

After confident execution of these elements, you can add steps in your training process. All that is left to do, is pick a song you like and start twirling to its beat 🙂 Stay tuned to our follow up blog on Racket Twirls, showing you some more advanced elements.

Irina Rusavina BailongBall Instructor