On the trampoline, a cradle is skill that is a combination of three different skills:
- back drop to landing on your back
- back drop to front drop
- half-twist to land on your back
A common challenge for students learning this skill is trying to twist too early. If you attempt to twist early, you will cut off the forward rotation and you won’t be able to twist to your back.
This was my challenge for a long time. Sometimes the old habits return and I find myself getting stuck in twisting to my back.
This happens when I get too focused on twisting to my back and ignore the first two skills. I don’t honor the sequence.
If I am focused on getting around to my back, I will unconsciously rush. I won’t drive off my back in the same way to get the height. I’ll inevitably try to twist too soon.
Either I won’t get enough forward rotation and I’ll balk out of it to land on my feet, or I will manage to twist but with a lot of force and effort.
When I focus on doing a good back drop, and driving off the bed with my legs, I generate the momentum I need to come up and over. That height gives me time to chose to twist to my back. The twist happens with ease.
In practice, sometimes I take it apart and drill just the first skill and then just the second skill. When I improve those elements the entire skill improves.
Circus is life.
If you feel stuck in implementing a vision, it helps to look at what’s in your way.
Sometimes that thing that’s in your way isn’t necessary at all. We often make up work or add steps that we don’t need to make things more complicated.
And sometimes we get stuck because the thing we are trying to do has a sequence and we aren’t honoring the sequence. We can get so focused on the end result that we lose presence in the process.
In practice, this can show up in different ways.
You may get stuck in the process. Or it may look like you achieved your outcome, but then the system breaks down and you must backtrack to redo earlier work.
The laws of physics apply, even if gravity isn’t directly involved.
Getting sustainable results is not just about doing things. It’s about doing the right things and in the right sequence.
Do the first step well and everything that follows it will come more easily. If you don’t honor the sequence you’ll get stuck.
First things first.
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