carriej started this discussion ·
I'm typically an equal sided poler and do most moves on both sides, but a few moves I find much much easier and so far can only do 🤔 on one side. Here's my question: For those of who you do TG handspring and TG lift, are you able to do it on both sides? Do you find one side particularly easier than the other?
Sign in or create a free account to reply.
I think it's extremely important to learn moves on both sides so that you are not stuck being one sided. I myself is 1 sided on most inverted moves and I regret this. I think I'm going to start to relearn things on the other side. As for TG, I can only do it on 1 side right now.
EVamp83 ·
I can't do the lift on either side yet, but I TG handspring on both sides. I find that both sides have advantages. Just typical advantages you'd expect from having your dominant hand as top or bottom. Do you handspring and cartwheel mount on both sides? Because that helped me confidence-wise when learning TG on my other side. Also, tape your attempts on both sides and compare them. A polebuddy of mine did TG handspring on both sides, but they looked way different, which in the end explained why she couldn't TG handspring on both sides from up the pole. Your leading leg might just be choosing a whole other path upwards on your non-dom. side.
amy ·
just adding a slightly different perspective, sorry if this is lecturing... i will only TG from an aerial move and not from the ground, because i find that it torques my top shoulder too much for me to be comfortable with the long term effects of the move. i don't teach it except from an inside leg hang or CAR. there are very prominent polers that have permanent cartilage damage in their shoulders and wrists from doing the TG handspring and the respect grip SM. so... that's a long winded way of saying: be very careful with the TG and NEVER kick into it with momentum! 😕
I learned the TG handspring on my dominant side first. Any attempts on my non-dominant side failed and felt like I wasn't getting anywhere. After I was fairly comfortable and confident with my technique on my dominant side , I learned to do it on my non-dominant side. It's still not as reliable as my dominant side, and it feels a little weird, like trying to write with the wrong hand. 😛 But the more I practice it, the better it feels, the same way I can do a basic invert on both sides comfortably and reliably.
Veena ·
I only TG off the pole also and mostly from one side. I have a shoulder I need to be careful with so I don't do any TG moves with it. I totally feel we should try to learn all moves on both sides if our bodies are capable.🙊
Amy, what is the respect grip SM? I love the SM and now I'm wondering if I'm using a grip that could potentially cause problems. I always just use a cup grip, although more recently I've been trying the SM using Veena's grip. It feels a little odd right now, but does feel more stable than the cup grip.
