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| Author | Post | ||
| Justin14 |
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 | Hey, my name is Justin I live in Myrtle Beach, SC. I am young and have only been training for about 2-3 months. Im having serious problems with balance. I can last like 5 secons on a 2-3 width rail and ill fall off. Ive been attempting to do flips for quite a while now but i just cant get my feet under be quick enough. If you have any tips or tricks for me id very much appreciate it. [ Edited May 31 '09, 06:17PM ] | ||
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| Sweet Lou |
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 | This is by no means a permanent solution (at least the first part) but check what kind of shoes you are wearing. You feet have a natural grip on any surface, even small ones. If the soles of your shoes are thick it may be difficult to get the feel for balance. Now as for technique, pure stubbornness will eventually have you balancing on top o rails like it's nothing so practice as much as you can. If you want to augment your practicing, you may be able to find a rail with a fence or wall beside it to help regain balance. You can slowly ween your way off of it. I never had very good balance myself, then after a long absence in parkour I came back and not wanting to take drops or do high impact stuff, I walked up and down rails. You'll get it just keep practicing. The MySpace Baby. | ||
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| Justin14 |
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| | ok thanks thats greatly appreciated | ||
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| Hombre13 |
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| | Something that has helped me a bit is to make sure to focus on control rather then how far you can move along the rail. Take a step, gather yourself until you are comfortably balanced and then take your next step. The time it takes to make yourself balanced will eventually go down. | ||
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| Lonnie |
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 | When balancing on rails you want to keep your weight near the balls of the feet, never on the heel. Initially you will find it easier to balance while moving rather than staying in place on a rail. This is because each step you take allows you to make corrections to your balance. Set your eyes on specific spot in front of you and use it as a reference point to stay oriented. You might find that holding your arms out on either side gives a little bit of control when trying to stabilize yourself. Another good way to gain control is by adjusting your center of gravity. Simply bend at the knees while keeping your back straight to lower yourself towards the rail. While moving along a rail is a useful skill, do not neglect the static forward/backwards balancing that is required for rail precisions. Again, you'll find that adjusting your center of gravity is key to catching your balance. Try a set of squats on a rail for a great workout and balancing exercise. Of course at the end of the day only practice makes perfect. Keep at it and your hard work will pay off! What kind of flip are you attempting? Are you doing it from a running or standing position? Are you trying it in a gym or outdoor environment? "Let the fear of danger be a spur to prevent it; he that fears not, gives advantage to the danger." -Francis Quarles | ||
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| Justin14 |
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| | Right now working on my backflip from a standing position | ||
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| Lonnie |
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| | A standing back tuck requires a huge amount of leg strength unless you are flipping from height. A foam pit is a great start but if you are learning on flat ground you better start doing squats and tuck jumps to get the vertical you need. The strategy here is to jump as high as you can and at your peak you will tuck very hard and [edit]DO NOT[/edit] throw your head back. The harder you tuck the more you will rotate. It's important that you jump UP and not backwards as in a back handspring. The higher you jump, the more time you have to rotate, increasing your chances of landing on your feet. A spotter can stand next to you and help you rotate while giving a minimal amount of support when practicing on the ground. [ Edited Jun 02 '09, 02:44PM ] "Let the fear of danger be a spur to prevent it; he that fears not, gives advantage to the danger." -Francis Quarles | ||
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| Ace |
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 | Nooooo, throwing your head back is dangerous -- it eliminates your jump's height and you would be throwing yourself into a back handspring. Instead, you want to look straight ahead, allowing your neck to arch back AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE. Also, for the back tuck core strength is more important than leg strength. (This is because proper back tucks are more dependent on rotation then they are on height. The rotation comes from tucking, which requires use of the core. Evidence- if you do back tucks all day, it's your abs that are sore, not your legs) Here is the best tutorial I have seen on the back tuck. It is by Jujimufu, who is highly respected in the tricking community and founder of trickstutorials.com  LinkAlso, here is a tutorial from Dogen. It is essentially a sideflip tutorial, but the first 4.5mins give important insight on tucking and proper form for tucking for ANY trick and actually gives some direct insight on backflips as well - Link [ Edited Jun 01 '09, 10:10PM ] "For any person that says Parkour is what YOU want it to be, God kills a kitten"-Ruzkin | ||
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| d_jones456 |
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| | As I have said before, Jujimufu is the god of tricking tutorials, lol. pkcali.com | ||
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| d_jones456 |
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| | ^^ Not specifically in this thread. pkcali.com | ||
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| David Echols |
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| | Balancing takes an incredible amount of muscular control and precision. That's why I personally hold it as essential for training. You're only going to be able to improve your balance two ways. 1) More flexible shoe. All this allows you to do is engage more of your foot/leg muscles. 2) Build your foot/leg muscles. For balance muscles, foot raises / tuck jumps are great. Your feet have lots of tiny muscles in them too, and you'll mostly get these from practicing your balance. Our group likes to do drills on rails where we stand, sit, or kneel, all while holding our balance on the balls of our feet. We'll turn around or do other fun things during these drills. Highly recommended. | ||
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| David Echols |
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| | Picture from our rail drills. [ image disabled ] | ||
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| Justin14 |
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| | Ok thanks guys youve been a big help | ||
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| Lonnie |
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| | Ace wrote ... Nooooo, throwing your head back is dangerous -- it eliminates your jump's height and you would be throwing yourself into a back handspring. Instead, you want to look straight ahead, allowing your neck to arch back AS LITTLE AS POSSIBLE. My bad! You are totally right, I'm not sure what I was thinking when I said that! I hurt myself doing a pop-front the other day and here I am giving advice! :P Ace wrote ... Also, for the back tuck core strength is more important than leg strength. (This is because proper back tucks are more dependent on rotation then they are on height. The rotation comes from tucking, which requires use of the core. Evidence- if you do back tucks all day, it's your abs that are sore, not your legs) You make a good point though I wouldn't necessarily agree that core is MORE important, perhaps equally so. When I started learning my standing backs my abs did get pretty sore though I never did core work beyond the tuck jumps. That was many years ago and since then I have not really felt it in my abs. It's also important to note that vertical jump is not nearly as important when flipping off of something as opposed to flat ground. "Let the fear of danger be a spur to prevent it; he that fears not, gives advantage to the danger." -Francis Quarles | ||
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| KShap |
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 | Liquid wrote ... It's also important to note that vertical jump is not nearly as important when flipping off of something as opposed to flat ground. why not? | ||
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