Expert: Chris - 6/23/2011

Question
I am a high school cheer coach and would like some tips on how to practice twist downs.  My girls have never really done them.  We have done a few practice drills but nothing seems to really work.  Can you help and also give me some advice on form - arms, legs, etc. while doing the twist down.

Answer
Obviously the bases/backs do the same thing as a regular cradle. Just make sure they're throwing the flier significantly high so she has room to twist. One practice drill I like to have my girls do is practice on the ground. Set the bases up on one knee (facing in like a real stunt) and have the flier pull a twist down on the ground and fall back into the cradle position (on the kneeling bases who will catch her in their arms). It's like a regular stunt but a lot lower. It teaches the flier to twist in one area (so they don't travel in the air) and worst case, if they do fall, they're not up, they're just standing on their own feet. (I hope that drill made sense. Let me know if it didn't and I'll try to explain it better.)

Now, on to technique and form. The flier should wait until the bases throw her before doing anything. For example, if the bases dip 1-2 and throw 3, the flier shouldn't even start to twist until 4. On that 3, when the bases let go and throw, the flier should pull up with her shoulders to get some height and ride the cradle. Then the twisting motion actually starts on 4 (if you're going with these counts for example). There are a few different ways to twist which are all correct.

Method 1. Pull both hands in towards left shoulder with elbows bent. The downside of this method is that a lot of fliers tend to leave their elbows out and hit their bases in the face. So I discourage teaching this method, however it is technically correct.
Method 2. Put both hands on left hip.
Method 3. Put right hand on left hip, wrap left arm backwards around body and place hand on right hip (as close to the hip as it gets).

I'm going to explain using method 3 because it is my personal favorite. Aside from arm/hand placement the rest of the body does the same thing for all three methods.

So, the bases dip 1-2 and throw 3. On 1-2 the flier does NOTHING (make sure they don't bend their knees when the bases dip). On 3 the flier should lift up with her shoulders. On 4 place arms and hands wherever desired (pick one of the 3 methods) and pull feet together. The feet and legs should remain straight and together at all times. The head should be looking to the left but NOT DOWN! If the flier looks down and left they will go down and they will land in a big pile and it's not safe. So they should be looking straight to the left. (This is all still happening on 4 by the way). Hips should also twist towards the left, but the flier doesn't really MAKE them twist. If she twists her head and arms/shoulders the hips just go with the rest of the body. The only reason they wouldn't do this is if the flier is TRYING to stop her hips from rotating. This can happen if a flier is afraid to twist and they're subconsciously (or sometimes consciously) trying to not twist. The drills on the floor can help with the hips rotating. The girls probably won't even know they're doing anything with their hips, but they are. Then when they see the front again, they should open up their arms and catch themselves in a cradle (this usually happens on 5 or 6).

A few pointers:
Fliers should try to twist "in a tube." They don't want to travel forwards, sideways or backwards otherwise their bases will have difficulties catching them.

A lot of fliers will think they need to twist themselves whereas if they just change their body position to one of the methods described above, they will twist naturally.

They do NOT need to throw their shoulders in the direction of the twist down. If they do they will travel and fly right over the bases' heads.

Many fliers travel forwards in a twist down and land in front of the whole stunt group. This usually means that the flier did one and/or both of the following things. She may have jumped out of the cradle before the bases threw her. Or she may have shoved/thrown her shoulders forward when trying to bring them in the twisting position.

If they do a "corkscrew" type motion when trying to twist they need to wait to be thrown before twisting and lift up with their shoulders before twisting.

They should NOT necessarily be in a totally horizontal position when twisting. Ideally they should be closer to vertical (although not totally vertical) than horizontal. They should be on a diagonal (to the ground) when actually twisting. However, it is safer to be totally vertical than horizontal because then if they do not catch the flier she will land on her feet rather than her back.

When first learning to twist, spotters should be place in each corner. However, when looking at the stunt the back right corner (the direction to which the flier will twist) is the most common place for a flier to fall/not be caught.



Hopefully this answer is what you're looking for. If you have a followup question don't hesitate to ask. And if I wasn't clear on something let me know and I'll try and explain it with a little more clarity and detail.