Thursday, October 6, 2011

Trapeze in Minnesota

I was honored to be the guest of Embrace Adrenaline Trapeze Club in Scandia, MN.  While there, I got to try out my new wearable GoPro camera.  Various people wore the head-band-cam and we came up with some great shots.  In the two shots captured in the video below, I learned a lot about head placement because, while flying with two experienced and graceful flyers frrom Embrace Adrenaline, the head-band-cam was first worn by the flyer on my left and then by me.  That explains the two views but I have a theory that explains it.  WAtch this video and read on for my take on what you saw...

OK.  So the tall and graceful Katrina wore the camera for the first swing and, as you can see, she got a pretty good shot of our legs and feet.  Swinging with another flyer is a good way to learn more about timing and placement by matching the swing.  Usually people come away from this exercise with a better understanding of where to put their hips, legs and feet, and when to do it.  Katrina certainly did!
Poor Sherri Mann was the second flyer and, while I can attest to her skill and strength, you never get to see her legs and feet.  The reason?  First let's look at the similarities:
Both swings were double swings with me on the right and and experienced flyer on the left (Katrina on the first one and Sherri on the second).  The other fact is that Katrina wore the camera on the first swing and I wore it on the second.
The reason you can't see Sherri's feet on the second swing has nothing to do with where she put them but, rather, where I put my head (and the camera attached to it) durring the swing.  By looking up while bringing my legs forward, I was able to bring my hips up higher and achieve a better force out.  You just can't see it from that angle because my head is leading my hips, legs and feet.
So, a bad video exercise but a great way to understand how head placement determines where our feet end up in a swing...

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