11 replies to this topic

[luvrofballet]

What kind of stretching should I do to get the splits faster? Can anyone maybe give me a stretching schedule on what stretches to do and how long to hold them for? I really want to get the splits down soon because it would really improve my ballet. Thank you so much!

Yours truly,


Luvrofballet

[Victoria Leigh]

First of all, getting anything faster in ballet is not going to happen. It is a long and slow process. Secondly, "getting" splits is not what it's all about at all. Splits ARE a stretch. That is why you do them. It's about the stretching, not about getting them down. It is extreme flexibility stretching and needs to be done when you are FULLY warmed up from a complete barre, at least, if not a complete class. Doing them without warming up first is not smart, and invites injury.

There are no rules on how long to hold them. I really don't think that staying a long time is that important. Just do them as correctly as possible, with knees totally straight and legs turned out and feet pointed, hold briefly, like a few seconds, and that is fine.

[shadow588]

Well, from personal experience, splits are not a huge deal. I know when you're younger it's the rage to be able to do the splits and show off, but really it's a stretch. Even now as I comfortably have the splits on both sides, usually straight from cold if needed, if I'm sore sometimes I am unable to do them unless I stretch a lot beforehand. I am working on my middles, but only because in a la seconde, my hips are extremely erm....nonflexible..... so I use that to loosen them up. So basically, now that I'm back from that small dissertation, it's not very important to get the splits, while it may seem cool, it's really just to stretch.

If you're going to try to get them I advise pigeon pose and king pigeon from yoga. That's what helped me as my hips in all ways are fairly nonflexible and that really helped me with my hip flexibility and loosening up. Then it was fairly easy to go to a split. Oh, and if you're going to stretch, knees straight, legs turned out and point (pointe xD) your feet. Erm I like to do 30 seconds a side or however long you can hold it, and try to go a tad lower for the last 5 seconds or so. Oh and for middles, sit in a straddle against a wall and then push yourself against the wall. This is helpful because you can control your split stretch and still have something to push against to stretch against. We do a minute and a half minimum per side in jazz, and 3 minutes in the center for Middle Splits in three positions. But this is a higher level class. Go easy at first, then work up.

Welp, that was my dissertation, I hope it helps.

Oh and expect for them to take up to two months or more. I got mine in under a month, probably 3 weeks, but I was too lazy to stretch outside of class, so only 4x a week for me xD

Oh and DEFINITELY ALWAYS BE WARM. You don't want to stretch cold and get an injury.

Edited by shadow588, 17 April 2012 - 08:29 PM.

[Victoria Leigh]

Shadow, I know you are new to Ballet Talk for Dancers, but I need to ask you to read our Policies and Rules, especially those on this forum. Young Dancers do not give advice here. You may relate your own personal experiences, but do not phrase anything in the terms of advice. That is what the teacher moderators are here for. And read the posts before, as some of your information I had already posted.

[gavotteindmajor]

May I bring up another question? How do we feel about over-splits here on BT4D? Should a dancer just stick with their normal 180 splits or stretch past it if they are flexible enough and need more of a stretch?

[Victoria Leigh]

Oversplits are unnecessary and, IMO, stupid. Enough said.

[gavotteindmajor]

Thanks!

[gavotteindmajor]

Well, I know you said "enough said" (sorry), but are over splits dangerous, or just not aesthetically pleasing and stupid?

[Victoria Leigh]

Dangerous.

[Mel Johnson]

AND not æsthetically pleasing and stupid. I used to think that they were a good idea, but I began looking at what some professional dancers started to look like after they started doing oversplits. Then I visited one or two people in the hospital from stresses caused by oversplits. That's when I changed my mind.

[gavotteindmajor]

Ah. I just watched a trailer of First Position, and seeing Michaela DePrince being stretched to an almost 270 degree angle certainly was not aestethically pleasing

[Clara 76]

Just because people do it doesn't mean it's right.