Back hip in splits?

[Guest JRSDANCER87]

Good afternoon, everyone. I was kind of wondering whether or not it is better to stretch your splits with the legs turned in or turned out. Often when I do a split with a turned out back leg, it causes pain in my back hip. It's not as bad when I do the split turned in, but I have been told that doing it turned in can cause slight problems to the knees. Not sure about that one. Is it possible that I am twisted in the stretch or the placement of upper body weight is in the wrong position, causing the strain on that back hip? Thanks in advance for any help :-)

[Guest a bee blu 426]

about... three years ago (?) when first started working on my splits, i would always try to turn my back leg out. while doing this, i felt discomfort in my back hip as well. but my teacher told me that it opened my hip too much and it was more like i was doing a split a la seconde.

 

i was so confused, so i tried it doing what i thought was turning my leg in, but my teacher said that my leg was perfectly fine and that my hips were square and i was doing the split correctly.

 

maybe (not like i really know what im talking about, im just going by what my instructor told me) your hip is hurting because your back leg is more turned out than it should be, but youre straining it to be square, like what happened to me.

 

my ballet teacher certainly never told me that turning the back leg slightly in could damage the knee, but hey...

 

hmm... did i spell instructor right? or is it with an "e"? i have to get back to school...

 

[Victoria Leigh]

I'm afraid I don't see the point of practicing anything turned in that, when standing up, needs to be turned out. IMO, it is better to do it correctly turned out, even if you can't get all the way to the floor. If something is hurting and this stretch is causing pain, then don't do it at all.

[Guest JRSDANCER87]

Right! My teachers have said that it is a pointless stretch when you do it turned in. I can get down all the way on the right, almost but not quite on the left...and it doesnt hurt the hamstring much, or stretch it much...but I do feel this strain in the back hip on both sides when I try to turn out my legs. It doesn't feel the same when they are turned in but that is not going to help me in the long run. Alot of my teachers make us do them in class, so I'm not sure if I'm placed incorrectly, or what to do about it. I think maybe my hips aren't square to the front, but when I try to make them square it hurts. Has anyone else felt this? Is there another stretch that will stretch the same mucsles that the splits do that perhaps wouldn't cause hip strain?

[Guest Terin]

One of our teachers taught us a stretch that I think would help with that. You get down on your knees as though you were going to do a split, but instead you slide out only your front leg and flex your foot. Then you flatten your back and get as close to your leg as possible. It also really lets you see if you are twisting your hips. Hope this helps!

[dancer8906]

is it weird that i can feel a better stretch when my leg is turned in?? i cant feel anything when its turned out and i can go about a foot past the splits, but i can just barely get down to the floor when its turned in. so, do you think that i should do the splits turned out or turned in??

[Victoria Leigh]

Welcome to Ballet Alert! Online, and especially to the Young Dancers' forum

 

That question was actally answered above. What is the point of turning in? Is this what you will use in the center? I feel that it is best to relate what you are stretching to how it will be used, and while splits may be only for flexibility, that flexibility when you are dancing classical ballet must be outwardly rotated!

[Guest JRSDANCER87]

Thanks, Terin! I've been taught that stretch before, and it does work, without putting strain on anything, however, the splits are designed to help your grand jete position be more "split" and open in the air, so while that stretch stretches the front hamstring, it doesnt stretch the split position. THat's what I was asking about. But thanks :-)

[Guest Terin]

Oops, sorry, Jenna. I guess I just misunderstood.

[Guest Shortie]

Hi every one!!

 

Where i dance we practice our splits every day but we sometimes practice splits turned in instead of turned out.

 

In my class, we have a stretch between barre and center. During that stretch we practice our splits. Our teacher told us to turn in our back leg while in the split to stretch out the hip flexor muscle. My teahcer told us that since we use that muscle a lot in ballet, sometimes we get very tight in the hip flexor muscle. She told us that turned in was just to stretch out that muscle but turned out is the correct way to stretch...... That is why we do it both ways.

At home i Practice my splits turned in to stretch out my hip flexor.... (i am very tight in my hip flexor muscle )

 

When i am at home, is a turned in split alright to do when you just want to stretch out the hip flexor?

 

Although i know that turned out is the correct way to stretch when the hips are square. In class we also stretch out turned and then turned out to make sure our hips are square when we practice turned out.

[Victoria Leigh]

Shortie, if you have tight hip flexors please be sure that you are very warmed up when stretching them! Definitely should not be done at home unless you have just come from class. Best to do it after barre, or after the class in the studio.

[Guest Shortie]

Oh, sorry, i forgot to mention that I do a quick warmup/barre when I get home after class. I also do other hip flexor stretches but I just wanted to know if the splits were ok to do.

 

Thanks for your advice Ms. Leigh!

[Guest JRSDANCER87]

Yeah, one of my teachers has us practice splits turned in sometimes because you really can feel the stretch more that way, however, she then makes us practice them turned out, as that's how they are used. If you ever try this, you will probably find that it is so much easier to do your splits turned out after doing them turned in, however, I find that I just can't do them turned out that well, because I leave my back hip a little bit too open and then It puts an excessive amount of strain on the hips. SOmetimes I do them turned in just so I do them, because that's more comfortable, and occassionaly I then turn them out for a bit until the pain is unbearable.