I just started working on my double illusions and everyone says my illusions are beautiful but when I try to do a double without putting my foot down I go so slow! Do you guys have any tips?

Do you do stepover illusions or regular illusions? With regular ones you can pump with your free leg in between every one. Stepover illusions are nicer-looking but a bit trickier to do more than one of.

I do reverse doubles so I guess you call those step over illusions. When I do front double illusions they are even worse! Do you have any advice for reverse double illusions?
Thanks!

try counting. This is a great trick... flash/warm up "1, 2" toss "3," head down on "4," up "5," down "6," up and spot "7," catch "8."
you can always take out the counts for the flash, etc. but if you put on music with a good tempo, and count, you will be focusing on keeping pace with yourself instead of being scared or apprehensive about the trick itself.
Good Luck!!

rbtwirler rules at them! She showed me her illusion technique in exchange for a hoop pattern change at nationals one year. I still don't have them mastered. I wish illusions never came to be such a force, but I don't like the idea of split leap pull outs any better. Done with my whinge because it's not helping me improve.

I try to think on my illusions as vertical movements where my torso and leg in the air are considered one straight line making a full circle around my leg that is planted on the floor. If you think about it this way you come to realize that to have a great illusion ( or double in this case) you need a strong core to keep your torso and leg in a straight line and you need the flexibility to offer a greater range of motion. When you have these components you will find that once you complete the circle motion of your first illusion will become more fluid and the inertia will help pull you into a second.

That's a great way to think about it. My problem is getting my body in line, always has been.

you are right Canadian Twirler-my coach tells me abs are really important in twirling and I should do sit ups everynight!!

I have 2 coaches and this is what they told me. You should have a total of 8 counts, catching on the 8th count. Also, you should be try maybe doing a 2 turn illusion. It is the same amount of counts. But I would work on getting your 2 illusions 8 counts.

Thanks for all the advice!

Crazy_Twirler wrote:

rbtwirler rules at them! She showed me her illusion technique in exchange for a hoop pattern change at nationals one year. I still don't have them mastered. I wish illusions never came to be such a force, but I don't like the idea of split leap pull outs any better. Done with my whinge because it's not helping me improve.

I agree that rbtwirler has to be the best at these, not to mention a great instructor. My best possible advice is to follow rb's instructions! I did and was doing them after my first private with her.

Thanks for the help on my doubles! I caught my first one tonight!!

Is there any way the counting trick would be applied to a Triple illusion? Of course this is not something to be attempted without the proper preparation and skill, but I would like to start on the body work for it!

GMWTwirl wrote:

Is there any way the counting trick would be applied to a Triple illusion? Of course this is not something to be attempted without the proper preparation and skill, but I would like to start on the body work for it!

Add two counts and you should be golden.

It is interesting to consider that the toss count for an illusion is equivalent to a double spinner. Therefore, a double illusion has the same toss count as a 4 spin and a triple illusion has the same toss count as a 6 spin.

While you have the danger factor of a baton crashing into your leg in the middle of an illusion, and you can't easily race after a wild toss for the illusion trick, if you have controlled tosses and good body work for illusions AND spinners, the difficulty should be comparable.

I also observe that timing for illusions does not have the same priority as it does for spinners. When twirlers wait for to catch the baton for their double or triple illusions, I rarely hear negative comments. But I do when they wait for multiple spinners. Timing should be just as important for the illusion tricks.

Theories are so easy to explain but so hard in practice.

Crazy_Twirler wrote:

Theories are so easy to explain but so hard in practice.

So true!

WHen my kids have the proper technique of an illusion down, I start them on practicing (bodywork only) doing double illusions for a 1 illusion trick and triple illusions for a double trick, etc. It helps them focus on powering through the second illusion and not coast to the end of a multiple illusion trick later.

GBSS wrote:

It is interesting to consider that the toss count for an illusion is equivalent to a double spinner. Therefore, a double illusion has the same toss count as a 4 spin and a triple illusion has the same toss count as a 6 spin.

While you have the danger factor of a baton crashing into your leg in the middle of an illusion, and you can't easily race after a wild toss for the illusion trick, if you have controlled tosses and good body work for illusions AND spinners, the difficulty should be comparable.

I also observe that timing for illusions does not have the same priority as it does for spinners. When twirlers wait for to catch the baton for their double or triple illusions, I rarely hear negative comments. But I do when they wait for multiple spinners. Timing should be just as important for the illusion tricks.

But well-timed illusion tricks with hard catches (Chelsea Rusell's 1 double under leg and Veronica Mosier did a great 1 spin illusion backhand with the second illusion) get me every time I watch them--it's probably because mine have never been timed that well. Obviously one of those tricks is harder, but they were great on each twirler. Veronica did a triple actually, but that one spin illusion backhand with another reverse (no foot down in between illusions) sticks in my mind more because it had to be timed perfectly.

Catching illusion tricks in an illusion is very hard. You can also catch a 5 spin (lets say) in an illusion, which is very hard on a reverse illusion. But what about considering how dangerour illusions are, not just getting a baton in your face as you are learning, but also the incredible wear and tear on your joints. Maybe illusions shouldn't be so important.

batonlvr wrote:

But what about considering how dangerour illusions are, not just getting a baton in your face as you are learning, but also the incredible wear and tear on your joints. Maybe illusions shouldn't be so important.

I know some top winners in the NBTA Jr. & Sr. Divisions at Nationals this year did not do double illusions in some of their routines but still scored and placed high (firsts & seconds). They did cover all the bases of the score sheet though.

The best way to prevent injury is to make sure you are using proper technique and add an abs and lower back workout to your training. your obliques are extremely important in preventing hip flexer injury.

I finally figured out where my body was falling out of line after a strut lesson where my coach made the comment I wasn't lengthening my neck on other moves. After coming home and reading what had been written about alignment again, I realized the problem was my neck. I was pulling it into my chest instead of relying on flexibility. It works so much better now--it's not on one foot all the time and the flexibility isn't quite there, but it's already so much better! Thanks to twirlprincess for starting this thread; it has helped at least two people.

the trick is the transition.

when you finish your first illusion...dont think about the foot coming down to be back and stopping... it must swing through first postion and on the DEGAGE, the body must fouette to the opposite side....before the foot begins to rise again ..andthe second illusion can begin...


the hard part is the tranistion of the foot and the rotation of the body, before the second illusion begins...

if you are doing your illusions correctly (facing side to side) and not allowing your belly button to face the audience, the timing issue will work itself out, as the body memorizes the movement pattern.



Im 41, and I remember when I was 5. I paid a girl $1.00 at a competition to teach me to do an illusion. They have been around ALONG...LONG time