Tuesday Tips: Gemini
Nemesis Trick: Gemini
Also Known As: Outside leg hang, Scorpio (UK only)
So, this is a considered a beginner/intermediate move, but the knee hook in this trick is the basis for a TON of other pole moves and the gemini is an entry point into a LOT of combos: the jade, star, knee hang, inverted thigh hold– all transition out of a basic gemini. So, if you don’t have your fundamentals down pat, it makes everything that much harder. And call me biased, but I think a beautifully executed gemini is pretty in any circumstance.
The points of contact in this move are: the pit of your outside knee, the patch of skin on your torso right above your hip (yes, same as the yogini), and the back of your inside armpit. If you are missing any of those points, you will not be stable and you will feel yourself slide. In order to have all those points of contact actually touching the pole securely, you will need to be very specific with your body placement.
When I teach this, I always show it from a basic invert. Let’s talk about the steps for it:
- Invert, and make sure you slide your legs up the pole- you want to be totally vertical, with your hips pulled into the pole, crotch in to the pole, and higher up on the pole then your hands or you will also have trouble getting your hands out of the way.
- Keeping the weight IN YOUR HANDS (so you need to be okay with holding yourself up without your legs wrapped tight on the pole), bend your outside knee hard. Point your foot down towards your inside hip, think about the toes reaching down towards the ground. You want less than a 90 degree angle in that knee.
- SLOWLY ease weight into the knee pit by lightening the grip in your hands- that knee hook is contact point #1. Stay working through the leg to keep the angle of your knee the same– this is an active engagement. The foot should point DOWN the ENTIRE TIME.
- SLOWLY bring your back leg down, with a straight leg. You want to think about really reaching down with that foot as well and getting the leg completely horizontal. As you bring the leg down, you should feel the top of your torso, above your inside hip, start to press into the pole. The whole goal here is to change the orientation of your hips: instead of your hips being vertical and parallel to the pole, you want them parallel to the ground. As the hips tip, they will press into the pole, creating stability in your second point of contact. A lot of times, if you can record or get a buddy to take a pic, you can see how close you are to horizontal with that back leg– it makes a HUGE difference in the stability of the move.
- As you bring the back leg down, maintain engagement through your core so that your inside hip doesn’t drop (which will result in your tummy laying on the pole)– you want both hips at the same height. Release tension through your chest, and drop your chin so that it’s not tucked in to your chest– you want your neck in neutral.
- Slide your hands down the pole slowly as you roll your shoulders gently back and together. Find the pole with the back of your inside armpit (contact point #3) and PRESS your shoulder back and into the pole– just as you would for a yogini. If you feel comfortable, release the grip with your hands to go hands-free.
- To come out, bring the back leg up, regrip with your hands, and go back into an inverted crucifix.
To get a better visual, check out the video below! You can also click here to go directly to the tutorial on YouTube. I also show you a few common mistakes, so hopefully they will help if you’re having trouble getting the trick solid.
Hope that helped! Good luck y’all. If you have other tips to help, or if you have requests for the next tip, feel free to leave me comments!
Tomorrow’s post: 5 Goals, Revisited…
Amy, thank you so much for posting this!!!! I’ve been trying to get this forever.
GET IT, Kat! You will nail it, I have confidence in you =)
Thanks I love your blogs
Thanks for the support Barbara!!
I’ve been working on the invert strength moves for so long now that I’ve found I lose the knack for both gemini and scorpio due to not doing them for ages (the latter more than the former though so would request a Tuesday tip on that if poss please:)) – I can still do them but they ain’t pretty and I just don’t like practicing them either ‘cos it makes me feel like a noob again! We’ve been working on the gemini-scorpio switch to scorpio switch in one of my classes lately though and I just get grumpy and frustrated because the way I’m trying to do it is so slippery and ugly! Anyway, in short (ie. the point of my essay of a comment;p) is that even as someone who has done pole for ages, I am definitely benefiting from tips on this move and others like it:)
Make gemini climbs up the pole into leg switches on both sides part of your daily warmup! I will definitely do a scorpio tutorial– I teach it from the gemini and I have it filmed and ready to go but I re-watched my footage and realized that a couple clips weren’t very clear, so I’m going to refilm it, but it’ll be up soon!! I’m so glad to hear that even an experienced and strong poler like yourself can get something out of a tutorial like this!
Thanks Amy Love this trick, I was wondering could you please give me some tips on the spinning chopper? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IrMxq75ab0U this is a link to the pole trick. I can’t seem to get enough spin on this trick, I’m on a static pole.
Sure Fiona! You can get spin by going into it like a body spiral/corkscrew, and letting your hips pull away from the pole before you bring your legs up to your chest. Do you have a very solid chopper and aerial chopper? It takes a ton of core strength the faster you spin it, because you need to fight the outward momentum and get your hips up.
Thanks Amy that makes it so much clearer yes I can do the chopper well, I just gave it a go and going into it from a body spiral makes it easier, I will just have to practice getting the right momentum. Thanks so much for this!
AWESOME! Congrats, and glad that it helped!! xoxo WOOHOO!
I read your notes and watched your tutorial several times before heading out to practice today. I just tried this trick for the first time on Monday, and today, with your help, I was able to do a pretty decent Gemini at the end of the hour. Thank you!
That’s GREAT, Marisa! Congrats and thanks so much for letting me know that the tips helped, that’s so awesome!!
have i told you lately… that i <3 you!!! loved this!
I hope that it helped =)
and so helpful btw… working on it since we talked and it’s feeling much better!
oh, HURRAH! So awesome. What was wrong with it before?
I was disengaging unhooked leg and so my hip was not pressing into the pole the way i needed it too and I wasn’t laying back. I watched the vid… then checked it out in a mirror and realized i wasn’t even doing what i thought i was. I can now naturally get into it!
HURRAH! #winning. #twinning. I knew you’d nail it =)
[...] or chopper isn’t perfect, this is a great way to make them better faster (or check out this Tip for the Gemini/outside knee hang). And, I get to put a picture of a monkey on my blog! Since this is a combination of tricks in [...]
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Hi, I need your help! I can do scorpio easy with practically no pain and I can hold it fine, but when i try and do gemini it hurts like hell and I can’t hold it
I’ve been trying to get gemini for ages. I am not sure if my legs are too big and therefore I can’t get the knee pit hold right. Is there anything you think I might be doing wrong?
It can be difficult for some people to have the right turn outward to hook the knee, and turn the shin so that your foot is pointing down– we’re all built differently. It’s tough to say without video or pics!