Tuesday Tips: Plow Over
Nemesis Trick: Plow Over
Also Known As: Fish flop, back somersault
Hi guys! I had a lot of great feedback on (and requests for additional) floor work Tips, so today we’re going to go over one of my favorite basic floor work transitions: the plow over (somersaulting from a plow position). If you missed the earlier entries, see here for the head/elbow stand, here for kneeling floor work, and here for the wavy legs.
There are a bunch of more advanced moves that build on the basic plow over, and I’m going to be covering them in the coming weeks too! We’ll be talking about the forward roll next, and then the last one in the series is going to be the forward roll shoulder stand stall. And this plow over Tips covers a few more advanced variations of the basic plow over as well. So think of these as a progression: before you work on one, make sure the easier trick covered the week prior is solid and confident. Also, just want to emphasize something that hopefully most of you already know by now: floor work is HARD. You actually have to be really strong to do very controlled and slow floor work because it typically takes so much core strength. Don’t be surprised if these are tough or take you some practice to perfect.
So the plow over is one of my faaavorite floor work transitions, because it is a great way to get from your back to your stomach, making it easier to crawl towards the pole or just get up. I talked about the basic plow (bringing your legs up and over your face when you’re laying on your back) in as a way to build strength for the shoulder mount so it should look familiar. Each time you work on the plow over, use your abs to control the lift of your legs so you are getting a workout! Don’t just use momentum or rely on gravity to keep your legs up either. Use your ABS! You love doing abwork. Love it.
Once your legs are over your head, you’re ready for the plow over. Assuming you are rolling over your right shoulder, you’re going to bring your left hand in line with your head, palm down and elbow up. Your right arm is going to stay at your side, palm down. Now the goal is to bring your knees to the ground directly behind you. In order for that to happen, either your neck needs to fold in half so you can roll over it, or you need to get your head and neck out of the way. Guess which one!
To get your head and neck out of the way, before you even begin to shift your weight any further back, you want to turn your head so that your right ear is on the ground, and then KEEP turning it as you drop your knees to the ground. If you feel ANY kind of pain whatsoever, or you are flopping over to one side, then you are either not turning early enough, or you are failing to stay engaged through your core and thinking that you can just sort of magically roll over. False! Use abs. Love them. If you don’t push into the ground with your hands equally, you will flop over. If you don’t push into the ground with your left hand in particular, you also won’t be able to lift your left shoulder enough to give your head the space it needs to turn. As you complete the plow over, your right arm will move from its original starting position and you should end palm up (because your shoulder rotates in respect to the ground).
Once you’ve completely mastered the head turn, try making it harder by keeping your legs straight. By pushing into the ground with the tops of your feet, and engaging through your (you guessed it) core, you can control the descent of your stomach to the ground. One tip: if you do this in socks or heels, it’s a lot easier on the feet (floor burn is rough) but also harder to control. You can really tell whether or not you are turning your head enough by how straight your line of travel is.
Then if the straight leg version is comfy and awesome, you can work more advanced ways to plow over! Do the straight legged version, and then lift your left leg up as high as you can and hold it there while you control your descent with just your right leg. If that’s okay, then try a scissor kick into it– lead with the left leg, switch your right leg past it in midair, and end the same way you would for the one-legged plow over.
To get visuals on all of this, take a look at the video below (or here for the Youtube link).
Hope you have fun! If you have any other tips on this stuff to share, feel free to post in the comments!
Tomorrow’s post: Master planner…
Thanks for this! I love how it looks and I know mine can use a lot more work in terms of control & finesse! My friend and I call our sad versions the Clubbed Seal…not at all like what Alethea showed us in her workshop. Ha ha!
Oh dear… clubbed seals aren’t sexy! Hahha. If you have the hamstring/neck flexibility to put your feet down on the ground, do that– they will help you control your descent!
Yay! I *just* taught all of these in floorwork clinic last night. Still working on the full fish flop–the no-legs-on-the-ground roll down your chest version. SCARY! Great breakdowns Miss A! xo
My upper back flexibility is non-existent so when I do the full flop, I end up REALLY flopping! Ouch. On a padded mat only!
amazing floorwork move..thanks for the video..it’s good to know the right way to execute it without the risk of hurting our neck..:)
Thanks Georgia! I think this move is so fun, and you shouldn’t be scared of your neck if you’re doing it right. Good luck!!
[...] So today’s tip builds on the tip from last week: the plow over. [...]
Love your slow demos! This move is so pretty!! I usually land on one knee (same as straight arm) and the other leg out to the side. Do you have any tips on how to not chafe off the skin on the toes/top of the foot when landing and sliding out the straight leg versions? Seems like I can do these only wearing grandma socks or I end up with raw flesh after just one or two, no matter what the floor is
In heels there’s still the toes out…
If you’re putting tons of weight on the tops of the feet as you turn your head and lower your hips to the ground, you need to focus more on using your abs to slowly release and let your legs slide out. This should minimize how much you’re relying on the tops of your feet to keep you in control. Don’t let the legs slide out too quickly or it’ll make the chafing worse!!
Thank you, Amy!! Makes sense
I was trying to flip really fast and powerful. I felt like I can control the down part but not the outwards, if that makes any sense. I will go back and work on slow and controlled. Hoping it is mainly a muscle memory thing because I can deadlift a headstand and slowly hover it back down all the way into splits with control. Looking forward to play more with this move 
Absolutely, if you can think about pushing more through your arms and core then you should save your feet some. IF I do a lot of these and the floor is super sticky, I do end up needing to put socks on but you should be able to take some of the weight off
How did I miss this one? I just learned to keep my legs straight this week and this tutorial is SO much help!
[...] The good news is that I learned something I’ve been wanting to look up. I do my backward roll onto one knee with the other leg extended in what this instructor called a passé (I think). I got to learn to do it into a body roll, so instead of landing on a knee, I kept that leading leg straight and bent my trailing leg (like a scorpion) and rolled over my shoulder and on to my torso. So yay for that! (9/8/12 EDITED TO ADD: I just found a tutorial from Aerial Amy that shows this, though she doesn’t bend her trailing leg: http://aerialamy.com/blog/2011/11/15/tuesday-tips-plow-over/) [...]