AIR TRACK

HOW TO FLY

Before you even attempt to learn air tracks, you should know what you're in for. 
This is one of the hardest and most dangerous moves you'll ever learn. First, be 
prepared to experience a great deal of pain. You're going to land on your head, 
shoulder, chest, back and hip many times. Second, you have to overcome the fear 
that comes with spinning in the air. If you've ever tried a back flip, you know 
what I mean. Third, you won't master it any time soon. You might get a single 
air track pretty quickly, but be prepared to spend the rest of breaking career 
mastering it. Last but not least, good windmills are absolutely necessary for 
good coordination, since an air track is basically a windmill in the air. You 
don't necessarily have to have combos with windmills, but you should be able to 
do them with ease, and also without hands, so that your abdominal and waist 
muscles are strong enough to give you the whip you need. But windmill combos do 
help, of course. 
Another thing: there is an infinite number of ways to do this move. I'm going to 
tell you my way and several others. You can use any of these tactics, or come up 
with your own way that might be easier for you. And I strongly suggest that you 
practice this move on the softest surface possible, such as a mat or your front 
lawn. These instructions are for someone going counter-clockwise. If your moves 
go clockwise, just reverse the instructions. 
Start as if you're going to do windmills (standing or kneeling), and make sure 
your body's angle stays between horizontal and about 45 degrees. Don't ever let 
your body get vertical (you'll land on your head). Put your right hand down 
first, then your left hand, while your legs do a windmill motion. Your left leg 
is going to kick up behind you first, then your right leg, and then your left 
leg is going to kick around and over your right leg in a circular motion. Your 
legs are split at all times. Just as your left leg swings over the right, you 
let go of the ground with your right hand, while your left hand stays put for a 
few micro seconds more. It's important to look over your right shoulder because 
you have to be able to see the ground after you let go and before you land. 
During these microseconds, kick your right leg under your left leg (remember, 
your left leg kicked over your right leg first) and wait on your left hand until 
your body spins as far as it possibly can, then let go of the ground with your 
left hand. If that seemed too complicated, then simply visualize the motions of 
a windmill, only your body is about two feet above the ground, and remember to 
let go of the ground one hand at a time, first with the right and then with the 
left. You are now airborne, but only for another few microseconds. After you let 
go with your left hand and are in the air, try to "catch" the ground with your 
right hand first and then your left hand in rapid succession, and try to keep 
your legs moving in a windmill motion (and make sure you can see the ground). 
Right here is where it gets dangerous. If you don't whip your legs hard enough, 
or you don't catch the g round quick enough, or both, you are going to land on 
your shoulder, hip, head, or all three. If you don't catch the ground at all, 
you'll land on your chest and maybe your face. If you overspin, you'll land flat 
on your back, knocking the wind out of you, or worse, you'll land on your hip 
and cause long term damage. However, if you do everything right and you keep a 
continuous motion with your legs, and if you catch the ground immediately after 
you let go, then you should spin right into windmills (your foot or feet may hit 
the floor though, which is why you should spin at an angle instead of 
horizontally). 
It's perfectly alright to land on your hands and feet at first, but the goal is 
to go into windmills out of it. Just pretend you're going to start a windmill 
from standing up, but you do a windmill in the air on the way down to the floor. 
Here's another (much easier) way: instead of launching off one hand at a time, 
push off with both hands and land on both hands, while using the same lower body 
technique. Or you can do a drilled air track: push off with both hands, and 
instead of swinging your legs like a windmill, close them and spin as fast as 
you can. With this technique, it's possible to do more than one spin (1.5-2). 
One more way: using momentum, swing into a cricket/handglide position and use 
the same lower body technique described above. I suggest you try these 
techniques before going on to the technique I described in the preceding 
paragraph, as they're all much easier, and don't require as much practice. You 
just push and spin (and pray). Remember, always visualize! Before you even try 
air tracks, imagine what it looks like based on these instructions, and imagine 
yourself doing each little part of the move, when and how to swing your legs, 
when to let go and when to catch. Imagine how every part of the move feels, how 
it feels to be airborne for an instant, and imagine yourself seeing the ground 
just before you catch. Your body can't do it if your mind can't do it first.