Getting Your Splits Down with Perfection

“People are most impressed by the splits than the tricks requiring actual strength.”

- Author Unknown

Getting your right and left splits all the way down with perfect alignment is one of the most difficult tasks to do by dancers in regards to their flexibility. Stretching and accomplishing the splits is the base of your flexibility, and how you will get better at conditioning and applying to all other flexibility tricks, extensions, leaps and much more.

To get your right and left splits you should practice by stretching every day, for a reasonable amount of time. The splits should not just be done without any prior stretching. Stretch the hips, legs and all muscles that feel tight before sliding right into it. Dancers find it easier to end their stretch by resting in the splits after they have completed their warm up stretch to prepare themselves. As splits are the base of flexibility, you will only become more flexible if you stretch out your muscles to prevent any unwanted straining, tightening or pulling.

Now the most difficult part of executing the right and left splits properly is the process of squaring of your hips. This means getting both your hips in a straight line forward. Most hips want to shift towards the inside, to get into your middle split, but you can’t do that. You have to think of it as a box, you are inside of a small box only meant for you with no wiggle room, and there are two hard board on each side of you all the way down. This make it impossible to shift your hips without moving the boards. You have to keep the board in a perfect line facing them forward, without altering the box, never coming unattached from shifting the body and what direction. It is extremely hard to completely square off your hips. It is something I have been working for, for years and still am nowhere near perfection.

Another major point to think about when doing the right and left splits is the turnout of your leg and the point of your ankle. Of course when doing anything with regards to flexibility you want to turn out from your hip, not forced turnout from the knee, this will also help create the boxed hips I mentioned previously. As a suggestion you cannot only think about the front leg, the back leg is equally as important in all flexibility tasks. Point your ankle my extending the heel up and forward, also point the back ankle.

To intensify the challenge of your right and left splits you can practice stretching over split. This is accomplished by building up height either under your front foot, back foot, or both feet. This action brings more stretch to the area under your leg. It will eventually extend your leg higher, and allow more flexibility, by opening up your hips. It’s a great way to keep working your splits after you have them all the way down. You just have to remember to turn out, point and square your hips.

To get better at all flexibility concepts it is important you stretch all the time and get your right and left splits down, and work towards an over split. This will build up your muscles to perform flexibility in the air on the ground or anywhere in all scenarios.

~Julia