Once you have learned to dismount the
board independently, to retrieve and serve your own bar,
as well as to throw a few basic tricks reliably to the catcher,
you will be considered an intermediate flyer. Now you will
begin focusing on building a more powerful and beautiful
swing, which will take your flying to the next level.
There is a whole new set of tricks that
are possible once your takeoff and swing become more confident
and effective. The higher and more controlled your swing,
the more beautiful and pleasurable the flying.
You will learn to take off from the riser
board (a small removable ledge that allows you to take off
from higher and higher positions) and to perform your basic
tricks on the back end of your swing, allowing you to use
the front end of the swing to build height.
You will learn new tricks such as the
pull over, uprise shoot and forward over. You can also begin
to experiment with the layout and double somersault. You
may learn to do a flip off your first bounce in the net,
or even a swivel hips. We will be evaluating and training
every aspect of your movement on the rig so that you can
build a solid flowing relationship to the sport.
You will begin learning to return your
tricks to the bar from the hands of the catcher, so that
eventually you can complete the entire circuit from take
off to catch, catch to bar and bar back to board. This mastery,
which will be focused on in the advanced classes, eventually
leads to the possibility of flying on a team and rarely
coming down.
Intermediates will also be encouraged
to do training outside of class that will support their
progress in the air. Materials will be available for those
who wish to learn the rigging, physics and history of flying.
In this way, we can support whatever level of athleticism,
desire or fanaticism you seek.
Of course, you are the one who sets the
goals for your flying. We wish only to have flying be a
safe positive influence in your life. Therefore we are careful
not to impose unwelcome expectations, though our training
techniques can be quite demanding as you progress to higher
levels of flying.
Photo credits: Timothy Fadek (sunset), Bob Holzman (split trick)
