Every gymnastics gym has super flexible girls (and, once-in-a-while, a boy). They often get steered into Rhythmic Gymnastics.
In some countries those girls may be selected to be contortionists.
A non-acrobatic coach asks this question:
Are there any studies of the contortionist/gymnastics training these children are receiving?
Are there any local or international monitoring agencies? Are there health agencies involved to evaluate the stresses of the training? Is there any oversight at all for the training and pre-training of potential future athletes?
thomasfortenberry.net » Blog Archive » Contorting Future Gymnasts
I have no answer for him.
Astonishingly, some people are born with a range of motion far beyond the norm. The most flexible girl I ever coached seemed to have no limits in hip mobility. It was not from training. She could do extreme oversplit in every direction without pain the first day she walked into the gym.
But is it possible to injury such an athlete?
Certainly. The stretching I’ve seen done by contortionist coaches has been too severe, in my opinion. I particularly worry about the lower spine and knees.
However, the bigger story is just how uninjured are contortionists compared with the normal population. Perhaps there are some advantages in having such lax joints.
Leave a comment if you have an opinion. Or if you’ve seen any research into contortionist injury.
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