Ball: an extension of a gymnast's limb
Welcome back to my RG 101 series! Today I will be sharing arguably the second most popular apparatus of rhythmic gymnastics: the ball. Read my introduction to RG 101 if you missed it!
It is crucial for the apparatus to be always in motion throughout the performance. Simply because anyone without any gymnastics training can do it too, no sweat!
What is a ball?
Uh... I don't think I need to explain what a ball is? Haha!
Any ball elements?
The fundamental ball elements revolve around (pun intended) bouncing, rolling and the text-book risk, throw and catch.
A ball can bounce (duh!), and a gymnast can bounce the ball off the floor or her body:
A ball can roll (obviously) and the most common roll is on the floor:
Rollin' in the deep... -Adele
But a commoner without any sports experience can do the same! So watch out for trained skills such as rolling the ball on your body parts.
To ensure the roll is counted into the final score, the gymnast has to roll the ball to a minimum of two body parts. The most common roll on the body is hand to elbow, usually extended from one hand to the other through the chest.
Want to up the challenge? Then try rolling the ball while you are moving or rotating!
There are many ways to throw and catch a ball.
The most common way of throwing and/or catching a ball is via the hands. However, there'll be extra points if gymnasts execute this risk using only one hand or other body parts. Also when the ball is outside of her field vision too!
Here is an example of throwing the ball while in motion and catching the ball using her legs without direct vision:
My favourite method of catching the ball is via the gymnast's back:
Imagine all the skills required!
Back flexibility, evidently, because you need to arch your back to catch the ball. Precision: because you cannot see what's behind you, do you? Strength and control: you need the muscle strength to not overarch until you hurt your back.
Last but not least, elegance. I've seen gymnasts who performed as though their spines are ready to snap at any moment.
The throw-and-catch detail that's worth noting a throw-and-catch is whether a gymnast can catch it while performing a difficulty.
After all, the sport's requirement is to maintain the apparatus' fluidity throughout the performance. It simply feels awkward to see someone pausing just to catch the apparatus.
Below are the snippets of catching the ball while performing some masteries e.g. rollovers:
See how she throws the ball from her back, using only one hand? And catches it while doing a back rollover? Superb handling skills!
What makes the ball unique?
Each apparatus has unique qualities, thereafter requiring different handling methods.
Everyone knows a ball can spin; however, only one gymnast incorporate this skill into her routine, which soon kicked off as the originality that made her shine as early as her senior debut.
Ever since then, girls worldwide started learning to spin the ball on their fingers, no kidding!
Originality is when gymnasts come up with an element unique to themselves. Basically speaking, originality is the gymnast's trademark that is rewarded extra points once officially approved.
P/S I will explain originality in detail in another post.
This gymnast is no other than the epitome of rhythmic gymnastics, Russia's Yana Kudryavtseva. Her first debut is in 2013, which is spinning the ball while doing a rollover. She later progressed to spinning the ball on her thumb while performing a side-scale balance:
Another originality possessing impressive balancing skills, Yulia Barsukova :
There is also another ball originality that, in my opinion, is quite cute. It is performed by Malaysian rhythmic gymnast, Izzah Amzan:
Best ball routine in Rhythmic Gymnastics?
My two favourite ball routines are: (click on the thumbnails to be directed to YouTube)
Yana Kudryavtseva's 2013 ball...
and Alice Taglietti's 2020 ball.
What makes the two exercises so captivating to watch?
Because the gymnasts do not treat the ball as a separate apparatus to their performance, but rather an integral to their body dynamics. As if the apparatus is an extension of their limb!
I can FINALLY enjoy an elegant and highly artistic routine in a messy 2017-2021 CoP, though I think it's the current CoP that drives Taglietti's ball routine so interesting. Those smooth transitions and unexpected catches!
There's one particular ball routine that I liked as well, which is by Viktoria Mazur:
This was only my first Mazur's routine and I fell in love with her immediately. Those clean pirouettes! The first video I watched, though, is her Stuttgart competition by FIG but was deleted from Youtube. How sad!
Another ball routine that catches my eye is Alexandra Agiurgiuculese:
You can find thousands of rhythmic gymnastics ball videos on YouTube. My suggestion is to watch a ball competition finals video and you'll decide almost immediately which style is your preference.
Energetic ones? Emotional ones? From this article alone, I think you can already tell that my cup of tea is the ever-flowing ball routine. As mentioned before:
The apparatus is an extension of the gymnast's limbs!
Next article?
My next blog post will be about the third apparatus: the hoop. No, it's not the ordinary hula hoop and definitely not the hooping's hoop either.
Thank you so much for staying with me! Till then, see ya!
Disclaimer:
rhythmic.palette does not own any of the published media unless stated and watermarked otherwise. Kindly contact rhythmic.palette should you wish to remove any of the media.
Cover image information:
"Katrin Taseva (BUL)" by Irene da Rocha via Flickr
Comentarios