²ÝÝ®ÎÛÊÓƵµ¼º½

Airplane with knee drive & hop

Category: Balance

Level: 3

4-8 reps each side

Carla van den Berg

Airplane

  • Initiate movement by pushing hips backwards into the hinge position as torso slowly lowers towards the floor
  • Flat back and neutral neck position throughout the movement
  • Slight knee bend as torso lowers
  • Hips remain square
  • Slow, controlled movement

Knee drive & hop

  • From extension, back leg comes forward and up into knee drive as the other leg pushes off the ground into a hop
  • Knee stacked over ankle at take-off and landing
  • Move opposing arm & leg together at each direction
  • Round back
    • Cue "Pinch shoulders back"
    • Cue "Push hips back"
  • Hips externally rotating (turning outward)
    • Cue "Point foot of free leg towards standing leg"
    • Cue "Hips face the floor"
  • Knee collapsing inward
    • Cue "Drive knee out towards pinky toe"
  • Neck extension (looking up) during the hip hinge
    • Cue "Look up through the eyebrows"
  • Same arm and leg moving forward together
    • Cue "Opposite arm and leg"
  • Moving through too quickly
    • Cue "Stick your landing"
    • Cue "Slow and controlled"
  • Dynamic balance
  • Ankle stability
  • Knee control
  • Reinforces soft landing technique
  • Develops arm/leg coordination
  • Hip-dominant movement targets posterior chain (back, glutes, hamstrings)
  • Reinforces safe, neutral spine position