3 Ways To Enter Into Drop-Knee On The Slackline

Slackline Training Tips

Have you ever wondered how to get into that Drop-Knee position? You’re in luck, today I’m going to talk about 3 different ways to enter into Drop-Knee on the Slackline.  Drop-Knee itself, is a great resting place when you’re slacklining. Whether your on a gardenline, a highline, or a trickline, Drop-Knee can offer your legs a break from standing and walking.

To me this is not only a resting place, but it feels great too, acting as a wonderful stretch for your hamstrings and quads. Keep it even and try these transitions and poses on both sides of the body. There are plenty of ways to enter this pose, but today I’m going to walk you through 3 variations ranging from intermediate to advanced.

Sitting Roll to Drop-Knee

So let’s get started with the easiest of the 3, the Sitting roll to Drop-Knee. If you need a quick review on how to sit on the line, check out our Sit-Start and Sit-Start-Sit Slackrobats Tutorials on-line.

If this is new for you, start on one end of the line near an anchor point and find a drishti. Once you’re sitting with both feet on the line, knees up, toes facing the anchor farthest away from you, you want to take a deep breath.

Now take the foot closest to your thut (area where thigh and butt meet) and feed that foot through the triangle hole created from the line and your leg. Feed your leg through so that you are resting on the line at your ankle, with your foot just past the line. The leg you feed through is going to have a relaxed knee fallen to the side, close to level with the line (just above the line). Be sure to squeeze the resting ankle and foot as close to your thut as possible.

Now it’s time to roll forward over your ankle, putting weight into the foot on the line. This rolling forward should allow you to drop the relaxed knee down towards the ground, resulting in a 60/40 weight distribution between your foot and ankle. Your arms are out for balance in a ‘T’ shape or you have cactus arms and that’s it, you’re doing a Drop-Knee entered from sitting on the line.

I would recommend trying this motion with your body from a seated position on the ground before trying it on the line. It’s a great way to engage the muscles your going to need to use, getting you familiar with what you need to activate on the line. Also, with nowhere for your knee to drop when doing the ground exercise, it’s actually a little harder on the ground, so when you get to the line it seems easier. A great mind, body,and muscle exercise.

Standing to Drop-Knee

Next, I want to take it up a notch and talk about lowering down into Drop-Knee from Standing. This one is a little harder, because it requires a solid Slacker Stance. This is basically standing on the slackline arms out in a ‘T’ shape, one leg straight holding your weight on the line , the other leg out in the air at about a 45 degree angle to help you balance.

Once in a solid Slacker Stance, you want to take the free leg and cross it over the line behind your standing leg. When crossing over , you want to stop when your foot is over the line and your slightly resting on your ankle. To do so, you must begin to bend the standing leg. Once your ankle finds the line, you can continue bending the standing leg until you are able to settle into a Drop-Knee position. Again the weight is distributed approximately 60/40- Foot/Ankle.

One important tip is to slightly lean forward as you are lowering into the Drop-Knee position, keeping most the weight in the standing leg. The crossed-leg ankle hook on the line is there as support, but think of it as your secondary support. Your primary control in slowing this down and doing it smoothly is coming from the standing leg, your core, and your breath. Try exhaling as you lower down, and remember that a drishti is always helpful when looking for balance. This can also be practiced off the line, on the  stable ground, a great way to warm up your legs.

Free Chongo to Drop-Knee

Now let’s move onto the most difficult of the 3 entrances, the Free Chongo to Drop-Knee. This move requires you to be very comfortable in a Chongo Mount position. From there we are working towards taking your supporting hand that’s on the line and bringing it off the line for a Free Chongo balance.If you have never done a Chongo Mount before, I would recommend practicing that for a while before moving forward ( Check out our Chongo Start Slackrobats Tutorial if you need some pointers).

In a typical Chongo Mount your center chest is facing away from the anchor point farthest away from you at about a 45 degree angle. For the Free Chongo I want you to have your center chest facing the far anchor point, making your torso perpendicular with the Slackline. The arm that is usually making contact with the line for support is up and out for balance. So now your balanced on one leg in a low squat.

From here I want you to take the free leg and cross it over the line in front of you, so that your resting on your ankle just a bit. Next, move your weight forward, rolling over the ankle, allowing your knee to start to drop. This roll forward is the major transition point.

As you roll forward, you are taking all your weight on that ankle for just a moment as you bring your other foot off the line and move it in front of the load bearing ankle. During the transition I like to push away from the line with my ankle, engaging my core,calf, and hamstrings muscles. This allows for slower more controlled movements and it helps to train those micro muscle in your body. After all that, you should be resting in your Drop-Knee position.

Enjoy The Journey

I know this is a lot to visualize from reading this text, so I have provided some videos for visual and audio cues. I hope you enjoy your journey practicing these entrances into Drop-Knee. Please if you have any questions give me a shout in the comment box. Otherwise, enjoy and be on the look out, because there’s more training videos to come!

Peace

Buddy Thomas