The Windmill

STARTING POSITION: Start with a push up position with your knees touching the ground (get on all fours). Then modify the position by taking your left arm and do what we call 'stabbing'. Bend the arm and place the elbow into your gut. It should be below your belly button, and centered left to right. You may find your back hunching in order to get it in place. Now your right arm should be stabbed and your right fingers should be pointing behind you. What you're going to do next, is turn your upper body a bit to the right. Simply rotate your shoulders clockwise so you are looking to the right. Move your left hand over a bit to the right for stability. Rotate your lower body to the right as well so that you drop onto the left sides of your knees and your toes point to the right. You should no longer be on the fronts of your knees and feet, but on the left sides. You should be well balanced and comfortable in this position before you go any further. Take some time to get used to it, and make any adjustments you need.
THE FIRST ROTATION: This part of the windmill is very important, because without a good first rotation, you most likely won't be able to get good multiple ones. I recommend that you practice this on carpet, grass, or anything else that gives you grip and won't be painful to bang against. The first step from the starting position is to raise you're right leg up and to the left. Lift it high above the left leg. Be sure to keep it locked and straight. Once this leg is in place, begin to twist/rotate your upper body to the left. You should feel like your body is ªwound upº like a toy, and as a result of your twisted body, you should feel as if your left leg is ready to fly out to the left. When you are ready, torque your right leg against the left (kick the right to the right, and the left to the left). Keep in mind this should be a circular motion, and while I say you kick to the right and left, I mean that you kick in an arc to the right and left. Imagine the two arms of a compass (one of those math tools for drawing circles) spinning around each other. At the same time as this kick is happening, you should be turning your entire body clockwise relative to the ground with your hands - in a way similar to doing a turtle float. Pretend you are trying to rotate the ground underneath you, and swivel on top of your right hand - which should be supporting almost all your weight. As your legs rotate around each other and your body turns relative to the ground, your upper body should continue twisting to the left and you should turn your head really hard to the left so you can almost see the ceiling. Aim your twisting and turning so that your right shoulder touches down close to your right hand. As it does touch down, continue to twist your body to the left. Let your body bend at the waist as you roll onto your back, but don't let your legs bend. Let your right supporting arm collapse, and so long as you keep your legs straight and spread, the momentum from the kick should carry you smoothly over your shoulders. You should not find yourself grinding against the ground, as the windmill has a rolling motion, and you shouldn't really feel like you're doing a backspin. If this is what's happening to you, It may help to give a hard push with your left hand to get yourself rolling. There are several things you must really keep in mind during this kicking motion. One of the most important ones, however, is that you have to keep your legs as spread as possible at all times. As soon as that left leg comes out during your first kick, actively try and spread your legs until they can't go any farther. Something that might help you here is to focus not on kicking that right leg up, but instead across to the left. Sweep it low across the ground until it just can't go any farther, and only then let it go upwards. This is much more important than it might sound. A second thing is that the legs must remain totally straight. From the moment you initiate this first kick, your legs must go completely stiff. Some people find it helps to point there toes outwards. Don't think that these tips are just for pros that want to clean their mills up. You will find that it is almost impossible to pull any mills at all if your legs are bending or closing up, so keep them in mind at all times.
CONTINUING THE WINDMILL: If you have more than one rotation down, congratulations! However, I wouldn't get too excited. Getting the move continuous is the hardest part, simply because it is such a complicated thing to do. It is almost impossible to explain in words, and just as hard to understand from watching people do it. It is something that for most people requires a ton of practice and major dedication, and only experimentation will help you learn. Despite this, I am going to outline a few things that helped me get my windmills continuous and that I would have loved to hear while learning. The first thing I want to tell you is that you must, like I already said, keep your legs totally straight, and spread as far as possible. Don't think you have to be super flexible. While it may help, you don't at all need to be. Guys that can't even touch their toes can do great windmills. Another tip that should help you, is that as long as you are doing 'stabbed' windmills, never let your right elbow leave its point of contact in your gut. Your arm may bend as you pass onto as you pass onto your back, but this doesn't mean that elbow ever has to budge. By keeping it there, you will be more ready to go back onto your hands as you roll to your front. The same thing goes for the left arm. Always keep it in a position where it will be useful to you on the front. When doing 'stabbed' mills, I keep it tight, but this doesn't mean that elbow ever has to budge. By keeping it there, you will be more ready to go back onto your hands as you roll to your front. The same thing goes for the left arm. Always keep it in a position where it will be useful to you on the front. When doing 'stabbed' mills, I keep it tight against my left side after my first rotation, and use the forearm flat against the ground in front of me for support. After some practice, you may find yourself able to do more than one rotation, but they are really ugly, you roll all over the place, and you slow down after a few rotations. If you're doing mills like this, you're on the right track, but you are using your right arm to push yourself too much. You have to learn to rely on your hips to drive yourself. This is the key to continuing the windmill, and is something only experience will teach you. Here's are a tip . The first thing you gotta start doing is stop pushing with your left arm completely. It may be instinctive by now to use it, but you've gotta force yourself not to. Start concentrating on the motion of your hips and upper body. A common mistake here is to start bending and winding the legs closed in order to generate momentum, but this is exactly what you shouldn't do. Keep your legs straight and spread and DON'T wind them. What helped me get the hip motion was to concentrate on the way you bend and straighten your waist as go from your back to your front. When you go onto your front, make sure your body is going completely straight and rigid. As you straighten and roll from your back to your front you might also try to turn your torso to your left by looking hard over your left shoulder. Whenever I consider my mills, it always seems like it is this combination of straightening and bending, and twisting and turning that keeps them going. Don't get me wrong when I say 'twisting' though. From your crotch up to your neck has to remain totally rigid and can't twist. This may be confusing in words, so just keep in mind that your abs must be tight at all times (even on your back), and you shouldn't run into any related problems.