Topic: Underbars for freakishly tall people!!

[Freddy046]

I was wondering if i can get any tips to help me with underbars.  It is the most difficult movement for me, which makes sense because I am 6'6.   

[Todd1]

Duct-tape underbars.  This helped me tons.  http://www.americanparkour.com/index.php/demon-s-drill-of-the-month/underduct.html

[hardcoretraceur]

The first thing to do is forget about any advantages or disadvantages you think your height plays in your abilities.

The next thing to do is move

[Chris Eddington]

I'm 6''3, so I know that height can be a mixed blessing. I'm also all legs which makes underbars even more interesting. Some ideas that might help: try to lead with your legs as much as possible (makes pushing out with your hips much easier). If the target is fairly high try to bring your legs up and to the side and push through from there. For getting through lower targets, try to practice jumping into a casting position on a bar without letting your feet touch the ground, this is important for keeping your body linear and the bar to your chest. Once you can get that down, try to work on getting close to an l-sit position with the same motion. Hope this helps.

[Skinny]

One thing that helped me (6'1") is to think of an underbar like a dash vault.  That sort of kicking, legs leading motion.  I dunno, when my friend told me to do that, I hit my first one.  Just food for thought.

[FalconRunner24]

hey, im 5'9, which is very tall for a 14 year old. i havent been able to rly try parkour yet, cause i still need someone to train me and a good place to practice, but ive done underbars before, and the trick is, just use momentum to ur advantage. use ur legs to kick forward and pull u through.

[Muhammad]

I'm 6'2'' and I've never had any problems with underbars after I just started jumping through them feet first.
After my body had already made it's way a third of the way through, I would then catch the bar with my hands and swing the rest of me through.. Just like anything else in parkour, start out easy, and gradually work your way to higher difficulty levels.

[ryan grice]

The first thing to do is forget about any advantages or disadvantages you think your height plays in your abilities.

The next thing to do is move

That sounds great and all, but doesn't hold up to reality. If we abandon rational thought in the name of "just doing it" or "child-like simplicity" we will hurt ourselves. Nobody can say, "I'm too X or not enough Y to train parkour", but you can't simply ignore the way your body type will affect your training. Being tall doesn't mean you can't do an underbar, but just that you may have to work harder to stick it than others. You may even need to get some advice online about adjusting technique to compensate for differences.
But, yeah, height and other stuff shouldn't be used as an excuse, and once you figure out how to overcome that extra obstacle, the next step is to just move. It's a good concept but not that cut and dry in real life.

[hardcoretraceur]

we're all differently built, we have different skeletal and muscular strengths and weaknesses. to train parkour is to explore your own capabilities and to push your boundaries. each obstacle is an opportunity to address a new challenge, to figure out whether it is difficult mentally or demanding physically and to focus on what in you is lacking and train that. my point was more that you have no choice but to accept the things you can not change, and that makes them all but irrelevant. I am as tall as I am, an underbar is as challenging to me as it will be, focusing on my height or using it as an excuse doesnt get me between those rails.

I am afraid - try something easier: bigger space to underbar, less jump required, easier angle of entry
I am not strong enough - strength train: work on your kips, lache', work on front lever progression
I am too tall - not the problem, see above

[ryan grice]

Your second post looks a lot more like what I was trying to get at. Different body types shouldn't keep you from doing anything, but it's not as if they literally do not matter at all. Some people over-complicate issues such as height, which is bad, but I wanted to make sure you weren't over-simplifying it either. I see now that you got it, so no hard feelings, right?

[Muhammad]

LOL, ryan..

i think you have never trained with hardcoretraceur. he has been training for a long time, and has a very thorough understanding of parkour. it's not the he finally got it, it's more likely that you didn't understand what he was talking about ;p

[ryan grice]

Well, I'll take your word that he was probably making a point there by saying that, and I do agree with said point. On the other hand, certain people around this site that can remain unnamed occasionally say things like that and mean them quite literally. I don't have any sort of experience with him, so I wasn't sure which camp he fell into. He obviously knows what he's talking about, but sometimes new traceurs hear inspirational one-line pieces of advice like that and go around repeating them without understanding there's more depth to it than that. I suppose I've made a fool of myself and should quit digging myself into a hole before it fills with water.

[Muhammad]

aww, you're ok ryan

[MMAMenslage]

hey, im 5'9, which is very tall for a 14 year old. i havent been able to rly try parkour yet, cause i still need someone to train me and a good place to practice, but ive done underbars before, and the trick is, just use momentum to ur advantage. use ur legs to kick forward and pull u through.

I'm 13 and over 5'10, but I guess 5'9 for 14 is tall. Yeah, like he said, if you use the momentum for your advantage it will be much easier to do.

[Chase B.]

hey, im 5'9, which is very tall for a 14 year old. i havent been able to rly try parkour yet, cause i still need someone to train me and a good place to practice, but ive done underbars before, and the trick is, just use momentum to ur advantage. use ur legs to kick forward and pull u through.

dude i am six three and im fourteen if thats not freakish some one tell me haha

[Xavier HighReach Byrd]

I'm 6' 2.5" and I have trouble with under bars sometimes, but like Muhammad said just go through legs first get halfway and pull trough. I however whilst practicing with rope always hit my back on the lower bar