There are many variations in parkour flips, and castaway needs practice. Like me, I started with simple backflips and progressed to harder moves like this. Without delays, here are some things you need to know before doing the castaway.
Step 1: Stock Up The Prerequisite Moves
Castaway is an advanced move and, like other advanced tricks. It has associated risks when you decide to perform it. You should be prepared and learn the helpful basic tricks you can use as you try performing castaways.
One of the basic moves you can do that will be a good starting point for castaway is the cast vault which will help you do basic cast techniques for the castaway flip.
The cast vault will help you clear something quickly if you do not have enough area to jump. It can also dissipate the impact on your body. Here are the quick steps in the cast vault if you are unfamiliar with it.
Level and rest your hips on the rail, bar, or obstacle you want to clear. Cast or push your hips away from the bar giving you a lift. Next, go over the bar with your two legs and land on the opposite side.
At the same time, a backflip is also needed in castaway. Mastering the backflip will also be essential because one major set in castaway is doing a backflip.
Although, the backflip you will be doing in castaway will be held a little longer than the normal ones to allow you to rotate more.
Again as I have said, this is an advanced move, so if you are a beginner, I advise you to learn the prerequisites or basic steps to avoid injuries and learn it way faster.
Never do a castaway immediately without knowing the fundamental moves. Parkour envisions athletes acknowledging their limits and working hard to conquer their fears and insecurities. This will also apply in doing the castaway.
Again, castaway is an advanced move in parkour, and it needs enough skill set and training before being able to perform this.
You have to know the fundamental moves like simple casting techniques, cast vaults, and backflip (as mentioned in step one) since these are essential in the correct execution of castaways.
Performing the castaway immediately without mastering the prerequisite moves will certainly be dangerous. Remember to put your safety first and build enough skills to progress safely and faster in your journey.
Step 2: Look For An Ideal Obstacle For Practice
It is important to look for a safe environment to meet your needs when you practice. Look for an obstacle with a straight edge and comfortable for the arms to grip for a castaway.
You can choose a block near you, a swing bar, and others that you can move around and establish a good hand grip. Now, castaways can be high or low but begin with low castaways.
Low castaways are done in shorter heights, and high castaways are the opposite. Do not worry if you want to learn the high castaways since you can get there in no time.
Only perform castaways in obstacles that you can level your hip. Since you know by now that you have to get in a hip-level position as an essential step in castaway, you should not do it in areas that lack enough height.
Remember to choose and look for a practice ground since you would not want to get injured during training. Ensure to keep your practice area from hazzard. You can also practice castaways in gyms if there are near you.
Wherever you go, stick with this tip, and you are on your way to safe castaway training. You should always maintain enough resting force on the obstacle’s ledge and balance out how far you extend your legs.
There are many irregularities in the field, and you must choose when to do castaway carefully. To avoid not performing castaways properly, select the obstacles carefully to make this move that meets its requirements.
Step 3: Position Yourself At The Edge of The Obstacle
When you have found the ideal place and obstacle to start training, it is time to get in position.
Start by lifting yourself and hanging vertically on the edge of the obstacle. Position your arms in front of you with your thumbs pointing downwards or to the ground.
Place your hands comfortably to avoid strain on your arms and palm. This is important not to lose your grip while securing your position.
Familiarize this position and proceed to the next step.
Step 4: Lay on Your Hips and Lean Forty-five Degrees
While hanging on the edge of the obstacle with your hips, the edge both leveled. Lay your hips and slightly lean forwards, aiming for a forty-five-degree angle.
Get comfortable slightly rocking your body back and forth for a good hand and hip coordination.
While in this position, start making small leg cast motions. This leg cast motion is a pop of heel movements needed to push yourself back from the obstacle while your arms and hands are still in place.
Practicing this before proceeding to the next step will allow you to estimate how far back you should stretch your legs to give you enough space in front to go over the obstacle.
Avoid overresting on the obstacle. Get familiar with how you position yourself on the obstacle you are clearing. It would be best if you were consistent with the angle you aim to set your starting position.
It should be around forty-five degrees leaning forward, not just a normal bend. You should also find the best distance for your legs from the obstacle to avoid hitting them hard when you do the back rotations.
At this point, it is just a matter of balancing out your front and back motions.
To avoid making this popular mistake, you must be familiar with your castaway position. Get how much height and distance you need to perform the castaway safely and correctly.
Also, position your arms properly to get maximum support for your rotation and grip.
Step 5: Make a Half Handstand While Holding To The Obstacle
Leaning forward with your heels and legs pushed backward, make a half handstand. Do not invert your body to a full handstand.
Arch your back and drive your heels back as far as possible to ensure enough front space for movement. You have to achieve this since you will do a backflip as part of the castaway.
This half-handstand set is crucial to your castaway because you must grip the obstacle’s edge tighter to avoid falling at an undesirable angle.
The half-handstand position should have a good height to enable you to rotate more before landing.
Step 6: Push Yourself Away From the Obstacle
As you rest your hips on the obstacle or edge and perform the half handstand, try pushing your arms away from the obstacle and familiarize how far you can position yourself without losing your grip and maintaining the position in the previous step.
Do all this simultaneously. I know this might be difficult since it is an advanced move, that is why it involves lots of movement, but it is not impossible to do.
Remember that the distance you establish in this step will start when you jump away from the obstacle. Also, at this point, timing is everything.
Step 7: Snap The Knees Close to Your Chest
As you jump off the obstacle, snap your knees immediately to your chest. Hold this position for a couple of seconds until the jumping force dissipates, and you can land on the ground upright.
An important thing to remember is that this is not a normal backflip because you are doing more rotation, and you have to drive your knees as fast as you can closer to you to avoid a sloppy landing.
A little delay in the timing can result in a lazy tuck that can cause you to spin less, which is undesirable and dangerous in castaways. So, do your best and be forced to tuck your knees in at the best timing.
Step 8: Rotate Backward and Hold Your Position
With the knees and chest close together, rotate backward and hold your position. Keep it this way and let gravity pull you back to the ground.
Swing your legs forward to start the rotation. To ensure that you take enough spin backward, force the tucked position to give the optimal momentum. If you cannot master this yet, try practicing in obstacles with which you can level your hip.
Ensure that the obstacles are not too high or too low, limiting your rotation room. Then, spot the landing area, which is the next step.
Step 9: Spot The Ground And Land On Your Feet
You will surely drop to the ground naturally as you get around the castaway. So, put your environmental awareness at work and spot the landing spot.
Remember not to make a lazy rotation before landing. Since it involves flipping, you must get enough momentum to keep spinning before landing on the ground.
One way to achieve this is performing the step where you drive your knees to your chest. Doing this leg swinging motion as you try to tuck will give the extra force needed to rotate backward from the obstacle.
If you make a lazy tuck or a situation where you drive slower than what is needed after taking off from the obstacle, then you may not be able to rotate as how the castaway should be.
With the extra rotations, you will do in castaway compared to a normal backflip, it might be hard at first to land on your feet and balance immediately to avoid falling to the ground, but you can eventually achieve this if you practice regularly.
You should always spot a safe and ideal landing ground when you do the castaway because landing will always be crucial.
Since you are rotating in the air for a few seconds and will land on your feet, you should drop on the spot comfortable and spacious enough to stand and balance yourself.
To lessen dangerous falls, spot an ideal place to do castaway and do enough stretching exercises to help your feet and legs cope with motion and force as you land.
You can read this article on injuries in parkour to avoid them while you do castaways. At the same time, try to end up in a slightly bending position to dissipate the impact of your fall.
A tip is you can start practicing on rubber mats or areas with padded floorings to prevent this, making you comfortable and safer. After gaining enough confidence and training, you can set out on the real parkour course.
Step 10: Enhance Your Castaway
Once you have made all the steps I have shared, you can now enhance your castaway. Since castaways have low and high variations, you can explore this and try it on the obstacle as it fits.
However, practicing in a slippery bar or obstacle is something that budding traceurs forget when learning new moves. Of course, I understand that the passion for doing what you like is burning, and it can build you the confidence you need to learn a new trick.
However, never attempt to practice on slippery bars or obstacles, especially if you are unfamiliar with how castaway works. You will surely regret it, and it can cause harm more than good.
You can upgrade to a worm flip in simple steps if you already know how to do a castaway. You can add it to your routine in clearing obstacles and enjoy adding it up on your moves, such as a worm flip. You can read it here.
Conclusion
Congratulations! You already know the things you need to learn before doing the castaway. I know you are excited to try it out and show off your moves to your fellow traceurs. Remember that there will always be risks in trying out new moves, so practice safely for these risks to be worth taking.
