The Fosbury Flop—And Why I’m Making an Audacious Comparison to the Way I Teach Inverts
In 1968, a lanky guy named Dick Fosbury showed up to the Olympics and did something no one had seen before.
Instead of jumping over the high jump bar the traditional way (facing it, doing a scissor-kick or straddle), Dick turned around, ran up at an angle, and flung himself backward over the bar.
People thought he was broken. Or mocking the sport.
One coach even said it looked like a fish flopping out of a boat.
Even his own coach discouraged him from using the technique in competition. It didn’t look right. It wasn’t how high jumpers were “supposed” to jump.
So Dick saved it as a last resort… until it turned out to be a game-changer.
Because here’s the thing:
It worked.
It worked so well that he won gold and set a new Olympic record.
And just like that, the Fosbury Flop became the technique.
Biomechanics nerds still admire it today—because it let his center of mass pass under the bar, even while his body cleared it. That’s not just power. That’s physics.
Now… why am I bringing up revolutionary high jump techniques on a blog about pole dance?
(He too was making moves over a pole.)
Because sometimes… I teach things that make people tilt their heads and go:
“Wait—that’s not how we’ve been taught to do it.”
And they’re right.
I love movement history. But I’m not here to stick with tradition when tradition fails to be adaptable or accessible.
Instead of clinging to “how it’s always been done,” I ask:
What if it didn’t have to be such a struggle?
What if there’s a way that makes more sense—more flow, more actual success?
Those questions led me to an approach to inverts that doesn’t always look conventional—but consistently helps people of diverse body types actually get upside down.
Do I think my method will revolutionize the entire world of athletics?
No.
Will it land me a Netflix biopic?
Also unlikely.
But…
I do believe that what I teach in InvertReady is just as counterintuitive—and just as effective—compared to the common ways people are taught to invert.
It’s not about mimicking fitness shapes or recycling cues that have been passed down without question.
It’s about understanding leverage, load, and developing mental models that transform the way you move—on the pole and beyond.
I built these progressions in direct response to watching students struggle with techniques that didn’t make sense in their bodies.
I don’t expect my contributions to invert-related thought leadership to land me in Sports Illustrated…
But I am saying that once you learn to invert in ways that:
actually help you get your hips up without rounding,
allow for a multitude of smooth transitions, and
meet you right where you are—
…you just might find yourself saying,
“Why the hell didn’t anyone show me this sooner?”
We’re not flopping in InvertReady.
We’re learning to invert in a way where the technique actually helps you—instead of being something you have to fight your way through.
The Fiskin Tilt™?
The Fiskin Float?
Call it what you want.
It works.
👉 InvertReady is open for registration now.
Learn more here.
