The Straddle Roll is a goodie! It's enjoyable to watch, makes for a lovely photo-shoot pose but it does require some fineness in order to get in and out smoothly and safely.
I'd consider it an intermediate-level skill and definitely recommend wearing a long sleeve shirt when first learning as it is known to cause armpit burns.
See the video below for a step-by-step breakdown.
Begin from Russian Climb with split silks about two climbs up.
Pass shoulders between silks one arm at a time.
Sit hips back into a chair position.
Grab silks under your knees with thumbs pointing up.
Release feet from silks and straddle legs. Lift chest and press legs outward.
Eggbeat legs 1x around tails.
Lift chest, roll forward as you slide your hands down the silks to avoid getting them trapped under your knees.
Hook knees on the outside of the poles (not on the inside! If you hook on the inside you can fall out of the skill). Fyi, when hooking your knees it does squeeze your thighs quite a bit, this is normal.
Sit up, reach hands high, straighten legs and pull up as you unwind your wraps
Mistake #1
Sitting hips too low. Aim for a chair position with legs at a 90-degree angle. If you sit too close to your heels it makes it very difficult to set up the skill correctly.
Mistake #2
Grabbing with thumbs pointing down. Your thumbs must point up!
Mistake #3
Forgetting to wrap your legs! If you think too far ahead it's easy to miss a step. Don't forget to wrap!
Mistake #4
Not lifting your chest and pressing legs outward in straddle. Doing so will make it challenging to roll forward. Chest up, legs wide!
Mistake #5
Hooking knees on the inside of the poles (not shown in video) can result in a fall. Knees must hook on the outside.
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