Baton Twirling
Baton twirling is a sport of agility and coordination coupled with grace and flexibility. Baton twirling has a vague history at best, but professional organizations supporting baton twirling as a sport have been in existence since the early 1950s. The United States Twirling Association is the largest professional organization for the sport.
Baton twirling naturally involves twirling a baton, which is a balanced stick usually comprised of metal, but at competitive levels, baton twirling is much more. As with gymnastics, figure skating, and other sports combining agility with grace, competitive baton twirling requires a routine containing mandatory elements for scoring points. In a competition, a baton twirler may be required to twirl vertically, or perpendicular to the floor, and horizontally. Similarly, they are required to make a certain number of catches and releases and vary them throughout their routine. Baton twirling at some levels of competition requires twirlers to use more than one baton.
