What is an Aerial Hammock? A Complete Guide for Beginners and Enthusiasts
Aerial hammock, also known as aerial sling, is a piece of aerial specific fabric that is folded in half and hung from the ends, creating a loop at the bottom. In this guide, we will cover what you need to know to get started with this wonderful apparatus including a common question we receive: What’s the difference between a single-point and double-point hammock?
The Origins and Evolution of the Aerial Hammock
Aerial hammock gained popularity through aerial yoga in the early 2000s. Originally developed as a fitness apparatus used for exercising and working through yoga poses, over time it has been adopted by the circus as well. Today, it’s embraced by both fitness and circus communities.
In yoga, the focus is more on slow, yoga-based poses and movements designed for a workout. It focuses on strength, stability, and flexibility to create a unique twist on yoga using the single bottom loop of the hammock.
In circus, the focus is more trick-based; highlighting creative transitions and visually striking poses. The whole of the sling is used, from the loop all the way up through the fabric poles. This can be either through making complicated wraps, or at more advanced levels, climbing up the fabric like you would on silks for techniques. Though there is more of a focus on performance and entertainment, there is still a great physical component that is great for workouts.
If you are curious to learn more, you can read more about the history of Aerial Hammock on Wikipedia.
Types of Aerial Hammocks and Their Uses
Aerial hammocks can be rigged from a single ceiling point or two separate points, depending on your goals. What you want depends on the usage; specifically, if you want the hammock to spin freely or not.
Single-Point vs. Double-Point Setups
As the name suggests, a single point hammock is connected to the ceiling rig point with a single mount point. Adding a swivel to this rigging set up will allow the hammock to rotate and spin freely, making it ideal for circus-style hammock and sling work. See more detailed rigging info below. With the fabric being connected to a single point, the poles (sides) of the hammock are closer together than with a double point hammock, and this is ideal for skill-based tricks learned in circus and aerial arts.
Aerial yoga, on the other hand, does not generally involve spinning and rotation. To avoid this, the hammock needs to be mounted on the ceiling with two rig points. These points are generally set up about hip-distance apart for yoga-based poses and prevent the hammock from rotating freely. There are a variety of different double point hammock set ups as well.
Basic Hammock vs. Adjustable Hammock
There are a few options for double point hammocks. A basic hammock is not easily adjustable in height. It will be the cheapest hammock option, due to needing minimal equipment to set it up. It is best for individuals wanting a home set up, where you don’t need the height easily adjustable.
An adjustable double point hammock is generally not significantly more expensive and comes with multiple links that allow for incremental height adjustment at the carabiners. This is a great choice for studio usage where you need to adjust for folks of different heights, or for home setups where you want the ability to easily adjust the height, for example, if you want it very low for restorative yoga poses and then hip height for your general aerial yoga practice.
What Makes a Hammock Beginner-Friendly vs. Advanced?
Either a single-point hammock or a double-point hammock is an appropriate choice for a beginner student. The choice comes down to what skills you want to learn. If you are getting your hammock mostly for a yoga-based practice and fitness, a double-point hammock will be the best choice. If you would like to spin and learn more skill-based circus arts, you will want a single-point hammock that rotates.
What makes any hammock beginner-friendly is having it at a suitable height for you to get into, which for most is around hip height.
Understanding the Anatomy of an Aerial Hammock
Regardless of whether you have a single point set up, or a double point, the anatomy of your hammock will be the same, up until the tie off points and rigging.
Starting from the bottom and working up, we have the loop. This can be at variable heights depending on your needs. If it is lower to the ground, it can be easier to put on a backpack and go to straddle or to step into it to standing. It can also give you more room between the base and the ceiling for more fabric to do wraps in. However, the closer it is to the ground, the more risks you can run into with drops, being too low makes some of them impossible to do. Depending on what you want to do, you need enough ground clearance, sometimes to the point where you have to reach up above your head to grab the loop and do a pull over to get in. Hammock height is a personal preference based on your goals and skills.
Next are the fabric poles, these are the two sides of the silk that go from the loop to the top. These can be used to wrap yourself up in, and do tricks and poses in.
At the top, you’ll find the tie-off points to hardware and the ceiling rigging. There are many ways and methods to rig aerial hammocks, which we discuss in the next section.
How to Rig an Aerial Hammock Safely
While this section can be a guideline for how to do aerial rigging, be aware that self-rigging is complex and carries serious risks. It is highly advised to get a local professional to either do your rigging, or double check it. A failure while in the air can lead to injury or death.
At Home Setup Considerations
The first big consideration you need to think about is the ceiling connection point. These can be beams in the ceiling, or a standalone rig. Find a local structural engineer to check if the place you are rigging is safe to rig from. Given how intense drops can be, aim for a rigging point that can withstand a 2,000-pound dynamic load. It may sound like overkill, but aerial is not the place you want to risk playing in the margins of safety.
For a generally cheaper solution, you can purchase stand alone free standing rigs. Make sure that you are purchasing them from a reliable source, and that they can stand the loads needed for aerial. Stand alone rigs do take up a considerable amount of floor space, so make sure you have the room for it. Learn more about home rigging in our blog “How to Rig Aerial Silks at Home” and Rigging Safety Guidelines
Hammock Rigging Tutorials
This isn’t an exhaustive list, but it includes the methods we’ve found most effective, as single- and double-point hammocks require different rigging methods.
Rigging a Single Point Hammock
A single point hammock for use in dynamic circus arts is generally connected to a piece of equipment called a rescue 8. This is a very secure method of rigging, especially if you are planning on doing dynamic tricks and drops. The rescue 8 is then connected to the ceiling point with a carabiner-swivel-carabiner hardware combo, which allows the hammock to rotate and spin.
Rigging a Double Point Hammock
For aerial yoga, spinning is generally not desired, and in this this case, you need the double point rigging method. The tie off to the equipment will vary depending on if you have a basic hammock set up (no multiple link), or the adjustable double point set up. Here are tutorials for both styles.
Studio or Performance Space Rigs
Studios and performance spaces will generally have their own structural engineers, or professional riggers. Studios should be able to answer questions about the qualifications of their rigger, their safety checking process, and rigging certifications. If a place can’t provide clear answers, it may be a red flag for potential dangers of training there.
They can also be a good reference for finding professionals to help you evaluate and rig your own space.
Even with professional checks, it is a good idea to do a quick visual check each time. Verify that the tails at the top are long enough and are tied off securely. Check the carabiners are locked and in a vertical alignment. Inspect the fabric for tears, holes, or runs. It is generally okay if you only find one or two that are dime sized or less, but anything more can be a safety hazard. Either way, if you find anything, bring it to the attention of the instructor.
What is the best fabric to use for a hammock?
Whether you are doing more skill-based circus style hammock, or aerial yoga hammock, the best fabric is a low stretch nylon tricot. Especially important for aerial yoga, when you invert in a hammock set at hip height you do not want to sink down so low that your head touches the floor! This can happen with polyester fabrics and other fabrics with more stretch. Check out our fabric comparison video to see the difference between a non-stretch nylon fabric vs others for aerial yoga.
The only time you might consider a more stretchy fabric for hammock is advanced circus skills where you are doing dynamic drops. When advanced artists do drops, a fabric that has more stretch can feel better, meaning the ending is less abrupt, to one’s body. However, the height of the hammock would need to be a consideration to ensure it is high enough off the ground as in drops, it would stretch further.
Aerial Hammock vs. Aerial Silks: What’s the Difference?
The primary difference is in the orientation, silks have the middle of the fabric at the top, and hammock has it at the bottom. But the shift in orientation makes a huge difference in how you interact with the apparatus. Silks require more upper body strength, and often start from climbing, while hammock will often start with you in the loop supporting your weight.
Silks tend to emphasize moves involving physical strength and grip strength. Hammock tends to emphasize moves with more wraps, and is often about how you wrap the silk around your body as you move through skills. That said, many skills can be adapted to both. You can climb the poles of a hammock like silks, and you can tie off the silk to create a basic hammock.
When it comes to fitness or a performance, both are great. Both will challenge your strength, flexibility, and stability. Because of the physical support, hammock is often more approachable for beginners. Especially for those just beginning their aerial fitness journey.
Both have a wide range of skills and sequences to continually challenge you. Both look phenomenal when performed on stage. The biggest difference on stage is when it comes to duo or small group acts, it is much easier to put multiple people on silks than on the sling.
If you want to know more about aerial silks, check out this blog: Aerial Silks Basics
Benefits of Training with an Aerial Hammock
While aerial hammock may be more accessible, and have a lower floor of entry, don’t let that fool you. It is still a difficult apparatus to master, and no matter how skilled you are, you will always find something to push you.
Hammock requires full body strength as you start to advance. You need arm and shoulder strength to hold yourself up, or pull yourself up. Leg strength is essential for climbs, certain positions, and to maintain a constant counter pressure against the hammock. Your core is essential at all times, but especially when you transition using c-shaping.
There is a wealth of theory that you can delve into as well. Even though it’s just one loop, there are tons of different ways you can wrap it around your body. Hammock is often about how you can stack skills on top of each other. Depending on the order, it can create a complicated knot. In short, it builds focus, problem-solving skills, and as you transition into performing, your creativity.
Hammock is a phenomenal place to start, with a very accessible baseline, but an incredibly high ceiling that can take years to work towards. There is always something new to discover, to learn, or to improve.
Choosing the Right Aerial Hammock for You
Buying your first hammock can be intimidating with how many variables there are.
What to Consider When Shopping
For length, you need to consider ceiling height and what height you want the loop to sit at. First, measure or calculate the distance between the ceiling rigging point and where the loop (bottom of the hammock) will be. Then, double that length to account for folding the fabric in half. Next, add 1-3 yards depending on your rigging set up. You will need less for a basic hammock (around 1 yard additional) and more for a rescue 8 set up (you’ll need around 3 extra yards for this). If you are in doubt, it is better to order more than less as you can cut down excess, but if it isn’t long enough to safely tie, you will need to either have a higher base loop, or order a new fabric.
For stretch, generally you will get low-stretch fabric. Avoid high stretch fabric for hammocks as that will cause a large amount of variance in the height of your loop. A low-stretch fabric is better for focusing on poses, and smooth transitions. A medium-stretch fabric can help give you some bounce if you are doing a lot of drops. Beware with stretch though, as that will decrease the clearance you have from the apparatus to the floor. Always make sure you are checking and measuring to ensure you don’t fall on your head.
Fabric weight and width are often a personal preference, but they can affect the support the hammock provides. Wider fabrics will distribute pressure over more area, but you will have more fabric to manage while you are in the air. Inversely, thinner fabric can dig in harder, but is easier to move around.
Finally, think about color. This can be a favorite color, something that you want to use for a specific performance and evoke certain feelings. Be aware that dirt will show up quicker on lighter colors, and the sun can bleach all colors to some extent.
Why Quality Matters
When you go up into the air, you are trusting your life to the fabric. It has to support all of your weight as you move through transitions, and the sudden stop at the end of drops. It is important that you do your due diligence when it comes to the quality of the fabric.
Without professional-grade, certified, and tested fabric, you won’t know how much of a load it can safely handle until it fails. Those failures can come at the worst possible moment and can lead to injury or death.
Quality will also increase the longevity of your fabric. Because fabric wears down with use and environmental exposure, the stronger your fabric is the longer it will last before you need to replace it.
Tips for Beginners Getting Started
For anything physical, there is generally some degree of preparation you want before you get started. Aerial hammock is no exception. Since you will be working out on a piece of fabric, you want to wear clothes that play nice. Wear form-fitting clothing, such as yoga pants and a tank top. You want to be able to move around comfortably in them. Avoid zippers, exposed metal, and jewelry as they can catch on the hammock and cause tears.
Once you have good clothes for flying, make sure you do a full body warmup. This helps get you ready and helps you to avoid injury.
As you get started, begin with low heights and simple moves to build confidence, or as we say “start low and go slow”. Since the hammock will support most of your weight for you, there is a temptation to push yourself quickly. However, some wraps are only secure in certain orientations, and until you are familiar with the variations, you can risk falling if you push too quickly.
Never practice alone. Even advanced aerialists can sometimes find themselves getting stuck, or dealing with muscle fatigue. While the chance of injury might be low, the impact of those injuries is huge. Don’t risk it.
Instead, find an instructor or spotter to train with. Working with a coach, especially as you get started will be tremendously helpful for identifying how wraps interact with each other. Even if you don’t have access to a coach, making sure you have a spotter means you have some help to get down if things start to go sideways.
Creative Ways to Use Your Aerial Hammock
Most people approach aerial hammock through a specific lens, be it yoga, fitness, or circus, but it’s worth exploring beyond your comfort zone. As you explore more, feel free to branch out.
If your focus is typically fitness and flexibility, think about creating a routine. Find flow as you turn stretches into poses, then string them together to music to create a simple choreography. You can incorporate it into dance or circus acts as a performance piece.
If you are coming to hammock from the performance and circus perspective, you can learn some aerial yoga, and increase your strength and flexibility that you can bring back to your routines.
While aerial circus and aerial yoga share similarities, their focus and techniques often differ in meaningful ways and focus on different things, that branching out can give you a whole new perspective on the apparatus. If you need inspiration, you can check out our previous blog on Dance Poses and Aerial Yoga Flow.
Regardless of your background, you can always release some tension and take a break by just hanging upside down.
FAQs
What’s the difference between an aerial hammock and aerial silks?
An aerial hammock is a loop of fabric rigged from two ceiling points or a single point, creating a supportive swing-like structure. Aerial silks are two long fabric tails rigged from a single point. Hammocks offer more stability and are great for beginners, while silks allow for dynamic climbs, wraps, and drops.
Can I hang an aerial hammock at home safely?
Yes, but safety is critical. You’ll need secure ceiling points rated for dynamic load or a freestanding rig. Always consult a structural engineer if installing indoors, and use aerial-specific gear for rigging.
How do I choose the right size and fabric for my aerial hammock?
Aerial hammocks are typically made from low-stretch nylon tricot fabric. A standard length is 5 yards for lower ceilings. To calculate the exact amount you need:
- Measure from floor to rig point.
- Subtract how high off the ground you want the hammock to sit (e.g., subtract 4 feet if you want it hanging 4 feet off the ground).
- Add extra fabric for your tie-off method—about 2 feet for a basic knot or up to 6 feet for a rescue-8-style tie-off.
Is an aerial hammock suitable for beginners?
Yes! Aerial hammocks are beginner-friendly and great for building strength, flexibility, and body awareness. They offer a gentler introduction to aerial arts compared to other apparatuses like silks or lyra.
What equipment do I need to set up an aerial hammock?
You’ll need aerial-specific nylon tricot fabric, carabiners, rigging hardware such as round slings, appropriate ceiling points or a freestanding rig. All gear should be rated for aerial use and support dynamic loads.
