Practice questions...

L

letsdance101

Active Member
How often do each of you practice? Once a week? Everyday?
When you do practice, how long do they last? An hour? Three hours?
Do you practice at your studio or somewhere else? I heard that the YMCA has some good practice areas... Anybody have experience with using YMCA space?

Does an hour everyday seem like a decent amount of practice time for somebody who has no partner?

I'm trying to set up a more scheduled, methodical practice plan in hopes that I will improve...
 
Myself I do an hour on my own 3 days a week at the local gym, or in my living room (depending on day and time). Mostly I do basic movement exercises. I go to organized practices usually 1-2 times a week, but I am dependent there on whatever single leaders might be available and what they want to work on. I social dance usually once a week. I have 3 private lessons a week and two groups.

Basically I try to dance at least an hour every day. In addition to dance I run 3 times a week and do weight training focused on core, inner thighs and back muscles 3 times a week.

When I practice I usually do 30 mins of exercises (like side steps, back steps, basic latin movements) and 30 mins of working on doing my competition routines on my own.
 
I recommend doing a search on practice - I know there is at least one good, pretty lengthy thread on the subject here with lots of good examples and ideas of what to practice, and how much.

That said, the best advice I ever got from a teacher on practice was: "Tiger Woods once said that when you stop hitting the ball well, it's time to go home." Translation - practice as long as you need to, and stop before you develop bad habits.
 
Setting goals is important.

Examples:

1. I want to learn a routine.
2. I want to win a competition.
3. I want to improve my social dancing.

Your specific goals will help you to determine what kind and how much practice you need.
 
I have not lived near my pro since mid 2008...therefore, I am not particularly welcome to practice at local studios...but, dh is wonderful, and so I have a practice floor in my home....over the past 6 years I would say that I practice 2-4 days a week depending upon what my work will allow and how sore I am...my practices range from half an hour to an hour and a half....

the work is on technique unless I have new choreo
 
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During my "on" season if I have no particularly pressing school or work priorities, I try to practice 6x per week. Usually about 1-2 hours. When I go visit my standard partner for practice in a different city, we practice 8-10 hours per day for 3 days.

At home I practice in my university's gym facility... Which conveniently happens to be where my office is.when I travel we tend to practice in a studio... They have a wonderful deal for $35/month for unlimited practice, so even if I only go once or twice during the month, it is more than worthwhile
 
I aim for a couple times a week. I'm lucky to have both an on site gym and a flexible office job, so mid day or after work practice sessions are my norm. My AP and I tend to practice in a studio near our workplaces because none of the gyms nearby have open floorspace right after work
 
I practice 3-5 days a week (usually 4) on my own, in addition to lessons and classes. The length varies depending on that I've got going on that day - if it's a heavy day at work, or if I have an intense lesson, I'll keep it to about an hour to make sure I stay focused the entire time and don't risk injury. My preferred practice length is about 2 hours, including warm-up, but it's not unheard of for me to go 3+ hours on a Saturday if I'm feeling good. I just make sure to take a break for 20-30 minutes during the longer ones, to eat and recharge a bit.

What I practice varies depending on how far away from competition we are. If we've just finished one, chances are I have a lot of new choreo and figures, so I'll spend a lot of time on getting those down and making it feel automatic. Once that's memorized, practice tends to focus on technique - so specific exercises, or certain figures or short amalgamations over and over, working certain elements. I usually use pieces of my routines (from a single figure up to a full wall) for this. Very close to competition (2 or so weeks out), I'm almost exclusively running full routines.

All of my practices, regardless of where we are in the competitive cycle, include a warm-up and some specific technique exercises. I have a whole selection of them, and tend to pick 2-3 to do per practice. Most practices also include a post-practice stretch, which is longer and more intense 2-3 times a week.

I practice almost exclusively at the studio, 'cause for standard, I need the space.
 
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