What is your criteria for picking comps, and how many do you do in a year?

Misspendragon

Misspendragon

Forum Master
I've been looking at the NDCA website calendar and realized I'm not sure how to pick comps, other than date and location (and money, of course). How do you decide which competition to go to? Similarly, I'm also at a loss as to how many comps to shoot for in a year, and how back to back they should be. One needs some time to recover and work on technique, routine, partnership, etc. I appreciate any advise! I'm just coming back to competing; my experiences are about 20 years old :).
 
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lucia_l said:
What do you want out of a competition? And are you doing pro-am or am-am? How much time do you have? Etc.
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ProAm, and I want to (1) gain experience and self-confidence with competitions, (2) enjoy myself, since I'm doing this because I love ballroom dancing and I do intend to derive actual pleasure from it, and (3) a pro at my studio mentioned earning points, whatever that means (how are those points good for me?), so there is that as well.

As for time, the biggest issue is that I have two kids I'm raising on my own, so I do have to keep their school schedule and welfare in mind. However, they love to travel and do well in school, so as long as I'm smart with scheduling, I can go to comps without issues. Thank you for your input!
 
(1) You can gain experience and self confidence dancing while judged smallish local competitions first. (2) I find I enjoy myself more if many people I know are at the competition so I can chat between heats. This leans toward local also as many from my studio or places I dance socially will be there. (3) For points you just have to go to tons and tons of competitions, and win. I have to admit that as someone who dances Bronze I don't pay any attention to the points.

Do ask your pro to price out 12 singles and two multies at a local competition too. You need to know the price level so you know if you can afford it. I don't know your budget, but I should have added that to the list.

(Be aware Am-Am is much less expensive. But you have to find an Am partner and there are advantages to having a Pro-partner even though Pro-Am is much more expensive.)
 
lucia_l said:
(1) You can gain experience and self confidence dancing while judged smallish local competitions first. (2) I find I enjoy myself more if many people I know are at the competition so I can chat between heats. This leans toward local also as many from my studio or places I dance socially will be there. (3) For points you just have to go to tons and tons of competitions, and win. I have to admit that as someone who dances Bronze I don't pay any attention to the points.

Do ask your pro to price out 12 singles and two multies at a local competition too. You need to know the price level so you know if you can afford it. I don't know your budget, but I should have added that to the list.

(Be aware Am-Am is much less expensive. But you have to find an Am partner and there are advantages to having a Pro-partner even though Pro-Am is much more expensive.)
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Thank you for the reply! One thing I'm worried about is stamina. I'm working on it, but the idea that I have to do multiple rounds, especially back to back, seems scary for now. How many rounds ProAm comps usually have, smaller ones, medium sized, and a larger one like Millenium? And are the rounds back to back or with a break? Thanks :).
 
Misspendragon said:
Thank you for the reply! One thing I'm worried about is stamina. I'm working on it, but the idea that I have to do multiple rounds, especially back to back, seems scary for now. How many rounds ProAm comps usually have, smaller ones, medium sized, and a larger one like Millenium? And are the rounds back to back or with a break? Thanks :).
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In my experience smaller ones do not usually have multiple rounds in pro am. When I have seen them there’s been a 5 heat or so break in between. But I’m sure that varies. Your pro should be able to tell you what local competitions would be good, I’d recommend starting with something close and see how it goes!
 
bronzesusie said:
In my experience smaller ones do not usually have multiple rounds in pro am. When I have seen them there’s been a 5 heat or so break in between. But I’m sure that varies. Your pro should be able to tell you what local competitions would be good, I’d recommend starting with something close and see how it goes!
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My pro is a great dancer but only has been in the States for about 6 months, so he doesn't know how things go here all that well. Thank you for the information! My first comp will be Texas Challenge, which I think counts as a smaller one. But then, we do plan to do Millennium in June, and I know that's a bigger comp with probably more rounds.
 
Misspendragon,
If your concern is physical stamina, you can work in that by either consistently having double lessons with the intention of sustained work. Or, you can actually go to the gym, work out, take Zumba (and put your heart in it) etc.

If it's mental stamina -- which is a real thing at comps, then, yes, you might need to do this at comps. Or you might not need it at all. Some people have it from past experiences doing other things. If you need it, doing lot of singles might do fine for you anyway. It will mimic the "up-down-up-down" cycle for adrenaline. Also, even if you mosty focus on one dance type (e.g. Smooth), if you know two, do two at the event. You'll get more "up-down-up-down" that way. It will cost more though. So you need to balance that (assuming you have a finite budget. I shouldn't assume because some people seem to have infinite budgets!)

I don't find physical stamina an issue. I did have mental jitters at my first competition after all the Covid seclusion. It was just weird being around lots of people! I don't think I really even needed a comp to get over that-- just being around people more which is happening gradually anyway.
 
lucia_l said:
Misspendragon,
If your concern is physical stamina, you can work in that by either consistently having double lessons with the intention of sustained work. Or, you can actually go to the gym, work out, take Zumba (and put your heart in it) etc.

If it's mental stamina -- which is a real thing at comps, then, yes, you might need to do this at comps. Or you might not need it at all. Some people have it from past experiences doing other things. If you need it, doing lot of singles might do fine for you anyway. It will mimic the "up-down-up-down" cycle for adrenaline. Also, even if you mosty focus on one dance type (e.g. Smooth), if you know two, do two at the event. You'll get more "up-down-up-down" that way. It will cost more though. So you need to balance that (assuming you have a finite budget. I shouldn't assume because some people seem to have infinite budgets!)

I don't find physical stamina an issue. I did have mental jitters at my first competition after all the Covid seclusion. It was just weird being around lots of people! I don't think I really even needed a comp to get over that-- just being around people more which is happening gradually anyway.
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I think my issue is that as an ex competitive sprinter, the idea that I would have to give my all to 90 seconds (or learn how to measure my energy output) five times back to back seems impossible. I mean, the 100-metre dash is around 12 seconds, NOT 90 seconds, and it gets you tired because you give it all you've got. Which makes me feel like I will either drop dead after the second dance or else do not really give 100% to each dance, which is just not something I know how to do because I was trained to give to that 12 seconds my all. Does that make sense? So - the issue is both psychological and physical. On the bright side, performing itself doesn't scare me as much because I know how to focus on a performance and shut everything else out; I'm used to competing (even if in a different sport).

And then add to this that bigger comps have more rounds than one, and I wonder how anyone other than Olympic middle distance champs can get through a competition :)!
 
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Having never sprinted (beyond field day in elementary school), I can't say for sure, but my impression is that giving 100% to a dance and giving 100% to a sprint are significantly different intensities. So much about dancing is "how" rather than "how much," so it's more about mental stamina and/or having practiced enough to have the "how" in muscle memory. I'd suggest running a round or two with your pro as soon as you can to see what it actually takes out of you physically. Then you can work to increase that stamina as needed, either regularly running rounds with your pro or running them by yourself or doing other similarly-timed cardio work. With your athletic background, I can't imagine that physical stamina is going to be the limiting factor for you in comparison to your competitors.
 
You know, I think you nailed it with "so it's more about mental stamina and/or having practiced enough to have the "how" in muscle memory." I think I put too much muscle into my moves simply because my body doesn't know yet how much is actually needed to perform a particular move well. Not to mention probably using muscles I don't even need, simply because my technique isn't refined yet and hasn't become part of muscle memory.

I did try to do rounds with my pro, and I'm basically out of breath completely after the third dance (not round). And that's not because of any health issues (I checked with a doc), and I'm not particularly out of cardiovascular shape.

But, my first comp is in early February so I guess I still have some time to solve the issue. I must believe in that :).
 
Misspendragon said:
I think my issue is that as an ex competitive sprinter, the idea that I would have to give my all to 90 seconds
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Not so much; more like 55-65 seconds at most, for most pro-am single dances. Plus, the dances do not all have the same speed and tempo; if you're doing Rhythm, for instance, you have high-energy cha cha, slower rumba, high-energy swing, slower bolero, high mambo. Similar patterns happen in Latin/Smooth/Standard: slow often alternates with fast. You learn, with time and experience, how to give your all to something that isn't as fast as a sprint, but still requires focus, control, concentration, energy, physicality, and don't forget: there's a partner there, and partnering. The goal is not to finish first, but to dance your best.
 
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