http://drillobsession.com

All the articles here are also there plus new articles!

Here’s some tips about how to get the best out of practice in the least time.

Tip 1: Make sure that you’re not overpracticing. If you practice 24/7, you’ll just be tired, not motivated, and you may actually retrogress because of this. In general, practice for three days a week and two hours each session sounds about right. Don’t go crazy about practice. When I was on the drill team, one of our rivals at competition used to practice in the morning before competitions, and eight hours on Saturdays. That’s just overworking it. It’s unnecessary to do that to your team–and to yourself!

Read the rest at the new site! http://drillobsession.com/?p=109
Tip 2: Don’t do any unnecessary practicing. Read about this in my article about endurance.Tip 3: Come to practice prepared. If you are a leader and forgot to bring the music, or do not have clothing to practice in, then you have let the team down and already decreased the rate of productivity at practice. Bring everything and have it ready to go by the time practice starts. In the case that you don’t come to practice unprepared (which should rarely happen), don’t use it as an excuse to waste practice time. If you don’t have music, for instance, just count out the routine.

Tip 4: Don’t waste practice time. Start when you intend to, and not five minutes afterwards. Of course, part of having a team is bonding with one another, which results in sometimes talkative practices. Try to eliminate this by not having any “down-time”. By this, I mean keep working and don’t stop for a team talk. If team members are dancing, they are unable to talk to each other because they’re focused on dancing, so keep the focus, and don’t let it stray (and as a leader, don’t lose your focus, either!). If you are a captain or other team leader, remember that you are a model. If you initiate side conversations, then everyone else will. Be a role model, not a hypocrite. After reading this tip, you might think: “well, how will the members improve if I don’t stop them from dancing and tell them their mistakes?”. Well, here’s the answer: stop only when you absolutely have to, and don’t allow anything else to happen. Most practices work in a similar fashion–you do the routine, and when you’re done, you listen to what the coach has to say about your performance. But, usually the case is more like this: you do the routine, get a drink of water, talk to a friend . . . then go listen. Change that habit–eliminate the “down-time”. One drink of water per 1.5 hours is enough to keep you hydrated, unless some special circumstance calls for more. Practice should be like this: perform the routine, walk directly to the coach and her his/her opinion–no down-time. Of course, each team has a different practice method and might not run this way, but in general, your goal is to keep the water breaks and talking to a minimum.

Tip 5: Be happy, and in a good mood. This always makes things go faster because people are happy to get things done. Come to practice refreshed. If you had a bad day, pretend to start anew. Do not let any unimportant aspects of your personal life distract from your performance. Naturally, when everyone is happy, everyone tries harder. So keep up the good mood at practice!

This is just a start of my list. I will be updating this post later with more tips; I hope that these help your team!

A normal curling iron isn’t going to do the trick when you’re going to competition! Here’s some tips on doing curls.

1. Make sure that hair is oily. It’s gross, but don’t wash your hair for two days before you’re getting it curled. When you take a shower, just remember not to use shampoo (rinsing with water is OK). The natural oil that you’ll develop will help hold the curls.

2. Find curlers. The foam curlers work well (they look like this). Usually the largest size (pink) work best. If you have thick hair, you’ll need to buy several packs (about 50 curlers total or more). If you have thinner hair, you may only need 20.

Read the rest at the new site! http://drillobsession.com/?p=111
3. Find moose and hairspray. I’ve found that Suave products work well for most. Do not get the “flexible hold” products because they usually don’t work that well for this. Get the strongest and stiffest hold possible. It will take some experimentation to see which product works for you. Make sure that you get aerosol hairspray–it spreads out the hairspray evenly and makes sure that it doesn’t all land in one spot (and it doesn’t make your fingers so tired!).
4. Start curling! Caution: be careful not to use too much or too little product. Curling should be done the afternoon before competition. The earlier the better, because you’ll have more time for it to dry. Steps for curling:
Step 1: Tie hair in ponytail. Make sure that it’s perfect because after the curlers go in, you can’t fix it! If you have curly/wavy hair, it helps if you straighten it beforehand.
*Note*: Shorter hair is easier to curl. If you have really long hair down to your butt, it will take forever to curl and might even be impossible.
Step 2: Make sure hair is dry.
Step 3: Now the curling begins. You’ll probably be doing someone else’s hair–so make sure steps 1 and 2 are cleared for her. Take a section at the top of her ponytail. I usually flatten the hair with my fingers and it looks about half a centimeter thick. Now, wet the entire portion of hair with moose. Use enough to get it slightly damp–do not overuse or else it will not dry. Now spray hairspray from the top of the section to the bottom, and back up. Again, make sure you do not use too much or too little. It will take some trial and error for you to realize the exact amount you should use. Hair should look wet.
Step 4: Get a curler and open it (some people like detaching the plastic rectangle so that it doesn’t get in the way–it’s all up to your own preference). Place the end of the hair portion onto the center of the curler. Now begin wrapping the hair around either way. Tuck in the end neatly, or else it will not turn out. The hair should be as tight as possible, so that the foam is squished in and the curler sort of looks like an hourglass. Keep rolling until you reach the top of her ponytail and can’t roll anymore. Now close the curler using the plastic rectangle. Give an extra shot of hairspray onto it. The hair should be in the middle of the curler.
Step 5: Keep curling by repeating step 4 with several other strands. It is easiest to work from top to bottom. Be patient and careful when you do it, and pack all of the rollers tight. If the person has thick hair, the curling process may take around three hours, so be patient. When it is all done, the person should have a mountain of curlers to sleep in!
Some tips on curling:
Do it early. Curling takes a long time. If you start in the evening before competition, you may not finish until midnight. Plan accordingly so that everyone can get sleep.
Make sure that there’s air flowing. Breathing hairspray is bad for you. Make sure the room is ventilated.
Take small portions of hair. This gives you more curls (which generally looks better) and makes it easier to dry (though it will take longer to curl).
Teach everyone how to curl. This speeds up the process, so that there’s not just five people curling 30 other team members! It could help to have curling partners who curl one another’s hair.
Take advantage of the time. Teams usually curl their hair together and take it as a bonding time. Have a curling party! Do a team talk, watch a movie, or find another activity to do.
Blow-dry hair for at least ten minutes. It takes a long time for everything to dry, and sometimes it won’t dry on its own. It needs to be completely dry to look nice.
Do not walk in the rain. If you must go outside, wear a hood or use a bandanna to wrap over your curlers. Your goal is to get our hair dry by morning–rain won’t help!
After the curlers are in, wear a shower cap when you shower. This will keep the curls dry.
Tips for unrolling hair:
Make sure hair is completely dry. Feel the hair in the curlers. It should feel crisp.
Get it done early before competition. This gives you time to fix bad curls.
Be careful. Unrolling isn’t necessarily the reverse process of rolling. Open the curler. Slowly unroll it (it might be a little hard to do because the hair is sticking to the roller). Now, when there is enough room, swirl the curler in a circular motion in the direction of the curl to get the curl out. Do not pull, or else you will straighten the hair. Be very careful when getting the ends out.
Learn! Do not be disappointed if your first curls do not turn out right. Try something else next time, maybe more/less hair product or take less hair.
Fix. Some areas will need fixing. Use a very small curling iron (like this or something around 1/2″) to redo the curls. Remember to hairspray them when you are done.
After the curls are out:
Contain the hair in a bandanna. Wrap all the curls into a bandanna. This will keep the curls tight so that they don’t go limp and droopy.
Don’t get the curls wet.
Gel the rest of your hair. Gel all those loose strands in the back and your bangs to get a clean look.
Try to avoid doing anything that will mess up your curls. Don’t jump around a lot–your curls may droop even with a bandanna. Try not to touch the curls.
After the performance:
Slowly remove your hair tie. This will be hard and might hurt because your hair is hard from all the hairspray. Just be patient. If you can’t get it out, you might want to wet your hair in the shower first.
Wet your hair in the shower. Just let the water run over your curls, and eventually, all the hairspray will wash away. Now wash away everything with shampoo! Doesn’t that feel wonderful?
I hope these tips will help. Feel free to comment if you have questions.

come read the full article at the new site! http://drillobsession.com/?p=110

———————————————-

Endurance is important–but how important?

Here’s a thing about endurance that dancers should understand: you only need a certain amount of it, and any extra endurance won’t help you much.

If Susie can perform the routine once and not be out of breath, that’s great! If Barbara can perform it ten times in a row and still not be out of breath, that’s great as well. But who will do better in the actual performance? They will both perform the same. Why? Because they only perform the routine once (in a row) in the actual performance. So, now you know–you don’t need to have super levels of endurance to be a great dancer. … (come read the rest of the article at the new site! http://drillobsession.com/?p=110 )

In fact, with that knowledge, you know that you only need the endurance to last the full routine once (and, of course, not be out of breath). The great thing about dance is that you know exactly when you start and end. It’s not like other sports, where the length and intensity varies. If you’re on a soccer team and playing against a very tough team, you’ll need more endurance. But on dance, it doesn’t matter. No matter who you’re competing against, you are performing the routine that you’ve been practicing; thus, you only need enough endurance to last that routine. And you know exactly how much you need, now that you’ve practiced it at home (you did practice, I hope!).

This tip may be applicable to your practices. People have a tendency to think that it’s better to march for ten 8-counts, but it doesn’t really help that much if you don’t march that long in your routine (which you probably won’t). Most routines have a maximum of marching for four 8-counts or less, but coaches think that making you march double will somehow magically make you better at the marching part of the routine. Well, it doesn’t. You might be able to march for a mile, but when you’re actually performing, the person who can only march four 8-counts will perform just as well as you.

Therefore, don’t waste time at practice trying to improve endurance when everyone already has it. If everyone can last the entire routine, then that’s enough. They’ve built the endurance–move on and work on something else. There is no need for more endurance at this point. The wonderful advantage about being a dancer is that you will only need a certain amount of endurance for each routine. Take advantage of this by building endurance now and moving on to work on other details.

A reader has requested that I create a routine for kicks similar to the one I created for the splits. So here it is . . .

As I said for the splits, it’s important that you follow the routine so that you can get the kicks that you want in the time that you want. This will take three weeks of strong commitment and dedication. Good luck!

Read the bottom (*) for information about getting high kicks.

To start off . . . See how flexible you are. If you can do the splits or are very close, that’s great! If not, that’s fine, too. Just make sure you are simultaneously developing your kicks and flexibility (see this post for lots of helpful stretches and a good, 3-week stretching routine).
Week 1: At first, practice kicking without music and without counts for twenty minutes each day, twice a day (including weekends!). It is important to do this twice a day because the skill can be easily lost. Doing it several times is a way of drilling into your mind all of the correct things that you need to be doing–this ensures that you will do it right when you are performing. The purpose of this is to see and feel what a kick is supposed to look like. If you can, tell someone to watch you, record yourself with a video camera, or do it in the mirror. Watch yourself both from the front and from the side. Here are the things that you want to accomplish at this primary step:
Good posture: keep your body stiff, shoulders rolled back and down. Arch your back. This is not an easy step, but it is a very important one.
Straight legs: legs should never be bent in a kick unless specified. Both legs should be straight when kicking. Most teams use one preparation bounce before starting their first kick. Remember to keep your legs as straight as possible during this bounce and use your feet (rather than your knees) to propel yourself.
Staying in one spot: Practice staying in one spot (unless, of course, you are supposed to move while kicking). Personally, I think this is the most difficult step. When kicking, it is so natural to stray from where you started; however, in a routine, this will mess up the formations and kick lines will become jagged or diagonal. This is one of those things that require lots of practice. Tip: stick a piece of masking tape to the floor and use it as your starting point. Be careful, however . . . if at the end, you end up at the same spot, it does not necessarily mean that you haven’t moved. This is why it’s helpful to videotape yourself or tell someone to watch you. Some people have a tendency to kick out of place and then pop back into the place where they started at the last kick.
Technique: Straight legs is part of the technique. For a front kick, kick to the middle towards your nose (rather than straight up towards your shoulder). Also, side kicks should be at a 45º angle from a front kick. The round kick (also called fan kick) is a little tricky. The kick should go in an entire circle (not just straight up and around, forming a “D” shape). Technique, like everything else, takes practice.
Adhering to team style: Several other details may be unique to your team. Some teams have their own “special” kicks and other teams may have certain ways to do certain kicks. Dance is about unison, so remember to ensure that you are practicing the technique from your team. The above details (ex: good posture) are universal and applicable to all teams.
Just a tip . . . Try to kick on the floor. Lay down on your back with good posture–your back should be arched so that the middle of your back is not touching the floor. Now practice your kick technique.
GOAL: Be able to do kicks properly. This week, do not worry so much about kicking in time or kicking up to beat with the music. Develop proper technique. While in the first week, you should be building leg strength from all the practice. Remember to work on your flexibility (for high kicks) by stretching daily.

Aaaah, one third of the way through! Now just two weeks to go. Stay motivated!

Week 2: So you’ve developed the proper technique. Now it’s time to start putting things together. You should practice 30 minutes a day at the least. Here are some 2nd-week things to work on and accomplish:
Kicking in time: now is the time to count out your kicks. Build onto the technique you’ve developed in week 1. Create a kicking routine or use the kicking sequence that is in the routine you are performing with your team. You should have technique already perfect from week 1. The goal now is to put that technique in time. It is a lot to think about, and like I said, it takes practice. Count slowly if you need to.
Sharpness: this is a secondary step of kicking in time. A high kick should be popped up and back down with sharpness. This requires leg strength, which is developed through practice.

Week 3: Now is the time to put the kicks to music. You should have technique, sharpness, and timing down. Now it is a matter of getting everything up to beat. Again, practice 30+ minutes a day is key.

Results for this vary depending on your level of motivation and the amount that you practice. The less motivated put less into their practice and get less accomplished. Become motivated and utilize all your practice time efficiently. Work hard and strive for the kicks that you want. Practice as much as possible and keep in mind the little details and technique because they make a big difference in the effect that you give the audience.

*Reminder: High kicks come from practice and developing your flexibility. Getting high kicks is great, but the technique (posture, sharpness) is much more important. It is easier to work at building higher kicks after you make them “better” by developing the technique. Once you’ve developed the technique, more stretching (to develop flexibility) and more practice (to build leg strength) will contribute to higher kicks.

Good luck and tell me about your results!

New articles will be added there. All the old articles from this site are there as well. Enjoy!

Here’s some common problems:

1. Trying too hard: basically, if you try too hard, you look like you’re forcing the smile; thus, it doesn’t look natural.

2. Biggest doesn’t mean best. However, brightest and most natural does mean best. You don’t have to have the biggest smile; in fact, it’s sometimes bad when you try too hard to make your smile big because then, again, you risk making it look unnatural. Don’t focus on getting your smile big. The first step is to achieve naturalness.

3. Staring and trying to smile usually doesn’t work. We usually get sick of that spot that we’re staring at and then the smile fades.

4. Misconception: look away from the audience. Never look away from them, because they are the people that should be cheering you on and causing your smile! Look at people, not a spot on the ceiling or wall. Remember, you are a performer, and you’re supposed to be entertaining your audience while you receive support. If you get nervous, that’s a different story. In this case, try to get rid of your nervousness by simply not thinking about it. If you think about being nervous, then you’ll get nervous. Just take a deep breath and perform. After all, there is nothing to be scared of.

5. Fling your teeth out at the audience. This method just looks unnatural. Never try to open your mouth big, unless it looks natural. Remember that naturalness is more important than anything. Who wants to watch a dancer with a fake smile?

Here’s some tips and steps to get that smile:

1. Natural. Be natural, as I’ve said before. No one wants to watch a dancer with a fake smile, and you don’t want to be that dancer. Even if your natural smile is small, it is much more effective and pleasing than a bright, big, and feigned smile. Your natural smile is the one that you, well, naturally use! Look in the mirror and smile without trying to. A natural smile is evident in your eyes and is contagious. As the saying goes, one smile can generate a hundred more smiles. Just be natural and don’t think too hard about smiling. Be happy. When you’re happy, the smile is almost always real. When you dance, be happy, and that will generate your natural smile.

2. Bright. A bright smile is one that displays happiness and, in a way, passes it out to the audience. Again, this should be natural. Being happy when you dance will always help you smile bright.

3. Contagian. Try to “infect” the audience with your smile (now, this doesn’t mean smile really big). To do this, try to make the audience smile by showing the your happiness. Think about it like this–when you’re walking down the street and you smile at someone, they (usually)  smile back. Your smile had a contagious effect. Try to apply this to dance. When you a dancer smiles at an audience member, he/she smiles back. Your smile will only be contagious, however, if you make it that way. That means being natural, bright, and drawing. You need to look your audience in the eye and pass on your smile. I’ve experienced this as an audience member several times before and it is a truly amazing feeling. Trying to pass this onto your judges is a plus! But, remember that your judges are judging how well your routine is to the audience as well. Don’t focus too much on them, because the people who came to watch you (and weren’t paid for it!) are your audience.

I hope this helps you with smiles, because I know that it seems easy but can be a very difficult thing to do. Comment and tell me if this article has helped you.

This marks about the half-year point for drill.wordpress.com. I hope that everyone likes the site and finds it helpful; if you would like to give me feedback, just leave a comment on any post–I will read them (I get emailed everytime I get a comment, so don’t worry).

If anyone has personal questions that they do not want posted publicly on this site, the email is drillobsession@gmail.com. Feel free to email any questions. Though I cannot promise I will get to every question that you ask, you might as well try, right?

I wish everyone a happy new year (though it would be happier if you got those splits down!). Keep dancing

*NOTE*: 1/16/07–this site has moved to www.drillobsession.com
This article and new articles are posted there!

Here is the link to this article on the new site:
http://drillobsession.com/?p=105

**********************************************************

A lot of people have told me that they have one split but not the other, or are very close to their splits but just can’t get there. Also people have told me that they stretch all the time with no improvement.

If your splits are not improving, it may be because you are stretching incorrectly. Remember that you should warm up your muscles before you stretch. You should actually be warm and sweaty before you begin stretching. This requires at least a ten minute jog, if not more. Warming up is not just walking a lap or running a few yards. When you are warm, you can feel the stretch much better.

Remember also that you should be stretching consistently (stretch both legs, for instance, not just one side of your body). Touching your toe for two seconds is not stretching either. Feel the stretch, the longer the better. A couple of minutes per stretch is excellent.

Lastly, splits require flexibility in more than one area. Stretch everywhere, and make sure you sit in your splits (or as close as you can get to your splits) for a few minutes after stretching.

If you are still having problems, feel free to leave a comment and tell me about it.

Leana & Alexus: Thanks for your comments; I’m glad that I’ve helped!

Nicole: Thanks for the comment. First, I’d suggest that you run (or swim or do some other type of exercise) daily to lose the weight that you want to lose. Running in the mornings (right before you go to school, work, etc.) is really helpful because there aren’t any complaints–you can’t say “but . . . I have to do this and that” at such an early time. It’s also really relaxing because you get that “good work out” feeling early in the morning and you’re awake. As for the splits, I’d suggest that you read Flexibility to the Max and try the splits/stretching routine that I’ve posted there. Keep me updated on how you’re doing!

I really do appreciate all of you who read my blog! If you have any questions or things to say, comment and I will try to reply ASAP.