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The
High Kick - A Vanishing Act? |
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Having been a director for 25 years, I have seen trends come and go, One disturbing trend
is the widespread demise of the technically correct high kick. Some possible reasons for
this are improper instruction, inability to analyze movement, a lack of conditioning and a
decrease in the time spent working on kicks by both the team and the individual.
To get your girls to value technique and height equally you must model this for them.
Rewarding proper technique is your most powerful tool. I have found that the following
suggestions work for my team.. Do not allow the girls to kick above their waist until they
can demonstrate the proper technique at that level. The let them progress to chest high ,
face high and full out. You must check them at each level before allowing them to attempt
a higher one. Reward their efforts by assigning them to kick lines. Allow only those girls
who have proper technique and height to perform a high kick. If you don't have enough
qualified girls to make a kick line then continue to work and make the performance of a
high kick a team goal. If you allow girls to kick without proper technique or height then
why would they want to work it improve. Make it a privilege for your girls to be able to
tryout for Miss High Kick. Don't reward (or force) those girls who have not mastered the
techniques. Last but not least (especially in their eyes) allow those girls who have
mastered the skills to kick and stretch less in class. My team lives to "kick
out". They tryout for me and if they are good enough they can either sleep later or
get dressed earlier depending on when our kick session occurs within the workout. Once the
strength and flexibility have been developed less time is required to maintain them; have
them do just enough to maintain their stamina and that in turn will maintain the other two
components. Their incentive to stay in shape over the summer is to be able to "kick
out" and therefore not attend our two hour kick session. |
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This
article can be found at: http://www.danceadts.com/edsupport/highkickvanish.htm |