Tips and Tricks for Dance

~ How To: Have Amazing Middle Leaps~

Hey guys. It's meeeeee.

I'm going to do some more talking about leaps and stuff. I don't think that even made sense. I am going to tell you a few tips and tricks to get amazing leaps. And each type of leap is going to get its own chapter so they're not too long.

Disclaimer: These take a while to start working, you need to do this A LOT, not necessarily everyday, but as often as you can. I've been using these tips for about a month and I've seen heaps of improvement in my leaps. I've even got a slight over split in my middle leaps now!

So before you begin, warmup! I like to do stuff like jumping on a trampoline, star jumps, etc. Once you are warmed up, do a good stretch!

• MIDDLE LEAPS •
Towards the start of the year, my middle leaps were really bad, like, a joke. I was extremely embarrassed by them. But now, they are higher, more fluid, not as clunky when I land (still working on that) and have a little iffy bitty over split. I'm happy with how much they've (all my leaps in general) improved over the past few months.
~~~~
• So, how do I get better middle leaps? •
Practise, practise and more practise is the only thing that will truly improve anything over time, but to speed things up, you can use exercises to improve quicker and get your body to the motion, etc.

~ First Method: Middle Splits ~
Do your middle splits everyday, and make sure you stretch them as far as you possibly can. If you are flat in your middle splits, do over splits, if not, try overall it's anyway because this can help you get flatter!

~ Second Method: On The Trampoline ~
Doing straddle jumps on the trampoline has improved my leaps, as well. You get lots of height, and because of the springiness you are forced to through your legs as high as they will go, which over time, starts transferring to when you do them on the ground, as your muscles will start getting used to being stretched that way.

A way I like to do it is hold my arms out, parallel to the ground, and start jumping, after two or three jumps, or whenever I feel like I have a good enough momentum, I do a straddle jump, and then Do as many as I can, trying to hit my feet to my hands each time. It's actually quite fun to see how high I can get my legs each time.

~ Third Method: 'Beat, Beat, Throw' ~
This is basically where you sit in first on the ground, then you lift your legs up off the ground, beat your legs twice (or once), then throw them into second. (I'm horrible at explaining this) I've noticed that after doing this a few times (maybe four) then doing my middle leaps or a straddle jump, my leaps will have a better overall it in them and they will just be more fluid.

~ Method Four: Massaging Your Achilles Tendon ~
I don't know how this works, but it does. I do this whenever I have to do leaps, and it makes my leaps higher. The Achilles Tendon is at the bottom of your calf, going from your ankle to about half way up your calf (someone tell me if this is actually right). Don't do it too hard, though.

~ Method Five: Plié ~
Do pliés, please. Do them everywhere! Especially before a jump or leap, especially middle leaps! You need a nice juicy plié before a leap to get the height.

~ Method Six: Ask Your Instructor For Help ~
Ok, not necessarily help, but ask them what you can do to improve your leaps (or anything you would like to improve). It's highly possible that they will have an answer for you. Do it after class, or in a private/solo lesson if you are afraid of looking like a suck up (which you're not btw, caus you want to improve), or if you are in the middle of a really important class. If you have a break, or are in a stretch or technique class, feel free to ask when doing focusing on leaps. Make sure to not take your teachers advice to heart, they are only trying to help you, and in the long run, what they say is going to help you.

~And Most Importantly: Don't Give Up! ~
Yay! Don't give up guys! It's probably the worst thing someone can do. Just don't give up! In happy to give you advice privately if you like, just send me a message and I'll reply in the next couple of days.

Thanks for reading! Remember to vote and comment if you liked this chapter! I also take requests for chapters!

~ Emmy x

~~~~

QOTC: Are leaps hard for you?

AOTC: They used to be, but they've improved heaps recently.

~~~~

Comment 'great flying cats' if you read this!