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156. Attention to Details - Cleaning Your Routine · Anything But Routine

• 0:00
  Cindy Clough: today's podcast is on cleaning routines. And I think that that's probably been one of my keys to success is that I'm good at cleaning routines. So I will just share some successes that I've had.
• 0:11
  Cindy Clough: And some things that I weighed from the get go did when I was very young and didn't even know what I was doing. So one of my mentors, Kate Crawford told me expect more that than you think they can do. And they will surprise you. And I feel so many of us underestimate how much kids can do. I think back to one time, I was working at a youth competition, and I went around and I was helping coaches coach and learn how to clean their teams. And I was working with a really good friend named dawn.
• 0:41
  Cindy Clough: And when I got done, she goes, I had no idea you could pull that much out a little kids, because I think it was like, third and fourth graders that I was working with. And it's so so I would set your standards high.
• 0:54
  Cindy Clough: Expect them to do it right. And they will get it. And I'm nice.
• 0:58
  Cindy Clough: I'm kind I'm motivating. I don't like cut them down. And snap on them. It's more of a okay, how can we get more points? So the whole point of this podcast is how can we get more points? How can you up your game at a competition. So first of all, you utilize your time at class, every minute start on time, don't over explain. I know some people like I'm a doer I want to do it, I don't want to hear someone explain it over and over. A lot of times, I just teach them how to do it, or tell them what I'm going to do. And if they don't get what I'm saying they screw it up. And then I can fix it. Rather than over explain. And I've had people move to our our studio from other studios. And they'll say you people get more done in two weeks than they got done all year over at that other place.
• 1:42
  Cindy Clough: So use your time, have a plan, but be wise enough to deviate from it. And if you kind of go into your practice or your class with have more to do than will fit in the rehearsal, so much to do so little time that will help you down, we'll help you get more done. And remember the last 15 minutes Do not shut down. Use that last 15 minutes some people shut down and kind of coast don't do that you want to use that time. Tell the kids why you're doing what you're doing.
• 2:11
  Cindy Clough: And never be little but but have mutual respect. If you teach your kids with with if you treat your students with respect, you will get it back have expectations of what they were and how they look and, and respect for each other. Try to squelch mediocrity, all kids want to be great, give them goals help them reach them. So I always say that my the way I coach is 56781 Stop that was off. And that's how detailed I feel like I am be a stickler.
• 2:45
  Cindy Clough: And if you're a great culture teacher, it's exhausting. If you're not tired, when you're done, you're just putting in time rather than putting energy and a lot into the time I do three measure polishing a lot.
• 2:57
  Cindy Clough: And where I get three measures down really, really well and then add the next measure on.
• 3:06
  Cindy Clough: And if they're messing up on a certain spot, it's the measure before that you have to start with and and help them lead into that measure, learn to cue like a pro. So it's 5678 we're doing this three, four, next, it's the red ball, go to three so that they know what you're leading into. Create an urgency in your practices that it's so much to do. And so little time. If you're you're running your whole routine, ask yourself if your last third looks as good as the first third, most teams look really great at their first third, but but they can't sustain it through the whole thing. So you have to really work on getting that last third grade. Also go from different angles of the room when you're watching your team and get up on a ladder if you don't have bleachers to get up on, but so that you can look down and I know that when I come in from the waiting room, I always see something different. Okay, so I've watched about eight different films this week of teams that have sent them to me to critique them. And then number one, you know, there's so many things I pick on. But the number one thing I pick on is force of moves on every single thing you do, you have to look forceful. And if your kids don't understand what you're talking about, show them a great high school team, or a great college team that they can look at and go wow, that's what I'm trying to do. Because sometimes they don't know what you mean. Every time I watch a team do I call them clappers, but it's like where you go to a tee and then you clap above your head. A lot of people don't stop at that tee. They pass the point. So you have to have stopping points on every move that you do. And when I noticed these things, it's like it's just details that you have to like hit a wall clap hit a wall clap so it's got to stop at that point. I noticed that on things like clean It's or a slaps, whatever you call them sticks. Everybody calls it different things, but you can't reverberate afterwards, you have to clean and those arms have to stick to where they're at. If you're doing a high V, it's got to be a V, every kid has to be the same. If they're doing arm straight up with thumbs, almost touching, we call those kissing turkeys, they have to be the same, if you're doing an L arm on a leap, the L has to be the same. So just try to look at every move, and is it the same, then the extra thing I really or the next thing I really talked about is extra movement, cut out the slack, and eliminate the extra movement. You can see this watching slow motion if kids are like, I call it like whoa, when they slap or when they go for a shelf before they hook on. So let's talk about kick lines.
• 5:49
  Cindy Clough: Your your connection in the kickline. And your disconnection, when you unhook at a kickline should be events, they have to be a an event, like when you're moving into the kickline boom, and you hook up, it's gotta be together. And so many teams are just so not together, I get frustrated. So no, you know, if you have a song with the words, use the words, if you don't, they gotta yell the count out. A lot of times when my high school team is having issues with a kick line, we add a verbal or if there's a certain part where they're having an issue, we add a verbal like slay or get it or, you know, we just yell it out. No one can really hear that. But it helps them be together. We do that on spots, too, by the way, like when we're turning spot spot, you know, if they're yelling it, hopefully they're together. Okay, so the next thing I would talk about is transitions. Formation changes.
• 6:47
  Cindy Clough: Basically, most teams shut down on formation changes. And that is where to get some free points like free points. And bingo, you've got to if you just work on your transitions, and beat them up like there any event like pick up your feet more, look aggressive, have your head up, have your upper body in a way that it really shows confidence. So let's talk running, I watched his team's do these kickback running like in kick a lot. It's supposed to be called kick butt running, you need to kick your butt. And some of them are so lame, they're like low, and they need to really get precise, staccato, tight, whatever you want to call it be on the balls of your feet, and stop together like some people like slough into the kickline. And don't just get get there at a certain point. So we always add a spasm. Like if we get to the kick line or get to the formation, we add like a spasm on the last beat. And again, we'll yell something so that we it kind of makes our minds know that we're there and kind of jerk your shoulders back whip your head up to make it look like a bigger deal. If you're marching or walking, pick your feet up look intentional.
• 8:04
  Cindy Clough: Think scuffling compare, you know like shuffling scuff li feet compared to precise tight, picking up the feet, keep lines straight body directional changes is a big deal. And I didn't get that in my first years of coaching. When you're turning to the side, your shoulders, your head, your hips, everything should all like jolt to the side. If you make little things a bigger deal, your team will look better. And I'm gonna say that again, if you make little things, a bigger deal, you're gonna get more points. So focus on the little things. So let's talk heads. If I'm going to go back to kick, I'm switching between different because there's so many genres, but this helps in any, any type of dance, your heads have to be the same on all moves, like whether it's a leap, a kick, whatever it is, your head has to be, if you will look at people's if you will look at your kids heads. That's a huge way to up your points. I always said when I was a young coach, I went into a competition once and I watched a team called Burnsville, and they were so excellent that I knew they had us by their ads that day. So if you can spend some time on your heads, think about the range of motion. And think about it just that it's choreographed into the routine. Like for instance on kick, are you doing your head on the prep or are you doing it on the kick, there's no right or wrong, but you really have to be consistent with habits. So it's the same. Okay, now I'm going to go into sameness. Close your feet, that's coaching, your mouth should never be shut if if feet are apart. I do a lot of just taking my fingers and looking at kids and going feet together and like kind of pretending my feet.
• 9:56
  Cindy Clough: My fingers are our legs and going feet together and they know what I'm doing Talking about. So files are huge arm angles, you know, are you back to files are you behind the person in front of you. Here's another big thing to watch as a coach not leading off to the next measure, you have to complete ones. And you have to complete eight, you have to hit the one when you get there. I always tell my kids championships are won on first kicks, because a lot of teams get in by the second but they do not hit that first kick. So a lot of times we'll go like say we're going into a kick line will be like travel 23456781 Stop, so that they get that first beat in. And then your eight a lot of people start especially like on our team this year, we are poor little shorties, they had so far to go that it was very easy for them to want to lead off on eight so they could get to their place.
• 10:52
  Cindy Clough: So really watching eights and ones and cleaning those and use video for that it's or use truth pictures, one of my coaches click just takes a lot of like she's shuttered, almost shutters it so it goes fast. And she throws them out on the table printed out like here's some truth pictures, check your feet, check if your feet are together, check if your feet are pointed, check if your head is the same, they're painful. But if you're competitive, the kids want to try to get better. So now I'm going back to force of moves.
• 11:24
  Cindy Clough: And just think of some things.
• 11:28
  Cindy Clough: If you're doing like a peeler, a ripple, whatever you call it, think about adding a head and a change of direction and think about how forceful you can do it. Find somebody that's tight, and copy them on your team. Now, we used to have a kid on our team named Haley Norton and she was so tight. And another one comes to mind just just out, she was so tight that they would copy and emulate that person. So say you have a measure that's not tight, do it over and over until they get what you want.
• 11:58
  Cindy Clough: And then cheer like a crazy person for them when they finally get it. So again, you've got to make it a passion and make it fun, you've got to find a way as a coach to never cut them down. But to inspire them.
• 12:10
  Cindy Clough: Like you've got it, we're going to get this here we go, you know, you you don't ever go, you guys are horrible, we look terrible, you're not trying hard enough, that's gonna get you nowhere, they're just gonna dig their feet, their heels in, you know, in the sand, you've got to be positive. So let's just talk about projection and Performance Points. When you're we were at sections, and we were really tight with another team. And we told our kids, we can't fix our, you know, you can't fix your turns today, you can't fix your kicks today. You can't be more flexible today than you already are. But you can control your energy, your tightness and how you're doing what you're doing.
• 12:54
  Cindy Clough: And on that given day, there were eight judges, and we had 10s across the board, except for one judge gave us a nine has pretty good, too. So we had 79 out of 80 in the performance projection category. That is points, you got to get those points. So you know, and I'll say this to our youth directors, the kids have to know the routine to be able to perform, and they have to practice performing when they're doing it. I was telling my kids pretend you're at the event. So when you get there, you've already been there. Like if we're practicing to go to state, we're imagining ourselves at the big target center. So you don't just all of a sudden the day you get there, try to add in the smiles and the energy whatever.
• 13:41
  Cindy Clough: So think about changing faces eyebrows. Presentation how you hold your shoulders, how you lift from your I call it your declar shape, but lift so that you look confident. Rehearse confidence, because you need to rehearse confidence. If your team really struggles choreographing expressions and verbals posture, posture just totally shows your energy. There used to be a there used to be a question on our judging sheet that said, Can the judges feel energy when the dancer is standing still. So I want you to think about projecting confidence projecting energy and basically commanding attention.
• 14:22
  Cindy Clough: So some other things you can do do half sides so that they can have a twin and they watch their half side bring your phone to practice film your twin, and they should watch it on slow motion so they can see if they're off. I do find that we have to watch it together as a team to so that that I can point out what they need to work on.
• 14:49
  Cindy Clough: So filming and showing the film is great. Every dancer should know their strength and they should know that what they need to work on for their weaknesses.
• 14:56
  Cindy Clough: You can also sometimes have some Someone come into practice when you're getting ready to compete to inspire them like a trusted alumni or, or somebody that used to coach and has quit, they could come back. Sometimes I have my dancers get up on chairs, so that the other dancer has to look up when they do have sides. And you also can invent some, invent some things to perform it to get them out there before they compete, like a parent night or a basketball game or go to a grade school.
• 15:25
  Cindy Clough: And then you work out all the quirks before you get to competition. So I was just critiquing some teams with kicks. And I already mentioned the connections. But also recovery is a huge thing, telling your kids to bounce on kick errors. Rather than keep throwing up a kick on the wrong wrong kick. You can also do it the Rockettes do and count back like, like say you do for kicks and roll 4321. So they don't have an extra one. Figure out why kids are not fixing things like if it's their back, maybe their shoulders aren't strong enough. And they need to start lifting some weights, but you need to think about all elements. With kicks really watch the angles, if it's closed, it should be closed, if it's open, it should be all the way open. So it almost skims the body of the kid next to them.
• 16:17
  Cindy Clough: And if it's straight, it should be to their nose, not their shoulder. So turns, let's just talk about how you land them, you need to have an exact landing, and you need to be strict about how you do it. And some landings may be different.
• 16:34
  Cindy Clough: But a lot of kids like will step out and they get the file out rather than like jump out of it and split split, I talked earlier about yelling your spots, they also need to recover. One thing I feel like my team has gotten better at in the last five years is we might not always be together on our terms, but we're way better at fixing it. If we're not with self awareness. If we get off, we can get back on. So really pay attention to recovery on turns. And one thing I noticed when coming from also cons is it's, it's when they pull into the posay, like maybe at the end to do a triple or whatever they're doing. It's the speed at which they pull in that gets them off. Sometimes I film them in verticals, to see if they're the same. And then I can slow motion it and see who's off. So that's just a little tip, but practice them right and demand your kids finish the turns always and never let them like not not do a good job at it. And in some teams just don't have that culture or that habit. My kids are so trained that like if we're doing across the floors, they back up to get one more in because they want to do well. So you need to you know, like, you know, some kids quit early when they're doing across the floor, my kids back up and want to get one more because they want to get better. So you also have to think about endurance, if your team's not making it through, you know, if they look great, and then all sudden they fall apart. It's endurance, we really see that on turns. So a lot of times, if we do our dance the whole way through, then we'll go okay, let's hit the last turn set while we're tired. And try it while they're tired. Because if they can't do it, while they're tired, they can't do it.
• 18:18
  Cindy Clough: So I just can't I'm trying to think what else I just think some people take too long with their speed of teaching. I never wait for my kids to line up. And I I number them off myself rather than have kids go one to one, you know, I'll go down the line one to one to use your time. So there's a lot of different learning styles on your team and kind of be aware of that. I think repetition is one of the biggest things for kids that's learn a little slower. You know, I know when I learned routines, I wanted to do it over and over so I could get it right like say it's a measure. I'd start out slow and then I'd be like five, six, let's do it again and you count 23456756 A little faster. One, two, I don't stop in between every time I go to want to do it again. Do you care? You want them to do it again. So run the room, you know, run it. So I also say imagine each kid wearing a shirt that says Catch Me Doing Something Right? So good luck. I hope this helps you. It's just some things and cleaning, but be aware of details. Thank you