How many lessons do you need?

[Rugby]

We usually do about two to three lessons a week to about one hour of practice.  We have cut back our standard to give the latin more attention as we want to get it out on the comp floor.

[QPO]

well I am sure, it is a guide and you have to adjust it to suit your needs and circumstances...When you get higher up the ladder I am sure you train smarter not harder ie longer..

I find it useful to keep the shaping as that is what falls over the quickest for me.

[cornutt]

We usually do about two to three lessons a week to about one hour of practice.  We have cut back our standard to give the latin more attention as we want to get it out on the comp floor.

I'm the opposite.  Ideally, I need at least three hours of practice for every hour of instruction, although sadly I rarely achieve that.   

[elisedance]

I think our ideal is 4-5 hrs practise to 1 hr lesson - but, as said, we often do more...

[samina]

for every one hour of instruction you must do four hours practice. I believe that is the ratio that applies to all study

i don't know... who says so, what was that conclusion based on, and why?

practice is not practice is not practice, IMO. effective progress is based most of all on clarity of intention, intensity of desire, belief it is possible, and duration of focus, for all things. but actual time spent on a dance floor doesn't measure those things. might just measure the amount of time one has moved a body around.

during the year i went from bronze to being competitive in the open field in standard, i hardly practiced at all on the dance floor, because every spare bit of time during an extremely busy professional year with long commutes went toward lessons. and yet i progressed, massively. i just lived in a mindset of clarity & intensity around my dance goals, constantly puzzling out how to achieve the challenges currently on the table. i listened to my body focus on how to puzzle those things out all the time... while standing, while walking, while climbing & descending stairs, while sitting. i just lived in that space. but very little "practice".

not to say practice time on the floor isn't valuable... just depends on what it entails, y'know? i'm reminded of people who spend on hour on the treadmill whilst watching TV and reading a magazine. i guarantee i get more out of 20 minutes with my focus on breathing and everything in my body and energy than they do in that hour.

[pinkstuff]

I do 1 hour private/week & practice when I can.  I get so much information from that lesson that if I had two, the second would be for more practice.  If I didn't have time/financial constraints I would do this.  For the hour lesson, I practice varying amounts but usually short stints focusing on one thing & think about things eg posture etc when standing or walking to bus stop etc.  Working this way I have made more progress then I ever expected.  I find going to a social practice just for the sake of practice not to be particularly helpful unless I have a plan/focus of something to work on.

[QPO]

I think it also depends on where you are in your dancing journey. If you are a beginner and you have to learn all the rules, these need to become automatic done without thinking so when you go later in your dancing journey you can just concentrate on the routine and steps...you would not need to be there as long.

I don't like to do too much in between lessons, as the last thing I need is to reinforce a step that I am doing wrong 

So what I do is have the lesson, then practice after and the day after while it is still fresh. In between I go to a social where they do the styles I am learning and practice the whole routine and dance to the entire song.

We are all different and learn and retain knowledge in different ways....you always have to find the way that suits you and your partner.

The formula that I quoted was base on what I remember for those that go to University for Study.

[cornutt]

not to say practice time on the floor isn't valuable... just depends on what it entails, y'know?

Well, for me, it's necessary to do a considerable number of repetitions in order to build muscle memory, and I know from experience that there's no getting around that.  So yes, for me, time on the floor correlates directly to improving skill.  For people who are able to build muscle memory faster than I am, it would be different.

[SwingWaltz]

I think our ideal is 4-5 hrs practise to 1 hr lesson - but, as said, we often do more...

Wow! Do you ever run out of things to practise?

[QPO]

I think our ideal is 4-5 hrs practise to 1 hr lesson - but, as said, we often do more...

Wow! Do you ever run out of things to practise?

I dont think there is ever, you will h=never know it all and you always have to revise. impossible

[elisedance]

I think our ideal is 4-5 hrs practise to 1 hr lesson - but, as said, we often do more...

Wow! Do you ever run out of things to practise?

Never.  I think we spend a lot of time trying to get things into good ballance.  Perhaps if we worked on complex figures more we would need a higher coaching ratio but our routines are very simple and our coach likes that approach.
 
Not sure its working out so great though...

[QPO]

regardless of the money I will not increase our lessons to more than two. financially it would be irresponsibly.

[SwingWaltz]

regardless of the money I will not increase our lessons to more than two. financially it would be irresponsibly.

Yea I'm facing the same issue, I'm getting to the stage where I have to prepare 5+ NV dances and 4 standard dances for competitions. I'm not planning on having more than 2 private lessons a week for the same reason you have. But sometimes I feel like that's not really enough. Also compare to what other people are doing out there in our level, I'm doing way less.

[elisedance]

we just discussed this after our comp - to advance at this stage I think we need more lessons.  DP agreed and we will take one private a week and also go to a supervised practise evening...

[ttd]

My situation seems to be in state of constant flux. Currently it varies between 1 and 2 double lessons a week (2 or 4 hours). Ideally I would like to have 2 2-hour lessons consistently, but it seems like the only times when it can happen is in summer.