DanceSport Talk

A UK study in 1998 proved how powerful the mind is in terms of controlling the body's actions. Participants were told under hypnosis that a pen was too heavy to lift. Equipment was attached to their muscles to measure muscular electrical activity. Although they were obviously capable of lifting the pen, when they tried doing so, their triceps and biceps acted in contradiction, making it physically impossible to lift the pen even though they were genuinely trying.

A 1972 issue of the Journal of Psychology describes another study where 24 participants had their arms strength-tested and then took part in an arm-wrestling competition. Before each match, researchers deceived both sides into believing that the weaker competitor was actually stronger. The result? In 10 of the 12 contests, the weaker person won.

Sports psychologists and motivational speakers like Anthony Robbins have, for decades, pointed out the power that the mind has over the body's actions. If the mind is convinced of something negative, such as someone being better than you, the body will cooperate to make that belief come true. The opposite is also true. Studies of gold-medal Olympic champions found that in every case, the winners had imagined themselves to be at the top of the podium. Most had gone so far as to actually create mental pictures of what it would feel like to stand there as their flag was raised and their national anthem played.

It's widely believed that self confidence happens as a result of winning, but research proves that this isn't actually the case. Many of those who win top competitions have never won that event before. They simply believed they could. In some dramatic cases, athletes who repeatedly made spectacular failed efforts broke through because they were so convinced that their bad luck had run out and the next attempt would be the winning one. Lance Armstrong, when he won his first Tour de France after almost dying from testicular cancer, was not favored to win. After all, this was the world's most difficult race, and only the most elite athletes could even consider winning it. But he was determined he would, prepared himself to win, and believed that the result of his cancer treatment (such as reduced weight) would actually assist him in reaching his goal.

These principles don't mean you'll automatically win just by believing it, especially in DanceSport where there are many factors besides just being the first one past a finish line. But it does mean that those who should win as a result of quality alone might not. If their confidence isn't high enough, their minds will actually work against them, causing muscles and other aspects of performance to suffer. This happens because the muscles respond to the brain's messages in an effort to prove that the mind is being truthful. The result keeps success out of reach.

Confidence should never be confused with the physiological changes that the body experiences during competition. There is a natural release of hormones such as epinephrine into the bloodstream any time you're about to engage in competitive activity. You'll experience increased heart rate as well, and all these factors can feel like nervous energy or tension. If you incorrectly interpret this as a negative response such as worry or anxiety, your confidence will suffer. But properly understood, you can actually use this to become more focused, as signs that your body is doing what it's supposed to and preparing you to perform well.

Here are three steps you can take to develop your confidence as a dancer:

1. Dream big. It's good to have goals that are well ahead of your current placing. Don't sell yourself short. As the old saying goes, "If you reach for the stars you might not get one, but you won't end up with a handful of mud."
   


2. Break the big goal into a number of smaller goals that are easy to achieve. You need to be able to feel that the smaller goal is within reach, so you can experience the success it brings. Well-known adjudicator Anya Klimova-Preston, in her seminar "The Checklist of Champions," provides a long list of useful measurement criteria you can use to gauge your progress. A similar list is found in the book "Dance to Your Maximum." You might use a list like this, deciding to achieve measurable improvement in just one or two areas for each upcoming competition. Or you might decide to increase your number of callbacks by 10% in the next comp. There are many ways you can set small, measurable goals that act as stepping stones towards the big one.
   


3. Set weekly and daily goals which allow you to focus on each training session. You can set a goal of practicing at least five days a week, or so many hours each week. Or you can decide to achieve slightly better quality of some action in one small part of a routine. Research into Olympic champions found that they all shared a common trait of using small daily training goals. Since you spend far more time training than you do actually competing, these training goals are vitally important.

Working together, these weekly and daily goals, combined with the bite-sized competition goals and the focus of a big goal will help you achieve confidence. No matter what level you're at, there will be something positive you can point to in order to recognize progress.

The vast amount of research on the topic of peak performers shows that there is a single underlying theme which all winners have in common. Practice. No matter what the specialty, practice is at the heart of every person successful in their field. But how much practice is enough?

Neuroscientist and musician Daniel Levitin believes that the magic number is 10,000.

In his book, "This is Your Brain on Music," Levitin says, "The emerging picture of [research] is that ten thousand hours of practice is required to achieve the level of mastery associated with being a world-class expert -- in anything."

He goes on to point out that "in study after study, of composers, basketball players, fiction writers, ice skaters, concert pianists, chess players... and what have you, this number comes up again and again." He reports that no one has yet found a single case where true world-class expertise was accomplished in less time. It seems that it takes the brain this long to assimilate all that it needs to know to achieve true mastery.

This doesn't mean everyone who practices for 10,000 hours will become world-class. But those who have what it takes must practice that long before they reach that level of success, say Levitin and others who studied similar research, such as Malcolm Gladwell.

So how much practice is that, in the real-world life of a DanceSport athlete?

Three hours a day, five days a week adds up to 780 hours a year. At this rate, it would take you over 12 years to get there. Those who slack off and practice just two hours each day need a whopping 20 years to reach the same level. Many of the best dancers practice three to four hours each day, six days a week. At this rate, expect to hit the magic 10,000 hours in about nine years. And yes, it's okay to take breaks from time to time. The human body needs them to function properly.

But remember that every time you miss a practice session, some of your competitors may be getting a little closer to that 10,000 hour goal than you are.