Pilates Matwork teacher training (week 9): the benefit of hindsight

This week, we challenged Swan Dive!As Swan Dive engages multiple muscles in the lower body such as the glutes, hamstrings and quads, I had the students in all fours and did some kicks with a flat back for a start. After the legs are warmed up, the students had to balance with alternate legs and arms in the air for one minute each.I moved onto the Stomach Series to work their abs. Afterwards, we did Baby Swan, followed by the Full Swan to remind the class of the movements and bracing of their abs. After a few attempts of a single Swan Dive, I decided to let them try a few reps with their hands off the mat. I paired the students up so the “supporters” could assist their partners’ legs by pressing them down. It was apparent that some were unable to engage their glutes and legs since they flopped after two consecutive Swan Dives.In hindsight, I should have let them practice Swimming before Swan Dive - I believe the class would have understood what was required for Swan Dive better.After learning the partner work to execute Jackknife in Jeremy’s class, I’m feeling ambitious to try that out in my next class. I’ll make use of the Hip Flexion and Extension exercises he taught to prep them as well. Hopefully, my students have been practicing Rollover on their own!Written by Jasmine Lee