HOW TO BE A GOOD INSTRUCTOR November, December 2008
The Tamara Di Tella Pilates and Tangolates techniques are very important, of course, and the excellent training they received is evident from the start, but there are other things that characterize the Tamara Di Tella instructors and distinguish them as the best instructors besides the technique itself. Let’ consider them one by one.
In the first place, and as obvious as it may sound, the Tamara Di Tella instructors are always there to receive clients or patients. They arrive to teach a class at least 10 minutes early to greet their clients. This gives new clients an opportunity to ask questions and instructors to introduce themselves. It is also very important to give the clients and the students the sense that “the instructors is there waiting for me”, pretty much like a host opens the door to receive his guest with a worm welcome and with his arms opened to receive his guest. A Tamara Di Tella Studio is like a home to its clients or students, and instructors always arrive 10 minutes early to greet the clients, and 10 minutes late to say good bye. (to be continued…)
Each instructor from the time of Joseph Pilates on has a different breathing technique. Some inhale at the moment of exertion, like Pilates himself recommended; while others prefer to exhale on exertion, like conventional fitness experts recommend. The dilemma remains unresolved and this is in part because some people do not wish to contradict Joseph Pilates even when he formulated his method last century. A good instructor should “agree to disagree” and let his clients breathe the way he or she prefers.
For example, some participants prefer to exhale on the exertion, while others prefer to do the contrary, that is, inhale on the exertion. A good instructor will never impose on his/her clients how to breathe. Rather, he/she should give freedom and let the clients breathe as they wish and can.
A good Tamara Di Tella instructor can recommend his clients to: a) keep breathing; b) not to hold their breath during the exertion; c) inhale as deeply as they can; d) try to exhale during the same amount of time.
The alignment of the spine is another point to take into account when we consider how good an instructor really is. Is he or she giving the proper instruction to the clients as to how to align the spine? Is the instructor clear in his specifications? The images? The sitting and standing positions are the best for the alignment of the spine and this is the right time to remind the clients to do so. Also, it is convenient to remind at the beginning of a class, moment in which clients are best prepared to receive the basic orders for a Tamara Di Tella Pilates. Later on, a reminder here and there will do.
A good Tamara Di Tella instructor will never repeat one sequence after another. If he gives a sequential 50 minutes class on Monday, he will try to give a different class on Wednesday and yet another, different one on Friday. There is nothing worse than repeating the same class over and over again. Clients get bored and finally leave. To keep a client happy, a good instructor should make the effort to be creative and imaginative, to offer new exercises and new angles. If the exercises are the same, at least he should be able to offer various different variations to them so as not to do the same all the time.
Tamara Di Tella Instructors are famous for their first premium quality classes. They never teach exercises in the same order but rather they vary the routines each time they give a class. This does not mean that there is no progression. There is, but not in the same order. A Tamara Di Tella Pilates instructor is skilled enough to teach more than one variation, and to vary the ordering of the routines.
A Tamara Di Tella Pilates Instructor is capable of giving different level’s classes at the same time. For example, a class may include a 20 years-old strong rugby player; a 60 years-old grandmother, and a pregnant woman. Yet, a Tamara Di Tella instructor can and in fact does give a multilevel group class using only verbal clues. A Tamara Di Tella Studio is a place where people from all venues come to participate.
How to be a Good Instructor (VII) Good Instructors are not born, are made. The experience of dealing with clients is very important. A Tamara Di Tella Instructor knows things clients do not know and it is his moral obligation to put them into practice. For example, clients do not necessarily know that resistance or effort is important. They often prefer not to exert themselves because they feel more comfortable with the east amount of effort.
A good instructor, however, is the one that presses and pushes a bit more. That little effort makes all the difference in the world. The same thing can be said about the dynamics of a class. A good Instructor knows that the client should perform the movements as dynamic as he or she can within the limits of his or her possibilities, of course. Well, a good instructor is the one that will not let his clients “sleep on the job”. Rather he or she will encourage the clients to move a bit faster and with the flow, as Joseph Pilates used to say. This is, after all, the true meaning of the expression “flowing movement”
