The rewards Of Training
09.29.09

Beth and I recently went to North Carolina for our annual business convention. This convention is held for BrightStar Care and we are one of 140+ franchises in the system. Growing fast and we are really excited about our future with this organization.
 
Part of the weekend was a field trip to the National Whitewater Center outside Charlotte. The facility was built for training American athletes for the Olympics in whitewater events.
 
So, we were split into teams of 6 and assigned a guide for our rapid runs. Before we could go out, we had to be trained in some basics on safety before boarding our raft.
 
After the safety training, we gathered our gear and headed down to the raft. The guide helped us board and as we launched into the lagoon, he began going over some of the strategies we would use in our adventure. He gave us various things to do and would call for those actions as needed during the event.
 
Now, one of the cool things about the convention, is we meet a great number of motivated, intelligent people. Our crew was no different and we had a smooth team ready to assault the rapids in short order.
 
Our guide steered us into our first run and we handled the rapid so well, he began to pick up our pace to approach the second rumbling obstacle. Yet again, we handled the rapid well and our guide began driving us to the third whitewater section of this run, seemingly intent to have us leap across the water.
 
As we committed to the rapid, another raft shot out from a blind spot to our right. Our guide called for us to get down (slide deep into the raft with paddles up in the air. We launched across the rapid and nosedived into the other raft. Like a big rubber ball, we bounced back. Sitting at the back of the raft with our guide, I shot up into the air and managed an ungraceful reverse swan dive into the water.
 
Totally unprepared for that result, I hit the botton of the channel with my head. That kind of woke me up and reminded me of the safety instructions before we left terra firma. I let the vest begin taking me up to the surface, but almost immediately bumped up against something soft and in my way. I was under the raft!
 
Again, remembering the training, I put my hands on the raft and made like spiderman scampering across a building. As I cleared the raft, my vest took over again and I imitated Shamu breaching the surface and getting another opportunity to breathe something more to my liking...
 
I was facing the raft at that point. The guide grabbed the straps of my vest and gave me a turn around order. I remembered this from training as well. He was going to dunk me to use the vest's bouyant properties to bounce me into the raft, but I needed to go in on my back. As he pushed me down, I took a breathe and spun around, launching back into the air with my final performance leap and landed in the raft, snorting and coughing up the water I took in at the start of this little bump in the road.
 
Although my paddle disappeared, we were soon ready to have a go at the rest of the course. As dangerous as that could have been, the training created a plan of action with little to no hesitation or thought.
 
Now, what does this crazy story have to do with dancing? We all go through our phases of learning the dance, but there are so many of us that immediately drive away from our basics and focus on the WOW stuff we see on the floor from time to time. Instead of focusing on comfort (and even safety), I hear many students talk about not boring their partners on the floor.
 
From both leaders and followers, I know that many of us would much prefer a clean, comfortable dance than trying to figure out how to get you back down off the ceiling safely! Knowing your basics cold and being able to perform them without a delay or hesitation will ultimately make you a sought after dancer and team mate.
 
So make sure you get those important steps down first as you wander into the dance jungle. You will be able to breathe easier from the moment you step on the floor to thanking your partner for a wonderful dance, because you could perform without thinking about the movements. Getting your basics to become second nature will save you from wondering what to do. You may just marvel at what you accomplish without ever consciously deciding what to do next!