How to Get Better at Acro: Part 1
Think Back ↠ How Did You Discover Acro?
A solid majority of people discover acro by happening upon an acro jam in a public place. Jams are a amazing for a number of reasons - they're easily accessible, are an open and outward facing advertisement for the practice. Jams can be discovered by passersby- who, if so inclined become participants and often friends - and tend to be free, especially in warm weather.
Jams are a great place to have your first contact with acro, to play and learn basic skills. They're super fun - a great place to disocover and play and socialize with like minded acro enthusiasts.
Once you've played a little, you will see people working on flashier or more advanced skills, and you'll probably want to try them. You'll naturally want to get better at acro. It's normal! It's human! We want to do ALL the cool looking things. (I certainly want to do all the cool things)
ALERT ALERT
At this point, Jams are NOT the best place to improve your technique and up your skill set in a cohesive way.
Take Regular Classes
You can learn so much better at a class than at a jam. At jams, anyone can (and will) teach you new skills. Although they know more than you, they may not know that much. There is something to be said about learning from an experienced acrobat/teacher. An experienced teacher ideally will include the following things in a class:
Conditioning Drills
Put skills in a meaningful order
Teach Technique
Build up capacities for future, more challenging skills
Recognize the appropriate skill levels of students
Intelligent Teaching aka Scaffolding aka Progression
In classroom education, scaffolding refers to teaching techniques used to move students progressively toward stronger understanding and, ultimately, greater independence in the learning process. Like physical scaffolding, the supportive strategies are incrementally removed when they are no longer needed, and the teacher gradually shifts more responsibility over the learning process to the student. (Definition via EdGLossary.org)
In other words, you'll learn elements of a flow or skill that will then get combined. In acro, we often call these "Progressions".
Teachers know what mistakes to looks for, and they know where a skill can go wrong. Well intentioned people at jams will often share a new skill before they have mastered it. (As long as it's framed as such, and everyone is a responsible adult, I'm cool with that). A teacher, however, has the added bonus of being able to see your mistakes, and offer corrections. Instead of muddling through "this isn't working" or one partner compensating a LOT for the other, a teacher can diagnose where things are going wrong, or how they could go better.
Attend Acro Conventions / Workshops / Festivals
Acro Conventions + Acroyoga Festivals: Why Should I Try One? lays out a LOT of good reasons to make the trip. Click on over for the full explanation.
Acro Conventions quite simply help you get better at acro. They expose you to different teachers, and different styles of teaching. There will likely be more styles of acro (dance acro, icarian, Whips and Pops, L base washing machines, slackro) than exist in your local community. If you go with the same people you train with (see below) you can bring those skills home and incorporate them into your personal movement vocabulary.
Work with the Same People
It helps you build a shared vocabulary of skills
When someone says "lets do xyz" you not only know what they mean, but you have already been taught your role in the specific skill. While there is certainly a benefit to working through something where one partner know their role and only vaguely knows the other role (you can practice patience, teamwork, problem solving, listening) it is far more efficient when both people know what they're doing. It allows both partners to work on the skill, and have the ability to own it for themselves.
Save Time Calibrating
Every time I practice with my consistent partner we start by calibrating. We check in on grip, balance, timing. And this is with someone I've been working with regularly for months.
Every time you work with someone new you have to going through the preliminaries. You have to learn them; what injuries they've had, what they like, how their hands and feet feel. What scares them. What makes them feel secure or strong or brave. How they like to exit a trick. If they prefer fast tempos or slow ones. If they want the base to do everything and the flyer holds shape or the flyer is going to be more assertive. Will the base always catch me, or do they have slower reflexes?
It's inefficient and time consuming to have to have to re learn a new partner every time you train. I suspect calibration often gets skipped for exactly this reason.
When you train with the same group of people, you learn one another over time. You learn how to work together, how to spot one another. You learn who will swoop in to catch you, and who isn't the best spotter. You lean how to learn to have a partner and be a partner.
Been training with this guy since at least 2014. Photo circa 2017.
Condition. A Lot, or at Least A Little.
Acro is unlike most other things you have done in your life (unless you were an acrobatic gymnast). While there are some carryover skills from dance, gymnastics, diving, parkour and weight lifting, chances are you did not arrive at acro perfectly strong and mobile in the right ways. Professionals continue to condition for their entire careers.
The Absolute #1 things that continuously makes me a better acrobat, besides training with good coaches, and practicing regularly with the same partners is this. Once I fell in love with conditioning, I got better at acro at an increased pace. Different people will need to condition in different ways; depending on what role you play in acro, and what strengths/weaknesses you have when you begin. But everyone can condition their wrists, for the rest of time.
