How to Practice Baton-Twirling Tricks

As opposed to stage magic, the term "tricks" when applied to baton twirling does not mean conjuring or making things disappear. In essence, the term describes certain baton and body moves and dance steps. It is important to remember too that most of the practice time in baton twirling is spent on what you are doing when the baton is not in your hands. An incredible degree of hand-eye coordination is required to pull of smooth error- and injury-free routines.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• Exercise clothes
• Uniform
• Journal

Practice Baton-Twirling Tricks

1. Remember that tricks, dance steps and special twirls are only several facets of a complete routine, and in competition you are judged on broader factors. These factors include the variety and difficulty of the routine components, coordination, originality, appearance, technique, posture, gracefulness, showmanship and audience appeal.
2. Practice in a large enough area to avoid baton bounce-backs and awkward movements.
3. Go through a full list of the different types of tricks, such as elbow rolls, vertical figure-eights, open-hand toss, tosses with multiple turns and the various types of feints or illusions used to direct audience attention toward or away from the baton or the dance steps.
4. Practice with others, both at your same level and at higher levels of expertise, and ask for pointers and assistance when you need it. If you are on a team, at a school or a club, keep your coach informed as to what your are practicing on your own.
5. Remember that any individual trick, move or twirl is only a building block in a full routine. Any individual trick must be integrated smoothly and naturally into the routine as a whole, so practice new tricks by themselves as well as in longer sequences of steps and twirls.
6. Keep a journal of your progress and take complete notes of your practice sessions, noting any areas of difficulty.

Tips & Warnings

• As with any athletic activity, do not start a practice session without proper rest, nutrition and warm up and stretching preparation.
• Practice in both exercise outfits and your uniform to get the feel of your routine in both sets of attire.
• Wear the same shoes when you practice as when you perform.
• Do not attempt a trick, step, move or routine that you are not ready to do. It is good to stretch and challenge oneself, but exercise care in this regard.