Think of how you want the girl to move (when learning new moves)

After teaching salsa for so many years..... I've come to realize, ... the biggest mistake most learner leads make, --> is to focus on what are their own steps rather than focusing on what should the follow be doing :)

Why so?

These leads become so obsessed with their own moves, they forgot their primary role,... to lead. Without learning how to get the follow to do what they want, these leads will not be able to execute the same moves on the dance floor! They might think they have learnt the moves because it seems to work in class, but little do they know that it's because the follows already know what they are supposed to do in class!!

I've tried my best to teach the patterns in a way such that the leads will have to decide what to do and lead (by giving multiple options to exit a move). But that is still not really sufficient in most cases.

When I learn a new move, this is my sequence of thoughts
1) What steps are the follows doing (turn which way, on what count, on the spot or traveling?)
2) What are the cues to make the follow go that way?
3) What do I do while executing those cues?
4) What are the potential points where I can hurt the follow?
5) What are the styling that can be done while executing those moves (for both lead and follows)

Notice that styling comes last? Yah, no point trying to style when you can't even do the move properly :)

As most people agree that guys can't multitask very well, it's best if the guys practice their basic (own footwork, etc.) and build such a solid foundation there that they do not have to think of their feet. In this way, they can then focus on all the other things mentioned above :)

(PS: I wrote the above article after one session with a student... when I told him to focus on the girl's steps, he suddenly had that 'Eureka moment' and his progress started to accelerate from that point onwards)