Train Your Eye: Assessing + Correcting Form in the Mat Sequence
You’re teaching a Pilates class and you can see several things happening at once.
One client’s pelvis is shifting. Another is lifting their ribs. Someone’s shoulders are practically touching her ears. You’re trying to decide what to correct, how to explain it, and whether you can do any of that without bringing the entire class to a halt.
Learning to cue a Pilates exercise is one skill. Learning how to really see the person performing it, and decide what to do with the information you’re getting, is another.
You cannot correct everything you see, and you’ll disrupt class completely if you try.
Effective teaching requires you to recognize what matters most in that moment, make a decision, and offer a correction that actually helps.
Train Your Eye: Assessing and Correcting Form in the Mat Repertoire is a live, interactive virtual workshop designed to help Pilates instructors do exactly that.
Stop Trying to Fix Everything at Once
When several things could be corrected, it’s easy to start throwing cues at a client and hope one of them works.
In this workshop, we’ll develop a more systematic way to observe alignment and movement. You’ll learn how to scan the body efficiently, identify common compensations, and decide which correction is most likely to improve the exercise as a whole.
The goal is not to make every client’s body look exactly the same. The goal is to understand what you’re seeing, determine whether it matters, and respond in a way that supports the person in front of you.
A Compensation Is Information
When a client compensates during an exercise, it tells you something.
They may not understand what you’re asking. They may need more support, a different setup, a smaller range of motion, or a cue that makes sense to their brain and how it learns. The exercise may not be appropriate for their body in its current form.
We’ll look at common Mat Pilates exercises and work through:
- What to assess before the movement begins
- What changes once the client starts moving
- Common compensations and what may be contributing to them
- How to determine which details are relevant to the goal of the exercise
- How to prioritize corrections so you don’t overwhelm your client
- How to maintain the pace of a group class while still teaching the individuals in it
You’ll walk away from this workshop feeling more confident in your own ability to observe, think, and make useful teaching decisions in real time.
You Need to Practice Your Skill
Once you’ve decided what you want to change, you still need to communicate it effectively.
During this CEC workshop, we’ll practice using clear, efficient verbal and tactile cues. You’ll have opportunities to observe movement, choose what you would address, deliver a correction, and receive constructive feedback.
This is a live, virtual workshop. You will have the opportunity to fully participate, move, observe, ask questions, and receive feedback.
Who Is This Workshop For?
This workshop is for Pilates instructors who want to become better at assessing and correcting form in private sessions and group classes.
It may be especially useful if you:
- See several things happening at once and aren’t sure which one to address first
- Find yourself giving too many cues
- Repeat corrections without getting the change you’re looking for
- Feel comfortable teaching exercises but less confident adapting them to individual bodies
- Want to give meaningful corrections without disrupting the flow of your class
- Are a newer instructor developing your observational skills
- Are an experienced instructor who wants a more organized assessment process
What You’ll Receive
Registration includes:
- 3 NPCP continuing education credits
- A NPCP certificate of completion
- A downloadable PDF handout with the course materials
- Live instruction with ID Pilates founder and owner Hayley Sullivan
- Supervised, hands-on practice
- Constructive feedback
- Access to the workshop recording for 90 days
About Hayley
Hayley Sullivan is the founder and owner of ID Pilates, a Nationally Certified Pilates Teacher, and an experienced Pilates educator and teacher trainer. She completed her 500+ hour comprehensive training through Erika Bloom Pilates in New York City and developed the ID Pilates comprehensive teacher-training program in 2017.
After years of training and mentoring instructors, Hayley has learned that knowing more exercises does not automatically make someone a better teacher. Great teaching also requires the ability to see what is happening, understand why it may be happening, and communicate in a way that helps the client make a meaningful change.
That is the skill this workshop is designed to develop.
Workshop Details
This workshop will take place live over Zoom. The Zoom link will be provided by email before the workshop.
Because the workshop includes demonstrations, practice, discussion, and feedback, live participation is strongly encouraged. Registered participants will also have access to the recording for 90 days.
Cost: $149
Early Bird Pricing: $129 (Register before 10/1)
If you’re ready to stop second-guessing every correction, become more efficient with your cues, and feel more confident teaching the body in front of you, join us for Train Your Eye: Assessing and Correcting Form in the Mat Repertoire.
