Maybe it’s obvious that you want to give a dancer progressive confidence in her injured ankle in the training space. You wouldn’t throw her right into single leg plyometric work over hurdles. But what might not be as obvious is even in the early stages of her ankle recovery, you want to give her challenges that make her feel STRONG. Does that mean loading the ankle? No. But it might mean an 8-rep max landmine press from a half-kneeling position (to avoid stressing the ankle). It might mean something fun and challenging like a hollow body hold in which she has to resist rocking as the coach pushes her legs or hands. It might mean prioritizing interval work on a HIIT-style bike. The point is to give the dancer something genuinely difficult to overcome that you’re confident they can do, then coach them and support them as they do it.

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