by Tania Huddart
An experienced dance and Pilates teacher and teacher trainer, Tania Huddart has spent the last 20 years developing a teaching toolkit for Pilates instructors. Teach Pilates with Confidence is her toolkit in book form.
She argues that teacher training courses emphasise learning the exercises and learning the Pilates Method, but not the HOW of teaching. As a result, Pilates teachers may experience lack of confidence or frustration at failing to communicate what they know. This book attempts to fill the gap.
Tania highlights gaining clarity on why you teach by understanding your values, identifying unhelpful beliefs, and setting “SMART” goals. Next, she tackles the importance of understanding your clients.
Teaching styles, learning styles and types of feedback are delineated.
Tools available to the Pilates teacher like demonstration and imagery are broken down as well as suggestions on how to cue. The practicalities of teaching in person and online, and running a business, are explained. Tania concludes the book with a chapter on structuring classes.
I found the book an interesting, and unique, read as all the Pilates books on my shelf are either exercise based, about anatomy or working with various musculoskeletal conditions, or biographies.
A warning to the reader who expects to gain a few tips as they flick through the pages. This is a workbook and demands some self-analysis and putting pen to paper. You will have to invest some time and work to truly benefit from Tania’s advice.
I think this is a great addition to the books available to the Pilates teacher because of its original approach. Some of the information in the book like learning styles, or the class structure template, has been written about before or is not particularly exceptional, but I applaud Tania on tackling issues that are holding teachers back from realising their potential and leading a less fulfilling career.
Reviewed by Karen Goh, PAA Secretary
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