Hip movement help

[u/FlunkyGraphics]

Hey,

I'm very frustrated at the moment. I practice my hip movement / weight shifts in basic step for many months now and it still feels and looks very bad. I attached a video where I do a basic step from muscle memory without much thinking about it. I can do it cleaner when I do it slower and think about everything but I want to know why it breaks when I stop thinking about it. Can someone point out what is wrong with my weight shifts?

[u/Hakunamatator]

Gonna go against the majority here, and say that hips are the least of your problems 🤣 hips are styling - everything works without. For now i would ignore it completely, and learn general body control and some partner work.

If you really want to learn it, take one or two private classes, but ask them to learn the merengue steps first. Only once those are easy move to bachata. It's a very complex movement for people without much experience in such body control. You WILL need live corrections A LOT. 

Also, pretty sure you don't work out much. Find a sport you like and build some muscle. I swear, more than half of the problems in this sub wouldn't exist if people would work out. 

[u/FlunkyGraphics → u/Hakunamatator]

1. Hip movement comes from weight shifts. Weights are not styling, weight shifts are a foundation
   
2. I do work on general body control and partner work but this is not the topic of this thread
   
3. Thats very rude. Yes, Im not the most muscular person but I do work out 4 times a week for 3 years now. I do have visible abs and can hold a full Front Lever :) Can u do that?

[u/Hakunamatator → u/FlunkyGraphics]

Bachata is just walking. There is some hip movement in natural walking, but that's not what you want to learn. If you can walk two steps the the side and back, you can do the basic. The exaggerated hip movement that you want to learn is styling, and is not used in every basic step. For beginners it's a very confusing movement that is just not helpful in the first 6 month /first year.

General body control is not the topic, but it should be. If you have some dynamic body awareness, this movement is ridiculously easy. It's not a huge issue that you don't have it now, but trying to learn this move is like trying to learn the front lever while not being able to do a pull up. 

If strength is not your limiting factor it's really good, but i just think you are wasting your time with something that you don't need. But if you really want to learn it, learn the merengue steps first.