The Beginners Aerial Sling Instructor Training Course provides a great entry point into teaching aerial fabric for fitness, using both closed and open fabric skills. This course will provide you with every aspect you need to start teaching confident and effective aerial sling classes for adults in your community.
ONLINE COURSE COST: £295
Face-to-Face COURSE COST: £375
Questions about the course? Click on the headings below for more information, or contact us.
Course Requirements and Pre-requisites
You will need:
- a minimum of 1 years’ aerial sling or silks experience (recommended)
- access to the internet via a PC, laptop, or mobile device
- access to at least 1 aerial sling
- a minimum of 2 hours’ study/training time per week (to complete the course within the 1-year deadline)
- a device to film videos on (mobile phones are allowed)
- at least 1 student for the teaching assessment
- basic first aid and anatomy knowledge is also recommended
Course moves List
MOUNTS
- Grounded Mounts
- Emergency Dismount
- Delilah Mount (single and double leg)
- Pull Over to Single and Double Hocks
- Front Balance
- Pull Over to Front Balance
- Reach and Roll to Sitting
- Single Leg Thread Through to Horse
- Sitting to Front Balance
- Lift to Dolphin
CLOSED FABRIC POSES
- Basic Seat – Stag Seat – Figure 4 Seat – Scissor Seat – Man in the Moon
- Coffin – Scissor Coffin
- Single Leg Cradle – Double Leg Cradle
- Mermaid – Angel – Reverse Angel – Arabesque (and wrapped variations)
- Crucifix
- Inside Star – Outside Star
- Basic Stand – Lamp Post – Bow and Arrow
- Splits Variations – Splits Away (Double and Single Leg, Single Panel)
- Cabot Circus Split – Crucifix Split – Layback Split (Closed and Open Fabric)
- T-Stand
- Pedal Wraps
- Leana
- Straddle
- Gazelle
- Hiplock
- Crochet Leg (Single and Double Leg)
OPEN FABRIC POSES
- Closed to Open Fabric (Seated)
- Pull Over to Front Balance (Open Fabric)
- Seated Butterfly – Standing Butterfly – Kneeling Butterfly (Single and Double Leg)
- Crane
- Layback
- Skirted Lady
- Inverted Mermaid
- Open Fabric Gazelle
- Plough – Pencil
- Vampire
Course Assessment
| Theory Assessment | Practical Assessment |
| Answer theory questions related to each unit of the course. Questions are multiple choice, or short answers. | Part 1: Class Introduction. Give an introduction to a typical aerial class, as outlined in the course. Part 2: Warm Up. Teach a warm up, as outlined in the course. Part 3: Teaching Moves. Teach 3 individual moves from the course to at least 1 student. Part 4: Combination of Moves. Demonstrate a combination of 5 moves from the course syllabus. Part 5: Cool Down. Teach a cool down, as outlined in the course. |
Face-to-face learners will have the opportunity to complete their course within the course weekend.
Course Description
The theory section of this course will give you a range of teaching and coaching techniques to make you a confident and effective instructor, supported by relevant aerial theory. We will also cover the practical aspects of running your classes from how to structure your syllabus to the process of writing class plans.
In the practical section, you will learn the first part of the Spin City Aerial Sling syllabus, a series of strength and conditioning techniques to help your beginners progress and we will complete your practical training with beginner combinations, sequences and choreography.
UNIT 1 – WARM UPS AND COOL DOWNS
This unit will take you through how to write and conduct a safe and effective warm up and cool down. We will look at the exercise science behind why we warm up and cool down, from the benefits to the correct structure; breaking down the individual elements. We will then focus on how you can make your warm up and cool down aerial-specific and provide sample plans of both.
UNIT 2 – BASIC MOVES
Here we will cover the core beginners sling moves, looking at each move in detail from the teaching and safety points, to progressions and regressions also touching upon common problems. This will be supported by foundation concepts such as sling control and momentum, the range of hand grips, correct shoulder positions and how we can teach safe progression through training. This unit finishes with a practical workshop on strength and conditioning.
UNIT 3 – TEACHING AND COACHING
This unit looks specifically at the theory behind teaching and coaching. We will start by considering the key skills needed by an effective instructor, this takes us onto theories of education and teaching methods including discussion on different learning styles and teaching manner. We round off this unit with a practical session to consolidate these techniques.
UNIT 4 – CHOREOGRAPHY
In this section we will cover different types of choreography, how to build routines and sequences, and how to effectively teach choreography to your class participants through a range of cueing techniques. At this stage we will start to build your choreography toolbox; giving you combinations and aerial and ground-based transitions to start developing your own choreography style.
UNIT 5 – CLASS PLANNING
This unit returns us to the theory of effective class planning. We begin with how you can structure your own syllabus, breaking this down into course and individual session planning with example session plans provided. We will cover all the elements you will need to start your own business including advice on choosing venues and equipment, approaches to rigging, and screening participants.
UNIT 6 – HEALTH AND SAFETY
Our final unit is arguably the most important unit on the course, as it covers the health and safety aspects of aerial instruction. We will discuss the factors which you can influence to make your classes safe and effective from creating a focused environment, to liability insurance, risk assessment and injury prevention, ongoing training and first aid considerations. This unit finishes with aerial-specific health and safety requirements from clothing to equipment maintenance and most importantly the theory and practical knowledge behind spotting techniques and how you can put this into practice in your classes.