Bikini poses

Also called: front position, front pose

1. Place one foot slightly forward with the weight over the back leg, and let the front knee stay soft rather than locked.
2. Roll the shoulders back and down and lengthen through the crown of the head, so the line starts at the floor and finishes above it.
3. Rest one hand on the hip with the elbow away from the body, which opens a gap at the waist instead of pressing the arm flat.
4. Draw the navel in on a slow exhale and hold it, keeping the ribcage down rather than lifting the chest to fake the taper.
5. Choose a fixed point above the audience and hold your gaze there; the eyes moving is what reads as nerves from the floor.

Also called: back position, back pose

1. Arrive with the weight on one leg and the other slightly back on its toe, hips angled a few degrees off square.
2. Arch through the lower back to lift the glutes without pushing the ribcage forward and losing the waist.
3. Look back over the shoulder toward the judges rather than turning the whole torso with the head.
4. Let the arms hang long and slightly away from the body so daylight shows at the waist on both sides.
5. Press through the standing leg to hold the hamstring and glute tight for the whole count, not just the first second.

Also called: the walk

1. Start from your front pose, turn a full 180 degrees toward the back of the stage and settle into your back pose before you move off.
2. Walk to the rear mark with the feet tracking one line, letting the hips carry the rhythm rather than the shoulders.
3. Pause at the back long enough for the judges to read the pose — the pause is part of the walk, not a gap in it.
4. Turn the second 180 degrees on the spot and walk back to the centreline at the same unhurried pace you left it.
5. Rehearse it in the heels you will compete in, on a floor the same length; the walk is where nerves show first.