Leval:Internationl Senior Prechampionship. When implimenting the "step,swing,drift principle" as described by Johnathan,we have a release of energy at the beginning of the bar of music and a drift at the end of the bar of music,this gives a change in body speed,we also have a change of body speed when dancing the first three steps of the reverse turn as the body has to slow down to allow the foot to swing back into place. My question; How do we coordinate these changes of speed into a constant smooth flow of the basic foxtrot. I can do this using the incorrect timing of SSS,but this tends to put my weight just a little to far back towards the heel.

Body speed is controlled by rise and fall. In waltz you have complete conversion of speed to rise in order to achieve foot closure, in foxtrot you have incomplete conversion in that you only slow the body speed and don't stop as you are not closing your feet, but the altitude still needs to be related to the speed.

Don't worry about your foot timing, and don't adjust your body timing to give your feet or legs time - just send you body across the floor and up and down appropriately, and let your legs learn to mind themselves (by arriving under your body when they are needed)

Suomynona. What do you mean when you wrote Let the legs learn to mind themselves( arriving under the body when needed ) That to me sounds as if you believe the body leads and the legs arrive second. I know all about body flight. If you watch a 1500 metre runner nobody could flight their body more, and yet what part of their body is the furthest foreward. Watch anybody walking by, then watch the person who is in a hurry. The push is off the back foot, and the front foot is some 7 to 10 inches in front of the body being propelled by the supporting foot. This term flight the body was to stop dancers sitting over their back foot. If this was not meant by you, even then I am sure somebody might find it interesting. But (arriving under the body when needed)would indicate that the legs catch up to the body.
For the ladies. As we all know the heel of the supporting foot only lowers to the floor as the moving foot arrives under the body. If you find you are being pushed into lowering early then speak up and say I am not able to apply the correct technique to my lowering. You must be doing something wrong. Could be that flying body.