So why the heck would you want to 'pick up your feet'?

I have never learned in tap dancing or jive dancing that you need to "pick-up" your feet. The more you pick them up the longer you need to put them down. However, I think a lot of teachers say this to get students to stop trying to travel. Most beginners try to cover space, by telling them to pick-up their feet or march, it helps to aid the concept of staying in place with compact movement.

Dancers are told to "pick up your feet" in Jive because it is supposed to look springy and snappy. In competitions, Jive is the last dance and if dancers aren't dancing with knees up causing their feet to come off the floor, it looks like they are tired.

Unlike other swing styles, where the feet stay close to the floor, the Jive requires quick foot action into the floor as well as snappy knee action taking the feet off the floor.

Sorry, that just looks out of control.

Jive like all the other dances require a precise action - no more, no less than necessary to complete the task. Often this is a SMALLER action that people would originally be comfortable taking - large actions take more time, and are SLOW.

Yes, high level jive as flicks, but those are decorative steps without weight change - it's excessive leg action on the weight change steps that slows down beginners.

my teacher has told me when doing jive, to just "come short" of taking my feet off the ground. You're just about off the floor and then change your mind....works for me....

There are two styles in Jive swing or Flick Jive. Which are you doing. Flick Jive is more stationary with the feet being picked up higher. Look and you will see Flick Jive is the most used at this point in time.

At what level does flick jive become legal?

What I see mostly is not flick jive, but sloppy swing jive overloaded with uncontrolled energy in an attempt to immitate flick jive.

If you see a top competitor actually do a swing-type basic, it's remarkably under-stated.

Todays dancer lifts the leg untill the thigh is horizontal to the floor with the toe pointing to the floor. But not on a Fallaway Rock or a Link that is kept low. If you saw a World Championship Jive Final and one couples feet were low to the floor all the time they would look heavy and very tired compared to the rest. In fact the judges wouldn't look at them twice.

i really haven't had that much experience with jive. What i have had is that you need to make sure your movements are snappy and precise. the problem with not being able to move your feet fast enough is, that you aren't keeping timing very well, or at least that's how it sounds to me, i may be wrong but it could be a start in the right track. i've never done ballroom dancing but i've come close to it with round dancing so there is probably a lot of difference in it.

Why pick the feet up in jive. I've just been watching the World Amateur Latin Championship from Germany. Karen Hardy giving the commentary said that if the music is fast Flick Jive is better able to handle the timing. Swing Jive which has to have a hip movement has problems