I agree that competitors who may be more "turbo charged" should recognize that others may not be able to anticipate what they are doing. Even if the competitive dancer is able to break and reverse on a dime, the social dancer might not know that and overreact to what will seem to them like an impending collision, causing another one in the process. And competitors should realize that a social dancer might not know how to break and reverse at all! I had a case where a good friend of mine (a pro) waltzed his partner (advanced amateur) up to myself and my partner (both of us much less advanced), knowing exactly what we were and were not capable of, and still got his partner a serious jab in the ribs from the resulting collision.

It is frustrating to be constrained on a social dance floor if you are used to practice in wide open spaces, but we want this to be fun for everyone so there will be more dancers and therefore more places to dance, etc.

Concerning the relationship between leader and follower I totally agree with Karen! Concerning the transition from social to compeditive dancer I would like to supplement a little comment:

An effective training is not possible as long as you cannot just stop and do some exercises on your own in front of a mirror or practice one movement for a few minutes. As long as you are aware that you are "only social dancing" it is not detrimental at all but it is necessary to have a place where you can work things out with a mirror, maybe your own music, a lot of time and people around who know what you are doing.

My experience tells me that practicing compeditive dancing on social dancing events can cause trouble because it contains elements which are easily misunderstood and make others -partners and surrounding couples- feel uncomfortable.

During competitions you try to occupy as much space as you can to make yourself looking big and confident - on social dancing events -where the space on the floor is much more limited- this is a save way to loose other people´s sympathies. Normally compeditive dancers have a much higher speed and power than others tending to surprising movements which can be too fast to be reacted on. This causes emergency breakes and crashes with other couples disturbing the flow. A collision with a really fast spinning person also bears a danger of injuring. (experience) Compeditive dancing is much more extrovert than social dancing. Showing the character of a dance is like acting on stage. When you are still practising it might look quite arrogant (...keeping the nose up...) and affected to people who are not involved. They might take it seriously. When it is well done others especially beginners stop dancing and keep watching loosing their confidence. A success that lasts only for a short time. Social dancing requires adaption and caution to make everybody feel comfortable from compeditive dancers. (Though it sometimes it is great fun to switch on the turbo when there is enough space and somebody to impress...) Good luck!

Olli