For a beginner, hearing the snip of the blades can seem like the point at which the haircut has actually started. The result can be too much pressure to cut. Your hand will speed up, the comb may slip, and the line will not appear as solid in a few seconds as it was a few seconds before. When starting to practice hair cutting, the scissor movement will not seem to move fast enough, because, although the beginner is cutting hair, they are also using their hand to practice. In addition, the learner is practicing holding their hand steady while keeping the eyes on the guide length.
The mistake of cutting too quickly often occurs before the blades even shut. The hair section may be too large, the comb may be holding the hair at a slightly different angle, or the fingers are not holding the end of the hair in one place. When the student rushes, it is easy to miss those details. It may cause a rough line, an uneven line, or a cut that has to be fixed later in a larger area. Slowing down the scissor movement allows the learner to check if the hair is actually ready to be cut.
One of the best ways to practice is to isolate the movement and not include the haircut. Set up a cutting comb, clips, spray, and the mannequin head. Do dry opening and closing movements. Place the scissors in your hand and open them slowly. It is important to keep the wrist loose while opening them. Try to avoid doing it in two or three movements. The hand will shake and it will look as if they want to cut the section. You want one smooth movement. The thumb of the hand does the moving. It is common for the student to use the whole hand to move the scissors, but this causes shaking of the line and makes it harder to control with the comb.
When you feel comfortable, take a small section of hair from the nape of the neck. Comb the hair down, check your guide length, and pause. This is a big deal because you should never rush to cut after the hair comes off the scalp. Instead, take your time to slowly close your scissors over the section, check the ends, then move to the next section of the haircut. You should practice in the order: comb, check the length, move to your guide, close the blades, check the ends.
Another part of learning to slow down your scissor movement is the size of the hair section. When you are just starting to learn how to hold scissors properly, large sections of hair can make it hard to get the scissors at the right angle and cause you to cut more than you intend to. Large sections are difficult to keep in tension and are hard to see and check. When in doubt, always use smaller sections; you can always cut them out later if they are too short. If the ends appear uneven or rough, do not just keep cutting more. Instead, double-check the section size. The section may be too large, or the motion of closing the scissors may be too quick, and the guide length may be hard to see.
It can be helpful to verbalize the steps to cut a small section of hair, such as: place the hair in the comb, check the guide length, position the fingers, close the blades, check the ends. It is important to be present while the haircut, and to not just focus on one detail, like the scissors. Slowly, over time, the movement will be less about the snip of the blades and more about the action that occurs in a full haircut. At first, the results may be small, such as more consistent even ends for blunt length cuts and less re-cutting to make adjustments in the same place.
At the end of each lesson, look over the whole haircut from several different angles. Look at the side-to-side balance, check the length, look for uneven ends and rough areas. A nice result cannot be created by cutting fast. You have to be slow with every individual action to give enough attention to the next action to be confident in it.