One thing to be aware of when practicing things that are rhythmic is to practice slowly so that the coordination is clean. Sometimes we practice too fast. Just trying to speed up, you may just be practicing tripping over yourself, which isn't terribly useful. Start practicing slowly and then you can slowly speed up.

With vals, that's a little harder because how do you practice falling in slow motion. But try to be aware of the use of the weight to go through, rather than grabbing and holding for control. Control, in vals, doesn't come from a tight holding in the muscles but from a clear idea of what you want to do.