How Did Seventeen Mingyu Train Before Joining Pledis Entertainment?

Whenever I watch Mingyu's old trainee clips I get this silly grin on my face — you can see the hunger and the clumsy charm that’d later become part of his stage persona. From what I’ve pieced together watching interviews, variety bits, and the trainee-era videos, his prep before officially debuting with Pledis was basically one of those full-immersion trainee lives: long days of dance practices, rap drills, and endless choreography repetition. He worked on basic performance foundations — rhythm, timing, center-stage presence — and because he’s naturally tall and photogenic, he also spent time honing his visual performance (modeling posture, camera-facing angles) alongside the usual idol drills.

Beyond dance and visuals, Mingyu seemed to lean hard into rap training and songwriting basics. You often see him scribbling lyrics or practicing flows in backstage clips; he pursued confidence with breath control, cadence, and mic technique rather than just relying on raw voice. Vocals were part of the menu too — not main focus, but enough to blend into group tracks and harmonies. Trainee life for him also included the social grind: unit practices with other trainees, participating in trainee showcases, and learning to adapt to different choreo styles (hip-hop, more contemporary sections, and formations). Those repeated late-night run-throughs with teammates are the kind of thing that turns rough potential into smooth teamwork.

What warms me as a fan is how human it all looks: Mingyu stumbling through a new move, asking more experienced trainees for tips, laughing off a bad run, and then arriving the next day with the same stubborn practice. He also picked up extras — stage etiquette, variety timing, and even basic producing sense — so he could contribute creatively once SEVENTEEN formed. Watching his growth from trainee clips to full-on performances makes me appreciate how much quiet, sweaty work underlies those polished moments, and it makes me root for him even more when he nails a live rap or a tricky formation. If you dig through old trainee footage or 'Seventeen TV' snippets, you can practically see the moments where practice turned into personality, and that’s one of my favorite kinds of transformation to witness.

If you want the short-but-solid vibe: Mingyu trained like a typical committed idol trainee but with some personal flavors that stuck. He spent tons of hours on choreography (repeating counts until they were second nature), sharpened his rap and flow, and did standard vocal warm-ups so he could hold harmonies when needed. A big part of his prep was teamwork — learning to move as a block, lock formations, and sync with other members during unit practices and trainee showcases.

On top of that, he leaned into visual and stage skills: modeling posture, camera-facing, and stage presence drills. From watching pre-debut clips and interviews, it’s clear he also picked up a bit of songwriting and producing mindset so he wouldn’t just perform but could contribute ideas. The whole process was long, sometimes awkward, but steady — equal parts repetition, feedback, and small creative experiments — which is why his stage comfort now feels both polished and naturally confident.