Wouldn't it be nice if that was the first thing you heard from your peers when you started at a new job or school or, god forbid, skating rink?
Parents and skaters set the tone at a rink. A rink with unhappy participants is a miserable place. No amount of competence from the staff can overcome it. Parents and skaters have not only a stake in the success of any program, but a huge influence on it without ever having a suggestion even listened to, let alone implemented. Your ideas for improvement may or may not be welcome, it depends on the culture of the rink, but your attitude will define the personality of the place.
So what can you do, as a customer, to help your skating school thrive and improve?
Know the program
Be aware of what is offered, not only at your skater's level, but at all the levels. Newbies, whether tot parents or free style skaters, are going to look to you, their peers, for information. Rink staff is busy and sometimes off putting (depending on the rink). You are the rink's first line, and the information and attitude you project can give your rink a reputation, good or ill. When people ask you for information, don't roll your eyes and complain about the program, direct them to sources, tell them what you've liked about it, encourage them to sign up. If you start right in complaining about it, or if you put them off, they'll draw the correct conclusion that you must be an idiot, because if it's so terrible, how come your kid skates here, and that if this is not a friendly/safe/competent place, why stay.
Participate in the program
Take classes. Please take classes. Did I mention you should take classes? Does your coach really hate the idea of your taking classes with someone else? How about power class, at LEAST take power class. And then, well, do the ice show, or the exhibition, or the rink's ISI or Basic Skills competition (by the way, Basic Skills, you did realize that the abbreviation for that is BS? I hate that I can never abbreviate Basic Skills. Also, well, 'nuff said.) Ahem, where was I.
You cannot complain about the program if you don't participate in it. (Corrolary-- once you stop participating you also have to stop complaining.) There is an on going feeling at my rink that certain coaches only pay attention to their own students in free style class. Fine. Fair complaint. But you can also think about the class as just more practice time, because frankly the class is not much more expensive than practice ice and it's way less crowded. (Plus you can go to the coach before class and ask for specific help "Mary's worried about her xx, could you check it out? This works, trust me. It's embarrassing to have it pointed out that you've neglected a child.)
Participate in the extras
Volunteer. I'm not talking about the club. I'm talking about the rink. Offer to help fill out paperwork, or hand out costumes, or help with the costume sale or other fundraiser. Wrangle children at the ice show. Bring cupcakes and share them with everyone on practice ice. (Ignore the little hippie child who tells you "cupcakes aren't healthy." She doesn't have to eat them.) Ask a coach to show you how to tie skates and help out with tot class. You're just sitting around gossiping anyway-- go do something useful.
I can tell you that the parents who complain about the program without either signing up their kids or helping out as volunteers just get eyerolls from the staff. Why should we even listen to you when you make no attempt to be part of the program?
Make new skaters, and their parents, welcome
Say hello to new mothers. Make sure you don't appear to just be mining them for dirt. Acceptable-- I think you're just in time to sign up for the ice show! Do you know about the discount option! It's great. Not acceptable-- what level is she skating? Really? Who's her coach? Really? Oh, now that she's here she should skate with our coach.)
Know the staff
Again with the complaints. Say hello to the office staff and the other coaches when you walk in. Know their names. That's it. You don't have to volunteer, or offer to help, or send Hanukkah gelt to their grandchildren.
Know the Skating Director
Even if you have a skating director who hides in a cave, they do come out to feed every now and then. Know who this is, introduce yourself. Probably she already knows who you are, but it's nice to get eye contact and a hand shake. Once in a while, tell her something that you really like about the program, or let her know of a specific class coach who's really helped your child.
I won't go into the negatives, because you know them. Refrain from harmful gossip (I won't tell you not to gossip, because I know it's pointless. Just watch out for the really poisonous stuff.) Don't trash individual skaters, parents, or coaches. Don't compare this program to other programs. They aren't the same. Don't ever ever trash the program you're in to someone in another program. It just makes you look like an idiot.
If you do one of these things, you are already in a class by yourself. If you do all of them you're an uber-skating parent and we want to clone you.
What have you done to help your program?
Oct 27, 2010
Oct 24, 2010
Arguing in front of the children
Announcing the Worst Coach Behavior of the Year: two non-involved coaches loudly arguing about a student's ability, during her ISI test and in earshot of the coach who was judging. When they discovered that they both agreed about this student's lack of ability and the judge's incompetence, they moved on to criticizing each others' students and coaching ability.
With any luck, the premature announcement will not be trumped by even worse behavior. Every time I think I've seen it all, someone comes up with a new way to give this sport a bad name.
It is vitally important when working with children, that you keep one phrase in mind, and it's a phrase that comes up in every ethics statement from every coaching organization you could name: ISI, USFS, PSA, Positive Coaching Alliance, you name it:
With any luck, the premature announcement will not be trumped by even worse behavior. Every time I think I've seen it all, someone comes up with a new way to give this sport a bad name.
It is vitally important when working with children, that you keep one phrase in mind, and it's a phrase that comes up in every ethics statement from every coaching organization you could name: ISI, USFS, PSA, Positive Coaching Alliance, you name it:
"The best interest of the child."
Clearly, it was not in the best interest of this child to disrupt her test, nor in the best interest of the other children that these coaches may have to teach in class or a show, should their opinion get back to them or their parents (and trust me, it will). One has to assume that these coaches knew that, so what were they thinking?
Well, they weren't thinking. They were being frail humans and were confronted with a situation that was frustrating to them in terms of this child's test readiness, the wisdom of putting a test on a practice session, and general non-collegiality. But coaches and teachers cannot do that. You cannot give in to human frailty when a child's feelings are involved. Take it to your therapist, or your spouse, or dig a hole in the ground like King Midas' tailor and whisper your frustration into the earth (although that did not turn out so well for him).
Before you shoot your mouth off in front of a child, ask yourself these questions:
Do you have all the information?
Why was a judge passing a child that other competent coaches did not consider ready? There's a big red flag right there; clearly there was something happening here that they did not understand. If you see something suspicious, hold your gob until later, then, assuming that it's any of your damn business, ask someone in a position to know what was going on.
Did the situation warrant any comment at all?
See above, "is it any of your damn business."
Is there a rulebook or ethical violation?
First, this is not the child's fault, and should not be brought up in her or his presence, or in her or his parents' presence. Because you might be wrong. Once you publicly question someone's ethics or competence, it's out there, and will reflect badly on both of you in the end. If you suspect an ethical violation, talk to the person in private, explain your concern and ask for clarification. If it's a rule violation first check the rule and make sure your understanding of it is correct, then take it to the rule breaker and ask for clarification. If it's simply that you don't agree with the rule, tough. Take it through the system and try to get it changed.
Would you tolerate this if it was your own student?
'nuff said.
Would you want someone behaving like this in front of your child?
If the answer is yes, please stop coaching, and for that matter, having children.
Would you behave like this in front of your mother?
Ah, the mother test. No, you would not. Your mother would likely smack you up side the head and send you to bed without supper.
What horrible coach behavior have you observed? I suppose I should start taking nominations for next year! UPDATE: See today's Ice Pact for a post on when it's appropriate to say inappropriate things!
Well, they weren't thinking. They were being frail humans and were confronted with a situation that was frustrating to them in terms of this child's test readiness, the wisdom of putting a test on a practice session, and general non-collegiality. But coaches and teachers cannot do that. You cannot give in to human frailty when a child's feelings are involved. Take it to your therapist, or your spouse, or dig a hole in the ground like King Midas' tailor and whisper your frustration into the earth (although that did not turn out so well for him).
Before you shoot your mouth off in front of a child, ask yourself these questions:
Do you have all the information?
Why was a judge passing a child that other competent coaches did not consider ready? There's a big red flag right there; clearly there was something happening here that they did not understand. If you see something suspicious, hold your gob until later, then, assuming that it's any of your damn business, ask someone in a position to know what was going on.
Did the situation warrant any comment at all?
See above, "is it any of your damn business."
Is there a rulebook or ethical violation?
First, this is not the child's fault, and should not be brought up in her or his presence, or in her or his parents' presence. Because you might be wrong. Once you publicly question someone's ethics or competence, it's out there, and will reflect badly on both of you in the end. If you suspect an ethical violation, talk to the person in private, explain your concern and ask for clarification. If it's a rule violation first check the rule and make sure your understanding of it is correct, then take it to the rule breaker and ask for clarification. If it's simply that you don't agree with the rule, tough. Take it through the system and try to get it changed.
Would you tolerate this if it was your own student?
'nuff said.
Would you want someone behaving like this in front of your child?
If the answer is yes, please stop coaching, and for that matter, having children.
Would you behave like this in front of your mother?
Ah, the mother test. No, you would not. Your mother would likely smack you up side the head and send you to bed without supper.
What horrible coach behavior have you observed? I suppose I should start taking nominations for next year! UPDATE: See today's Ice Pact for a post on when it's appropriate to say inappropriate things!
Oct 21, 2010
Don't think about elephants
Ah, The Dreaded Axel. (cue ominous music).
There seem to be more tricks and angles to teaching axels than anything except the mohawk. Like the mohawk, the complexity of the skill takes it to a new level. Both of these are skills that break with the basics before them; they are watershed skills. But where the mohawk is a basic skill that emulates natural positions, there's nothing terribly natural about axels. You are making your body do something new with this jump.
The biggest impediment to quickly mastering this skill, however, is not its physical aspects. It's the mental aspect. Even really talented skaters can take months to master this skill; some of the best skaters I know took more than a year.
And once you've been working on this jump for one or two...or three...or four...OR MORE SESSIONS AAAARRGGGHHH, it takes on mythic qualities. It consumes the skater and her mother, and they start to assume that everyone is watching, that everyone is talking about how Suzie is NEVER going to get that axel, she might as well switch to ice dance.
Or chess.
Or move to a dessert island in shame.
Truthfully, no one is talking about you, and in fact if you keep your mouth shut, no one has noticed that you've been in Freestyle 5 for 3 sessions. It's important to remember that the axel is not the only thing in skating, and that literally everyone who keeps working on it does in fact eventually land it. This happens on the principal that if someone can do it, it's possible, and if it's possible, you can do it.
It's also vital that the axel not be the goal. You can do plenty in skating without an axel. You can compete "up" in USFS nonqualifying competition-- you won't have that Preliminary test, but you can compete at Prelim without it. ISI now has the Open Freeskate levels and mixed level Artistic events so that you can use your solid Freestyle 5 elements in competition without the axel. And yes, there's ice dance, and synchro, and Moves tests (which you can move through independently of freeskating tests).
Here's what you cannot do: you cannot insist that an entire program or ice show be changed in order to accommodate your skater, who only wants to skate once a week, because she can't get the axel. You can't complain about the "gift" or "pity" passes that other skaters got, when your skater's axel is better than theirs (it's not, trust me). No one's giving anybody pity passes.
You can't switch around from coach to coach looking for the one with the magic wand. Again, trust me, they are all telling your skater the same thing.
And mostly, you cannot invest this jump with all-consuming importance. Believe me, I've been there. It was during the axel-hunt (we're talking 2 1/2 years, from a skater who ended up as a professional show skater) that my daughter banned me from the rink-- wouldn't skate if I was watching. She took ownership, got rid of my noise and anxiety, and finally nailed that jump. Thank god for the wisdom of 10-year-olds.
You will get through this. Your skater will land that axel. Stop worrying about it. I mean that literally.
There seem to be more tricks and angles to teaching axels than anything except the mohawk. Like the mohawk, the complexity of the skill takes it to a new level. Both of these are skills that break with the basics before them; they are watershed skills. But where the mohawk is a basic skill that emulates natural positions, there's nothing terribly natural about axels. You are making your body do something new with this jump.
The biggest impediment to quickly mastering this skill, however, is not its physical aspects. It's the mental aspect. Even really talented skaters can take months to master this skill; some of the best skaters I know took more than a year.
And once you've been working on this jump for one or two...or three...or four...OR MORE SESSIONS AAAARRGGGHHH, it takes on mythic qualities. It consumes the skater and her mother, and they start to assume that everyone is watching, that everyone is talking about how Suzie is NEVER going to get that axel, she might as well switch to ice dance.
Or chess.
Or move to a dessert island in shame.
Truthfully, no one is talking about you, and in fact if you keep your mouth shut, no one has noticed that you've been in Freestyle 5 for 3 sessions. It's important to remember that the axel is not the only thing in skating, and that literally everyone who keeps working on it does in fact eventually land it. This happens on the principal that if someone can do it, it's possible, and if it's possible, you can do it.
It's also vital that the axel not be the goal. You can do plenty in skating without an axel. You can compete "up" in USFS nonqualifying competition-- you won't have that Preliminary test, but you can compete at Prelim without it. ISI now has the Open Freeskate levels and mixed level Artistic events so that you can use your solid Freestyle 5 elements in competition without the axel. And yes, there's ice dance, and synchro, and Moves tests (which you can move through independently of freeskating tests).
Here's what you cannot do: you cannot insist that an entire program or ice show be changed in order to accommodate your skater, who only wants to skate once a week, because she can't get the axel. You can't complain about the "gift" or "pity" passes that other skaters got, when your skater's axel is better than theirs (it's not, trust me). No one's giving anybody pity passes.
You can't switch around from coach to coach looking for the one with the magic wand. Again, trust me, they are all telling your skater the same thing.
And mostly, you cannot invest this jump with all-consuming importance. Believe me, I've been there. It was during the axel-hunt (we're talking 2 1/2 years, from a skater who ended up as a professional show skater) that my daughter banned me from the rink-- wouldn't skate if I was watching. She took ownership, got rid of my noise and anxiety, and finally nailed that jump. Thank god for the wisdom of 10-year-olds.
You will get through this. Your skater will land that axel. Stop worrying about it. I mean that literally.
Oct 18, 2010
Why figure skating needs pushy parents
What, exactly, makes a parent "pushy?" And why do we always use the term as though it's a bad thing? I don't know about you, but I don't know many 11 year olds who will get up at 5 a.m. every day to go freeze and fall on their butts over and over without a little whining. Or who then have the energy to finish their homework before an early bedtime, and then do it all again tomorrow.
You gotta push a little. In fact, you gotta push a lot. You've got to push a 10 year old to have the mindset of a 20-year-old, and a 15 year-old to approach their skating as though they're 25 year-old grad students, with that level of commitment, sacrifice and maturity.
So what's the difference between a pushy parent who's effective, and one who's just pushy?
First, it depends who you're pushing, and how. It's completely appropriate to push your skater to follow through on his or her commitments, to keep both the whining and the bragging within reasonable levels, and focus the skater's eye on the prize. Effective pushing means that everyone understands what the level of commitment is, that the skater practices, if not cheerily, at least effectively and consistently. It means being aware of the coach's plans and making sure the skater does the work, while not neglecting other critical parts of life. It means holding the line on late nights before early morning skating instead of indulging a skater because you also want them to just be ordinary kids.
Ambitious skaters, whether competitive or just pushing through the test structure, aren't ordinary kids.
But a lot of parents think that pushing means pushing the coach, while letting the skater coast, or that public confrontations with the skater, the ice monitor, the coach, or the rink staff are necessary to get them to behave the way you want. They think that pushing is necessarily adversarial, and set themselves up in opposition to everyone on the team, as though no one else is quite as committed as they.
If you push a skater to do something they don't want to do, you'll push them right out of the rink. If you push a coach to do it your way, you'll end up fired (yes, that's what we call it, when we drop a student.) This is why it's important to have regular discussions about goals, both with the skater and with the coach. If your skater is telling you they don't want to compete, but it's your lifelong dream to have them be national champ, you are the one who is going to have to concede. Pushing a kid to do something against their deepest inclination is a recipe for failure.
Of course, we all know the skater who says, at 21, "why didn't you push me, I really wish I'd done X." I've got one of those in my own family, now regretting that she didn't continue to compete in Ice Dance. But you know what? Her life isn't ruined-- she just missed one of many many opportunities she'll have in her life, and she learned a valuable lesson about when to push yourself to do something hard. If we'd pushed her to compete when she wasn't ready, she'd likely have quit skating entirely.
Conversely, if you don't push at all, if you keep making excuses for illnesses, or for vacations, or over cost, or whatever; if you let the child sleep in "just this once" (or twice or a couple of times a week), if you stop pushing, the kid will get the message. You are telling them that the skating is not important, or that their momentary needs and desires are more important than the end game. I think that, in skating, the opposite of pushy is indulgent, and I'll take the pushy parent over the indulgent one any day of the week.
If the goal is multiple Gold tests, or a trip or two to Nationals, the parent needs to push, but with the coach and the skater. You cannot fight the coach over training schedule or regimen, or resist the regimen he or she has set up. You cannot dictate the training schedule; if you were qualified to do that, you'd be the coach. I see this all to often-- a parent thinks "well I know my kid, and this is what's best for her." Maybe. But you don't know figure skating, and frankly, high level figure skating brings out different aspects of your child, ones that you won't see elsewhere. Pushing at the coach to let you be in charge, or pushing the skater to fulfill your own goals is how you end a skating career, not how you manage one.
Imagine a triangle. The coach is at one point, the parent at another, and the skater at the third. They're standing palm-to-palm-to-palm and pushing as hard as they can each against the other. If one of them pushes so hard that the other one gives in, everyone tumbles to the ground. But if everyone pushes equally they'll create a strong and stable relationship around a solid center.
You gotta push a little. In fact, you gotta push a lot. You've got to push a 10 year old to have the mindset of a 20-year-old, and a 15 year-old to approach their skating as though they're 25 year-old grad students, with that level of commitment, sacrifice and maturity.
So what's the difference between a pushy parent who's effective, and one who's just pushy?
First, it depends who you're pushing, and how. It's completely appropriate to push your skater to follow through on his or her commitments, to keep both the whining and the bragging within reasonable levels, and focus the skater's eye on the prize. Effective pushing means that everyone understands what the level of commitment is, that the skater practices, if not cheerily, at least effectively and consistently. It means being aware of the coach's plans and making sure the skater does the work, while not neglecting other critical parts of life. It means holding the line on late nights before early morning skating instead of indulging a skater because you also want them to just be ordinary kids.
Ambitious skaters, whether competitive or just pushing through the test structure, aren't ordinary kids.
But a lot of parents think that pushing means pushing the coach, while letting the skater coast, or that public confrontations with the skater, the ice monitor, the coach, or the rink staff are necessary to get them to behave the way you want. They think that pushing is necessarily adversarial, and set themselves up in opposition to everyone on the team, as though no one else is quite as committed as they.
If you push a skater to do something they don't want to do, you'll push them right out of the rink. If you push a coach to do it your way, you'll end up fired (yes, that's what we call it, when we drop a student.) This is why it's important to have regular discussions about goals, both with the skater and with the coach. If your skater is telling you they don't want to compete, but it's your lifelong dream to have them be national champ, you are the one who is going to have to concede. Pushing a kid to do something against their deepest inclination is a recipe for failure.
Of course, we all know the skater who says, at 21, "why didn't you push me, I really wish I'd done X." I've got one of those in my own family, now regretting that she didn't continue to compete in Ice Dance. But you know what? Her life isn't ruined-- she just missed one of many many opportunities she'll have in her life, and she learned a valuable lesson about when to push yourself to do something hard. If we'd pushed her to compete when she wasn't ready, she'd likely have quit skating entirely.
Conversely, if you don't push at all, if you keep making excuses for illnesses, or for vacations, or over cost, or whatever; if you let the child sleep in "just this once" (or twice or a couple of times a week), if you stop pushing, the kid will get the message. You are telling them that the skating is not important, or that their momentary needs and desires are more important than the end game. I think that, in skating, the opposite of pushy is indulgent, and I'll take the pushy parent over the indulgent one any day of the week.
If the goal is multiple Gold tests, or a trip or two to Nationals, the parent needs to push, but with the coach and the skater. You cannot fight the coach over training schedule or regimen, or resist the regimen he or she has set up. You cannot dictate the training schedule; if you were qualified to do that, you'd be the coach. I see this all to often-- a parent thinks "well I know my kid, and this is what's best for her." Maybe. But you don't know figure skating, and frankly, high level figure skating brings out different aspects of your child, ones that you won't see elsewhere. Pushing at the coach to let you be in charge, or pushing the skater to fulfill your own goals is how you end a skating career, not how you manage one.
Imagine a triangle. The coach is at one point, the parent at another, and the skater at the third. They're standing palm-to-palm-to-palm and pushing as hard as they can each against the other. If one of them pushes so hard that the other one gives in, everyone tumbles to the ground. But if everyone pushes equally they'll create a strong and stable relationship around a solid center.
Oct 13, 2010
How good is perfect?
One of the most common whines I hear from students (and parents, truth be told) is "but I already know how to do that, can't we learn something new?" And the answer is, yes, you can learn to do this skill at a higher level, with fewer errors and more art. Because to learn any skill, whatever the art or discipline, you have to go through stages.
Stage one: Introduction
Every level, from a tot learning how to fall and get up, to a National champion learning a quad, starts with the introduction of the skill, and every skill, no matter how basic, has a level before it; something you already know how to do. Even that tot; the pre-skating skill that they already have is walking. Which is what I tell them-- you already know how to walk! Let's walk on the ice!
Introducing skills involves a lot of review, and a lot of explanation. You have to find creative ways to make it interesting; recreational skaters especially don't want to take the time to go from A to B to C. They want to jump from A to N and skip all that boring stuff in between. You introduce tots to the ice by playing games and using toys; you introduce adults to speed by tricking them into skating without stopping (see the 30-minute warm up). You introduce freestyle skaters to an axel by breaking it down and having them do each skill in sequence.
Stage two: Acquisition,
Acquisition means making the skill your own, i.e. "acquire" it. This is as simple as mileage (just doing it over and over) and is the hardest part of the process, because you can't really avoid the drudgery of it. Further, a lot of skaters acquire skills poorly or even wrong. Once you've learned something wrong, and really gotten it into the muscle memory, fixing it is agonizing. I've got a student right now who has figured out an easier way to do a flip. Unfortunately, it's also entirely wrong (i.e., not a flip) but getting her to unlearn it is proving extremely challenging.
In a complex activity like skating, every step must be drilled. Failure hurts, literally. Again, you resort to games, challenges, threats (I suppose I can't threaten bodily harm, but you'd be amazed how effective it is to threaten a kid with devoting an entire lesson to some hated drill.)
Stage three: Mastery
You master a skill when you do it over and over. Mastery means not only perfecting the skill, but also refining it. You'll often hear people refer to a skater who "makes it look easy." This is a skill that is mastered. The skater doesn't have to think about it; her body knows what to do. It's why you get that look of surprise when a skill falls apart--that skater has reached a level of mastery where they simply expect it to be there for them. The true masters can salvage that moment and still pull off the skill.
If you only skate a couple of hours a week, you won't reach mastery. Period. You'll have a high level of acquisition on a skill, but mastery takes hard work and time. It means doing the boring edge and turn drills as well as the fun jumps and spins, and always trying to skate "up" and not just doing the same things you already know over and over.
The biggest mistake I see skaters make is thinking that learning stops with mastery, or worse, at acquisition, or worse yet, that acquisition means mastery. That's where you get the whine "I already know that." One of the most frustrating skaters to coach is the one who makes the same mistake repeatedly, even after having the mistake pointed out to them and corrected. The skater relies on his or her own false sense of mastery-- which is really just their muscle memory and comfort level-- to resist reaching true mastery of the skill.
Learning never stops. Even once you've mastered the skill, you can take it to another level.
Stage four: Enhancement
Two-time Junior World Men's champion Adam Rippon does quads, and all the triples; where do you go from there? Well, you enhance the triple lutz by jumping it with both arms over your head, probably the most difficult jump anyone in the world does right now. You don't get much better than Adam, and there he is enhancing the best skating in the world.
Everyone from beginners to world champs has skills that they can enhance, and you can use this all along the way from introduction to mastery, to lighten the burden of acquiring or mastering a skill. For PreAlpha students I do "silly" glides-- one foot glides in goofy positions. They're thinking enhancement while I'm getting them mileage. Freestyle students can start learning jump combos and sequences, spin features, and choreographic spirals, which also serves to introduce them to choreography skills and IJS terminology.
So, back to the original question: How good is perfect? It's as good as a little better than the best you can do today. Keep working at it!
Stage one: Introduction
Every level, from a tot learning how to fall and get up, to a National champion learning a quad, starts with the introduction of the skill, and every skill, no matter how basic, has a level before it; something you already know how to do. Even that tot; the pre-skating skill that they already have is walking. Which is what I tell them-- you already know how to walk! Let's walk on the ice!
Introducing skills involves a lot of review, and a lot of explanation. You have to find creative ways to make it interesting; recreational skaters especially don't want to take the time to go from A to B to C. They want to jump from A to N and skip all that boring stuff in between. You introduce tots to the ice by playing games and using toys; you introduce adults to speed by tricking them into skating without stopping (see the 30-minute warm up). You introduce freestyle skaters to an axel by breaking it down and having them do each skill in sequence.
Stage two: Acquisition,
Acquisition means making the skill your own, i.e. "acquire" it. This is as simple as mileage (just doing it over and over) and is the hardest part of the process, because you can't really avoid the drudgery of it. Further, a lot of skaters acquire skills poorly or even wrong. Once you've learned something wrong, and really gotten it into the muscle memory, fixing it is agonizing. I've got a student right now who has figured out an easier way to do a flip. Unfortunately, it's also entirely wrong (i.e., not a flip) but getting her to unlearn it is proving extremely challenging.
In a complex activity like skating, every step must be drilled. Failure hurts, literally. Again, you resort to games, challenges, threats (I suppose I can't threaten bodily harm, but you'd be amazed how effective it is to threaten a kid with devoting an entire lesson to some hated drill.)
Stage three: Mastery
You master a skill when you do it over and over. Mastery means not only perfecting the skill, but also refining it. You'll often hear people refer to a skater who "makes it look easy." This is a skill that is mastered. The skater doesn't have to think about it; her body knows what to do. It's why you get that look of surprise when a skill falls apart--that skater has reached a level of mastery where they simply expect it to be there for them. The true masters can salvage that moment and still pull off the skill.
If you only skate a couple of hours a week, you won't reach mastery. Period. You'll have a high level of acquisition on a skill, but mastery takes hard work and time. It means doing the boring edge and turn drills as well as the fun jumps and spins, and always trying to skate "up" and not just doing the same things you already know over and over.
The biggest mistake I see skaters make is thinking that learning stops with mastery, or worse, at acquisition, or worse yet, that acquisition means mastery. That's where you get the whine "I already know that." One of the most frustrating skaters to coach is the one who makes the same mistake repeatedly, even after having the mistake pointed out to them and corrected. The skater relies on his or her own false sense of mastery-- which is really just their muscle memory and comfort level-- to resist reaching true mastery of the skill.
Learning never stops. Even once you've mastered the skill, you can take it to another level.
Stage four: Enhancement
Two-time Junior World Men's champion Adam Rippon does quads, and all the triples; where do you go from there? Well, you enhance the triple lutz by jumping it with both arms over your head, probably the most difficult jump anyone in the world does right now. You don't get much better than Adam, and there he is enhancing the best skating in the world.
Everyone from beginners to world champs has skills that they can enhance, and you can use this all along the way from introduction to mastery, to lighten the burden of acquiring or mastering a skill. For PreAlpha students I do "silly" glides-- one foot glides in goofy positions. They're thinking enhancement while I'm getting them mileage. Freestyle students can start learning jump combos and sequences, spin features, and choreographic spirals, which also serves to introduce them to choreography skills and IJS terminology.
So, back to the original question: How good is perfect? It's as good as a little better than the best you can do today. Keep working at it!
Oct 11, 2010
Test readiness
Tales from the front:
It is the coach's reputation on the line when they bring kids to test who aren't ready. USFS states in its coaching guidelines very strongly that you do not test someone who is not ready to pass. In the case of that first coach, my guess would be that if a lot of her students didn't pass, the judges probably took her aside and asked her about it. This does happen and it's extremely embarrassing. The judges are volunteers. Don't waste their time.
A coach who bows to parental pressure is risking their reputation with the judges, and is also risking loss of the student. Because you can bet the parents are going to forget that they pressured the coach into testing and simply rewrite history in the direction of "incompetent coach." And they'll find a different coach. Judges have been known to speak to parents about coaches who do this all the time, suggesting in various roundabout ways that a different coach might be in order. An unethical coach at a test session might engage in a little "tampering" with remarks like "why did her coach let her test? She looks like she's not quite ready."
In a way, it doesn't matter why the coach is putting out unready tests, whether because he or she doesn't know what test-ready looks like, or doesn't override parents against her better judgment. And as far as I'm concerned a coach that puts her reputation and her income at risk in this way deserves everything she gets.
This past August a lot of tests were being put out not quite ready because everyone was scrambling to pass their Moves under the old guidelines before the change on September 1. In this case I think judges forgave the coaches for putting out iffy tests; I am as sure as I can be that no one got a pity pass because of it however.
So how does a parent know when the skater is ready to test?
You don't need to know. Your coach will tell you. You should have a general idea of how quickly a skater can move through the levels. For Moves, a skater who works on Moves every day can probably do 3 levels in a year. The less you work the slower you'll go, but it's not a race. You don't get extra points for getting through the levels faster. Go at your own pace. For Freestyle tests, be guided by your competition needs. You can pass a level before you're ready to compete at it; once you pass it you can only skate at that level (qualifying competitions) or higher (at some non-qualifying competitions), never down. Which brings us to...
Trust your coach. If your coach says don't test, for goodness sake don't test. You pay us to know this stuff. And a coaching relationship without that really minimal level of trust is doomed to failure anyway.
See if the coach will arrange a trial test. At the higher levels (Novice and up) the coach can arrange a USFS judge to observe a trial test. At the lower levels, this can be done with the coach's entire roster of students, with perhaps a fellow coach as the judge. It could be extremely instructive to give the parents testing sheets as well, so they know how it works, and how difficult it is. This can be done on any regular ice, or find ice that's typically empty (our rink has ice all morning and at 3 p.m. everyday), and arrange to have the kids get out of school early, or arrive late for this special instance. If you do this, pay the coach their regular hourly rate, and buy a nice thank you gift for the person acting as judge. (Never pay a judge.)
Observe test sessions USFS test sessions are generally run by the clubs, are free, and are posted on line well in advance. You can download the schedule so you know what levels you're observing. It can be hard to find out who has passed (they generally don't post that) but even watching a session is instructive. Some rinks will post schedules for tests that their skaters are involved in. (Your skater does not need to know you're doing this.)
Observe other skaters. How does your skater look compared to a: skaters taking the same test; b: skaters taking a lower test; c: skaters taking the next level up. Your skater should look more like the skater above than like the skaters at or below his or her level. This is one of the places where chatter in the stands is good-- know the levels of your skater's peers, which you find out from the moms, who are more than ready to brag. They don't have to know your ulterior motive.
It's a little more complicated for skaters testing ISI Freestyle because every program has a slightly different system through FS6 (starting at FS7, ISI requires a special test at a District test session). At the three rinks where I teach the systems are:
Rink one: Class instructor can test you up to the next level for classes only, based on in-class skills test only (no program test required). For competition, Gold tested on-staff judge (one of several coaches) must do both the skills and the program test, generally on a Practice Ice session. For ice show free style groups and solos, skaters must pass skills and program test in a special test session arranged by the rink.
Rink two: Class instructor gives both the skills and program test in class, which can be registered with ISI.
Rink three: Testing is by recommendation only. Class instructor and private instructor must agree that student is ready to test. Either can veto the test. Testing is done the first day of classes by a disinterested panel (i.e. coaches who do not teach this student).
(I'd love to hear other testing systems for ISI; please share!)
If your skater keeps failing tests, you probably need a different coach because either that coach doesn't know what they're doing, or you're overriding them and making them put out unready tests (and they're letting you).
Bottom line? Your coach decides when you test, not the skater, not the parent, even if they think the coach is wrong.
A friend recently overhead a coach at a USFS test session saying, "I don't expect most of my kids to pass, but they're graduating, so maybe the judges will take that into consideration."In both of these cases the coach was at fault. The first one because she did not honor established USFS testing and PSA ethical guidelines, and the second because she didn't stand up to parental pressure even though she knew the parent was wrong.
Last week I did an ISI test for a girl who had been advised by her coach that she wasn't ready to test, but the girl and her mother insisted. When in fact she did not pass (and in fact did not pass rather miserably) I read her the riot act about wasting everyone's time. After I left, this girl turned to her coach and announced that she thought she had worked really hard, and that therefore she should get to move to the next level anyway.
It is the coach's reputation on the line when they bring kids to test who aren't ready. USFS states in its coaching guidelines very strongly that you do not test someone who is not ready to pass. In the case of that first coach, my guess would be that if a lot of her students didn't pass, the judges probably took her aside and asked her about it. This does happen and it's extremely embarrassing. The judges are volunteers. Don't waste their time.
A coach who bows to parental pressure is risking their reputation with the judges, and is also risking loss of the student. Because you can bet the parents are going to forget that they pressured the coach into testing and simply rewrite history in the direction of "incompetent coach." And they'll find a different coach. Judges have been known to speak to parents about coaches who do this all the time, suggesting in various roundabout ways that a different coach might be in order. An unethical coach at a test session might engage in a little "tampering" with remarks like "why did her coach let her test? She looks like she's not quite ready."
In a way, it doesn't matter why the coach is putting out unready tests, whether because he or she doesn't know what test-ready looks like, or doesn't override parents against her better judgment. And as far as I'm concerned a coach that puts her reputation and her income at risk in this way deserves everything she gets.
This past August a lot of tests were being put out not quite ready because everyone was scrambling to pass their Moves under the old guidelines before the change on September 1. In this case I think judges forgave the coaches for putting out iffy tests; I am as sure as I can be that no one got a pity pass because of it however.
So how does a parent know when the skater is ready to test?
You don't need to know. Your coach will tell you. You should have a general idea of how quickly a skater can move through the levels. For Moves, a skater who works on Moves every day can probably do 3 levels in a year. The less you work the slower you'll go, but it's not a race. You don't get extra points for getting through the levels faster. Go at your own pace. For Freestyle tests, be guided by your competition needs. You can pass a level before you're ready to compete at it; once you pass it you can only skate at that level (qualifying competitions) or higher (at some non-qualifying competitions), never down. Which brings us to...
Trust your coach. If your coach says don't test, for goodness sake don't test. You pay us to know this stuff. And a coaching relationship without that really minimal level of trust is doomed to failure anyway.
See if the coach will arrange a trial test. At the higher levels (Novice and up) the coach can arrange a USFS judge to observe a trial test. At the lower levels, this can be done with the coach's entire roster of students, with perhaps a fellow coach as the judge. It could be extremely instructive to give the parents testing sheets as well, so they know how it works, and how difficult it is. This can be done on any regular ice, or find ice that's typically empty (our rink has ice all morning and at 3 p.m. everyday), and arrange to have the kids get out of school early, or arrive late for this special instance. If you do this, pay the coach their regular hourly rate, and buy a nice thank you gift for the person acting as judge. (Never pay a judge.)
Observe test sessions USFS test sessions are generally run by the clubs, are free, and are posted on line well in advance. You can download the schedule so you know what levels you're observing. It can be hard to find out who has passed (they generally don't post that) but even watching a session is instructive. Some rinks will post schedules for tests that their skaters are involved in. (Your skater does not need to know you're doing this.)
Observe other skaters. How does your skater look compared to a: skaters taking the same test; b: skaters taking a lower test; c: skaters taking the next level up. Your skater should look more like the skater above than like the skaters at or below his or her level. This is one of the places where chatter in the stands is good-- know the levels of your skater's peers, which you find out from the moms, who are more than ready to brag. They don't have to know your ulterior motive.
It's a little more complicated for skaters testing ISI Freestyle because every program has a slightly different system through FS6 (starting at FS7, ISI requires a special test at a District test session). At the three rinks where I teach the systems are:
Rink one: Class instructor can test you up to the next level for classes only, based on in-class skills test only (no program test required). For competition, Gold tested on-staff judge (one of several coaches) must do both the skills and the program test, generally on a Practice Ice session. For ice show free style groups and solos, skaters must pass skills and program test in a special test session arranged by the rink.
Rink two: Class instructor gives both the skills and program test in class, which can be registered with ISI.
Rink three: Testing is by recommendation only. Class instructor and private instructor must agree that student is ready to test. Either can veto the test. Testing is done the first day of classes by a disinterested panel (i.e. coaches who do not teach this student).
(I'd love to hear other testing systems for ISI; please share!)
If your skater keeps failing tests, you probably need a different coach because either that coach doesn't know what they're doing, or you're overriding them and making them put out unready tests (and they're letting you).
Bottom line? Your coach decides when you test, not the skater, not the parent, even if they think the coach is wrong.
Oct 8, 2010
Why figure skating needs pushy parents
What, exactly, makes a parent "pushy?" And why do we always use the term as though it's a bad thing? I don't know about you, but I don't know many 11 year olds who will get up at 5 a.m. every day to go freeze and fall on their butts over and over without a little whining. Or who then have the energy to finish their homework before an early bedtime, and then do it all again tomorrow.
You gotta push a little. In fact, you gotta push a lot. You've got to push a 10 year old to have the mindset of a 20-year-old, and a 15 year-old to approach their skating as though they're 25 year-old grad students, with that level of commitment, sacrifice and maturity.
So what's the difference between a pushy parent who's effective, and one who's just pushy?
First, it depends who you're pushing, and how. It's completely appropriate to push your skater to follow through on his or her commitments, to keep both the whining and the bragging within reasonable levels, and focus the skater's eye on the prize. Effective pushing means that everyone understands what the level of commitment is, that the skater practices, if not cheerily, at least effectively and consistently. It means being aware of the coach's plans and making sure the skater does the work, while not neglecting other critical parts of life. It means holding the line on late nights before early morning skating instead of indulging a skater because you also want them to just be ordinary kids.
Ambitious skaters, whether competitive or just pushing through the test structure, aren't ordinary kids.
But a lot of parents think that pushing means pushing the coach, while letting the skater coast, or that public confrontations with the skater, the ice monitor, the coach, or the rink staff are necessary to get them to behave the way you want. They think that pushing is necessarily adversarial, and set themselves up in opposition to everyone on the team, as though no one else is quite as committed as they.
If you push a skater to do something they don't want to do, you'll push them right out of the rink. If you push a coach to do it your way, you'll end up fired (yes, that's what we call it, when we drop a student.) This is why it's important to have regular discussions about goals, both with the skater and with the coach. If your skater is telling you they don't want to compete, but it's your lifelong dream to have them be national champ, you are the one who is going to have to concede. Pushing a kid to do something against their deepest inclination is a recipe for failure.
Of course, we all know the skater who says, at 21, "why didn't you push me, I really wish I'd done X." I've got one of those in my own family, now regretting that she didn't continue to compete in Ice Dance. But you know what? Her life isn't ruined-- she just missed one of many many opportunities she'll have in her life, and she learned a valuable lesson about when to push yourself to do something hard. If we'd pushed her to compete when she wasn't ready, she'd likely have quit skating entirely.
Conversely, if you don't push at all, if you keep making excuses for illnesses, or for vacations, or over cost, or whatever; if you let the child sleep in "just this once" (or twice or a couple of times a week), if you stop pushing, the kid will get the message. You are telling them that the skating is not important, or that their momentary needs and desires are more important than the end game. I think that, in skating, the opposite of pushy is indulgent, and I'll take the pushy parent over the indulgent one any day of the week.
If the goal is multiple Gold tests, or a trip or two to Nationals, the parent needs to push, but with the coach and the skater. You cannot fight the coach over training schedule or regimen, or resist the regimen he or she has set up. You cannot dictate the training schedule; if you were qualified to do that, you'd be the coach. I see this all to often-- a parent thinks "well I know my kid, and this is what's best for her." Maybe. But you don't know figure skating, and frankly, high level figure skating brings out different aspects of your child, ones that you won't see elsewhere. Pushing at the coach to let you be in charge, or pushing the skater to fulfill your own goals is how you end a skating career, not how you manage one.
Imagine a triangle. The coach is at one point, the parent at another, and the skater at the third. They're standing palm-to-palm-to-palm and pushing as hard as they can each against the other. If one of them pushes so hard that the other one gives in, everyone tumbles to the ground. But if everyone pushes equally they'll create a strong and stable relationship around a solid center.
You gotta push a little. In fact, you gotta push a lot. You've got to push a 10 year old to have the mindset of a 20-year-old, and a 15 year-old to approach their skating as though they're 25 year-old grad students, with that level of commitment, sacrifice and maturity.
So what's the difference between a pushy parent who's effective, and one who's just pushy?
First, it depends who you're pushing, and how. It's completely appropriate to push your skater to follow through on his or her commitments, to keep both the whining and the bragging within reasonable levels, and focus the skater's eye on the prize. Effective pushing means that everyone understands what the level of commitment is, that the skater practices, if not cheerily, at least effectively and consistently. It means being aware of the coach's plans and making sure the skater does the work, while not neglecting other critical parts of life. It means holding the line on late nights before early morning skating instead of indulging a skater because you also want them to just be ordinary kids.
Ambitious skaters, whether competitive or just pushing through the test structure, aren't ordinary kids.
But a lot of parents think that pushing means pushing the coach, while letting the skater coast, or that public confrontations with the skater, the ice monitor, the coach, or the rink staff are necessary to get them to behave the way you want. They think that pushing is necessarily adversarial, and set themselves up in opposition to everyone on the team, as though no one else is quite as committed as they.
If you push a skater to do something they don't want to do, you'll push them right out of the rink. If you push a coach to do it your way, you'll end up fired (yes, that's what we call it, when we drop a student.) This is why it's important to have regular discussions about goals, both with the skater and with the coach. If your skater is telling you they don't want to compete, but it's your lifelong dream to have them be national champ, you are the one who is going to have to concede. Pushing a kid to do something against their deepest inclination is a recipe for failure.
Of course, we all know the skater who says, at 21, "why didn't you push me, I really wish I'd done X." I've got one of those in my own family, now regretting that she didn't continue to compete in Ice Dance. But you know what? Her life isn't ruined-- she just missed one of many many opportunities she'll have in her life, and she learned a valuable lesson about when to push yourself to do something hard. If we'd pushed her to compete when she wasn't ready, she'd likely have quit skating entirely.
Conversely, if you don't push at all, if you keep making excuses for illnesses, or for vacations, or over cost, or whatever; if you let the child sleep in "just this once" (or twice or a couple of times a week), if you stop pushing, the kid will get the message. You are telling them that the skating is not important, or that their momentary needs and desires are more important than the end game. I think that, in skating, the opposite of pushy is indulgent, and I'll take the pushy parent over the indulgent one any day of the week.
If the goal is multiple Gold tests, or a trip or two to Nationals, the parent needs to push, but with the coach and the skater. You cannot fight the coach over training schedule or regimen, or resist the regimen he or she has set up. You cannot dictate the training schedule; if you were qualified to do that, you'd be the coach. I see this all to often-- a parent thinks "well I know my kid, and this is what's best for her." Maybe. But you don't know figure skating, and frankly, high level figure skating brings out different aspects of your child, ones that you won't see elsewhere. Pushing at the coach to let you be in charge, or pushing the skater to fulfill your own goals is how you end a skating career, not how you manage one.
Imagine a triangle. The coach is at one point, the parent at another, and the skater at the third. They're standing palm-to-palm-to-palm and pushing as hard as they can each against the other. If one of them pushes so hard that the other one gives in, everyone tumbles to the ground. But if everyone pushes equally they'll create a strong and stable relationship around a solid center.
Power Class
At the ISI District 8 seminar two weeks ago students and coaches from Northbrook Ice Arena demonstrated moves from the High Power Class that they developed over the summer.
The great thing about these moves is that you can actually do them at any level from Beta on up. I just tried them out this morning with the NoisyBoys, and if they can handle and enjoy them, it's a winner.
The coach's object was to make a power class that teaches skaters power and acceleration, keeps moving, is fun, and obviates the coach's need for detailed explanations and demonstrations and allows the kids to talk and interact, so you're not constantly yelling at them to stop talking. Most of the moves can be done by any skaters with solid backward skating (so Beta-Gamma/BS5-6 on up). The only moves that I wouldn't do with Basic Skills skaters are the Lunges and the Butterfly Waltz Jumps; other than that enhancement comes with increasing power rather than increasing difficulty.
This is such a great set of moves, they really need to name and copyright it. In the meantime, stealing it for y'all.
Northbrook's Partner Power Class
All moves are done in teams of two skaters of equal ability, either facing or side-by-side. Use a wrapped hand hold rather than interlocking fingers, for quick disentanglement in case of a fall. Start the class with the safety lecture (equal ability NOT the same as "skate with my best friend", let go in case of fall, get up quickly).
Partner swizzles: one skater swizzles forward, the facing one backwards. Advanced skaters switch places while in motion. Lower-level skaters stop and reverse (so that each person has the opportunity to go both forwards and backwards). Variations: both swizzle at the same time, skaters alternate swizzle-glide (one pushes out while other is pulling in); do as 60-second drill; add hop; alternating pumps instead of swizzles
Partner alternating lunges (advanced skaters only): stroke to alternating lunges. Variations: both lunge at same time; one up, one down; add turn in lunge position. Variation for lower level skaters: forward-backward swizzle and dip
Butterfly waltz jumps, left and right (i.e. clockwise and counterclockwise) on a serpentine pattern. (Freestyle 1 and up)
Power Pushes or Train Tracks: Skaters face each other. Forward skater pushes, backward skater digs toe picks into the ice and tries to keep the forward skater from making forward progress. This will dig parallel gouges into the ice (hence my nomenclature of "train tracks") and is hilariously fun.
Partner side to side hops: Beginning skaters simply jump from foot to foot; advanced skaters hop to inside edges or inside chasses. Variations: skaters can jump to same foot or opposite foot.
Push glide: Both skaters face forward, skater in front just stands in two-foot glide, back skater holds and pushes front skater some designated distance (blue line to blue line, or end zone to blue line for instance) building as much speed as she/he can; at the designated spot she gives a hard shove. Gliding skater just rides the push as far as she can. Object is to build enough speed to make it all the way back to the starting point. Variations: one foot glide, switch to spiral position after final push, pushed skater facing backwards.
Push-pull acceleration: skaters start at a standstill and attempt to build speed pushing and pulling arms only
Partner slaloms: this one's hard to describe. Skaters do slalom with feet pointing always same direction, so that they snake past each other with each push.
All these excercises can also be done in Kilian, Waltz, and Fox Trot holds.
The great thing about these moves is that you can actually do them at any level from Beta on up. I just tried them out this morning with the NoisyBoys, and if they can handle and enjoy them, it's a winner.
The coach's object was to make a power class that teaches skaters power and acceleration, keeps moving, is fun, and obviates the coach's need for detailed explanations and demonstrations and allows the kids to talk and interact, so you're not constantly yelling at them to stop talking. Most of the moves can be done by any skaters with solid backward skating (so Beta-Gamma/BS5-6 on up). The only moves that I wouldn't do with Basic Skills skaters are the Lunges and the Butterfly Waltz Jumps; other than that enhancement comes with increasing power rather than increasing difficulty.
This is such a great set of moves, they really need to name and copyright it. In the meantime, stealing it for y'all.
Northbrook's Partner Power Class
All moves are done in teams of two skaters of equal ability, either facing or side-by-side. Use a wrapped hand hold rather than interlocking fingers, for quick disentanglement in case of a fall. Start the class with the safety lecture (equal ability NOT the same as "skate with my best friend", let go in case of fall, get up quickly).
Partner swizzles: one skater swizzles forward, the facing one backwards. Advanced skaters switch places while in motion. Lower-level skaters stop and reverse (so that each person has the opportunity to go both forwards and backwards). Variations: both swizzle at the same time, skaters alternate swizzle-glide (one pushes out while other is pulling in); do as 60-second drill; add hop; alternating pumps instead of swizzles
Partner alternating lunges (advanced skaters only): stroke to alternating lunges. Variations: both lunge at same time; one up, one down; add turn in lunge position. Variation for lower level skaters: forward-backward swizzle and dip
Butterfly waltz jumps, left and right (i.e. clockwise and counterclockwise) on a serpentine pattern. (Freestyle 1 and up)
Power Pushes or Train Tracks: Skaters face each other. Forward skater pushes, backward skater digs toe picks into the ice and tries to keep the forward skater from making forward progress. This will dig parallel gouges into the ice (hence my nomenclature of "train tracks") and is hilariously fun.
Partner side to side hops: Beginning skaters simply jump from foot to foot; advanced skaters hop to inside edges or inside chasses. Variations: skaters can jump to same foot or opposite foot.
Push glide: Both skaters face forward, skater in front just stands in two-foot glide, back skater holds and pushes front skater some designated distance (blue line to blue line, or end zone to blue line for instance) building as much speed as she/he can; at the designated spot she gives a hard shove. Gliding skater just rides the push as far as she can. Object is to build enough speed to make it all the way back to the starting point. Variations: one foot glide, switch to spiral position after final push, pushed skater facing backwards.
Push-pull acceleration: skaters start at a standstill and attempt to build speed pushing and pulling arms only
Partner slaloms: this one's hard to describe. Skaters do slalom with feet pointing always same direction, so that they snake past each other with each push.
All these excercises can also be done in Kilian, Waltz, and Fox Trot holds.
Oct 6, 2010
Doing the Time Warp
Whenever the topic of the ice show theme comes up, I always wish I worked somewhere that we could actually do my number one choice: Rocky Horror Picture Show. You have to agree, this would be a fantastic ice show; watch it sometime; it is an ice show, they just forgot the skates. Of course, you probably couldn't bring the kiddies, but why Johnny Weir hasn't bought the rights is completely beyond me.
My daughter always wanted the High Freestyle number in the spring ice show to be Doing the Time Warp from Rocky Horror; it's a great ice show number, and I still have it in the back of my mind for a theater-on-ice program. I thought of it because I was watching her on the ice with her dance training partner a couple of days ago and had one of those parental flashes of a little 5 year old girl watching, eyes like saucers, while the big girls skated, with me right there with her wondering how your child got to be that girl.
Well, that child is that girl, and now I watch 21st century 5 year olds (yes, that was in the last century) watching her with serious hero worship in their little faces. I'm not embarrassed to say that I got all choked up. I'm so proud of her, and so glad that we took this frozen journey together, because I think it has made us both better, more interesting people than we might have been otherwise. For me especially, doing something so completely off the wall as becoming a skating coach in my 40s gave me courage and confidence, and the blessed ability to pass on my enthusiasm to others.
And it being sort of a time warp day, it's the one year anniversary of Xanboni. Last year on October 6th, I wrote "I hope that parents, kids, skaters and other coaches can find something to help them". I think that goal has been fulfilled, and I want to extend it and hope that I can keep coming up with fresh topics about coaching, parenting athletes, and the joys of skating.
I've got some new goals for the coming year. I'm working on moving Xanboni to its own domain, Xanboni.com, with a fresh look and my own actual logo. To start the process, you can now send me questions or topic ideas to coachxan@xanboni.com. I'm also planning to start Camp Xanboni, a summer program for beginner skaters; watch for more information on that in the coming months. My graphic designer (an old friend) is on me about a Cafe Press store for Xanboni imprinted products. I'm hard at work on my Master Coach rating; I'll be finishing up an apprenticeship with Master Free Skate coach Nick Belovol, I'm getting students ready for Moves tests (my first Moves students ever) and I'll be doing one or two more apprenticeships before the ratings exam next fall.
In my spare time, I hope to take the Master Gardener course with the University of Illinois extension.
Whew!
Thank you so much to all my readers, and especially IceMom, Mr. Brown Thumb, Deb Chitwood, Allison Scott, Aaron Harris, IcePact, and my dear friend coach Christopher Hyland, who have been such an inspiration, resource and support.
My daughter always wanted the High Freestyle number in the spring ice show to be Doing the Time Warp from Rocky Horror; it's a great ice show number, and I still have it in the back of my mind for a theater-on-ice program. I thought of it because I was watching her on the ice with her dance training partner a couple of days ago and had one of those parental flashes of a little 5 year old girl watching, eyes like saucers, while the big girls skated, with me right there with her wondering how your child got to be that girl.
Well, that child is that girl, and now I watch 21st century 5 year olds (yes, that was in the last century) watching her with serious hero worship in their little faces. I'm not embarrassed to say that I got all choked up. I'm so proud of her, and so glad that we took this frozen journey together, because I think it has made us both better, more interesting people than we might have been otherwise. For me especially, doing something so completely off the wall as becoming a skating coach in my 40s gave me courage and confidence, and the blessed ability to pass on my enthusiasm to others.
And it being sort of a time warp day, it's the one year anniversary of Xanboni. Last year on October 6th, I wrote "I hope that parents, kids, skaters and other coaches can find something to help them". I think that goal has been fulfilled, and I want to extend it and hope that I can keep coming up with fresh topics about coaching, parenting athletes, and the joys of skating.
I've got some new goals for the coming year. I'm working on moving Xanboni to its own domain, Xanboni.com, with a fresh look and my own actual logo. To start the process, you can now send me questions or topic ideas to coachxan@xanboni.com. I'm also planning to start Camp Xanboni, a summer program for beginner skaters; watch for more information on that in the coming months. My graphic designer (an old friend) is on me about a Cafe Press store for Xanboni imprinted products. I'm hard at work on my Master Coach rating; I'll be finishing up an apprenticeship with Master Free Skate coach Nick Belovol, I'm getting students ready for Moves tests (my first Moves students ever) and I'll be doing one or two more apprenticeships before the ratings exam next fall.
In my spare time, I hope to take the Master Gardener course with the University of Illinois extension.
Whew!
Thank you so much to all my readers, and especially IceMom, Mr. Brown Thumb, Deb Chitwood, Allison Scott, Aaron Harris, IcePact, and my dear friend coach Christopher Hyland, who have been such an inspiration, resource and support.
Oct 3, 2010
Who do you ask?
Life on the Edge has a great post today about how a figure skating blog turns you into the go-to guy for all sorts of questions (in fact, watch for my new email account, coming up in a few days). She poses the question-- where are our resources for these questions? Why are so many people turning to strangers on line, when there are clubs, rink management, PSA, USFS and ISI.
Over the last several weeks I've attended a major PSA event, a PSA seminar and an ISI seminar. At all, the event leaders urged the attending coaches to get involved, to bring them problems and ideas, and to use these resources to help us.
And all of these entities are great--responsive, kind, and competent-- when dealing with logistical problems of billing, registering, testing, etc.
But when it comes to accepting criticism or actually acting on suggestions, my experience has been that these same people close ranks around the upper echelons. The PSA has no place for you if you're not a Master rated coach. When I asked to get involved in the ratings committees, I was told that you have to be a Master rated coach. Lower rated coaches' voices are excluded from this process. So until and if you achieve that Master rating, you are shut out of committees and leadership roles.
ISI in my district is a closed club of rink managers. I recently attended a district meeting, out of curiosity, and because all coaches are ostensibly invited, and no one tried to introduce him or herself, or allow me to do so. The printed agenda did not include a single open discussion item, or any indication that coaches' input might be solicited, assuming any ever showed up. Coaches had not been asked for input into the agenda beforehand. I'm sure others who have attended got the same message I got, loud and clear-- we say we want your input, but we're not going to provide any mechanism to accept it. Last year when I offered free services from my day job as an experienced fundraising and marketing professional, I did not get so much as a thank you but no thank you. No response at all.
At USFS, the first question has always been whether I have students at qualifying competitions. No? Then we don't care about you. Don't even start me on the moms who run the clubs.
Many times on this blog I have urged readers to do just what I'm complaining about now-- to take your problems to rink management, to federation management and committees, to whoever is next in line for the issue. And I continue to believe that it's important for those of us out in the trenches to try to make our voices heard.
But I understand the frustration and trepidation when you feel that your input is an annoyance or a burden.
Life on the Edge points out what many have--not all information on the web can be trusted. Bloggers have no editors; some are more reliable than others. You must always check information you find on line for accuracy. Especially when young athletes are involved--with their fragile bodies, psyches and financial resources--it is the readers responsibility to make sure that the online source is responsible.
There is a perception among coaches that being a squeaky wheel won't get you greased, it will get you fired. Among parents, that they'll be labeled troublemakers and their kids will suffer from the parent's unpopularity. I don't feel safe making complaints, or respected when making suggestions, and I know I'm not alone. I feel this way because of the negative feedback from when I used to try to get my voice heard. I feel this way because of many of the rink managers I've worked for who never ask their coaches for their observations, let alone their opinions or advice. Many coaches have given up because it's not really worth the risk; there's simply no benefit to getting a reputation for sticking your nose in.
I applaud PSA, ISI, and USFS for always at least soliciting coach's input. But until I see evidence that they mean it--that my input is both protected and acted upon, that my needs and opinions as a beginners' coach are respected, I will continue to seek the wisdom of people like Allison Scott, Deb Chitwood, and Icemom on line, where I know that I'll be heard.
Over the last several weeks I've attended a major PSA event, a PSA seminar and an ISI seminar. At all, the event leaders urged the attending coaches to get involved, to bring them problems and ideas, and to use these resources to help us.
And all of these entities are great--responsive, kind, and competent-- when dealing with logistical problems of billing, registering, testing, etc.
But when it comes to accepting criticism or actually acting on suggestions, my experience has been that these same people close ranks around the upper echelons. The PSA has no place for you if you're not a Master rated coach. When I asked to get involved in the ratings committees, I was told that you have to be a Master rated coach. Lower rated coaches' voices are excluded from this process. So until and if you achieve that Master rating, you are shut out of committees and leadership roles.
ISI in my district is a closed club of rink managers. I recently attended a district meeting, out of curiosity, and because all coaches are ostensibly invited, and no one tried to introduce him or herself, or allow me to do so. The printed agenda did not include a single open discussion item, or any indication that coaches' input might be solicited, assuming any ever showed up. Coaches had not been asked for input into the agenda beforehand. I'm sure others who have attended got the same message I got, loud and clear-- we say we want your input, but we're not going to provide any mechanism to accept it. Last year when I offered free services from my day job as an experienced fundraising and marketing professional, I did not get so much as a thank you but no thank you. No response at all.
At USFS, the first question has always been whether I have students at qualifying competitions. No? Then we don't care about you. Don't even start me on the moms who run the clubs.
Many times on this blog I have urged readers to do just what I'm complaining about now-- to take your problems to rink management, to federation management and committees, to whoever is next in line for the issue. And I continue to believe that it's important for those of us out in the trenches to try to make our voices heard.
But I understand the frustration and trepidation when you feel that your input is an annoyance or a burden.
Life on the Edge points out what many have--not all information on the web can be trusted. Bloggers have no editors; some are more reliable than others. You must always check information you find on line for accuracy. Especially when young athletes are involved--with their fragile bodies, psyches and financial resources--it is the readers responsibility to make sure that the online source is responsible.
There is a perception among coaches that being a squeaky wheel won't get you greased, it will get you fired. Among parents, that they'll be labeled troublemakers and their kids will suffer from the parent's unpopularity. I don't feel safe making complaints, or respected when making suggestions, and I know I'm not alone. I feel this way because of the negative feedback from when I used to try to get my voice heard. I feel this way because of many of the rink managers I've worked for who never ask their coaches for their observations, let alone their opinions or advice. Many coaches have given up because it's not really worth the risk; there's simply no benefit to getting a reputation for sticking your nose in.
I applaud PSA, ISI, and USFS for always at least soliciting coach's input. But until I see evidence that they mean it--that my input is both protected and acted upon, that my needs and opinions as a beginners' coach are respected, I will continue to seek the wisdom of people like Allison Scott, Deb Chitwood, and Icemom on line, where I know that I'll be heard.
Oct 1, 2010
To demonstrate or not to demonstrate
One of the biggest challenges a coach faces is how to convey skills that he or she cannot adequately demonstrate.
This is a more common issue than you might think; there are many coaches teaching above their abilities for many different reasons-- they've lost skills you had years ago (in particular jumps and spins); they've developed a roster of students that has passed the level they were at; new skills have been introduced since they stopped training, for instance, the quad jump; or old skills that predate their own training have been reintroduced. Right now we have a generation of coaches who never took figures now having to teach the loop figure for the new Moves tests.
So what should coaches do?
Don't teach above your teaching competence.
And remember that competence at teaching is not the same as competence at skating. (Many coaches skate better than they teach. I teach better than I skate.) How do you know your competence? Be a PSA rated coach. Don't try to vet your own coaching level; you're bound to get it wrong. Imperfect as it is the PSA ratings system requires that you have teaching competence at specified levels based upon national standards. Parents need to ask their private lesson coaches what their PSA rating is. If your skater is working on double jumps and your coach is not working on PSA ratings, think twice. I cannot tell you the number of coaches that consider PSA ratings and/or continuing education "bullsh*t." If parents insisted on only hiring rated coaches, we'd see fewer injuries and attrition among recreational skaters, because the teaching would be better.
Don't demonstrate a skill that you are not absolutely confident that you are doing correctly. This does not only go for low-level skaters like me. I see a lot of funky demonstrating from high level skaters. Remember that some students are very visual learners, and can copy your mistake perfectly. If you see a skater whom you know works visually making a new mistake after you demonstrate, have another coach observe your demonstration and be prepared to accept an honest assessment. This doesn't mean you can't teach that skill. It only means you can't demonstrate that skill. If you can't do it, don't.
Demonstrate pieces of the skill
I can't jump an axel, but I know how to do a step through and I know what the print should look like (the mark that the skate blade leaves on the ice). In fact because I can't jump an axel, I set about learning the pieces-- if a demonstration is not available, coaches have to have other tools at their disposal. If you can't do the whole skill, demonstrate the parts that you can. Chances are these isolated pieces are what is going wrong anyway. No skill falls apart all at once.
Know what you're looking at
Skills progress in sequence, from simple beginner skills like crossovers which start with strong edges and good alignment over the skating side, to complex advanced skills like triple jumps, which start with strong edges and, uh, good alignment over the skating side. Hmmm. Right. There are common errors, and most skills go wrong very early in the set up. Coaches should know these common errors and how to correct them.
Have a demonstrator
Every program has junior coaches with excellent, current skills. All of the younger coaches love showing off for the kids, and the kids love it too. Use your high freestyle skaters to demonstrate; just make sure that the skater is demonstrating the skill you want in the way you want it done.
As with everything in teaching, a good coach needs not only to use all the resources available, but also to understand when which resources are appropriate.
--------------------------------
The day after I wrote this I had an adult skater ask me to show him how to do alternating three turns down a continuous axis. So I showed him-- badly! This is something that I can do rather well, but there I was botching it! I regrouped and executed it properly, but it forced me to really think about what I was doing, and to make sure that I had everything lined up-- brain, skating skills, body and blade. We had a good conversation about it, and I just thanked my lucky stars that it was an adult with a good attitude and not a kid with a parent watching!
Lesson learned-- Practice what I preach!
This is a more common issue than you might think; there are many coaches teaching above their abilities for many different reasons-- they've lost skills you had years ago (in particular jumps and spins); they've developed a roster of students that has passed the level they were at; new skills have been introduced since they stopped training, for instance, the quad jump; or old skills that predate their own training have been reintroduced. Right now we have a generation of coaches who never took figures now having to teach the loop figure for the new Moves tests.
So what should coaches do?
Don't teach above your teaching competence.
And remember that competence at teaching is not the same as competence at skating. (Many coaches skate better than they teach. I teach better than I skate.) How do you know your competence? Be a PSA rated coach. Don't try to vet your own coaching level; you're bound to get it wrong. Imperfect as it is the PSA ratings system requires that you have teaching competence at specified levels based upon national standards. Parents need to ask their private lesson coaches what their PSA rating is. If your skater is working on double jumps and your coach is not working on PSA ratings, think twice. I cannot tell you the number of coaches that consider PSA ratings and/or continuing education "bullsh*t." If parents insisted on only hiring rated coaches, we'd see fewer injuries and attrition among recreational skaters, because the teaching would be better.
Don't demonstrate a skill that you are not absolutely confident that you are doing correctly. This does not only go for low-level skaters like me. I see a lot of funky demonstrating from high level skaters. Remember that some students are very visual learners, and can copy your mistake perfectly. If you see a skater whom you know works visually making a new mistake after you demonstrate, have another coach observe your demonstration and be prepared to accept an honest assessment. This doesn't mean you can't teach that skill. It only means you can't demonstrate that skill. If you can't do it, don't.
Demonstrate pieces of the skill
I can't jump an axel, but I know how to do a step through and I know what the print should look like (the mark that the skate blade leaves on the ice). In fact because I can't jump an axel, I set about learning the pieces-- if a demonstration is not available, coaches have to have other tools at their disposal. If you can't do the whole skill, demonstrate the parts that you can. Chances are these isolated pieces are what is going wrong anyway. No skill falls apart all at once.
Know what you're looking at
Skills progress in sequence, from simple beginner skills like crossovers which start with strong edges and good alignment over the skating side, to complex advanced skills like triple jumps, which start with strong edges and, uh, good alignment over the skating side. Hmmm. Right. There are common errors, and most skills go wrong very early in the set up. Coaches should know these common errors and how to correct them.
Have a demonstrator
Every program has junior coaches with excellent, current skills. All of the younger coaches love showing off for the kids, and the kids love it too. Use your high freestyle skaters to demonstrate; just make sure that the skater is demonstrating the skill you want in the way you want it done.
As with everything in teaching, a good coach needs not only to use all the resources available, but also to understand when which resources are appropriate.
--------------------------------
The day after I wrote this I had an adult skater ask me to show him how to do alternating three turns down a continuous axis. So I showed him-- badly! This is something that I can do rather well, but there I was botching it! I regrouped and executed it properly, but it forced me to really think about what I was doing, and to make sure that I had everything lined up-- brain, skating skills, body and blade. We had a good conversation about it, and I just thanked my lucky stars that it was an adult with a good attitude and not a kid with a parent watching!
Lesson learned-- Practice what I preach!
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