Xanboni

Check out the new pages!

2012-02-12T13:30:00.000-06:00

You may have noticed, first, that there's a menu line under the logo now, and second, that some things seem to have disappeared from the sidebar.

This is because in this new and improved Blogger interface, I can now add multiple pages to the blog.

So that's what I've done. You'll now see the following:

"Skate with Xan" where you can find my schedule, classes, and rates.
"Resources" links to great blogs, skating information sites and other cool stuff
"Products" my Cafe Press link, plus other vendors that I promote (for love, not for money. This is an unmonetized blog, for my sins)

Let me know if there's a product or site that YOU like and I'll add them to the page!

Whose music is it anyway?

2012-02-11T14:30:00.000-06:00

Speaking of policies, when I was still taking kids to competition, I had very clear requirements for music.

I get to choose it.

Yes, I got arguments, but I nipped them in the bud with the ole economic hammer. If you use music from my library, no charge. If you insist on your own music, I must do the edit (okay, my musician husband must do the edit) at a charge of $35 to $50 depending on the complexity of the edit.

Everyone used our music (we have a library of several dozen, at all levels, due to the skating daughter).

Because our music was chosen by a grownup for the most part, and because of the superior editing, it was highly coveted. I know this because I would often walk into the rink and hear DD's music. I'd think, weird, I didn't think she was skating to that anymore.

Lo and behold, it was someone else, whose coach or parent had snagged the CD and pirated it.

A reader emailed me about a similar situation, in which she worked long and hard to edit music, and discovered someone from her rink had copied it. She believes that the parents were charged an editing fee. She can prove it's hers, because she's got the original copy. She wrote asking what to do about it--talk to the Club president? the family involved? her coach? the other coach? She doesn't really care that the student is using the music, but is annoyed that she did all the work, and the coach charged the parents as though it was his.

Most rinks just have a basket of CDs on the counter; kids don't retrieve them after every practice. Some have everyone's music in MP3 files now. It's easy to pick up someone else's CD. If a CD is missing, the owner just thinks it's "lost" (of course, if your music is the one that's constantly being "lost" you start to get suspicious). But even if you religiously retrieve your music at the rink, it can be copied by the monitor right there in the booth, or uploaded to a player. It can be picked up at any competition by anyone--it's usually just laying on a table (very few competitions make you sign for your music when you pick it up.)

It violates professional courtesy to deliberately use a rink mate's music, let alone their edit, without their knowledge or permission, especially if both skaters are competing in the same level. Taking someone's property without their knowledge or permission (i.e. "borrowing" the CD to copy it) is theft. Period. And it's not like the injured party isn't going to notice. I still hear DD's cuts of Claire du Lune, Danse Macabre, and West Side Story, and the really distinctive blend of Take Five/A La Turk that was her Senior long, at her old rink.

Sadly, while this is nasty and unprofessional, it isn't illegal. You cannot copyright, i.e. "own" an edit of someone else's music. (This came up at the Ice Rink of the Damned, when someone used their copy of the ice show music and the music guy went ballistic because "he owns that edit." Sorry, no. The royalty, if it's still under copyright, goes to the composer no matter what the edit is, via the rink's blanket license with ASCAP and BMI). And if it's public domain? Nobody "owns" it. To be upright, they should have asked the rink's permission. If the rink has a policy about not using show music for personal use, it should be in writing.)

As for competitive skating, well, if you're on Twitter, I'm the originator of the #bannedforeverlist. The top five offenders? Requiem for a Dream, Tosca, Carmen, and anything by Andrew Lloyd Webber but especially Les Miz and Phantom.

The stupid thing is that all those people who are using DD's music? I would gladly have just given it to them if they'd asked.

How do you choose your music? Does your coach have veto power? Do you have a personal #bannedforeverlist?

When should you say something? (and a prize)

2012-02-08T08:12:00.000-06:00

We've all witnessed it:

The mom standing in the door, "coaching"

The mom pushing her kid to finish her ISI tests, so she can compete at US Nationals (true story)

The new skater who wears her tights OVER her spanky pants

The beginner tot in the freestyle blades

The beginner in "we found them in granny's garage" four sizes too big and with blades so rusty they're black

And then there's the bad behavior: The mom screaming at, or worse, hitting her skater because of an error, or getting off the ice early, or losing her guards, or whatever; the monitor who breaks the rules for her kids, or her coach's other students; the overheard conversation of a coach telling some clueless mom a pack of myths and lies; the dad explaining that "only girls figure skate; men play hockey."

It's an enormous social gaffe in our culture to "get involved" but it's painful to watch especially newbies to the sport having to figure all this stuff out for themselves, or to have to tolerate bad behavior, knowing that these idiots are modeling this behavior for our children, or knowing that they're being fed a line of hooey.

I can't tell you how many comments I've gotten on this blog that start "I wish someone had told me...." I've said it often myself. It was one of the reasons I started the blog.

The problem is, that the classy moms, the ones from whom you'd get really good information, stay out it, while the evil moms feed you horse hockey ("Coach Mine only works with the best students, and if you're not with Coach Mine, clearly he doesn't think you're up to snuff", or like the coach I overheard telling her very very talented student that ISI tests were the way to get to USFS Nationals.)

And I confess, I don't have the solution. I see a lot of well-meaning mothers offering bad advice, like Mom A with an advanced little one (skater about 7, working on PreJuv test) telling a beginner 7 year old's Mom B that she needed to get "good" skates, rather than the perfectly acceptable beginner skates that she already had. She then showed her the freestyle blade, explaining that this was a "proper" figure skate. And yes, I stepped in, and yes, I got reprimanded for it–by Mom A's coach. (!! She claimed I was trying to solicit that skater, rather than that I was trying to correct misinformation. My guess is Coach had sent Mom A, in fact, to solicit Mom B.)

So this is the minefield we're all skating through.

A coach hearing another coach lie to skaters has literally no recourse. If you say something to the coach, they can make your life miserable; if you say something to the mom, you're tampering. You can't file a grievance with the PSA unless a child is in risk of harm, or the situation directly affects you. Otherwise they'll just laugh you out of court.

A mom on the skate-tying thread was thankful for a more experienced mother stepping in over aging out of mom's help, but another mother would have been offended (as in fact, several people in that thread clearly were, and I'm not even confronting them directly!).

So I'll open it up to you–what advice do you wish you'd gotten from a trustworthy mom? Did you ever get unsolicited advice that you needed, or had someone step in to help? Have you been the victim of bad information, or had an intercession that annoyed you? Tell us your stories.

****

Oh, did I say prize? On Valentine's Day I'll select from the comments using the widget at random.org. Winner will get a "Yes I'm THAT Mom" t-shirt (designed by @rinksidedamned from Why Me, St. Lidwina).

Mommy, will you tie my skates?

2012-02-04T15:24:00.000-06:00

As I was taking my skates off today, I was sitting next to a mom and her 5 or 6 year old son putting on skates. He asked to try tying them himself, so mom talked him through both ways of tying--end over end and "bunny ears." After about 6 or 7 minutes, the boy asked his mom to finish them so he wouldn't miss any class (you could see the other kids starting to enter the ice).

This mom had it together. One of the hardest things to do is sit there while the child struggles with tying his or her skates, knowing that s/he's doing it wrong–too loose, too slow–while the money you spent for him/her to be on the ice is tick-tick-ticking away.

At skating camp, where the kids come on and off the ice several times over the course of 3 or 4 hours, and the moms aren't there, it can take 40 minutes to get skates on all the kids. It's maddening.

A reader asked me how old a child should be before you make them tie their own skates, after observing what appeared to be teenagers sitting while their moms tied their skates for them. (One wonders how far they take the personal services for these kids, if you know what I mean.) Here's my guidelines (oh, you knew I had guidelines for this.)

When can a kid really handle tying their skates?
Eight.

Younger than 8, kids often don't have the strength or coordination to tie up complex footgear like a figure or hockey skate, although I've seen kids as young as 5 handle this. A further impediment is added by the fact that street shoes no longer require tying; even if they have laces they are often permanently laced and the kids just slip them on. It is then further complicated by harried moms and overscheduling--the kids get to the rink with just enough time to run into class. It feels really wrong to miss ice because your child is trying to learn how to tie skates, and moms start feeling very pressured as the lobby empties out.

How old is too old?
Nine.

Seriously, this child needs to learn to tie shoes. If s/he's really struggling, make her tie them with the promise that if they feel wrong, you will retie them. But let the kid tie her own skates. This is such a minimum level of self-sufficiency that I'm continually appalled that parents aren't getting their kids here. If you don't have time to sit and teach your child to tie shoes, you are seriously over-scheduled and need a break.

Time crunch
But I get it. You are, in fact, seriously over-scheduled, and harried after school activities are an established cultural norm. If your 8, or 9, or god-forbid 13 year old is having trouble tying skates, either try to get to the rink with 10 or 15 minutes extra to spare, or let her coach know that she's going to miss warm up so she can learn to tie skates. Then sit back and let her do it, don't keep sticking your fingers in. Let her do it wrong. In a month, she'll be doing it herself.

Peer pressure
If someone makes fun of your 13-year-old for letting mommy tie her skates, I say go with it. Tell her, well, at 13 you really should be able to dress yourself. If you don't want the other girls to make fun of this, then learn to do it.

Nope, sorry, don't have time at the rink
So do it at home. Kids these days are master multi-taskers. So every night for a week, during your skater's tv watching time, have her take her skates on and off, on and off, on and off. She's also insulated from the peer pressure here in the privacy of her home.

Let the coach teach them
Years ago at the Ice Rink of the Damned, we solved the problem with camp by taking one of the on-ice periods every day for a week to just work on skate tying. By the end of the week, even the 5-year-olds were master skate tie-ers. Sadly, when a new coach decided he was in charge of camp, this ended, because apparently teaching self-sufficiency was stupid (or maybe it was just because I proposed it, who knows) and we were again stuck with spending 30 or 40 minutes tying skates.

But if a coach is finding too many kids late to the ice because they can't tie their skates, let them teach this as part of the session. It's a good lesson.

It's part of figure skating
There's a level of poise, self-sufficiency, and maturity that can come from participating in and mastering this sport. And it doesn't just happen gliding around on the ice. It happens because skaters learn to be responsible for taking care of their equipment, keeping their skating bag neat and stocked, not losing gloves, guards or shoes (yes, there are always shoes in the lost and found. And jackets. And skates. It's mystifying. How do you leave an ice rink in the middle of winter without your shoes and jacket?)

Kids need to be allowed to establish these habits themselves. Like I said, Mom is harried: she's worrying about Younger Sib, Older Sib, dinner, the car repair that the family can't afford, and where the hell she left the house keys. Take this off your plate.

Make the child responsible, at a bare minimum, for dressing herself.

The kids who need us

2012-01-31T08:30:00.000-06:00

I just started working for a skating program for special needs kids; two classes with about 10 kids in each one. There are several teen volunteers, 2 off-ice program "leaders" and me as officially the Program Assistant; in practice the on-ice program leader.

I've had many special needs kids in regular classes, sometimes with an aide, and sometimes just dropped into the class. Most of them have been variously developmentally delayed, or ADD and ADHD, but also several autistic students, my dyspraxic student Miss E (who still reigns as my all-time favorite student), Downs students, developmentally delayed, and cerebral palsy. They've all been in the regular classes, however. This new venture is an all-special needs program.

Currently the class is something of a free-for-all. There is no structure; not necessarily a bad thing. The kids are having a lot of fun, but I think they're being sold a little short. There are only three who I think would really not be able to get anything out of a mainstream class. Being in this environment, however, is somewhat antithetical to structured learning.

The thing with special needs kids is, well, they're kids. They're individuals, and you need to reach every individual on his or her own terms. Some of the participants have really high barriers to really learning skating skills, starting with simply understanding that there's more to skating than gliding around.

But many many more of them are perfectly well capable of learning intermediate and advanced skills, with some extra understanding and outreach. And you reach them the way you reach any kid.

Just skate
I'm a big proponent of "just skating." It's the best way to bridge the gap from new to structured learning. With these kids, though, just skating is too much of a metaphor for what their lives might be--going around in circles and never getting anywhere.

One-on-one instruction
All of the participants in this class get a personal aid in the form of a youth volunteer. These girls (and one boy) are pretty gifted at this, and they're doing something challenging and even scary with a lot of compassion and joy. But they're focused on undirected playing. It's something to talk to the program designers about--what is the mission of this class? Is it essentially a safe public skate for these kids, or are they supposed to be learning skills, or is it a combination? It would be interesting to have a lesson plan for each child.

Game-based learning
Singing songs, imitation, challenges. Just as these work with mainstream kids, they can work and sometimes work even better with these kids.

Mainstream with aide
Many of the children in this class could thrive in mainstream classes, especially with an aide, which most municipalities will now provide for the asking if your child has a special needs diagnosis. And I think for many of these kids, the structure would be helpful.

Mainstream on your own
For the specific individuals in these classes, mainstreaming without an aide would be problematic. But several of them could get there, if they were learning, not just to have fun on the ice, but to take instruction, and to get joy from learning more advanced skills.

Do you know any special needs skaters? What method helped them?

How sexy is too sexy?

2012-01-28T11:00:00.000-06:00

I'd like to introduce Jenny Hall, writer of the Ice Charades blog, and one of the people who was really supportive of me when I started blogging. Jenny was a show skater (hey IS a show skater--once a show skater always a show skater or so my daughter says) and wrote the popular (and funny) novel Ice Charades. For any of you that have or are a skater thinking of going into an ice show, you may want to stop by her blog once in a while. She wants a caveat on that, though, "most of my musings on ice show life are anecdotal and decades old, but it's a start."

Jenny brings up an important issue, especially obvious this week, with some very suggestive skating from some very young skaters at U.S. Nationals.

So here's my theory ...I got to thinking about it because my 8 yr old is starting to recognize the term “sexy.” She knows that this is something not for kids and she is asking about it. Living in Germany, we are probably faced with this more than other places. On the train for example, on our morning commute to school, someone will be reading an article in the financial section of how the euro's going to implode, with a naked model suggestively posing next to it. Women sunbathe topless in the park near our apartment, while kids up to 8 yrs old swim naked in the river (when it is warm, which it almost never is, which is why we see them naked, rather than being up to their necks in the water.) And of course, there's the infamous Reeperbahn Street on our way into town that is filled with clubs and bars with the word “sexy” adorning them. Right by the Beatles Museum we went to.

I didn't think this would happen until the teenage years, but I bet I'm way off on that. And I'm wondering how to deal with this. My theory is that because I performed to quasi-sexy songs (think Chicago's “All That Jazz”) it welcomes my daughter into the quasi-sexy performance aspect (she takes dance classes).Remember the You Tube video that went around and people were upset by the little 6-8 year old darlings dancing to Beyonce's “Single Ladies” rather suggestively? Gotta say, I was impressed with those high kicks, but I wonder, what's their behavior off the dance floor like? Did dancing to songs help or hinder their attitude?

A performance is just a performance, right? Or was I just too much of a band nerd that I couldn't have been promiscuous if I tried.

Has anyone else had that experience with their skating son or daughter? Where do you draw the line on "adult content" in skating programs?

Repost: skating terms tutorial

2012-01-26T18:00:00.000-06:00

I'm a hard case, so I've already been watching Nationals on Ice Network all week-- yes, I sit through Novice Pattern Dance. But for the more casual fans, here's a brief guide to skating terms. Also see my post on understanding the commentators.

Here's the original terminology post, from February 2010:

As always, every four years, everyone's talking about figure skating. I won't even dignify the "it can't be a sport because sequins" haterz. Icemom said it pretty well already anyway.

This was the first games I watched with the world, so to speak, via social media on Twitter, Facebook, Skype and the SM links on the Olympic site. And it was quite a revelation. I spend my days around figure skaters, former figure skaters, parents of figure skaters and people who work at skating rinks.

We all know a LOT about figure skating.

What I didn't know is that other figure skating fans don't know a lot about figure skating. I always figured that if you're a fan you know the difference between a lutz, a loop, a toe loop and a flip. I figured you could tell when a spin is slow, or when a skater has superior edge quality.

But if Twitter is any guide, this is not the case. People are utterly mystified by the scoring because they really don't think of it as sport-- they think of it as art, and everyone knows, as the old joke says that with art, you don't have to understand it, you just have to know what you like. And people LIKE Patrick Chan. They liked some of the also-rans who scored low.

So here's a quick tutorial. You can really train yourself to spot these subtleties, and it will help you understand that, yes, it's a sport.

Jumps
There are 8 basic jumps, in order of difficulty- Salchow, Toe Walley, Toe Loop, Loop, Walley, Flip, Axel, Lutz. We've started seeing single walleys again, in footwork and leading into Flips, because it increases the difficulty. It's a funny choppy little jump against the direction of the edge. I haven't seen a toe walley in decades, so don't worry about them. Skaters love it when performers do walleys, and the announcers will go crazy if someone does one.

Edge jumps lift off the gliding edge. Toe assisted jumps use the toe of the free leg as a vault. On an inside edge the skater's upper body will be facing into the circle he or she is on. On an outside edge the skaters body will be facing out of the circle he's on.

All jumps described for counter-clockwise skaters (only 1 in 15 or so skaters are cw, Alissa Czisny being one). For CCW, same edge, other foot.

Salchow is an edge jump off a left back inside edge. Toe Loop: toe assisted jump off right back outside edge (RBO). Loop, edge jump RBO. Flip, toe assisted LBInside. A footwork sequence into a flip is a required element in singles skating. Actual back flips ala Michael Weiss, Surya Bonaly and Scott Hamilton are illegal (and I once saw someone faceplant out of a back flip, so I'm with them on this one). Axel, edge jump with forward take off, LFO edge (everyone recognizes this one because of the dramatic forward launch). Lutz, toe assist, LBO. Lutz is a "counter jump," that is it changes rotational direction at the launch. The edge traces a clockwise circle, but the jump rotates CCW. Lutz is the jump with the long entry edge. When you hear someone talking about "telegraphing" a jump, this is the most common jump they're thinking of.

It matters if the skater takes off on the correct edge, because it changes the difficulty of the jump. It matters if the jump is underrotated. It's not a triple if it doesn't go around 3 times, just like a touchdown doesn't count if it doesn't cross the goal line, no matter how long the run or the pass was, or how elegant the player.

If you get good at watching, you can tell what jump is coming up by the skater's body language and positions. One of the wonderful things about YuNa Kim is that you cannot tell what jump she is going to do, in fact sometimes you can't even tell that she is setting up for a jump. Kwan had this ability as well; it's one of the things that makes their skating look so "easy."

A jump combination is two or more jumps in a row with no connecting steps. A jump sequence is any number of jumps with connecting steps between any of them. The little half and whole rotation hops that skaters do don't get points for jumping, but are counted as footwork and transition.

Edge quality
Edge quality refers to the skater's control of their blade. Someone with good edge quality skates with minimal snowy curves, no ankle wobble or stuttering, and steady-as-a-rock upper body. You can really see this on the ladies' spiral sequences. Good edge quality also gives you clean turns and steps (no scraping sound). Edge quality is the defining skill of a high level skater. You don't get the big jumps without the edge quality. As I like to tell my little skaters, my 90-year-old granny can jump, but she can't hold a back outside edge all the way around a face-off circle on a single push.

Quickie on spins
There are three basic spin positions: upright, camel, sit. Upright inludes those leg stretchers, and Biellmans (the upright backbend). That hideous spin where the skater bends at the waist FORWARDS and grabs a foot (butt is now sticking up in the air) is actually an upright spin, as is a layback. The camel is the one in the arabesque position. Skaters wave their arms around and keep changing the g*ddam position because the scoring system gives them points for multiple "features" i.e. waving their arms around and changing positions. UPDATE: Since I first wrote this a "feature" has been added to allow skaters to maintain a spin position for 8 rotations and get extra points for doing so.

The other disciplines
Pairs skating is mostly singles skills with the addition of lifts and throws, which makes you wonder why so many failed singles skaters switch to pairs. Man, if you can't do the singles, you're not going suddenly be a genius at pairs.

Ice dance focuses on partnering and edge quality. UPDATE: It used to be the most demanding from a training standpoint, because dancers had to master four programs a year-- 2 compulsories, a short program (the Original Dance) and a long program (the Free Dance). Now it's just Short Dance and Free Dance at the Junior and Senior levels, although Juv, Intermediate and Novice still have to do the pattern dances. The ISU chooses which compulsories will be skated; everyone trains the same ones. Don't get me started on how Code of Points has ruined ice dancing, we'll be here all night.

How about a contest?

2012-01-22T08:52:00.000-06:00

UPDATE: EXTENDED DEADLINE! Submit your slogan or design by January 27!

I've been trying to think of something to do for US Nats. I was thinking about setting up a give- away for each event, and contact a bunch of merchants for swag, but wow, lotta work. Maybe next year.

So how about a contest? Come up with a skating design or slogan for a tshirt (or other product) for the Xanboni CafePress store, like this one submitted by Why Me, St. Lidwina. All submissions will be published on Xanboni, unless you ask otherwise! The winners of course will get the item, which will be featured in the store, and will get 50% of profits on sales (likely 50¢ per item, so don't plan your retirement yet).

Winner will be announced during the medal ceremony for the Ladies Singles Event at the US Figure Skating Championships, which I think is around 6PT, 4CT, 3ET on January 28 (details are still a little sketchy. Ice Network has us on a need-to-know basis).

Here's the rules:
1. Send a pdf of your design to coachxan@xanboni.com by 5 p.m. January 27 (extended). I'll tweet and blog and Facebook the submissions during Nationals.

2. Three winners: Best Design for a kid's product, judges' fave, popular fave. Watch the blog for the popular faves poll during Nationals.

2. You must include complete contact information including name, mailing address, and phone. This information will be discarded once the contest is complete.

3. Design can be graphics or text. The Xanboni logo will be added to the final product unless already included in the submission design. Designs cannot incorporate commercial logos, names of established organizations, trademarks or trademarked phrases, or inappropriate images or language (and I get to decide what is inappropriate). Quotes are acceptable, as they fall under "fair use" rules.

4. Design can be on any figure skating topic--free skate, figures, show, pairs, dance, moms, coaches, whatever!

5. Winner retains the copyright to any graphic image submitted, and grants Xanboni to use it for 1 year.

6. Judges will be me, Why Me, St. Lidwina (aka @rinksidedamned), Jenny Hall of Ice Charades (FB) (Also-- buy the book!), and Josette Plank of Halushki and Josette's Awesome Figure Skating Group.

6. Product will stay on the store for one year, or longer if it's popular (store is wildly successful. I've sold 3 whole items).

7. You can't enter if you're related to me, but you can enter if you know me. Nobody works for me, so no worries on that front! Oh, except my designer, so, sorry Chris, you don't get to enter. But I'll plug your blog for you to make up for it!

8. Link, and repost, and all that stuff!

I strongly encourage everyone to suck up to the judges by subscribing to and commenting on their blogs.

Have fun! Can't wait to see everyone's ideas!

Helmets

2012-01-19T08:56:00.000-06:00

Figure skating is way behind other youth and recreational sports in not only developing, but even in tolerating safety gear. I have had coaches contradict me in front of parents when I have suggested safety gear as rudimentary as gloves and hats. Adults who wear knee and wrist guards are ridiculed and often, as happened recently, feel compelled to apologize for using this basic protection. Padded boards are not even considered because of the expense, and yet padded boards would have prevented two career-ending injuries at the Ice Rink of the Damned. So I guess two crippled children is considered a reasonable trade off. All national and international events now have padded boards. (Write your local and state elected officials demanding padded boards at ice rinks.)

Anyway, all polemics aside, here's a guide to helmets.

Hockey helmets
Many rinks require helmets for skaters in hockey skates. If you're going to be playing hockey, then go ahead and invest in this. If you're just in hockey skates for spit and giggles, any helmet is fine, but you really should be in a helmet if you're not experienced in hockey skates.

Bike helmet

Never wear this type of helmet for skating.

Pointy back bike helmets like the one pictured should never be worn on the ice. If you fall on the back of your head the pointed extension can force your neck forward, adding whiplash or worse to your woes.

You also need to wear it properly. Wearing a helmet too far forward or too far back is pretty much equivalent to not wearing a helmet. Wearing a helmet that is too small or too big is also pointless. Never wear a hat under your helmet, even outdoors. I always wonder, when I see a helmet precariously perched on top of a hat, if parents are expecting heavy objects to drop directly onto the top of the skater's head, because that is the only scenario in which this makes any sense.

Skateboarder's helmet
This is the best type of helmet for skating, largely because it was designed for, well, skating. Google image search gives you the idea.

Soccer helmet
I've seen some kids wearing these lately; I suppose they like them because 1. they're discreet and 2. they've already got one. They're for head shots (see? other youth sports have figured out that head injuries are a bad idea and should be mitigated.) But unless you get the full-head ones, they don't really do the job, because they have no padding on the back. These are getting the idea, though. Skating falls do not tend to be the 20-foot projectile falls you're getting with bikes and skate boards. They're head knocks--you've already fallen and need something for that last 4 inches of air between your head and the ice.

Ice Halo
This is currently the only commercial helmet created especially for the ice. I've been wearing one for several months and can attest that they are comfortable, reasonably cool, and attractive. I think they're great. I don't get any remuneration from Ice Halo, but you can get 5% off if you mention Xanboni when you buy one.

"Oh, but Johnny won't wear a helmet," says helpless mom. Fine, then Johnny doesn't get to skate, just as he doesn't get to play hockey without gear, or baseball without a cup, or soccer without shin guards. Really, folks, grow a pair. You're bigger than them.

Stop SOPA and PIPA

2012-01-18T08:36:00.000-06:00

Just taking a break for an uncharacteristically political statement (since I can't figure out how to actually make the site go dark).

I want to help to raise awareness of two bills in congress: H.R.3261 "Stop Online Piracy Act" and S.968 "PROTECT IP", which could radically change the landscape of the Internet. These bills provide overly broad mechanisms for enforcement of copyright which would restrict innovation and threaten the existence of websites with user-submitted content, such as all those great skating videos you love to watch, or even videos of your own kids, skating to copyrighted music. (Thanks reddit for the content, most of which I stole verbatim)

Please take today as a day of focus and action to learn about these destructive bills and do what you can to prevent them from becoming reality.

Make a call.

Sign the petition.

Thanks. Come back tomorrow to learn about helmets!

Xan

What to wear

2012-01-16T08:25:00.000-06:00

With the new (and always biggest) skating class session starting this week, the "what were they thinking" outfits are showing up. Here's some don'ts and how to fix them:

Tots in competition garb
I know grandma got Princess the sparkly dress for Christmas, but since it has spaghetti straps and a super short skirt, Princess is going to be Ice Princess, as in frozen solid. Let her wear the dress, with a long sleeved shirt and a heavy sweater, plus AT LEAST sweatpants, or better yet snow pants if she's under the age of 6. Pull the skirt out of the pants a little bit so everyone can admire the sparkles.

Even little beginners who can stand up and glide are going to spend a lot of time sitting on the ice, because we teach falling down a LOT in beginner classes, partially for safety, partially for skill, and partially to take away the fear of falling. If your kid's butt is frozen every time she falls, you're working at odds to her enjoyment of skating. Pretty clothes will not motivate a child to skate. Having fun in class will motivate her, and if she's cold, she's not having fun.

Ready for the NHL
While grandma was getting Princess ready for the Olympics, apparently grandpa got Stanley Cup fever, and outfitted Junior in full armor. Here's the deal--unless the skater (boy or girl) is in a "full equipment" hockey class (and in some beginner classes it's optional, so ask the coach), the only parts of the gear s/he should be wearing is the helmet and the gloves, and I'm on the fence about the gloves.

And, no, you cannot bring your stick to class.

Cleavage? What cleavage?

I'm not all that crazy about the cleavage at the Golden Globes. I should not be seeing it on a 14 year old in skating class. For pity's sake, get dressed. And, mom? Please introduce your child to the concept of the "sports bra" because the bouncing isn't all that attractive either, and I can't say anything without losing my job. Also don't want to be seeing any belly-buttons, tramp stamps, or god help me, butt cleavage.

Junior coach
If you are a junior coach or a volunteer coach, then you are a coach and should dress the part. This means a coat, preferably one that fits properly, and coaching pants, either insulated ski-type pants or yoga pants--no jeans, baggy pajamas, or rips. You should also be wearing gloves, or at least mitts (fingerless gloves, so you can write if you need to.) Dress like a professional.

Some general guidelines
All skaters need clothes that breath (i.e. nothing made of that parachute cloth stuff), that you can move in, that doesn't obscure vision, and that fits properly. It's mid November (northern US) in an ice rink: 24º or 28º right at the ice surface, and 45º to 50º three feet up. It's just not that cold out there, so you don't need 2 snow suits (yes, I had a tot once where we couldn't figure out why he couldn't move. Turns out his folks had put him in TWO nested snow suits.) Snow pants are fine on very young children, but no one needs a parka, which are almost always 4 sizes too big, and are way too warm.

For beginner and recreational skaters a good rule of thumb is three layers on top and two on the bottom-- so a tshirt or camy, a long sleeve* cotton shirt and a heavy sweater or sweatshirt (no hood), or athletic jacket. On the bottom two pairs of heavy skating tights and a skirt, or one pair of tights with long pants. Freestyle skaters, with the single admonition of modesty, are going to know what's comfortable for them.

Careful with yoga pants, which have wide bells that can catch blades. Pants in general should just hit the floor, or about an inch above, in bare feet. Pants that puddle in bare feet are going to be dangerously long on the ice. They also need to be mid-rise or hi-rise, because low rise pants create cleavage at the other end. As I've said before, you would not believe the number of children's butts I have had the misfortune to see. (Just don't even get me started on the concept of low rise pants on people with no hips, but that's a different blog.)

If your child is skating in class, s/he should be wearing gloves. Not giant padded mittens, but just those stretchy things. Padded mittens come off, and they are MUCH too warm. Don't get really fuzzy ones, which can stick to rough ice. Gloves are not so much for warmth (as I've said, it's not that cold), but for safety and comfort. Kids who fall with no gloves will often refuse to attempt to get up on their own because they don't want to put their hands down on the ice. If they do, they run the risk of another child running them over with a blade, which will cut them. It happens all the time. Gloves don't stop this from hurting, but do stop the injury. Just tell your child it's a rule. Children respect rules.

Your best guide to dressing properly is not aesthetics, it's common sense. Dress for November, and think about hazards you're likely to encounter on the ice.

***

* Shameless self-promotion. Don't forget about the contest! Think of a t-shirt slogan or design and send me an email! Details here: http://tinyurl.com/XanboniContest

Back on the ice

2012-01-14T08:30:00.000-06:00

First, I have to do the Adult Whine.

"Two broken ankles! Broken toe! Haven't "skated" in four years! So much weight gain!"

Okay, got that out of my system.

Seriously it wasn't that bad. First day I could not do A-NY-THING. Moving mohawks? Not gunna happen. Left three turn? Nope- no alignment over my left side. (I actually knew this, it's a result of not doing the physical therapy after the bad ankle sprain last year.) Spirals? Yeh. Power warm up? Pant, pant, pant.

But second day out it went quite well. Instructor was someone I taught with for two years, who didn't remember me (because I'm so forgettable? I love 20somethings), which was actually good, because then I just looked to her like a decent adult skater, instead of "she coaches????"

I think much harder even than the actual skills is the feeling, as an adult onset skater (or any athletic pursuit) that you're making a fool of yourself. Another coach who is an adult skater told me that she never skates anymore because she's afraid her less than optimal skating will be judged (and she has, or had, an axel!) When she wants to skate, she goes way out of her way so that no one knows her. I know the feeling.

I watch skating so much, I know so much about it, and am so often on the ice, that I sometimes forget what I cannot do. It's in my brain; I know exactly the body position needed, but somehow cannot make my body do that. The muscle memory and old joints fight the knowledge base, with a little help from the old fear factor.

Last week, after the first session, I wasn't sweaty and the next day I wasn't sore. Yesterday I broke a sweat, and this morning I'm pretty stiff, which means I put some effort into it. And lo and behold, when I didn't hold back, I skated better.

The young coach, at whom I rolled my eyes a bit when I saw her, was actually good with adults--knew when to stay out of it, and when to step in. She kept the class just at the edge of slightly too hard, so you pushed yourself without feeling incompetent, and knew how to adjust the various moves for the many different levels of competence present.

We'll see how long I can keep this up. I'd like, I need, both for my teaching and my self esteem, to be as good as I used to be. Maybe there's a Bronze test in my future after all.

Skating moms--don't worry, I'll get back to writing about kids pretty soon! Thanks for indulging me with the adult stuff this month!

All this work and you still suck, maybe you need a new coach.

2012-01-07T07:30:00.000-06:00

Or maybe not.

But something isn't working. How do you figure out what it is?

The single biggest reason that skaters don't improve is that they don't do what the coach is telling them to do. With kids this will be about skating more, and using practice time effectively. With adults and older teens who are "stuck" it's even more basic; these skaters are often afraid to do motions that the coach is asking for-- it feels wrong (you want me to turn my shoulders how?) and they always have excuses (here are some of the ones I myself used yesterday-- "I was injured, I used to be able to do that, I haven't skated in a class in years, I've never been able to do that, I'm afraid").

While there are many good reasons to switch coaches, your own lack of progress is seldom one of them (although not never, read on!). Here are some things to do when faced with this situation:

Listen to the coach
If the coach is telling you that you need to do A to get to B, then you Have To Do A. This means if she says "more speed or you won't be able to do this skill" believe it. If she says your hip isn't open enough, then your hip isn't open enough. You cannot blame the coach for your lack of progress if you're refusing to do the basics that lead to that skill.

Listening to the coach will also help you understand if the problem is that the coach is not listening to you. If you are having trouble with a specific skill, and all the coach keeps saying is "lift your free hip" over and over, then there are two things going on: first, you're not lifting your free hip, but second, the coach is not giving you the information you need to understand what that means. A coach who's trying to help you get the skill will find multiple ways to say the same thing. A coach who has written you off, or checked out, will just say the same thing over and over.

Do what the coach is asking, even when the coach isn't there
This might mean writing down the coach's criticism, word for word.

Practice with a friend
You'll tend to skate better if you feel like you're a little on the spot.

Ask the coach why you aren't progressing
My guess is the coach will look at you like you're crazy, because you probably are progressing more than you think you are. But if you feel this way, the coach deserves to know. Maybe because you've been holding back, he's been holding back. Maybe he's been focusing too much on a skill that's difficult for you, out of both his own and your frustration with the skill. Talking to him about it may help him find a new way to teach it, or may help him think of something to teach you that you'll pick up quickly and build your confidence.

Take video of your lessons and practices
You'll notice two things-- you look terrible, and you look great. First, video always demonstrates that you don't look the way you think you look. You aren't 19 anymore. But you'll also see that in fact you're doing the skills that you think you can't do. It will also help you see what the coach sees. In three months, tape the same moves again. Compare them; have you actually progressed after all?

Parents--ask for progress reports
Ask the coach for a regular time to talk about your skater when there's no time pressure, and the skater can't hear you. Use your judgment as to whether to share the content or even the existence of these conversations with your skater.

For girls who stop progressing
Do some unannounced drop ins on the coaching sessions. I hate to say it, but girls will respond to inappropriate touching, suggestive language, bullying, or emotional abuse by withdrawing emotionally. I would like to emphasize that it might not be the coach, even if the coach is the one getting the brunt of the reaction. It might be others in the skating "family"-- monitors, other skaters, even other coaches, the management. Bullying was an enormous problem at the Ice Rink of the Damned while my daughter was growing up there. I also feel very strongly that if a child says that they don't want to skate with Coach A anymore, you should listen. No point in paying a coach that your child dislikes.

So now you've concluded that it isn't, or isn't entirely the coach's fault. I'd give it another 4 months before making a change. Let the coach know that you're frustrated (or your skater is frustrated), but you want to make it work. Get "specialty" lessons in the problem skill from a second coach which the primary coach recommends. If after four months of honest effort on both parts, then maybe make a change, with the original coach's help. I cannot be the only coach who places her students when they want to change.

Here's "St. Lidwina" on reasons not to leave a coach.

Have you ever "saved" a coaching relationship?

Figure skating and homeschooling

2012-01-06T15:06:00.005-06:00

Well, I've never done this before, but this is just so brilliant, I have to send you to someone else's blog:

A home school skating test.

(Companion post)

So which is it--is home schooling good for figure skaters, or is figure skating good for home schoolers?

My skating goals for 2012

2012-01-01T09:47:00.001-06:00

I won't call them "resolutions" although I suppose that's what they are, but here's what I want to do this year. The first one never made it onto the list, because it happened already. I'll be working as the main on-ice coach for North Suburban Special Recreation, in their "SPICE" program (Special People's ICe skating Experience). I'm very excited about this opportunity--it's tailor-made for my skills and interests. Here's what else is (with hope) happening in 2012:

Launch the upgraded site on WordPress
Target date January 15, but it depends on my designer, whose computer blew up about a month ago; she just got back up and running this week. They two sites will exist side-by-side for about a month, and then we'll switch over to WordPress entirely.

Register Xanboni as a USFS Basic Skills program
I'm not part of a skating school anymore but I'd still like to give my students, most of whom also don't skate within an established program, all the bells and whistles, and most importantly the stickers offered by this program, as well being able to do the tests for them. (And yes, regular readers will know that I like ISI better, but they won't let me register unless I'm an entire facility. And while my hips are wider than I'd like, I'm not quite that big yet.)

Keep Xanboni Homeschoolers going
My home school program filled right up, and I've got nearly everyone re-upped for the first session of 2012. I had two classes for the first endeavor; my hope for this is to fill 4 classes. I also need a summer home, as our current rink closes at the end of May.

Start Xanboni Adults
If you've ever sent me an email, and you're in Chicago, watch your in-box for a survey about the best way to do this. Either daytime at an indoor rink or Sunday afternoon outside!

Skate
I've signed up to take a class with my old friend Liz. It's been four years and 2 broken bones since I last really skated, so this should be, um, interesting.

I've cheated a little bit, because all of these things are in progress. Thanks for a GREAT 2nd year of Xanboni.

Let me know what you're doing in 2012, and keep those post ideas coming!

Why are they just skating around in circles?

2011-12-26T09:30:00.000-06:00

"St Lidwina" recently overheard a conversation between a couple of moms and a coach, wherein the moms were complaining about the warm-up, in particular that the skaters "weren't learning anything."

While this was a freestyle class, if you're at a rink with learn-to-skate classes of 30 minutes you're not observing the phenomenon of the "free skate" at the beginning of class. But at longer classes, and in all free style classes, there will be a period of anywhere from 5 to 15 minutes, where the skaters are "just" skating around in circles.

Why are they wasting your money?

Warm up
Coaches have not arranged for this just so they can wait for stragglers (we don't, as a rule), catch up on gossip (that's what Facebook is for), or stand around with our thumbs up our asses (too hard to reach). Warm up is an actual thing, and it is important to get you physiologically acclimated to the cold. In an ideal world even learn-to-skate kids would warm up off ice by jogging or doing calisthenics for 20 minutes, then spend 5 minutes getting their skates on, and would then step onto the ice ready work.

Excuse me, I'm back now.

I was laughing so hard I had to stop typing for a minute.

Now I have to say, that the leisurely gossip stroll that passes for class warm up (at least with the teens) is also not ideal, but it is having some salutory effect towards actually warming up one's core, which is what you want. And the little kids treat it like public session, so they're getting a really good benefit out of it.

Just skating
Regular readers of this blog know that I'm a big proponent of just skating. I love when learn-to-skate level kids go to public session and just skate, without having to worry about "practicing." You get a lot of benefit from just skating, plus, every now and then we need to leave those kids alone. Let's sport them 5 minutes where no adult is telling them what to do, or making them have "quality" time. How about throwing a little wasted time into these poor, over-scheduled kids' lives.

Five minutes of pointless skating is going to affect their ability to get into Yale, and,assuming $90 for a 10-week class, I think you can afford the prorated dollar that is the value of those 5 minutes. Skip your visit to Starbuck's one day every 3 months to make up for it.

Who needs help?
Warm up is also a time for coaches to watch and see whose skates are poorly tied, who needs gloves, or an extra jacket, whose mom needs to be told to please get out of the doorway. Has a coach forgotten her lesson book or the box of toys or stickers? This gives her a couple of minutes to go and get it. Is there a particular issue with some skater that mom needs to tell the coach about (leave early, getting over a cold, new glasses, here for a make-up, not going to be here next week, whatever). The mom gets to tell the coach now without cutting into lesson time.

Group warm up
A lot of rinks will do a brief group warm up as well. (Or not so brief. The Ice Rink of the Damned has freestyle warm ups that can go on for 40 minutes or more. No wonder no one can learn an axel in class.) This is an opportunity for skaters to push themselves. The lower level skaters will try to keep up with the skills and power of the high ones, and the high skaters will suddenly realize that those little shorties are getting good and they better deliver or they're going to look pretty silly. It also allows the coaches to introduce patterns and skills that aren't going to be taught in class. Also, notwithstanding that we're not waiting for the stragglers, it does give them an opportunity to sneak in.

Kids don't need to be "learning something" every waking second, and unless you're inside that skater's head, how the heck do you know whether they're learning something or not?

Instead of complaining about the wasted time, ask a coach what their warm-up philosophy is, or just ask your skater if she enjoys it. That's worth its weight in gold.

Who do we talk to?

2011-12-21T07:41:00.000-06:00

I'm a squeaky wheel. I also like to know stuff.

Which is a problem when you're a new skater or skating parent. Skating culture is very insular--people hoard information. Further, since so many people in skating have skated literally their entire lives, they often do not understand how mysterious it can seem to neophytes. If you unluckily stumble onto a rink with a poisonous culture like we did, they take your questions as evidence of either stupidity or overreaching, which discourages the inquiries. (And will punish your child in subtle ways in retaliation, not kidding.)

People are sometimes afraid to get information from rink management or the clubs, because they're afraid of looking stupid, they're afraid of retaliation, they're afraid of stepping on the coach's toes.

So they: Ask the Coach, Ask the Gossip Moms, hunt the blogs, try to navigate the USFS site, the PSA site, the ISI site, the CanSkate site. (Which doesn't seem to have a parents' page? Can this be right?)

And you end up getting the not-always-accurate info you need by the seat of the pants.

But each of these places actually have people whose job it is to talk to you. Remember to go in with an open mind, don't snark at them right off the bat; assume they are there to help you, which in fact, they are (unlike local rink managements and club leadership, where that is not always the best assumption you can make). Here are some people to contact:

Susi Wehrli-McLaughlin (swehrli@usfigureskating.org)
Susi is the Senior Director of Membership at US Figureskating. She's also very accessible, extremely interested in your needs as a coach, skater or parent, and very responsive to issues.

US Figure Skating Parents Committee
They've just introduced a Parents Committee Facebook page. The website has email addresses for contacts in every region. If you're concerned about your inquiry blowing up in your face, contact the chair, or someone from a different region.

Professional Skaters Association
While this organization is set up for coaches, parents and skaters can also get trustworthy, confidential advice from this organization. Plus, they're in Minnesota, and you just can't believe how nice they are. I think they put something in the water up there. For coaching issues, try talking to Elizabeth Peschges (epeschges@skatepsa.com)

Randy Winslip at the ISI
This guy knows everything there is to know about skating in the US. While the ISI website is an utter nightmare, their staff is terrific. Randy's email is randy@skateisi.org. If the ISI conference comes to a town near you, or just for a vacation, go. (They usually take place in vacation destinations like Florida or Las Vegas.) They always have sessions for and about parents and you'll meet a lot of people who have no stake in your child's or your career, so they are trustworthy to talk to.

Nationals
If you're a competitor, Junior Nationals and the US Figure Skating Championships (which after this year will be one and the same), have seminars for parents and skaters. And I'm betting you don't have to be connected with a competitor to go. If you're at Nationals as a spectator, or they're in your town, call up Susi and ask her if you can attend any of the sessions for parents.

The worst thing you can do as a parent, and especially the parent of a legitimately competitive skater, is to get all your information from a single source. If your coach feels threatened by you trying to get information from people other than him, my advice is to start questioning everything he's telling you, because unless he's feeding you bullshit, why should it matter?

Long story short: educate yourself. Meet other people. Get out of the rink!

Skating party etiquette

2011-12-15T17:00:00.000-06:00

I love skating parties, for birthdays, holidays, and family get-togethers. Skating parties work great for mixed-age groups, and provide ready-made activity, which if I recall from kids skating parties is an enormous boon.

However, they come with their very own set of management and etiquette issues. Here's some things to keep in mind.

The guest list
Dry-land parties are easy--you invite your friends, go somewhere out of sight (i.e. away from school or office) and don't worry too much about the peripheral social circle. But if you have a skating party at your regular rink, you come up against the problem of the "skating friends." Some of these people are actual friends and some of them are just training mates, or even more casual in their acquaintance. Problem is, your kid spends a LOT of time with them.

There are a couple of solutions:

Don't hold the party at the home rink. That way people aren't there to get their feelings hurt. And it's simple courtesy to not talk about parties around people who may not have been invited, so it's a good teaching moment for younger kids too.

Invite only, and ALL skating friends (for instance everyone who takes from your coach) Then have a smaller, close friends party or sleepover for just 5 or 6 non-skating very close friends. These friends might or might not also come to the skating party. This commits you to two parties, of course, but it avoids the hurt feelings at the rink.

Invite who you want, and hold it where you want
Don't worry about the people whose feelings are hurt because a casual acquaintance has a party without them. If you accommodate them in this, they're just going to find something else to complain about.

The Synchro Team
If your child is on a synchro team, and you have a skating party, the issues get stickier. You don't want the party to become an unscheduled team practice; you don't want the team to overwhelm the non-team members who are also there. Plus, your kid may not get along with everyone, and may not want them at her party.

If you invite half the team, you have to invite the whole team
This is a common grade-school rule to keep kids from feeling left out of birthday parties. If half or more of the class is invited, you have to just invite the rest, because there's no way some child is not going to feel really bad about being left out (especially if it's 20 out of 24 being invited).

No synchro skating
You really have to have a no-synchro rule so the team doesn't take over the ice, but if a lot of the team is there, schedule some time for them to do a short exhibition (if you're renting the ice. If you're on public, no exhibition).

Non skaters
You don't have to avoid non-skaters at the party. Hire a pro to teach willing beginners some basics (including adults), and have plenty of engaging off-ice activities so that the ones who really don't want to skate can feel included in the festivities. If there are some very young children, have pushers or cones available.

Show offs
There are going to be some very good skaters at any skating party. You want to police them as little as possible, but gently make sure they're not making the lower level and non-skaters feel inadequate, or hot dogging around on the ice. You can also ask them to do very short, prepared exhibition numbers (again, if you've rented the ice; this won't work on public); this is especially nice if the birthday child is one of the show-offs. You could even set up an impromptu exhibition with the non- and lower skaters, asking the Pro you've hired (for her full rate, please), to put together a little group number with anyone interested.

Parents
Yes. Lots and lots of parents on the ice. More so than regular parties, skating parties are better with lots of adults.

Even if they are non-skaters, or beginners, adult presence on the ice will ipso facto keep the show-offs and the hot doggers at bay. You'll also want some parents in the party room and in the lobby at all times for the non-skaters, bathroom breaks, and bumps and bruises.

How much skating
Time on the ice is generally spelled out in the rental agreement. Most rinks have party packages that include a set number of pre-paid rental skates, a certain amount of ice time or public skate passes, possibly a pro, and a party room. Make sure you leave enough off-ice time for cake and presents!

Renting vs. public
Facilities with multiple ice surfaces, especially if they have "studio" (small) ice, often have very reasonable rentals. This is the best way to do an ice-skating party. You have lots of control because your group is the only one on the ice. This is the best way to do larger parties, say more than 12 families/kids involved. For smaller groups, public skating can work just fine. Some of the best party fun happens on weekend public when there are 4 or 5 or 6 party groups there all at once, and they find each other--you'll get all the skating birthday girls bonding.

How many is too many?
The number of people on the ice, at a well-run facility, is going to be limited by the rental agreement. For a studio-sized rink this is generally 40 to 60 people. If you're doing a party for 60 people, you're crazy, but that's just my opinion. Groups of 6 to 8 kids, with fewer adults supervising, can do well on a public session, and it's also a lot cheaper.

This is a great time of year for family skating--think about making it a party. Bet you didn't know Grandma could spin like that!

The Xanboni Store and a giveaway!

2011-12-13T16:20:00.000-06:00

Last edit on this post! The winners of the give-away are:

"Barbara" who commented today, wins any item under $22 at the Xanboni Store
"Helicopter Mom" who commented on the Nov. 15 post, wins the Ice Halo.

Please send me your shipping information to coachxan@xanboni.com. Everybody else who entered, head on over to Ice Halo* or the Xanboni store for those last-minute gifts! Thanks to my friend Bree who drew the winning tickets, as well as John and Nga Jee who witnessed!

Xanboni on Cafe Press!

Check out the "Hail Peggy" long-sleeve t-shirt! More products (and a nicer web design) coming in the new year.

EDIT!

One more chance to get in on my "100,000 giveway." (Also announced here.) Leave a comment below and you'll be entered to win any product valued at under $22 at the store, or a child's medium Ice Halo™ in camouflage fleece. Leave a comment by noon Wednesday, 12/14. If you already left a comment at either of the prior posts, no need to comment here, you're already in the hopper!

*Mention Xanboni for 5% discount. Disclosure: I do not receive any remuneration from Ice Halo, although they did send me a free pink fur Ice Halo, which is very very cool.

Involving your family

2011-12-11T17:08:00.001-06:00

A reader tells me

I started skating a few months ago, with lots of practice, plus private lessons. Since I'm able to get to the rink on my own mom has never really watched me skate. For some reason, she seems really uninterested in my skating--she hasn't even met my coach! Do you have any ideas on how to get my mom involved with my skating?

Here's some ideas:

Adult presence required
Ask around your home school group if you can do a once a week half hour "baby sitting on ice" with younger children, either ones you already babysit for, a local homeschool network, or the younger sibs of friends. You could even ask the rink if you can post a notice. Charge them or not, your call, but I would suggest $3 per kid, plus the cost of ice and skate rental (if you get 5 kids, that's a nice chunk of change). Tell your mom you're not comfortable doing this without her on the premises; she doesn't have to skate.

Impresario!
See if the rink will allow you to set up an exhibition. Again, you could ask around a home school network if you're home schooled, or open it up to skaters from the rink, or just ask around to see if any of your friends skate. Ask your coach to see if the local synchro team would like to be your headliners, or if she's got a high level skater who'd be willing to show off her program. Your mom might have friends who used to be skaters and might like to show off a little as well. Municipal rinks might even donate the ice for this purpose if it's in the middle of the day when it's just sitting around empty anyway. Your school or home school might give you some kind of service learning credit for something like this; my own daughter arranged an exhibition her senior year.

I need your help
You could also just tell your mom flat out, "I really want you to come watch me skate, would you come once a month and see how I've progressed"? Or even ask her to "test" you--make up a little skills sheet based on the ISI levels and have her check off what you've learned.

Coach insists
Tell the coach you want her to discuss your progress with your mom every couple of weeks.

Ice shows, local competitions, and exhibitions
Signing up for the ice show, competition, or the rink's exhibition (with your own solo program) is a sure fire way to get family and friends to learn about your skating. ISI and Basic Skills competition sounds scary, but in fact they're a lot of fun, even for beginning skaters. A good coach can come up with choreography that makes even a Pre Alpha skater look really good. Don't worry if you "can't do anything." Non-skaters find a simple glide completely miraculous, especially if it's accomplished by someone they know, who they didn't know skated!

What have you done to get your family involved in your skating?

Adults and training intensity

2011-12-04T11:00:00.000-06:00

I started skating seriously at the age of 37, although I had gone through what I think was probably the equivalent of Freestyle 2+/3 in college (this was before ISI had codified the levels, that is how old I am). Then I didn't skate for 17 years.

When I started skating again, I didn't "train;" I skated a few times a week, and took a couple of classes. It wasn't until I decided to do USFS tests that I really started thinking about it as "training."

So what exactly is "training" and how does it differ from simple improvement? How does it affect goals, and how does it affect that broken-down, over-scheduled, overweight body that you seem to have suddenly been saddled with?

Training vs. recreational skating
For adults, really, all skating is recreational. Like other hobbies, you can invest a nearly professional level of commitment to it, or you can do it for fun or as a social activity.

The biggest difference between a skater in training and one there just for fun is that the people in training usually have a goal, and it's often time-specific, like a test, show solo, or competition.

I like to define training as

a specific schedule of directed, dedicated activities designed to lead to a time- and/or skill-specific goal. It includes skill development, conditioning and strength training, and happens on a regular schedule, at least some of the time under the direction of a professional.

If you're just skating to keep up with the class levels, and to do your rink's shows, you're probably not training. Even if you're skating every day, you're probably more recreational than training if it doesn't much matter to you when you land that jump or learn that dance, as long as you land it/learn it eventually.

A lot of adults (a lot of skaters in general) slide into a training mode without really thinking about it. Suddenly you realize you're taking 3 lessons, running and stretching before skating, and checking your pulse rate after your warm up, which has now become a serious effort to make you breathe hard.

Why train. Why not just skate?
For adults who are seriously trying to improve their skills, whether it's landing difficult jumps, or dancing with a partner, training mode is a better option, even if you're only skating a couple of times a week. If you think of yourself as training, you're not only helping your skating, and your health, you're helping your brain to take this frankly dangerous activity seriously. I see a lot of adults who won't follow a coach's technical advice because it's hard to fix technique, and they think that what they're doing is fine, it's not like they're in training, right? So they keep making dangerous mistakes, because they think it doesn't matter.

Training while working
As any adult knows who has tried to have a job, a life, skating, and 8 hours of sleep a night, something's gotta give. For me, it was the job (haha). It was after I left my downtown executive position to teach and run my consulting business that I finally found time to train properly. Other adults sacrifice the 8 hours--I see a lot of serious adult skaters on really early morning ice. I'm talking the 5 a.m. and 6 a.m. sessions. When I worked downtown, I gave up lunch in the winters so I could go skate at the nearest outdoor rink, a 10 minute bus ride from my office.

Starting when you retire
This solves the time problem, but brings serious health concerns. Women who start skating hard after menopause should get a bone density scan. If it's problematic, I wouldn't say stop skating, but I would say stop jumping. And don't skip the conditioning and strength training components. For older adults in serious athletic pursuits this is extremely important. Find an off-ice trainer who understands the issues of older adults, and has some familiarity with the specific conditioning and strength needs of skating (for instance focusing on core has opposed to extremity strength).

Health
While you should understand your limitations (asthma, osteoporosis, certain medications like blood thinners and other medical issues do need to be shared with a medical professional), any reasonably healthy person can skate with no more risk than if they decided to start jogging. I actually started skating again because of back problems--my doctor gave me the choice of PT, surgery, or exercise. I told I had been a skater, and she loved it, because skating improves core strength, where my issues were. Sure enough, combined with the PT, this fixed my back issues. It helps a lot that I had a doctor who didn't immediately freak out at the idea of skating (some of them do).

Training will definitely help with any weight issues you have, but you don't have to avoid skating just because you're overweight.

Isolation and confirmation
These two things are the biggest issues with being an adult skater. Find a program that honors adults, with sympathetic coaches and understanding of adult issues. This is easy in an urbanized area, where you have several rink choices. You might end up somewhere farther than you would like, but trust me it will be worth it.

A lot of "good" coaches don't understand the slower trajectory, fear issues and schedule difficulties that plague adult skaters. I have also heard coaches, and I'm talking about coaches who accept adults as students, poking fun at, not only other adults, but at their own adult students. You'll know a program is good for adults if they have a lot of adults, a couple of coaches who focus on adults, and (the gold standard) dedicated "no one under 20" adult practice ice.

If you're in an area without choices, work to make your own coterie. Introduce yourself to other adults. Whenever you see an adult skater, ask them where they skate/train and who their coach is. Set up after-ice kaffeeklatches.

Skating as an adult is incredibly rewarding. I love the dropped jaws when people find out I didn't skate seriously until I was almost 40. Some of my best friends I met through skating.

How do you define training? How do you fit it into a grown-up schedule?

Should PSA membership be required?

2011-11-30T08:30:00.000-06:00

I believe in the Professional Skaters Association.

Especially in a profession that comprises nearly universally self-taught "professionals," an organization that promotes continuing education, defines ethics, and sets national standards is vital.

No membership? You can sit in the stands and watch
PSA, partnering with US Figure Skating, has done an amazing job in the past five years basically forcing membership-meaning forcing acceptance (or at least awareness) of professional standards in teaching, ethics and continuing ed--upon people who coach students participating in the qualifying competitions. They've done this by establishing a credentials system. No membership? You can't get an ID allowing you to coach your student at the competition.

When I started in figure skating, just 13 years ago, and found out about the PSA, most coaches I talked to scoffed at the idea of a professional association for coaches. Thank goodness one of my early mentors was Jimmie Santee, who so believed in it that now he runs the place.

Now, all competitive coaches must be members, and they're working on extending that down to any coach who participates in any way in "sanctioned" activities. (A sanction is permission from US Figure Skating allowing competitors to skate in non-qualifying activities.) This covers local ice shows, programs, and competitions that includes skaters who participate in qualifying competitions.

Which is very nearly everyone.

Easy to sneak around the rules
But it's easy to not be a member. If you don't care about taking your own students to tests or competitions, or if you don't have private students, you don't have to join. I had a coach blatantly and knowingly solicit two of my students; when I called her on it and threatened to report her to the PSA, she smugly told me that she was not a member, so the ethical rules didn't apply to her.

This is how some coaches think--if I'm not a member, I don't have to be ethical.

Many coaches simply have friends who are members sign test and competition forms to get around the restriction. Clubs often don't enforce the credentials rule, especially for older venerable coaches, but or for young coaches if Daddy is a high level coach. Basic Skills competitions can also be very lax, and ISI has no rules whatsoever. I've had to fight off parents at the rink door at poorly run ISI competitions.

Skating directors are even worse. Many of them no longer disparage the idea of the PSA, but I know at least two who think that it is, and I quote, "stupid." Personally, I think if a rink wants its programs sanctioned by USFS, then the skating director should be required to be a member at the very least, and in fact should be required to have either a PSA rating or an iAIM certificate.

So what's the downside?
For elite coaches--the ones with the $125+ an hour fees and multiple students at Nationals, PSA membership makes sense. It professionalizes the job, and weeds out the less serious coaches. It protects you from solicitation at the elite ranks, where it really counts. Plus, I'm betting that a lot of those coaches are having at least some of their fees covered by their programs.

For class coaches, maybe taking Suzy to a couple of local competitions a year, the benefits are less clear. The continuing education requirement is the main benefit, although nearly every coach I know considers it a burden and a joke. If you're not rated (the closest thing we've got to a degree in skating) the education requirements are extremely minimal-- 3 open book on line courses. Cheating is endemic. And the cost is considerable-- I once calculated that all my memberships and requirements cost me 2 months pay.

If PSA wants to be relevant down here at ground level, they need to have programs that help coaches and skating directors in local programs. Support for unionization would be a nice start, or rating rinks according to the professional credentials of management, with real downsides for non-compliant programs. Better scholarships for participating in continuing education, based on skating income and not on household income. Extending the annual awards to local instructors, instead of just to coaches with a national profile.

I don't know what it's like up there in the Yuka Sato stratosphere, but down here in the trenches the profession is a mess. Rife with poor management and incompetent instructors and plagued by low pay, completely absent any sort of employment benefits like paid sick or vacation days, pension or health care, you only do this if you love it. We need PSA so that at the very least no one in the profession can hide behind purported ignorance, or, like my colleague, claim that ethics are for the suckers who join.

As the Professional Skaters Association starts requiring more compliance with its rules, it needs to increase benefits to the vast majority of people in the profession.

Etiquette in group lessons

2011-11-25T21:30:00.000-06:00

We've been talking about proper behavior in private lessons for coaches and kids (although not so much parents--stay tuned!)

But the vast majority of skaters don't take private lessons. They skate in classes and on public ice. So what are some etiquette pitfalls to avoid for classes? What are common missteps on the part of all parties?

Coaches
Arrive on time
Especially at rinks where several class levels do a joint warm up, there can be a tendency on the part of coaches to think that they can just wander in when the "real" class begins. And to some extent it's true. The skaters will not have a demonstrably worse experience if one of the coaches isn't there. But you better believe that the coaches who make the effort to be on time for, and to run, the warm up are silently fuming about your arrogance and lack of professionalism. Further, if you are off the ice because you're out in the stands soliciting privates and generally shmoozing the parents you'll be lucky not to find your tires slashed.

I don't even have words for coaches who arrive so late that they miss part of the actual class session. Oh, wait, sure I do. Arrogant. Disruptive. Unprofessional. Childish. Rude. (And, with any luck, Fired)

Be part of the warm up
Don't stand on the boards gossiping while someone else does all the heavy lifting

Treat your students, and their families, like they matter
Seriously? You can't learn the names of 15 kids in 8 weeks? Here's a clue--take attendance. Greet the parents at least a couple of times during the session, even if you're sure they aren't going to take privates. And, hello. Can we stop with the racist asides? "Oh they're East Asian. Why do these people even try, they don't know how to skate." (actual quote) How about not telling adolescent girls they're too fat to skate? (Another true story). Here's a good one--everyone in class paid the same price. Not just your students. Not just the "good" students. Everyone is entitled to instruction.

Stay in your area
Know where on the ice your class meets. Make sure your kids stay in their area and don't wander into the neighboring class. Use traffic patterns that keep everyone safe, moving, and engaged.

Kids
Arrive on time
It is no less arrogant and disruptive for the students to be late than for the instructors. If I see you sitting in the lobby and you can't be bothered to get on the ice for the beginning of the warm up, I shouldn't even let you into the class. Now, sometimes the kids don't have control over this; if your parent or your school makes you late, call the rink and ask them to inform the coach. (Seriously) If you can't, then apologize to the coach and the class when you do get there.

Be part of the warm up
Aside from being important for health reasons, it is simply rude to consider yourself above any part of the instruction. If you're not going to participate, please don't come.

Be respectful of the coaches
You are the student. Your opinion on technique, choreography, class management (except in the case of a violation of #3, above) is not salient to the moment. If you have a serious disagreement, bring it up, respectfully, outside of class, and in a way that does not challenge the coach's professional authority. This means not whining to your mother because the coach told you that your language or dress was inappropriate (you can tell I'm talking about teens here).

For younger students, the ice class should be treated like a classroom. This means no wandering off without permission, engaging in the activity presented, and no talking when the coach is talking. You know, all that "everything I need to know I learned in kindergarten" stuff.

Share the ice
Especially in the warm up, remember that this is class, not Sunday afternoon public skate. This means you're warming up, not socializing. No hotdogging. No getting on and off. No food. No gum. Watch out for the little guys and the beginners.

Parents
Arrive on time
Sigh. And don't sign up for a class that you know you will be habitually late for, or absent from. This is not rocket science.

Don't be part of the warm up
Sit down. Take a load off. Better yet, help keep the rink open by going out to the snack bar and spending some money. Do not under any circumstances stand by the glass, or worse yet in the door shouting at your child. If your child is too young to handle a class without you standing right there, then they are not ready to be in class. I have had parents stand in the door yelling at their child to pay attention to me. Well, they would be, if you weren't standing in the door yelling at them.

Let the coach be the coach
Don't tell them how to do their job. Don't tell them what your child is like*, don't assume miracles the first day. Accept evaluations; please don't go to a different coach for an evaluation if you don't like the outcome from the class coach. This undermines the coach among his colleagues and teaches the child a very bad lesson. Plus, it will give you a rep that you don't want.

*Special needs
Please please please please tell the coach if your child has been diagnosed with a special need. Tell the coach exactly what it is, but don't expect a class coach to be an occupational therapist. If there are specific physical, pedagogical or therapeutic needs then this needs to be shared and dealt with before the child steps on the ice. Municipal rinks are generally required to provide an aide for special needs kids, and some coaches, like me, welcome and are trained for them. But we need to know upfront to optimize the experience, not only for your child, but for every child in the class.

On the other hand, do NOT tell the coach this unless you have a medical diagnosis.

I know your child is special. They're all really special. Good manners helps everyone honor that.

Review: The Forgotten Art of Skating Etiquette

2011-11-18T14:38:00.001-06:00

I purchased the new DVD published by the Professional Skaters Association, The Forgotten Art of Skating Etiquette. Complaints about skating etiquette are probably in the top 3 queries here--along with coaching changes and, lately, weeks-long discussion on underwear (just kidding).

The DVD hits all the standard rules: skating patterns, spin area, right of way, off-ice behavior. It talks about neatness, avoidance of cliques, proper attire and coaching suggestions. It's got some nice bits of humor and the kids in it clearly had a lot of fun making it. There's a great scene of a locker room tantrum, someone violating the 5-second rule (yuk), and a dreams-of-glory moment when one skater pushes another one over on the ice. We've all wanted to do that.

The host is a young woman with a sincere delivery (although she needs to learn how to use a teleprompter without looking like she's reading) but I would like to see a host with more gravitas. Specifically, I think Jimmie Santee, the Executive Director of the PSA and the writer of the DVD, should have been the host. It would give the whole thing more a tone of "I'm sick of reading the grievances about shit that could be fixed with a little courtesy and common sense." The younger, unknown person leading the DVD just makes you think of some sweet new coach who, gosh, just wants everyone to get along, 'kay?

Some of the common etiquette lapses it misses is dealing with divots, lefty skaters, and high and low skaters sharing practice sessions. It also entirely leaves out group lessons. I guess we don't have to be nice to each other in group.

It also doesn't address non-collegiality among coaches. I have seen coaches deliberately stand in the line of sight between another coach and her student; talk on cell phones during lessons, ignore class skaters whom they do not teach in privates, ignore private lesson students if their star student is also on the ice (or worse, ignore their own private student to watch and discuss someone else's star). I've seen coaches stepping off the ice to go talk to a parent (of another coach) or to talk to parents during a group class that they're supposed to be teaching. I've seen group lessons in the lutz corner on practice sessions (in fact, large group lessons on practice ice at all), and coaches who refuse to discipline their own skaters, including a coach making jokes about one of their skaters injuring someone. You get the idea.

Not to mention trolling innocent bloggers.

What's missing from the script is any suggestions for fixing a program where etiquette has given way to every-skater-for-herself. Having just left a program like that, I can tell you, having everyone watch a DVD isn't going to fix problems. Every coach and high level skater I know understands these rules. The PSA should be helping coaches and programs with ideas to fix problems internally, and should be stating how the PSA can support coaches and skating directors who try to clean things up.

The package would also be stronger with printed materials-poster-sized print outs of the suggested practice patterns that are used in the video, and blank sheets for rinks to create their own (the practice pattern at my rink, for instance, is slightly different than the one proposed). A small booklet with the common-sense rules from the video would also be a nice addition; or even several, so any coach buying this could give one to each of his or her students.

This video is a great idea, and PSA is exactly the right institution to promote it. I call this a great start. The content needs to be more comprehensive, with some print extras, and it needs to be backed up by an actual project of the PSA to improve courtesy on the ice.

Finally, at $15, this 10-minute video is a little pricey. I think the PSA would better serve the problem--the increasing loss of civility and common sense on practice sessions--by simply sending these out free to every coach in their membership as they renew. That way, everyone in the industry would know that the PSA is serious about returning collegiality to the rink.

How do you quit?

2011-11-14T09:38:00.000-06:00

No, this is not more drama about the rink. This is about how young people move on from the intensity of training.

Even serious recreational skaters train at a level and in a way that is very different from other youth after school activities like student government, drama club or team sports. If you've been a competitor it's even harder, because you're also giving up prestige, and a great big chunk of your identity.

A reader asks:

How do you help your child leave the sport? Mine has started talking about it in a very calm way recently. I think she is concerned she will lose her identity and her friends, but she just does not have the same drive she used to and never seems happy to go to the rink anymore. I feel like I am taking her to some after school math session every day. Only this one is really expensive.

The organization Team up for Youth, studying girls in team sports found the following:

"While many girls play sports in their younger years, most drop out during adolescence. Why? Research shows that girls may face overt or subtle pressure from their peers and families to ‘feminize,’ or to take on responsibilities (e.g. studying, taking care of younger siblings) that prohibit their continued participation. One researcher describes adolescence as “a social and developmental Bermuda Triangle” in which girls “lose their assertive, energetic and ‘tomboyish’ personalities and become more deferential, self-critical and depressed.”* The girls who continue to play through adolescence and beyond are usually those who have developed an athlete identity. Being an athlete is a part of who they are. These are the girls who say, “I am a basketball player!” rather than, “I play basketball.” These are the girls who see sports participation as a non-negotiable.
(full pdf here)

With girls in solo athletics like skating, tennis, skiing, et cetera, the change is even more fraught, because of the competing social scenes. People at school may barely be aware that the student is even an athlete. My own daughter tried to participate in after school activities in high school, only to be told that no absences would be tolerated for non-school sports. She eventually simply shifted her entire social identity to the rink, but other students may find that they feel pressure, either internally or externally to make the opposite choice.

Skating adds another dimension, because a lot of people don't consider it a sport, and/or don't consider recreational skating to be a worthy pasttime. Some equate recreational skating with failure. The single most-frequent question we would be asked when people found out my daughter was a skater was "oh, have you been to nationals?" This from people who had no way of knowing the answer was "yes." Society doesn't assume that every high school football player is going to the NFL, but this is a common misperception about figure skating--that it happens only at an elite level.

The thing is, there is very little downside to either choice. The tricky part is finding your way through the morass of emotion that is the adolescent, especially adolescent girls. As the reader asks, how do you support this decision?

I'll add a corollary as well--how do you support the decision to stay? This can be just as difficult, because of the social demands on adolescents, and because of the more demanding training as you increase your level. There are issues as well even if the skater just wants to keep skating--there is a lot of contempt among some coaching staffs for kids who plateau, even the ones for whom that is a choice (adults get this a lot too).

I'm going to pull a page from the late great IceMom here, and throw this back to you. How do you help your skater make the choice to stay or to go, to improve or to plateau?

How good is good enough?

2011-11-08T08:54:00.001-06:00

A reader asks:

Should you enforce perfect technique at lower levels (and hence hold people back until it is perfect) – or should you accept that there are differences in acceptable technique depending on your level? My local rink has started insisting on proper technique for even for the lowest levels, such as properly bent skating leg and properly extended free leg for the outside curves (UK or USFS Basic Skills Level 4, ISI does not have a corollary to this), rather than passing them if they can just hold the edge properly for a set time. What they seem to want is the easier moves at the lower levels to be done at the standard they would be done by someone who had passed the top levels.

So what should a passing standard be?

All the curricula: ISI weSkate, USFS Basic Skills, UK Levels, and CANSkate, have very specific descriptions of passing standards for each skill, right down to "fall and get up" and all the way up to triple axels. Here's an example for the edge skill above, from the USFS Basic Skills book:

Forward edges held two times the skater's height, right and left forward outside. The edges are skated while moving in a circle. After balancing on two feet, begin the edges by placing the skating side arm and shoulder forward with the free shoulder held firmly behind. Pick up the foot on the outside of the circle and glide on a forward edge in a balanced position over the skating side for two counts (instructor will count)[NB- I gather for the UK, the skating foot must be held back in a stroking position]

Pretty specific and clear.

If I had my preferences, a strong skating director willing to hold the line with parents, and a culture that supported it, absolutely, every single skater should be held to the standard. There is a reason for it, namely that the next skill up (cross overs in this instance) requires mastery of the prior skill or it will be too difficult. I'm working with a hockey skater right now who has never been required to balance on one foot. Needless to say, he's having difficulty keeping up in games and drills.

I know that there are rinks that are able to hold the line, but this is what happens out here in reality:

Blame the Skating Director
This is where it starts. If the skating director caves when a parent complains, rather than backing up her staff; if she lets one coach pass according to that coach's standards (this also happens with coaches who are too strict; it works both ways), then your rink effectively has no passing standards.

Blame the Coach
This is the number one reason why rinks start getting reputations for poor skaters and low standards--coaches don't care enough to hold a kid back. They pass a kid on because they don't like her or because he's a disruptive student (not kidding). They pass their own students up, sometimes skipping multiple levels, as a marketing ploy, or to consolidate all their kids in a single level for their own scheduling ease or ego-gratification. Some coaches are just incompetent, and don't understand the passing standard, or can't teach it properly. Coaches should not be allowed to skip students without an objective panel, preferably comprising people who don't know the coach OR the kid, agreeing to it (even in recreational programs).

Blame the student
Each of the curricula have about 6 to 9 skills to master per level. Often, a student will perfectly master all but one of them, and I'll tell you it is really hard, in a recreational class situation, to not pass a clearly superior student because their t-stop sucks even though you know it's going to come back to haunt them.

Blame the program
Sometimes the student will be just skimming the passing standard--they need 2 more weeks, not 3 more months at the level. This can be dealt with by splitting every level in an A, B, and even C sub-level, but not all programs have the creativity or will to do this. As far as I'm concerned, this is the obvious solution--you feel like you're passing and you get a little ego boost. Rinks don't need to have entire separate sections for the As, Bs, and Cs; they can all be in the exact same class, just working on the skills at a different standard. Which brings us to...

Blame the curriculum
Rinks routinely divide up the cross-over levels (Alpha and Beta, or Basic 4-5-6) into sublevels, but for some reason stop doing this at the higher levels, which is just mystifying. If rinks would divide FS5 (Axel) for instance, into as many as four sub-levels, kids would not be complaining they are "stuck" because they'd be passing something. This would get rid of the parents' complaints that a child couldn't pass. It would allow softy coaches to pass a student who's just too cute to leave behind.

If the reader's rink or federation has decided enough with the fuzzy passing standards, good for them. I hope they can hold the line.

Why does it matter how I look

2011-11-06T08:00:00.002-06:00

The recent posts on What to wear and What not to wear sparked a lot of debate, mostly along the lines of "why should it matter." I've written about this before, but it bears repeating.

This is a huge issue with figure skating and the other artistic sports, gymnastics and dance. Strangely, in the most artistic of them, dance, the body-type restrictions have started to be overcome through such forward-thinking companies as the Joffrey in Chicago, whose founder specifically sought out non-typical body types. They have had squat, and heavy, and bosom-y, and most notably non-white dancers in the company since their founding.

Inevitably when following a Twitter discussion, or just listening to the live media comments, at some point someone will bring up the costumes. If I had a dime for every time Dick Button mentioned that so-and-so is "a beautiful girl" I would be a rich woman.

These sports rely, for both scoring and enjoyment, on how they look. The problem comes when we overlay cultural definitions of beauty onto the successful execution of the skills. This is not the same thing as costume. For me, I want costumes to be neat, I want hair to be simple and safe, and I don't want to see undergarments, even on very young children.

The bigger problem is that while we consciously get indignant over costume--as one commenter put it "why should my daughter's undewear have anything to do with her skill"--we are unconsciously not even considering the fact that the judges are selecting, through gamed scoring, for specific body types. While judges tend to be pretty fair in testing situations, I maintain that even at the lower levels they will favor the look over the skills, especially when all other things are equal. The thin, flat-chested pixies start getting held up because judges like thin, flat-chested pixies.

We had an amazingly talented skater at our rink who grew a beautiful, full bosom in her mid-teens.

At which point her coach told her she was done, because she was now "too fat." Trust me, the ONLY fat on that girl's body was in her breasts. She still had the jumps, she still had the art. But her coach, and the judges, decided she didn't look right, and that's how they scored her.

I maintain that Rachael Flatt is a perfect example of someone repeatedly criticized not for her skating, but for her body type. A lot of the discussion was "no one knows how to dress that girl [to hide her sloping shoulders and thick middle.]" But what was meant was that she didn't look like our image of a skating champion. I really believe that consistent underscoring by judges was a way for them to get rid of this young woman who just didn't look right.

A generation ago they did the same thing to Surya Bonaly and Debi Thomas, who had the audacity to be black. The irony there, of course, is that the person who beat Debi Thomas at the Olympics was Katarina Witt, whom I used to call "hope for fat girls everywhere." Sometimes the talent really does trump the look. But like women in the board room, they had to be head-and-shoulders better than the sylphs they were beating.

The unfairness of this is maintained by the scoring system--where there is a tie (rare in the IJS but common under 6.0)--the performance marks break the tie. If the technical mark broke the tie, as it should, you would start seeing a wider range of body types, and probably more consistent skating as well, as skaters and coaches started realizing that they couldn't rely on the more subjective component (i.e. the artistic) score.

Children should not be fat, but frankly if we stopped excluding the fat ones from praise for taking part in the beautiful sports, maybe some of them would start feeling like they could be fairy princesses on the ice too.

I still don't want to see their undergarments, by the way.

Master Rating in Recreational Skating and Beginners

2011-11-01T08:03:00.010-05:00

No, there isn't one.

But there should be.

I've been struggling ever since I received my Senior Rating in Group Instruction from the Professional Skaters Association, about whether I should continue to the Master Rating.

There are compelling reasons why I should: personal satisfaction, confirmation of the levels I've achieved, the necessity to really stretch myself and my abilities in order to achieve that level.

But there are equally compelling reasons to stop at the Senior Level. Senior Group takes you through Freestyle 4/PreJuv Moves skills, which is also the level up to which I've taught a lot. At FS 5 and up I simply haven't had the face time that gives you glib comfort with the teaching techniques (and you need to be on point and very very glib and articulate at the Master exam). Part of this is cultural--most rinks operate on a seniority level, and I don't have the seniority to get assignment to these classes. Because I never tested these levels, to qualify for the rating I need to have a minimum number of hours teaching them. Some rink managers, supporting my desire to increase my skating knowledge and teaching ability, might be inclined to help me out by assigning these classes, but on the other hand, they have no obligation to accommodate my unusual needs when there are plenty of already-qualified instructors at hand.

Further, I don't really want to teach FS5 and up. It's neither my interest nor my strength. And in order to take the rating, I need to teach these higher levels, which would reduce the teaching time I'm able to devote to my first love: the beginners.

However, that Master Group rating is really the only Master level available to me. There are no other PSA Master levels that make sense for either my teaching goals or my personal satisfaction, or that I could qualify for based on my test history or students.

So where do I go?

I would like to propose the Master Rating in Recreational Skating and Beginners. This would encompass private and group instruction, some program director skills, knowledge of equipment and promotion, as well as some child psychology and pedagogy. It would cover all low disciplines: tots, learn-to-skate (thru the equivalent of USFS FS5), low dance, beginning hockey (including rules of play), low couples, speed skating, and team skating like synchro and show numbers. It would encompass both group and private instruction.

In other words, all the types of classes you would find filled at a typical recreational program.

To qualify for this you would need ratings up to the Senior level in two other disciplines, of which one must be one of the group disciplines (i.e. Registered Moves plus Senior Group, or Certified Group plus Certified FS or Senior Synchro plus Certified Choreo). The rating would have just two levels--Senior and Master.

There is a pervasive attitude among figure skating professionals that if you don't teach the highest levels, you aren't a good coach, or a "real" coach. This would be understandable if skating was like other youth sports, where parent volunteers make up most of the beginning coaching cadre, some with no training or credential other than that they played themselves as kids. But figure skating programs pride themselves on having professional staffs.

Since the vast majority of skaters are in the recreational and beginning levels, wouldn't it make sense to have a Master rating specializing in this? And in case anyone from the PSA is reading this, I would be thrilled to serve on the committee developing it.

Do you feel that a coach's PSA rating, and the discipline in which they are rated, makes a difference to their teaching and to your program?

The Hail Peggy

2011-10-29T07:51:00.001-05:00

To be said before stepping onto the ice at any competition:

Hail Peggy, full of grace.
Dick Button is with thee.
Blessed art thou among skaters,
and blessed is the fruit of thy womb,
Sasha.
Holy Peggy, Mother of Figure Skaters,
pray for us spinners,
now and at the hour of our death drop.
Amen.

What not to wear

2011-10-26T08:29:00.002-05:00

VPL
We actually used to mark down for "VPL" (visible panty line) during auditions. No granny panties under a skating skirt, mkay? Skating tights have cotton crotch linings for a reason. If your squeamish child really cannot bring herself to not wear underpants, please get her "grown up" underpants (i.e. french cut or thong. They have these for 4-year-olds now. I'm waiting for the first thong diaper). If you really don't want grown-up panties on your 8-year-old, then make sure her skirt is long enough to cover the goods.

Skirts should cover your butt cheeks
Shorter is not better. It's unattractive, and unprofessional. I don't care how cute your butt is. In fact, I don't want to know how cute your butt is.

Stationary breasts please
Your bouncing bazongas are extremely distracting. Please wear one of those sports bras that actually offers support, rather than a single layer of the mush 'em flat variety, or worse, nothing at all.

NO breasts please
There's an awful lot of cleavage at ice rinks these days, from girls as young as 12. Don't their mothers see what they're wearing? Even ice dancers cover their breasts, and they barely acknowledge the concept of "fabric".

Laundry detergent
Use it, please. Do you send your kids to their piano lessons, or school, dressed in the clothes in which they have been playing in the mud? (caveat--freestyle skaters who come every day may wear the same tights for several months. Just don't stand too close to me.)

Competitive version
Illusion that isn't illusional. It's supposed to be the same color as your skin, otherwise, what's the point? If your competition dress has illusion from your mid-winter flesh tone, you cannot get a tan during the summer unless you replace the illusion. Corollary--skating tights and illusion need to be the same tone.

Flappy things
I keep thinking your costume is falling apart.

Coaching version
Please, young coaches, do not teach in a practice dress, with your butt hanging out, or skin tight skating pants. Are you trying to teach, or impress the dads in the stands?

UPDATE! Boys
The crotch of your pants should be at, well, your crotch. The waist belongs at your waist. It looks stupid enough when your jeans would pass for clown pants. Your floppy bits shouldn't flop either. Get over the "leotards are for girls" and put a leotard bottom on your shirt so that it stays tucked in.

Also? I don't want to see your underwear either.

A response to "Master"

2011-10-25T14:29:00.008-05:00

Earlier today, several comments were made on the "Skatism" post that are libelous and untrue. I feel the need to respond to this in order to reassure my readers that my credentials are real and that I have never misrepresented myself as anything other than what I am: An adult skater who discovered a passion and talent for teaching this marvelous sport, and has worked hard to achieve the credentials I need to pursue this profession.

Your daughter Nora never even competed regionals, much less the "national" competitions you claim she has.

Nora competed in Ice Dance at Regionals, where she qualified for and skated in Junior Nationals 2006. She never competed, nor was interested in competing, in singles at the qualifying level, nor have I ever claimed this. Also, leave my daughter out of it, please.

“She passed only up to freestyle 7 and took a few USFSA test. “

Nora passed her ISI FS8 test and then stopped testing ISI. She has passed the gold USFS tests in Moves, FS and Dance, Intermediate Free Dance, and one international dance (Silver Samba). This is a matter of fact and record, easily confirmed. Also, leave my daughter out of this, you pig.

"Xanboni" tried to pass her USFSA Master Rated in group class test several times. oh and i left out she failed the test SEVERAL times

I have not yet attempted the Master Group rating although I have attended the PACE seminar at the Master level twice. I passed Registered, Certified, and Senior Group all on the first try. Again, this is a matter of record. Feel free to have your attorney contact mine for a copy of the documentation. I would be happy to have PSA, ISI, and USFS send letters with my entire skating history on them.

I am flummoxed by the vitriol exhibited here, and would love to know why this person feels the need to try to destroy my career and my credibility. If this person had the courage to comment with their name and contact information, like many of my commentors do, I would consider these falsehoods to be actionable.

I'm just trying to live my life here folks. I'm trying to share my passion, and inform parents and skaters so that they don't have to keep reinventing the wheel, or the ice rink, as it were.

I am extremely concerned about this apparent hatred, as my daughter and my students continue to skate with my old program, where I assume this person is from. It was to protect them from this sort of vitriol that I cut all ties with the program, including finding new coaches for all of my students. This was a wrenching decision, as I was part of that program for nearly 20 years, as a parent, student, and coach. If I learn that anyone there is targeting them in any way, I will consider legal action.

Skatism

2011-10-24T07:00:00.000-05:00

(with apologies to Wikipedia)

Skatism, also known as skating discrimination, is the application of the belief or attitude that there are characteristics implicit to one's skating background that directly affect one's abilities in unrelated areas.

It is a form of discrimination or devaluation based on a person's skating ability or level of training, with such attitudes being based on beliefs that what you knew or could do at the age of 17 is the most you can ever hope to achieve. The term skatism is most often used in relation with discrimination against adult-onset skaters, especially those who desire to teach, in the context of high school as peak experience, or against recreational and low-test youth skaters in the context of also having a life.

Skatism involves hatred of, or prejudice towards a class of skaters as a whole or the blind application of skating stereotypes. Skatism is often associated with coaching-supremacy arguments, and in peer-group dynamics.

In philosophy, a skatist attitude is one which suggests human beings can be understood or judged on the basis of the essential characteristics of the group to which an individual belongs—in this case, their skating group, as former competitors or high test skaters, as opposed to, um, everybody else. This assumes that all individuals fit into the category of skater or non skater, and that this is the only useful defining characteristic.

Occupational skatism refers to any discriminatory practices, statements, actions, etc. based on a person's skating background that are present or occur in a place of employment. This can manifest as wage discrimination, seniority assignment, access to choice class levels, exclusion from high-status groups, etc.

At many rinks, skating discrimination – i.e. the unequal treatment of equally productive individuals only because they belong to a specific group; or the favoring of non-productive individuals because they belong to the "right" group – is still a crucial factor inflating disparities in employment, participation in program activities, and the quality of job and skating opportunities. While employment and youth-sports rules generally require that individuals participating under the same job or program description be treated equally, in practice this is difficult to enforce.

Have you encountered skatism at your rink?

What to wear

2011-10-22T06:53:00.001-05:00

In about a month, everyone with a skater or potential skater is going to be hitting the stores, looking for holiday gifts. And one of the main things they'll be getting is clothes, because man do they have cute stuff for skaters these days. Here's a guide on what you should be wearing, whether gift-giving, or just to know.

Tots
The biggest thing that tots need is comfort. It's cold, slippery, and mom is inaccessible. They don't need need pads or elbow pads or giant mittens. The little stretchy mittens, a long sleeve shirt and a light sweater, plus jeans or sweats and snowpants, is a good outfit for a beginner in the 3 to 5 year old range. Don't put them in big bulky jackets as it's too hard to move. Don't tell them they are cold, or that they are going to be cold. It's not that cold in an ice rink if you're properly dressed.

Yes, I like to see tots in well-fitting, flat-back helmets (skateboarding helmets are the best).

Older Beginners
Long sleeve shirt plus sweatshirt or warm sweater, pants in two layers--tights plus sweats or jeans, or leggings plus sweats. Again, light gloves, not bulky mittens (mittens are too warm, and it's hard to hold hands). Younger children are fine in helmets or a soft or padded hat. Please don't put your 6-year-old or younger in low rise jeans (whoever came up with this concept was an idiot). You would not believe the number of baby-butts I see in a week.

Learn to Skate levels, especially tweens
You're going to start getting agitation for the cute skating clothes at this level, and your degree of indulgence is entirely up to you. I like to see kids deliver the goods before they start dressing like skaters, i.e. mastering the first jump is plenty of time for the Chloe Noel pants. In the meantime, your upper body and gloves are the same as the prior two levels--long sleeve shirt plus sweatshirt (a zipper one is good at this level, for easy removal if they get warm), and stretchy gloves. Tights plus workout pants are great; you can get perfectly adorable yoga pants in any size at Target, for a fifth the price of the ones at the skating shops. Personally, it makes me insane to see some Delta or even low freestyle skater in $150 worth of skating clothes, especially when parents then turn around and complain about the cost of lessons. That's 5 privates or two 10-week class sessions that kid is wearing.

Freestyle
At this point, your skater is committed and needs to start dressing the part. Hair combed neatly and pulled into a high ponytail. Yoga or skating pants, or skating tights and dress (you can get inexpensive ones at resale or a Big Box store, or specialty ones at a specialty skating store). Skating pants are usually a little longer than ordinary yoga pants, or come with stirrups or other skate-specific details. Let your budget and frou-frou tolerance guide you. But at freestyle the coach needs to be able to see the line of the skater's body, so body-skimming styles are best.

Some places to get nice specialty skating clothes are Rainbo Sport Shop, Chloe Noel, and Seku Skatewear (my favorite, but oy, the prices).

Years ago at one of the rinks I work at there was an unspoken rule that only freestyle girls wore skating skirts. As time went on, younger and younger, and lower and lower level girls started wearing skating skirts. Low and behold, the high level girls all started wearing pants instead. Now everyone's in pants. I'm waiting for the high level girls to reassert their preeminence and switch back to skirts any day now.

What do you like to wear, or to put your kids in for skating? What are some places to go for good skatewear?

The gag rule in action

2011-10-20T09:41:00.006-05:00

As you know, I had to release all of my students last week because of moving to a different rink. All of them wanted to stay at the Rink Which Shall Not Be Named, so they started looking for new coaches.

I got lots of calls from friends saying, "hey, Parent X called me about skating with Precious, is that okay? Also, what's going on?"

To review, what I call "the gag rule" is supposedly a protection against solicitation, defined as actively seeking to subvert a coaching relationship by suggesting a student move to a new coach. The Professional Skaters Association and USFS apply this rule rather broadly, encompassing pretty much all conversations around changing coaches. In other words, if a parent/skater is unhappy with their current coach, this rule makes it very difficult for them to quietly try to test the waters elsewhere, because other coaches are required to report the conversation to the current coach or face sanctions.

It apparently works, because several people called me.

Or maybe I just work for classy parents.

What will be interesting is to see if any of my students end up with coaches other than these, who followed the letter of the law and called me, highlighting another weakness of this rule: you have no way of knowing if someone is talking to your students unless they choose to self-regulate. In other words, in the hands of the unethical, the gag rule doesn't work, because they won't call. In the hands of the ethical, you don't need it. (Two of the people who called me are not members of the PSA and therefore not subject to this rule.)

As an opponent of these anti-solicitation measures, I appreciated getting these calls, but would not have faulted the coaches for not calling me. I would have liked calls from the parents,which I didn't get in every instance, because you should ALWAYS talk to your current coach once you've made the decision to move (okay to hunt around behind her back when you're deciding whether to move, but once the decision is made, common courtesy demands direct contact with the old coach).

One of the difficult things about bad situations like this one is having your convictions run right up against your emotional needs--I needed everyone to flip that place a giant bird and quit en masse. But my coaching philosophy says the most important person in the equation is the kids--their need for stability, adults who put their needs first, and a safe place to learn and have fun.

Get over yourself

2011-10-18T07:39:00.002-05:00

I had to quit my job.

Right now, it looks like I won't be finding another one. Whether this is the economy, bad timing, or a vast district-wide conspiracy to keep me from teaching I don't know. But right now, I won't be doing group classes.

I not only quit, I don't ever want to walk through that door again. Since that isn't practical I gave my students the option to stick with me at the old rink until the end of the session, and then to follow me to a different rink. No one took me up on it. They are all staying at the old rink, and looking for a new coach.

I actually expected this. I have seen it before, when coaches have gotten fed up and moved to a new place. Sometimes coaches float the threat "give me my way, let me get away with my bullshit, or I will take my toys and go home." One coach tried to move the entire synchro program. They always end up backing down, because in the end, parents are looking for location and convenience, and kids want familiarity--to be with their friends at a place they know.

However much you think your kids and their parents love you (and they do), in the end, they will make the economic choice, and seldom the one from the heart.

As a coach, you have to be able to accept this. People move on. Yes, I wish my kids would follow me, in fact I wish the whole staff would follow me, because nothing will get better there if people don't start voting with their feet and their wallets, but in the end you have to make the choice that works for you and your family. I reached a tipping point where the unprofessional behavior of certain members of staff and management became intolerable. My students were not at that point, and frankly what affects me does not affect them.

Here are some tips if your coach moves to a different rink:

Don't send the coach emails about how upset the kids are. If the coach needs to leave, she needs to leave, and you adding guilt to what is probably already a difficult decision is just pointless and mean. (This is not the same as thoughtful emails or calls explaining what you are going to do. It's the ones that start "Mary just cried and cried when I told her." I can't tell you how helpless that makes me feel.)

Don't talk to another coach without alerting the old coach FIRST. The old coach is going to know you're looking, because the gag rule requires that the new coach tell her. Further, if your coach is leaving, as I am, because of intolerably unprofessional behavior from coaches or management at the old rink, and you know this, don't you think you'd like to know who to avoid?

Don't talk about the change to anyone at the rink. This is how career-damaging rumors get started, particularly if there is bad blood which has forced the coach's hand. If anyone asks what's going on, the correct answer is "she had another opportunity" or "she decided to make a change." Don't feed the gossip mill.

This is one of the hardest things I've ever had to do. I stayed as long as I did because I couldn't bear to leave my students, and because I kept thinking I could effect change from within. This turned out to be an idealistic fantasy.

In the meantime, I'm hoping to have a soft landing at a new facility, or to set up my own mini-skating school through a local home school network. And of course, I'll keep writing. What would you do without your Xanboni?

Have you ever had to leave an intolerable (for you) situation? How did you handle it?

Heatmolds and hollows and blades, oh my!

2011-10-15T07:23:00.005-05:00

My favorite excuse for poor skating is "blame the equipment." Seriously. Especially for adult skaters, you feel so incompetent out there, even though in your dreams you're Peggy Fleming, sailing etherearally through a misty forest in a flowing white dress (true story). It simply must be the ice surface, the mold, and most especially the skates and blades.

You're stuck with the ice surface, but I'm going to help you choose a boot and a blade that will keep you from being able to blame them (sorry).

First a word about brands. Brand is important in figure skates, even low-end figure skates. I've never seen a no-name brand that I could recommend. (This includes the ones they sell at L.L.Bean. These are the worst skates on the market.) The brands to look for in the States are Reidell, Jackson, SPTeri, Klingbeil, and Graff (help me out and let readers know 1-who I'm forgetting, and 2-any Canadian, UK, or Aussie brands that I don't know about). I know that the first three make recreational-level skates. Don't worry about blades yet (more below).

Beginners:
Boot and blade set. A lot of adults swear by what I call "comfort skates"-- those recreational skates that look like sneakers. If you're a brand new skater these are probably your best bet, although some adults (cough*me*cough) find that they don't feel like they're giving you enough support. Try a few brands--Reidell and Jackson brands are fairly easy to find.

For children 6 or younger a beginner recreational skate like Jackson SofTecs are the only way to go. Standard figure skates are very uncomfortable for a child used to sneakers 2 sizes too big. Children this age have an easy time switching to standard skates after a year of skating, and it's simply not worth the barrier of uncomfortable skates. Older kids I would put straight into standard beginner skates like a Jackson "Mystique." Kids over the age of 6 are going to understand the concept of fit better, and also tend to learn faster, so you want them in a skate they can wear through several levels of skills.

Freestyle
Higher level boots are stiffer than beginner boots, because jumps require more support. They will tend to have a higher shaft, although this is changing with a lot of high level skaters choosing a cut-down back so they can point their toes. And this is the single most misunderstood aspect of skates. Skates are padded at the sides of the ankle to support and minimize lateral movement. You want to be able to bend your ankle forward, very very deeply. High level skates actually put in things like "scallops"--little cut outs, sometimes as many as three, so that you can bend your ankle in a stiff skate. The thing for recreational skaters to remember is that it takes a lot of muscle power to "break" a skate like that-- i.e. to get the ankle to bend properly. Put a 60 or 80 pound Beta-level child in a high-level boot and they will simply not have the weight or strength needed to bend their ankles properly, which certainly affects how well they skate, how comfortable the skates are, and can also lead to injury.

Let your budget guide you--you don't have to spend a thousand dollars on skates, although you can; there are excellent choices around $200. Think of it as comparable to the cost of a decent bike.

Blades
Factors in blades are: toe pick, hollow, and radius.

Toe pick
Get a toe pick appropriate to the jumps you are doing. No jumps? Beginner blade with a small, high toe pick. Beginner jump? Beginner blade like an MK Pro, Wilson Majestic or the blade that comes on a skate like the Jackson Freestyle. Again, talk to a skate technician and be honest about your skater's level and ambition. Don't put a class-only skater in a $400 blade.

Hollow
The hollow is the curved area between the edges. You can get it in different radii, from 3/8" (very deep/sharp) to 1" (very flat/shallow). Unless you're a really really serious skater, don't worry about it. I mean it. However, the technician who sharpens your skates does need to understand hollow. Never never never get your skates sharpened by anyone except a certified technician. Don't go to the local bike shop that bought a machine because they thought it would be a good sideline. If the nearest sharpener is farther than you want to travel, ask around your rink--often the high level coaches will have their own machine and be trained and skillful at this, and will not charge any more than the skate shop. And seriously, you do this twice a year, maybe 4 times if your kid skates a lot (a skater can get 40 to 60 hours of skating out of a sharpening). It is ridiculous to risk ruining a $100 blade to save six bucks or to avoid a half-hour drive.

Rocker
Again, don't worry about it until you're ready for your first pair of expensive blades. The rocker is the radius of the curve that the blade is cut on; i.e. a blade is basically a little piece of a circle of either 7 feet or 8 feet. An 8-foot rocker is a little flatter than a 7-foot rocker. Beginners tend to like the 7 foot one better, although it really doesn't matter which radius you use, at any level. You should know the "profile" of your skate (basically the silhouette), but the specs don't matter that much--they all work, and the depth of the hollow and radius of the blade are entirely personal preference. Again, your skate technician needs to be able to tell which radius your blade uses-for instance, hockey blades use a very large radius, with a sharp curve at the toe and heel. If your technician doesn't know this, and doesn't reset the machine for figure skates, you're screwed (this happened to a large group of the rental skates at my rink--they sent the figure skates to a technician that gave them all a hockey grind--took the back of every blade right off. Sadly, when I pointed this out to them, they had no idea what I was talking about.)

Never put a beginner (through Gamma) in a freestyle blade. A beginner blade has a toe rack with all the picks roughly the same size, and starting high up the rocker (curve of the blade). A freestyle blade will have a larger top and bottom pick, and the whole rack is farther down the rocker, i.e. closer to the ice. The time to switch to a freestyle blade is whenever the child outgrows the pair she's wearing around Delta or low freestyle. Freestyle skates come in both boot-blade sets, and separate boots and blades.

If you buy separate boots and blades, the blades can often, but not always, be used through a couple of size changes in the boots. Talk to a skate technician at a specialty skate shop to determine whether your old blades are appropriate on your new boots.

Used skates
If you're a beginner I would simply not buy used skates from your neighbor, friend, Play-It-Again Sports, or that nice mom at the rink. You don't know enough about it. I cringe every time I see some 6 year old PreAlpha skater in a freestyle blade and heavy boot. It's like putting a new rider on an Arabian dressage horse instead of a pony. Not safe, and not fun. If you get used skates, get them from the specialty skate shop

A lot of information. How do you choose?
You can do your own research--there's tons of advice on the web. But a better way to do it is to ask a coach or a specialty skate shop. Give them your budget and your skating level, and they'll be able to steer you to a good skate. A lot of coaches will simply recommend the boot and blade that they like; this is fine. As you progress as a skater, you'll get more knowledgeable and start being able to make your own choices--my daughter skated in SPTeri's for years because that's what I wear. Then one day, about the age of 14, she decided, more or less on her own, to try another brand, and now she's a dyed-in-the-wool Reidell advocate.

A lot of coaches, even high level coaches, do not educate themselves about skates, but their advice to just buy the skate they like is still probably fine. The Professional Skaters Association, strangely, requires knowledge of boots and blades only from coaches taking the Group Instruction rating; it's not part of the Free Skating, Dance, or Moves exam, which seems utterly bizarre to me, but of course, they don't ask me.

Long story short? (Or as they say now in web parlance tl;dr-too long didn't read) It's a good idea to understand all the techinical aspects of boots and blades, but not necessary to end up with a decent set appropriate to your level. Talk to your coach or a specialty shop and you'll end up with a decent boot.

It needs to be said

2011-10-10T06:33:00.007-05:00

I wrote this last year:

Some skating relationships become abusive, either emotionally, financially or I hate to say it physically. If your child complains that she feels uncomfortable with a coach's physical presence, end that relationship immediately. The coach may not be stepping over any lines, but the child's discomfort is crucial. A child's unwarranted discomfort with a coach can ruin an innocent coach's career. Better to simply end the relationship before things get out of hand.

Sometimes, the coach is physically inappropriate. If you suspect this, please go to your child's doctor and have her interview the child. Do NOT go to the skating director first. The skating director is legally obligated to report suspected abuse, but may not have the proper training to identify it. This is how careers get ruined. Better to go to a physician, who is also obligated to report suspected abuse, but has the training and background to interview the child and recognize the signs.

It bears repeating every now and then.

I would like to emphasize that you do not need proof to remove your child from a suspect situation. The child's discomfort is enough. If you cannot, or will not, ask someone for help, don't worry about it. Just get your child out of the situation and make up an excuse (schedule, cost, your rotten kid, whatever).

A larger problem is that sometimes the abuse is hard to see. You may pass inappropriate touching off as necessary coaching--correcting a position, hands-on. It may be subtle from the stands, but enough to discomfort the child.

Physical abuse is not only sexual; I have heard of coaches pinching, pushing, and tripping students, or forcing them to continue practice when they are clearly too tired or hurt.

It may be emotional--I had a difficult conversation with a coach just this morning, who simply would not let me talk. Every time I tried to voice my concerns (about another matter, not about abuse), and tried repeatedly to end the conversation, the coach simply talked over me louder and louder, eventually resorting to calling me names and questioning my right to teach. This is emotionally abusive behavior, and is another bad sign--if a coach treats a colleague like this, imagine how that coach is treating helpless children. Be concerned.

I have actually witnessed coaches telling kids that they'll never be able to skate because they are fat. (Sometimes these kids are not by any stretch of the imagination fat.) I am ashamed that I did not immediately call this coach on it.

Here's the advice my doctor offered:

Pay surprise visits to the lessons. Don't sit in the stands every time. Come and go, on no set schedule. And remember, a coach who tells you that you may not watch lessons needs to be put in his place-- whether and when you watch your child is not his call.

Ask the coach about actions that bother you, directly. "Why do you need to touch her like that." He may have a perfectly good explanation, or may not have realized that it made the child uncomfortable. Once he knows this, a good coach will pull back on even the innocent physical contact, so that the child does not feel uncomfortable.

Ask the child occasional, non-leading questions: "How was Coach today?" If the child says "coach is mean" explore that. It might just be that she made the child work hard. Children are reluctant to voice discomfort with adults, but conversely are easily led into the wrong answers. Make sure your mind, and your questions, are open.

Financial abuse takes two to play. A coach cannot get you into a financial situation that you cannot handle without your collusion. Don't let a coach add lessons that you can "pay for later." Don't agree to lessons or extras that you cannot afford. Set a budget and stick to it. Know how much you're spending (even if you're hiding it from your husband). Never never let a balance build up.

If you find out years later that there was physical or emotional abuse in the past, and this coach is still teaching (and is therefore still at it, almost certainly), then you have a dilemma. You cannot confront the coach with years-old allegations, but you cannot morally allow him or her to continue to get away with it.

I'm open to suggestions on that one, because it has me stumped.

To compete or not to compete, that is the question

2011-10-06T12:23:00.004-05:00

There's one at every rink--a fantastic skater who can't win a competition because the jumps just aren't there. Maybe she falls, maybe the jumps are small, or underrotated, or she doesn't have the doubles, or the triples that she needs.

One skating mother asked me whether it makes any sense for a skater to quit competing and focus on the skills for a while instead?

It depends. It would be impossible to make a blanket judgment, but in general I would say, no. A skater who wants to win competitions, who wants to go to Nationals eventually, needs to keep competing.

However, at the developmental levels (through Novice), competing, and especially winning, should never be the focus of the skating career. They call these levels developmental for a reason. A major club competition like Broadmoor, Detroit or DuPage, a local club competition, and regionals is plenty of competing for a skater who needs to work, to develop, skills. You may have seen the headlines the last couple of years about skaters who have medaled at every level, or won a developmental level twice. This sort of thing makes headlines because it is rare--developmental level skaters--Juvenile, Intermediate, Novice--are notoriously volatile. Skaters move up and down the ranks is wild disarray.

There's a certain value to staying in front of the judges--not just you but also your coach. Your coach is learning what the judges think about you, and getting advice on how to help his skaters develop. Further, however well you jump in practice, putting those same skills out there in competition is a completely different animal.

Being able to compete well is a skill in itself.

Competing is also a good way to get an unbiased assessment of your improvement. Especially with the Code of Points scoring system, you can actually see, by increasing or decreasing point totals, and through the very detailed protocols (which mark each skill in isolation), whether and where you are improving, devolving, or struggling.

This mom is right that preparing for competitions takes away from practice time, especially if the skater is like most skaters with limited time, scarce financial resources, and non-skating interests. The skating world, in fact, divides the year into "Rest, off-season (early and late) pre-season, and in-season." You never never compete during Rest, and you need a really good reason to compete during Off-season. So you should always work a long stretch of time--3 months or more--during the year when there are no competitions to distract you.

One of the things that concerns skaters and their parents is losing time--getting stuck at a level for multiple years. Skaters stay at a level for numerous reasons. Foremost, because in most cases there's no rush. Even if a skater ages out of Juvenile (at 13?) and ends up skating Open Juvenile for a couple of years, they are still competing and improving, and have plenty of time to compete a year or two at Intermediate. Coaches will often hold even a successful skater back if they are young for a level. This has happened with the last 3 Intermediate Men's champions- all in their tweens, the coaches kept them at their level, to allow their bodies to catch up to the maturity needed for the more challenging Novice level. Skaters below these lofty heights can also stay at a level, to bring their repertoire up to par.

How long do you stay at a level, if you're not doing well at it? First, define "well." With Code of Points, "doing well" no longer needs to mean "winning a medal." Doing well can now mean all positive GOEs, or increasing point totals, or full credit for jumps that you used to underrotate. If you don't compete, you're not seeing these very important assessments of your skating.

In other words, winning medals, especially at the lower levels, is not the only value in competing.

Testing out

2011-09-26T09:15:00.007-05:00

You will often hear coaches and skating moms remark, with just an edge of contempt, that a girl has decided to "just test out," meaning try to complete all of her Moves and Free skating tests by the end of senior year.

There's a funny disconnect in the skating world. While everyone acknowledges that an elite competitive career requires a rare confluence of talent, drive, good coaching, time, a flexible school, and money, skaters who can't or don't pursue this are viewed with pity, or, as I say, contempt.

But "testing out" is a worthy goal, the skating equivalent to four AP courses your senior year, or being a Congressional page-- not every good skater is capable of it.

Skaters get to the "testing out" decision for a variety of reasons. They've stopped competing for whatever reason (time, money, lack of success or loss of interest), but want the gold medal (see below for what this means) to validate their effort. They don't like competing, but love skating and want something external to keep them motivated. They want to be coaches, and the test credential can help that. (At some rinks, you basically don't need any credentials to teach, but many rinks and especially clubs require a minimum of an Intermediate Free skating test of their coaches.)

If you decide to test out, you have to factor in all the same measures you would for competing, because in its way, it's just as intense. You don't need a double axel, or any triples; you don't need level 4 skills, but you do need to follow a calendar, perfect difficult skills, be in really good shape, and impress several judges.

How fast can you move through and where are you starting
To get to the Senior Free Skating test, you have to pass 15 prior tests: 8 Moves (thru Senior) and 7 Free skating (thru Junior). If you're already older, say in your Junior or Senior year in high school, and at a lower level--Juvenile or Intermediate--you need to sit down with a coach, make a calendar and figure out a training plan as much as any high level competitor would. A very strong committed skater can do this in about 4 years starting at Juv or Intermediate. If you don't have 4 years, the hill's a little steeper, but not unclimbable. Know yourself, and assess yourself honestly.

All the factors that are there for competitive skaters are also there for these skaters--time, commitment, a lot of hours of practice, cost. You won't need to skate 20 hours a week, like a serious competitor would, but you will need to skate nearly every day, for a couple of hours, and you will need off-ice, especially at the higher levels, where the aerobic demands are considerable.

Keeping the coach on track
Some coaches consider themselves "competitive" coaches, whether or not they have the track record to back this up. As far as I'm concerned, if you're not getting a couple of girls past Regionals every year, and have never had a National skater, you're not a competitive coach; you're a coach who is feeding your parents a line of hooey. (Boys don't count; it's comparatively easy to get a boy to Sectionals, and even to Nationals.) Competitive coaches deliver medals that count. Otherwise you're a recreational coach. Now, there is nothing wrong with that, unless you're keeping your kids from testing, or suddenly pushing them through when they're high school seniors "so they have something to show for it."

If you're 16, in Intermediate, and aren't working on your second triple jump, take a step back and think about whether pursuing the competitive career makes any sense at all. Ask your coach why he thinks continuing to compete at Intermediate or Novice in your Junior or Senior year of high school is the best thing you can be doing with your skating.

To compete or not to compete
Even if you're not trying to get to Nationals, you should be skating in one or two competitions a year. There is absolutely nothing like a competition to bring out the best in a skater. It's a really good idea to compete just before a test, in a non-qualifying competition where they allow you to compete up a level, so that you can skate your test program in front of judges. Find one that has a judges critique for the skater and coach so that you can get a really honest, outside assessment of where you need work.

You have to remember that your goal in competing is not to win, but to polish the program, and to learn to overcome nerves. Especially now with the IJS, that protocols sheet can be brutal; when you're competing a senior program with only doubles, you're going to be at the bottom of the points, but remember, that's not the point. If you get a little starry eyed and start thinking "maybe", coming in last can really sting, even when you know you don't care.

Don't let the test date define your readiness
Even when you're pushing that college deadline, the thing about testing is that there are endless second chances. So don't think "I must take xx test by xx deadline." There's another test in a month. Don't take the test before you're ready, even if the calendar is making you nervous, because the judges will just stop you cold anyway, by failing you, and possibly yelling at your coach for putting out a test that wasn't ready to pass.

A word about gold medals
Yes, you get a little gold medal when you pass your senior test, and you get to call yourself a "gold medalist." This is a little trick to look for on coaching resumes. If your coach's resume says "gold medalist in free skating" this does not mean they won first place at a competition. It means they passed their senior test. "Triple Gold Medalist" is the Everest of Figure Skating-- it means you passed 3 different senior tests, typically Moves, Free skating, and Dance or Figures. It is not, however, to be confused with competitive success. And trust me, every coach who is a failed competitor is calling himself a "USFS gold medalist." In my experience, and I've taught with some really famous skaters, the really successful competitors absolutely never talk about it, either through modesty or embarrassment ("former multiple World champion, now teaching at Rink Nowhere in Podunk, Nebraska". Think about it).

Getting out of your head

2011-09-26T08:46:00.000-05:00

Often, I'll be teaching a skill, offering this bit of advice, or that. I'll review the physics or the physicality of the skill, and talk about dropped hips and opposition, and where you should be looking and your knee action and the relationship of your blade and the ice, and and and and watching the skater get more and more confused.

At which point I'll ask "is your head about to explode?" Skater says yes, I say, okay, forget everything I just said and go out there and do the skill.

Like as not, some of the problems will be gone.

This is what one reader described to me as "getting out of your head." Everyone engaged in complex skills experiences this. Getting our of your head is an athletic skill just as much as the actual skills, and one of the most important. The biggest impediment to meeting goals in figure skating is not talent, or ability, it's giving in to the psychological and social pressures.

So what do you do?

Just skate
You do this because it's fun. Even the highest level skaters don't do it because they want to slog through to the next paycheck. It's fun. So sometimes, go out with no goal in mind, and just skate for the sheer joy of it, even if it's just skating around in circles on public ice every couple of months. Remind yourself that you love doing this.

Think of one thing
Coaches get really frustrated too, when they give a correction, and the skater does not seem to even be attempting to do it, but instead just does the same learned mistake, because it's easy to do it that way. (Believe me, we can tell when you are trying to incorporate the correction.) A skater like this is a little bit too much out of her head (and yes, I like the double entendre), she's not thinking at all. Rather than ignoring all the advice, if your coach has given you three or four corrections, think about ONE of them. Especially in a skill that you've already mastered, focusing on one thing can allow your body to settle in to muscle memory. Try repeating the part of the skill that you're planning to correct out loud before doing it: "I'm going to keep my arm stretched out on the spin entry." This can both focus your own mind on it, and let the coach know that you've been listening.

Find the root problem
Most problems in skating skills come down to a single mistake, usually made early in the set up for the skill. Root problems are very nearly textbook, literally. Abbreviated as CE, these common errors are actually taught to coaches to watch for. See if you can find what this is (and actually I'll tell you what it is--you're rushing the skill. Whichever skill you're having trouble with? You're shorting the entrance edge.) and then fix, even exaggerate that. This is similar to "think of one thing."

Show off
So there you are, listening to your Xanboni and skating on public for fun. Take a friend, especially one that doesn't know how well you skate and show off for them. Nothing like a little ego boost to make you feel good about yourself.

Don't skate
Everyone has observed the phenomenon of someone not skating for 2 weeks or a month, and then coming back and rocking some skill that they'd been having trouble with. There's probably some psychological theory backing this up, but I think at the base, you've just really gotten out of your head.

Skip the hard stuff
If your brain is too full of information about some skill that your having trouble with, just don't do it for a few days. Skating skills, even basic skills, are complex; there's a lot of noise in your head. So rather than frustrate yourself practice after practice, just skip the "noisiest" skill for a practice or two.

This may not be possible for someone who only skates with a coach--either in class or in a lesson, but to that I will say that skating only with the coach is a bad idea anyway. For those who do skate on their own, meet your coach's expectations, but incorporate some of this as well. Remember that unless you are a Nationals-bound competitive skater, you mostly get to control your timeline. If skipping the hard stuff for a practice a week slows you down a little, that's okay.

Practice smart
I've written about this before. On the challenging, new, or boring skills, give yourself a limit and then stick to it. I also do this with very young children. You do the skill xx number of times, and every attempt counts, even poor, wrong, or uncompleted ones. (With skaters known to be manipulative or lazy I change the instruction to xx correct ones, or xx "real" attempts.) Another way to practice smart is to think of practice as a series of nesting arcs--the single practice, the week, the session, the season. Taken to a complex level, this is called periodization, and it can be used not only for competitive training, but also to help recreational skaters stay focused and satisfied.

Skate on your own more
If you're always relying on a coach to tell you what to do and how to do it, you're never learning your own internal language, which leads to all that noise in your head that you're trying to get away from. Be your own skater, know your own self talk, and learn how to think about what you're doing when you're doing it.

What do you do to "get out of your head?"

The Ice Halo®

2011-09-21T08:16:00.007-05:00

I've been wearing the Ice Halo®, generously loaned me for review by the company, for a week. I've been wearing it in all my classes, and did a brief moves practice with it.

I am sold. It's moderately distracting when you first step on the ice, but no more than is a new costume with fussy bits, and I think because the one I've been wearing is fur, that's what I'm seeing. After about 5 minutes you forget it's there. Lots of compliments, because, well, it's very attractive. People would tell me "love your hat" and I would get to say "it's actually a helmet!" Many oohs and aahs. It's a little warm, but I wore it as long as 4 hours at a stretch, and it would just get moderately sweaty; not to the point of distraction or discomfort. This might be different for an extended high-level practice; I would suggest that the company investigate developing a "competitors" version with better moisture wicking.

One of the best things about it is that even if it shifts (which it never did), it's a ring, so it doesn't affect vision no matter what part is forward, unlike a full helmet.

I tested it on as many different types of skaters as I could- "baby" competitors, LTS class and LTS privates, high level multiple rotation jumpers, adults, and coaches.

SF (7-years old, FS3 class) Loved it. Mom loved it. Skated an entire lesson, doing all warmups, moves, jumps and spins. Stayed in place, looked adorable. Class coach thought it was a hat, or possibly is too self-absorbed to actually notice stuff like this. Her private lesson coach was receptive.

SBM (6 years old, Gamma private) Also loved it, and, again, mother also loved it. This is a child who can be fussy and difficult, but she put it on and forgot it was there. It did not shift for the entire lesson. I'm her private coach, so I'm on board. If it comes in turquoise, that's a sale.

Coach Fashionista: gave it 3 seconds, for a 7 year old child in FS2. Not, "let's go around one time and then see", not "hey mom, what's the deal?" Just a completely closed mind. This is going to be the biggest hurdle for this company. I think a coach this closed-minded about it can have a huge effect-even if the parents are adamant about a child wearing head gear (even such innocuous and fashionable head gear as this), the parent is going to lose, because a child will not go against a coach on this. Further, once a coach has made such a fuss about it (the mother described her reaction as "vehement") it's over-that child will never wear safety equipment. I feel bad that the kid lost face over this.

Adult free style class: very resistant, despite the fact that one of them is the mother of a student and was fine with testing it on the child, and that I know this is a group of skaters who really trust me. But they had lots of reasons why it could not even be tested-- sloping forehead, no one else wears it, I don't like fake fur, it's hot, I'll look silly (this after complimenting me on it, so either I actually look silly, or they were just making noise).

SR (very skittish adult, class) Would not even try it, despite the fact that she is clearly terrified of falling. First she complained that it would mess up her hair (the lesson is at 8:30 at night--what, she's going clubbing after this?). Then she decided it would be distracting (mind you she hadn't put it on her head). Unfortunately, the adults were universally the most resistant to it, even though they are the group who would benefit most, as I would venture that far the majority of head injuries I have observed have been adults.

Giordano and Davis (2010 US National Juvenile Ice Dance Champions): After an initial period of distraction, just fine. As I suspected, they felt it was hot, which might be mitigated by using the microfleece. Angel felt she could not do a layback with it on, it didn't feel secure, so this would be a definite issue for a competitive lady. They liked the idea of using these just when bringing new lifts onto the ice.

GJ (5 years old, Delta private, that's her in the picture) 'nuff said. All the 4- and 5-year olds did this. Every. Single. One. Get a skateboard helmet for the really little ones. (NOT a bike helmet--you want a helmet that fits close to the head, with good peripheral visibility and no points, which can force the neck to snap forward.)

Nora (professional skater, my daughter) Like all the high level skaters, she thought it was fine, but couldn't imagine ever wearing it. She ran through spins, jumps and moves and had no problems with anything, including the layback, probably because she was wearing it a little lower on the back of her head. She liked the warmth.

Chelsea (Senior ladies competitor) ditto Nora. All the high skaters who tried it claimed that high level skaters don't need safety equipment, while then proceeding to tell me all the awful injuries they have either witnessed or experienced. Sigh.

Manol (Bulgarian Junior Men's Champion) Like all the boys, he immediately "tested" it, by diving full speed at the ice and banging his head. No apparent effect, but with Manol, a head injury might just look like business as usual.

Stitch (St. Lidwina's kid) liked it, but Coach apparently had an apoplexy over it. He immediately started banging his head against the boards (he's short) "to see if it works."

The Noisyboys really liked it, but were extremely distracted by it, not because it was innately distracting, but because they are very distractable (this could be a general problem with boys and some of the crazier girls; the novelty of it was the main attraction). They also had a predictable boy reaction--punching each other in the head, yes "to see if it works." On the whole, however, their verdict was "yes." They wanted a better fit, but of course I had limited options for them.

Currently, these seem best for recreational skaters, who unfortunately are the least likely to suffer head bangs, at least on a per capita basis. The company would do well do develop lines for rental facilities and ones that specifically address the needs of competitive skaters. For rentals there needs to be a way to overcome the no-hat-sharing problem (because of epidemic head lice in some parts of the continent), especially since these are primarily cloth. Perhaps removable, replaceable (or washable) liners or covers (that's an on-going revenue source too!), and/or a plastic fashion side?

The other difficult hurdle is the coaches. ALL of the older and most of the competitive coaches were not fans, ranging from skeptical to scoffing to actively hostile. The Russians all hated it, and I caught at least one making fun of me. For something like this to catch on, I think the clubs and federations (SkateCanada and USFS) would have to make it required equipment, starting at the lower levels. Nearly every youth sport that you can think of requires safety equipment, in particular head protection, but somehow in figure skating it's anathema (not "pretty " I guess).

So here's the tl;dr (too long, didn't read)--it's a great product. I think it should be required equipment, especially for adult beginners. Buy it.

At this writing, I have not received any remuneration, products for personal use, or promises from Ice Halo.

A word about my home rink

2011-09-19T09:23:00.006-05:00

Over the course of my career, I have taught at five different rinks, skated at another 3 or 4, and have worked with coaches from another 10.

This blog is a reflection of my experiences at all of those rinks. While my home rink necessarily has a strong influence on this blog, unless I specifically say that "this is my home rink" (for instance the Nutcracker posts), no single post is EVER about my rink only, and sometimes it's not about my rink at all.

I believe that there are problems and issues at my home rink, but having managed other recreational programs (not skating) I try not to speculate, especially in such a public forum, the reasons behind specific rink problems that I do not see being addressed. I try not to criticize my colleagues, who represent an amazing well of skating knowledge, although I know that sometimes my frustration will shine through. Sometimes I bring up problems from my rink where I am perfectly well aware of why that cannot be addressed in that context. However, as the blog is meant to have universal appeal, I figure you don't want to hear about our little issues, you want to hear about big issues.

More often, I bring up more universal problems that don't exist, or aren't critical, at my rink, but that I have observed elsewhere, or that a parent or skater has emailed me requesting that I address it.

The especially snarky posts are almost always meant to be humorous, although sometimes I strike a nerve. You can tell, because they will be tagged "humor."

I've worked at my home rink for more than 10 years. ~~If it was all that bad, I'd have left.~~

UPDATE: It got bad. I left.

How dangerous is figure skating?

2011-09-16T04:43:00.001-05:00

from a reader:

I'm always trying to get more folks on the ice, skating, taking a few lessons so they can enjoy skating recreationally (especially in 99 degree weather like we're having now.) I always get the same reply: it's tooooo dangerous.

I get that it's on ice, on blades, and takes a bit more skill then walking and chewing gum, but I think these massive numbers of broken bones and head trauma that people quote just aren't accurate. So what do we tell people?

Why can't beginners skate? It's not that hard!
Seriously, it's not that hard. The number one reason beginners can't skate is crap rental skates. (Number two would be "we found these in grandma's garage! Why are the blades black? Haha! We stuffed socks in the toes because they're 4 sizes too big. But if Precious can't skate it must be the coach's fault!)

Lobby your local rink to care for their rental skates, and to replace them every couple of years. There must be an industry standard on how often skates should be replaced, but I can tell you that at the rinks I've taught at only one doesn't wear skates to the nub. For a while we had a sharpening service that was using a hockey setting on our figure skates, so that they were too curvy, wrong hollow, and ground to a point at the back. It was amusing, in a schadenfreude sort of way, watching the little kids tip over backwards. I pointed this out to the facility manager, who said "oh, there's a difference?" (True story) They did not correct it. 100% of our rental skates are garbage.

My advice is don't take a beginner class. Take the hundred bucks it would have cost you and buy a decent pair of recreational skates, then go to public skating for 6 months. If it's your kid and you don't want to skate with them, hire some skatergrrrl to "babysit" Sunday afternoons at the rink, at a babysitting rate. High school skaters should not be allowed to charge $50/hour to teach tots, anyway. THEN take a class.

*Do* beginners fall? And how many get hurt?
Fewer beginners fall than you might think, and almost all beginner falls are skaters who don't listen, or can't employ, the coach's advice not to "dance" their feet or wave their arms madly when they start to lose their balance. Among beginners who fall vanishingly few get hurt, and vanishingly few of those get hurt badly (concussions, soft tissue tears, broken bones). But if it's you, or someone you know, then that seems like a crazy statement--"well almost no one gets hurt, but my friend got hurt, so the odds must be really high"

Why do people fall on the ice?
Well, it's slippery if you're moving. (It's not slippery if you're not moving. True fact. It is the movement that creates the slip--your blade melts the ice and you glide on the watery interface, i.e. hydroblading-the scientific definition. No movement, no melt, no glide.) And you're on a stiff, curvy metal tightrope. Beginners try to duplicate familiar movements--walking--which doesn't work, or they try to duplicate "skating" like they've seen on tv, attempting to push and glide before they're ready, or they put on hockey skates because figure skates make you gay. But the most common reason that beginners fall is because some idiot is giving them bad advice. Friends tell them "it's easy, do this!" (hard move follows). They want to keep up with their experienced friends. A coach refuses to "baby" beginners "no need to start off the ice, just come out and skate" (I said that in my head with a Russian accent, haha).

What are common injuries?
Far and away the most common ice injury is soft tissue damage in high level skaters. I tore my MCL once and could not get the stupid emergency room to do an MRI. They insisted I'd been skating so I must have broken my knee cap (only knee cap injury I ever heard of was Tonya whaling on Nancy, so I guess that counts as a figure skating injury). I'm pounding away at my knee cap, going "see? Not Broken! I tore my MCL please do an MRI". The other common injury I've observed is adults breaking wrists, because they're afraid to drop and roll when they fall, and instinctively put out their hands to brace the fall. The fact that this, instead of tuck and roll, is instinctive, is in my mind proof positive against intelligent design, because it's a stupid instinct. Heads would be a little ways down the list, but still high enough to count as common. This is why the resistance to head protection is so inexplicable. (Post on a new head protection product coming up next week).

Uncommon are other broken bones, and cuts, although I've seen my share of blade-in-the-muscle accidents, and chin splits are fairly common. This is not to say these can't happen, just that they are rare. I've been teaching more than 10 years, have observed thousands of skaters and off the top of my head can think of only around a dozen hospital-level injuries, most of them intermediate or advanced skaters.

However, common sense and statistics is not going to get the skittish onto the ice. It doesn't matter that it's one of the safest youth sports, or that it's great for adults trying to get back in shape. (I had a doctor once describe it to me as "low impact"- another true story. Yes, I still go to that doctor, she's a keeper!)

The worst thing you can take onto the ice with you isn't bad skates; it's a bad attitude. People who believe that they can't skate will make that happen. Take them for a nice long walk.

I thought there was safety in numbers

2011-09-15T06:29:00.000-05:00

Well, not in figure skating. There is nothing more terrifying than a public skating session the Sunday after Christmas.

At some rinks, practice ice can be packed to the gills as well--even though you're paying a premium for restricted ice, this can still mean 20 to 30 skaters, plus their coaches, and they don't skate in a nice predictable circle like happens on public.

So how do you skate safe on a crowded session?

Public Ice
Follow the rules!
Don't skate against the flow. Don't cut across the coned section. Don't do knee slides, or crack the whip. Don't shoot pucks, or small children. Don't wear ear buds, or talk on the cell phone. In other words, use common sense.

Practice ice
This one's a little more complicated, but starts the same--follow the rules. Which means know the rules. Ask a coach what the rules are. This can also have the affect of making the coach remind herself what the rules are, since coaches are often the worst offenders (and frankly a coach that tells you, don't worry about it we make our own rules--giant waving red flag.) Pattern, right-of-way, and priority will vary somewhat from rink to rink, but here are some common sense rules to follow.

Right of way
In general, the person whose music is playing has the right of way. At a well-run session, this person will be wearing a bright pinney or belt. At a stupidly run session, you are somehow just supposed to know who is skating to their own music. Following that, a person in a lesson has the right of way over someone there for practice. The person doing the jump or spin in the proper place has the right of way over someone doing a non-music runthrough of their program (i.e. if your program has a jump or spiral choreographed in the center where everyone is spinning, you have to yield to the spin).

Don't stand still
The worst thing you can do on crowded ice--public or practice-- is stop and stand in the middle of the ice. If you have to stop, get over to the boards. Do not give me the excuse that you're "trying to see where the skater is going to go." Straight into you is where, because no one expects immovable objects in the middle of the rink.

Lefty
Lefty jumpers get the right of way. Do not cut off their jump patterns.

Lutz corner
The lutz corners are upstage right and downstage left. Never give a lesson, or practice small patterns in these corners, you will drive the people working on lutz, and their coaches, into a murderous rage. (Left jumpers use the other corners; if there are a lot of left jumpers on a session you also cannot use these corners, but with just a couple lefties on a session, just be aware and get out of the way--lutz setups telegraph a mile away.)

Round and round and round and....
Don't stay in one little circle practicing the same move over and over and over. If you have to practice some small pattern, move it around the rink. Better yet, start learning how to "use the ice," i.e. use at least half the ice on all jump set ups, do turns within moves patterns, etc. Adult skaters are particularly guilty of this one.

Lower level or upper level skaters?
Lower level skaters get the right of way. Period. I don't give a shit about your triple flip. If there's a skater working on waltz jumps they clearly do not have the tools you have at your disposal to pull a jump and not cause a crash. Do not role your eyes, or complain to the monitor, or your mother, or stamp your little foot. Lower level skaters are a fact of life unless you are in a serious training program. If you're not, then get over yourself and stop frightening the babies.

Friends, and coaching groups
When you're skating with a friend, or if your coach does group lessons on practice sessions, it is very easy to get tunnel vision, and to see only your own group. Don't let the group be an ice hog, pissing everyone else off. Understand that group activities, even when parsed out a skater at a time, have a tendency to command the ice. If 15 skaters are all skating the same set pattern, even if they're only going out one or 2 at a time, they are going to create a vortex that no one else can skate through. Be sensitive to this if you're part of a group.

Get up
If you fall, get up, even if you're hurt. Your prone body is the skating equivalent of a pothole--no one is expecting you, and you're hard to see down there.

Stick with it
Practice ice is terrifying the first few times out there. It looks like chaos. But a session has its own sense and pattern, which you will only start to understand when you are out there. Stay with it, and learn to go, as they say, with the flow.

I'd rather be figure skating

2011-09-11T06:12:00.001-05:00

I used to work full time in a downtown office.

It was a pretty fancy job--I mean, it was a cubicle, but I made fairly serious money, and I had a long title, and people worked for me. I dressed nice and made reports, and talked rich people into giving me money (I guess I still kinda do that).

And then one day, out of a clear bright sky, the world changed.

The day after, September 12, 2001, I looked at a sign posted on the wall of that cubicle. It said "I'd rather be figure skating."

And 3 months later I walked out of that cubicle and into an ice rink as figure skating professional.

A sample ISI judging sheet, explained

2011-09-06T07:41:00.002-05:00

It's competition season! Get ready for bling, hardware, and take a deep breath. Your admission to Harvard is not at stake.

One of the most confusing things about competition, especially ISI competition, can be "why didn't the best skater win." So I've created a sample scoring sheet to explain how this might happen.

Please note that I have "rigged" this sheet-- it is not based on any real skater, I made it up, sitting at my desk, to illustrate various points. Randy Winship, Director of Skating Programs at the Ice Skating Institute, who reviewed this for me, strongly recommends that you read the competition manual for judges (someone let me know if you can open this; it may be allowing me in because of my professional membership) which is available as a free pdf download on the ISI site (search "Judging Essentials").

ISI competitions use a panel consisting of 3 judges, one of whom must be Gold tested, and a referee, who I believe must be Gold tested, all through the ISI judges certification system. Each judge has their own sheet like the one below (I've consolidated all three onto a single form for ease of discussion). They mark only their own set of columns. Judges do not discuss marks except in certain instances. It is impossible for a single judge to rig an outcome.

PLEASE NOTE THIS IS AN EXAMPLE ONLY AND NOT IN ANY WAY CONNECTED TO ANY ACTUAL EVENT!

So who wins this event, and who was the best skater? Looking at the individual skills marks, looks like Skater 3 is the best skater, so how come she came in fourth? The worst skater- Skater 1, pulls off a third.

What happened?

ISI gives the judges a statutory range, based on the number of skaters in a flight, which is not supposed to go over 5. (For scheduling and other reasons, competitions may stretch this to 6 or even 7; the largest ISI flight I've ever seen was 9.) You'll see at the left top of the sheet "7.0-7.8" which is the statutory marks range for a flight of 5. Judges must stay within this range, except in certain prescribed instances, and must use the entire range for each skill. Judges grade ONLY the skills and qualities listed on their sheet. They do not see, or discuss, what the other judges are doing, unless there is a dispute or a question.

Looking over the sheet, you see everything within the marks range, except in the Back O-I Pivot and Duration columns (Judge 1), and the Change Foot column (Judge 2).

A correct duration gets 10 points (the referee has a stopwatch), but if you go over time (more than 10 seconds from start of movement to end of movement) there are prescribed penalty marks. Skater 4 went between 10 and 15 seconds over her time limit, so she loses 2 points. The referee notes this on her sheet, and initials the judge's sheet. Some coaches will mess around with the time limit; knowing that you've really got 10 extra seconds, they'll cut a 90 second program for 99 seconds. If the equipment plays that music a little slow (this happens less with digital recordings than it used to with audio tapes), or if she skates slow and finishes after the music ends, that skater is risking a penalty.

Silly skater 3 didn't do a pivot, so she gets a goose egg for the skill. This is not a bad pivot or an incomplete pivot, but a missing pivot. When this happens, the judge who is marking this skill will ask "Was there a pivot?" If all the judges and ref agree there was no pivot, it goes down on the judge's sheet and the ref's sheet as a zero, and the ref must initial the judge's sheet.

Skater 5 messed up her change foot spin. She might have had insufficient rotation, or left off the second forward spin. A recognizable attempt at a skill that is not completed gets a penalty mark of 5. This is NOT the same thing as a fall, or a badly executed skill. A fall on a completed skill will just put you at the bottom of the marks range (assuming someone else isn't even worse) and will cost you placement under "correctness" and "general overall"; falls on completed skills in ISI are not specifically penalized unless it prevents the skater from completing the skill. When there is any question at all, every panel I've ever been on will put a disputed skill at the bottom of the marks rather than giving a penalty mark. ISI judges try their hardest not to give penalty marks.

Again, all penalties must be agreed upon by the entire panel, and initialed by the ref. Some rinks also complete "penalty sheets" to back up any penalty calls in case of disputes.

And this is how it happens: Skater 3 had the highest marks across the board, and didn't do a pivot. Maybe she just forgot it. Maybe her coach is an idiot and didn't choreograph it. Notice that this error also cost her on Correctness and General Overall.

Skater 1 loaded her program with tons of extra content and apparently had great choreography, because her Pattern mark is also high, knocking her to the top of the heap with all her extras. That's a smart coach, and a good choreographer, focusing on this skater's strength.

Skater 5, also a good skater, needs to fix her pivot. But she's feeling pretty good right now, because she doesn't usually beat Skater 3.

Skater 3's parents are standing at the Skating Director's door, screaming at her. After she shows them the video, demonstrating that their kid missed an element, they're going to scream at poor Skater 3 all the way home for forgetting her pivot, and then fire the coach, even if it wasn't her fault.

Skater 1, who always comes in last, even against the book, as well as her parents and her coach, having no idea that all this is going on, now believe that she has a shot at the Olympics.

The Joy of Coaching

2011-09-03T07:49:00.007-05:00

The Professional Skaters Association is putting together a book for their 75th Anniversary, coming up in 2013.

They're soliciting stories to include, and supposedly will include "grassroots" coaches (I guess that would be me).

Do you have a favorite post, especially one with a story, from the Xanboni blog? If so, put the date and/or title in the comments and I'll submit.

If you've got a coaching story, from coach's, parents' or skater's perspective, the link for submitting is here: http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/JoyofCoaching. There doesn't seem to be a restriction as to who can enter; if you're on an figure skating forums, I'd say post the link!

Maybe I'm too old for this

2011-08-26T09:50:00.009-05:00

From a reader:

I'm having a "maybe I'm too old for this" day where it seems like I can't do anything right. Or, not even right, but just incrementally better than I did it last time. How do you get through those inevitable lack-of-progress-slumps, especially as an adult skater with no cheery peers to meet up with at the rink?

This reader sums up the two biggest roadblocks for adults: a sense of isolation coupled with the feeling that you just never get better.

Then there's that weird look you get when you tell people you're a skater. (Or the snide "oh, when are you going to the Olympics" remarks.)

The sense of isolation, in fact, feeds into the sense that you never get better. If you're skating mostly around kids, who make these brilliant leaps forward, your apparent slogging pace feels even more burdensome.

As an adult skater (as an adult anything), you have to make things happen for yourself. Your mother is not going to make you get up, and your coach is more likely to indulge any reluctance to push through, on the assumption that you have more of a clue than a child what you're capable of/willing to try. Here's what you can do:

Make a community
Don't just focus in on the rink that's closest to you. Hop around for a while and find the rinks, classes, and practice times that have a lot of adults, or just talk to the adults that you see--they will know where that ice is. I think you'll find that the extra 15 or 30 minutes drive (if you can afford it) will be well-worth the camaraderie. My experience of adult skaters is that they're friendly and welcoming, on the whole (there are a few stuck up ones, fuck 'em). Go to public skating regularly, and don't discount the hockey players or the moms in the stands. These are all people who are potentially your training mates, your cheering section, and, frankly, your drinking pals. See if you can get a coach to start a theater on ice program for adults (not through the rink--just through the coach). Find a rink that has an adult number in the ice show (not all of them do) and skate in it. I cannot stress this enough. Ice shows are a freaking blast. Liquor will be involved. You will make friends for life.

Define success
You have to know what makes you feel successful. When I started skating, the sum total of my ambition was cross rolls. When I found out how easy they were, and how quickly I got to them I felt incredibly successful-it energized me to see what else I could do.

Have a goal
All endeavors proceed more smoothly with a clear goal, and sometimes even a time line. It can be skill-based, activity based (skate in a competition), schedule based (skate 4 hours a week for a month) and it can change, every few days or every few months or longer. It can even be "hang out with Mary for skating and coffee once a week." Doing something as challenging as skating with no goal in mind at all gets old really fast.

Understand yourself
You have to know what you think you are capable of, and how you learn well. If you're not someone who responds to an autocratic coach, then don't hire that person. If you're fine with skimming through a test, rather than passing with flying colors, then don't hire the perfectionist. Remember that you're an adult. Unlike child skaters you really do get to call the shots. This does not mean be unreceptive to suggestions or pressure to improve, it just means you don't have to do what scares or doesn't interest you.

Understand your coach
Work with one who matches your needs. Don't worry about switching, and screw the gag rule. It's not really meant for you. Most coaches kind of expect adults to come and go, so if you want to switch coaches or rinks, be polite and upfront, but don't feel like you owe the coach your lifelong loyalty.

Listen to your coach
If your coach thinks you can do better, he's probably right. Coaches treat adults with the degree of kid-gloveness that seems appropriate to that skater. An experienced adult coach who is pushing you hard sees that level of competence; he's not trying to send you to the nearest hospital.

Don't listen to your coach
He's not your mother, after all. I'll push an adult so far; if they are really resisting I'll back off. All good adults coaches will do this.

Take your time
As you know if you're a regular reader, I believe that the least important piece of the skating equation is ability. Other impediments stop progress way before any skater bumps up against the supposed limits of their ability--time, money, fear, commitment, motivation, age. Sometimes you reach these impediments because you don't have faith in your ability, or your motivation bumps up against something that's truly difficult for you. But even if you're competing, there are so many competition levels for adults (divided by age, test, and experience to create so many events that only an accountant could love them) that you can always compete at the top of your game, or push your competence a tiny smidge higher.

Lower your expectations
A correlary of take your time. You always wanted an axel, but is a loop enough?

Raise your expectations
Your loop is pretty good, you're healthy and brave, go for that axel after all.

Finally, as a coach, I really really don't want to hear that ANYTHING in the Learn To Skate levels (up to waltz jump) is too hard for you. There is no skater who cannot learn a one-foot turn, it simply is not that hard. If you balk at simple basic skating and don't have a rock bound excuse (for instance I have a student with brain damage; I cut her a little slack) your coach will write you off howsoever wonderful they may be. If you're not willing to invest nerve and effort into your skating, no one else will either.

Xanboni Camp- Day 2: Why do ice rinks have high ceilings

2011-08-24T17:32:00.005-05:00

B: So you don't bump your head

C: For tall people

E: so if they puck goes flying really high, it doesn't break the light

C-J: so you can't put your fingers in them

N: so you can't go inside the lights

S: so you can't climb on them

S again: so they don't melt the ice

E again: so the stands can go high

A picture of the lights by Miss E:

Xanboni Camp, Day One: Why twins should dress alike

2011-08-22T13:43:00.005-05:00

Okay that was intense. Five hours with kids of varying levels, ages 5 to 9. Forget the ice skating: here's the story they came up with during story time. It's a round robin game, so everyone contributes one sentence or phrase at a time (as best as I can remember it).

Once upon a time there was a skater who liked nachos. He went to outer space. He blasted off in a space ship and then came back. He met a girl and then they went to the beach, where they met a bird.

Who liked nachos.

So they ate the nachos and they got sick. They went to the doctor, and he gave them medicine and they got healed, but then they got sick, so the doctor told them to rest. So they went to sleep and they dreamed.

About nachos.

The end.

Oh, twins should dress alike so they don't have tug of wars over the pink shorts. Just sayin'.

Why specialized classes?

2011-08-19T05:39:00.001-05:00

To have a really robust free style program at your rink, you need to offer something for as many types of skaters as possible-- the axel-challenged, the once-a-weekers, the my-coach-or-no-coachers, the delusional, the competitive, the recidivists (i.e. haven't skated for 3 years, and think they're still at the same level they were when they left).

In rinks with only skill-level classes-"Free Style 5" "Freeskate 4"- you'll start seeing class enrollment drop off, as kids get bored or discouraged. A synchro program can help, although at least one local director thinks that Synchro teams run by municipal programs (as opposed to club-run) are problematic at best, and program-killing at worst.

Specialty classes, on the other hand, give kids a reason to skate, and can reward their strengths, instead of feeling like punishment for not measuring up.

For one thing, they aren't in any "curriculum" so you get to tailor them to your program. Have a lot of competitive kids? Take a page from USFS and do "media training" to teach kids (and parents) about how to promote themselves, and about responsible use of social media in a "professional" context. Or run "competition class" where kids act as judges, with training in ISI and ISU judging protocols.

If you have a lot of delusional kids, who think they're better than they are, rather than constantly berating them, have a choreography class, or junior coaching, or Moves.

Are you primarily recreational? Want to lure your regular public session people into more classes? How about Ice Games (races, rotation Olympics, or whatever you can some up with). Take a look at ISI competition categories, even if you're a Basic Skills rink. ISI has tons of marvelously creative categories-Couples, Family, Rhythmic, Team-that would be fantastic as a class (and might boost your rink's participation in ISI events).

I've always liked the idea of a permanent "clinics" class in the curriculum--three week classes that you can do a la carte (at a premium) or in a sets of three for a regular class rate. You could do these mini-sessions in Spins, Intro to Jumps, Choreo, doubles or triples, Axel or double axel, whatever you want. A class slot devoted to specialty clinics can help your coaches, as well, allowing them to sign on to present whatever their specialty is.

Specialty classes don't have to be on-ice, either. Keep people in your facility by offering them in sets-- practice ice/levels class/specialty class/off-ice class marathons, with a price break, to keep people in your facility. Throw in discount coupons for your pro shop or concession stand for people who sign up for this. Off-ice can be traditional conditioning-/dance-based classes including aerobics, or dance, or yoga, or pilates, but they can also be informational, like the above-suggested Media class, or training in judging protocols (parents would take this one, I bet), or "draw" class, where you learn about the marks that jumps, spins and moves make on the ice (literally, you draw them. I love draw class).

A lot of programs have Power and Jump classes, but too often these are just the levels classes with a different name. Your specialty classes should be just that--special.

Rotate the coaches through the classes. This is a great way to help younger coaches, by giving them the opportunity to really shine in something they're good at. Too many rinks never alter the schedule--they have Coach Seniority teaching FS6 on Tuesdays at 6 for 20 years; who cares if everyone hates Coach Seniority and only his students sign up for class.

To get the classes going, pair them with the rest of the program--a discount certainly, or some sort of cumulative benefit for taking multiple classes--ribbons, "skater of the month" awards, etc. Give friend-discounts for bringing new people into the program. Give it some time as well; at least 3 sessions so it can catch on.

Remember the statistics- there are 500 elite skaters nationwide, and I hate to break it to you, but they aren't at your rink. Rinks need to stop running programs as though everyone is the Broadmoor, and start serving the tens of thousands of committed recreational and workaday competitors who just love to skate.

What unusual specialty classes does your program, rink, or club offer?

Bigger and better things

2011-08-16T07:52:00.002-05:00

Every rink has its stars-- the girls twirling center ice, that all the little girls want to be like. The ones with the moms who seem to know what's going on. The ones with the "big" solos, and the "Good Luck at Regionals!" signs in the office window.

But a rink is a small world, with its own heirarchy. The girl who seems so amazing in your little corner of skating might or might not shine in a more competitive arena.

So how do you know--when does the 'switch' happen from local skater to bigger and better things? When do you go from one coach to an arsenal of coaches? Does your coach say something? Does your test or competition level have anything to do with it?

The easiest test is an honest assessment of your ability-- are you, in fact, the best skater at the rink? Are you winning or placing in competition? Do you have higher level and more consistent skills than the kids you are training with? If you are, if you're really the "best" skater at your rink, then you don't have anyone to live up to, or anyone nipping at your heels. This is not the best situation for a competitive skater.

We saw a huge jump in ability with our national dance team when they stopped training at home and started traveling to a rink where there were people better than them. Suddenly they couldn't rest on their laurels; they had to be as good as the people around them. If you're already better than the people around you, you need to find a more competitive environment, to give yourself something to push against.

There is no hard and fast rule about where this happens--as young as Pre-pre, as late as Senior. We recently had a mass exodus of Synchro skaters because they realized that our small program couldn't push them hard enough--they were already at the top of the heap. Some of them may be back; but some of them will find themselves skating better than they ever have.

If you are content, or even like, being the best in your rink, then good for you. You don't have to go anywhere.

Leaving home

2011-08-13T06:49:00.000-05:00

As the competition schedule heats up, kids on the cusp-- top ten, but not quite on the radar, ambitious but not delivering the medals--are asking themselves, have I gone as far as I can go where I am? I got this email from a young skater in a difficult position:

I am a skater who has gone just about as far as I can in my hometown. I know that if I want to advance I will have to move, but can I handle it? What will it be like without my parents? am I to old to train seriously? Will I make friends? Will it be too tough?

My feelings:

Everyone moves away from home.
Don't worry about it! You're leaving anyway, to go to college, when you are 17 or 18. That said, if you are younger than 14 I believe your mother, or father, or grandparent or much-older sibling has to go with you. I am personally adamantly opposed to the idea of children that young living with the coach; in fact, I don't think any minor skater or other athlete should live with their coach, but I know it happens. If you're 15 to 17, have a reliable family to go to if your own family member can't do it. When you're 17 or older, hey like I said, you'd go away to college wouldn't you? Best choice would be to go to college near the skating program.

What do you hope to achieve.
If you're one of those younger skaters who is contemplating a move, be really really sure that you cannot achieve your goals at home. Younger and untried coaches DO have skaters who achieve remarkable success. Moving is difficult and disruptive-for you, your family, and your career. Make sure it's the right choice.

How do you know if it's realistic?
If you're at a level that you need to move to training center to improve your career, chances are someone outside your immediate skating family has taken you or your parents aside and told you, hey, you really need to think about a better training situation. If you're not quite there, but feel that you're stalled where you are, ask someone trustworthy- a local skating judge, a non-involved coach, or a former competitive skater- anyone who can observe your skating first hand. Across the board, people like these are incredibly approachable, generous, and honest.

The age issue.
If you're about to age out of one of the levels, you have some very tough questions to ask yourself. Are you stuck at a level because you don't have the jumps or lifts you need to be competitive, or is your coach just sandbagging you. If you're a 15 or 16 year old girl without triples (meaning you are probably still at Novice or even Intermediate), you are getting old to have a realistic competitive career, although this, thank god, is changing, as women start skating through college. Look at your competitive record-- if you keep winning at the lower level, but the skills are holding you back, then yes, a change in situation might be what you need.

If you're approaching college age, you quite literally don't need to make the choice- home or skating. Move to the college town with the best coaching situation for you. Do your last year of high school there, or work out an arrangement to finish high school with college courses. There are lots of educational options that schools don't tell you about.

Who will be your coach?
Okay this is the big one. You don't walk into the Broadmoor and expect Kathy Casey or Tom Zakrajsek to just take you based on your self-assessed wonderfulness or ambition. Fifth place in the final round at Uppers has not put you on the map. You have to audition for them. Some high level coaches will invite you to audition, despite PSA rules against this, sometimes they'll accept unsolicited requests. Get hold of a PSA directory, which lists everyone's contact information.

In other words, don't move unless you have a coaching situation arranged.

What is Plan B
What happens if you give it a try, and it doesn't work out--you hate it, or you don't achieve the success you want, or the coach drops you (it happens). Well, you go back home, or back to school. You don't have to explain yourself to anyone, or make excuses or feel embarrassed.

That you can even contemplate such a major step at 13 or 14 or 15 puts you in a special category of kids who are able to think past the ends of noses and today's pop hit. Your reach should exceed your grasp, or what's a heaven for.

Do you know a skater who left home to train at a young age?

The cost of coaching

2011-08-09T07:37:00.001-05:00

We talk a lot about the high cost of learning to skate. But what about the cost of being a skating coach? Here's the low down.

PSA membership: $120
PSA continuing ed (ratings requirement) $40 to $300 (depending on if there are events in your area, otherwise you have to pay for travel)
Liability insurance: $85
USFS membership: $65
USFS background check $43
USFS coaching certification (tests through PSA) $75
ISI membership $65
ISI background check (same info, different company) $40
Red Cross First Aid certification: $40 (actually $120, but you only have to do it every 3 years)

That's $610 to $870, equivalent of up to 2 months of class take-home pay (assuming 14 hours of classes at $12 to $20/hour, which is what a lot of rinks pay, even for nationally rated coaches). Rinks do not cover this expense. One rink I worked for allowed one $50 credit per year for an educational event.

Coaches pay all these fees out of pocket, plus their own health care, retirement, and equipment. There is no positive benefit to covering these expenses like an effort to help coaches form unions so that they get guaranteed income, pension and health benefits, and job protection.

Coaches are all subject to forced lay offs several times a year when the rink shuts down, which can also impact your private lesson income, and if your regular classes happen to fall on a holiday, tough luck. You can get credentialed out the wazoo and never get a raise.

There is a punitive aspect-- if you don't get credentialed you cannot take students through testing or competition, and there is a movement afoot to make even baby coaches jump through these hoops.

Coaches complain about this system a lot, and rightly so. USFS, PSA and ISI need to add positive benefits to the high cost of being ethical in this business by pressuring rinks and clubs to treat coaches like the highly qualified professionals that they are.

The limits of talent and desire

2011-08-06T06:57:00.004-05:00

I'm the sort of person who does not believe in limits. I especially get my hackles up when confronted with the suggestion that I "can't" do something. My philosophy, and the one I share with discouraged students, is "if someone is doing it, it's possible, and if it's possible you can do it."

But if this was the case, wouldn't every skater have a double axel?

And not to mince words, yes. Every skater that put in the work required IS capable of that double axel. A naturally athletic skater will get it sooner, and more easily. A naturally motivated skater will find the longer athletic slog less onerous because of their inclination to accept hard work. A skater with a lot of time to skate will appear to have learned it quickly, even though they've devoted the same number of hours to it. A more timid skater will have more difficulty than a courageous one. A courageous one may accept falls that she doesn't need to accept, and slow down her progress.

I never tried the harder jumps. I could probably eventually have done them, but I was too scared. So I never tried. In other words, my ability to do an axel is not in question. I believe it. It was my desire to do an axel that got in the way.

This is what I see over and over--skaters, and their mothers, blame their failures, if you want to see it that way, on their native ability, narrowly defining that as meaning athletic ability. But ability is the same thing as body type; it's just another quality that you need to understand and accommodate. The skater gets discouraged, and stops being responsive in lessons. She doesn't practice. She takes one lesson a week. She won't make attempts when the coach isn't there. She jumps from coach to coach, looking for the one who will "give" her the axel (or the double, or the jump sit...).

It is okay to give up a goal. But be honest with yourself. If this goal remains important in itself, for you and not for your mother or your popularity, then don't give up on it. If you're just going through the motions, then rethink the goal. I decided the skating tests and higher freestyle skills were not the best use of my time, and put my energy into the PSA ratings instead.

Understand what you desire and why you desire it. Understand where your talent lies and use that to achieve your goal. Pointless to rely on athletic ability alone, if your talent is persistence.

There are no limits to talent or desire. You only limit yourself.

Too fat, too tall, too not-the-perfect image of a skater

2011-08-04T09:22:00.001-05:00

This blogger brings up an interesting issue- is there a "perfect" body type for a figure skater?

What if we did that for every public profession. Made the way a person looks the first criterion for whether that person can do that job- sales person, teacher, cop. Well, in fact, we used to just that. Until recently, for instance, we all knew what a president looked like, didn't we?

Old white guy.

And yet there's that young black guy in the White House.

Yes, there is a "perfect" body type for a skater--not too tall (but not too short), slim, small-bosomed, low center of gravity (i.e. short legs), legs straight or slightly bowed, square shoulders. Oh, and white. Or better yet Asian. Did I mention that? If you're younger than a certain age it's hard to understand the sea change that was Surya Bonaly and Debi Thomas; how shocking and empowering those skaters were, not just to black girls, but to all girls who felt different in skating or in life. I cannot tell you how many times I heard the phrase "I didn't know black girls could skate!" Or how many, white, black or brown, thought, geez if she can overcome that kind of prejudice, then who am I to let my knock-knees hold me back.

And then there's Katarina Witt (bosom), Rachael Flatt (sloped shoulders), Carolina Kostner and Megan Oster (tall), Tara Lipinski (knock kneed), Evan Lysacek (really tall). In fact, I can't think of a skater who is perfect.

Because there is no such thing.

There is no such thing for so many reasons. First, not only does the perfect skating body not exist, it isn't necessary. There's probably a perfect body for walking, too. If you don't have it, does that mean you don't walk? A skater isn't machine tooled, where if a part doesn't meet patented specifications, the whole thing stops working. If I had to put a number on it, I would say your body and your talent are less than half of what you need to be a skater. As, or more, important, are your drive, your intelligence and your motivation.

Ambitious coaches will look for the whole package--body, talent, drive, motivation, ability to pay. If you feel dismissed by an ambitious coach, figure out which one of those things is missing, and overcome it. You note I don't say "fix it," because like I said, you're not a machine with replaceable parts. If you're not quite smart enough for law school, but you want to be a lawyer, you study harder, you don't decide to be a ditch digger instead.

Heading for 100,000

2011-08-01T06:50:00.005-05:00

I am 13 people away from 100,000 hits on Xanboni! I've been wracking my brain trying to figure out how to ID the 100,000th person, but since I like the number 13, I'll do it this way. If at least 13 people comment on this post by tomorrow, I'll throw everyone's name in a hat and draw for a prize-- the very first Xanboni! t-shirt, coming later this fall.

And thanks so much for making Xanboni! such a success. I'm having a blast.

Lessons

2011-07-30T06:55:00.007-05:00

Not those lessons.

I'm talking about the ones you learn, or teach, without realizing it.

I was thinking about this because of the heartbreaking statement a skater made about the emotional torment she experienced at her rink growing up:

"I asked B why they were so mean to me, and she told me 'well first it was because you had the wrong coach, but then I don't know why we did it after you switched to [for-some-reason acceptable coach.]' And I wondered- does she know that to this day I never really trust that people like me, because of that experience?"

I have these issues myself, especially vis-a-vis teaching. Despite more than a decade doing this, despite a Senior PSA rating, I find myself needing confirmation and assurances that I know what I'm doing. But perversely, I don't want them from the people I like and trust, I want the assurance, the recognition, of my tormenters. (I tolerated serious hazing when I started teaching, being an adult skater who had the audacity to decide that I wanted enter the sacred profession.)

We are all teachers, every day of our lives. I learn as much from the unfledged wisdom of a 5 year old as I do from the most eminent grise. Learning is not facts--facts are just acquired, and easy to find if you forget them. Learning is absorbed. Learning is accountable--because what you learn, you teach.

My young friend's tormenter learned, somewhere, to validate herself by harming others. From her, my friend learned caution, but I hope, also, compassion.

Know what you learned. Teach the right things.

How to run a competition

2011-07-20T09:05:00.003-05:00

I recently took a student to a newish competition (in its 3rd year) at a nearby rink, and I have to tell you, they are doing it right. When I first got the schedule I was somewhat annoyed because my skater had her first event at noon and then the next one at 5, and I thought "what the heck am I going to do for the intervening time?

Well, I was there most of the day, and the time flew. The staff was welcoming, the judges hospitality (also known as food) was fantastic, the volunteers were friendly and the judging was firm but kind. Here's what they got right:

Welcome skaters!
From the moment you turned into the parking lot, until you were walking out the door, there were big, prominently placed signs saying "Welcome," "Congratulations", "Have fun!" as well as well-placed signs for registration, trophies, photos, and all the other things you need. I go to so many competitions where the signage is stingy or missing entirely. It's nerve-wracking enough to compete; having the layout absolutely clear is very reassuring. Furthermore, there was a giant clock graphic in the shape of the competition logo right at the registration table showing whether the competition was running on time. I have never seen this at another competition; it was great.

Program buy-in
Every coach on the rink's staff had multiple skaters in multiple events. The competitors apparently were invited the day before to put up decorations--the place was brimming with colorful balloons. The moms were also invited to help--they were at the registration table, the photo table, the trophy table and the hospitality (i.e. the food). Since all the kids were skating in multiple events, they stayed all day, meaning the place looked...

Lively
At a lot of events like this, a family will come, skate one event, and leave, so the audience never reaches a critical mass. This event was brimming with people--in the lobby, in the stands, in the snack bar. It made you feel like you were part of something from the minute you walked in. Further, a friend told me they had all agreed to encourage their skaters to skate, then join the audience and applaud--not just other events, but the skaters that they were competing against. With so many people in the stands, everyone got lots of applause. Further, didn't these kids learn a great lesson about sportsmanship.

Prizes
Not only did everyone get a medal, no matter their placement (de rigueur at ISI competitions), but every competitor got a really nice tote bag with the competition logo, a competition t-shirt IN THEIR SIZE, lip balm, and gloves. In flights of six, 6th place got a medal too. (ISI flights are generally limited to 5, with medals for all. At some competitions if you end up in a flight of 6, they don't give a medal to sixth place. In a system where "everyone gets a medal" then everyone should get a medal.) Further, they had a podium for 1st, 2nd, 3rd just for families to do photos, but of course everyone stood on Number One. This meant you didn't have to explain to your six-year-old that she "lost."

Judging
At ISI competitions, rink coaches provide most of the judging, but guest coaches are asked to volunteer to do this, and rinks are strongly encouraged to have guest coaches on the panel. This competition had a schedule posted where you could fill in your name. I've never been to a competition so welcoming of guest judges--at most they look at you cross eyed and tell you tersely "we're fine." (Go away.) They took the referee position seriously, and gave all the Tots first place. When there were problems, or things they didn't like, they asked the panel for suggestions, and clearly were planning to have a staff meeting to talk about how to make it better next year. (Good heavens, it's going to be better next year? Sign me, and all my kids, up.)

They also gave out raffle tickets for each event you judged, and will do drawings for gift certificates that they got donated by local restaurants and shops.

Competition
ISI events are age-segregated, i.e. 13 year olds at level X compete with other 13-year olds at level X. But this means that in smaller competitions, you end up with skater after skater competing in a flight by herself, or "against the book." It's not as much fun, and it's not really "competition." Furthermore, it makes your competition look really lame in the program book, as though you can't attract enough skaters to fill out an event. This competition grouped the skaters in near-age groups, 4-6, 7-9, et cetera. While it puts the younger children at a slight disadvantage, it made for a more dynamic event.

Vendors
In addition to action photos and competition video, they also had a couple of random vendors-- a jeweler and another one, which I've forgotten. Strangely, their snack bar was closed. During breaks in the competition, they announced the presence of the vendors and encouraged people to buy. So the vendors were probably happy too.

And finally,

Food
This is my number one test of how much a rink really wants to have a competitions. Some rinks have bottled water and an open bag of chips. This rink had HOT LUNCHES. This is a rink that likes its staff and volunteers, and wants to share the love with its guests. Plus they had smarties at the judges table.

What would I change?
While it probably worked out for their coaches, who had multiple skaters throughout the day, for me to have wait 5 hours between events for a single skater was a potential drag. Scheduling similar-level events a little closer together would be nice.

I also wish that ALL competitions of this nature had registration packets for the coaches, with a copy of the schedule. I did not want to have to pay for a booklet, although it now occurs to me that it's possible that this friendly rink wasn't actually charging for these. But you feel so stingy saying "what does this cost" and then not buying it. So I didn't even ask.

I also think they could have done a better job of selling their own program. There are a couple of rinks nearby this one where I know that parents and coaches are not that satisfied; this seemed like a missed opportunity to pass out 10% off coupons or public skate passes; there was also no prominent signage about their program; you had to hunt it down.

What has impressed you at recent competitions in your area?

Who has the right to teach

2011-07-19T11:31:00.008-05:00

More than in any other creative profession I've worked around--music, theater, visual art, architecture--figure skating professionals are unusually threatened by the idea of new members of the profession, and even of volunteers, unusual for youth sports, where volunteer coaches keep the lower levels going.

Competitive students
This, of course, is where most professional coaches come from-- they were once competitive, or at least high-test students. Many clubs will not allow you to coach on their ice without at a minimum, an Intermediate freestyle or equivalent dance test; PSA will not allow you to take even the lowest ratings exam without either having tested, or passed a student, out of the Pre-Juvenile level.

The question comes in when the student is the coach; that is, kids who are still testing or competing. Believe it or not, there are sour grapes among coaches about current students teaching, even on classes, and we all go fairly ballistic when they start having a lot of private students. Some clubs or rinks have rules governing this--no privates if you're a "junior" coach; restrictions on the amount they can charge, etc.

High school skaters
Not quite the same thing as competitive students teaching, this would fall under a similar category to parent volunteers. I get plenty of "non" skaters in my annual high school class who are solid enough on skates to teach tots and beginners, and the daycamp at my rink has the counselors go out with their groups, rather than skating pros.

Adult skaters
This is me. I was a low-level adult skater (barely FS3), which frankly is fairly scandalous. I thought so at the time. Fortunately I am an ethical person and both set about testing the lower USFS levels and getting credentialed through PSA.

But I don't see the difference in a FS5-6+ adult onset skater teaching or a FS5-6/Juvenile+ former child skater teaching. In fact, adults have very important things to bring to the table, starting with they can remember what it was like learning beginning skills because they weren't 5 when it happened. From my observation, adult onset skaters have a very steep acceptance curve among coaches.

Parents
Parents who are recreational skaters should not be coaching private students. But I would love to know if there is a program that works utilizing parent volunteers in beginning classes. You'd have to qualify by demonstrating basic skating ability, and you'd have to have some minimal training I think, but every other youth sport absolutely relies on volunteer parents as coaching, judging, and referees . Why not skating?

College skaters
Summer job anyone?

Side job
Some of the best coaches I know have second jobs (or more accurately, the coaching is their second job). In many areas, making a living as a skating coach is nearly impossible, and benefits (vacation, pension, health care) is pretty much unheard of. So, if you've got another job, should that be looked upon as a sign of your lack of commitment? I've heard this argument.

Skating in general needs to be inclusive rather than exclusive. It's better for the sport, the culture and the kids if there's a place for everyone.

Who teaches in your program? Does your club or rink have rules regarding this?

Spins

2011-07-17T15:30:00.001-05:00

Here are some of the issues raised in the past few days regarding spins:

ISI curriculum starts the backspin way later than USFS. It's so crucial for the axel jump, really they should not be introduced in the same level. I'd say probably preceding loop, in FS3? ISI does in fact introduce the backspin in FS3, as part of the change-foot although you can spin on either edge. I will tell you that in competition, many judges will award the higher score to the skater who does a correct outside edge back spin portion, no matter how many times an inside edge goes around. By the way, you need to understand the back spin position not just for axel (FS5) but also for loop and flip (FS4).

Anyway, by way of justification, the "any edge will do" backspin does at least get a skater spinning on the other foot, which is hard all in itself.

Why do they introduce the backspin as part of a change foot spin instead of introducing it as a separate element? Actually, I don't introduce the back spin as part of the change foot, nor do most of the coaches whose teaching approach I'm familiar with. We all do stand-alone back spins. In fact, this is one of the place where Basic Skills shines, with its 2-rotation back spin at Free Skate 2. If this element could be paired at a lower level with the change foot concept, you'd have kids getting easy back spins at FS5.

Here's what Randy Winslip, Director of Skating Programs for ISI told me:

"The back scratch spin in FS5 has always been required to be on the back outside edge - since the requirement for the test portion is to enter from a forward inside edge.

While it's great if FS 3 skaters can learn to be on the back outside edge (personally, I always try to teach it like that to save time at higher levels), it has never been a FS3 test or competition requirement for the change-foot spin.

The change-foot spin requirement in FS3 is meant to introduce the concept of spinning on both feet - but that concept is not expected to be mastered at that beginner freestyle level. It's more important that the skater can spin at least the minimum required 3 revolutions on the other foot.

Of course, I personally feel the skater will be much better prepared for FS5 and higher levels if the BO edge is emphasized and learned as early as possible."

I wish someone had told me to start working on my backspin at the same time I started working on forward. I would disagree. Get a solid forward one-foot spin (not necessarily scratch spin) first. Then worry about the back spin. However, it is a good idea to start working on forward scratch spin and beginning back spin around the same time.

How quickly should a skater acquire the scratch spin and the back spin? Both of these skills entail what I call "positions not found in nature." They are very difficult. However, spend the time on these and the higher skills-- loops, axel, double, fast back scratch, forward and back sit, will happen quickly. Just as proper stroking and edges are critical for beginner skaters, these beginner free style skills are critical for successful higher level skating. Don't skimp on the lesson time for these because "we have to start working on axels." Work on these skills until they are solid, because in a major way, you are working on axels.

I would not begin to venture a time line. It depends on the skater's talent and motivation, the amount of time on the ice, and the quality of prior skills.

What are your spin questions?

Who reads Xanboni?

2011-07-14T13:29:00.003-05:00

Results of the poll, total respondents 67 out of estimated readership around 500 per day.

Legitimate ambitions for Nationals this year: 5 (7%)
Always compete at Regionals or higher: 7 (10%)
Only compete at nonqualifying events: 24 (35%)
Only compete at recreational events: 20 (29%)
Never compete: 11 (16%)

By way of comparison I did a rough estimate of my rink (about 150 freestyle level skaters)

Legitimate ambitions for Nationals this year: 5 (3%)
Always compete at Regionals or higher: 15 (10%)
Only compete at nonqualifying events: 30 (20%)
Only compete at recreational events: 30 (20%)
Never compete: 70 (47%)

What do you think the averages are at your program?

Lefty

2011-07-14T13:17:00.000-05:00

About one in five skaters will jump and spin clockwise. Despite this meaning that they jump to the right (think about it), this tendency is called "lefty" jumping. It is somewhat, but not entirely, correlated with left-handedness, although there are right-handed skaters who jump lefty (me) and left-handed skaters who jump righty.

First, let me state emphatically that it doesn't matter which way you jump. There is no benefit or deduction for choosing one over the other. It is easier to teach a skater to jump and spin in the same direction, but again, nothing in the rules or in general technique would theoretically prevent a skater from jumping one way and spinning the other. Most highly competitive skaters now have spins in both directions. Ballet dancers have always done multiple rotation jumps in both directions.

Here's a basic guide:

How can you tell which way a skater jumps
If you are a parent, you basically don't need to worry about it. The coach will figure it out. If you're the kind of parent that feels a little smug and happy when your kid is different from everyone else, and you've got a lefty, I give you leave to brag (lefty skaters are cool, everyone knows it).

The easiest way is to just ask them to jump and do a half turn in the air. Most reasonably talented kids can do this on the ice by the time they're working on back crossovers. You can also watch their bunny hops (kicking with the right foot generally, but not always, indicates a righty or counter-clockwise skater; left kick is a clockwise skater,). There are other tests- have the skater face away from you, then give them something. They will automatically turn in their dominant direction. Ask them to spin. Then ask them to spin the other way and inquire as to which one they liked better (they won't always spin right off the bat in the dominant direction, strangely). Have them skate to the exit and step out without stopping. If they lead with their right foot, they're probably righties. Watch to see which foot they lead with going upstairs. Righties will generally lead with the right foot.

Which hand they write with is not the best indicator. A lot of right-handed people skate lefty.

Very young children have sometimes not established a dominant spin direction, or will change. Don't worry about it.

When should you choose
Most coaches will settle in on one direction or the other as soon as the skater starts to jump and spin (around Basic 6/7 or ISI Freestyle 1). But really you can play around with this all the way up to the back scratch or the axel if the skater really doesn't seem to have a strong dominance. I've turned a FS2 skater around; she was fine. I switched in FS3 (see the whole story below).

Can you jump one way, spin the other
This is great, but the way skating is taught in the U.S. a skater will have a much easier time if they spin and jump in the same direction. This is because the basic backscratch spin position is identical to the air position in all jumps. So then you only have to learn it once. However, if the skater and coach are willing to devote the practice time to it, no harm in being able to spin both directions. ISI Freestyle 9 has a reverse axel as an optional element, and FS7 has a reverse jump as a required element. Opposite direction spin in the IJS competitions counts as a feature, and therefore earns points.

Can you do both
Yes. Awesome.

What if the first coach gets it wrong
Eventually someone will notice.

What it the class coach gets it wrong
This happens a lot, especially with new coaches who don't know the kids in the program, and with inexperienced coaches. With adults it's not an issue because they'll announce their preference, but children need to be taught to tell the coach that they are reverse/lefty/clockwise jumpers (whatever terminology is in use at your rink.). In particular, coaches who don't know the kids very well will assume incompetence before they manage to get their brain cells lined up and manage to ask the poor child which way they jump. I've seen it happen over and over. Further, if you've got a pretty talented skater who suddenly gets incompetent when the jumps start, gently ask the coach if they've thought about trying the student jumping in the other direction. When I started skating I did not know anything about this. Couldn't jump or spin to save my life. YEARS into training, after laboriously learning to jump and spin counterclockwise, a Patch coach finally noticed that everything was stronger clockwise. He tried me jumping and spinning that way and glorioski.

Shameless plagiarizing

2011-07-12T13:53:00.004-05:00

The prior discussion that morphed from "how do you set goals" to "what are the mechanics of competition." Regular readers Josette from Halushki and Skittl1321 had such amazing answers that I decided to cut-and-paste them to their own post.

Future posts inspired by the discussion will include making switch from recreational to competitive, and where to find information. Look for "choosingacoach" and "changecoach" in the Tag Cloud for information about coaching issues associated with competitive skaters.

Here we go; from the discussion:
from Skittl
Junior Nationals is for young (lower levels) skaters: juvenile and intermediate level.

"Regular" Nationals is for older (higher level) skaters: Novice, Junior, and Senior level. The Senior level is considered "Championship" level.

Generally, skaters do move up after winning a title, however, it is not required, with one exception. BUT if you win novice or junior and do not move up to the next level, the rulebook requires that you compete at sectionals the next year to earn your spot (generally high ranked skaters get "byes" to nationals). I'm assuming Jason Brown will compete as a senior this year, but I'm not 100% sure. The exception is for intermediate level champion. I don't know why, but that's what the rulebook says (winner of the US Junior National Championships is ineligible to compete at that level again).

I believe that last year was the first year there was a repeat Novice champion (Men's: Nathan Chen. He repeated because he is a prodigy- first novice title was at 10, and his coach didn't want him to move up and risk burnout/injury. As much as I understand the "don't sandbag mentality, staying at novice makes sense for an 11 year old whose bones are not ready for a triple axel! He is working on one now, apparently) He is moving up to juniors this year, but at 12 is to young to compete internationally as a junior.

*on a side note, another confusion is that international juniors are an AGE level, not an ability. Many of USA's seniors compete internationally as juniors.

from Josette:
Juvenile level just changed so that a skater must be under 14 years old by September 1 to compete. (It used to be under 13 by September 1; of note that some competitions don't follow this rule, but USFSA Regionals and Nationals do.)

My daughter competes Juvenile and places about mid-pack with her highest jump a solid double flip with lots of air time. Most girls we see at this level are between 10 and 12, but some as young as 9. Girls who medal at bigger competitions at Juvenile level have a solid double lutz-double toe/loop combination, double flip-double toe/loop combination, a solid axel (often with a "feature" - hand over head, etc.) National level Juveniles often have a double axel. At the top competitions, there is no room for under-rotated jumps or wonky anything if you want to medal. The kids who did well at Jr.Nationals at Juvenile level last year kids were solid technicians and performers who seemed to compete at least once a month starting in April/May up until Regionals in October. Did they need to? I don't know. But by Regionals, you could tell the "seasoned" competitors.

We've seen a few double axel tries by Juveniles already at May Day Open and Chesapeake Open, but none exceptional.

To place well at Juvenile, solid level 3/4 spins are a must.

To make it more interesting, often a successful Juvenile skater with jumps all the way through double lutz won't make the transition to Intermediate well unless they start to put some heft and height behind their jumps. Small, "spinny" double jumps won't translate to triples, nor do they get marked as well as jumps that actually look to leave the ground. A lot of people who watch "unseen" skaters hold their breath to see whether girls can keep their jumps past puberty and begin to put the whole package together with strong technical (the "tricks") score and strong program component scores (the second score: skating skills, choreography, transitions, interpretation...one more...darn.)

By 14, USFSA skaters need to move up to Intermediate level, but the bronze medalist last year at Nationals was 11yo with double axel and triple salchow. Regional and National Intermediate level winners lately have a double axel and one or two triples. However, you can compete successfully at smaller competitions without double axel or triples.

There are a few cases of kids starting as late as 9 or 10 and doing well. This seems more usual with boys than girls, although still rare. There is one Japanese female skater who (supposedly) started skating at 10 years old and who is 14 now and skated at last year's Nationals with triples. However, the rest of her skating looked decidedly non-senior level.

We're in a holding breath stage with my 12yo. It takes a combination of talent, work, kindness on behalf of the puberty gods, and keeping normal teenage angst/rebellion in check. She has other options, of course. But for the goal in her sites right now, she has to toe the line and listen to her coach. No deviations.

The USFSA Qualifying Levels are Juvenile, Intermediate, Novice, Junior, Senior.

There are 9 geographical Regions which get divided into three Sections. http://www.sk8stuff.com/f_basic_ref/regions_table.htm

Every fall, USFSA Regions hold Regional competitions from Juvenile - Senior.

Juvenile and Intermediate (the two lowest levels) do not go to Sectional competitions. They go directly to Junior Nationals. It's only Juvenile and Intermediate skaters.

Novice, Junior, and Senior skaters go to Sectionals, and the top winners at sectionals go on to Nationals.

To make it more confusing, this is all going to change after next year. No more Junior Nationals. Everyone goes to Sectionals and then Nationals.

For the complete discussion, see the comments thread on the prior post, however, let's move this issue over here.

Whose goal is more important?

2011-07-11T09:51:00.004-05:00

I talk a lot about goals on this blog, and I think they're important not just for skaters, but for living. You don't need a GTD® list for daily living or anything, but should generally know where you're going.

The trick with goals of course, is making sure that yours are aligned-- with your child's, your spouse's, your boss's, the universe, and of course, and perhaps most importantly, with the coach.

Skating parents need to practice the following phrase:

"I want..."

...my child to earn all the patches

...to take two lessons a week
...to skate every day
...to find a way to cover costs
...to have him progress faster
...to not have to worry about progress
...to compete
...not to compete
...fill in the blank

You get the picture.

When taking on a student, coaches have a couple of different approaches-- they've privately "vetted" the skater, watching to see if this is a skater with a similar philosophy to their own, regarding work ethic, practice commitment, personality; or they take a student on and then assess how to deal with them. Should they compete? Shall I push a little more or a little less? What kind of time/cost/seriousness can this skater handle?

These are all non-judgmental questions, but coaches look at these things to figure out how to deal with the kids.

Most coaches will have a rough timeline in mind for their skaters.

They don't all bother to share this information with the parents, and even fewer parents share their own ideas with coaches, out of a misguided idea that they don't know enough about skating.

For a recreational skater, the family's/skater's goal is primary. All that's at stake is the skater's interest in skating, so the skater needs to be satisfied. This does not mean that the family and the skater get to choose the content of the lessons. It means if the family doesn't want to compete, they don't compete, and if they can't afford 4 lessons a week, the coach shouldn't make them feel bad about it by comparing their progress to skaters who skate more. (Point it out yes, disparage the student, no).

For a competitive student, the coach's plan takes precedence. If you've chosen to compete at any level, then you have to let the coach get the student to the appropriate skill level. No pushing or holding back, and definitely no micromanaging the lessons.

In other words, it's not whose goal is most important at all. It's making sure that everyone understands what the goals are.

What does a skater look like?

2011-07-09T06:55:00.010-05:00

There's an ideal skater type; coaches sigh and flutter their eyelashes when these kids walk in-- they are naturally slender, look taller than they are, with a low center of gravity and short legs. If their legs are slightly bowed, even better. Sasha Cohen is the perfect example; Yu Na is another one-- they look so tall and slender, but when you see them in person you can't believe how tiny they are. Evan Lysacek and Carolina Kostner are unusual in that they are tall with long legs. As Johnny Weir once remarked, he admired Lysacek because it's really hard to jump "when you're 13 feet tall."

We like the little fireplugs with the power thighs, too. I call them mini-mights. Think Tonya Harding (well, the skating and body type anyway).

And gee, they never seem to wear glasses.

Coaches do talk about your children's looks. We're perfectly awful about it. Sometimes in admiration, sometimes mean, sometimes with a wistful "too bad he doesn't (get contacts, lose weight, tuck in his shirt, come to the rink without his mother...)."

But I hear worse stories, naturally, of the children who are told that they can't be skaters unless they lose weight, or get contacts, or wear their hair a certain way, or that they can't be skaters at all because they are knock-kneed, or slope shouldered, or some other physical attribute completely beyond their control.

So what's the truth, can anyone be a skater?

In a word, yes.

However (you knew there was a however).

Certain body types and morphological issues will limit your "career"-- if you are really overweight (medically overweight, I'm not talking about what we used to call chubby kids who slim down when they hit puberty), then the higher level jumps will be hard. You're just fighting gravity too much, and your flesh will literally be in your way. There is a limit to how hard a fat person can pull in, or how low they can get for a sit spin. (Sorry).

Glasses will fly off your face on a layback or a triple jump. You can get a strap--common in other sports--but because in figure skating presentation is also important, this is just not going to happen. Canadian champion and Olympic bronze medalist Joannie Rochette actually got eye surgery to correct her bad vision because glasses were out and she couldn't handle contacts.

On the other hand, Joannie Rochette is a multiple international medalist, so this kind of step makes sense for her. Your child is just taking Preliminary Moves. So here's the low down:

Glasses
Yes you can skate in glasses. If your child can handle contacts, fine, but this should be under the consultation of a medical professional, not a skating coach whose self-esteem is wounded by an "ugly" child in glasses. You can take ALL the moves tests in glasses. There is nothing in any Moves level that would be difficult in glasses.

Yes, you can do low-level competitions in glasses. Until you are doing lay backs and double jumps, you are not going to notice them. If they make the skater nervous, get a strap and arrange hair to disguise it. Or not. Make the nerdy look the kid's signature.

Overweight
There is a very talented obese child at my rink. Yes, there is an upper limit right now to the skills she could acquire, and she cannot compete at a national level with the weight; for one thing training at that level she would simply lose it. But even with the weight there is an axel and probably a couple of doubles in her future. I have seen many many overweight children test at the lower levels without any penalty from the judges.

Her mother knows she is overweight. She doesn't need the coach to tell her. She especially doesn't need the coach to refuse to let her test because the coach disapproves of her weight. Testing is about the quality of the skills, not what the skater looks like. Judges, especially in the lower and recreational levels, understand this. Judges in testing situations are not allowed to take a child's appearance into account, unless it is interfering with the quality of the skills.

Now, if you go to the coach and say that you want her to be nationally competitive, then the coach has a right, even an obligation to tell you what that will take, including losing weight. No child should be on a diet regimen unless they are under medical supervision.

Not classically pretty
It's a sport not a beauty pageant. The next coach I hear who says "she'd be great if she would get a nose job" is going to get her own nose broken. I'm sorry, I have difficulty focusing on a skater's nose when they're spinning at 40 revolutions a second. This attitude is also responsible for generations of black and brown kids who don't even try because they figure they'd be penalized for their skin color. This, thank god, is starting to change.

Too tall
Like the overweight ones, the tall ones have greater difficulty. Even when they're very thin, they simply have more weight to heft off the ice. The center of gravity is necessarily higher. But just as they do not have trouble figuring out how to handle stairs when they are this tall, they also figure out skating.

Slope shoulders
Two words-Rachael Flatt.

Here's the low down--coaches love kids who are easy to teach, we're only human. Medical and morphological issues make kids hard to teach. A competitive coach may not want to be bothered with a skater whom she judges has no shot. And you know what, with this shallow coach the kid doesn't have a shot. I'm also extremely bothered by the prognosticating-- how they heck does any coach know that some kid who wears glasses at the age of 8 or 10 can't ever be nationally competitive because of this? In this culture, how dare a coach hold a child back because she doesn't conform to some ideal? Soviet Russia, okay. Middle class West? Please.

When do you tell the coach you're leaving?

2011-07-08T09:05:00.002-05:00

The only really easy way to leave a coach is to actually leave town, and sometimes I think skating families actually consider this in order to avoid telling the coach there needs to be a change.

In the US skating families are hobbled by what I call the gag rule--it's very difficult to seek a new coach without the old coach finding out, because they're required by PSA rules to rat you out. If you're not a competitive skater the way around this is to quit for three months--just do classes and practice; as far as I'm concerned this cleans the slate. You no longer have a coach and can talk to anyone you want without them having to talk to the other guy. When you quit, make sure you have a final bill in writing, and that the coach physically signs it off as paid when you pay it. This ends your obligation and overrides the gag rule. You now have no coach. Sigh.

If you're competitive it's a little trickier because you can't be without a coach for that long. Of course, you can always just be honest and upfront and tell the coach that you want to change and that you'll be talking to other coaches. Let him know why-- we don't feel the relationship is working/the commute is too long/rink politics are making us uncomfortable/whatever.

Then the current coach can prove you right by being a jerk and making the skater miserable, or by refusing to teach you anymore, or s/he can be a mensch and support your search.

Since the gag rule is so stupid, I cannot believe coaches really follow it. I really think there have to be an awful lot of families out there talking to coaches and asking them to please not tell the current coach until they are ready to switch. Frankly, as far as I'm concerned this is the logical way to do this--talk to any coach you want to and prohibit them from telling your coach--after all talking to a coach is not the same thing as hiring a new coach. It's really no one's business but your own until you actually make the change, at which point you really do have to tell everyone.

It's never easy to "fire" someone, and you shouldn't put it like that; unless the coach has engaged in criminal or abusive behavior (rare) there is no need to burn the bridge. A coach being a jerk is not enough of a reason to destroy a relationship.

So, back to the original question: When do you tell the coach you're leaving?

The second you think it's going to get out anyway.

SkateMoms Chat!

2011-07-05T09:05:00.007-05:00

Got an issue? Got a story? Got an idea to make skating better for you and your kids?

Join me and @RinkSideDamned (aka St. Lidwina) for the first ever #skatemoms chat on Twitter, Sunday July 10 at 8 p.m. Central Time.

We'll do the chat every Sunday at 8, talking about specific topics (How do you choose skates? How do you handle vacations? How do I tell my coach his breath is bad? Where do I hide the bodies?) or, like this first one, in Open Forum-- anything goes-- just to get to know each other.

We want to know what you want to talk about, so bring your ideas, and tell your friends. We'll parse them all out and create a calendar. I hope we'll be able to get some guests, like Rainbo Sportshop to talk about skates, or perhaps even some skaters and their moms who've "been there."

If you're not on Twitter, now's the time! You don't have to tweet, or follow anyone, or pay any attention to the whole rigamarole--just give yourself a name, and you can join us. Don't want to join? You can still follow the chat by going to Tweetchat.com and enter the hashtag #skatemoms. Even if you're not signed in through a Twitter account you can still read the conversation.

So put the date and time in your calendar-- Sunday, July 10, 8 p.m. Central Time (so sorry, UK, we had to balance the followers in Oz with the followers in Middle Earth, and there seemed to be more down there.)

What makes a good customer?

2011-07-02T07:00:00.000-05:00

We had quite a discussion going about how a coach's better customers (i.e. the ones who skate more) are going to get the better customer service in terms of ice time, attention and flexibility.

But what about that "once a week skater." What about all those kids who just do classes, or the ones who take the beginning classes and then decide not to skate or the anonymous families who come week after week, but only to public? Are they "good" customers who deserve to have their needs met, or do we just focus on the lifers?

What makes a customer "good"?

Volume
Two ways to think about it-- individual skater who buys a lot, class of skaters that there are a lot of, namely beginners.

The great Jimmie Santee (now head of the PSA) used to do a graphic at coaching seminars showing a pyramid. In the tiny peak at the top were the approximately 500 "elite" skaters--kids in all skating disciplines who compete nationally. Along the broad base were the million or so people who participate in figure skating. You could do a version of this at any scale-- your rink, your region, or, like Jimmie's, nationally.

Coaches and rinks get stars in their eyes over these so-called "elite" skaters. I never worked at a rink that didn't think they were "competitive" and focused an awful lot of attention and effort on the 2 or 3 skaters who had a shot. And, to their credit, I've also never worked at a rink that didn't manage to produce a national skater every few years.

But they've got to come from somewhere. That one skater pulled himself out of the masses of public-session skaters. Putting up barriers to those kids--scheduling, cultural, cost,--keeps these casual customers out of your program and prevents them from becoming the so-called good customers who spend a lot of time (and money) in your facility.

Yes, your high freestyle and competitive skaters are important customers. For one thing they keep your coaching staff happy. They spend a lot of money, and they're great PR. But the beginners won't ever get there if you make it difficult, expensive, or unpleasant to be in your rink.

Talent
Gosh, if we only paid attention to the talented people, none of us would have jobs.

Need
Who needs premium ice and the "top" coaches: the hooked customer, or the new customer?

Again, most of the people who skate are casual skaters. It continually astounds me when facilities don't have convenient or frequent public skating (which is also more lucrative ice), giving all the premium ice times to the fewest skaters (high freestyle). Again from Jimmie Santee--most of the kids in your class will sign on not because they saw a catalog, but because they came to public skating or a school outing and had a great time. They didn't come because they saw your best skater; they came because they saw an actual famous skater on tv and wanted to try it, or because mom and dad loved skating recreationally. You top skaters are helping that coach get students, but they are not bringing bodies into the facility.

Loyalty
How do you make this happen?

There's the cynical way: hockey makes parents spend several hundred on equipment; synchro makes you buy lots of "team building" crap like matching guards, bags, makeup, and for all I know feminine hygiene products (really, what a racket), as well as signing a contract. (In other words, if you quit Synchro halfway through a season, no other team will take you and there are no refunds.) These programs, and other youth sports, grab the customer with a costly upfront investment and the promise of instant and long-term companionship.

Your solo skaters need to be lured back-- by good ice times, wonderful teachers, a caring staff, and a well-run facility.

In other words, all of your customers are "good" customers; all customers should be treated with equal respect and have their needs met to the best of the program's ability.

What kind of skater are you? (Take the poll). Do you think your facility does its best to make you feel like a valued customer?

Coaching discounts

2011-06-22T20:52:00.006-05:00

I'm having an argument with a young coach at my rink. A family wants her to take their skater through a competitive season, including qualifying events, but told her upfront "we can't pay your full rate." I maintain that this is unfair to the coach, especially a coach with whom they have no track record. My friend feels that a child who is motivated and talented deserves her shot and should not be hobbled by her financial situation.

Skating is an expensive sport. There is a fundamental unfairness because, unlike popular scholastic sports (especially boys' sports, hmmmm) it is inaccessible to families of lower means. It's not an NCAA sport, so you can't use the excuse that you'll end up with a college scholarship because of the skating. It's not a team sport so there are no economies of scale. In the U.S. skating talent is not subsidized at the developmental levels, let alone for beginners.

The truth is, no one can afford this sport. Even at the lower levels of qualifying--PreJuv through Novice, you're talking about upwards of $15,000 a year in costs. At the Junior and Senior international levels, it can skirt six figures.

So what's a coach, and a family to do? Can you ask for a coaching discount?

Negotiating a discount with a coach who is giving you a high volume of lessons makes sense, especially if there's either an established relationship, or a demonstrated level of success; for instance if you've already medaled at the national level (or have reasonable expectations to do so) and are switching coaches or ramping up an existing relationship. The coach knows that you are going to be taking a high volume of lessons; it's reasonable to set this up as a weekly fee on almost a salary basis-- the coach takes a bit of a hit on the hourly in exchange for guaranteed income and the prestige of a high performing student. "Volume" discounts or, essentially, retainers are common at high competitive levels.

You will, however, probably be paying full price for extras-- the choreographer, spin coach, stroking coach, dance coach, off-ice specialists, jump coach, etc. Make sure that you're not stiffing your primary coach unduly.

I believe that telling the coach up front that you have to have a discount, with no evidence that you will stick with the coach is exploitative. I would say instead, approach it as above-- if you're trying to compete at a national level, ask the coach how much time he or she thinks this would require and what the full fee for that would be. See if the coach offers a volume discount. If he doesn't, broach the subject yourself, and negotiate this. Do not present it as an ultimatum-- if you don't give me a discount we won't hire you. Especially young coaches need money and need to establish themselves; they're not really in a position to refuse. Don't take advantage of this.

You can also wait for a coach to offer. I have a very talented student that I knew was on scholarship at the rink; I offered to take the skater on for a private and any semi-private group class I set up for free. In fact, this mother refused to comply--she insisted that she pay something, so I charge them $10 an hour.

You also want to be careful not to set yourself up for future grief-- is this coach going to hold you hostage to your discount? What if you have to change coaches? Can you get the same discount from a new coach? Will the old coach tell the new coach that you actually "owe" him a lot of money because of unnegotiated discounts or because you didn't pay the full amount and he just said "pay me later." (This happens--watch out for discounts that aren't really discounts.)

Discounts are a way to pay for a competitive career. But be sure you know what you're buying.

When everyone is out to get you, it's completely rational to be paranoid

2011-06-20T09:30:00.001-05:00

"All the competitive coaches want my kid."
I hear this a lot. The truth is, all the coaches want all the kids. Yes, we look for students that match our style, competitive profile, and financial needs, but frankly I may be the only coach in the history of skating who actually turns away students in favor of a coach that is a better match. Coaches actively recruit anyone who shows the slightest interest. Coaches who will turn down a student are vanishingly rare. It is the parents' job to make sure that the match is a good one, because most coaches are not going to do this for you. You'd be appalled at the number of coaches I hear who say "I hate that child." Doesn't stop them teaching the kid! Personally I think it's insane to hire a highly competitive, international coach for a once-a-week beginning skater. As the old HR adage goes, "hire the smile." The most important factor in a teaching relationship is not the teacher's background, skills, knowledge, or or other students (although these are factors that should be considered). The most important factor is the teacher's commitment to and connection with the student.

Coach seems to be losing interest in my skater
Time for a really honest assessment of your skating. How much are you skating? Do you bring the skater to practice and to classes, or only to a once a week lesson? Is the coach asking for things that you are not delivering, like multiple lessons, extra practice, proper attire/equipment, on-time attendance, or other things? Are you involved in other activities that you are clearly more committed to, and talking about it all the time? Ignoring coach requirements and/or not wanting to focus on skating, with a coach that demands this, will in fact cause the coach to suspect your level of commitment.

This is not a criticism-- you might just need a coach who is a better fit.

Skater is not making any progress
Based on what? Was there a goal, like pass into a certain level or a USFS test by a certain date? Did the coach know this goal? Does the coach have a different goal? You see where I'm going with this--everyone needs to know the task and the timeline.

I think the coach is scheduling us for someone else's convenience
Entirely possible. Does the other skater take more lessons than you? Have they been with the coach longer? Does their skater demonstrate a higher level of commitment? Be honest with yourself before you complain about the coach. It's a business, and a livelihood. Coaches need to give better service to their more valuable customers.

Coach has a huge number of skaters
Only a problem if you are not getting the attention/service/progress you feel you signed up for. If you think you're being neglected, confront the coach gently but directly, in so many words, about your fears.

I think my coach cherry picks potentially competitive skaters and then neglects them so that they're not a threat to her "real" skaters.
Sigh. Either, 1, get over yourself, or 2, if it really seems to be true (jaysus), then fire the coach. Why would you put up with that?

Other coaches are telling me my skater is wonderful, giving us free lessons, criticizing her progress.
Well, based on PSA rules, this is so so so wrong. But based on human nature, if you think what they are telling you is true, and you like one of these coaches better, then switch.

I'm afraid if I leave my coach, she'll retaliate by keeping other coaches from taking my skater, or by messing with judging/testing and generally making the skaters life miserable.
If this has been observed, and better yet, documented, the coach and her skating director who is tolerating this behavior, need to be reported to the PSA. And if your skater is a high level skater with looming national prospects, it's a problem that should be addressed. But seriously, no coach, especially high level coaches, has time to make life miserable for some little Gamma student, and if they're just mean to her at the rink, then chalk it up to character building.

We're not entirely happy with our coach, but it feels ungrateful and insane to leave a coach of that caliber
What's insane is sticking with a coach who isn't commited to your skater. I don't care how many Olympians a coach has trained, if she's not fully committed to every skater in her stable, at their agreed on level of need/commitment, then where's the coaching caliber? Coaching caliber is measured not by her skaters' resumes, but by her skaters' joy.

I can't communicate with the coach due to language barriers (heavy accent), non-return of texts, emails.
Language barrier is not an excuse. Does she have an accent when she writes? Non return of written communication is simply unacceptable. However, 10 emails a day from a parent who is only taking a lesson a week is also unacceptable. Look honestly at the behavior on both sides. If it's really that the coach is not responding to any communication you need to sort that out, again, by confronting her directly: "I'm concerned that you never answer my questions". If it's that she's stopped replying in an attempt to get some respite from you, then you need to stop haranguing her.

Should I dismiss the idea of hiring the other local rink coaches just because they don't take serious skaters?
No. nononononono. Define "non serious" skater-- someone you think can get to the Olympics? Someone who only takes one lesson a week? Someone who doesn't wear Chloe Noel pants? Someone who only takes ISI tests? But make sure that the coach that you hire understands what you mean by serious for yourself.

A coaching problem

2011-06-10T17:47:00.012-05:00

The scenario:

Your skater is not progressing commensurate with other skaters of the same age, ability and commitment. In particular, she's been working on her first double for nearly 2 years, with no progress for half that time. She's taking 2 half-hour weekly lessons and practicing on her own an additional two hours.

What's going on?
Issues with current coach: Does the coach have other students who have mastered this skill? Is the coach actively engaged with the skater during the lesson? Has the coach talked to you about the issue, and addressed your concerns? If the answer to the first question is no, either you're the first (so give her a chance), or you need to switch. If the answer to the second question is no, you need talk to the coach yesterday and find out what's going on. If the answer to all three questions is no, you're probably looking at a coaching change. Caveat: "addressed our concerns" is not the same thing as "won't let parents make decisions/judgments about technique."

Skater issues: Is the skater responsive and engaged with the coach? Does she appear to be working on actively fixing the problem skill or technique or is she just practicing the mistake, (a very common issue, especially with scary things like jumps). Is there a non-skating issue such as stress at school (either good/academic expectations or bad/social problems or mixed/social pressures), family difficulties, growth or weight gain, etc.

Someone needs to fix her double salchow: I think you can focus in on specific skills at a Basic Skills level-- fix her crossovers, fix his 3 turns-- but if the problem is doubles, then there are deeper issues than "can't do double salchow," starting with poor basic skills. Talented skaters who have difficulty with higher level skills almost always have underlying technical problems. Might be psychological (rare, but parents always think this), might be coaching incompetence (rare, but parents always think this, yet oddly don't act on it), but more likely it's problems with basic skating. In other words, you cannot demand that a coach fix one problem when you, as a layperson, can't really know exactly what the problem is.

Is this actually slow for this skater?

Look back at her skating background. If she's made slow but steady progress, two years on a double might not be out of line. If she's "suddenly" gotten complex skills in the past, this may happen again-- it looks like one day it was just there, but maybe all the slogging just finally fell into place. Again, make sure she's practicing the problem skill and not only doing it in lessons. I can tell you that a skater who will not practice a specific skill outside of lessons is going to get the same lesson over and over because she's not making the technique her own. You might need to add some practice time to allow her to feel she's getting everything in.

We've already decided to switch: Then please stop complaining about the coach and just do it. When you do it, do NOT claim that it's because the coach couldn't teach her way out of a paper bag, or start questioning her credentials (e.g. "well, supposedly she had skaters at Nationals, but that was 15 years ago. How come she hasn't had one lately?"), or complaining in any way about her. Coaching issues are, frankly, less often problems with competence than with skater/coach compatibility, which is no one's fault. Complaining about a coach is harmful to her career. Unless you actually want to negatively affect a coach's career, the reason for switching is "it wasn't working out." If you actually think this coach shouldn't be teaching, then file a complaint with the rink, club, or police and be ready to back it up with justifiable accusations.

The dreaded schedule

2011-06-05T08:27:00.002-05:00

Reader question:
My daughter is 8 yrs old and has been skating 15 months. She currently has a group lesson a week (just started Freeskate 1), and has had one private lesson a week for the past year plus an extra ½ hour when preparing for competitions. She is also going to be on the Beginner synchro team in the fall and we'll probably be adding a second ½ hour lesson.

Is it better to do a one hour private or 2 - ½ hour lessons per week? I was thinking that since time is spent warming up and practicing things like crossovers etc at the beginning of each lesson that an hour lesson would leave more time for learning new things. It would also be more convenient because we already come to the rink for synchro and group lessons. At this point she is not into coming to the rink 4 or 5 times a week.

Forget the axel. Working out the schedule is the hard part of figure skating. For a serious skater like this one, several days of skating per week (3 or more) is not unreasonable.

Personally I think lessons should be as spread out as possible. In other words, don't do a Tuesday morning lesson, Tuesday afternoon practice and class and Wednesday morning lesson if you can spread it a little thinner. Figure a day on, a day off, two days on two days off, and on Sunday even the Lord rested. Skaters coming 4 and 5 days a week should try to have at least one period every week to two weeks where they get 2 days off in a row. That's for sanity.

A high level skater (figure FS 3 and up) should never have less than an hour and a half per session, including 15 minute off-ice warm up, 15 minute on ice warm up (stroking, cross overs and edges), 30 to 45 minutes practice or lesson, and a 10 minute cool down. A higher level skater, or one with good stamina can do as much as 3 hours in a single stretch, with breaks. Learn-to-skate and low freestyle should shoot for that hour, including a 5 minute stretch and 10-minute "fun skate" warm up.

Ideally, you want your lesson in the second half-hour of the practice ice, so that you get to do the warm up on your own rather than, as the reader says, spending half the lesson on stroking and crossovers. You really can't skip this part, so if your skater has not done the basic warm up on her own, she's going to have to do it with the coach.

With low level skaters, I rarely manage to achieve this ideal. Most of my skaters get to the rink 5 minutes before they go on the ice, and their warm up is maybe twice around the rink stroking. If your coach is spending free style lesson time on cross overs, it's because there's a problem with the cross overs. The way to get rid of the cross over lessons is not to increase lesson time, but rather to increase practice time. This is especially important for a lower level freestyle skater starting synchro, because synchro techniques can be very different from free skating, and the skater will need to be able to learn the differences and apply them in the appropriate situation.

Here's my favorite way of figuring out how much ice time you need to progress in freeskating: for every full rotation, your skater should be on the ice for 30 minutes a week. So-- Free Skate 1 (waltz jump=half rotation, half flip = half rotation, mazurka = half rotation. 1½ rotations= 45 to 60 minutes per week, or one class or practice and one lesson. Free skate five (axel+salchow+toe loop+loop+flip+lutz), 3½ total rotations combined= 3 1/2 hours on the ice. Call it 2 half-hour lessons, two 1 hour practices, one class.

Synchro, I'm sorry to say, is additional.

How do you work out your schedule? How much do you feel you or your child has to skate to progress?

The once a week skater

2011-06-03T13:25:00.001-05:00

A discussion popped up in the last couple of weeks, you might recall, about what to focus on during lessons.

For the most part, you'll do what your coach has planned out for you. In most cases the coach has a goal in mind--pass such-and-such class level, introduce higher level skills, get ready for testing or competition.

For skaters skating several times a week-- say a class, a practice or two and a lesson-- this usually will work out without all that much communication back and forth with the parents. You'll be having enough quick conversations, and the skater is getting enough ice time to progress.

But what about the skater who doesn't have a lot of time. What if the skater's goals conflict with what seems to be happening in a lesson? Here's how to stay on track:

Talk to each other
This works both ways. Your coach should be telling you "I want to work on such-and-such, we'll measure success by xyz outcome in # weeks." You should be telling the coach-- I want to pass Freestyle 5, or I want to do competitions, or I want to learn new jumps. Sometimes parents will nudge me back on track, by reminding me of a goal that's gotten neglected, or asking me to test a specific skill, as this morning when a parent asked me to see whether her skater was ready for Freestyle levels.

"I just want to skate for fun" is not a goal. If you just want to skate for fun, don't take private lessons. Just come and skate for fun.

You are the customer
If you want to learn jumps and all your coach is teaching you is Moves, you need to say something. If you don't want to test and the coach keeps teaching you the test, say something. If you DO want to test, you're observing other people passing tests, and your coach is doing nothing, for goodness sake, SAY something. The coach may then have a very good reason for doing this. However, if the coach's reason is "because I don't want to teach you jumps," "just do what I say," or "I don't want to talk about it," then you may want to rethink this relationship.

Make sure your effort matches your goals
You're not going to learn an axel, or, frankly, anything else, if you only skate once a week in lessons. You will simply get the same lesson over and over and over and never progress. If you really can only skate a half hour a week then you goals have to reflect that, and the pro needs to accept it.

If you really don't want to give up the challenging goal, you'll have to find a way to increase your practice time. If cost is a factor, do practice ice without a coach, come to public ice, take classes and see if your coach will do semi-private, small group sessions. Personally I feel that a skater whose only ice time is that once-a-week half hour lesson is wasting everyone's time and their money. It's like playing an instrument-- you won't get any better without practicing on your own.

She's not that into you

2011-05-30T08:34:00.007-05:00

Excuses and tactics I have observed from coaches trying to get you to quit:

Phoning in the lesson

That is, on the phone during the lesson.

Rough night?

Runs in at last second for early morning lesson, still in pj's with unbrushed hair.

Oh, I thought we had decided on Thursday!

Five weeks in a row?

Oh, we don't need a regular schedule

Because then I wouldn't have an excuse for not showing

She's not ready to test

For a year. Because I never teach her the test.

Gmail sucks

No it doesn't. Neither does yahoo, webmail, outlook or any other computer program. She's labeled your IP as spam.

T-Mobile drops so many calls

Especially when you're screening them to avoid answering that particular person.

All my students skate 25 hours a week, and if you can't handle that you're a bad mom

Paraphrased, but not by much

Oh, music? oh, competition deadline? What? New skates?

You mean you think the coach should be thinking about these things?

I teach all my students in groups

And then pay attention only to some of them.

Did that coach's accent just get stronger?

Hard to take a lesson from someone you can't understand

What's the best excuse you've heard for dropping a student?

Getting over the hump

2011-05-27T13:34:00.000-05:00

Everyone hits the wall. Where skating used to be easy and fun, it suddenly becomes difficult, or serious, or both. Among recreational, class skaters, what I observe is that alpha is easy, and beta is cool. Then it gets tricky because gamma is hard, and delta is boring.

And then it gets really hard.

After beta, there are suddenly lots of things to remember--opposition, getting the edges right (on purpose), what to do with that pesky free hip, really not toe pushing. And on and on. The expectations are higher, not only for being able to accomplish new things, but to be able to execute the old things solidly and without excessive instruction. The skills are complex, and it suddenly matters what you know, and not just what you can do with your natural talent. The coach will start nagging about extra lessons and practice time, and suddenly it's not "fun" any more.

You know your kid loves skating, but they're complaining an awful lot. So what do you do?

Insist
Some people make actual contracts with their kids-- "I'm about to pay money for skating. This means that you have to come to all of these practices, lessons, and/or classes even if you're tired, or have homework, or want to do a playdate instead." And yes, I mean it about homework. If you and your child can't figure out how to get homework and outside activities to co-exist, you should not be doing the outside activities.

Don't listen to their complaints
Don't indulge the skater's crocodile tears, complaints of sore feet, boring teachers, hard skills or mean classmates. When children test these statements, simply reply neutrally and continue as though there is no issue. If the issue is really serious, the child won't drop it. If the kid is just testing your resolve, the problem will mysteriously go away.

Do listen to their complaints
If the skater suddenly hates this thing that's given him or her such joy, see if there's a real reason. Maybe the coach is boring, or mean, or ignores them. Maybe their skates ARE too small. Maybe a clique has formed that excludes them. Maybe they've been pushed through too fast and it's gotten scary because their skills aren't up to their class level (this is very very common). A complaint that persists, or has a specific pattern, is probably real. Figure out how to mitigate it.

Let them have fun
The last 5 minutes of any class should be extras that aren't in the curriculum. It might be putting on a little exhibition, or games, or coming up with a program, or learning something from a higher level. Even a high competitive child should be allowed to have some fun interspersed with the work. Private lessons probably aren't the place for this, but your skater should have at least some control over their own practice, and shouldn't be yelled at for taking a few minutes every now and then just to have fun.

Give them something else to do
It's okay to take vacations from skating. A week, or, frankly, a year. (If it's a year, don't expect to come back in at the level you left.) Don't skate every day (even competitive skaters). Have another activity that the skater enjoys.

Make sure they skate enough to improve
One of the biggest things that takes the joy out of skating is when you can't progress. If you are constantly missing lessons, or not skating enough for your level, your peers are going to start leaving you in the dust. This will make anyone feel bad. Believe it or not, O modern parents, you might have to ask your child to choose from among the 19 different activities that they participate in in their relentless pursuit of admission to Stanford.

Home for the summer

2011-05-24T13:02:00.002-05:00

I've broken a long reader question into component parts.

Issue: I'd been having lessons with my coach for about two years, but I wasn't too happy with them. I love her as a person, but she'd often be talking to the other coaches or texting when she was supposed to be watching me.
Problem: unprofessional coach, disengaged parents, student unwilling to demand her rights
Solution: read that coach the riot act, then fire her

Issue: we would spend so long working on the field moves for exams that we had little time (in the one half-hour lesson I could afford a week) to work on spins and jumps, and I felt that these suffered as a result, as all our focus was on the field moves for my exam.
Problem: conflicting goals, not enough time, poor communication
Solution: make your goals absolutely clear, and make sure you understand, and that the coach conveys, what it will take to reach them. I'm stunned at a student taking just a single half hour lesson a week being told that Moves tests take priority. It's absurd. Moves is ADDITIONAL, not the only thing you work on.

Issue: I went off to university, with our understanding being that I would continue to have lessons with her in the holidays;
Problem: Huh?
Solution: You hate the coaching style, she doesn't share your goals, or indeed pay attention to you during lessons, and basically wastes your time. Going away to college was a gift-wrapped excuse to move on without hurting anyone's feelings.

Issue: after a year of missing out on skating due to being at uni I'm faced with a 3 month summer holiday where I'd really like to get back into skating, and this obviously must include lessons, otherwise I'll never improve. However, I don't think I want to go back to my coach, for the reasons above - I want to just be a recreational skater, trying things for fun, whereas she'll want to push me towards grading, which I have no interest in.
Problem: see previous issue. You have no obligation to this coach. You haven't taken a lesson in a year, and didn't like the lessons. No reasonable person would expect you to continue this relationship, and nothing in PSA ethics or even simple courtesy obligates you.

Issue: she still coaches my sister it's an awkward situation,
Problem: creating issues where there are none. Many families have different coaches for siblings, to make sure that the coaching style matches the student, to avoid rivalry and comparisons, to accommodate schedules and a host of other reasons, or for no reason at all. There's nothing in any coaching manual that says a family can only hire one coach.
Solution: First, the parents need to observe these lessons and make sure that the coach is not pulling the same crap on the sister as on my reader. I cannot imagine why this family feels so committed to this coach.

Issue: I cannot swap to another rink
Problem-- Need more info here. Is there NOT another rink? Transportation issues? I hear this a lot, and sometimes it's more "I'm afraid to switch to another rink where I don't know anyone"
Solution: make sure this is really true before you rule it out.

Issue: I don't think that any of the other coaches will have space to take me on, and most of them at the rink seem to, shall we say, have a similar coaching style to mine.
Problem: Your rink is a mess.
Solution: Run away and don't look back. No, seriously. Observe some of the other coaches. Look for coaches whose students seem to have similar goals and levels to your own. Tell the new coach in so many words exactly what your issue was with the old coach. The old coach is NOT your coach anymore; neither you, your sister, nor any coach you speak with is under any obligation to report that you are making inquiries.

Applaus-o-meter: Ice Show, Day 3

2011-05-22T08:00:00.003-05:00

It's great to see how the girls at an ice rink support each other. Everyone cheers and claps for everyone else, and the whole group comes together as a happy family supporting the year of hard work, spills and chills, love and camaraderie that got us...

huh? whu? Wake up now?

Oh, sorry.

If you've ever been to a community ice show, you know to bring ear plugs, because the girls don't cheer for each other. They SCREAM.

And it's a contest-- whose friend will get the loudest cheer.

I'm not too proud to admit that the year my daughter graduated she not only got the noticeably biggest cheer, she got a bigger cheer than her arch rival, whose mother I still, 4 years later, cross the street to avoid.

The reason the girls need to scream is because of the cliques.

There's always a coach with a giant roster, so her kids always get high decibels, which means the smaller cliques have to up each individual's power to match it.

There are girls who aren't really part of any clique, you will see their grandmothers drumming the benches in order to raise the volume. (And then loudly complain in the stands how "no one applauded for Suzy. These girls are so selfish." Gee, maybe if Suzy talked to other people every now and then someone would know who she is. It ain't Stars on Ice, folks, no one's applauding because of the amazing skating.)

Now here comes Synchro, really giving Popular Coach a run for her money. Popular coach may have to make sure that extended families are in the stands to increase the sound.

Then there's that girl who doesn't really hang out with the cool kids, and doesn't have a popular coach, but ties all the little guys skates, and talks to parents, and helps out with the Learn to Skate classes, and knows everyone's name. Plus, her mom is nice.

Guess who's getting the biggest cheer.

And just in case you really want to know: http://www.theapplausemeter.com/

Apathy: Ice Show Day 2

2011-05-21T07:25:00.006-05:00

I get involved. You may have noticed this. I like to "fix" things. (Beware of people who like to fix things.) Therefore, I get extremely stressed out at things like underprepared ice shows featuring 135 small children and their nervous, overprotective parents.

My friends took me in hand yesterday and told me we were going to work on my apathy. St. Lidwina brought me liquor. (No, I didn't drink it. It's a mini-bar sized Dewar's, and it's sitting on my desk, reminding me to chill.) Skating Director supplied chocolate. My two coach buddies wouldn't let me exit my assigned area.

Went great. I had a good time, didn't end up in tears, everyone skated, other people had the freak outs.

What I always feel at ice shows is that if the coaches and volunteers mess up, the kids suffer, which isn't fair. It's not their fault that moms stick their noses in where they don't belong. It's not their fault that a coach is AWOL from a critical post. It's not their fault that the coaches only get minimum wage for doing this. Frankly, I wish parents knew this and would express their outrage to the city that their children are being entrusted to people who are not being paid enough, but this is not a fight that I can wage, let alone win (I've tried).

But while a single individual in a critical role can have a very negative effect on the entire effort, another single individual cannot fix it.

So last night it wasn't so much that I didn't care, as that I didn't step in. I still care. I just need to remember that I can't fix it by myself.

Stress Rehearsal

2011-05-20T05:40:00.014-05:00

Day one of the spring show.

Observation 1: nature abhors a vacuum
Manifestation: if you put all the disappearing coaches at a single station, the closest moms will step into the void. Better hope they know what they're dong.

Observation 2: The costume ladies are the ones who are actually in charge
Manifestation a: Kids are not allowed to wear the costumes that were ordered for them because they are "too fragile."
Manifestation b: It somehow makes more sense to require that 27 children ages 7 to 11 to go back and forth to the costume room four times (for the group number and back, for the finale and back) and "sign out" the costumes, and then go back and sign them back in. Twice. Did I mention that they're asking second graders to sign a piece of paper stating that they will bring the costume back? Have these people ever actually met a second grader?
Manifestation c None of the girls actually managed to get into a costume. Everyone in the number was wearing something different.
Correllary: See Observation 5, conclusion

Observation 2: the most clueless person in the room will ultimately be the only person anyone will believe.
Manifestion: Oh, you mean the children are all supposed to be together when you need them? I didn't think you were serious when you said you wouldn't hunt for the children in the stands.

Observation 3: there are 2 kinds of moms in the world.
Manifestation: The sensible ones ask for instructions from the people most likely to know what's going on. The ninjas will dispute this and stand there arguing until it's too late to actually fix the situation. The nearest coach will be blamed.

Observation 4: the children are actually the ones in charge
Manifestation: Wrong costume, skates in dad's trunk, glitter, lipstick doesn't match my dress I have to go to Walgreen's, missing the group number so you can get your picture taken with grandma (and then ninja mom wants to run the number again), glitter, "stay in your area" means "go where you want when you want," glitter, and the unshakeable belief that you can be in a dance recital and a skating show at the exact same moment because "daddy said I could do both."

Also, glitter.

Observation 5: no one is willing to concede authority to anyone else
Manifestation: I feel like the lines of authority are clear. First line: official volunteer Kick it upstairs to: any coach or actual employee of the rink. If still in dispute: person in charge of specific area (lighting director, costume director, etc.). Final say: Skating director.
Conclusion: The person who actually turns out to be in charge is the visiting grandmother of the child who has missed every single rehearsal.

Observation: your ability to relax falls in direct proportion to the number of people telling you to relax.
Query: Did telling someone to relax ever actually have the effect of helping that person to relax?

For the view from the rafters, check out Why Me, St. Lidwina.

What does your lesson fee actually buy you?

2011-05-18T09:00:00.002-05:00

Serious skating isn't just about what happens on the ice. There are all sorts of vital related issues: what to wear, scheduling, equipment issues, and more. When do these things get discussed, and do you have to pay for the coach's time?

Class coach
I don't know how it is in other districts, but in Chicago pay for classes ranges from minimum wage (yes, you heard that right) to no more than $32 per hour; in other words a fraction of what the coaches charge for private lessons (Chicago range is $17 to more than $100 per half-hour lesson). Some, but not all rinks pay for a small portion of non-ice time for talking to parents, planning curriculum, etc.

Therefore, I would say respect the coach's time and keep these discussions to a minimum. Expecting a class-only coach to stay for more than 5 or so minutes after a class to discuss your personal skating needs is not fair to the coach. If you're just taking classes, your issues will not be so complex that they cannot be dealt with either on the ice or in brief conversations afterwards. If your issues become complex, then hire the coach to do private lessons.

Likewise, when the class ends, you need to let the coach leave the ice. The pay stops when the clock says the class is over, even if there is empty ice right afterwards. Maybe the coach stays after sometimes, but this is out of the goodness of his heart; don't exploit this. Remember that the coach cannot leave until you leave, because of insurance and safety regulations. He's not hanging around because he loves watching you skate without getting paid for it. He's hanging around because he's not allowed to leave until you do, and he's too nice to tell you to please go home now.

The other thing to remember about the class coach is that she or he is obligated to everyone in the class-- taking up his or her time during class with your personal issues is essentially stealing time from everyone else in the class. If you do it after class, but everyone else wants to also, then that coach's five minutes for which they aren't paying suddenly becomes, in a class of 10, nearly an hour. Trust me, it has happened. I keep business cards in my pocket and ask people to email me. You can also ask a class coach if they will set aside a time when you can talk to them.

Here's what you should NOT do: Do not grill the class coach about competitions, progress, private lessons, and USFS rules, and then hire someone else for privates. It's one thing to interview coaches to see who is the best fit, and we are all happy to give you as much time as we can- that's just marketing. But it's just exploitative to get all your information from the accessible class coach, and then turn around and hire the one who wouldn't talk to you without getting paid.

Here's what the coach should not do: Leave his co-teacher on the ice dealing with the kids, while he spends his time talking up the parents and soliciting private lessons. Do you want the coach who is teaching, or the one in the lobby schmoozing you. Just sayin'.

Private coach
Like choir directors and university professors, your private coach pretty much expects to work on your behalf during non-lesson time. This is one of the reasons the private fee is higher than the class fee-- the coach's obligation to the student does not end with the clock. I estimate that I spend at least a half-hour off-ice for every 2-3 hours on ice on each student, working on choreography, schedules, parent education, etc. Coaches whose students compete or test have a much higher ratio. The private coach is expecting to converse off the ice, exchange emails, and talk on the phone. But again, don't abuse this. Don't demand daily hour-long conversations, or email exchanges that go into several daily iterations, or weekly off-ice meetings. Look at what your or your skater's actual "career" (such as it is) involves. The fewer the number of lessons, the less "competitive" (as opposed to recreational) the student is, the less you should be taking up the coach's private time.

One thing you can ask from private coaches is periodic goal-setting and benchmarking meetings. If you're competitive, you need one at the end of the season, a couple during early pre-season and one before each major competition. Some coaches will charge for these, some will not. For non-competitive students, twice a year or when either the coach or the parents feel a need for instance, if you want to switch a student from recreational to competitive, or when they reach a milestone like the axel that might require more ice. For situations like these, you don't want to feel pressured or distracted about missing instruction time.

If the coach does not charge you for these, and you feel that she's gone above and beyond, think about giving her a holiday bonus at the end of the year, like you do for other private contract employees like housekeepers, gardening service, etc.

In any case, never call the coach at home during what a reasonable person would consider personal hours-- weekends, after 9 at night, et cetera, unless you've been specifically told that this is okay. Use the phone number and the email the coach gives you; don't track down alternate ways of contacting her. Coaching is a business; keeping a business-like approach, honoring everyone's time, money, and personal boundaries always makes for a better coaching relationship.

Look for a coach with a good story

2011-05-16T09:22:00.002-05:00

As I've said before, I love it when my various areas of expertise conflate. I recently read the brilliant advice, regarding how to acquire students, that a coach should "tell the best story."

This is classic marketing and fundraising advice, which is what I do in my other life. You need to engage your potential customers, or they'll go with the person who does engage them.

My story is summed up in my tag line: "anyone can learn to skate." I've got a good story as an adult skater who loved the sport so much that I changed my life in order to pursue the passion. Looking around my rink I see some other good stories-- the young coaches who grew up at the rink. The grade school teacher who coaches during her off hours. The Russian stars (at least according to them, but whatever, it's a good story), "my dad's a former champion," and of course, the former champions.

Then you need to ask yourself: why does this story resonate with me? What is it about this story that makes this person a good coach? Does the answer change if you think about different skaters-- for instance, the former champion has a great story, but is that the right story for the recreational or timid skater? "My dad's a champ" is a great story, but do that coach's skaters actually get to skate with dad? In other words, is the coach adapting aspects of the story to reach your individual skater's needs?

What's your coach's story? What coach do you know who has a good story of their own?

What is that coach talking about?

2011-05-14T13:05:00.001-05:00

I talk a lot.

A lot of teachers struggle with this. We know a lot of stuff, and we just want it all to come out. One of the hardest things to learn as a new teacher is when to stop talking, and how to filter your delivery so you are giving your students only the information they can really process right now and in a way that they can process it.

An ideal class should be talk-a-little, do-a-lot; I'll go so far as to suggest a ratio-- 1 to 4. For every minute you talk, there should be 4 minutes of skating. This means in a 30 minute class, you shouldn't stand around for more than 7 or 8 minutes (if that), and further, this shouldn't be all in a row. A commenter on a prior post points out that there are lots of instructional videos on line that you can stand around and watch; he doesn't want to do that on skates in a freezing rink. On skates in a freezing rink you want to move.

You have to adjust this for every class or student. Most adults will tolerate, even demand, a lot more talking. A children's beginner class doesn't really need instruction in technique-- stupid to tell a child about technique if the child can't even glide. Just get them moving. Teens like to watch each other, and also want the coach to acknowledge that they are becoming adults and peers, which will entail a little more talking.

So back to the original question-- what is that coach talking about? My observation of coaches that talk a lot is that they are not, in fact, talking about skating. They're talking about themselves, or they're flirting with the kids (I know, ew, but it happens), or they're being silly because they're stuck in their old competitive ethos of "it's all about me." The good coach is not the one with a cluster of stationary children standing around hanging on his or her every word.

The good coach is one focused like a laser on the movements of everyone in class.

Have you had a coach who talks "too much?" What were they talking about?

Everyone always moves

2011-05-12T08:05:00.003-05:00

A commenter gave a great insight from a college PE pedagogy class: "everyone always moves." It's a terrific piece of advice for a sports program. After all, you're not there to write term papers. You're trying to learn how to move!

Of course, this does not mean that you can move in any random pattern, according to your own desires, and whenever or wherever you feel like it. There are always issues of safety, courtesy, and space.

The commenter goes on to talk about a teacher who said yes, but you have to limit activity on a given apparatus, for safety reasons. And this is the crux of the matter. In an ice rink, the entire room is our apparatus. And like other apparatuses- whether a balance beam or a baseball diamond- there are rules about sharing and appropriate use.

Where to skate
In class, you've probably got a restricted area for the students in your level or class only. Unless the teachers give explicit permission to cross into another level's ice, you stay in your own boundaries. (Skating through another class is fairly common in freestyle classes, unheard of in Learn to Skate.) In private lessons you skate where the coach tells you, or according to whatever set pattern the rink has laid out.

When to skate
When the coach says "go." Period. This is not negotiable. It's really easy to move on skates, and kids (as well as a lot of adults) have ants in their pants-- they seem incapable of sitting still. I'd love to see how this works in an office, or a class room, or a car, or at random street crossings. If you've gotten stuck with a coach that talks too much, you still have to stand still. Next time, don't take class from that coach. But frankly coaches that talk too much are not really the problem; most of them don't. The problem is children who simply skate off at random times with no consideration for any of the above safety rules.

What to skate
The task at hand. This means that when the class is practicing spins, you should not be doing waltz jumps.

Who should skate
Everyone, or no one. If you are the only person moving, and have not been explicitly told "we are now going to demonstrate one at a time, and it's your turn" then You Are Doing It Wrong.

How do you know when skate?
Just going to take a wild stab at this, and suggest "listening."

Understanding skating moms

2011-05-09T09:50:00.000-05:00

This post, and the responses, struck such a chord, because boy have I been there. You just want to focus on your kid, and someone is asking you what jumps he has and who his coach is and how much he skates, and it feels like prying, if not snarking.

You just want to sit and read, and the PickaLittle ladies behind you are bragging and comparing and talking about Eva dresses. And of course, since their children don't skate with the same coach as your children, rink culture keeps you from making friends with them.

So I am going to posit a theorem, and let's work with it. The theorem is:

On average, people are nice,
I meet lots of people whose kids are skaters,
therefore,
I can be friends with those people

(Caution- strong language follows)

Here are some of the things that skating culture puts in the way of this very reasonable premise, which you would not even question in any other situation.

It's hard to talk to other coach's kids Yes, it is, and bullshit rules about "soliciting" and "tampering" make parents paranoid about getting their coaches in trouble, so they form cliques based on who their coach is. So just make friends with everyone. Sit down and talk with them. If they refuse to make friends for some bullshit reason of coaching relationship or skating level, then they're assholes and you can stop worrying about them.

This mom, whose kid skates with my kid, MAKES ME FUCKING INSANE Because she is completely at sea and looking for an ally. She suspects she's being fed bullshit by the coach and no one will tell her because of the gag rule, the fear of overstepping, and the fear of being thought arrogant or pushy.

I hate it when the moms brag about how fast their kids move through Maybe they just skate a lot? Maybe the moms are proud? Make it a game. How long can I talk about something unrelated to skating before this mom somehow ties it to her kid. This is a hilarious game, trust me. There are a couple of champion moms who could turn the news about Osama bin Laden into a skating analogy before you can take a breath.

Why does everyone want to know what jumps my kid has, and how much she skates, and what level she's in? Because that's what you have in common. The deep, meaningful discussions about that great story on NPR are in your future. Don't shut them out because you think the moms are being intrusive. Maybe they just aren't imaginative enough to come up with a better pick up line.

Why does everyone not want this done the way I want it done?
Because they aren't you. They have different priorities, understanding, and kids. Trust me, this is my big failing. I think I'm right. In many cases I know I'm right. That doesn't mean I get to have it my way, or that it's the only way, or the appropriate way for the situation. Reasonable people can disagree.

Rinks and schools are horrible places to be human beings. Fraught with ego and concern and kids being compared to each, which we all know is impossible. Each one is so so precious and wonderful. Honor that. The moms will come around.

Adult skater question

2011-05-08T14:00:00.001-05:00

An adult skater tells me:

I'm now in FS1, with a few skills that range up to FS3, and am completely hooked. I'm technically in group lessons though effectively they are privates, since no other adult has signed up for group lessons at 10am on a Tuesday. I have no delusions of grandeur, but I love love love this sport like I've loved nothing else physical I've ever done. How do I proceed? What's next and who do I ask?

Personally, I like goal setting, and this skater specifically asked about this. Here are some of the things she asked about:

Practice
Just skating in class or a single weekly lesson will barely maintain your ability let alone help you increase your skills. Three to six hours a week is adequate practice to really improve. Serious competitive skaters train 20 to 30 hours per week, including off-ice; the serious recreational kids do about 3 to 6 hours per week, so that's a pretty good model. If you want to compete (see below), you'll need to increase your ice time, although probably not up to 20 hours per week.

Private lessons
Two things will improve your skating: mileage and instruction. Mileage is addressed above. Private lessons are reasonably easy to come by, but don't take them with just anyone. Rather than looking for the "best" instructor (as evidenced by high level students), look for the ones who teach adult classes and have adults in private lessons. Not everyone understands how to teach adults; some coaches can be either impatient, unclear, or outright dangerous in that they don't take into account adults' different bodies, brains, and courage.

Adult testing
Specific goals and focus and measurable progress are really motivating. All the patterns for Moves in the Field, and the requirements for Free Skating are on line, but if you want to actually work on testing for USFS judges, you really cannot teach these to yourself. A coach will know the small tricks that judges are looking for, will know the end patterns (which aren't always specified, especially in the lower level patterns) and will be able to assess when your skills are test ready.

Ice show
Join the adult number in your rink's ice show. I absolutely guarantee, as long as you're not my friend Beth who is a hold-out, that you will have a blast. No one; okay almost no one, takes themselves very seriously, you'll meet the other adult skaters, and you'll go out for drinks afterwards. Some rinks award solos to adults at a lower level than they do the kids, if that's your bag.

Ice Dance
There are still clubs that have social dance ice where other club members can teach you the patterns, and rinks with ice dance classes. Ice dance is excellent for adults, because you can do the patterns in your comfort zone of speed, edge and pattern size, and you always know exactly where to put your feet. Plus, no jumps.

Synchro
Synchronized skating, formerly known as Precision, is essentially team skating. Just about every club in the US and Canada has adult synchro teams at a range of levels from beginner to advanced, and many rinks have ISI or local teams. Some of these take a more Theater on Ice approach. These are good for the same reasons as the ice show-- you get to meet other adult skaters, and liquor is often involved.

And finally, the one area of skating that keeps more adults from joining this sport than any other:

How do you dress?
Skating tights, yoga pants, loose, body-skimming shirt if you're a little self-conscious about body image, or tight fitting if you're skinny, you rat. Skirts are lovely, but as far as I'm concerned, adults, even young adults, skating in the adult tracks, should have some dignity and wear a skirt that reaches to mid thigh.

Since you're already pissed about paying for vacation...

2011-05-05T09:10:00.001-05:00

I thought I'd write up some home truths about the skaters.

I don't know why I'm in such a bad mood lately. But I find myself completely unwilling to play the game-- the little girls who've been told that acting like they're 2 when they're 5 is cute. The children who completely fall apart when told that they cannot do something that they, um cannot do; the ones who lie to you about how much time they've spent in class; the self-promoters, who take 2 classes at level X, hide for a week, and then show up in level Next and tell you they passed the other class.

Here are some of the things that parents, and skaters, just simply have to start being honest about.

Tears
Don't indulge them. It's bad enough to baby an 8 year old who falls but isn't hurt, but a child who is encouraged to sob uncontrollably because "teacher was mean" should be disciplined, not comforted. For the safety of the child, I need tears to be real. I need to be able to tell the difference between a child who is injured and a child who is spoiled. I have a child who takes terrible falls and never cries, so when she does cry I know that something is really wrong. The child who falls apart when you look at her cross eyed is not going to get the same level of concern. Ever hear of the boy who cried wolf? Don't parents teach that story anymore?

Corrections
Jesus, what happens when your child makes mistakes on the math test, or something else that actually matters? The inability of children to accept criticism these days is astounding.

Standing still
Please. Stand. Still. Please don't talk when I'm talking. Why am I saying "please"? I used to jokingly ask the kids "do you act like this in school?" and they would get all sheepish and say, well no, they didn't it's not allowed, and then they'd behave. Now, they look at me like I've just asked them whether they're allowed to breathe in school. Apparently, this is how children behave now.

Actually mastering the skill
So, based on the way coaches, kids and parents just blithely move their skaters up, actually having to learn the skills is old hat. This has been a problem with coaches in the past, but nothing like when the parents/kids take control. I've seen coaches move kids up a level when they aren't ready, but have at least had the 10 weeks of class. I've seen them move their private students up several levels for whatever ridiculous reason, but at least they're getting private instruction in the deficit areas.

But this new thing where you take 2 classes of gamma (not 2 sessions-- 2 classes), and then skip delta because it's at an inconvenient time, and show up in PreFreestyle for a day before finally landing in Freestyle 1... All in the space of 7 weeks. I have 4 kids in classes right now who fit this profile. What The Bumblepuck! Do parents understand the danger involved in putting a child in a level they aren't ready for?

Sorry, no As for Effort or Attendance in Figure Skating. You gotta deliver the goods.

Four year olds with no social skills whatsover
I've met a lot of 4-year-olds. Far more than you will ever meet. Here's what a four-year-old can do: Respect the teacher. Listen to instructions. Ask for help. Restrain from tantrums, screaming, kicking, spitting, biting and hitting (not kidding). Share. Make friends. Don't talk when someone else is talking. Spend 30 minutes away from a parent (who by the way, is standing just 20 feet away). Speak clearly enough for a stranger to understand. Stand, even on skates. If your four-year-old cannot do these things, either stop babying him or get him evaluated. If your 5-year-old cannot do these things, skip the "stop babying him" and just get him evaluated.

Skating class as a socializing experience
If your 4-year-old has never been in a class, skating class is NOT the place to start. Go to Music and Me, where the danger of injury is less.

Leave the teens alone
Stop helping your 16-year-old get dressed. Seriously.

Why I can't take your suggestions

2011-05-02T16:50:00.002-05:00

Why you and not the mom next to you?
If I take your suggestion, and word gets out, I've pretty much lost all claim to control over my curriculum or choreography, unless you have an unassailable credential that everyone will accept.

What if I was going to do that anyway?
Now I'm afraid if I do it, because you'll think you I did it for you and I'll never get you off my back. So your great idea, which I had already thought of, just got trashed.

What if your idea is not technically feasible?
Either I have to bring you up to speed on a lifetime of figure skating, I have to be patronizing, or I have to call you an idiot.

Would you let me walk into your office and tell you how to do your job?
'nuff said.

What in the world gives you the idea that you know better than me?
You have one, maybe two skaters-- your kids. I've known thousands. Do the math.

What have I done that makes you think I'm not paying attention?
Did another problem you noticed not get fixed? Did a child get hurt, or ignored? Is the class or rehearsal out of control? Are other mothers complaining?

At our old rink, we did it this way
Right. You want me to do it the way they did it at the rink that for some reason you don't go to anymore.

Update: Anonymous' comment, (first comment below) has made me think a little more about this, so I'll amend a bit. Verbally assaulting a coach with a long string of suggestions about how the choreo or class can be improved, even with a smile on your face, the second she steps off the ice, is not going to elicit a positive response from the coach. You are basically marching into my "office" and proclaiming that you know better than me. You have given the coach no time to process or consider the class, and now you want to "fix" it. Write it down, send me an email, ask if you can talk to me.

In general in negotiations, simply saying "here's my idea, it's better than your idea, why aren't you doing it this way" is not going to get you the result you want. Ask a question--why is it like that? Can you tell me what effect you're going for? State your concern "I'm afraid it won't be polished by the end of the rehearsal period." Simply saying "do it my way" is sure to elicit a defensive response, and then the problem, if indeed there is one, doesn't get fixed, the coach has now flagged you as "one of those moms," and you don't get what you want. Everyone loses.

I probably have taken lots of parent suggestions, when the parents exhibited some professionalism, sensitivity and good timing in how they approached me. Parents expect coaches to behave in this way, after all.

Xanboni

Check out the new pages!

Whose music is it anyway?

When should you say something? (and a prize)

Mommy, will you tie my skates?

The kids who need us

How sexy is too sexy?

Repost: skating terms tutorial

How about a contest?

Helmets

Stop SOPA and PIPA

What to wear

Back on the ice

All this work and you still suck, maybe you need a new coach.

Figure skating and homeschooling

My skating goals for 2012

Why are they just skating around in circles?

Who do we talk to?

Skating party etiquette

The Xanboni Store and a giveaway!

Involving your family

Adults and training intensity

Should PSA membership be required?

Etiquette in group lessons

Review: The Forgotten Art of Skating Etiquette

How do you quit?

How good is good enough?

Why does it matter how I look

Master Rating in Recreational Skating and Beginners

The Hail Peggy

What not to wear

A response to "Master"

Skatism

What to wear

The gag rule in action

Get over yourself

Heatmolds and hollows and blades, oh my!

It needs to be said

To compete or not to compete, that is the question

Testing out

Getting out of your head

The Ice Halo®

A word about my home rink

How dangerous *is* figure skating?

I thought there was safety in numbers

I'd rather be figure skating

A sample ISI judging sheet, explained

The Joy of Coaching

Maybe I'm too old for this

Xanboni Camp- Day 2: Why do ice rinks have high ceilings

Xanboni Camp, Day One: Why twins should dress alike

Why specialized classes?

Bigger and better things

Leaving home

The cost of coaching

The limits of talent and desire

Too fat, too tall, too not-the-perfect image of a skater

Heading for 100,000

Lessons

How to run a competition

Who has the right to teach

Spins

Who reads Xanboni?

Lefty

Shameless plagiarizing

Whose goal is more important?

What does a skater look like?

When do you tell the coach you're leaving?

SkateMoms Chat!

What makes a good customer?

Coaching discounts

When everyone is out to get you, it's completely rational to be paranoid

A coaching problem

The dreaded schedule

The once a week skater

She's not that into you

Getting over the hump

Home for the summer

Applaus-o-meter: Ice Show, Day 3

Apathy: Ice Show Day 2

How dangerous is figure skating?

What is that coach talking about?