It's been seven months since I dropped all my group classes due to health and business pressures. (Oops, did I forget to mention that? Last April I had to drop all my staff positions due to health and business concerns. I guess I'll do a post about that!)
The result is that I haven't seen a freestyle warm up in seven months. And I haven't seen a warm up at a rink that doesn't train its beginning freestyle students in the challenging warm up skills in even longer than that.
A couple of weeks ago I went to watch my student H, who passed into Freestyle One this session. His mother was a little concerned, because both I and his class teacher had told her he'd be fine with the skills, it was the warm up that she should be worried about.
He, and the other baby freestylers actually do fine. They stumble through the skills, sometimes badly and fast, sometimes well, but slow, but pretty much clueless throughout.
The Ice Rink of the Damned actually got this one right-- they inserted a level between Delta and FS1 called "Pre Freestyle" with the express mandate of teaching the kids the warm up patterns. At my last rink, you didn't get out of Delta (or out of Beta for that matter) without the flow, speed and skating knowledge to handle the warm up. (Yes, all those kids skated better than me. It was a little intimidating. Fortunately I'm extremely arrogant.)
H's rink-- man, they just throw them in the deep end, or would have, if it wasn't frozen. Because those kids were drowning.
I don't think the kids knew this, and the coaches were handling it reasonably well, but I don't really understand the point of having kids try to figure out a complex skill like power 3-turns. They're just getting it wrong and are going to have to unlearn it, or they'll feel incompetent and will check out. (haha skating joke).
Here are some solutions:
Pre-Freestyle
As I noted, you can simply add a level. The Basic Skills and ISI curricula are not governed by force of law. You can mess around with them. The problem moving from Learn to Skate into Freestyle is that LTS teaches the skills in isolation; Freestyle requires flow, and the ability to move from one skill to another. (This is actually one of the areas where Basic Skills gets it better than ISI, because it does teach more flow than ISI.)
The skills that kids should learn are alternating 3-turns, waltz 3-turns, power 3-turns, alternating mohawks, stopping drills, cross rolls and cross steps, perimeter stroking (PrePre pattern), perimeter cross overs (forwards and backwards), 3-turn tap toes. That'll do it. Once they have these in their muscle memory, other warm up patterns will become more intuitive.
Divide the ice
If your rink doesn't have enough available ice to add a level, and you've got mixed high/mid and low in a single class, put the new freestylers on one side of the blue line (about a quarter of the rink), with the rest of the class sharing the remainder. Yes, the high skaters will be somewhat restricted, but on the other hand they won't be tripping over the low skaters anymore. You don't even need to do it for the whole session-- maybe the first month, until the newbies learn the moves.
Add it to Delta
Delta Is So Boring. Start teaching the kids to put the skills together. They'll be more engaged and they'll be more ready for freestyle.
Rearrange the classes
Instead of putting Gamma and Delta on the same ice, put Gamma with the Betas, and create a Delta-FS1-FS2 level. this is another place where Basic Skills gets it right, by putting beginning spins and jumps in their learn to skate curriculum. FS1 and FS2 (and maybe FS3) shouldn't even be considered "Freestyle" but should still be counted in Learn to Skate, because they are still introducing basic concepts. But nobody asks me.
Divide the ice, part duo
To get around the full-ice problem created by dividing the ice along the short axis, put the high freestyle kids on the perimeter, and run the beginners up the center so they can both learn the skills and go at their own speed. You won't be able to run any "five circle" warm ups using this traffic pattern, but on the other hand you won't have the highs tripping over the lows. You'll also teach the high freestyle kids to use the whole ice. It makes me insane when skaters avoid the end zone like there's a force field blocking it.
How does your rink integrate or prepare low freestyle into the freestyle curriculum?
Showing posts with label freestyle. Show all posts
Showing posts with label freestyle. Show all posts
Mar 25, 2013
Triples at 9
You'll see me complaining a lot on this blog about pushing kids too hard, too young.
To a large extent that's because I like to focus on what ordinary kids can get out of the wonderful sport of figure skating, and also to help parents keep in perspective exactly how extraordinary their kids are (or, ahem, are not).
But some kids are extraordinary. We've seen the phenomenon over the past few years of elite boys pushing the age envelope downward, with younger and younger kids winning at Intermediate and Novice before they run up against minimum age restrictions at Junior.
As an email I received queried,
But their cross overs can be better-- more confident, more advanced.
And that's really the crux of the matter.
Whatever skill you're working on right now-- whether it's simple cross overs or a double axel-- it can be better.
So the first answer to "why not move on to the next thing" is actually another question, namely, are you properly identifying what the next thing is? If you've got all the doubles, is the next thing really the triples? Or is it consistently landing all jumps in competition, or improving your GOE, or landing more difficult combinations, or improving the technique?
I like to point out the brilliantly managed career of Jason Brown, a skating phenomenon who was one of those 9 year-olds with all his doubles. But, knowing that he had tons of time because of his young age, his coach has parsed out his milestones. The goal was not "national champ by 17" which he arguably might have pushed for, but rather to hit specific measures-- land the triple axel in competition, then land it in a major competition, then skate a clean program that includes a triple axel, etc. Jason's going to have a long, injury-free career because his coach understood that his youth was not a goal in itself, but rather a gift that allows them time to develop a brilliant skater.
Skating skills in and of themselves are not the goal. They are sign posts along the way. A child with doubles at 9 is certainly going to be landing triples by the time they're done with high school.
The reader asks, essentially, "do you delay their progress or do you have them compete with their age group."
I ask, in return, what, exactly, do you consider "progress?"
To a large extent that's because I like to focus on what ordinary kids can get out of the wonderful sport of figure skating, and also to help parents keep in perspective exactly how extraordinary their kids are (or, ahem, are not).
But some kids are extraordinary. We've seen the phenomenon over the past few years of elite boys pushing the age envelope downward, with younger and younger kids winning at Intermediate and Novice before they run up against minimum age restrictions at Junior.
As an email I received queried,
"What if you're talking about a reasonably talented 6 y/o with solid single jumps and axel and there seems a bit of time yet to worry about triples but they've been bitten by the competition bug. ... Do you go with that and delay and possibly limit progress or do you pull them away from competing so they make hastier progress but barely compete for the next few years?"In fact, I had this exact question from my Alpha students this week. They all claimed to "be really good" at cross overs. And y'know, they are really good at cross overs.
But their cross overs can be better-- more confident, more advanced.
And that's really the crux of the matter.
Whatever skill you're working on right now-- whether it's simple cross overs or a double axel-- it can be better.
So the first answer to "why not move on to the next thing" is actually another question, namely, are you properly identifying what the next thing is? If you've got all the doubles, is the next thing really the triples? Or is it consistently landing all jumps in competition, or improving your GOE, or landing more difficult combinations, or improving the technique?
I like to point out the brilliantly managed career of Jason Brown, a skating phenomenon who was one of those 9 year-olds with all his doubles. But, knowing that he had tons of time because of his young age, his coach has parsed out his milestones. The goal was not "national champ by 17" which he arguably might have pushed for, but rather to hit specific measures-- land the triple axel in competition, then land it in a major competition, then skate a clean program that includes a triple axel, etc. Jason's going to have a long, injury-free career because his coach understood that his youth was not a goal in itself, but rather a gift that allows them time to develop a brilliant skater.
Skating skills in and of themselves are not the goal. They are sign posts along the way. A child with doubles at 9 is certainly going to be landing triples by the time they're done with high school.
The reader asks, essentially, "do you delay their progress or do you have them compete with their age group."
I ask, in return, what, exactly, do you consider "progress?"
What choice have you made, or would you make, with a skater who pulls ahead of their age restrictions in competition?
Apr 28, 2010
A free style curriculum
By popular request, I'll be posting my lesson plans for Gamma through Freestyle levels over the next several weeks. You'll find prior posts on tots, Alpha, Beta and Figures; look under "curriculum" in the tag cloud.
Most free style levels, not just Freestyle 3, can use the following lesson plan, simply with the jumps/spins substituted per level. Freestyle curricula in both ISI and USFS Free Skate generally have one to three jumps, turns both in isolation and within footwork, a spin, and one or more gliding maneuvers. USFS adds in jump sequences and combinations as a testable skill, as well as the Pre-preliminary Moves test patterns.
This is my lesson plan for Freestyle 3 (USFS Freeskate 3)
Warm up: It's a good idea in freestyle classes to start using a standard warm up, or a couple of different standard warm ups, to start giving kids an idea of what they should be doing for warm up on their own. At my current rink, where freestyle classes are a full hour, we often run the warm up for 20 or even 30 minutes, with a serious emphasis on power, pattern, and covering the ice. Generally we do 5 minutes of stroking and alternating back crossovers, then "5 circle pattern" forward and backward crossovers, waltz 3s, forward and backward edges, edge pulls, power 3s, bunny hops, spiral and lunge, left and right. Warm up is mixed levels and full ice. Parents often don't like the long warm up, but I have found that it really helps kids develop not only power, but also confidence. For a USFS program, the warm up should include the Pre-pre moves patterns on full ice.
Week one: After warm up, review waltz jump, half lutz (ISI), toe loop (USFS), ballet jump (ISI) or mazurka (USFS), moving forward 3 turns (especially inside), and one-foot spin (not scratch spin). If there are problems or inadequacies with these skills, freestyle 3 becomes challenging. I like to introduce the toe loop from a standing position, and then from a forward inside 3-turn in the first week. Also using that forward inside 3-turn, I'll start working on edge and body alignment for the back spin (which in FS 3 is used in the change foot spin). We'll do spin drills like spinning without pulling in, and backwards glides lightly dragging the toe.
Week two: Warm up waltz jumps, review toe loop and one foot spin; introduce salchow, introduce forward outside mohawk. If the class is small and/or sharp, you can start introducing a scratch spin in this lesson as well. Work on the first two parts of the change foot spin-- one foot spin 4 rotations, and a change to other foot back spin just one full rotation without losing the check. I never let my students add rotations to the back spin until they have one solid back spin on the proper edge; if you encourage multiple rotation too soon, they just drop to the inside edge. I know that ISI now says that the change foot doesn't have to change to a proper back spin, really, what's the point of teaching this wrong.
Week three: Forward and backward spirals should be added to the warm up in this week; work on improving waltz jumps, introduce waltz jump combos: with ballet jump and wj/toe loop, emphasizing proper toe pick entry and upper body movement, start working on toe loop from stroking and inside 3 turn. Review salchows, review & drill one foot spins including strong entry edge, intro 3 leg of spin, the return to the forward spin. Still just looking for 4-1-3 rotations foot to foot to foot. Drill outside forward mohawks left and right. If time, intro waltz 8 pattern.
Week four: Introduce jump combo; if it's a USFS program, this is prescribed, otherwise set one up, or let the skaters figure out 2, 3, and 4 jump combos or sequences on their own utilizing all jumps starting with bunny hop. If there are parts of the testable skills that have not yet been touched on, introduce them here. In week 4, the coach should be aware which students are in this level for the first time, and which are repeating and how many times they have repeated. The coach needs to decide if any student should move up mid-session. (I don't encourage this, but sometimes it's okay; now is the time to figure this out.) The coach will need to juggle week four to give each student help with his or her weakest elements, in preparation for:
Week five, mid session evaluation: review and evaluate jumps and spins; if other skills are testable do these as well. Remember that the mid-term evaluation has two purposes: to let you as the teacher know where the students or your lesson plan have been weak, and therefore where the focus should be for the remaining time, and as an encouragement to the students. Never give a mid term without some positive marks. Be prepared to justify your marks to all the freaked out parents.
Week six: Review progress report, focusing on both class-wide and individual weaknesses; teach a full rink jump entry pattern for each jump in the level, review all moves and footwork patterns; major effort on back spin part of change foot, trying to reach 3 full rotations on proper edge.
Week seven: review all, correcting common errors. Common errors in FS 3 are over rotation on jump entries, wrong toe pick placement on toe loop, salchow free leg, checking landings on combo, losing the check on back spin (forcing an inside edge), underrotation on back spin, wrong edges or steps on footwork, spiral not held long enough, etc.). For USFS programs, all moves patterns should be run at test standard on full ice if you can get it.
Week eight: review all for testing following week. Try to fit every skill in, but if there isn't time make sure to get all jumps and spins, and any new turns that are part of footwork (e.g. the outside mohawk). It's also a good idea to try out moves that indicate readiness for the next level. At freestyle three, you'd want to see kids able to do backward shoot the duck (for sit spin), at least one back outside three (these can be taught in a single session), two foot loop jump.
Week nine: Test week in most rinks. This is not an encouragement test. This is the real deal for class purposes. The skater should show easy, confident ability at every maneuver. ISI has rather specific breakdown of marks. I'm not sure what their language is, but I break it down like this: 0= did not try; 1=tried, but hopeless; 2=tried, can't do; 3=good understanding of maneuver but not at passing standard; 4 (F)= almost there; 5 (D)=passing standard; 6 (C)=very good, above passing standard; 7 (B)=excellent; 8 (A)=superior; 9 (A+)=pro; 10= perfect. No one gets a 10. I've given out 2 nines in 11 years of teaching. I once had a teacher give me a "1." This is just mean. ISI lets you pass with what I consider a "D," i.e. a 5, but I tell my kids I want them passing with 6s and 7s. When I do a test, I watch for kids who will be able to succeed at new skills on the first day of the next level. At most rinks class level and competition level will be different, with the skater competing one to two levels lower than their most recently passed class.
Week ten: You can have a "Game Day" in freestyle classes, tailored for the greater range of skating skills, age range, and ability of the class. I like to introduce a skill from the next level, or even from two levels up, as well as things like jump and spin games-- most waltz jumps in a row, longest jump combo or sequence, biggest jump; most rotations, best feature. You can also have the skaters put together 20-second programs. This is enough time to do one jump, one spin and one gliding maneuver with transitions.
Skaters who are not taking private lessons should expect to take every freestyle level twice or even three times. This moves you up 1 to 2 levels per year. If you start freestyle classes at the age of 10 this gets you to Freestyle 8/Intermediate (all double jumps) by sophomore year of high school. It's a very rare rink that has enough freestyle skaters still in levels classes beyond FS 8. Please remember that it's not a race, and there are no prizes for being the youngest freestyle skater in the program. If you want to move through faster, take private lessons and practice properly; however, I still firmly believe in taking the classes one at a time, and in their full 10-week span. At the very least, it's a really cheap way to get a second or third lesson per week.
Most free style levels, not just Freestyle 3, can use the following lesson plan, simply with the jumps/spins substituted per level. Freestyle curricula in both ISI and USFS Free Skate generally have one to three jumps, turns both in isolation and within footwork, a spin, and one or more gliding maneuvers. USFS adds in jump sequences and combinations as a testable skill, as well as the Pre-preliminary Moves test patterns.
This is my lesson plan for Freestyle 3 (USFS Freeskate 3)
Warm up: It's a good idea in freestyle classes to start using a standard warm up, or a couple of different standard warm ups, to start giving kids an idea of what they should be doing for warm up on their own. At my current rink, where freestyle classes are a full hour, we often run the warm up for 20 or even 30 minutes, with a serious emphasis on power, pattern, and covering the ice. Generally we do 5 minutes of stroking and alternating back crossovers, then "5 circle pattern" forward and backward crossovers, waltz 3s, forward and backward edges, edge pulls, power 3s, bunny hops, spiral and lunge, left and right. Warm up is mixed levels and full ice. Parents often don't like the long warm up, but I have found that it really helps kids develop not only power, but also confidence. For a USFS program, the warm up should include the Pre-pre moves patterns on full ice.
Week one: After warm up, review waltz jump, half lutz (ISI), toe loop (USFS), ballet jump (ISI) or mazurka (USFS), moving forward 3 turns (especially inside), and one-foot spin (not scratch spin). If there are problems or inadequacies with these skills, freestyle 3 becomes challenging. I like to introduce the toe loop from a standing position, and then from a forward inside 3-turn in the first week. Also using that forward inside 3-turn, I'll start working on edge and body alignment for the back spin (which in FS 3 is used in the change foot spin). We'll do spin drills like spinning without pulling in, and backwards glides lightly dragging the toe.
Week two: Warm up waltz jumps, review toe loop and one foot spin; introduce salchow, introduce forward outside mohawk. If the class is small and/or sharp, you can start introducing a scratch spin in this lesson as well. Work on the first two parts of the change foot spin-- one foot spin 4 rotations, and a change to other foot back spin just one full rotation without losing the check. I never let my students add rotations to the back spin until they have one solid back spin on the proper edge; if you encourage multiple rotation too soon, they just drop to the inside edge. I know that ISI now says that the change foot doesn't have to change to a proper back spin, really, what's the point of teaching this wrong.
Week three: Forward and backward spirals should be added to the warm up in this week; work on improving waltz jumps, introduce waltz jump combos: with ballet jump and wj/toe loop, emphasizing proper toe pick entry and upper body movement, start working on toe loop from stroking and inside 3 turn. Review salchows, review & drill one foot spins including strong entry edge, intro 3 leg of spin, the return to the forward spin. Still just looking for 4-1-3 rotations foot to foot to foot. Drill outside forward mohawks left and right. If time, intro waltz 8 pattern.
Week four: Introduce jump combo; if it's a USFS program, this is prescribed, otherwise set one up, or let the skaters figure out 2, 3, and 4 jump combos or sequences on their own utilizing all jumps starting with bunny hop. If there are parts of the testable skills that have not yet been touched on, introduce them here. In week 4, the coach should be aware which students are in this level for the first time, and which are repeating and how many times they have repeated. The coach needs to decide if any student should move up mid-session. (I don't encourage this, but sometimes it's okay; now is the time to figure this out.) The coach will need to juggle week four to give each student help with his or her weakest elements, in preparation for:
Week five, mid session evaluation: review and evaluate jumps and spins; if other skills are testable do these as well. Remember that the mid-term evaluation has two purposes: to let you as the teacher know where the students or your lesson plan have been weak, and therefore where the focus should be for the remaining time, and as an encouragement to the students. Never give a mid term without some positive marks. Be prepared to justify your marks to all the freaked out parents.
Week six: Review progress report, focusing on both class-wide and individual weaknesses; teach a full rink jump entry pattern for each jump in the level, review all moves and footwork patterns; major effort on back spin part of change foot, trying to reach 3 full rotations on proper edge.
Week seven: review all, correcting common errors. Common errors in FS 3 are over rotation on jump entries, wrong toe pick placement on toe loop, salchow free leg, checking landings on combo, losing the check on back spin (forcing an inside edge), underrotation on back spin, wrong edges or steps on footwork, spiral not held long enough, etc.). For USFS programs, all moves patterns should be run at test standard on full ice if you can get it.
Week eight: review all for testing following week. Try to fit every skill in, but if there isn't time make sure to get all jumps and spins, and any new turns that are part of footwork (e.g. the outside mohawk). It's also a good idea to try out moves that indicate readiness for the next level. At freestyle three, you'd want to see kids able to do backward shoot the duck (for sit spin), at least one back outside three (these can be taught in a single session), two foot loop jump.
Week nine: Test week in most rinks. This is not an encouragement test. This is the real deal for class purposes. The skater should show easy, confident ability at every maneuver. ISI has rather specific breakdown of marks. I'm not sure what their language is, but I break it down like this: 0= did not try; 1=tried, but hopeless; 2=tried, can't do; 3=good understanding of maneuver but not at passing standard; 4 (F)= almost there; 5 (D)=passing standard; 6 (C)=very good, above passing standard; 7 (B)=excellent; 8 (A)=superior; 9 (A+)=pro; 10= perfect. No one gets a 10. I've given out 2 nines in 11 years of teaching. I once had a teacher give me a "1." This is just mean. ISI lets you pass with what I consider a "D," i.e. a 5, but I tell my kids I want them passing with 6s and 7s. When I do a test, I watch for kids who will be able to succeed at new skills on the first day of the next level. At most rinks class level and competition level will be different, with the skater competing one to two levels lower than their most recently passed class.
Week ten: You can have a "Game Day" in freestyle classes, tailored for the greater range of skating skills, age range, and ability of the class. I like to introduce a skill from the next level, or even from two levels up, as well as things like jump and spin games-- most waltz jumps in a row, longest jump combo or sequence, biggest jump; most rotations, best feature. You can also have the skaters put together 20-second programs. This is enough time to do one jump, one spin and one gliding maneuver with transitions.
Skaters who are not taking private lessons should expect to take every freestyle level twice or even three times. This moves you up 1 to 2 levels per year. If you start freestyle classes at the age of 10 this gets you to Freestyle 8/Intermediate (all double jumps) by sophomore year of high school. It's a very rare rink that has enough freestyle skaters still in levels classes beyond FS 8. Please remember that it's not a race, and there are no prizes for being the youngest freestyle skater in the program. If you want to move through faster, take private lessons and practice properly; however, I still firmly believe in taking the classes one at a time, and in their full 10-week span. At the very least, it's a really cheap way to get a second or third lesson per week.
Oct 29, 2009
Specialty classes-- beyond Freestyle 5
For recreational skaters, figure skating can be much more than a singles skater plowing from jump to jump. Starting with synchronized skating, which pretty much everyone in the sport knows about by now, there are all sorts of team, group, and specialty skills that skaters can learn. Here's a few:
Team skating
The Ice Skating Institute (ISI) has a competition category in Team Skating, namely, groups of 3 to 9 skaters doing freestyle skills as a team, with both group skating and spotlighted skills with everyone on the ice at once.
Rhythmic Skating
Another ISI innovation, Rhythmic Skating is essentially skating with props drawn from Rhythmic Gymnastics-- hoops, ribbons, balls.
Jump and Spin classes
These can be either specific jumps/spins (Axel Workshop, doubles, flying spins) or general classes for skaters with any jumps/spins from the simplest to the most complex. A good general jump class will help the skaters learn how to create jump combinations and sequences (and what the difference is), will work on improving speed and flow into jumps, how to do footwork into a jump and other special skills that utilize the jumps that they have already mastered. Spin class could work on adding features to existing spins (arm and leg positions, reverse rotation, etc.)
Ice Dance class
Best ice dance ad I ever saw: "Hey! You in the hockey skates! Wouldn't you rather skate with a woman?" A great specialty class for adults.
Couples Class
Not pairs-- no throws or high lifts, boys a plus but not required. There are all sorts of skills that kids can learn for skating with a partner, same gender or different-- stroking holds, couples spins, simple lifts, drapes. AND, more kudos to ISI, there's a competition category.
Junior Coaching Class
Why not? Get your tweens and young teens out there with experienced coaches and have them teach how to teach. Right now, the profession more or less assumes that if you're a high test or competitive skater, you can teach skating. Not true. Like any teaching, you need to learn how to do it-- how to manage a class, how to deal with injury, how to make it interesting to teach a swizzle, let alone keep a skater (and their parents) engaged their 9th time through Freestyle 5.
Team skating
The Ice Skating Institute (ISI) has a competition category in Team Skating, namely, groups of 3 to 9 skaters doing freestyle skills as a team, with both group skating and spotlighted skills with everyone on the ice at once.
Rhythmic Skating
Another ISI innovation, Rhythmic Skating is essentially skating with props drawn from Rhythmic Gymnastics-- hoops, ribbons, balls.
Jump and Spin classes
These can be either specific jumps/spins (Axel Workshop, doubles, flying spins) or general classes for skaters with any jumps/spins from the simplest to the most complex. A good general jump class will help the skaters learn how to create jump combinations and sequences (and what the difference is), will work on improving speed and flow into jumps, how to do footwork into a jump and other special skills that utilize the jumps that they have already mastered. Spin class could work on adding features to existing spins (arm and leg positions, reverse rotation, etc.)
Ice Dance class
Best ice dance ad I ever saw: "Hey! You in the hockey skates! Wouldn't you rather skate with a woman?" A great specialty class for adults.
Couples Class
Not pairs-- no throws or high lifts, boys a plus but not required. There are all sorts of skills that kids can learn for skating with a partner, same gender or different-- stroking holds, couples spins, simple lifts, drapes. AND, more kudos to ISI, there's a competition category.
Junior Coaching Class
Why not? Get your tweens and young teens out there with experienced coaches and have them teach how to teach. Right now, the profession more or less assumes that if you're a high test or competitive skater, you can teach skating. Not true. Like any teaching, you need to learn how to do it-- how to manage a class, how to deal with injury, how to make it interesting to teach a swizzle, let alone keep a skater (and their parents) engaged their 9th time through Freestyle 5.
Nine times through freestyle 5-enough already!
With my various professional memberships in the alphabet soup of figure skating federations, come magazines. And in the Edge, ISI's magazine for it professional members, I read a very telling sentence this week:
"Do you really expect your skaters to stay in a Freestyle 4 or 5 class forever?"
But this is exactly what we seem to expect of our skaters. Among some coaches there is almost a contempt for the kids who can't progress past these two rubicons of skating skill (they get stopped by the sit spin at 4, and of course the axel at 5). There are lots of reasons kids stop here-- poor early training and insufficient technical skill, actual lack of ability, perceived lack of ability (usually traceable back to the first reason), insufficient time on the ice.
But looking over the classes offered at rinks around my area, I see very few addressing this problem. And there are ways to address it-- specialty classes. Whether it's unwillingness to risk the several sessions it might take to develop these classes, lack of ice to devote to it, a failure of imagination on the part of management, or the contempt for these kids that I spoke of, little is being done to address the problem.
It is a truism in skating that kids quit at freestyle 4 or 5, or in late tweens and early teens. But few professionals I've spoken with delve very deeply into this, it's just accepted with a shrug of the shoulders. It is also one of the top five topics that parents talk to me about, leading off with "she's just never going to learn that jump in class, so we're dropping classes." This does not sound like a strong business plan for the rinks, to just allow all your higher level students to be siphoned off into private lessons.
For some rinks this can work without much loss of actual revenue-- if you have an extremely robust practice ice program, with lots of after school times for kids to skate, a lot of these kids will move their $9/hour fee from class to practice ice. (Although hourly revenue on practice ice is much lower than for class ice, so your program looks full, in fact it might be losing out on revenue since you can potentially place more kids on the ice in a class). Clearly, parents are willing to switch from paying $9 to $15 per session for class, to paying upwards of $40 per session for the practice ice plus coaching fee. Why do rinks just shrug and let this potential revenue go? Bizarre.
So what can a parent do?
Certainly talk to your child's coach, although they have probably the least power to change things and the strongest self-interest in maintaining this status quo. So go to the skating director, preferably with several other parents and let him or her know that you want specialty classes (more about what kinds of classes you can suggest in another post).
Write a letter to the facility manager, and to his or her boss as well, again with signatures from lots of parents.
You're the customer. If management knows you're pulling your money from the program, they will listen.
"Do you really expect your skaters to stay in a Freestyle 4 or 5 class forever?"
But this is exactly what we seem to expect of our skaters. Among some coaches there is almost a contempt for the kids who can't progress past these two rubicons of skating skill (they get stopped by the sit spin at 4, and of course the axel at 5). There are lots of reasons kids stop here-- poor early training and insufficient technical skill, actual lack of ability, perceived lack of ability (usually traceable back to the first reason), insufficient time on the ice.
But looking over the classes offered at rinks around my area, I see very few addressing this problem. And there are ways to address it-- specialty classes. Whether it's unwillingness to risk the several sessions it might take to develop these classes, lack of ice to devote to it, a failure of imagination on the part of management, or the contempt for these kids that I spoke of, little is being done to address the problem.
It is a truism in skating that kids quit at freestyle 4 or 5, or in late tweens and early teens. But few professionals I've spoken with delve very deeply into this, it's just accepted with a shrug of the shoulders. It is also one of the top five topics that parents talk to me about, leading off with "she's just never going to learn that jump in class, so we're dropping classes." This does not sound like a strong business plan for the rinks, to just allow all your higher level students to be siphoned off into private lessons.
For some rinks this can work without much loss of actual revenue-- if you have an extremely robust practice ice program, with lots of after school times for kids to skate, a lot of these kids will move their $9/hour fee from class to practice ice. (Although hourly revenue on practice ice is much lower than for class ice, so your program looks full, in fact it might be losing out on revenue since you can potentially place more kids on the ice in a class). Clearly, parents are willing to switch from paying $9 to $15 per session for class, to paying upwards of $40 per session for the practice ice plus coaching fee. Why do rinks just shrug and let this potential revenue go? Bizarre.
So what can a parent do?
Certainly talk to your child's coach, although they have probably the least power to change things and the strongest self-interest in maintaining this status quo. So go to the skating director, preferably with several other parents and let him or her know that you want specialty classes (more about what kinds of classes you can suggest in another post).
Write a letter to the facility manager, and to his or her boss as well, again with signatures from lots of parents.
You're the customer. If management knows you're pulling your money from the program, they will listen.
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