WHAT is he talking about?

As we move into the competitive season, I'm starting to think about the phrases you hear from the commentators. "Features" "Clean landing" "Extension" "Wrap" "Run of the Blade" When I hear these I know what I'm looking for, because I'm a figure skating expert. But what about the non-skater casual fan?

When I watch hockey or football, I find the comments make me more, not less confused. It took me quite literally years to figure out what a "hat trick" is, and I'm still not entirely convinced I've got it right. I'm so confused by football terminology that I can't even come up with an example of a phrase that confuses me. So here's a little lexicon, and this week I'll add short posts on how to apply these to your own skating or teaching as well.

Features
Features are extra difficulty added to specific skills. Every skill has them, but you most commonly hear about them in spins because it's probably been the most obvious change in what figure skating looks like now. A feature is any variation to the basic position or rotation. So if you're doing an upright spin and wave your arms (creating a helicoptor effect), that's a feature. A different foot position is a feature, as is changing the spinning edge. (Different from a position change-- that's a thing in itself. There are four basic positions-- upright, sit, camel and layback. Features occur within each basic position.) A classic "forward" spin is actually on a back inside edge, but you can do any spin on any edge, and changing from one edge to another without losing speed or center is difficult, and gains points. All those "haircutter" contortionist postitions are a feature. You can only use any given feature once per program, which is why you get these awful can't-keep-my-eye-on-what's-happening flailing spins. I was happy to learn that there is a new feature this year-- 8 rotations in one position-- and you can use it as often as you want throughout the program. So we'll be seeing longer spins this year. And because extra rotations take time up in the program, you're also going to see some warp-speed rotating. Nice.

Clean landing
This is probably the most commonly used, and abused, phrase in figure skating commentary. It has come to mean a landing that is fully rotated, but originally it meant just what it sound like-- a landing that didn't kick up any snow or spray, i.e. "clean". Perforce, an underrotated landing won't be clean in this classic sense. The underrotation itself scrapes and gouges the ice. Other things to watch for that make a clean landing are a straight, upright back position (no pitching forward or twisting) and a held edge. Fussy choreography following a jump is often the coach's "fix" for a jump that the skater can't check (i.e. stop the rotation). Michelle Kwan was a genius at the saved landing. Watch her free leg cross behind her landing leg sometime-- she's having difficulty checking the rotation.

Extension
Just what it sounds like-- using the full range of motion of arms, hands, legs, feet, and neck, especially in held positions. The classic extension move is the arabesque or spiral, of course, but the best skaters will demonstrate good extension on everything. That blurry tight back scratch spin is a function of good extension, with all extremities pulled in and as tight as they can go. Watch for better expression in this as well this year. The ISU Judging System has changed the spiral sequence to encourage long full extension rather than a series of fussy features. As one judge said to me "we got tired of ugly spirals." Spirals will now be 6 to 8 seconds in a single position (with edge changes) or two positions of 3-4 seconds each. Hallelujah.

Wrap
A wrap is actually an error. While not specifically wrong, it affects rotation and ruins the beauty of the air position. Watch for a very high free leg with the knee sticking out during the jump's air time. It's very difficult both to spin fast and to land cleanly when you "wrap" during a jump.

Run of the blade
This skill comes to the fore in the men's Moves in the Field skills, the women's spirals, and in footwork. It means smooth, snowless glide. Watch for skaters whose glides don't stutter or wobble, have no loss of speed, and for footwork sequences with clear, obvious, snow-free curves and turns. Since I picked on Michelle Kwan for her questionable landings, I'll pull her out here as the queen of the glide. No one demonstrates this ability better. It's created through the skaters' understanding of which part of the blade to put in contact with the ice. Since a blade is a rocker, i.e. curved on the bottom, you can press the back, middle, or front of the blade, plus either the inside or outside edge, to create different turns, to aid acceleration, and to emphasize flow.

Underrotated, formerly known as "cheated"
Jumps are scored based on the difficulty of the entry, and the number of rotations in the air.  An underrotated jump is more than 1/4 of a turn short of full rotation, and almost always has to be reviewed by the live video in the judges' station. It is the main cause of delays in announcing the scores, as the judges review selected jumps.

What commentator's phrase has confused you?

What if the coach leaves you?

It happens-- people have babies, or go back to school, or get a new job, or just decide that coaching isn't for them. So what do you do when it's not you quitting your coach, but your coach quitting you?

I'm not talking about those rare instances where the coach "fires" a skater-- if things are bad enough that the coach can't stand you anymore, you're probably ready for a change. But coaches have lives that sometimes interfere with existing relationships; recently at our rink a very beloved coach got transferred by her day job to another city. She was gone in the space of about 2 weeks. It's wrenching. Here's how to make this easier on everyone:

Don't feed the gossip mill
Let the coach make the announcement on his or her schedule. If she lets her students know she's leaving, but asks them not to share that information, don't. Especially don't have Facebook or other online social media discussions about it, because these have a way of going rogue, even when you think only certain people can see them. I find out the most amazing proprietary things on Facebook because parents especially don't really understand just how public a forum that is.

Don't complain about it
Especially to your skater. The child here is already going to feel a little abandoned. Kids are very self-centered, and can take this kind of change quite hard. Your coach has very good reasons for living his life on his terms and not yours. Usually students/parents are good about supporting a coach's life changing decisions, but every now and then you'll hear someone trashing the coach's decision, which is fairly inexplicable because, frankly my dear, he doesn't give a damn. Be supportive. Keep it in perspective.

Getting a new coach
Most coaches will either help you find a new coach, or will actually turn their students over to someone, often without really consulting the students or the parents. This is both good and bad. Coaches know each others' teaching styles, and each others' students, and will be able to suggest a good fit. But sometimes, they just want to pass their kids on to their friends, or prevent some "rival" coach from getting "their" students. So a suggested coaching change is just that-- a suggestion. You can actually audition coaches, and it's a great time to take this opportunity-- you are suddenly without a coach so there are zero ethical problems or feelings to be hurt if you take a few weeks to do a couple of lessons with a variety of coaches. This is a dream situation. Just make clear to everyone--each coach, old coach, all the parents, and all the kids-- that none of these are permanent coaching situations. It's one time when the gossip mill can work for you.

Keep in touch
Most of the time (not always), your old coach will want to hear, at least for a couple of months, how the student is doing. Send her or him emails, and let them know about ice shows and other performances. Let them know when the kid lands her axel, or other milestones. After a few weeks, you can let this go, or keep it up, whatever seems appropriate. I keep in touch with all of my former students, on a very casual basis, but not everyone is comfortable with this. I personally do not feel it is appropriate for adults to be Facebook friends with minors, (even when they are closely related because that gives you too much access to their friends' private conversations), but especially not with students. Keep those lives separate. However, it might be nice to "friend" their parents. Again, whatever seems appropriate.

Use common sense
In fact, of course, this should guide everything you do.

So you want to be a figure skating coach!

Unlike most youth sports, American figure skating seems to discourage volunteer parent coaches, even when there are parents who were former high test figure skaters or collegiate hockey players. Conversely, there is no national certification standard-- it will vary from rink to rink and club to club, and no requirement that coaches have any sort of certification. Pretty much if you can demonstrate an ability to not go splat, and you can get someone to hire you, that's all it takes.

There is a certification path, which I've spoken about, the Professional Skaters Association ratings, which is a series of four oral exams in a broad range of skating disciplines, for instance Group Instruction, Free Skating, Moves in the Field, Synchro, and Ice Dance. However, coaches who do not participate in USFS sanctioned events are not required even to be members of the PSA, and there is no level of coaching that requires a rating. There are a few rinks that require all coaches to be members of PSA (the PSA calls this "Exellence on Ice" and the moniker is awarded to rinks where all coaches are members).

There is no college program that I have been able to find that offers a degree in figure skating coaching. You could probably do a PE or Rec degree with an independent study, but you'd have to make up your own course work; since figure skating is not an NCAA sport (can we change that please?) there is also no college course work or scholarship program.

So becoming a coach is both easy (no required course work or continuing education) and hard (no guides or rules).

So how DO you become a coach?

First, start with group classes, and by that I mean the beginners. Don't walk into a rink demanding only to teach the high level skaters because you're too good for the beginners. The old pros will roll their eyes and put you down so fast your head will spin (independently of the rest of your body).

Second, coaching is a profession. Join the professional associations-- USFS, ISI, and PSA. (see the side bar for links) By the way, to be a full member of the PSA you have to actually be a professional-- you need to be paid for teaching. However, there are intern and associate levels as well.

Second, acknowledge that teaching requires more than the ability to land a solid double flip. There are plenty of coaches with solid doubles at my rink. But everybody comes to me (highest jump-- toe loop) when there are eight screaming three-year-olds to deal with, or an Alpha class with 27 kids in it. To learn how to work with groups, start attending USFS Basic Skills Seminars and ISI District Seminars in your area. Put your attendance at these on your resume.

Other than that, it depends on where you are in your training:

If you're a young skater with an ISI 6+ or USFS Intermediate test:
You qualify to teach in just about any club or skating school I've ever heard of, where they do have minimum requirements (minimum requirements are fairly rare). Start talking to area skating directors about either getting hired as one of the assistant coaches, or find a junior coaching program in your area. If you're college age, same thing at your school's or the local rink. See if your old skating director will let you teach in a summer program during the break, or talk to local summer camps to see if they have skating field trips, and offer your services as the teacher. In other words, start building a resume.

Young coaches should also consider finding a mentor-- your own coach, or another older coach who's into group classes-- and look into the PSA Apprenticeship program, with an eye toward ratings. I think it's a great idea to make it a goal to have at least a Registered (the lowest) rating in at least one discipline by the time you graduate from college. Or maybe do one rating each summer, so by the time you graduate you might have a Master (highest) rating, or a couple of Certified, or four Registered. I know if I was a skating director and some 22-year old came to me with an Intermediate Free Style test and Registered ratings in Synchro, Dance, Group, and Free Skating (for instance), I'd hire them on the spot.

If you're a former high-test or competitive skater trying to get back into teaching:
Put together a resume, and see above. If you're still in the area where you grew up, your former skating mates are the current coaches and even skating directors. See who's working where and see if you can get hired by an old friend, or a friend of a friend.

If you're an adult skater, with your adult gold test, or competing at a Gold or Master level:
See above. You fall into the same category as the other high test skaters trying to teach. Be prepared for a certain amount of, shall we say scepticism from the other coaches. There is a lot of contempt for adult skaters out there. I always find it amusing when fellow coaches start disparaging adult skaters, because they've forgotten that I'm one myself.

If you're an adult skater who hasn't tested, or is still in the Basic Skills or Learn to Skate classes:
You need to get your skating skills up to at least a Freestyle 3/FreeSkate 3-4 level. You really should be able to do at least a salchow and a toe loop at a minimum. If you think that's where you'll top out (like I did), work on higher jumps off-ice. I learned how to do an axel off-ice; I never put it on the ice, not being completely insane, but I can do the multiple rotation. At the same time, offer to be a volunteer for the tot and beginner classes, and for the low level groups in the ice show. You'll start learning how to be comfortable standing on the ice (standing around waiting for beginners to get all the way across is a skill in itself; you'd be surprised how hard it is), and you'll get to observe the experienced teachers in action.

If you're going to get hired, it will most likely be at the rink where you're volunteering. But not necessarily. In an urban area where there are lots of rinks and lots of high level skaters it's going to be harder than in more remote areas. I was very lucky to have encountered a skating director with a lot of guts and imagination when I started this journey; without her I don't think I'd be doing this right now.

I love to skate. I love the wind in my hair and the exhilaration of having command over my body to do something difficult. But teaching takes it to another whole level of joy. It allows you to continue your love affair with ice after your body decides it's not so crazy about being exhilarated any more.

Landing an axel is great. But putting a smile on a child's face is even greater.

Those who can't

Everyone is familiar with the old saying "Those who can, do. Those who can't, teach." But it assumes that teaching is a fall back, and not a skill. Maybe this saying should be turned on its head:

Those who can, teach. Those who can't teach rely on their unrelated resumes and teach anyway.

I bring this up because I've had several skaters come to me in the past week to find out if I'll be teaching on a certain class, and then telling me that if the other regular teacher is the only one on it, a highly decorated former competitor, they won't take the class, because this person makes the class unrewarding and unpleasant. The class used to have 10 regulars in it, and this year it's going to be empty, unless that coach manages to find some new victims.

Think about this when looking for a coach for yourself or your skater. Your coach's skill at coaching has little to no bearing on his or her resume as a competitive skater. The thing to look for in a coach is connection with students, and the students' competitive and/or testing success. If you're looking for bragging rights, by all means hire that former U.S. Champion, or world competitor. But if you're looking for improving as a skater, hire the one whose skaters improve.

A 30-minute training session for people who "can't skate"

I get a lot of beginning adults and parents of beginning skaters who complain that they can't do anything so it's hard to practice. They also get locked into the idea that they have to be learning "skating skills." As a beginner, your only job is to get comfortable with speed, balance, and glide.

Start- once around the ice surface just to get your feet under you. The only aim is to get comfortable on the ice and get a glide going. With kids, call this "free time."

Working on glide and comfort
5 minutes
Continuous stroking (or stepping, if you're not quite up to stroking). "Continuous" means your feet must keep moving. Think of it as walking-- if you were going for a walk, you wouldn't stop every 5th or 6th step. Don't do it on the ice either. Don't worry about form, or acceleration, just keep your feet moving.

Working on the pressure of the blade against the ice
5 minutes
Swizzles. Mix it up and challenge yourself-- how many can you do in a row. How long can you hold the wide part before you can't pull back in. How far can you glide on a single swizzle. Can you make it all the way around doing only swizzles (it's hard!)? Find ways to keep it interesting; 5 minutes is longer than you think.

Working on weight shift and balance
5 minutes
Scooter pushes and half-swizzle pumps. Again, mix it up. Start with going all the way down one side of the rink using just your right foot, then back up the other side using just your left. Then do 5 on one foot and 5 on the other, then alternating.

Working on bilateralism
5+ minutes
Swizzles and scooters in the other direction (i.e. if you were going counter clockwise, turn 180 and go clockwise, unless you're on a public session and they won't let you.

Working on backwards
2 minutes
Backward swizzles or wiggles, either back and forth across the short axis, or all the way around the rink (if you go all the way around, also use the opportunity to learn how to check behind you).

Working on blade pressure
5 minutes
Slalom. Feet together, essentially forward wiggles. Let yourself build speed (that's what this move is for)

Reward
2 minutes
Practice your hardest move (not jumping-- I'm talking about beginner skills like stroking, crossovers, long one-foot glides, backwards glides, 2-foot turns, etc.), or practice putting together a small program-- sequential skills in a pattern (make sure you go both clockwise and counterclockwise)

Finish
1-3 minutes
Cool down. Gentle skating once or twice around the rink.

This work-out will both get you comfortable on your skates in a very gentle way, and is also a surprisingly effective cardio workout, if you keep moving. You can do this identical workout at a high level, by making the focus power and acceleration and by splitting each 5 minutes in half-- doing half forwards and half backwards, figuring out different ways of making the turn (mohawks, rockers, jumping turns, et cetera, all at speed).

Any child who can read can do this too-- give her or him a list and a stop watch. Make a card with these items on it, and have them time themselves. They get a checkmark for attempting, and a sticker every time they really make it to 5 minutes. (Like I said, 5 minutes is longer than you think!)

When you are done, do a light stretch, focusing especially on ankles, hamstrings and lower back.

Okay, parents, take a deep breath

For the top skaters in the Novice, Junior and Senior levels, the competitive season has already started, with USFS "Champs Camp"*, and the first Junior Grand Prix competition, in France. *(A longer article on last year's camp can be found here.)

For the wannabes, and I use the term affectionately, the excitement and the tension is just building, as we move into the final stretch before Regionals. Medalists from selected competitions last year have already qualified for Nationals (if they're skating in the same level and division) and don't need to go through Regionals and Sectionals, but pretty much everyone else has two competitions-- Regionals in October and Sectionals in November. The last of the serious non-qualifying competitions is done, the costumes are hanging in the closet (even if the bill isn't quite paid), and the choreography is solid and getting its final tweaks.

For parents, the only thing left to do is freak out.

Seriously skating parents, let's not this year. Take the pledge:

1. I pledge not to fire the coach.
I understand that factors other than my coach's utter incompetence, which somehow slipped my notice until my child missed final round by .135, can affect the scoring.

2. I pledge not to hire a new choreographer without telling anyone, like, for instance, the coach, the current choreographer, or the skater.
I understand that the selection of the choreographer is, first, not my job, and second, already done.

3. I pledge not to complain about how much this is costing, and to pay my bills on time.
I did my homework, and set my budget, including both the panic contingency and the mad money account that I'm hiding from my husband so he doesn't find out how much this is costing.

4. I pledge not to decide that we can go on vacation for the last 10 days of September. After all, homeschooling makes this sort of thing so flexible! I understand that the coach has a very specific training schedule to get ready for Regionals, and that it doesn't include a last minute trip to Florida.

5. I pledge not to contact the mayor, the Club president, that really successful coach from the other club, USFS judges, local and national press, or Michelle Kwan to come and see my current-Juvenile, future Olympic champion child. At least not without casually mentioning to the coach that I've done so.

6. I pledge not to coach from the stands. While the actual coach can see me.

7. I pledge NEVER to make my child rehash his or her training session in the car on the way home. Even if it kills me. And it will.

8. I pledge to remember the goals that we have set with the coach. That's why we had that conversation. If we achieve or exceed our goals, everyone gets a box of chocolate. If we miss them, everyone gets a box of chocolate, and all the adults get a bottle of whisky, too.

9. I pledge to be friendly and open with other parents at every competition, and to encourage a healthy and friendly competitive relationship among the skaters. I can always dish about them later, in private.

10. Finally, I pledge to love my child unconditionally and to support my coach, my club, and the structures and rules of US Figure Skating and the ISU, which are put there to support and protect the coaches, the skaters and their families.

Have a great competition season, everyone, and good luck.

Proprioceptive activities on the ice

This is the first in a series of posts about the use of tools in teaching figure skating. Tools can aid understanding, body position, spatial orientation. They can aid or distract attention (and one is not necessarily more desirable than the other). Tools can be specific figure skating tools (a figures scribe, for instance), a general sports aid (like a stretchy workout band), or a toy (we use beany babies more than might be actually healthy). You can use them to reinforce good habits, to teach new habits, to overcome bad habits.

I'm currently working with two cognitively challenged children. One is a kid who in my own (long ago) childhood would simply have been that crazy boy; we would not have recognized his behavior as having a clinical definition, much less a condition that could be both named, understood and compensated for. I haven't asked his mother (feel free to chime in, since I know you're reading this) what exactly his diagnosis is, but I would say he's got attention issues. Let's call him NoisyBoy. (He takes lessons with his friend, and they're in my book as "skating with noisy boys".)

The other, Miss E, I've written about before; she is dyspraxic, a sensory and motor processing disability.

Both of these children do occupational therapy, and I owe their OTs a great big box of chocolate, because they, indirectly through the moms, introduced me to the wonderful world of using proprioceptive tools to reach these kids (I had never even heard the word before. It is now my new favorite word). As the new class sessions get underway in a couple of weeks, I will be watching for other children, and adults, who might respond to these techniques.

Proprioception is the ability to orient your body in space; to sense the position, location, and movement of the body and its parts. Noisyboy's mom first introduced me to the concept when she mentioned that he liked "heavy load" exercises- these are activities that involve weights, and/or sharp sudden movements like jumping, falling, crashing, pulling. You get the idea. Noisyboy does in fact love these, I had noticed this. Either because I am a genius, or because he was faster than me (you never know), I generally, within limits, let him. Clever me, because this turned out to be exactly the right thing to do.

Oddly, the same week, Miss E's mom mentioned that her occupational therapist recommended the use of stretchy workout bands for physical activities. One of the deals with Miss E is that she does everything at a very high level as long as you hold onto her, sometimes quite closely. As soon as you let go, she goes back to either tot marching or racing around the ice (singing). We found that when you use the bands you can gradually let go and she still feels the right kind of pressure to continue the activity properly (of course, you have to catch her first).

So meanwhile Noisyboy's mom sent me a list of proprioceptive activities from NorthShore University Health. Their handout includes a long list of proprioceptive activities, saying "these activities can be calming, organizing, or alerting to the nervous system. It can calm people when they are aroused, and arouse them when they are calm"

Bingo.

I started trying this out with these kids and what a difference. Stretchy bands. Two pound weights. Jump exercises. Pushing and pulling exercises. Stomping the ice. All of these things anchor these kids back to their bodies, place them in space, and focus them on their surroundings.

I'm still learning how to use these tools with the kids, and their mothers are exhibiting blessed patience as I sort it out. I'm pretty sure Miss E is onto me, because she often just decides not to play anymore, lets go of the tool and off she goes! Noisyboy is still intrigued by the novelty, so I'll need to try to stay one step ahead of him, also to keep him from getting the bright idea of bashing Noisyboy 2 over the head with the weights (good times!). I'm looking forward to an aisle-foraging trip to Sportmart to see what inspires me.

Just as we've come to understand different learning styles (tactile, visual, aural, etc.) kids also have different proprioceptive abilities. Miss E and Noisyboy are outliers; mainstreamed kids with diagnosed difficulties. But there are plenty of kids farther inside the bell curve who can probably benefit from this awareness. Sometimes it's the challenging kids that make you grow.