Do I have to test, aGAIN?

I never skated as a child.  In highschool, we used to "skate" on the cornfield across the street from our house, but this was less skating than it was picking your way between the corn stalks.

I skated in college through about Freestyle 3 or 4 (we didn't call it that then but I was working on loops and backspins, so I guess that's what it was).

And then I didn't skate for 17 years.

As have many of the people who write to me about returning to skating, I got back most of the old skills, and then some. (I'll never try a loop again. Lost my nerve.) When I started skating again I had weird deficits-- back crossovers were as strong as ever, but I couldn't do the forward ones to save my life. Those I had to relearn.

When I skated as a young woman, I never knew about USFSA (as it was then), there literally was no ISI, and I had no clue about tests whatsoever, because no one ever mentioned them to us. We just moved from skill to skill. So I started testing from scratch, as an adult.

Many skaters, however, come back to skating having racked up the tests, and want to know if those tests still "count."

Short answer-- yes.  It's like your college degree. Doesn't matter if you got a degree in art and are now a salesperson. You still get to brag about the art degree. But first you have to prove you have the credential.

If you have an old ISI test, and can prove it (i.e. you have the paperwork), you're good to go at that level. However, until a few years ago when they went digital, ISI was farily notorious for its poor record-keeping, and it was hard to get proof of older credentials. I know several people who had to retest because ISI did not have their records (or the rink had never processed it).

If you want to compete now at a lower level than what you tested as a child or teen, you're in luck with ISI. Adult skaters over 21 years old can fill out an "Affidavit for Test Level" review and once approved, their test level can be lowered for what they can now accomplish.  The skater or coach can request the form from the ISI office.

For USFS you always compete at your tested level, but they are Kind To Adults. There are several permutations that equal various levels of testing, and they divide by age where they have enough enrollment, as well as doing mixed levels. USFS is also less stringent on required elements than ISI for many events. See this post to learn more about adult competition levels.

Are you a returning adult skater? How close to your childhood level are you skating?

Testing out

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).

Reader questions

Re making it all the way to the Senior test:

I've always wondered if there are estimates or stats on the following:

1) what percentage of preliminary skaters will pass the intermediate freestyle test down the road?
2) what percentage of intermediate skaters will eventually pass the senior freestyle test? (Testing only, not necessarily competitive.)
3) To quote from the "keyword search" post, "For children, if you start skating by age 10 you will be landing doubles by the time you graduate high school, provided you work at it. You can pretty much take that to the bank." How likely will this hypothetical population pass a senior test which includes a double lutz?

While I understand what the reader is asking, I don't really concede the utility of the first question, because passing tests is not the only goal that skaters set for themselves. For kids, it's really about when you start and how much ice time you can get in. It's simply that if you set that goal, and make a plan, it's very very doable, especially if you start as young as ten. Chances are the number of people who get to the Senior test is a fraction of the ones who take the Preliminary test. But that's like saying "what percentage of freshmen end up as doctors?" Who cares? If you're not trying to be a doctor, it hardly matters that you don't become one.

A better way to put it might be "what percentage of preliminary skaters who WANT to reach their senior test make it." But then I might counter with "what percentage of 6 year old girls who want to be princesses make it." It's just not a question that can be answered, because there are too many variables and bumps in the road.

Some kids just never, as the reader says, manage to get all the doubles. It might be time, it might be talent, it might be loss of interest. But the lutz is not the best measure. It's required for the test, but on the other hand you don't have to do all the doubles for the senior test. If you've got one really strong one, you can repeat that as a combination, and just leave out your weakest double, provided it isn't the lutz. I've seen senior tests that used a solid double axel in place of a wonky salchow or loop. My own daughter's strongest double was the lutz, so she put it in there both as one of her doubles, and in combination.

The biggest impediment to passing a Senior tests is not the skills, it's the grueling 4-minute program. Everyone who takes a senior test knows that they can do all the elements, or their coach wouldn't be letting them test. But a lot of kids just don't get well enough in shape to skate that long a program.

My point is that you shouldn't fall into the trap of saying "oh I'm one of the xx% that couldn't get to the Senior test." It's that you're one of the successful ones that met a goal, or got as far as time, talent, and inclination sent you.

Observing a test session

I've been to a LOT of test sessions. Somewhere around 60 just between me and my daughter (between us nine moves plus retries, ten USFS Free Skate plus retries, six ISI FS, two Figures, and twenty-eight dances plus retries). But I've always been the skater, or the mom.

Today I went to a test session as part of my prep for the PSA ratings I'm currently working on- Registered Moves, Registered Free Skate, Master Group, to watch with an objective eye (okay, I tried to be objective.) (Okay, not really), to help me learn the elements and to call the skills like a technical specialist, if just to myself.

There was only one skater there that I knew, so the objectivity part was easy. I recognized all of the coaches, but I fly a little under the radar here, so I'm pretty sure none of them recognized me. Even though Nora tested with this club, I don't think the moms register all that much so they don't really know me. So I was able to be fairly anonymous.

First observation: when you walk into a test session everyone in the lobby snaps around to glare WHO THIS? Then faces fall and they all lose interest because it's no one interesting. I mean it. It was so bizarre, and something I'd never noticed before, (since I was probably one of the ones doing this), that I tested it a couple of times. Weird.

Second observation: watching a test session that you're not involved in is a little strange. The people in the stands, and the coaches outside the boards kept looking over at me WHO THIS? so I finally found a less conspicuous place to sit. (Maybe they did recognize me and were wondering what I was doing there-- stealing students?)

Third observation: if you come with the toddler sister for god's sake shut her up. Several poor girls had to skate through their entire moves test with a toddler louding demanding attention, candy, potty, access to forbidden areas, ice skates and you name it at the top of her voice for the entire time they were skating. The judges glaring at you is a really good clue that you should maybe, um, leave? Okay, maybe if the toddler shouts once or twice, but she kept it up for nearly 15 minutes before mom got a freaking clue and took her away. It's nerve-wracking out there folks, please remove unnecessary distractions.

Fourth observation: it's really cold sitting there for two hours. Judges are saints.

Fifth observation: they passed kids who looked terrible and failed kids who looked fine to me. They passed a kid on a reskate who made the identical error on the reskate that she made on the test. Or else I have no idea what I'm seeing, a distinct possibility.

Sixth observation: if your skating sucks, it helps to have a famous coach stand with you at your test. Just as a general observation. I didn't actually witness this. Or anything.

Seventh observation: "Calling" the elements is fun, and hard. I tried to use the IJS abbreviations, ending up with several lines of code that look like this: (tr) SpUL, 1A, (tr) 1T, (tr)1Lz1TCo, SpCoCSU, StSeqSS, 1L, (tr) ChSp CoSpCSChCUL (that's verbatim from my notes, so if there are errors in coding forgive me). This was a Juvenile Free Skate, and it was damned hard, plus I can't figure out how/if they code all the transitions that were present even in these very low-level programs. I invented the little (tr) code to indicate where transitional steps were inserted. Even Juvenile programs have a lot of content these days.

Eighth and final observation: Skater gurlz have a lot of poise and self-possession. I'd choose them to take on any little hockey princess in full-body armor any day.

What's the craziest thing that has happened to you at a test?

Test readiness

Tales from the front:

A friend recently overhead a coach at a USFS test session saying, "I don't expect most of my kids to pass, but they're graduating, so maybe the judges will take that into consideration."

Last week I did an ISI test for a girl who had been advised by her coach that she wasn't ready to test, but the girl and her mother insisted. When in fact she did not pass (and in fact did not pass rather miserably) I read her the riot act about wasting everyone's time. After I left, this girl turned to her coach and announced that she thought she had worked really hard, and that therefore she should get to move to the next level anyway.

In both of these cases the coach was at fault. The first one because she did not honor established USFS testing and PSA ethical guidelines, and the second because she didn't stand up to parental pressure even though she knew the parent was wrong.

It is the coach's reputation on the line when they bring kids to test who aren't ready. USFS states in its coaching guidelines very strongly that you do not test someone who is not ready to pass. In the case of that first coach, my guess would be that if a lot of her students didn't pass, the judges probably took her aside and asked her about it. This does happen and it's extremely embarrassing. The judges are volunteers. Don't waste their time.

A coach who bows to parental pressure is risking their reputation with the judges, and is also risking loss of the student. Because you can bet the parents are going to forget that they pressured the coach into testing and simply rewrite history in the direction of "incompetent coach." And they'll find a different coach. Judges have been known to speak to parents about coaches who do this all the time, suggesting in various roundabout ways that a different coach might be in order. An unethical coach at a test session might engage in a little "tampering" with remarks like "why did her coach let her test? She looks like she's not quite ready."

In a way, it doesn't matter why the coach is putting out unready tests, whether because he or she doesn't know what test-ready looks like, or doesn't override parents against her better judgment. And as far as I'm concerned a coach that puts her reputation and her income at risk in this way deserves everything she gets.

This past August a lot of tests were being put out not quite ready because everyone was scrambling to pass their Moves under the old guidelines before the change on September 1. In this case I think judges forgave the coaches for putting out iffy tests; I am as sure as I can be that no one got a pity pass because of it however.

So how does a parent know when the skater is ready to test?

You don't need to know. Your coach will tell you. You should have a general idea of how quickly a skater can move through the levels. For Moves, a skater who works on Moves every day can probably do 3 levels in a year. The less you work the slower you'll go, but it's not a race. You don't get extra points for getting through the levels faster. Go at your own pace. For Freestyle tests, be guided by your competition needs. You can pass a level before you're ready to compete at it; once you pass it you can only skate at that level (qualifying competitions) or higher (at some non-qualifying competitions), never down. Which brings us to...

Trust your coach. If your coach says don't test, for goodness sake don't test. You pay us to know this stuff. And a coaching relationship without that really minimal level of trust is doomed to failure anyway.

See if the coach will arrange a trial test. At the higher levels (Novice and up) the coach can arrange a USFS judge to observe a trial test. At the lower levels, this can be done with the coach's entire roster of students, with perhaps a fellow coach as the judge. It could be extremely instructive to give the parents testing sheets as well, so they know how it works, and how difficult it is. This can be done on any regular ice, or find ice that's typically empty (our rink has ice all morning and at 3 p.m. everyday), and arrange to have the kids get out of school early, or arrive late for this special instance. If you do this, pay the coach their regular hourly rate, and buy a nice thank you gift for the person acting as judge. (Never pay a judge.)

Observe test sessions USFS test sessions are generally run by the clubs, are free, and are posted on line well in advance. You can download the schedule so you know what levels you're observing. It can be hard to find out who has passed (they generally don't post that) but even watching a session is instructive. Some rinks will post schedules for tests that their skaters are involved in. (Your skater does not need to know you're doing this.)

Observe other skaters. How does your skater look compared to a: skaters taking the same test; b: skaters taking a lower test; c: skaters taking the next level up. Your skater should look more like the skater above than like the skaters at or below his or her level. This is one of the places where chatter in the stands is good-- know the levels of your skater's peers, which you find out from the moms, who are more than ready to brag. They don't have to know your ulterior motive.

It's a little more complicated for skaters testing ISI Freestyle because every program has a slightly different system through FS6 (starting at FS7, ISI requires a special test at a District test session). At the three rinks where I teach the systems are:

Rink one: Class instructor can test you up to the next level for classes only, based on in-class skills test only (no program test required). For competition, Gold tested on-staff judge (one of several coaches) must do both the skills and the program test, generally on a Practice Ice session. For ice show free style groups and solos, skaters must pass skills and program test in a special test session arranged by the rink.

Rink two: Class instructor gives both the skills and program test in class, which can be registered with ISI.

Rink three: Testing is by recommendation only. Class instructor and private instructor must agree that student is ready to test. Either can veto the test. Testing is done the first day of classes by a disinterested panel (i.e. coaches who do not teach this student).

(I'd love to hear other testing systems for ISI; please share!)

If your skater keeps failing tests, you probably need a different coach because either that coach doesn't know what they're doing, or you're overriding them and making them put out unready tests (and they're letting you).

Bottom line? Your coach decides when you test, not the skater, not the parent, even if they think the coach is wrong.

What do test scores mean?

Both ISI, the recreational federation, and USFS, the competitive federation, have figure skating tests, broken down into progressively more challenging sets of skills. These test levels also generally correspond (but only generally) to competition programs.

However, the scoring on tests is very different than the scoring on competitions. For one thing, while there is a scale, the tests are essentially Pass-Retry. (The kinder, gentler, 21st century way of saying Pass-Fail. Musn't upset the kiddies or their check-writing parents, I guess.) There is a minimum passing score, for skating that meets the test standard. If you exceed the test standard, you can get a higher score; in USFS testing this is the rarer case. Most skaters pass AT the passing score because the passing standard is high and fairly universally agreed upon by nationally trained test judges.

I have heard at least two parents complain to their children that they "barely" passed a USFS test, i.e. got just the passing score. This is wrong. In USFS testing a pass is a pass. The standards are high; everyone passes with an A. Passing over the minimum score is equivalent to an A+. One parent told me she was going to make her daughter retake her test because "I wasn't happy with her score." First, this is not allowed, and second, sorry, that's the stupidest thing I've ever heard from a parent, and I've heard a lot of stupid things from parents (and said a lot of stupid things AS a parent).

Unlike USFS, which uses a descending point system (10 point scale, your score is the accumulation of your deductions), ISI uses more of a grade system, 0 through 10. The handbook describes it as follows:

0- didn't attempt
1- attempted, not recognizable
2- attempted, recognizable
3- poor
4- not passable (F)
5- minimum passing grade (D)
6- Fair (C)
7- Good (B)
8- Very good (A)
9- Excellent (A+)
10- Superior, no errors (A++)

So as you can see, in ISI, you pass with a "D" just like in school.

I really don't like to see this however; who wants their kid to pass with a D? I don't think I'm alone in this either. Because ISI makes me pass Ds, I give more 3s and 4s than I might otherwise. I also really disagree that a "5" is a "D." Coaches that I know are looking for better than a D. You can't do only 70% of an axel, after all, which would be a D. I tell my students that you should not move up a level until you have at least one, and better yet two 7s in your scores. Further, I think that a teacher who gives all 5s is not paying attention. There are six skills in each test; I find it difficult to believe that all the skills are going to be equally just 5s. I have also observed that passing with all 5s is a guarantee that you will struggle at the next level. My grading looks more like this:

0- did not attempt
1- attempted, no understanding of skill
2- attemped, cursory understanding of skill
3- completed skill, unacceptable errors
4- completed skill, minimal errors
5- good understanding of skill, passing
6- skill is good enough for competition
7- excellent
8- superior
9- professional
10- perfect

To compete in ISI competitions through Delta you must complete an isolated skills test; to compete in Free Style you must also take a program test (all skills set to music). In USFS you need to do the Moves and Freeskating tests at each level to compete at that level. You can also "skate up" a level at some USFS competitions. You cannot skate up in ISI. You cannot skate down in either system. (Deliberately skating down by not taking a test you are ready for is called "sandbagging" and is considered cheating.) In both systems, your class level has no bearing on your test level. You can take classes both above and below your test level, depending on what your program or your coach requires or tolerates.

USFS tests must be taken in front of judging panels of varying sizes and judge's levels. They do not need to happen only at Club test sessions. Your coach can arrange separate, non-club tests if needed; you just have to pay for the ice. Club test sessions are a convenience, not a requirement. Talk to your coach and club leadership to find out about this. I took my First Figures test on a public session with a single Silver level judge (it was an utter disaster because you really can't skate figures on public, but the point is, you can do this).

ISI tests through FS 6 can be taken at your home rink. It is generally frowned upon to test your own private lesson student, even in class, but is not specfically against the rules. Each rink should have its own rules about testing-- some allow students to move up just from class tests, some set up special ISI test sesssions, some allow class testing to move up in the classes, but require a separate test to qualify for ice show solos. I've worked at 5 different rinks, and seen 5 different test arrangements. Above FS6 you must take the test at special sessions with impartial judges. Coaches are judges in the ISI system, with judging levels of Bronze, Silver, Gold.

Reverse sandbagging

We've all heard of sandbagging; i.e. holding a skater back from testing so that s/he can compete at a lower level and mop up the competition. It's a reprehensible thing to do. Rinks and coaches get away with it through a variety of rationalisations: "We just have very stringent standards." "She usually competes USFS, so we haven't taken the ISI tests" "We didn't have time to get a test session in before the competition deadline."

A more puzzling phenomenon is what I call "reverse sandbagging," or passing a child ahead because you think she's got potential, because she managed to squeak through the skills at the current level (without having a review to make sure she's got the skills from the prior level) or some vague philosophy of where a child "should" be based on age.

I'm not sure what drives this phenomenon. The age thing has been presented to me more than once, with an assurance that "we've added extra lessons to help her catch up." (Alarm bells going off here-- how about leave her in the $9 class instead of the $40 lesson? Then she'll actually learn the skill and not have to catch up.)

There's the coach who wants to look like a good guy and not hold a kid back, or who wants to seem like s/he knows more than that other coach that didn't pass you. I myself have had kids who rocked a test and then come back the next week unable to put their own mittens on, let along show me a decent crossover.

Disagreements between class coach and private coach can happen too, in both directions. At some rinks you only have to pass one of any test you take to move up. At others, if you take 2 classes of the same level, both instructors have to pass you. I've worked at a rink that never allowed free style testing in class. You had to test before a panel--skating director, class coach, private coach--and all three had to pass you. Another system uses indepedent tester who don't know the skater. None of these systems keeps the disagreements from happening.

But these are all just observations. Every single coach you talk to will tell you that they NEVER do this. They NEVER pass a skater who isn't ready.

So here's my solution:

• If you're the parent, educate yourself about what skaters can do at each level, by watching the class and judging who seems competent and who seems lost. Remember that in skating, all passes are a "D." We rarely do what is called "passing over" (i.e. over the passing standard). You don't need an A to pass. If you're not sure, ask a coach what the elements are (or go to the ISI or USFS websites-- the skills descriptions are there.) If your skater seems to be consistently way better or way worse (not slower or faster mind you) than other skaters in the class, ask the teacher or your private coach about it. Ask the coach what "5 cross overs in a row" really means, or what a good 3-turn or salchow looks like.

• If you're a skater, especially a child, don't be afraid to let the teacher know when you're scared of a skill, or confused, or uncomfortable, or if you feel like you're getting left behind. If you're unwilling to talk to the coach, tell your mom or dad that you need help. Skating coaches expect a high degree of maturity from kids; we will be impressed by a child who shares his or her concerns.

• If you're the class coach with a skater who has been held back or held up, find a way to make the skills work for the skater within the context of the class. I feel that you cannot send a child back; once the child has been told they pass, you have to honor it, it's not worth making the kid feel bad. I also don't agree with skipping levels without compelling evidence that the child not only can do everything at the level they're skipping, but also know what everything is called. I can't be explaining what a mohawk even is in a Freestyle 1 class. I don't care if the kid can do it-- they need to know what it's called. At any rate, even in a large class, you can give a floundering or bored kid special things to do that help them.

• If you are the private lesson coach, you need to know who is testing your students and when. Especially if you don't want a skater to pass, don't leave it to chance. Go to the class coach before the test and ask how the skater is doing. If you feel they should repeat the level, ask the class coach not to pass them. Most class coaches will honor this unless there is a compelling reason to pass the kid. It would be nice if class coaches would check with the private lesson coach first, but this is impractical in most programs.

Every skating curriculum I've seen has clear, precise descriptions of what passing a skill entails. Every skating coach I've ever known has their own interpretation of what they think that means, and which skills can be finessed and which must be mastered.

Starting Figures Class

When teaching edges to freestyle and adults, I always start with figures. For one thing, I think skaters should know just how hard it is. For another, the new USFS Moves tests have added figures at the Preliminary, Pre-Juvenile, Novice and Junior levels, including outside forward and backward eights, and loops. For another, there is no better way to help a skater understand body alignment.

Plus, I'm really good at figures, which is not something that can be said about most of my skating.

In the first few days, you should learn:
How to “lay out” your figure using the long and short axes.
The first 4 figures: Forward Outside, Forward Inside, Back Outside and 3s to the Center.

So here we go:
Imagine a long line down the ice. This is your Long Axis. All figures are laid out on a Long Axis (you know this from Delta and Pre Freestyle class, or from your Moves lessons). You always push perpendicular to (across) the Long Axis. We call this the Short Axis. It can also be used to mark your center (the middle of the figure). When you are just beginning figures, you can draw the long and short axes.

Now you’re ready to skate your circles! You’ll have a circle to your right and a circle to your left. You always start right in the middle where the two circles touch, facing the long axis.

The first four figures, plus a bonus.
Forward Outside 8: Two circles on forward outside edges. Each circle is completed from a single push. The “V” in the center is the two pushes- one to the right, one to the left. This figure has been added to the Preliminary Moves test (hooray!)

Forward Inside 8: Two circles on forward inside edges. Notice how the push changes.

Back Outside 8: Two circles on backward outside edges. Push changes again! Hey-how can you see where you’re going!? (hint-- you have to turn your head and look. Get those shoulders around, too!) This one is now in Pre-Juv Moves.

Threes to the Center: Forward Outside to Back inside edge. Place the 3-turn right on the long axis! Oh, and the push changes again-- now it's a "choctaw turn": change of edge, change of foot, change of direction. This is the easiest of the variations of the choctaw turn.

Bonus: Forward Right Outside-Inside Serpentine: You'll now have added a second circle to your right, touching the original circles (so, three in a row). Forward outside push off the original center. Without pushing again, change edge to inside at the new circle, and stay on the inside edge all the way around that third circle. When you get all the way around, back to the long axis (you've now traveled 1 1/2 circles on a single push), new push to the left inside edge, change edges at the original center, holding new left outside edge all the way around that circle until you reach your starting point.

Did I mention that in a test you do these on completely clean ice with no markers or guides, and you have to trace each figure perfectly twice (so, lay it out, trace it, trace it again). Oh, and the judge stands right there on the ice, watching every inch.

Stuck

Lots of anxiety this week about axels and freestyle 5 at the rink and here online. One of the important things to remember is that everyone gets stuck somewhere. My own daughter, now a triple gold medalist (meaning Senior test in Moves, FS, and Dance) had a legendary stint in Freestyle 5: two and a half years. Nine. Sessions. She zoomed up to Freestyle 4, leaving all her age mates in the dust. And then they all starting passing her. And passing her. And passing her.

Yesterday I asked her, on behalf of a former student and her concerned mother, how she got past her fear of the axel. Her response made me understand how figure skating helped her to grow up. In the past I've attributed her increased maturity around this time to a coaching change which happened a few months after she finally nailed that jump, but reading this I think she probably did it on her own, and the axel helped.

I think getting over the falling thing is more of a maturity thing. There's just a point when you stop worrying about it. And that was even after I started working on my doubles. You just have to get over the fact that yes, you are going to fall and yes it is going to hurt sometimes. Just accept it.

The point is, everyone gets stuck somewhere. My former student "Patti" got stuck, incredibly, at Pre Alpha. This was an extraordinary child who found the maturity to reach inside and get over her fear, on her own, at the unheard of age of 6. Watch for her to be president someday. There are places where we expect kids to get stuck-- Gamma (mohawk turns), Freestyle 4 (sit spin), Freestyle 7 (flying camel, wally), and of course, FS 5.

In my opinion, the lower you get stuck, the better off you are. A kid that is pushed through the basic levels almost always has technical deficiencies relating to upper body control, basic understanding of edges and turns, and weak crossovers and stroking.

What you're working on here, as a skater or a parent or a coach, is enabling the skater to find that place inside where understanding clicks into place. You can't give it to her. But you can take it away, by rewarding the wrong thing, or punishing the effort.

From the keyword search

Here's what people want to know (the following phrases turned up on my keyword search list)

How long before my daughter tests out of alpha figure skating?
I've had students step onto the ice able to do cross overs and proper stroking, and I've had kids take 1 year to get there. A better question is "what should my daughter be able to do when she passes alpha?" She should be able to skate across a full sized rink with proper full blade pushes and leg extension. She should be able to do what I call a "true cross," that is place the crossing foot truly inside the circle so that her feet are side-by-side in the crossed position. She should be able to hold a two-foot glide in the position, and she should be able to uncross without pushing her toe pick into the ice. A strong alpha skater will have an undercut push, but I don't insist on this myself at the Alpha level as long as there is no toe push.

How fast can I move up in figure skating?
This is the skating variation of "how do I get to Carnegie Hall?" The answer of course, is "practice." A reasonable rule of thumb, however, is that with application and more than one time on the ice per week, most people (kids and adults) can progress two to three levels per year at the learn-to-skate/Basic Skills level, and one level maybe every 6 to 15 months (2 to 5 sessions) at the free style levels, with a long stop over at FS5 to learn the axel. (Take your time at 5.) For children, if you start skating by age 10 you will be landing doubles by the time you graduate highschool, provided you work at it. You can pretty much take that to the bank.

10 year olds at figure skating nationals
I'd love to know what this person was looking for! Yes there are 10-year olds at nationals, but mostly at Junior Nationals (Juvenile and Intermediate). There are minimum age limitations for the Senior Level at international (you must be 16), and national (you must be 15) competitions. As far as I've been able to find, there are no minimum age requirements at other qualifying levels. (Anyone have better info on this?) So yes, there might be 10 year-olds at Nationals, especially at the novice level. But I don't see the point-- what's the hurry? Coaches or parents in this situation-- why have kids skate so high so young? Let us know in the comments.

Don't expect miracles

A friend of mine tweets "Okay, really sick of parent who expects miracles from me."

I'm guessing this has to do either with a student who is not passing tests, or who is not placing well at competitions, or who is not mastering a difficult skill.

I'm not saying that it's never the coach's fault. There are coaches that couldn't teach a frog to jump, and there are coaches that don't care or pay attention. But if you're disappointed in the coach, if you think your or your skater's problems are due to the coaching, here's what you need to ask first:

• Are you skating enough to achieve the outcome you're looking for? If you're trying to test Moves, you need a dedicated lesson and at least half of every practice devoted to the test. Is the coach telling you that the student is not ready to test? Listen to her, and ask her what you need to do to get ready. (quick answer-- practice more, and practice effectively). Is it a jump? Read my formula for achieving mastery at freestyle. If your skater is working on the axel and is not on the ice 3 hours a week (including practice, lesson, and class), it's going to be a looooong slog.

• Is the skater practicing effectively? Does the coach give the skater practice guidelines? How much are you practicing that jump? Are you breaking down the skill (i.e. practicing segments of the skill in isolation). How many times are you willing to fall? Skaters who aren't falling when learning multiple rotation jumps are not trying to learn the jump; they are trying not to fall.

• Am I basing my expectations on what other skaters are achieving? This is a huge error that parents make, and one I regret that coaches encourage. (Overhead from a coach-- "Oh, all my skaters are in Freestyle 5 by the time they're 7!) Maybe the skater who seems to keep moving ahead of your child skates 2 or 3 times as much. I hate to say it, but she might be more talented. Or, she might be getting "cuted" up. If you're concerned that little Mabel is all the way to Freestyle 5 while your Suzie is "stuck" at 3, take a look at Mabel. Does she really look like a freestyle 5 skater? I worked on a Nutcracker number last night in a lower freestyle level, and there were an awful lot of cuties in there who did not have a clue how to do the basic jumps at that level.

• Understand that what it really takes to place well at competitions is not just skill, talent, and levels, but also a great big walloping dollop of sheer dumb luck. You have absolutely no control over what happens on competition ice. Forget the program. Here are the things you cannot control:

-Incompetent or spiteful judging. I hate to say it, but this happens.
-Your skater had a bad day
-Another skater in the group had the skate of their life. Our own local hero, Evan Lysacek, US Champ, World Champ, was on his way to Olympic Gold. And then former World Champion Yevgeny Plushenko decided to come out of retirement and give it one more shot. And now everyone is saying, hey Evan, enjoy that Silver!

Miracles happen in the movies. Skaters happen through perseverence, work, and an awful lot of bumps and bruises.

The other side of the coin

Okay, what if your kid is being held back?

I've talked a lot about kids moving up too fast, and it is the more common problem, but what about the child that needs to move through classes faster?

It's important for parents to remember that in group classes, the operative word is "group." These are not private lessons; most kids are not going to move at their own pace, they're going to have to normatize, to move with the class. Again, the success of this -- keeping the slow learners from feeling pressured while keeping the fast learners interested-- really depends on the teacher. A good teacher will find a way to keep all of the kids moving as close to their own pace as possible. For instance, if you're teaching a beginners class where some kids are fast and some kids are slow, you need to put them on a circle, rather than in lines skating back and forth across the ice, so that everyone can keep moving. There is always something you can do to make every child feel engaged, at every level.

If you think your child is the best in the class, don't move her up. For one thing you might be wrong-- she might just be the fastest one in the class. Or maybe the other strong skaters aren't there that week (this happened recently). But think about it-- your child is the best in the class. If you pressure the teacher into moving her up to the next level, she is likely now to be the worst in the class, and to not have learned the vocabulary of the next level, so she'll be lost. Would you rather your child take the lower level once and pass with flying colors, or get stuck twice in a level she wasn't ready for?

I get a lot of kids with strong athletic ability, but poor social skills-- can't stand still, can't follow through on instructions, can't retain skills they've learned without serious drilling. Don't just watch your child's skating skills, watch the whole child. I do.

Fallacy number two, "he already learned that." No such thing. Every skill can be learned at a higher level. Has your skater "learned" 3-turns? Fine, let's get him skating into them, or do running 3-turns, or alternating 3-turns, or bigger 3-turns, or really fix the rock and the check. Are you lost? That's because I know more about figure skating than you do, and you need to trust me to know whether you child should move up, or to keep him engaged at the level he's assigned to right now.

Think about where you're trying to move your child. I had a parent insist that her Alpha 2 student should be in Beta. Fine, I'm not going to stand here arguing with her. So she moved the child from an Alpha 2 class with 4 kids in it, to a Beta class with 15. Is she going to get better instruction?

Okay, full disclosure. There are kids that need to move up. I'll tell you. If they can't move up because of your schedule or ours I'll make sure they get the additional skills they need, or I'll propose private lessons. Every now and then there will be a child who can skip two levels. I've never seen a child who will benefit from skipping more than that, regardless of ability, because they miss all the vocabulary. I have an ongoing argument right now with the coach of a child who can "do" everything but you have to demonstrate and explain, and take away from class time for the kids who did the job and went through the levels. I should not be explaining Beta skills to a Freestyle 1 student, it's not fair to the other kids in the class.

It's complicated, isn't it. You just thought your child liked skating. And that's great. But let the coaches do their job, be engaged, ask questions. If you think your child is better than the other kids in the class, don't get in my face and make me do what you want, ask me if what you're observing is accurate. I'll be honest, I'll be kind.

But I'll want the kid at the level he's ready for.

Cute

First of all, they're all cute. So damn cute. I love the kids; I think in 10 years of teaching I've met maybe 3 or 4 kids that I just didn't like. And I always feel really guilty when I don't like a child. What kind of horrible person doesn't like a child? (And what kind of doomed child is unlikable at the age of 5.)

The dilemma for the coach then is making sure you do your job and not the parents' job. It is the parents' job to tell the child that she is the greatest thing since sliced bread and that everything she does is wonderful (to a point). It is the coach's job to separate her personal affection or enjoyment of the child and the child's ability to perform the skill at a passing standard. Passing a child because you like her and don't want to disappoint her (or her parents), or because you think she'll get it eventually, is not doing anyone any favors.

I always tell my students that I want them to feel successful on the first day of class, not the last day of class. If they can handle the skills on the first day of class, then success on the last day of class is guaranteed.

So what do you do if your child is passed too soon?

It's actually easy. Do nothing. Watch your kid. It's possible that she has not noticed that she's not as advanced as the other kids. The coach however will notice, and a good and compassionate coach will take that into account and give your child remedial skills to work on that will bring her up to the level of the class, without the child feeling punished or singled out.

If you're really concerned about it, talk to the coach. Some solutions are to just bring the child skating on her own (you should be doing this anyway). If you can't skate, find a babysitter who can -- ice rinks are full of reliable teenagers. Doesn't have to be a lesson, just babysitting on the ice, at babysitting cost. You could try signing your son or daughter up for a second class at either the old level, or the new one. You could do a couple of private lessons.

Up through the lowest freestyle lessons, "cuting up" is annoying but not a disaster. Kids really do figure it out and catch up, although some kids will never acquire the technical expertise they've missed (things like toe pushes, and poorly executed turns). It's a big problem after Freestyle 2 (half jumps, beginning spins) because the subsequent skills are complex and dangerous if your technique is poor, plus it's very hard to unlearn bad jump technique.

In the freestyle levels, get a private coach. Do NOT hire the coach that cuted your child up, even if they say they did it because "she's so talented, she'll get it" or "I didn't want to hold her back, she'll be bored." That is a great big giant red flag that a coach is more interested in your $35 dollars for private lessons than in your child's well-being.

And just to be clear, yes, your child is cute.