My daughter starts tonight!

[littlekateskate]

Well, tonight is my daughters first night in the class. She has done a couple private lessons to make sure she will be "okay" in the bigger kids class. I guess its more for advanced 5 year old ish. She isnt advanced at all but has great listening skills ect for her age. (she is used to long classes from skating).

She is more excited about it then her skating lol I love watching her skate. I know this will be fun too. I just get bored with basic stuff. At least with her skating she is getting fun to watch, haha. I just cant wait for her to roll over the bars and do a handstand on her own.

I read some of the previous posts and I am nervous about my daughter doing anything that is dangerous. (back bends ect for her age).

I have never heard of any of this before reading here on the forum. She has skated for 2 years now and I have never heard anything mentioned about dangers of their bodies not being "developed" enough.

Is there an amount they can stretch at this age too much? Or how long should they be stretching?

[gym law mom]

I've read your intro post, so first off--welcome. Now, take a deep breath. Your little one is just starting in gymnastics and it is all new. I have been involved in figure skating for about 10+ yrs, so understand where you're coming from. My oldest daughter tried rec gymnastics, but had a fear of heights, so it wasn't for her and she moved onto skating. The younger one tried some skating and did quite well, but loved gym. End of skating---onto gymnastics.

Both sports do have injury issues and I would say figure skating now is right up there with gymnastics as far as overuse/impact injuries. So, for the little one, take it slow in the gym. No formal practice needs to be done at home at this level. Maybe let her practice some splits etc. You will see some improvement in her skating just doing a 1x/week gym class---not right away, but in a few mos. Her balance, coordination, flexibility etc. will improve.

Also no need to buy any gym equipment for home. A leo or 2 is all she needs right now. Ask the coach about time to stretch at home if she REALLY wants to. As several coaches have posted on here in the past, children at your dd's level should get the "practice" they need in the gym and shouldn't need to suplement at home.

Just curious---what level is she at in her skating?

[littlekateskate]

She is at the end of her basics and starting her freestyle moves She has always been a natural at skating. I suggested gymnastics for the stretching and balance. And she of course wants to flip lol. (We are far far from that).

[~ beth]

There are three purposes to a good warm-up.

1) Increase heart rate
2) Engorge muscles with blood
3) Put muscles and joints through appropriate range of motion for the activities.

Stretching is great at any age, as long as it's done correctly. For preschoolers, the suggested hold time is no more than about a 12-15 count, only a few seconds. You don't want to do ballistic (bounces) stretching, but more dynamic (moving in and out of held positions) with short hold periods. Preschoolers get the same benefit in a shortly held stretch that an older child or adult get in a longer stretch.

The biggest concerns regarding stretching are that the spine be kept as straight as possible. So, in butterfly, pike and straddle stretches, the head should be up, looking at the toes, with the belly button pushed toward the floor.

In lateral stretches, there should be support to the side they are leaning toward like a hand on the thigh or some sort of support in stretch. This alleviates torque to the spine.

We are no longer doing stretches like the hurdler, or the yoga plow stretches due to the pressure to the knees and cervical area of the spine, respectively.

In the lunges prior to splits, the foot should start in front of the knee so that the leg never passes 90 degrees in angle. This is why catchers have notoriously bad knees..they spend their careers with their feet behind their knees in their squats behind the home plate. So, starting positions for splits should have the foot forward of the knee.

Those are the main points for stretching. ..and stretching is the part of the warm-up in which joints and muscles are put through range of motion. So, it is considered a very important part of warm-up excersizes.

[~ beth]

ugh. typo in last post.

exercises, even.

Is there an edit tool on posts after you post them? Sorry..sometimes my fingers move faster than my brain.

[bogwoppit]

Quote:
Originally Posted by ~ beth ugh. typo in last post. exercises, even. Is there an edit tool on posts after you post them? Sorry..sometimes my fingers move faster than my brain.

You can edit your post if you do it within 3 hours of posting, after that the ability to edit just magically disappears.

[DynamicMom]

Just curious to see how your dd's class went? Did she have a great time, is she just going the once a week? I hope she had fun!

[littlekateskate]

She did love it! I knew she would. And she has begged to go back everyday since.

She is only doing once a week because of other sport on other days. How much can a child really advance with once a week at this age (about 5)