Parents A New Beginning!

[flowerchild]

Just had to share... My DD, who retired from gymnastics after 8 long years ... Has taken up a new sport, figure skating.

She has gone from a complete beginner to Freestyle 1/2 in 4 months! ( Largely due to her previous gym experience and a fantastic coach!). She is jumping and spinning like crazy.

Looking forward to this new adventure ... I just wish there was a forum line this for figure skating parents. There is so much to learn!

 

[notthatmom]

Awesome! I'm not a parent of a figure skater, but I was one so if you have any questions let me know

 

[Gym-Mom]

That's great! I am glad she found something else she loves to do!

 

[polenka]

There are a couple similar forums in the skating world!

http://www.goldenskate.com/forum/
and http://skatingforums.com/
and http://www.fsuniverse.net/forum/index.php

Are a few that come to mind! (some more oriented towards parents/skaters...others more towards fans of higher level skating).

I'm not surprised she has progressed so fast--gymnastics is a great foundation for figure skating! And some of the best up and coming skaters have a foundation in gymnastics (Tyler Pierce, who did both artistic and rhythmic gymnastics, didn't begin skating at all until she was 9 and was competing at a Juvenile level by age 12, Hannah Harrell, who placed second in Juv. at nationals this year also competed several years in gymnastics). The strength, flexibility, air and body awareness of gymnastics really sets kids up to excel at figure skating IMO! A kid who has all those qualities and access to quality coaching should be able to master the basics of skating and be doing at least most of her doubles within 2-3 years.

 

[polenka]

A kid who has all those qualities and access to quality coaching should be able to master the basics of skating and be doing at least most of her doubles within 2-3 years.

(If they want to that is! As with all things it takes hard work!)

 

[flowerchild]

The strength, flexibility, air and body awareness of gymnastics really sets kids up to excel at figure skating IMO! A kid who has all those qualities and access to quality coaching should be able to master the basics of skating and be doing at least most of her doubles within 2-3 years.[/QUOTE]

She wants to compete freestyle as soon as possible. I will have to tell her this. She just learned a new jump (half flip? ) and a new spin (sit spin) and is busy at practice with these, as well as working on edges, crossovers, and stroking.

(I ask her if she had fun practicing, and this is what she tells me! I have NO idea what it means. Reminds me of when I had no idea what a Kip was - all those years ago!)

 

[IreneKa]

Thank you for sharing! As a parent of a DD who also recently quit gymnastics and just starting out at a new activity, this is very encouraging to hear. Good luck to her!

 

[sce]

So glad she has found a new challenge to take on. Hope it's just a lot of fun for her. IreneKa, I hope the same for your dd.

 

[polenka]

She wants to compete freestyle as soon as possible. I will have to tell her this. She just learned a new jump (half flip? ) and a new spin (sit spin) and is busy at practice with these, as well as working on edges, crossovers, and stroking.

(I ask her if she had fun practicing, and this is what she tells me! I have NO idea what it means. Reminds me of when I had no idea what a Kip was - all those years ago!)

My recommendation (though ultimately this is something that will need to be discussed further with her coach...and different coaches have differing opinions on how to develop skaters and plan for the competition season) is that she go directly to either a "test track Pre-Prelim" or a "high beginner" (they call them different things in different regions/areas) solo for competition rather than competing in a basic skills competition at the freestyle level.

My reasoning for this suggestion is that a test track pre-prelim or high beginner solo will be able to grow with her over the competition season and given her background I do believe she will progress quickly. If she does--say--a Freestyle 2 solo that solo will then need to be adjusted quite a bit (because the skills for each level are very limited and distinct) in order for her to compete at a higher Freestyle level.

A test track pre-prelim/high beginner solo requires two spins (typically a 1-foot spin and a sit spin) and 5 jump elements (only half flips and half lutzes...single rotation loops, toe-loops, salchows, and waltz jumps). So when a kid moves up to "no test" or "limited pre-preliminary" the only changes that need to be made are the half flip and lutz turn into a full flip and lutz...and the 1-foot spin typically changes into a camel spin...and when a kid is ready for pre-preliminary then an axel goes in the place where the waltz jump used to be...but no major changes in choreography are usually required.

But again--that's something that will need to be discussed with her coach.

Haha--yes--skating is its own little culture and has it's own little language just like gymnastics does! One of the major differences between skating and gymnastics is that I feel the parents and (when they're older) kiddos themselves need to be much more proactive...training pathways/options/opportunities in skating are much less well defined than they are in gymnastics. Gymnasts train as a team so the coaches tell the kiddos when they are ready to move to a higher level, how many hours they need to train, when they need to train, what kind of strength training they need to do and how many reps, which drills they need to do, which competitions to go to, which level to compete at, which leo to wear, etc. It seems to me it's all quite clearly defined and wholistic (in that the gym and the coach provide the gymnast with everything they need in order to excel).

Skating is much less well defined in part because it's an individual sport...you typically get a handful of 20-30 min private lessons (how lessons are needed for each level isn't typically well-defined...though your coach should guide you) each week and then you're pretty much on your own for practice (and how much a skater should be practicing on her own and what they should be doing during those practices isn't always clearly laid out). If you're lucky you have a coach who will lay out a training plan outlining how many of each jump, spin, and full program run throughs or segmented program run throughs to do on each practice session...and perhaps access to group off-ice (stretch, plyometrics, strength, ballet) training and on-ice (edge, performance, specialized group classes) training...but sometimes the things a skater needs to do to excel either aren't offered within the rink/by the skating club, or the skater isn't aware of those opportunities so a skater needs to be pro-active in talking with her coach and seeking them out if she is interested in doing more. Off-ice training is *very* important esp. for injury prevention but some coaches will overlook it.

And of course equipment--as she moves up you will need to be proactive about making sure she has the right skates and good quality sharpening...and it will be up to you guys to find the right competition dress for her solo, warm up jacket, etc. You can ask your coach for advice about this sort of thing but some coaches may assume that you know what you need.

You can be a lot more autonomous in figure skating...but that also means a lot more responsibility!

Your kiddo has a leg up since she is stretched and strong and she may be able to maintain those things on her own if group off-ice classes aren't offered! (and I would encourage her to try and maintain her stretch and strength as much as possible...the level she's at currently doesn't require much of either but as she progresses she will absolutely need to be stretched and strong and maintaining what she already has from gymnastics will be so much easier than restarting!)

 

[flowerchild]

Polenka, I am definitely seeing what you say about autonomy and responsibility!

I find the basic skills competition/ moves in the field/ preliminary stuff very confusing!

 

[lemondrop]

While I don't disagree about competing maybe High Beginner or No Test instead of a FS/Basic Skills level initially, I would think about whether she wants to ultimately compete on the Test Track or the Well Balanced track. It is kind of like Xcel vs. JO. You want to compete Well Balanced if you want to seriously compete, and if you don't strategize your testing correctly, you may not be able to be competitive at the level you must compete at in Well-Balanced if you have tested too high on Freestyle. My older gymmie quit gym this past May to focus on skating (she is now making skating her primary sport) - she is skating preliminary well-balanced this season, and is working on her double loop. She is about to test Juvenile Moves (2 levels higher than Preliminary), but has only tested though Preliminary Freestyle because although not required in the preliminary freestyle test, in order to be competitive at Preliminary Well Balanced, you need a single axel and two double jumps (she has double salchow and double toe loop), and I think a flying spin (whereas for Preliminary Test Track, you are only allowed to compete single jumps, and no flying spins allowed). It is very confusing at first - talk to her coach about goals/philosophy when she gets to the point that she is ready to start testing Moves and Freestyle (which will probably be soon the way it's going!).

 

[polenka]

Definitely by Preliminary a kiddo should be tracking on either the Well-balanced or Test-track...but some coaches just prefer to skip competing Basic Skills Freestyle levels (since the Basic Skills competitions are in and of themselves separate) in favor of test-track pre-prelim and then move onto a well-balanced track once they test Pre-Prelim. Because skating is such an individual sport movement from one track to another prior to that really isn't an issue. Test track pre-preliminary does not actually require a passed pre-preliminary test...skaters just can't have passed any *higher* than the pre-preliminary test to compete in test-track pre-preliminary.

Once you get to the Prelim. level you def. need to be careful about not testing too high in freestyle...because testing requirements are absolutely different than what is required to be competitive on the WB track...and it is totally the norm to test 1-2 levels higher in MIF (which should come extra-easily to current/former gymnasts!) than freestyle.

We (and I mean that literally--not in the "I live vicariously though my child" sense since I still skate as well!) skate with Kori Ade and her team at 7K and they typically take kids through test-track pre-prelim -> no-test -> WB pre-prelim and onwards...so it is a common path used by coaches with highly competitive national/international level skaters...especially if the skater doesn't do Learn-to-skate but only takes private lessons (because Basic skills/Freestyle testing is typically conducted at the end of each Learn-to-skate session...so kids taking only private lessons sometimes don't do Basic skills/Freestyle testing at all).

So for example my kiddo (who just turned 6) did Learn-to-skate for a couple seasons when she was really little...testing Basic 2 (at another rink) and then Basic 4 (at 7K)...and then 7K dissolved their L2Skate so she just did private lessons and a little developmental group class but she was never tested beyond B4. She competed one competition this season in test-track Pre-prelim...and has now moved to No-test (where she will probably stay for the rest of this season). She passed her Pre-Prelim MIF...but won't test Pre-Prelim freestyle until she is able to land an axel (preferably in combination) and her camel spin is stronger because that is what is required to be competitive at the WB Pre-Prelim level (which is where she will probably go next competition season).

There's also ISI...which is governed by an entirely different group (the Ice Skating Institute--a international group vs. the USFSA--United States Figure Skating Association) that could be equated with Xcel!

There are soooo many different options and pathways in skating! It can absolutely be confusing!