skatingforums
On the Ice => The Pro Shop => Topic started by: falen on January 18, 2012, 10:39:47 PM
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dd's has moved up some and has now some friends from higher levels. They tell her they skate 6 days a week and some of those days morning and after school. She is begging for more ice. Oy! She is working on her axel and some double jump toe salcow one of them. When should she start that kind of practicing? I love the enthusiasm, but isn't that for the national contender types?
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I've posted this before, but I'll repeat it. (And this isn't my own - I learned it years ago from another poster.)
One method for computing practice time for competitive skaters is to figure a half hour of practice per week for each half rotation of the jumps currently being worked on. You figure out the highest jump of each kind the skater is working on: waltz/axel, salchow, toe loop, loop, flip, lutz. Count the total number of half rotations, divide by two, and that gives you the number of practice hours.
Based on what you wrote, your skater is doing:
Axel - 3 half rotations, Double Salchow - 4 half rotations, Double Toe Loop - 4 half rotations, Loop - 2 half rotations, Flip - 2 half rotations, Lutz - 2 half rotations, for a total of 17 half rotations, or 8 to 9 hours of practice a week.
Keep in mind that this formula is for competitive skaters, not recreational skaters - you have to determine where on that spectrum your skater falls - and is only a guideline! There are a lot of factors that can play in to a skater's training schedule. When in doubt, talk to your coach!
My own daughter trained about 14 hours a week as an Intermediate skater, when she was finishing about middle of the pack in Regionals qualifying rounds. When it became apparent that triples weren't going to happen for her, we backed off on the training as she focused more on testing. She did pass all her tests before her Senior year of high school, and is now coaching and continuing to take dance tests.
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At the level your daughter is at, SKate Canada under the long term athlete development model would recommend ONE 45 to 60 minute session daily and one off-ice of similar length. Two weeks off between seasons. And that's for the competitive kids at the age I recall our daughter being.
Growing bodies can be easily injured by overtraining. One "smart" 45 minute session can be far better than 2 1 hour sessions. Plus, too much time on the ice can cause burnout.
How old is your kid again? Think she's pretty young - ?