I know answers will vary depending on the skaters level, their drive and of coarse financial and other restraints, but I am curious what most skaters are doing and what coaches reccomend?
For example: my daughter skates pre-pre w/ axel. She has passed up to her prelim moves and is working on pre-juv moves. She skates 4 days a week and for 2 hours each time she skates. Sometimes she skates for 2 hours straight while other times she skates 1 hour in the morning or afternoon and 1 hour in the late afternoon/evening. She skates about 8 hours a week. She takes one 45 minute off ice class a week and has 2 lessons with her private coach(totalling 1hr to 1 hr 15 min depending on the week). She also takes one 15 min dance/moves lesson a week with another coach. We often bump up to 3 lessons with the primary coach when dd is getting ready for a competition or test. In our area, many of the skaters at her level are also taking lessons with a jump coach. We've been wanting to do this, but we were holding off mostly due to financial reasons. Due to dd's current struggles with her axel, she had her first lesson with the jump coach yesterday. Until seeing the jump coach working with her, I did not get why it would be necessary to have different coaches focusing on different skills. Yesterday it became very clear as to why this is necessary once a skater reaches a certain level. Because I am now seeing the light(lol!), we are rearranging some things to make it possible for dd to have lessons with the jump coach. I cannot afford for her to have a weekly lesson, but we can handle twice a month. My daughter is also willing to do odd jobs for friends and family to help pay for these lessons. That will be an extra hour of lesson time a month, focusing exclusively on jumps. I would like dd to continue with the dance coach, but we cannot afford her and the jump coach. Dd enjoys her time with the dance coach so I hope we can eventually resume lessons with her too. At this point in time, since dd is skating competitively, we have decided having jumps lessons is a better way to spend our money. I am sorry for rambling... back to my original question: how many hours of ice time and lesson time is approrpriate for a skater at my daughter's level? Beyond possibly adding in a ballet or yoga(or pilates) class, this is about all we can do. When I type it out, it seems like a a lot. Dd's coach and I were talking yesterday and she agrees that the amount of time dd spends on the ice, is good for a pre-pre skater. As she advances, she will need to spend more time on the ice. Hopefully we can up that time once she moves up to the preliminary level. Any opinions on this topic?