Adult skaters who became coaches?

[Bill_S]

Your mother discouraging you from skating reminds me of a long-time friend. When my friend was young, she wanted to learn to roller skate, but her over-protective mother would let her wear only one skate at a time.

[skategeek]

Your mother discouraging you from skating reminds me of a long-time friend. When my friend was young, she wanted to learn to roller skate, but her over-protective mother would let her wear only one skate at a time.

A year or so ago when I mentioned my skating to my dad, he remembered taking me skating as a kid... "And that big boy knocked you down and didn't even say sorry!"  Knowing my overprotective dad, he simply never took me skating again.  So much for my Olympic career.

[Query]

But maybe there can be a small niche for me somewhere some day: aka I charge lower prices and take lower-level kids, who eventually move on to our higher-level coaches, or something like that.

Don't assume other coaches will love you for charging less! Figure skating coaches try to be an exclusive group, to keep the costs up.

I looked into it - I wanted to just offer beginner level lessons, which is all I could competently teach.

You need certification, insurance, permission to teach at a rink, and a way to advertise.

While there are a very small number of rinks with "open pro" policies, where certification AND insurance are all you need, at most rinks you need the permission of the figure skating director or equivalent (maybe another director for hockey or speed). Look into it at your local rinks. Can you travel to a small town where it's easier?

Most conventional advertising (mail, search engines, yellow pages) is quite expensive. Many cheaper ways, like hand delivering ads, putting ads on your door knob and under your windshield wipers, posting on telephone poles, going door to door, or handing out fliers on the street, are illegal in most cities. Many businesses do it anyway; if they have enough cash, paying the fines is just a cost of doing business. A few rinks let you post coaching ads.

There are a few legal effective ways to advertise economically. E.g., social media, apps, maybe coupon delivery services. Be creative. This board has an advertising forum you could use free, though I don't know how much local traction you will get.

Even with my extremely limited abilities, I've had a fair number of beginning skaters and their parents ask me if I coached. With what you can do, I'm sure you have too. Oddly enough, there are a lot of people doing things beyond my abilities who are asked less. Quite possibly working consistently, sequentially and with discipline at the fundamentals (e.g., perimeter stroking and drills, in clean style), and dressing conservative may make you look more like a coach than doing a lot of fancy tricks. So if you do get certified, insured, and get permission, maybe that will be enough to get started. It might be worth a try...

[davincisop]

FWIW: I skated as a kid for about 5 years, but never hit axel or tested (overweight and not naturally talented at this sport). I came back to skating at 20/21, and am now 30. In that time I've tested through Adult Bronze moves and freeskate, pre-juvenile moves, and have one bronze dance left to test before I can start testing silver. I coached snowplow at my old rink when I was around 23/24 when the skate director asked if I would be interested in coaching them. I was there about a year and a half before I got a job offer in my current city and then didn't coach for about 5 years. In December, that same skate director reached out to me, because she is now the SD of a neighboring rink (not my main one) and asked if I would like to teach LTS there. She knows my background, but also knows I've spent years fixing any bad habits I had and that I've since tested. I am now teaching beginner adults and basic 3 and sometimes 4. I have three private students who once they've leveled past what I can comfortably teach, I will pass them onto another coach. Right now I am the lowest level skater on the staff, which employs a few show skaters as well as skaters that were high level competitors. I often feel inadequate because of that, but I also know that I'm not teaching with the intent of taking the kid/adult to the olympics. I am working with them on getting a solid foundation so that they can move onto those higher level coaches and be ready to move on.

There are also some coaches that don't want to teach beginners, they want to focus on students post-basics. So coaches like me are there to fill that gap.

Ultimately one day I just want to specialize in moves in the field and just coach that haha.

[Arwen17]

@Query
I live in a small town. We only have 1 rink and only 7 coaches. Only 5 of those coaches are highly active. The less-active coach is our newest one who is still skating herself and taking tests, so she can't coach full-time yet. And the other less-active coach specializes in MIF/Dance and who is strangely a member of a club that is in a completely different city several hours away. I don't know if she does this for nostalgic reasons or what, but it seems totally stupid to me since neither she nor any of her students live in that city. I asked one of her kids WHY? and they couldn't give me a reason either. I personally kinda hate it because it divides our membership numbers by having a subset of girls who use our rink every single day, but aren't part of our local club.... and for no apparent good reason either.

All of our coaches have their contact info listed on the LTS page for the ice rink. So I don't think they do any special advertising beyond talking to LTS kids or other random kids. I actually have been asked a couple times by kids or parents during public sessions if I was a coach or not. Although I was actually doing jumps or spins when they asked this. They assume I'm a coach because I'm 5'9 tall and not a little kid. EVERYONE ELSE wearing our club jackets during public sessions are little kids, so I stand out like a sore thumb because of my height and because I'm obviously not a little kid. On the reverse side, I've had several parents see me during FS sessions and assumed I was in high school. Several of our younger kids assumed that too. They didn't know I was in my twenties and the same age range as our coaches since I'm wearing our club jacket and not a coach jacket. Parents of skaters understand what the different jackets mean, unlike the public skaters.

Our skating director is really nice so I would be surprised if she gave me an outright "NO". But I have no idea what her requirements would be for her feeling that I'm ready to teach. Insurance and certification is a given, but I'm sure she'd want confidence I know how to teach and handle kids etc too, which is why I'm volunteering in LTS. I haven't asked anyone anything yet since I just started volunteering and I'm still not 10000000% sure I want to fully commit to this. I want to feel 100% certain of my dream goals when I pluck up the courage to ask.


@davincisop
That's what I was thinking. I would teach lower level kids and then pass them on to the more experienced coaches when they're ready. I'm not teaching with the intent of anyone going to the Olympics either. I just want to do it because I enjoy talking about skating. My mom and others are probably royally sick of hearing about it lol.

[Query]

>I live in a small town.

I wonder how much that changes things. If there isn't much else to do in the town, a much larger fraction of kids and adults may go to the ice rink than in a bigger metro area like mine. And everyone knows it is there.

That may eliminate the need for advertising.

>And the other less-active coach specializes in MIF/Dance and who is strangely a member of a club that is in a completely
>different city several hours away... it seems totally stupid to me since neither she nor any of her students live in that city...
>I personally kinda hate it because it divides our membership numbers by having a subset of girls who use our rink every
> single day, but aren't part of our local club.... and for no apparent good reason either.

I notice that world class skaters often continue to belong to their original club. It is sometimes seen by skating fans as disloyal to switch. Perhaps she was supported by her local club, and feels grateful. Perhaps she enjoys volunteering for the other club, because many of her friends are there. A little like going to alumni reunions.

Hate is such a strong word. I reserve hate for people who choose to hurt other people.

If you become a professional, perhaps you will stop "hating" things like that, and see things more from a business perspective. The question should be what she gets out of belonging to each club and what she would have to put into it.

I've known many coaches who belong to one primary club, but have associate memberships with other clubs so they can teach during the other clubs' sessions. Perhaps your club doesn't require that - or perhaps that coach finds it sufficient or preferable to teach during non-club sessions.

[Arwen17]

>I live in a small town.

I wonder how much that changes things. If there isn't much else to do in the town, a much larger fraction of kids and adults may go to the ice rink than in a bigger metro area like mine. And everyone knows it is there.

That may eliminate the need for advertising.

>And the other less-active coach specializes in MIF/Dance and who is strangely a member of a club that is in a completely
>different city several hours away... it seems totally stupid to me since neither she nor any of her students live in that city...
>I personally kinda hate it because it divides our membership numbers by having a subset of girls who use our rink every
> single day, but aren't part of our local club.... and for no apparent good reason either.

I notice that world class skaters often continue to belong to their original club. It is sometimes seen by skating fans as disloyal to switch. Perhaps she was supported by her local club, and feels grateful. Perhaps she enjoys volunteering for the other club, because many of her friends are there. A little like going to alumni reunions.

Hate is such a strong word. I reserve hate for people who choose to hurt other people.

If you become a professional, perhaps you will stop "hating" things like that, and see things more from a business perspective. The question should be what she gets out of belonging to each club and what she would have to put into it.

I've known many coaches who belong to one primary club, but have associate memberships with other clubs so they can teach during the other clubs' sessions. Perhaps your club doesn't require that - or perhaps that coach finds it sufficient or preferable to teach during non-club sessions.

Yeah, there isn't much to do in town. So anything we have: ice rink, skating rink, swimming pools are always going to have a steady stream of kids.

That's why I asked. If there was a good "business reason" for it, then it would have felt less stupid to me. But there didn't seem to be ANY reason other than personal preference. In addition, from what I could tell, this is a club that barely exists anymore and got replaced by another club in that city. So the only reason she is still a member seems to be nostalgia or something. And then all of her students join too since they have to in order to be coached by her. It's so crazy. --> Join a club of another city that none of the members live in. That club was long ago replaced by a larger and more popular club, aka the old club is essentially non-existent anymore except for the one coach who is keeping it "alive".

Our club is too tiny to charge anything extra for sessions. So no, you don't have to be a club member to use our FS sessions. And probably they let that coach do whatever she wants, since our group is so tiny, it's better to have SOMEONE coaching and paying coaching fees to the rink than having no coach at all, even if she's nostalgic or whatever and never joins the local club.
I very much get the impression that the rink/club is terrified of offending anyone (or turning away anyone) for any reason. So they let people do all kinds of things to keep everyone happy. Sadly, I can't say that's a bad strategy to have in our hyper-politically-correct-I-will-sue-you-or-defame-you-in-less-than-a-second world. Since we're so tiny, they can't afford to be that picky and strict. But even so, I do think we have a good figure skating program with some really good coaches who know their stuff. It has never felt like they're just "guessing" at what to do and the kids pass the tests with good scores etc. For a town our size, I am shocked by the level of quality we have.

[dlbritton]

That's why I asked. If there was a good "business reason" for it, then it would have felt less stupid to me. But there didn't seem to be ANY reason other than personal preference. In addition, from what I could tell, this is a club that barely exists anymore and got replaced by another club in that city. So the only reason she is still a member seems to be nostalgia or something. And then all of her students join too since they have to in order to be coached by her. It's so crazy. --> Join a club of another city that none of the members live in. That club was long ago replaced by a larger and more popular club, aka the old club is essentially non-existent anymore except for the one coach who is keeping it "alive".

In my area the difference in annual dues between clubs within a 75 mile radius varies $80-$100 year, so perhaps the other club is much lower than your club. For a coach it shouldn't matter too much, but perhaps it is enough that her students appreciate it. And if I joined a club near my ski condo (150  miles away) the difference is $140.

Is there a USFSA requirement that students and coaches belong to the same club? I haven't joined USFSA yet since I am not ready to test. I discussed joining one of the distant clubs ( to save $140 ) with my coach and her only issue is that I would have to register for tests as a visitor and it is possible there would not be a slot available for visiting skaters.

[Query]

I very much get the impression that the rink/club is terrified of offending anyone (or turning away anyone) for any reason.

Then maybe they won't turn you away if you ask to be a professional coach.

But give it a little time, so you get experience teaching as a volunteer, which is like being an apprentice coach, and so the figure skating director gets to know you. If you are lucky, they will give you pointers on teaching. Make a point of getting to know the director, and show her that you are serious about helping, and are doing your best. Ask for her advice on things, to show your interest.

I did ask a director at Fort Dupont whether I could coach at that rink, and she said no. But I'm a much less advanced skater than you. There were other volunteers in the program who wanted to coach who were better skaters and could do a better job than me.

I've noticed that some new coaches find the most difficult issue to be dealing with students and their parents who are less devoted to skating than they are. E.g., most of them will not join ANY club, unless they have to, to take lessons. And many, maybe most, will miss a lot of sessions, and/or come late.

Another thing some coaches have trouble with - they are so good at athletics, that don't really understand what it is they are doing to make stuff happen. You may have learned how to move efficiently when you were very young, and are unconsciously unaware of what how you move. Some of what follows is my personal teaching style, but you may need to help students who have trouble think about things like:

Many beginners, encountering the balance difficulty, freeze ALL their muscles (activate stabilizing muscles all over their bodies) with fear so hard they feel like they don't have the strength to move at all. They unconsciously think freezing will stop them from falling. They need to relax. A lot of people are so afraid of falling that they can't relax. Which is part of why I spent extra time showing them they could fall in any direction without getting hurt. I sometimes start them falling from a sit position on the ice, advance to being on the knees, and then to standing. I have them practice falling forwards, sideways, and back, in appropriate body positions, so none of those create fear. At Fort Dupont, we always started fall practice off ice, perhaps to remove the fear-frozen muscle problem. Make it FUN, e.g., a game. They also need to understand that being too stiff makes them get hurt easily, that a relaxed fall, done right, doesn't hurt at all. If you have any adult students, that may be a lot harder lesson, BTW, one some will never get. (OK, I'm a fall practice nut, and would love to teach just that.)

Think about which muscles you use to do various moves. Which muscles actually move, and which freeze to stabilize other joints, to make the motion smoother, more controlled, and more efficient, and to transfer momentum from one part of the body to another? Kids won't know the names of the muscles, but you can show them where you feel stuff tightening and stuff moving.

Because most of the kids don't learn motions well from words alone, but are pre-programmed to the monkey-see-monkey-do thing from birth, it helps to simultaneously say and show them what you are doing - e.g., point to where the muscles are that are doing things, and then actually show the move, so they can see what you are doing. In a class, the kids will have individual learning styles - some listen, some watch, some do both - try to find ways to teach them all at once. And making it FUN is a great way to teach anyone.

"March and glide": Many simply won't get that - that they do need to push sideways with the pushing foot a little, in order to glide. If all they do is pick up their foot and plant it forwards, they don't glide at all. That will segue naturally later into skating technique, but you need it a bit at the start too. A sideways push and weight shift IS often/usually part of efficient walking and running technique, but most people don't know it. Typical running technique, in shoes with a cushioned heel: land balanced on your heel, roll outwards to midfoot, roll inwards to push against the big toe; the rolls and weight shift typically provide more than half the power, because they make use of a set of core muscles that don't get used much if you just bend and unbend your knees and swing your legs forward and back. Of course it is a lot more subtle in shoes than skates, because straight point feet just slide forward and back without push much on the ice (show them!). But if you point the weight transfer thing from walking and running out to them, it may help them relate skills they have already mastered to what they are learning now.

If someone is pushing and pulling sideways really hard to do swizzles, tell them that if they bend down deep at the start, their downwards motion will naturally push against their knees and push the feet out, without significant felt effort, and if the straight up for the second part, that will naturally pull in the feet, again without significant felt effort. Later, power pulls can work the same way, though the timing is more complicated. Although it feels effortless, this is an early case where tightening the core muscles a little to stabilize that core seems to help.

I said relaxing is important at first, but eventually, tightening up your core muscles is essential to balance, enhances control, and makes motion and momentum transfers more efficient. Again, you may not be consciously aware of this, and some of your students don't need to be either - but some do. Point out that they do it off-ice without skates even when they stand on one foot. That relates to something they already know how to do. Show them if you relax all over, you collapse in a pile on the ice. Let them try! (A fun move.) Show them that if they tighten their core muscles, they regain their balance.

Think: How do you initiate a turn, in detail? You were probably told to bend and unbend your knees to de-weight the foot or feet on the ice , point your toe, and twist your lower body against your upper body, and maybe you learned to push against the edge. That's a lot to synchronize. The simple act of turning your foot outwards into the turn, so friction against the ice  from your forwards motion pulls the rest of you effortlessly into the turn, is so obvious to good athletes that it is rarely pointed out - but it may be the easiest way for a newbie to initiate a turn. I.e., you get moving, turn the foot out (turn at the hip), and that makes you turn. They should learn the other things too, though they take more coordination and maybe strength, but until they do the simple foot turn most real athletes are not consciously aware of, they may be unable to get started. Perhaps they won't need the foot/hip joint turn eventually, but it sure helps at first. I don't spin well, but the pre-turn into the motion this helps initiate spins too - in some ways a spin is a turn without the check, or with a much-delayed check. I'm terrible at checking, but in theory, reversing the foot turn at the hip might help a little, by again pulling against the ice, this time to stop the turn. In fact, if you leave the foot turned out, you will keep turning, and checking the turn is almost impossible. Again, that may be so basic, you are not be consciously aware of this - try it.

They can't do crossovers smoothly? Show them the crossing leg isn't long enough to touch the ice unless the skating leg bends, and actually gets onto an outside edge.  A lot of kids, and adults, try to keep the leg straight, or stay on an inside edge, and then abruptly fall onto the crossing foot. It is hard to make that smooth. Hockey kids learn to do it on inside edges, for stability when being checked, but they lose a efficiency doing it, and it isn't right for figure skating. Again, make it a game.

See the general idea? Think about what you do in detail. Say and Show. Relate new things to old things. Add in silly things that help them learn, like the relaxed falls. Make it a game. Smile. Have fun. Let them have fun. Don't take it too seriously - most of them won't, and you should just accept that. By the end of each class, do some simple routines, and take turns letting some of them lead games like "Simon Says" and "Monkey see, monkey do".

By the way, PSA materials are really great. Read them.