Realistic goals for a new skater

[Misyask8]

Hi, this is my first post here and I'm a mom to a 7yo who has been skating for a year (6 months just learning how to skate and 6 months with a coach). Our rink has been doing ISI curriculum and competitions and I see now a push towards USFSA. Daughter's coach is also pushing her to start USFSA and is prepping her for Pre-preliminary MIF this October, and Freeskate 4 this winter. As a background, she did 2 ISI competitions so far, Delta and FS1 in June.

I guess my question is, is my daughter moving too fast? For the two competitions she did so far we were nervous wrecks because she was doing moves she just learned and didn't have time to perfect them (and was skating against girls who have been doing the same level/routine for several competitions). She did well (first place both times) but we told ourselves that we won't do that again and will have her do the next level when she's absolutely comfortable doing every move. Now coach says she'll be ready for Freeskate 4 come fall/winter. She's been doing her single jumps over the past 2 months (all except Axel), but has to really work at perfecting them. Should I hold her back some? How long do kids usually train between levels? Is there a rule of thumb for this?

Thanks everyone

[granita]

If all's going well, I'd say don't artificially hold back while good progress is being made. There'll be a natural plateau or one frustrating move that it takes her time to get soon enough!

[JSM]

Your daughter sounds very talented!  To get through singles in a year is impressive.

The USFS moves in the field will naturally take some to perfect, and there are a lot of tests!  The axel is usually one of the first big hurdles that hits a lot of skaters, and it will take some time.  My guess is that her coach will make sure her singles are solid by themselves and in combination before moving on to axels.

You don't have to force her back, but make sure she's really excited about going to the rink!  I've seen a lot of promising young skaters experience some burn out.  This is a great sport that will get frustrating, but as long as she loves it, it's worth it!

[sarahspins]

It is *really* common for some kids to breeze through the lower FS levels.. and it is totally normal.  It's very likely that she will be in FS4 for a while because of the axel - even when kids get that, quite a few don't move up right away because of consistency issues.  That is when you start to talk about holding a kid back.  At her level there would really be very little benefit to staying in FS2 or 3 compared to moving up to 4.

Have you talked to your daughter about how she feels about testing up through FS4?  It may be no big deal to her.  I know it wasn't for me when I started skating, my very first competition ever was in FS4 about a year after I started (though I was much older).

It's also really common to start working on USFS moves tests at her level.  A lot of kids work on and test moves long before they actually compete in USFS, so I wouldn't worry so much about her coach pushing her to do something she isn't ready for, I would just assume it's how they normally progress with their students.

[nicklaszlo]

You didn't mention how much your daughter skates.  That makes a huge difference.

It is very common for coaches to move skaters through the levels too fast.  However, as far as I know the only reason coaches do that is because they think it will impress customers.  Either they think the skater's parents will switch coaches if the skater does not move up frequently, or they think that skaters they are not currently teaching will switch to them if they advance their students rapidly.  This can be simply avoided by explaining to your coach what your daughter's skating goals are.

Some possible goals:

- Passing tests (your coach's apparent suggestion)
- Winning competitions
- Controlling nerves during competitions
- Becoming a better skater
- etc...

Each of these should have a different training strategy.

[Misyask8]

Thanks everyone.

In terms of how much she skates, I'd say anywhere between 5 and 10 hrs per week. She seems very committed to it and we just want her to learn all the things she needs to learn the right way. The day I posted this question she started practicing the axel. She almost got it one time but fell on her landing. I guess it's time for the padded pants