What to practice during a break from lessons?

[WaltzJump413]

I'm going to have to take a break from formal lessons for the summer. (Hopefully getting to start up again in September.) I want to keep improving my skills, though.

What would you recommend working on while practicing on my own?  I am a ISI Freestyle 1 level skater. I've never been without lessons for more than about 5 weeks, so I'm not quite sure how to maintain/improve during this time.

Just curious what you do if and when you have to take a break from lessons.

Thanks in advance!

[Bill_S]

The single most important thing is to keep skating even though you aren't taking lessons. As good as some of your basic skills are now, there's always room for improvement. Most importantly, it's good to keep your current skills fresh.

Personally (but remember that everyone is different), I like running through basic things to be able to do them better and better. Sometimes I like practicing quiet things like edges, other times I'll go for the more energetic moves depending upon mood. You don't often have the luxury of choice in lessons, so take advantage of that.

[WaltzJump413]

Thanks so much for your input, Bill_S!

[sk8time]

The single most important thing is to keep skating even though you aren't taking lessons. As good as some of your basic skills are now, there's always room for improvement. Most importantly, it's good to keep your current skills fresh.

Personally (but remember that everyone is different), I like running through basic things to be able to do them better and better. Sometimes I like practicing quiet things like edges, other times I'll go for the more energetic moves depending upon mood. You don't often have the luxury of choice in lessons, so take advantage of that.

I would echo this - though I passed pre-bronze MITF a while back, I keep doing the forward/backward edges there, and they are definitely still improving (and really should continue to do so!).  This helps tremendously with the patterns that are now coming up in silver moves since pretty much all rely on solid edges!

[Nate]

The same thing you practice in Lessons, IMO.  At least the stuff that is decently consistent.

And a little more focus on the basics since those do often tend to get neglected, even if just a little, in private lessons since you are working on so much technical content.

Outside of lessons I taught myself Brackets, Rockers, Counters, Twizzles, etc.  I experiment with new jump entrances, spin positions, and of course I go through the stuff that I do in lessons.

Ironically, while I hate spinning, I tend to spend a lot of time on them on my own than in lessons, and they tend to be better there (less pressure?).

Just keep on the status quo, and throw in a few things here and there to keep things "fresh" and avoid falling victim to monotony.

[WaltzJump413]

Thank you very much, Nate and sk8time!

[littlerain]

I haven't been very good about it but I've been making a list of skills I want to work on and use that as a guide for practice. In theory, I want to get through everything at least once a week, but I haven't really been following my own ideas! lol

[WaltzJump413]

Great idea,littlerain, thanks!

[littlerain]

Good luck with it! Hope you're better at focusing than me, cause sometimes I just skate around and look at other skaters lol

[skategeek]

Good luck with it! Hope you're better at focusing than me, cause sometimes I just skate around and look at other skaters lol

Sometimes that's a survival trait.     Though I find it may be curing me of my tendency to look down at the ice...

[littlerain]

Sometimes that's a survival trait.     Though I find it may be curing me of my tendency to look down at the ice...

I need that too. Though at one point today I was skating backwards looking around at people and then totally tripped over myself. LOL!

[davincisop]

I had to take a year and a half off from lessons. While I didn't necessarily improve, I didn't regress either. The most important thing I did was stay on the ice. I got on the ice at least twice a week, even if when I got on I just skated circles over and over again.

But as long as you get on the ice you will keep your feet under you. I spent a lot of time, like everyone else, running through basics and working on things I hadn't touched much.

[WaltzJump413]

Thanks, davincisop!

[techskater]

Also, you may want to do some self-critiquing (IOW video yourself and watch) while you take you your break

[WaltzJump413]

Thanks, techskater.