Ideal lesson/practice session length

[littlerain]

Happy Saturday!

As I'm trying to put together a better practice schedule, I was thinking about the ideal length of time for lessons or practice sessions.

My private lesson is 30 min and I've taken groups at 30min, 40min and 1 hour. I don't know what amount of time works well for me in terms of practice!

What do you guys think? What works for you?

(Was there a thread about this somewhere, or am I crazy?)

[icedancer]

For lessons I prefer a 30-minute lesson.  I usually "check out" at the 25 minute mark so anything longer than that is often-times just a waste LOL

That being said, my coach - a longtime coach in her late 70s - does not watch the clock AT ALL if she doesn't have any other lessons - she gets totally engrossed and has often given me MUCH longer lessons - which is great - except for that "checking out" factor that I mentioned.

Group classes - wow, it depends on the class - I take a "patch class" (figures) once a week - for a while the class was an hour and it was great - we are now in a 45-minute class and I get bored and start really dinking around - with the longer patch I would start to work on more figures and got more out of it.  The instructor also had more time to get to each student and work with them more than just a few minutes. 

Other classes - our Theater on Ice class met last week to work up some new choreography and wow, that 30 minutes goes by really fast!!  We could use more time.

For practice I generally like to skate for 90 minutes - 2 hours - anything less than that is not really worth it for me.  It takes at least 30 minutes to warm up at my age... a 45 minute session would just not be enough.

[celia]

I prefer a 50-minute lesson.  We spend 20-25 minutes on moves and the rest on freestyle.  It takes so long to get through everything!  For freestyle we usually get through all the jumps or all the spins but not both.  Ideal would be to have a 30 minute warm-up before a lesson, but usually it's either 0 minutes or 50 minutes given how the low-test sessions work.  No warmup obviously isn't great but with a 7am lesson that's what I usually do (I just can't get myself up any earlier to get to the rink).

If I do a 50 minute freestyle before my lessons I'm often pretty tired by the end of the lesson.  And on summer Saturdays I've done a 30 minute off-ice class, 30 minutes on-ice class, followed by 75 minutes of practice followed by a 50 minute lesson.  Now that was ridiculously exhausting! 

I used to take a group lesson that was 20 minutes warmup, 30 minutes group lesson (mostly edges and footwork) followed by 30 minutes of practice on partial ice.  That was pretty good until my schedule prevented me from attending anymore.

I would love to take a patch class!  But I think I lost my patch skates somewhere in the depths of my parents' house a decade ago, before they moved, so who knows where they are now.

[rd350]

@cw_skater that Saturday morning class was great (amazing ice - nicely cut and so few of us) but insane!  I could barely walk after the first class!!!!  Because why would I get off amazing ice a second before I had to....

@littlerain this is so hard and probably very individual.  I really feel like I'm well warmed up at an hour!  It takes me at least that long to start to get into nicer edges.  In the summer I skated 2-3 hours at a time.  Now it's 60-90 but with a few reties and rests between b/c the new skates and it's not enough.  I would want at least 30 minutes of warm up before a lesson optimally.

Ultimately if you can try to get 30 -45 minutes in after you are well warmed up that would be nice IMO.  Not sure how long a real warm up takes you.

[ChristyRN]

With my crappy lungs, I can only do an hour or so. I like to warm up for 15 minutes, lesson for 30, then 15 on my own. I also stretch/warm up off ice. I just can't do more than that right now.

[littlerain]

Cw_skater and rd350, that Saturday morning class sounds pretty awesome!

Icedancer, you make a really interesting point regarding group lessons. I definitely feel like I get more out of 40min+ classes too - 30 min goes by so fast!

I don't really know how long it takes me to warm up... Sometimes I feel good in 5-10 min and other times it takes me a half hour or more! (Perhaps this is why my coach gave me "suggestions" for warm up. Lol!)

I also feel like I can stay focused for practice for about 30-45 minites, but after that I get distracted. I think I need to plan better! :-p and carry around a list I can't escape hehe

[Meli]

I generally do an hour lesson, unless we're just doing something really focused like jumps.  I don't like feeling rushed when learning new physical skills, and it seems that 30 minutes is gone in a blink--unless we're doing back crossovers, then it's never-ending.

Practice depends on the type of session.  Public is slower, and there are hockey players and toddlers running amok, so 1.5-2 hours works.  A lot of my workout there is edges, moves, power pulls, slow stroking, turns, spins, and a handful of jumps. 

Freestyle tends to get my heart pumping more, as everyone is skating a lot faster, and you need to KEEP MOVING.  I use this for fast stroking exercises, program run throughs,  and a lot more jumping.  After an hour, I'm ready to beg for mercy.

[PinkLaces]

My ideal amount of practice time is 90 minutes. I feel like I can get in everything I need to practice in before I start getting too tired. Unfortunately at my current rink, I only can get a hour at a time. Trying to get a second hour is really difficult (lots of demand, limited ice time, preference to those with scheduled lessons). So now I'm trying to get the most out of my hour. Having my warm up take no more than 15 minutes.

I have a 30 minute lesson and a 60 minute lesson. I prefer the 30 minute (coach won't come out on Friday if I don't take the whole hour). The 60 minute lesson we are a little too relaxed and waste 15-20 minutes talking. My old coach used to do 20-25 minute lessons and those go by way too fast.

I like to have the second 30 minute lesson as I feel it's most optimal. Unfortunately for me, the other girl is habitually 20 minutes late. So I am almost always the first lesson.

[TreSk8sAZ]

I generally prefer 30 min lessons. I currently have two 15 min lessons with my primary coach each week. It works, but sometimes we don't have quite enough time to get to everything (like right now we're focusing on program and program elements, so we haven't been able to do moves). I have a 30 minute with my dance coach, and that's perfect as we can work on dances plus anything else we need to work on.

As far as practice, I get 1 hour per session during the week. That allows me to get through part of my moves, both programs, both dances, and work on new stuff - but also means I can't waste time. I skate 2 hours once a week, but I'm usually exhausted by the end so I like 90 minutes a bit better.

[Christy]

I have one 15 minute lesson each week and it really isn't long enough, plus it doesn't always happen    We tend to focus on either a dance or a jump or spin. I would love 30 minutes, especially as I find I'm developing bad habits by practicing for too long without reviews.
Practice sessions are 1 - 1 1/2 hours, and if I work hard that's long enough.

[Horseandpony]

I have one 30 minute private lesson, one 30 minute group lesson, and a 60 minute coffee club every week. I think that half an hour private lessons are great. My lessons are pretty focused, so I feel like I have enough time to cover a lot of things. I work pretty hard and really concentrate in private lessons, so any longer would be too strenuous. Group lessons I think could be a little longer, since there is less focus on me as an individual, and sometimes we have to stand around waiting for other people to have their turns.

I'm a little strange with my practise sessions. Due to financial constraints, I usually stay for the whole public session (6 hours and 45 minutes) to try and get more practice in. I take lots of breaks (including at least 45 minutes for lunch) and I've gotten used to this now. However, I find that my optimal practice time is about 4 hours, I do start to get tired and lose focus.

How long you practise is totally up to you. How tired do you get? Can you actually stay at the rink for a long time? There's a point in a long practise when you'll feel exhausted and skating more won't be beneficial. Use your own judgement, and after some trial and error, you'll find what works for you.