How to maintain skating while playing other sports

[Irene]

Hi there ~  Would love some input on this . . .My 5th grader is very interested in volleyball for the love of working with a team as well as the sport itself.  She is joining the school team come fall.  I support this as team sport camaraderie is great when it comes to high school.   That said, there's no way we can maintain the 5 lesson a week skating routine once school starts.  What's ideal to maintain her prelim skill level and then some?  I was thinking 2 20-30 minute lessons.  I also fear her coaches' reactions -- they may interpret this as a lack of commitment on our part and perhaps be less than dedicated to her continued progress.  BTW, she has 3 coaches currently -- her primary (2 lessons a week) , a jump (1 lesson) and an on and off ice ballet coach (1 lesson each - 2 weekly).  What do I keep?   Thoughts?  Thank you!

[fsk8r]

Is the primary coach working on jumps with her?
I'd be inclined to keep the main coach and cut out / cut down the jump specialist and the ballet coach.

[sampaguita]

Agree with fsk8r here. Although if you can manage lessons 3x a week that will be better.

[SynchKat]

Definitely agree with what fsk8r said.  If the coaches interpret is as a lack of commitment then maybe they aren't the right coaches for you.  They should understand kids want and should try other sports and 5 lessons a week does seem a bit extreme especially when juggling school and other extra cirriculars.

[4711]

Definitely agree with what fsk8r said.  If the coaches interpret is as a lack of commitment then maybe they aren't the right coaches for you.  They should understand kids want and should try other sports and 5 lessons a week does seem a bit extreme especially when juggling school and other extra cirriculars.

I am glad I am not the only one thinking this.

My Taekwondo trainer did not want to see people every time he opened the doors. It's cause for a lot of burnout and let's face it, unless we are going to the Olympics (or a few steps below) we need some rest in between sessions!

But I hope you (OP) have figured in games as well in your planning. Might just be varsity, but our volleyball team had a really odd schedule (compared to the football team  )

I hope your girl has fun trying something else!

[DrillingSkills]

I'm with fsk8er on this, too. However, depending on your priorities, you could also go down to one lesson with the primary coach and one of either on- or off-ice ballet, if you feel like that would be helpful. It really depends on what you want to focus on.

I feel like regardless of the number of lessons, coaches should always be fully dedicated to their skaters' success...

[AgnesNitt]

I am not a mother of a skater, so I should butt out, but I just can't stop myself.

Five lessons a week!

Does your kid practice without a coach present?  I'm not a parent and I've only had limited contact with kids on the competitive track, but 5 lessons a week sounds like a lot.  The kids at my rink usually have 1 coach for freestyle 1 lesson a week, and maybe a dance or jump coach. 1 lesson a week. The rest of the time is spent practicing.

I've heard that 4 hours of practice for 1 hour of lessons is considered reasonable. Is your daughter doing anything like that? Or is she just skating and practicing during lessons and a little bit afterward,

I know I know nothing about you, your skater, or the coach.  But gee, I thought when I read the OP, "that coach has found a money train."

(If your DD is a special skater, then all my comments above are irrelevant)

By the way, Dan Hollander (bronze medalist at US Nationals, 1996) has this up about coaching and coaches. If you leave your present coach you may find it useful.

[jjane45]

Also which coach does your skater enjoy working with the most?

[dak_rbb]

I am not a mother of a skater, so I should butt out, but I just can't stop myself.

Five lessons a week!

Does your kid practice without a coach present?  I'm not a parent and I've only had limited contact with kids on the competitive track, but 5 lessons a week sounds like a lot.  The kids at my rink usually have 1 coach for freestyle 1 lesson a week, and maybe a dance or jump coach. 1 lesson a week. The rest of the time is spent practicing.

I've heard that 4 hours of practice for 1 hour of lessons is considered reasonable. Is your daughter doing anything like that? Or is she just skating and practicing during lessons and a little bit afterward,...

I would say this number of lessons is not unusual.  If I remember correctly, when she competed preliminary my daughter was doing 3 lessons  with her primary coach and 1 with a moves coach, plus a few hours of dance class each week.  The skating lessons were 30 min, so 2 hours lessons total.  She probably averaged a little more than 10 hrs/week skating.  However, we're definitely on the lower end of the (lesson time/spending) spectrum for competitive skaters around here, so I'm sure many others were doing more.

[dak_rbb]

To the OP, I wanted to add: I've seen skaters progress at that level with 2 lessons. For my skater it seemed that we needed to increase time on jumps at preliminary since she very quickly began working on all the doubles (through dbl lutz) and it took time to maintain them once she had them. However, every skater and coach is different so you and your daughter just need to decide what will work best for her. You can always make adjustments if things aren't working. Also I know a skater who plays volleyball too. She has really high strong jumps! Maybe it will help.

[Sk8tmum]

When my kids were at Prelim (Canadian system, so slightly lower than US!)

Skated 5 days a week.
5 Freeskate lessons, 1 skills (moves lesson), 2 dance lessons.  Sessions around 1-1/2 hours in length. 

When they were above that level (our Juvie level,your prelim level roughly):
Winter, 6 sessions weekly, 6 FS lessons, 2 skills, 1 spins specialist, 2 dance lessons.  During summer, 2 times daily, each session 1-1/2 hours in length.  Multiply winter lesson schedule x 2.  Add in choreography and off-ice training.

And they actually were on ice and lessoned LESS than about 85% of the kids they competed against!

And ... they also:  played in their schools' music program, trained in martial arts, took swimming lessons, played team sports (baseball primarily), and hung out with their friends, and did just fine in school.  It was just a matter of stepping back and saying "Okay, this is what we want, how do we work it?" and we did. Part-time jobs when they were old enough. BTW: The coach COMPLETELY supported them having a range of outside activities as she wanted them to be well-rounded kids with lives.