How would I go about starting private lessons?

[EnjoyTheGlide]

I hope I'm posting this in the appropriate section.

Long-time lurker here.  I'm a college student who has been been skating for about five years now, with the first two years dedicated to the USFSA Basic Skills program (1–8) and these past three years just skating recreationally during the public skate sessions at my university's ice rink.  I had to stop taking group lessons because at the time, a lot of things were going on in my life an I didn't think that I would be able to juggle everything.  Schoolwork aside, my life has largely stabilized, and I can afford to take up skating again.  The problem now is that all the LTS programs do not line up well with my schedule.  For example, the program sessions starts in the middle of my semester and run until two weeks or so after the semester is over.  This goes for both the clubs near my hometown and the one in the town my school is located in.  I attend school far from home and I would not be able to stay the extra two weeks or make trips back and forth from home to school for the last couple of lessons. 

I really want to get back into skating, and it seems to me that private lessons is the only option left.   However, I'm not sure where I should start looking or how I should apply.  How do I find someone right for me, and how would I start contacting them?  Is it as "simple" as going through the instructors listing on the club website and sending an e-mail?  Or would it be better to directly approach someone after club sessions are over and ask?

Thanks in advance!

[sarahspins]

Contact the skating director at your rink - they are usually the go-to person for figuring out who to recommend for you if you didn't already have a coach in mind to contact privately.

[EnjoyTheGlide]

Contact the skating director at your rink - they are usually the go-to person for figuring out who to recommend for you if you didn't already have a coach in mind to contact privately.

Thank you!

[nicklaszlo]

Recommended reading http://xan-boni.blogspot.com/2009/11/how-to-choose-figure-skating-coach-part_4649.html

[littlerain]

It may be an option to sign up for the group lts at your rink. Most of the rinks I've gone to offer pro-rated classes, and will let you sign up for only the classes you're able to attend. At any rate, it is worth asking, and depending on how much the class costs, it might not be a huge loss to miss the last two classes?

Otherwise, contact your rink's skating director for recommendations. Good luck!

[mamabear]

Does your university offer ice skating as a course?  Our rink just recently started offering it as a course and if that were the case, it might also be an option to either take the class that way (sounds like it might be too basic or more expensive) or talk to the instructor of that course as well. 

[Query]

Does your university offer ice skating as a course?  Our rink just recently started offering it as a course and if that were the case, it might also be an option to either take the class that way (sounds like it might be too basic or more expensive) or talk to the instructor of that course as well.

Maybe you could take the partial class that way and take a couple lessons from a private coach too?

Or find a rink near your school, that offers lessons Basic Skills classes - they are fairly well standardized - and take that in addition to the first few weeks of BS where you are now.

If you are truly devoted, you could go to the area of your school early, camping out at inexpensive campgrounds (e.g., National Forests), and take the whole course in that area... Maybe that's way too hard core. A few schools rent campus housing cheaply when school is not in session, if you ask, so that's an option too.

Does your college have a Physical Education requirement for your class year? You could always talk to your Dean to see if skating lessons would be allowed to meet that requirement. They might want to see paperwork, like something from the rink saying you "passed" the course. (USFS does itself not offer such certification for BS classes. They don't even know if you passed.) It's not real likely, but who knows til you ask?

Yeah, I know you could have figured out these ideas yourself. We can't really give you advise on what you want to do to have fun.

The easiest way to find a temporary coach would just be to ask your favorite group lesson coach.

[EnjoyTheGlide]

It may be an option to sign up for the group lts at your rink. Most of the rinks I've gone to offer pro-rated classes, and will let you sign up for only the classes you're able to attend. At any rate, it is worth asking, and depending on how much the class costs, it might not be a huge loss to miss the last two classes?

Otherwise, contact your rink's skating director for recommendations. Good luck!

Maybe missing 1-2 lessons doesn't sound too bad given my circumstances...  I guess can use the regular public skating sessions for additional practice time and take the end-of-the-level test early.  We'll see how it goes, and thank you!

Maybe you could take the partial class that way and take a couple lessons from a private coach too?

Or find a rink near your school, that offers lessons Basic Skills classes - they are fairly well standardized - and take that in addition to the first few weeks of BS where you are now.

If you are truly devoted, you could go to the area of your school early, camping out at inexpensive campgrounds (e.g., National Forests), and take the whole course in that area... Maybe that's way too hard core. A few schools rent campus housing cheaply when school is not in session, if you ask, so that's an option too.

Does your college have a Physical Education requirement for your class year? You could always talk to your Dean to see if skating lessons would be allowed to meet that requirement. They might want to see paperwork, like something from the rink saying you "passed" the course. (USFS does itself not offer such certification for BS classes. They don't even know if you passed.) It's not real likely, but who knows til you ask?

Yeah, I know you could have figured out these ideas yourself. We can't really give you advise on what you want to do to have fun.

The easiest way to find a temporary coach would just be to ask your favorite group lesson coach.

Unfortunately, my school doesn't have a PE requirement.  They're considering implementing it, but if they do follow up on it, I'll probably have graduated by then.  I think what I'll end up doing is contacting the club director for more details.  Thank you though for your suggestions!