Question for Adult Skaters: Lessons

[CoolbugSuz]

OK, here's a question for all of you adult skaters (who didn't start skating until they were adults, preferably). How many lessons do you take per week/month, and how long does each session last?

The reason I ask is because I have taken a couple of group lessons a year or so ago, but I'm mostly just skating on my own. I really need to line up some private lessons in order to build from the basics on up. I can do certain things, but I'd really like to get a coach so I can learn the correct way of doing things from the start.

I guess some lessons are better than no lessons, but does 1 lesson every other week sound OK? Do those normally last a half hour, or 15 minutes? Would it be best to have a half hour lesson every other week, or a 15 minute lesson every week? Just curious. Any and all helpful tips and advise on private lessons will be welcomed! :)

Suz

[skaternum]

I started skating at age 30, so I'm qualified to answer. :)

When I started, I took group lessons for almost 2 years. When I finally started private lessons, I took one 30-minute lesson per week. In addition to that I skated 2 more times a week.

I think the key is that you need to have time between lessons to practice your skills.

Good luck.

[TashaKat]

Hi

I started when I was 32, originally was doing Ice Hockey and then turned quickly to Figure Skating.

I, personally, prefer private lessons but have done group lessons also as a means of getting in more lesson time. I would prefer to do 15 minutes every week than 30 minutes every fortnight, that way there is only a week of 'error' learning (and we all do it, those bad habits that appear from nowhere) and even 15 minutes can help you to iron out those glitches!

I would, however, urge you to try and increase your lesson time to at least 30 minutes per week when you are able. You seem to be wanting to do things correctly and that would be a great help to you. Weekly lessons also give you a focus to work towards whereas you can (I do) get a bit complacent if I'm being scrutinised less frequently :roll:

You don't need to decided straight away which discipline to go into to (or if you want to do both which I do) but for basics my personal preference is to go to a Dance teacher (good edges, technically correct footwork, flow, grace ......) and then decide later on. Either that or a good moves teacher.

Good luck, there's a lot of 'us' around here who will always be willing to help :D

L x

[1lutz2klutz]

I started when I was 37, so I, too, am qualified to answer! I started with one 15 minute lesson every other week, moved quickly to a half hour every week, because I found I really needed to be sure I was doing things correctly, especially in the beginning. I now have 2 half hour lessons weekly, sometimes 3 if I'm working on something in particular, have a competition or test coming up, or just because the skater just before or after me didn't come for some reason and my coach offered.

[CoolbugSuz]

Thanks for your answers! Sounds like I may start out with a 15 minute lesson every week, although that might move to a half hour lesson depending on the finances. :lol: I think I will try to find a dance teacher, since I need the good edges, flow, grace, etc. Even though I don't plan on doing ice dance (due to lack of good male skaters in our area, for one), I'm sure it will be beneficial to have the good footwork. I watch some of the ice dancer ladies at my rink and covet their nice footwork and smooth turns and such. ;)

Suz

[Aussie Willy]

Another here qualified to answer (started when I was 27!).

I started with just a 15 minute lesson after about 6 weeks of skating. Then increased the lessons after 6 months to 30 minutes. However how long a lesson I have these days depends on money.

Also I encourage you to do ice dancing. I don't have a partner, but it really helped my edges and plus I can do turns that not many at our rink can do properly. Plus it is fun. Enjoy your skating!!!

[NickiT]

I started skating as an adult and I have one half-hour private lesson per week. I'm hoping to take a few extra lessons once I get back to skating in the new year as I'm working at a higher level now and feel that I would benefit from the extra time, but I've managed on one half-hour lesson for many years and found it perfectly adequate. I also take a figures class, a jumps class and an Annie's Edge class each week, each class lasting half an hour.

Nicki

[dorvalskater1]

I started at 19 (now am 28) and had one 15 min lesson in freestyle and one 15 in figures for the first year or so, then went to two 15 min free and added dance as well...now I have 45-hour a week in freestyle. I managed to learn my axel and double toe, and am now working on double salchow and double loop. Have passed my Jr. bronze freestyle and Jr Silvcer dances and skills class 5....it also depends on how much practice time you put in. good Luck!

[mikawendy]

I started when I was 26 doing a 30-min group freestyle lesson once a week, along with about 1-2 hours of practice a week. Then after about a year and a half of that (which had several months' breaks in it due to holidays and breaks between lessons), I started taking one private moves in the field lesson per week (20 mins) along with one 30-min group freestyle lesson. (Sometimes during the lesson I work on freestyle skills, but we are really focusing on moves so that I can get ready to test.) I get about 1.25 hours of practice in addition to that. I can't seem to fit in more hours on ice without sacrificing cardio training or time to spend with my husband (we work different schedules so we don't have a weekend in common).

When I can, about 2 times a month I take an edge class or a power stroking class.

I've been very luck in that all of my group lesson instructors have been very good (I've seen some not so good ones teach others at various rinks). My instructors taught me the proper way to stroke and made sure not to let me keep up any bad habits.

[batikat]

I started skating at 37 and took group lessons for a year with 1-2 hours practice the same day. This gave me the basics but our group was large (over 20 at the start) so progress was pretty slow.

I then went to one 15 minute lesson a week which was fine for the basics but very quickly upped it to 30mins a week which gives you time to cover so much more in the lesson (a bit of warm up, moves, dance, free, programme run-throughs etc.)

For a beginner (especially if funds are limited) I would say that 15 mins each week is more useful than 30 mins every other week. 30 minute lessons may actually be too long for you when you are starting and what you need most is the practice time, so better a 15 mins lesson and an hour or so of practising than 30 mins lesson and less practice time.

What really improved my skating was not so much the length or number of lessons (though they obviously help) but the number of times I could skate in a week.

I am lucky in that I can usually skate 4 days a week now, for 1.5 - 2 hours each time and I have two 30 minute private lessons a week. However I didn't up the lessons to 2 a week until I was preparing for my first competition - after about two years of skating.

I was also lucky to find a coach who teaches both Dance and Free and is also good with Moves.

Good Luck and Happy Skating!

[jenlyon60]

I started at age 23... with group lessons. After a couple months I was hooked enough that I switched to private lessons, one per week.

I took the better part of 10 years off the ice and started skating again at age 40... immediately with private lessons. I take 2 private lessons, 30 mins each, per week, focusing on dance and MITF. Right before tests or competition, I often try to pick up a 3rd lesson per week.

I try to get 6-8 hours of practice time per week, but usually have to settle for 3-4 hours.

Note: all lessons/practice are on freestyle sessions.

[TreSk8sAZ]

I started with 4 months of group lessons, but had an hour-long private lesson each week as well for the last couple of months. I now have a 45 minute private lesson each week (which includes freestyle, dance, and moves depending on what tests/comps I have coming up), plus a thirty-minute stroking and edge class when I can get to Coffee Club (which isn't as often as I'd like anymore). I usually practice 6-8 hours outside of my lesson as well.

[techskater]

I am currently working on my doubles (can consistently land 2sal and 2toe, have had a little success with the loop and flip once or twice, but not consistent yet!) and I get a 1/2 hour FS lesson per week, a 45 minutes figures class (I am working on the brackets and counters during the class, a lot of other people are working on different figures) and a 45 minutes moves class once a week unless a major competition or test is upcoming and then I get an additional 30 minutes or hour. I have passed my Adult Gold FS test and am looking to take my intermediate moves after adult nationals.

I also skate at least 1 hour every day outside of the classes and my lesson. I re-started as an adult (26) after about 8 years off ice.

The most important thing about lessons isn't the amount of time spent on any given lesson, but the quality of the lesson and the ability to learn from the coach. You can have a lesson 2 hours long but if you don't connect with that coach, it doesn't do you any good.

As an adult, it is easier to be disciplined to work on what your coach teaches you than when you are under 12, but make sure you have enough practice time between lessons to work on what they have taught you or else you are wasting your time and money.

[Carleenp]

Hi! This is my first post here, but I have been lurking for a few weeks!

I'm 36 and started the learn to skate program about 7 weeks ago. I'm about to finish level 2. I'm already addicted and know that I will keep this up! Anyway, I was already planning on taking private lessons after I take all of the learn to skate program. I'm curious about a few more things besides what the original poster asked.

First, is 15 minutes pretty normal for a lesson? It seems short, yet I can see how it would be sufficient given the individual attention and where practice might be the most important thing when first learning. Considering that I have a budget, I like the idea if it is really sufficient time!

Second, is it odd to take a private lesson just once in awhile while still taking group lessons? Or do coaches expect something more regular? I ask because I know I will miss at least one (probably two) classes in my upcoming group sessions, and thought it would be nice to ask around about a few private lessons to stay caught up.

Finally, how do you pick a private instructor? Anything in particular that should be considered? I have had three so far in group lessons, but only know for sure that one teaches privately (not sure if the other two do). I liked all of them.

[jp1andOnly]

As a person who works full time, trying to find ice time that works was difficult. Being a teacher I couldn't skate right after school at say 2:30. It's also hard for me to skate really late at night say 9. i get up at 5:30 and my commute into work is long.

I managed to find a club that is far away from where I live but close to where I teach. They have sessions that start around 3:30 -4pm. Works perfect. Finding a coach to teach an adult was a challenge. Most made up an excuse that they were full. I found one (who I didn't think I'd like 'cause he sounded not that nice on the phone, but in person is super nice) I get on sat 10 min of dance and 15 free. We're going to pick up another day in Jan, depending on his schedule. One other coach has agreed to take me on but not until spring. It was funny when I started with the coach because he assumed I knew nothing :) I'm finding much easier to disect the jumps now that I'm older. Instead of just doing them I now understand how I should do them. But he says I'm thinking too much now :P

[Black Sheep]

As an child, I skated whenever my parents were willing to take me to a rink (and rent skates if I needed them). I started taking group lessons when I was 10, and private lessons when I was 13. At that time, I only skated during the winter except for the summer of '84, when my dad took me to lessons once a week at a rink that was 20 minutes away. A flip jump and a loop jump were the highest skills I got (no axels, doubles, or flying spins for me back then). I quit when I was 16 and too thin and weak (not to mention swamped with homework!) to skate.

As an adult, I took up skating again at age 22, and have been at it for over ten years! I started out in adult group lessons (turned out I was the most advanced adult in them, even without an axel), and found a private coach a few months after that. I've had three different private coaches in the past ten years (I've had my current one for the past three years), and have since dropped group lessons (I found it too hard always being the "opposite" skater in a group). As long as I'm having a good day, and my equipment is working properly (i.e., my boots are tight and my blades are sharp!), I can land everything up to a double loop. I'm also working flying-sit and catch-foot spins! 8-)

[plinko]

I'd never taken a lesson in my life until this year. I thought could skate ok, to get around the ice on recreational skate times that is. I decided I needed to learn to skate backwards properly. What I found was that I was skating forwards wrong, for more years than I care to admit, and spend most of my lesson time getting beat up (nicely) by my teenaged program assistant. I need to have someone tell me when I'm pushing wrong because when I get lazy I regress and it would be a waste of time for me to pay a private coach for that purpose. The PA system is perfect, and she is from the same coaching/teaching style as the main coach.

I take a group lesson of 30 minutes once a week, which is 10 minutes of "group" something, edges usually and then 20 minutes where we work on individual skills, spinning, turns etc and the coach rotates through, so we get about 10 minutes of semi-private. If only a few people in the group show up then we get lots of individual time. That's enough lesson for me. I then practice 4-6 hours a week on my own after that, in various public skates, sometimes with a friend from lessons.

[jazzpants]

I'm a returning adult skater, but I never took a lesson 'til I was an adult. Am I qualified to answer? :D :D :D

If I am, it took me 3-4 months from taking group lessons (after skating about a couple of months) before I started taking private lessons...and about two weeks to realized that I need A LOT of work on me!!! I now take from two coach twice a week (each coach for a half hour) and skate about 6 hours a week now. I need more skating time, unfortunately and don't have the time b/c I need a job to afford all this as well as work out at the gym for health reasons. And at the time, I *STILL* need a LOT of work done on me! :evil: :roll: :evil: :x :evil: (But it's for my own good!) ;)

[batikat]

Originally posted by Carleenp
First, is 15 minutes pretty normal for a lesson? It seems short, yet I can see how it would be sufficient given the individual attention and where practice might be the most important thing when first learning. Considering that I have a budget, I like the idea if it is really sufficient time!

Second, is it odd to take a private lesson just once in awhile while still taking group lessons? Or do coaches expect something more regular? I ask because I know I will miss at least one (probably two) classes in my upcoming group sessions, and thought it would be nice to ask around about a few private lessons to stay caught up.

Finally, how do you pick a private instructor? Anything in particular that should be considered? I have had three so far in group lessons, but only know for sure that one teaches privately (not sure if the other two do). I liked all of them.

To answer your questions
15 mins is quite normal for beginners. This allows you to work on a few skills per session but not overload you with exercises and techniques such that you end up forgetting what you have learnt in the lesson or the correct technique. I strongly recommend a skating notebook and immediately following each lesson write down what you have done and any exercises you have been given in any notation that you can understand. (my book was full of the weirdest diagrams and stick men and for programmes I tended to put moves in groups of three as I found it easier to remember - a more mathematically minded friend would put down each individual edge in proper notation and neither of us could understand the others notes!!!:lol: ) With a notebook you can practice on your own (much cheaper) but know that you are practising the right things in the right way.
You will probably know when it is time to go to 30 mins lessons - either your coach will suggest it or you might be learning a programme or dances as well as basics and need the extra time. Personally I would try first to go to 2 x 15 min lessons (preferably on different days) rather than 1 x 30 min one.

It's quite OK to take a few private lessons on an ad hoc basis. Ask around a few of the instructors and let them know you are in the market for the odd lesson but don't want to commit to regular lessons just yet so you'd be happy to take any odd lessons that become available. If you can get to the rink at short notice most I am sure would be happy to have you fill in on any slot where their regular pupil can't make it (holiday, sickness etc). I took lessons this way for about 6 months (skating on a weekday morning public session and grabbing any fill-in slots) - sometimes this is the best way to get lessons with the coach you want as when they have a regular slot come free, they will tend to take the easy route and ask someone they are already teaching if they want it.

Finding the right instructor can be the hardest part. If you have had experience with a few coaches then pick the one you felt you learnt most from/got on best with/understood easiest and ask them first. Or ask each of them and say you'd like a few trial lessons with each. It is better (though not always possible) to take your time and choose the right coach in the beginning than have to go through the trauma of changing coach later.

Whatever you decide - enjoy your skating and welcome to the skating world. Be warned - it is highly addictive!!

[Mrs Redboots]

If your rink offers learn-to-skate classes, I'd strongly recommend you enrol, even before taking private lessons. Quite apart from anything else, you get to know the teachers at your rink, and how their particular way of teaching suits your way of learning. Or doesn't, as the case may be! Then, when you feel ready (probably when you are one or two levels up the scale), approach one of the teachers and ask if they have a vacant slot at a convenient time. We went on taking group lessons until we were ready to take our first national test (as opposed to the learn-to-skate rankings), although I was certainly having private lessons long before then.

[Isk8NYC]

I began taking lessons when I was about 19 years old. I took a 30 minute lesson with my niece, who's a few years younger. As an adult with a part-time job, I paid for the lessons. (Yes, I am a doting auntie) After a while, we were skating at different levels (I practiced more than she) and we split it into two-20 minute lessons. Our coach charged more for the "semi-private" lesson, so the extra 10 minutes later on didn't cost much more.

I think that the partnership helped keep us both locked into the sport, until we learned enough to really enjoy skating. It also added to the competition and helped us try harder.

Isk8NYC

[quarkiki2]

I started skating at 28 and have taken group lessons all along. I'm ISI Freestyle 1 right now and enjoy the group lesson environemnt.

I work full-time and direct plays/chorepgraph during the evenings, so my practice time is limited. This is the biggest reason I don't take provate lessons. I feel it would be a waste of time for me and for a coach if I were to show up for a lesson having not practiced since the last one. I don't feel like I'm wasting time in a group setting, however, because I'm not the only person in the class. I also learn from watching others learn, so group lessons are valuable to me for that reason, too.

I have had a class with every instructor at my rink and do have some favorites (I prefer the ones with a good sense of humor as I'm a smart-a$$ occasionally -- if occasionally means all the time, LOL!). If I were to take private lessons, I know who I would choose as a coach.

Our group instructors recommend taking private lessons while in upper level group classes (Freestyle and above). They have also made recommendations like "If I were you, I'd ask so-and-so for a private lesson on X skill -- he/she's really good at teaching that and I think you could benefit from some extra attention on it." This is a really nice way of using both systems to your advantage.

[Tessie]

Take lessons! I thought I knew how to skate, but was doing it all wrong, no edges, pushing from my toe pick and couldn't turn. Plus our lesson group has a lot of fun together.

I started at 43 - three years ago,interupted by a broken wrist in 2001 and if you don't count the years as a kid skating on the ponds in Winchester MA, home of the Vinson Owen family, lost in the plane crash on their way to the world championships in 1961. Skating was and remains big in the town.

Sorry for the digression, I take adult group lessons and have splurged on a few private lessons to work out the demons of back threes and waltz jumps, it was worth it. I look forward to lessons early Saturday mornings, I wish I was that motivated to be on time for work during the week. I have a half hour lesson with a half hour practice. I also have contracted pratice time which is a big help. In addition, I try to go to the public sessions, any ice time is worth it!

I am currently on FS 1 & 2 (haven't passed FS 1, but working on some elements of FS 2). Each time I reach a new level, I say this is enough, solid cross overs, threes and mohawks were my initial goals which I have. Adult 4 was going to be my limit. I'm hooked and don't know where I'll stop!

By the way, does anyone bring their skates with them on business trips?;) ;)

[Mrs Redboots]

Originally posted by Tessie
By the way, does anyone bring their skates with them on business trips?;) ;) Of course they do! And asks, on this board or elsewhere, for the times and prices of good sessions to go to - and friends to meet up with.....

[mikawendy]

Originally posted by Tessie
By the way, does anyone bring their skates with them on business trips?;) ;)

I took mine with me on our honeymoon last summer (just outside of Monaco). We even drove past the ice arena in Nice (several times. as we got lost), but my husband's business errands didn't take as long as he thought they would, so I didn't go skating.

[Isk8NYC]

By the way, does anyone bring their skates with them on business trips?

I always have because many of my former co-workers looked at business trips as an excuse to be out of control. No offense to others of a like mind, but it's not my scene. Once, I joined a group in the "lounge" where there was a lingerie show going on along with drinking contests. Now, I invite them to the local rink for a workout before they make their plans. No one takes me up on it, and my name is left out of all "colorful experiences."

I haven't traveled by plane in some time, but I also used to refuse to check the skates. I only had a problem once on an international flight. Security said the blades looked like knives. I assume that I would have no choice today.

[Tessie]

I used to travel to Houston quite frequently, and stay near the Galeria Mall, which has an rink in the middle, not very big, but ice is ice. For those who travel there is a website:

www.arenamaps.com

it's pretty helpful, the links vary depending on the sophistication of the arena's web site. But the minimum information consists of maps & phone number and you're off!

[Mrs Redboots]

Originally posted by Isk8NYC
I haven't traveled by plane in some time, but I also used to refuse to check the skates. I only had a problem once on an international flight. Security said the blades looked like knives. I assume that I would have no choice today. It is enormously variable; at some airports you will have no trouble at all, at others, they will ask you to check them. In fact, there is seldom a problem in checking them unless you are going to change planes, when you might arrive but your suitcase might not. We packed our skates - a few days after the 11/09/01 atrocities - in the middle of our suitcases, with the hard guards on the blades, and stuffed them with socks and underwear, and they were fine.

You can, of course, telephone the airport in advance and enquire what their policy is, but it does vary according to the security staff on duty. I think I would try, especially if I had otherwise no luggage, and say that I would happily check them at the gate (which I would), but not otherwise.....