How much is too much?

[LIskate]

Hi,
My 9 year old daughter has been skating for a little over 2 months. She started lessons for no other reason than to learn to skate, and be comfortable on the ice.
As it turns out she absolutely loves it. She has taken to this with more enthusiasm and excitement than she has ever had for any other activity/sport she has done in the past. She would skate everyday if it was possible.
She started out with a 1/2 private lesson per week. Her coach sometimes lets her join the group lesson he has after hers if he thinks that what they are doing will help her. Speaking with him this week it looks as if she will be in the group from now on, and participate in a show they are doing. Which of course she is extatic about (The show may not happen if there are not enough people participating).
Starting this week she will start another private lesson on monday mornings before school. She is SO excited about this one. It is during a freestyle session, so the ice wont be as crouded as her other lesson during public skate sessions.
My question is... How much should we let her skate?
We of course want to support her in doing what she loves, and wish to give her any chance we can to help her have a rewarding expirience. Like I said if we would let her she would be at the rink everday. But how much is too much for a begining 9 year old?
She will now be doing 1 1/2 hours private, and 1/2 hour group. Also about 3-4hours free time on the ice to skate/practice.
My thinking has been that at this point as long as she wants to I will let her go as much as we can. If in the future she decides she wants to back off a bit...so be it. The ball is in her court.
I am hoping to get some opinions of other more expirienced parents/coaches
as to what is too much for a 9 year old. Or is ok to let her skate as much as possible as long as she wants?

Thanks in advance,
Bob

[dbny]

Going from my own experience as a child (roller) skater and as the parent of two figure skaters, I would say that as long as she can handle her schoolwork, let her skate to her heart's desire, if you can afford it. Do keep an eye on her physical development. Watch especially for knee pain related to the bump just below the knee, which is a sign of Osgood-Schlatter's (http://familydoctor.org/135.xml), a developmental problem that hits athletic kids during a growth spurt.

[Lippylulu]

We have a 9 year old too....and she is hooked big time just like yours after only 2 months. We started off with a 20 minute lesson, then went to 30 minutes, and now are doing two 30 minute lessons a week. She will start group lessons next week. We should get our kids together!!!

[LIskate]

Thanks for the input.
I just wanted to make sure shes not overdoing it a bit.
School work of course has to come first. If I see any effects on that from skating she will have to back off a bit. For now everything is fine.

dbny,
Thank you for pointing out the physical development and Osgood-Schlatter's issues. I was unaware of that. I will keep a eye out.

Lippylulu,
It's amazing how much she loves to skate. We definately didn't expect her to be as into it as she is. Seeing how much she enjoy's it iscertainly rewarding to us as well. I think I am as happy when she is skating as she is. I'm sure it's the same for you.


Bob

[twokidsskatemom]

I think if she enjoys it and has a good time, that amount is not out of line at all.My daughter is is 6, skates between 8 to 10 hours a week.She also does ballet, and off ice training.I think the off ice is just as inportant as on ice.Having good Core muscles will help so much with both balance and jumps/spins.
Good luck !!!!

[Tennisany1]

I agree that as long as she is enjoying herself and you can afford the lessons then let her go for it. I also agree that she should be in some sort of off ice stretch and strength program so she develops good habits right from the start. Also, at 9 I would keep an eye on her developing body image. I'm not saying this to alarm you, but figure skating can have its share of body image / weight issues. Just keeping your ears open to the way the other kids, coaches, and parents talk around the rink will help you nip any unhealthy attitudes in the bud.

[LIskate]

Off ice stretch and strength training. I do know that as skaters get more serious and competitive that off ice training is very important. At this stage of the game is it necessary? I have no problem doing that if thats what it takes, and thats what she wants. Honestly I haven given it any thought yet.
What immediately comes to my mind ( and please tell me if I am wrong ) is to let her continue as she is for a bit. She is entering a basic skills competition in May. After that expirience see how she is feeling about it. If at that point she feels she wants to continue competing start to look more towards that end of training. Would not having this type of training for a few moths in the begining make much of a difference?
I will of course talk to her coach about it as well.

Tennisany1,
I'm not sure I understand what you mean by "keep an eye on her developing body image" . Do you mean to keep on eye on her self image of her body/weight?

Thanks again,

[VegasGirl]

Though I agree that as long as she's having fun the amount of time that she skates right now isn't a problem... but what I don't agree with is the skate time before school. Not just do they have to get up early enough as is and that makes it hard to get enough rest without adding an activity before hand but it also IMHO takes away from the importance of school.

[beachbabe]

Off ice stretch and strength training. I do know that as skaters get more serious and competitive that off ice training is very important. At this stage of the game is it necessary? I have no problem doing that if thats what it takes, and thats what she wants. Honestly I haven given it any thought yet.
What immediately comes to my mind ( and please tell me if I am wrong ) is to let her continue as she is for a bit. She is entering a basic skills competition in May. After that expirience see how she is feeling about it. If at that point she feels she wants to continue competing start to look more towards that end of training. Would not having this type of training for a few moths in the begining make much of a difference?
I will of course talk to her coach about it as well.

Tennisany1,
I'm not sure I understand what you mean by "keep an eye on her developing body image" . Do you mean to keep on eye on her self image of her body/weight?

Thanks again,

i think she meant that many figure skaters are anorexic/bulemic b/c they feel like they have to be a certain size, especially in pairs and dance where there are lifts and weight is an issue. Just make sure she continues to eat healthy.

[LIskate]

VegasGirl,
Thanks for the input. My daughter starts school a bit latr than most schools.
She starts at 9:30am. Her skating is actually just a bit earlier than she started school in previous grades before this year. I will of course keep an eye on her and see if she is more tired because of skating. I find that when I am up early and active before work I have a more produtive day. Maybe she will find the same thing?
As far as taking away from the importance of school. I'm not sure I agree with that. Skating and school are two different thing completely. School of course being the most important thing she does. She loves school and does well in it. If at any point I see a change in her attitude or performance in school, then things will have to change.
I will definately keep an eye out for the points you make....Thanks.

beachbabe,
Thats what I thought. Thanks.
I will keep an eye out for such things. Is there a problem with that in kids at such a young age? If so thats such a shame.
She is a pretty small girl. 54lbs at 9 years old. At this point I hope it shouldn't be a concern. As she grows and get's older who knows. Knowing that it is reasonably common in skating definatly helps. I will watch for it.

Thanks again

[fmh]

Though I agree that as long as she's having fun the amount of time that she skates right now isn't a problem... but what I don't agree with is the skate time before school. Not just do they have to get up early enough as is and that makes it hard to get enough rest without adding an activity before hand but it also IMHO takes away from the importance of school.
That might be true when you are young, but I find that now (I started skating mornings when I was 12) I am more awake for school after I skate in the morning...

[luckeylasvegas]

I agree, I gave my daughter the choice of skating before or after aschool and she prefers the morning. There are fewer skaters on the ice and she is awake and ready to go for school after skating for an hour. She doesnt start until after 9 am also , so things might change when she gets older.

With PE and recess being so limited in schools these days at least I know she's getting in enough physical activity.

To the OP it sounds like your daughter and mine do about the same amount of skating. She has 2 - 3 30 minute privates a week (but skates about a hour total). Then she has Syncro and off ice core training one afternoon a week, and footwork and off ice jump class one afternoon a week.
And now on Saturdays she started a Jazz/Ballet combo class through the Rec center. Just take your cue from your daughter. Mine pulled out of footwork and Jump class for a month or two when she needed a break and now she's decided to get back into it.

[sarahmom3]

Hi Bob,
isn't it nice when they find something they love? My DD has been skating for about 3 years. She did only group lessons for 2years and the last year she's had private plus group. Since she was progressing w/ only group lessons until she got into FS3, I kept her there since it was less expensive. WHen she stopped advancing w/ group..it was time for private.She would skate every day if I let her too.

Personally, I think it's good to hold them back just a little at this point. Kids IMO need time just to, well, gel! It's so easy for them to get over scheduled. I've always been concerned of young atheletes bodies. They're not developed yet and since mine is so dang tiny, I just want her body to get a bit stronger before she places higher demands on it.

Also, in our case, I'm happy she loves to skate but am glad she has some other interest too because who knows how long they'll be in love w/ this sprt. Kids can turn off of something as fast as they turned on to it.

Hope your DD has fun! I hope you have fun too!
Srah's mom

[Lmarletto]

Off ice stretch and strength training. I do know that as skaters get more serious and competitive that off ice training is very important. At this stage of the game is it necessary? I have no problem doing that if thats what it takes, and thats what she wants. Honestly I haven given it any thought yet.
What immediately comes to my mind ( and please tell me if I am wrong ) is to let her continue as she is for a bit. She is entering a basic skills competition in May. After that expirience see how she is feeling about it. If at that point she feels she wants to continue competing start to look more towards that end of training. Would not having this type of training for a few moths in the begining make much of a difference?
I will of course talk to her coach about it as well.
My daughter is 8 and has been skating since she was 3. Rather than additional "training" to supplement her skating, we have looked for activities away from the rink that will help develop her upper body/core strength. She has tried (at her request) ballet, gymnastics, horse-back riding and basketball. She has always loved skating, but only recently really gotten serious about it. I think your "see what she wants and play it by ear" approach is very sensible.

As to how much is too much, every situation is so different. As long as the child is setting the pace, it will be hard to go wrong in the beginning.

[LIskate]

My daughter had her morning lesson yesterday. Everything went great.
We got there a bit earlier than her lesson, and I could see she was a bit intimidated at first. This was our first expirience with a freestyle session.
Some of the girls there were very good. All of the girls were at a higher level than her. Once she got out there and started her lesson that all went away.
I think being around the higher level skaters will inspire her.
The lesson itself went great. They got so much done in one lesson. A huge difference from the lessons during the public sessions. She left with lots of new things to practice.
After her lesson we had some time before school started, so we went out for breakfast. It was great Daddy/Daughter time. That added to skating definately made it a perfect morning. She is already looking forward to next time.

Thanks again for all your comments and advice.

[Bothcoasts]

It was great Daddy/Daughter time. That added to skating definately made it a perfect morning.


When I was in high school (but before I could drive), my father drove me to skating lessons two afternoons plus Saturday mornings. We both used to wake up at 6 AM on a Saturday so that we could drive to the rink. He sat in the freezing stands while I skated, and after we'd go out for breakfast before heading back to the rink so that I could assist with basic skills while he froze in the stands again.

Even at the time, I remember appreciating how much he did for me and asking him why he did it. His response was that he knew I would be heading off to college all too quickly, so he wanted to enjoy the remainder of my time at home with me. I still appreciate it to this day and am sure that your daughter will also very much appreciate your closeness.

[oz01]

Going from my own experience as a child (roller) skater and as the parent of two figure skaters, I would say that as long as she can handle her schoolwork, let her skate to her heart's desire, if you can afford it. Do keep an eye on her physical development. Watch especially for knee pain related to the bump just below the knee, which is a sign of Osgood-Schlatter's (http://familydoctor.org/135.xml), a developmental problem that hits athletic kids during a growth spurt.
Thank you! DBNY:
I have posted on this board a few times before and every time you answered my question.Now whenever I see your post, I consider it's expert's opinion. Thanks again!