Different Coaches for Different Things

[dmmains]

Question for you all....Is it good to have different coaches for different things? My DS currently has one coach and she does both his freestyle and moves in the field lessons. I've heard other parents talk about having separate coaches for those two things.

One advantage I see would be from a balance perspective. My DS recently passed Preliminary MIF but while he was preparing for the test his freestyle lessons suffered greatly because his coach spent 90% of all his lesson time on MIF for 4-6 weeks before the test. (It seemed like forever.) This may be typical and happens all the time, but it just doesn't feel right to me.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

[Debbie S]

It depends on the coach. For example, if the coach your son is working with is a stronger FS coach than a moves coach, or vice versa, then as your son progresses to higher levels, it might make sense to work with a coach who is more specialized in a particular area. If your son's coach is pretty skilled in each area, then it would probably make sense to stick with that one coach. How many lessons a week does your son have? For optimal progress, most coaches recommend one lesson a week on MIF and one on FS - that way, both areas of skating are equally addressed. It's not unusual to concentrate on a specific area when a test is approaching.

[jskater49]

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One advantage I see would be from a balance perspective. My DS recently passed Preliminary MIF but while he was preparing for the test his freestyle lessons suffered greatly because his coach spent 90% of all his lesson time on MIF for 4-6 weeks before the test. (It seemed like forever.) This may be typical and happens all the time, but it just doesn't feel right to me.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

That didn't necesarily happen because you needed another coach, but maybe he needed more lessons from the same coach. It also is common to focus more on the moves before the test...

Sometimes coaches will refer you to somone who may have expertese in moves, although I can't imagine that would be necesary at prelim -- I work with my dance coach rather than my freestyle coach on moves, but that's only cuz she's cheaper and I have longer lessons with her

j

[Clarice]

When my daughter was doing Moves, she had a second coach for them, but that was because her primary coach didn't especially like working on Moves all the time. His students only did them in the weeks leading up to a test, and I preferred that she work on them consistently all the time. So he focused on freestyle and her secondary coach only did Moves with her. I, on the other hand, have always done both Moves and Freestyle with the same coach. Both ways can work, depending on the coach and the amount of lesson time.

[slusher]

I have a general all purpose coach and when it comes time for a test, that's all we work on, for what seems an endless time, enough so that I start to hate whatever it is and work even harder so that I will pass it and never have to do it again. I think that's the coach's evil theory actually.

I do have separate coaches for various things, most noteably, dance-guy and I work with a choreographer or program specialist year-round so I'm always getting freeskate-type lessons, I'm just not getting technical freeskate, ie on the specific elements. The choreo is okay with my home coach working on my programs but dance-guy will fire me if I dance with anyone else and that's perfectly okay with my home coach because that's the reason why I got sent to dance-guy. I have mohawk issues ;)

[Virtualsk8r]

Question for you all....Is it good to have different coaches for different things? My DS currently has one coach and she does both his freestyle and moves in the field lessons. I've heard other parents talk about having separate coaches for those two things.

One advantage I see would be from a balance perspective. My DS recently passed Preliminary MIF but while he was preparing for the test his freestyle lessons suffered greatly because his coach spent 90% of all his lesson time on MIF for 4-6 weeks before the test. (It seemed like forever.) This may be typical and happens all the time, but it just doesn't feel right to me.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

An additional coach may not be necessary. Did your coach know that you were willing to pay for additional lessons to prepare the MIF rather than sacrifice the freeskate lessons? Often parents request a certain number of lessons per week to fit their budget, and the coach must distribute that time between the various disciplines. Since the MIF have to be passed in order to test the freeskate - the MIF were the goal. Many coaches don't like to just give extra lessons without permission, as when the bill must be paid some parents refuse to pay for that extra time.

If your current coach does not have the time for additional lessons, then you should discuss how your skater will get both MIF and freeskate lessons without sacrificing anything. Perhaps you can skate another session or the coach may suggest someone to step in occasionally...or even propose group lessons in freekskate to accomodate everyone once in a while..

[teresa]

I'm an adult skater, but in the group of adults that I skate with many have as many as 4 or 5 coaches! I know that a special moves coach is usually in this group. I have to admit that I have felt awed by some of these folks. =-) I can't even imagine having a different coach each time I skate! I need to practice on my own too. I have one coach who seems pretty comfortable and good at teaching all the skills I need. I'm happy with this situation, and I have a better comfort level working with her as I feel she knows my good and bad points. She also understands that I'm competitive with myself, I think, and lets me challenge myself. I have two lessons a week and we try to focus on freestyle or moves each lesson. I'm not sure if I was jumping around with different coaches that they would understand me as well. I try to be serious about my skating but I don't compete. Maybe just on home ice. =-) Maybe competitive skaters may need different coaches. Or just some folks in general.
I think in skating whatever works for you is right.

teresa

[Isk8NYC]

Each discipline is time-consuming to teach well and a half-hour lesson each week may not be enough for a student learning both MITF and Freestyle, for example. I alternate weeks for some students (MITF wk1, FS wk2) and others I split the half-hour into 10-15 minutes each discipline.

Many coaches "team teach" to provide coverage at competitions and test sessions, or to complement each other. (Some are simply better/more qualified at teaching MITF or FS or Dance.) Sort of like a doctors' practice that has more than one doctor - by alternating or teaching different things, they divide the work and are prepared for the competitions or tests. Bonus: the coaches and student know each other and are comfortable together. Many rinks with group lesson programs require this of the coaches for class coverage - one coach covers the test session, the other covers the group lessons.

Adults' time constraints are different from school-age skaters, which often requires them to take multiple lessons from different coaches in order to fit it all in during the week.

[dmmains]

Thanks for everyone's input. I feel much better knowing that there's no right way but in fact many ways. You just have to find what works well for you.

I do have to say that my son would totally agree that he practiced his moves so much leading up to his test that he was completely sick of them and never wanted to do them again (those moves anyway). He has started learning the next level now and I think he has completely forgotten the pain and repetition from just a few short weeks ago.

[SynchroSk8r114]

When I began skating, I had one coach for dance, MIF, and FS. Just recently, I did a major coaching change and now take from 2 coaches - one for dance (that's her specialty), the other for freestyle. Personally, I like having two coaches. Timewise, it's more beneficial to have one who can work strictly on FS and one who can focus on dance. I feel I definitely take away more from my lessons this way.

Surprisingly, it's also much cheaper for me to take from 2 coaches instead of my previous coach. I'm paying now for two coaches what I paid for one, and as I said before, I'm getting way more out of my lessons now!

[Rob Dean]

Personally, I like having two coaches. Timewise, it's more beneficial to have one who can work strictly on FS and one who can focus on dance.

Which just goes to short that what works for one, is what one should do. :) I've got the same coach for dance and moves (no FS for me), and it's nice (to me) to be able to switch tracks quickly, or do one on the spur of the moment if I don't feel like doing the other. My back-up coach does the same mix, so when I've got lessons with her, we work it the same way. I might make faster progress with a more structured approach, but that's not always a priority. This month, it's the fiesta tango on every lesson, though, with both coaches as time permits me to schedule them.

Rob