How Long to Prepare a Program?

[SkatingOnClouds]

Countdown to the one local competition a year which has Adult divisions is now 9 weeks. I gave my music choice to my coach for cutting and program design and said I want to start preparing NOW, especially footwork and things that might take a while. I am at Adult Silver level here, which is any single jump up to lutz, and I don't think there are restrictions on the spins.

As an adult skater, I think I take a lot longer to learn a program than my
10yo daughter, and the teenagers at the rink. Many of them will be preparing a totally different program for a lower level (Aussie Skate) technical competition on 1st September, then learning a new program for this Artistic Comp on 6th October. 8O

So I am wondering how long people spend learning a new program, how long people feel they need to learn it, get confident with it and really polish enough to present it well?

[Skate@Delaware]

Well, last year I only had about 7 solid weeks to learn and prepare my program.....because we don't have ice all year round.

A good way to learn it is to break it down into "chunks" and learn those first; jump elements/combos, spin elements/combos, footwork. Then as you get closer, start putting them together into pieces. Then about 3-4 weeks out you should have the gist of it and you can start doing run-throughs. Start without music. Then add music. You might run out of music before you are done but that is ok. You will speed up.

Being a silver skater this will come to you much quicker than it did to me!!!!! I was almost panicked! Luckily, I did have more ice time and squeezed in stuff where I could. And show practices had not started yet.

I have known some people who made stuff up the week before a competition, but I can't do that.

[bruingrl]

When it comes to solo programs I get all panicked and try to have months and months to prep for a competition. But that's probably because I'm out of shape and I use those run throughs to put me into enough shape to actually finish the program. Haha.

But for group programs, well... I just did a Spring show a few months back where I wasn't able to make any of the rehearsals except the very first one, which was about 7 weeks before the show, and the very last one, which was the morning of the show! A friend was kind enough to send me a YouTube video the week before so I could watch it over and over, but the first time I really did the program was the day of and it turned out okay. There were a few details I forgot, like putting my arm up higher during one move, but at least I remembered all the basic choreography!

Anyway, all this was meant to say that it depends on how quickly you can learn and remember choreography and how in shape you are. =)

[ibreakhearts66]

well, I have taken from a couple of months to a couple of hours to get a program.

for one christmas show, I learned the program literally during the public session before the show--my coach didn't show up so I learned another girls program and we did it together.

for me, the best way to learn programs is to go through it in my head. I put on the music, and just skate it in my head, listening to the subtle cues in the music that should accompany certain moves. Repetition off ice is just as important as repetition on ice.

other than that, i'm sorry i can't offer too many tips...

[doubletoe]

8 weeks is my bare minimum.

P.S. I still do a double take every time I see your signature line (my custom license plate holder says, "Ice skate, therefore I am") but I love it!!

[jazzpants]

Well, I started my current FS program since Feb this year and I think we've finally finished the choreography as of two weeks. However, there will be more tweaks coming, I'm sure of it. 8O

Primary coach and I haven't started choreography for my artistic yet and it's 3 months 'til Skate San Francisco!!! 8O 8O 8O

[manleywoman]

8 weeks is my bare minimum.


Same with me.

[Skate@Delaware]

It takes me a long time to really learn and KNOW a program...8 weeks works great for me, as a minimum. I did have to learn a program in 2 weeks 8O and I was a nervouse wreck!!! (and yes the program, a synchro one, was a train wreck!!!!!)

my daughter can do it in 3-4 session. She has a photographic memory when it comes to learning this stuff.

[chowskates]

So I am wondering how long people spend learning a new program, how long people feel they need to learn it, get confident with it and really polish enough to present it well?

Well, it depends on what type of program...

Usually for freestyle programs, I start months in advance. But then I choreograph my own programs and would never be satisfied, so I would keep changing little bits of it - sometimes even up to the weeks before competition!

Last year, I did and ISI Artistic program for the first time. I had uh, just under 5 weeks to find music, choreo & practise it... and this is how it turned out (http://chowskates.blogspot.com/2006/12/2006-skate-asia-winter-classic-artistic.html).

This year, I did a pairs program - we had 2 days to do it, and it was almost improv, and totally hilarious! That wasn't entirely from scratch, but we had to re-work lots (actually almost all) of it. Here's how that one turned out (http://chowskates.blogspot.com/2007/05/pairs-program.html).

Cheers,
Chow

[altamaleskater]

My first program took about 2 months before I was ready to use it in a competition. I think it depends on what elements you're putting into it - I had most of the individual elements down but the hard part was putting them all together.

[SkatingOnClouds]

So it sounds like about 8 weeks is fairly standard? Of course I don't mean to learn the jump & spin elements, I work on them every time I skate. I mean footwork sequences, but also the linking moves, the things that take it from being like:
pose, skate, jump, skate, spin, pose, skate, jump, skate, spin, pose.

What I find hard is making it all into a nice, flowing, confident presentation.

[doubletoe]

Exactly. The hard part is working out all of the connecting stuff--not just choreographing it but also doing the troubleshooting. For example, not getting the correct angle as you push off into your crossovers after a jump or spin exit will affect the quality of your crossovers as well as where you end up on the ice at the end of those crossovers. That, in turn, which will determine whether or not you are correctly set up for the next jump and whether you make it or miss it. Everything is so interconnected that it takes a certain number of run-throughs to figure it all out.

[TimDavidSkate]

For me, 2 weeks to 3 days.. Pending on how I feel and what I feel like doing :halo:

[Raye]

I like to have at least 6-8 weeks to get a program polished and ready, but I have been known to just go out and do an improv to a new piece of music from time to time....

[flo]

Ha! depends on how much time I've had. The more I have, the more the program matures and becomes my own.