Adult Basic Skills?

[Skittl1321]

When I did USFS Basic Skills classes, I took classes at quite a few rinks (3). Of those rinks, 1 had adults in with kids for the Basic 8s, 1 had adults in their own adult class, but doing Basic 8s, and the other had adults in their own class doing the Adult 1-4 curriculum.

I am now teaching adults, and we use the Adult curriculum.

What do other Basic Skills coaches think about it? Quite honestly, I hate it. I do think it's necessary for adults to have their own class, if they feel more comfortable there, rather than always sticking them in with the kids, but I don't feel like the Adult progression is well thought out- why not just have them do the Basic 8s ?

Here's my reasoning- the kids, until they get to Basic 7/8, seem to almost always be able to pass their class in the 8 week session. I have NEVER had an adult (starting from their first step) manage to do that without a "pity pass". In Adult 1 they go from Marching (forward strides) to 1/2 swizzle pumps on a circle. That is a HUGE jump.

Adult 2-3 seem to make more sense. At least the skills are in the same ballpark. Unfortunately, they still take a good amount of time to learn- my current Adult 3 skater, doesn't seem to have control of any of the Adult 2 skills, I think she was passed into 3 way too soon. :(

My biggest issue is Adult 4. In this level a skater learns how to do a 3-turn from a standstill, but also has to complete a pattern of Power 3-turns???? Are you kidding me? Power 3 turns come ages after learning how to do a 3-turn. How can any Basic skills adult pass this level? I'm not even talking moves test standard, but just doing it at all? Look at the progression for the kids- the standstill 3-turn is Basic 4, a moving 3-turn is Basic 8, and power 3-turns are Freeskate 4. And yet adults are expected to do this in just their 4th BASIC level?

These levels seem like HUGE hurdles. My experience has been that adults, who have never skated before when they come to lessons, take so much longer to pick up the skills then the kids, and yet, their classes have the skills barreled at them requiring so much more than the kids have. I don't liken this to adult moves- where we combine tests at a different rate then kids, because those are BEGINNER classes. For a beginner, I think the adult curriculum is overwhelming. Without getting to pass Basic 1, 2, and maybe even 3, without trouble, you instead start in Adult 1 being frustrated, because it is such a huge leap from the beginning skill to the ending skill.

So, experience coaches, what have your experiences been? Are your adults successfully completing the power 3-turn pattern in the same class that they are first introduced to 3-turns? Do you think the curriculum is sound, and my small class sizes aren't giving me an accurate sample of skaters to look at? (My adult classes generally have 1 or 2 skaters)

[sk8lady]

I agree to some extent--why does it jump from the very basic to the fairly advanced? And why are there virtually no freestyle elements involved? When I've taught the class, I wound up teaching 3 levels of skaters in the same class--two absolute beginners who had never skated before; two gals who had done some skating and could go forwards and backwards and were starting to work on crossovers and turns; and two gals who had skated quite a bit and were working on jumps and spins. The adult curriculum was unsuitable for ALL of them. Additionally, it seemed geared to push adult skaters into moves or dance, but not freestyle.

[blue111moon]

I don't use the Adult Levels when I teach Adults, although I have been known to give Adults the correspoinding badge after they've learned the skills through the Basic Skills levels. I find the Adult Levels skip too many skills.

None of the adults I've taught over the years have cared that they get the same badges as their kids. In fact, most of them get a kick out of it.

Teaching multiple levels in one class is pretty common in adult classes. As long as I have a helper (usually another adult from the club), it's not a problem. Adults are capable of working on a move by themselves while I move to a different level. It's harder on me but it works.

[dbny]

ITA with the OP. It makes no sense to me, although that's the curriculum I have to teach. I also have had classes with 4 adults, each at a different level :frus:. I throw in skills from the standard curriculum as exercises.

[smelltheice]

The UK system works differently from the point that the national governing body (NISA) doesn't distinguish between adults and kids. They all do the same tests under the same system and most do fine with it. It is more down to the discretion of the coaches to allow for the different factors of learning a sport like skating, such as the fear factor that alot of adults have where kids don't, in the main, have much fear. When they fall or get minor injuries, it is a disaster for five minutes and then forgotten once they get back on with their friends. There are quite alot of instances where adults have passed a particular level but think they probably shouldn't have or are not totally comfortable with it all so they will take time to consolidate what they have learned and some even take the test again when they are confident in their own ability with the required skills.

[kimberley801]

I took Adult 2-4 (had enough skating skills to skip Adult 1). I was actually a little bored with it and wanted the freestyle elements. lol...

But for adult 4 and the power 3-turns, my instructor just had me do more than one moving 3-turn in a row in either direction and counted that. Power 3's seem way too advanced and take a lot of control that is impossible when first learning 3-turns.

The Adult basic skills classes are not a good lead-in to freeskate, either. I felt that there was a HUGE gap, and did not feel prepared enough. There are ZERO jumps in Adult basic skills, yet we are expected to be able to achieve a waltz jump in Freeskate one, without learning the bunny hop, Ballet Jump, or Mazurka.

The Adult basic skills track needs to emphasize more freestyle elements. It makes it more fun :twisted:

Based on your post, the types of skaters you are encountering are typical of adult classes. Most take a long time to learn skills and do not have prior skating experience.

[fsk8r]

The UK system works differently from the point that the national governing body (NISA) doesn't distinguish between adults and kids. They all do the same tests under the same system and most do fine with it. It is more down to the discretion of the coaches to allow for the different factors of learning a sport like skating, such as the fear factor that alot of adults have where kids don't, in the main, have much fear. When they fall or get minor injuries, it is a disaster for five minutes and then forgotten once they get back on with their friends. There are quite alot of instances where adults have passed a particular level but think they probably shouldn't have or are not totally comfortable with it all so they will take time to consolidate what they have learned and some even take the test again when they are confident in their own ability with the required skills.

My rink in the UK did things slightly differently from the NISA system. The kids follow the Skate UK (basic skills) program and get all the badges. The adults nominally follow this, but are split into fewer classes and the coaches basically teach the basic skills program but have the freedom to teach and emphasise what they think each group of adults needs. The argument I was given as to why they did this (when I was in the group lessons) was that the adults didn't care for the badges, progression to the next group was when the coach kicked you out for being too good or when you decided that you were ready. There was no testing. The system seems to work to an extent in that they get adults skating and progressing beyond the group lessons. But I don't know if anyone has ever studied which system keeps the most people in the sport.

[Audryb]

As an adult who never skated aside from renting and going forwards around a very crowded public session a few times in high school, and who just completed an Adult basic skills program, I thought I'd stick my opinion in here. I don't know if this is an officially "ok" way of teaching the program, but my instructor taught us things from the higher levels as she thought we were ready for them. This really increased how I was able to get through the levels, because I was able to practice things before the level where i was supposed to be able to learn them.

For example, I got the hang of a two foot turn very quickly and realized it was the precursor for a 3 turn and started trying them 1 footed on my own, so she taught me to do it correctly. This was in Adult 1. My 3 turns weren't passing in Adult 1, but by adult 4 they were, and yes, I can do power 3turns in one direction. They would not pass a standard MITF test (can't remember which level they're on) but they are steady and fairly uniform and i can do the pattern in a straight line down the rink.

Also, I think learning skills "up" from what I was working on helped, for example, learning back crossovers and backward gliding helped each other, also my 3turn practice seriously helped my backward edges. practicing basic forward outside and inside edges really helped my 3turns, and also helped things like crossovers, because it gave me a lot more control. I imagine if i had first tried edges on a line after learning some of the lower stuff better I might have gotten the hang of it more quickly, but it worked well the way I did it.

Maybe what this means is that I agree the Adult curriculum isn't set up very well! But I think if the instructor can tell what will help a student they can make it work. I passed all 4 adult levels in two 8 week sessions (with 3 weeks in between, in which I practiced a lot) I don't think I should have passed Adult 4 this session, my footwork sequence (forward x-overs, mohawk, back x-overs, step forward) is pretty choppy. But I think it is possible for an adult with very little experience to get through the Adult levels all right with a good instructor (as long as they are allowed some leeway in teaching "up") I'm 29.