Specialty Group Classes

[Terri C]

Since passing my Bronze freestyle test last spring, I've tried a few specialty classes when I can to supplement my skating in addition to the privates I take twice a week. For the most part, I'm either the only or one of two adults in the classes I've taken, whether it's a power class or a dance /edge class or a patch class. I've also noticed that the adults in the classes for the most part get very little or no attention

So, I'd like to know what other adult skaters' impressions are of the specialty group classes. What are you taking or not taking and what works and doesn't in terms of adult skaters doing a class. Thanks in advance.

[jskater49]

I take a Power Class that has two adults, two med freestyle teens and a 7 year old who just got out of basics. The coach is my coach and she's excellent....if someone can't do what she's having people do, she will give you an alternative. It's so small it would be hard to be neglected but this coach would never neglect anyone.

She's the same coach for Moves and it's kind of the same set up - no 7 year old though and again she taylors things for all levels of skaters.

And the same coach taught an off-ice jumps class I took this summer. I wasn't so sure how helpful it would be - but I do jump my waltz all the time now ...although that could be because in power class she makes us do all kinds of hoppy things.

I think these classes really depend upon the coach - I've had a variety of coaches for power classes and some were not so good.

j

[Audryb]

I don't have a huge amount of experience with these types of classes as I'm a pretty recent graduate of basic skills myself, but I'm taking a jump and spin class now where I am the only adult with 5 or 6 girls under 13 who are all more advanced than me. The coach is very good about going from one person to the next to the next and keeping an eye on everyone at the same time. I don't feel I'm neglected at all.

Also, for basic skills I was in an adults only class, but now that I'm in freeskate 3 (usfs) I'm in a group class with kids for that as well (i don't take private lessons) but I think I get just as much attention as the kids do.

Maybe you should talk to the instructor and tell them you're feeling neglected. They might not even realize they're doing it.

[livestrong04]

I had the same experience - I took an edge class and was the only adult with about 11 kids all under the age of 12. I was ignored, for the most part, and it was humiliating as the kids skated faster and a few would whip around me just to scare me or to show off. I don't think the class improved my edges beyond what I practiced on my own. I was in Learn to Skate classes at the time so I was used to being the only adult in a class but those classes would be smaller, divided by skill level and I was not ignored (as much - it did depend on the coach to some extent). I didn't sign up for any more specialty classes after that. I don't think even the kids sign up for this rink's specialty classes once they pass out of LTS FS6.

[jazzpants]

I've tried the power class years back and bashed up my knee and other parts of my body. I was also fearful of falling over one of the little kids who were zipping around me too. As for attention, well, there were tons of kids.. and my secondary coach at the time was NOT my secondary coach, so I didn't get as much attention. (There were like at least 30 kids and two other adult in the class!!!) I was thinking after that "This is NOT what I want to do on a Saturday morning! I'd rather sleep in!!!") After I've started taking lessons with secondary coach, she tried to get me into the class. I told her point blank "Thanks but I like my sleep on Saturday mornings better!!! :twisted: " Instead of pushing on the subject, she cracks up and nods her head in agreement.

It's fine though. In a couple of years, I started getting more power and I am moving faster! The key for me was doing it in an environment where I don't feel scared about running over the kids. (i.e. an emptier FS session) and adopting the exercises that my secondary coach (also adjusting to racing around the public session too.) Eventually I've gained the confidence to do these faster. (My secondary coach has timed me a few times.)

I'm not counting out on group classes though. With the new proposed MITF coming up, maybe a group edge class where they work on figures and twizzles? As long as it's not at some dark o'clock hour in the morning on a Saturday or a Sunday!!! http://www.cosgan.de/images/kao/muede/a010.gif

[jskater49]

About kids zipping around you - this summer the power class was pretty big - about 20 people and at first I was so scared I just stood against the boards...but the coach saw the problem and made rules about faster skaters skating to the outside slower to the inside AND she enforced them and any kids that tried to play "lookie me I'm faster" she put them in their place.

j

[jazzpants]

About kids zipping around you - this summer the power class was pretty big - about 20 people and at first I was so scared I just stood against the boards...but the coach saw the problem and made rules about faster skaters skating to the outside slower to the inside AND she enforced them and any kids that tried to play "lookie me I'm faster" she put them in their place. We already have the "faster skaters on the outside" rule in place from the beginning. Still didn't work for me. I still was skating as slow as a slug. I just felt I would get more progress doing it on my own on an emptier session... and I did!!! (And who better to learn this than from the coach who was running the power classes?) :twisted:

Of course, NOW we have two power classes -- one high level and one lower level so it's more sane. That said, I still would rather stay home on a Saturday and SLEEP!!! http://www.cosgan.de/images/kao/muede/a010.gif

[vesperholly]

livestrong - I confess that I have a difficult time teaching adults when they're the only one in the class. I don't have a lot of experience with classes that have a wide range of ages. I struggle to find the right tone that's both fun and instructive for kids but not babyish or condescending to the adult.

I find it helps if I make a point to instruct more one-on-one with the adult when I can find a few seconds, and teach the group to the majority age level. Adults who actively ask questions make it a lot easier to teach, because then I can answer an adult question with an adult explanation that the kids might not understand or care about. Don't get discouraged, get talkative! :)

[Debbie S]

It really depends on the instructor. I went to a drop-in power class once that for that week was being taught by a former elite competitor. The class was very crowded b/c of course all the kids wanted to take a class from her. She decided to divide the groups by skill level and did so by asking who could land an axel. Groan - first of all, it's power class, not jumping class, and as we all know, many adults who started skating as adults never get an axel and it usually has nothing to do with their basic skating abilities (at least, I know adults on their Novice or Junior MIF that still don't have an axel). I was going to be in the lower group with kids who were working on either Pre-Pre or Prelim MIF, and at the time, I was working on Silver. Plus, I did skate a bit faster than these kids. I told the instructor that in terms of my moves, I was closer to the other group (most of them were working on Pre-Juv or Juv), so she said I could go in that one. Except that there were a ton of us trying to do exercises where the kids would skate around as fast as they could w/o looking and trying to show off to each other and the instructor :roll:. I skated a little slower than I might otherwise b/c I was worried about colliding with someone - we were in a small area. She skated over to me and asked "Are you sure you're OK in this group?" Cue embarrassment. :oops:

And most of the exercises she had us do were kind of useless for figure skating, according to my coach when I told her the next day what we had done.

But I also took a power class a few times with my secondary coach, and she gave us a lot of moves-based exercises and lots of stroking in different patterns, where we actually used our edges. And she focused on posture, too. She taught the class again last summer, but unfortunately, it was the 5:30 session and I wouldn't have been able to get there from work in time.

Sometimes you'll notice that a group class instructor will pay the most attention to his/her students and/or will try to show them off at the expense of others. It's unfortunate when that happens, and I've handled it by just not taking the class any more.

[jjane45]

I just started a package consisted of 30 minutes flow & movement, 30 minutes power, 15 minutes break, and 60 minutes freestyle. Very good cardio workout because surprisingly the first 20 minutes from the freestyle is also power, making total of 50 minutes tough exercise. So thankful to the 15 minutes break...
I am the only adult in the class (with helmet and all pads lol), and kids seem to range from age 6 to early teen, FS1 thru FS5+. Majority of the time the class moves as a whole and relative speed is certainly an issue. It's painful to abort patterns repeatedly because the skater in front of you is much slower OR to block someone's way :giveup:
Have to say that power usually does not require individual attention unless the skater does not know how to do certain moves (e.g. back 3 turns in my first class). Most of the time the "evil" instructor just randomly comes up with grueling drills that suit most skaters' skill level IMO. Like 60 second drill sitting down at each line instead of just touching the ice, bunny hops 10 laps...
I am really curious what other specialty classes are out there and how do they help in general? My rink's catalog has dance, pilates for skaters, off ice jumps, axel workshop... Last year a spin class was listed but got canceled due to lack of interest :/

[GoSveta]

Same here. I went to two power classes and won't do anymore. Lots of the kids in there act like it's a race and the coaches really don't try to pace them. I had a relatively hard fall because one of them cut across me (across my skating path) and cause me to startle and trip over my toepick.

Didn't say excuse me or anything. I've over it, but I'll never go again.

They also never do what they say they're going to do on the schedule. If they say they're going to do spins and I show up, it's cause I want to work on spins, not anything else.

[Skate@Delaware]

I took a power skating class several years ago at my rink. It was for all skill levels and hockey. It was grueling! There were edge & speed drills. My overall skating improved. But, that was about 4 or 5 years ago....

The only other specialty class(s) I've had has been at Hackensack-the class taught by Vlad (think that's his name-Team V). We did crossover laps and I thought we would all run into each other and die, but he had us all count and hold each push, so we were synchronized which helped immensely! It was very good and really pushed you.

[drskater]

It's really too bad so many of you had poor experiences in power skating classes. I learned so much in mine--namely how to really skate, use edges for speed and control, not to mention helping me improve endurance and power. The kids in the class do like to make it a race but I figured it was their problem and just ignored them. Our instructor paid everyone equal attention, though she didn't push the adults quite as hard. In the final analysis, it was well worth it and I'm doing the class again. I'm also taking a patch class this fall, which I suspect is mainly going to attract adults, though Coach wants the youngsters in it.

[Isk8NYC]

I used to take a summer Footwork class where we were taught a footwork sequence a few steps at a time, adding onto the sequence everytime we all mastered it. If you got stuck on one turn or step, the instructor would break it down and teach how to do it properly. That's how I learned to do Rockers. Kathe Baker set up the prior step so that the check was already in place when you started the Rocker, so it was easy to learn the rest of the turn.

The group lesson was a lot of fun and it was during an Adults-only freestyle on a weeknight. The group only had about five or six students, but three of them wanted to focus on Moves instead, so the format changed after a few sessions. There were maybe three other adults on the freestyle, so it wasn't too crowded at all.


Way, way back in the neolithic past, I used to teach a wacky on-ice exercise class with simple skating moves designed to just get people moving to the music and using their muscles. It was a nice warmup for people who could skate, but also great for those who needed to get in shape for skating. We would do really deep swizzles with open/closed knees (abductor/adductor muscles), tight slalom edges (power pulls for higher level; two footed for low-level skater) with sweeping arm movements to work the waistline, Dips and shoot the ducks with arms over the head, then down to the ground (pecs), etc. I think I had as much fun teaching it as they did skating in it, plus there were bagels afterward, lol.

[jjane45]

Way, way back in the neolithic past, I used to teach a wacky on-ice exercise class with simple skating moves designed to just get people moving to the music and using their muscles. It was a nice warmup for people who could skate, but also great for those who needed to get in shape for skating. We would do really deep swizzles with open/closed knees (abductor/adductor muscles), tight slalom edges (power pulls for higher level; two footed for low-level skater) with sweeping arm movements to work the waistline, Dips and shoot the ducks with arms over the head, then down to the ground (pecs), etc. I think I had as much fun teaching it as they did skating in it, plus there were bagels afterward, lol.

Oh that sounds so much fun! Now I really wonder how other power / on-ice exercise classes are structured. Mine are simply drills non-stop with minimum instruction, with everyone (20+ students in general) doing the same pattern usually in laps or along rink's length or going through each hockey circle and changing direction from circle to circle. The exercises themselves are mostly low level freestyle elements made into continuous patterns.
I found even though there was no instructions, people I usually skate with commented my speed really improved after taking power lessons. This is exactly why I pick them up again, and very gladly found out I feel less intimidated this time around. Different instructors do make a difference, so even if you had bad experiences before, consider giving it another try!