What kind of learner are you?

[Chico]

I have found that I'm a visual learner, at least for skating. My coach can talk until he's purple in the face, and I often understand in my head, but doing it is a different manner. If my coach does it and explains the chances are pretty good that I will do it. I find watching his tempo, technique and attitude in the skill a winner almost every time. I find this to be true when I learn new skills that I teach myself from watching other skaters and coaches.

So........How do you learn skating skills best? Teaching method.

Chico

[Figureskates]

Interesting Thread!!

I too am visual but I find that I can't think of too may things at the same time..like hip position, arm position, posture. What my coach does is break it down into small pieces , get those mastered then add or correct. For example, we have been working on my back outside edges. I have been having a real time of it in shifting my weight, so we worked on that so I can now do it without thinking about it. This week we then worked on arm and shoulder position and now it has all come together quite nicely.

I can visualize what I am suppose to do but my skates seem to have a mind of their own....

[skaternum]

Slow! ;)

Actually, I'm mostly a visual learner, but verbal instructions are my secondary preference. My coach gets best results if she shows me something, then explains it.

[Mrs Redboots]

I often learn best if my coach shows me what I am doing, and then shows me what I ought to be doing!

[backspin]

Totally visual learner. I too often will ask to see how I'm doing something, vs. the correct way. The ultimate insult:

me: "show me how I'm doing it."

coach: (big sigh) "I don't know if I even can!"

:lol:

[singerskates]

I'm a mixture. I can pick up most of the technic from watching my coach or a fellow skater doing the element but to get it down right, I need to get the details relaid to me verbally.

Ex. Working on the loop.
I was able to watch and try the jump right away but to get the last half rotation I needed to have my coach tell me what to do with my arms at the right time. Because the timing was off.

[MissIndigo]

I'm visual, with conceptual running closely behind. I do like to actually see a new skill before attempting it, and then I'll ask to see it again. I will then talk through the move with my coach, explaining to her where I think my shoulders, hips, etc., should be during the move in order to get the most out of it. I often think of body alignment and how this is going to affect the momentum needed for the move, or the centrifugal force generated in a spin, and why. I think of the alignment of my hips and shoulders as a perfect rectangular plane, and of my body as a cylinder, my arms and legs as rods off that cylinder. Therefore, the move almost always gets explained in terms of physics when my coach hears what I'm thinking. :lol: I can't help it; I have a degree in physics so every skating session is like one fun hands-on lab!

[dbny]

Both visual and conceptual. As a child, roller skating, I had to have every detail explained technically before I could do anything, but now I find that I am learning much more visually. I've picked up patterns by watching coaches show their students. Then I need fine tuning in my own lesson, but only with "how" to do it.

[mskater13]

I am mostly a visual learner, but if my coach tells me something, I can usually understand it and it works for me.. but for my double axel I had to watch a few skaters at my rink do it and it motivated me and helped me see the technique of the jump.. I just recently landed the double axel and I think watching other people do it was what helped me land it . So I would say I am mostly a visual learner.

[vesperholly]

I need cues like body placement and relationship to stationary objects or patterns - is that called spatial maybe? In MITF, my patterns are always pretty dead on, its not difficult for me to figure out the top of a lobe and where to turn on the circle. Actually DOING the turn on the other hand...

For example, my coach telling me to squeeze my legs together on the rocker-choctaw sequence in Novice Moves doesn't help, telling me to keep my free foot over the tracing after the choctaw does. For counters she tells me to turn towards the wall, not "turn less around".

Jocelyn

[luna_skater]

I respond to visuals to get the basic idea, but to perfect a move, I usually need to hear certain words or phrases that will make it click. For instance, knowing that I need to lean back during choctaws isn't nearly as helpful as thinking about my hips.

I have a horrendous time learning dance and skills patterns just by looking at a piece of paper. I've done synchro my whole life, so I learn in terms of counts of 6 or 8 in time to music. It takes me a long time to figure out a visual pattern, but if someone were to go through the steps with me a count of 8 at a time, I'd learn the pattern in no time at all.

[Andie]

Mainly visual, but then a little verbal I guess.

[LoopLoop]

For skating, I learn best through a combination of verbal and kinesthetic approaches. Visual is last. I'm extremely analytical, so I need to *understand* something first, and then I can start *feeling* it. My coach will explain something, then he'll show it to me, and sometimes he'll put my arms or legs or whatever in the correct positions. Sometimes when he's explaining or describing something I even close my eyes so I can imagine it.

[CanAmSk8ter]

I have a variety of learning "issues", but for the most part I am very visual. When my coach can't get something across to me, I try to either watch one of the elite teams do it, or I try to find it on video. Sometimes that means trying a different technique, but usually my coach is ok with that if it works. About a year ago at this time I was just starting to work on the Blues for summer competitions, and I was having a terrible time with the choctaw. My shoulders always seemed to be in the wrong place, and what my coach wasn't having any luck fixing it. I could do it the way he wanted, but it still didn't feel right and I didn't totally understand how it was supposed to work anyway. But one day, I got off the ice and Shae-Lynn and Victor were doing the Blues on the other side. I watched what Shae did going into the choctaw and it wasn't what I had been taught, but when I got back on the ice, it worked! It also made it "click" what my coach had been talking about when he tried to explain his method to me, but the new way still worked better. Needless to say, my coach had no problem with the technique change when I told him where I had "learned" it :D and he agreed that it was better for me. I know though that my coach could have tried to explain either method until the cows came home, but seeing it made all the difference. I have multiple teams' Blues on tape at home too, since it was used in both the '94 and '02 Olympics, and I must have watched Shae-Lynn and Victor and Grishuk and Platov do that dance hundreds of times to figure out how to keep power going into the repeat, but I did figure it out.

[jazzpants]

SLOW!!!! :P :P :P

Oh, you wanna know HOW I learn??? :lol: :P My way of learning is a combo of analytical and "feel." If I don't feel it, I want to know why I don't "feel it." Other thing is that YELLING at me is not gonna get me anywhere...unless, of course, I'm far away and I can't hear you! :P HUMOR, OTOH, will definitely help me! Of course, HUMOR could mean something like "What are you? A Harley Mama???" or (re: floor axel attempt) "Ummm....aren't you supposed to ROTATE???" :P

[wannask8]

For physical things like skating, visual is best for me when combined with verbal explanations. It’s really effective when coach imitates me, then shows me the proper way while explaining how he’s doing it (for example, which muscles to tighten to turn my torso a certain way). Video is awesome, both for being able to review/visualize the correct way to do something and to critique what went wrong – wish I had someone to do this for me regularly.

Writing things in my skating journal shortly after practice/lessons also seems to help “cement” things in place.

-- wannask8

[Chico]

Wow, a ton of us are visual learners. And to think I thought I was unique! The person who mentioned verbal cues as signals from your coach works with me too. =-) He has taught many skills with funny little songs and sayings. I find myself singing these little songs as hints to myself when practicing. Thanks for all who shared, it was interesting to read.

Chico

[JDC1]

Like Jazzpants I am SLOW!! It takes me forever to catch on, I always tell my coach,, once everyone else has tried the new thing "okay, now show the blonde girl". I need it EXPLAINED, where's my weight, how deep is my knee, how's it supposed to feel....etc....they have patience.