Did anyone else watch the "Made" television show on the roughly 15-16 year old girl who decided she wanted to be made into a figure skater in 6 weeks?

I was impressed at how fast she progressed, from absolutely nothing to spirals, waltz jumps, nominal lunges, and simple pair lifts. She showed some elements of grace, and had a pretty strong spiral. Compare that with how much less progress students make in their first (ISI alpha or USFSA Basic 1) 6 week group lesson class.

She whined a fair bit. But think about it. She started out a nerd with no obvious athletic background, and immediately went into 4 hour/day private lessons from a demanding coach, plus serious off-ice sessions from a strength training coach. She simultaneously went on a high protein diet aimed at loosing 3-4 pounds a week. The books say you can't metabolize over .7 pounds/week of fat, so she probably lost muscle mass, possibly including heart and lungs. Of course she was sore. It's almost surprising she didn't drop dead.

And yes, that's a lot of hours. If you take one half hour group lesson/week, and practice another 2.5 hours/week, you spend that much ice time in a year - enough to take many students to low or mid level freestyle.

But it's still an incredible achievement.

She was trying to earn money for a cancer charity. I think they made $1100 or $1200 from the competition/show she also organized. However, I guess that between the ice and off-ice lessons the show gave her, the clothing and make-over they bought her, and such, they spent $4000-$5000 over those 6 weeks. (Plus television crew costs.) Plus whatever it cost for her to spend a partial day with Sasha Cohen.

I think it also shows, contrary to my earlier opinions, that spending all one's time on the ice with a coach really does help. And what a lot of people have said - money tells in this sport. Few families could sustain that spending level.

I don't have cable anymore, so I missed it, but MADE has done two other skater episodes as well. One of them has the full episode up on the MTV website, the other one (who was a male) only has clips.

The male skater also progressed enough that he got "2nd place" at a competition. Probably a Delta level ISI competition. He did a waltz jump, and other elements that sounds about like the girl you described.

The other girl, didn't get very far. She did an exhibition skate, and looked like someone who has done a few sessions of LTS. She was incredibly whiny, even walked out of a ballet class.

So, as much as I agree with your assessment that spending intensive training time with a coach really does accelerate progress, natural talent definitely contributes, because they don't all get real good in the 6 week period.

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If it was a reality Show..HECK!!! It only shows it CAN be done!!! BTW. what was her name? Also while were on the subject. Anyone know if Ice Diaries will be on again?

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FSWer

Good point! Just because it CAN, doesn't mean that it will for anyone who tries.

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However, it should be pointed out that (though it was quite a bit before the show) she HAD skated before and had taken lessons before. Whether or not she consciously remembered the moves, there was already some knowledge of balance and control over muscles from those prior lessons.

I'm not trying to take away from what she did, she made quite good progress. But, it wasn't completely and totally from scratch.

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Who was her coach?

Wish I could skate 4 hrs/day instead of 4 hrs/week.

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Maybe I missed that point, or maybe we are talking about different episodes. In the episode I saw, she promptly fell and kept falling. Perhaps they emphasized progress by showing the falls and stumbles at first, and the successful moves at the end.

This is the episode I watched

http://www.mtv.com/ontv/dyn/made/epi...eId=143634#bio

http://www.mtv.com/overdrive/?id=1582819

That says she is named Whitney, her coach is Lauren.

As an aside, I wonder why they didn't instead spread the teaching and training over the course of a whole summer. Would probably have been healthier at first if it was a little less concentrated.

PS

You can find show info by visiting a search engine with

made episode "figure skater"

NO kidding! My daughter skates about 8 hours in a normal week. SHe's made a lot of progress in the last 12 months but her progress wasn't as fast as that girl's progress! WOW.

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skating mom to 3 angels on earth and 1 in heaven

You can't compare the typical group lesson beginner to anyone who skates more than 30 minutes a week, lol. The skaters who just come for their group lessons progress much more slowly than those who attend the practice sessions (if available) or public sessions.

I make my group students PLEDGE (can't use "swear" down heah) that they will use their public session cards and come skate. Yet, the parents rarely make the extra trip.

The rinks I taught at in NY/NJ always bundle the lesson with an equal amount of practice time, back-to-back. Sometimes the parents still try to save time, but they're really making the lessons more expensive.

Dana - I hope some other show has this type of "sports fantasy" opportunity for adults and you get selected.

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Mrs Redboots
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It is the same episode. Before her mother died, she took some basic skills lessons and skated with her mother. As her mother got sick, she just watched skating with her mother.

See the icenetwork article here: http://web.icenetwork.com/news/artic...&vkey=ice_news

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"Without a struggle, there can be no progress" ~ Frederick Douglass