Say,this question came to me last night and I thought I'd post it. But I have noticed soometimes when I've seen skaters praticing with a coach that a coach is able to call out instructions to a skater at the VERY SAME TIME the SKATER is actully skating. Yet the skater never looses concentration. I find this odd because FANS themselves are able to distract a skater. Why?

__________________
FSWer

Well for one thing a coach yelling during practice and fans yelling during a competition is not the same thing- a coach is not allowed to give instruction during a competition - (as my daughter learned one year at regionals when she LANDED EVERYTHING and then forgot her footwork and looked at her coach who in desperation made a circular motion with her hands) but I've never noticed fans (like I have so many) distracting me during a competition - when people cheer and clap that just eggs me on. Now flash photography, that's another question.

Okay I'm rambling...maybe I am still affected by my concussion...that's my excuse anyway


j

As far as just pratice gos,how do they concentrate? BTW. are digital cams alowed in comp.?

__________________
FSWer

I don't think a coaches instruction disrupts concentration because what he is yelling is what I'm supposed to be concentrating on!

So if I'm doing alternating 3 turns and I'm thinking "bend my knees, down up down, wow that mohawk stunk, bend!" and he yells "don't swing your leg" then my thought pattern adds "don't swing" to it. I'm already thinking all about the move.

Now if instead of "bend you knees" or "rotate your head" he shouted "whatcha doing for dinner tonight" I'd be distracted.

__________________
-Jessi
What I need is a montage...
Visit my skating journal or my Youtube videos (updated with 2 new videos Sept 26, 2009)

I am just so zoned in on my coach when she yells at me...I tune everything else out (I'm a mom and wife so I'm good at this part ). She gives me one-two word cues, not long sentences or a running commentary. It might be HANDS or KNEES...

Sometimes it's hard because of the extraneous noise and my lack of hearing but we are dealing with it.

As far as during competitions, I sometimes look to where she is standing for visual cues (if needed). This is something we are working on for when I'm deafer (I am serious about this-losing your hearing and missing your musical cues is difficult).

__________________
Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

When my coach yells out, it is usually an instruction for the current element/move I am on that we are trying to fix or the last thing i just did. For example, we were working on my footwork sequence and I was having issues with the LBO rocker and I'd tap the free foot down and she'd yell "NO!" which mean go back two steps and pick it back up and don't drop the free foot. She also will yell out corrections in the middle of moves in the field patterns so I don't continue to make the same mistakes as I progress down the ice. I am concentrating on the move and her at the same time, so it's not distracting. If there was a third thing, that would be different - like a kid behind me would likely go down...She sometimes also counts positions in spins when we are working on various features. It helps because it makes it one less thing I have to think about in them!

We've had the discussion before about NOT yelling out when I am in the air of a jump because it doesn't help and WILL likely distract me and I may end up "disorganized". She knows to wait on jump corrections until I've come back down.

The only time I am ever distracted when my coach yells at me while I'm skating is when I'm jumping! Otherwise, (if I can hear her) it is usually helpful to me, as I am doing something wrong, and I add what she tells me to my thoughts when I am doing whatever I am workinng on, like Skittl1321 said.

But when I'm in the air, if she yells "PULL OUT" or something, I most of the time just fall if the jump I'm doing is axel or harder...lol

If my coach yells something at me when I'm skating, she just has to repeat it anyway, because I can't understand what she's saying from across the ice.

Cameras are usually allowed at competitions, but not with flashes. Digital doesn't matter, but you have to be able to turn the flash off. There may be some competitions that don't allow cameras at all; you'd have to ask when you go.

I have that problem in my power class and in the LTS warm up - the coach is screaming at us and I have no idea what she is saying. Once in power it looked like she was saying something really important so I stopped and went over to her and said "What am I supposed to be doing" "Um...I was telling you to step it up - only two more laps" By that time the others were done

j

It depends on what he yells. If it's "Watch your arms and shoulders!" I know I'm doing everything else right! That, however, is rare, although we are focussing on exercises to help my posture right now.

Yes, but of course you mustn't photograph any children not your own without written permission from their parents (sometimes this is incorporated in the competition entry form), and the absolute golden rule, whoever you are photographing under whatever circumstances:

__________________
Mrs Redboots
~~~~~~~~
I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

If you think a flash is bad, try getting hit in the face with a spotlight!!!! I had to do a waltz jump for a show and the house lights were OFF...right when it was my turn to jump, BAM!! the spotlight hit me in the FACE (big no-no) and I almost FELL!!!! I know the guys are volunteers, but they were told how to handle the spots....

Flash is B-A-D!!! Even with a well-lit rink!!!

ps-we are going through the "no photography..." thing at our rink. Waiting for the lawyers to hash it out as far as the law (if it's public session it's ok, but on private property it isn't but our rink isn't private property).

__________________
Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

I've never heard the above "rule" before. I've been at public competitions photographing high-level kids before, because it's usually the only chance I get to practice skating photography. I've never had anyone come up and tell me not to do it.

Hmm, does anyone else have this problem? My name is Jessica, so typically I just get called Jes by my coaches, if they're yelling to try and get my attention. Well, what does Jes rhyme with? "Yes." So, when one of my coaches is yelling "Yes, yes!", what do I end up hearing 95% of the time? "Jes, Jes!", which I think means "Stop! Something's wrong or I need you." Uh, not so, half the time.

So, instead of continuing whatever I'm doing, I stop because I think I'm being called when actually I'm doing something great and they're supporting me. I can't tell you how many times I've stopped in the middle of a dance because I think I'm being paged. Oh, I love having a rhyming name...

I think this might be a UK thing. But it should be a courtesy to non-public figures.

__________________
-Jessi
What I need is a montage...
Visit my skating journal or my Youtube videos (updated with 2 new videos Sept 26, 2009)

Well I don't have a problem with words rhyming with my name....my name's Jenna...but theres this other girl named Jenna whose coach yells a lot...so I get quite confused...also, a lot of people's names end in "a" so they all kind of sound the same! So I tend to stop a lot or look around quite confused

Here, you'd be arrested for child pornography or something if you tried! You don't even speak to a child without its parents being present (and usually not even then), and certainly never photograph it. Or even take a photograph where a child might have accidentally wandered into shot.

__________________
Mrs Redboots
~~~~~~~~
I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

If you want to go high-tech . . .

A couple weeks ago my coach was trying out a helmet with a microphone, and a transmitter, so she could talk in a normal voice in the hockey box and I could hear her from across the rink. I thought the helmet itself would be distracting, but it wasn't as much as I'd expected. The comments were fine, clearer than yelling would be (especially on a crowded session, which this was not), and directly related to what I needed to focus on during the moves.

In today's environment where people are really scared/paranoid about "stranger danger" and child molestation and so forth, it's best to avoid taking pictures of other people's kids, especially younger ones.

By the time people get to be national/regional competitors they usually have their picture all over the web so it's not so big a thing.

__________________
Gordon Zaft
http://sk8rboi.blogspot.com
School figures are skating's equivalent of the Latin Mass.

At one of the rinks I skate at there is a video camera in every area except the ladies and men's restroom, for liability reasons.

So, everyone who steps into this rink is on film. I actually prefer this. I feel safer when I'm the only one skating.

During the warm up when I was testing pre-preliminary moves, I was having all kinds of trouble. In the middle of the waltz 8 which was going poorly, I hear my instructor yell out "straighten up Jeanne"! It worked like a charm. I needed that.

Having my coach yelling to me during a practice session isn't going to disrupt my focus, because I'd kind of be expecting it; that's his job, to correct me. If I'm skating my program in a competition and some random person starts yelling to me, that's going to be a distraction because you don't expect that.

__________________
Shae-Lynn and Victor: We knew you were champions, and on 3/28/03 the whole WORLD found out! Thank you for twelve wonderful years!

If they get to Jr nats, sec,nats ect, they might be used to it.Anyone can go to regionals, so MOST of those kids dont have pics all over the place.

I think we have one in the lobby, but I'm not sure how much of the rest of the rink is covered. Almost everywhere here is under video surveillance - we are the most watched nation in the world, I believe.

__________________
Mrs Redboots
~~~~~~~~
I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

Actually, the US has a very similar "rule," depending on how you are using the pictures. Unless they are of your child, if you are going to post the pictures or publish them ANYWHERE, you must have permission from an adult that is a parent or guardian. If you are just using them as practice, then it's not as big of a deal but you should still be cautious. People who see you may not realize you're just taking pictures on your own, they may think that you're helping out the photographers or something, and may not say anything. But if they later see their child's pictures up without their permission by someone whom they do not know, there could be issues.

Generally the photos taken at competitions are advertised in the announcement, so people know there will be someone specific taking photos, Rarely are these pictures posted for a long period of time, if at all, past the competition. By entering, you're saying you agree to THEM and ONLY THEM taking photos, and I'm sure there's a way to have them refrain should you talk to them.

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

But this deals with publishing photos of minors. I do not know the UK law- but from what I have heard it also deals with merely taking photos of minors. In the US- you could take pictures of your kid skating on a public session and catch other kids in the background without any issue at all- as long as you don't publish them. They could just go into your photo album or scrapbook. It's my understand that in the UK- this is not allowed.

__________________
-Jessi
What I need is a montage...
Visit my skating journal or my Youtube videos (updated with 2 new videos Sept 26, 2009)