Bear with me, I'm not a skater, but I figured you guys would understand. She just turned 5, and last night landed a combination sal chow, toe loop jump. I'm so excited for her, she was so proud, but since we are not from a skating family, everyone just kind of stares at me blankly when I say what she did. LOL.

Anyway, she did it, she's been working on her salchow for a couple weeks now, it was nice to see her get it!

PS, Glad I did what she asked and put her in spring skating - she's been a little workhorse all season now. Thanks again for all your advice re: that decision

Well done her! I'm glad she's enjoying her skating and making such good progress - she must be very mature for her age. Not all children that age are disciplined enough to work hard enough to make such progress.

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

Terrific! Give her a sticker for me!

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That is fantastic, especially at 5 years old!!!!!!

Congratulations! That's a terrific accomplishment. BTW, it's "Salchow", named for the inventor of the jump, Ulrich Salchow. Other common jumps named for their inventors are the Axel (Axel Paulson) and the Lutz (Alois Lutz).

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Congratulation! It is so exciting when they are excited about what they are doing. Just wait, soon she will be correcting you skating vocabulary "Mom, it's not a loop jump it's just a loop (insert exasperated tone ) Yikes, they grow up so quickly!

And then you can tell her that it is a loop jump because the original loop was a figure traced on the ice (and still is), and that the jump came afterwards! And, yes, I do give lessons in how to annoy your children !

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Thanks DBNY I'll have to remember that. My dd has always skated with kids 2 to 5 years older, and she tends to pick up some of the "vocabulary." So far nothing too terrible but it is always interesting to listen in.

Congratulations to your daughter!! Well done!

I completely understand what you mean about family just not "getting" it. My mum often comes with us and says "what's that she's doing?"...

My daughter is about the same age as yours and she has been learning a preparation for an axel in the last couple of lessons. I don't expect her to get it for years yet, but it's nice to see them working on stuff that pushes their boundaries (like the combo jump).

My daughter loves trying harder things, which is good as it keeps her on her toes so to speak.

Tell her congratulations and well done from us!

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AW1
mum to Miss Lil (6yrs old)
mum to be to #2 due in March 08

She's a pretty good little skater; I think she may fool you there.

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My dd's coach does that with her as well. He started the Dutch Waltz with her too. Not that she'll be ready for a while, just to learn it. She thrives off being challenged. Then they work on the "badge work" stuff. I don't think she'll be landing axels anytime soon though! And yeah, she usually competes with 8-10 year olds. It's kind of crazy . ..

gee thanks dbny, but somehow I hope not. I heard it's really not good for their joints to be learning an axel before they are about 9 or so... but who knows maybe it's all propaganda....

The Dutch Waltz... wow that sounds hard (have no idea what it is LOL!) It sounds like your daughter and mine are very similar. She's not a Taurean is she? I think thats part of my Lilly's problem - she is soooo stubborn!!

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AW1
mum to Miss Lil (6yrs old)
mum to be to #2 due in March 08

Ice dance is hard, but not in the same way - it requires a great deal of precision and every body part just so. In many ways it's the harder discipline; on the other hand, at the lower levels you do get to keep one foot on the ice at all times, and the first few dances are all forwards stroking!

You may find it suits you when you return to the ice; it would certainly be good for Lilly to do at least some dance - at her level, the disciplines feed off each other, and dancing will help her stroking, her edges and her turns, while the free skating will help her confidence and power.

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

Congrats to your daughter, and I SO know what you mean about the above . . . when DS landed his flip jump I couldn't brag about it because everyone was thinking . . . backflip on ice . .. not!! Kind of made the actual accomplishment seem like nothing . . . once I got through explaining it . . .

I'm still learning about all this stuff. The Dutch Waltz is an ice dance, around here the beginning level one. Her coach was a former junior competitive skater in mens and ice dance, so I think he likes to start them out on dance young. He said it would improve her stroking, even though she won't be ready to test in it for another year or so. Edges and whatnot. (I'm skating ignorant, I apologize - I learn from "figure skating for dummies" LOL)

Nah, she's not a taurus, but she's a stubborn little monkey. And a perfectionist. Don't know if that's a good mix . . .:-)

I've had the same response!

As for the Dutch Waltz, my dd is getting ready to test hers (it will be her first test) and I must say that working on dance has made a hugh difference in her stroking and posture. Part of it is the dance, but I think the other part is that at this level they are skating forward around and around the rink so it is easier for the coach to continually make all the little corrections that are needed. Often her coach is right beside her the whole way round and I can see her talking and making corrections. That immediate feedback is so important. Dance also requires the skater to actually listen to the music and feel the beat ... something the little ones often forget to do in freeskate!

haha, well I put her down to being one of the signs of either Lilly or I - shes the Taurean, my husband an Aries, and I'm a Capricorn. Let me tell you there's lots of locking of horns in this house!

Question : For those of you with little ones who are learning dance, how do they learn? I mean, do they learn with a partner of similar age or are they learning with their coach as a partner, or solo? There are very few young skaters (let alone males) at our rink, my daughter's coach doesn't really know much about dance as she was a freestyle (and pairs for short time) skater, and the only dance coaches at the rink, don't really complement my daughter's coach in terms of teaching styles.... I really want her to stay with her current coach because she responds well to her.

Sorry to hijack Beegeemom, but I'm curious!

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AW1
mum to Miss Lil (6yrs old)
mum to be to #2 due in March 08

My daughter has learned her dances solo. She started in a small group class (3 little girls all about the same age) just doing progressives and other stuff in a duck line behind a coach. The group fell apart after about 6 months as the other two girls were somewhat unrealiable with their attendance. Since then her coach has worked with her privately. We're very lucky because her coach is equally talented in dance and freeskate. She started with a 15 minute per week private on a dance session - a dance session makes it easier because everyone is moving in the same direction. For the last couple of months she has been having about a 1/2 hour private a week to work with her coach partnering her so she will be ready for her test. By the way, her coach is female and it is quite common around her for the young girls to be partnered by female coaches. They don't actually skate in a classical dance hold, but rather side by side both facing forward.

I don't think there is anything cuter than a bunch of little girls practicing their Dutch Waltzes around and around the rink in a little duck line. The kids seem to love it too. Often the most senior of the little ones will take the lead and the rest will follow. My dd was thrilled on day because during practice the other girls thought that she should lead both the Dutch Waltz and the Canasta Tango. She was just flying high at the end of that session!