Hello! My dd is now skating USFS FS2 and has all elements except for the back spin. Recently she started working for an upcoming competition and her coach suggested to work on FS1. I was watching her practices and saw that she was doing poorly. Alhough she has all FS1 elements she has a lot of trouble to put them in a program. She forgets what to do next, instead of a half flip she might do a toe loop, start with the wrong foot etc. Obviously her ability to master the elements does not translate to a maturity of using those elements in a program. She does one private a week for her program and 2 group lessons a week for skills. I was watching her group class and she is doing really well, I am not surpised if she passes the level before the competition. Her private coach told me that my dd will not have the ability to upgrade her program to FS2 (I beleive that) in the following month and to ask her group teacher not to test her even if she gets the spin.
Is this ok? Will the group teacher think that I am sandbagging? I am a little bit confused. Seing how much she struggles to learn her routine made me question what level she really is.
I d love to hear what you think.
Thanks!

I think it's fine. It sounds like the program she's doing is at a level that is challenging for her & that it's not like she's flying through it all w/ no problem. Ie, it doesn't sound like she'll be 'sandbagging.' That might only come into play if she was easily breezing through her program w/ superior mastery of the whole thing. It doesn't sound like that's the case.

It won't hurt her a bit to stay in the same level for one more session, it will probably do her good as those skills get stronger. As you are experiencing, being able to do something in isolation and combining it all into a program & elements & footwork ect., is very very different. Part of the struggle she's experiencing is just a lack of muscle memory for each element. Eventually she'll be able to think "toe loop", and her body will just do it, as opposed to right now when she has to stop & think, "which foot? which way to I turn? which edge am I supposed to be on?" The more she practices everything the better this will get.

This is also a good example of "there's testing level, and then there's competition level." Two very different things, and this is just the start!

There's a big difference between being able to perform maneuvers individually and being able to perform them in a continuous program. (With or without music.) If this is her first exposure to doing programs and competing, definitely keep her at the lower level for the competition.

I don't think this is an example of sandbagging. I also think that the coaches would both understand the situation.
(BTW, the really strong back spin is a Freeskate 3 element, so don't worry about her not having it down yet. She only needs two turns for FS2.)

One note: when a skater takes both group and private lessons, the private lesson coach signs off on the competition form and specifies the skater's current test level. By asking the group coach not to test, this makes the private coach's signoff on FS1 accurate.

I could see why you're uncomfortable telling the group coach not to test; could you speak to the skating director instead?

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FWIW, when I'm teaching group classes and I have students who I know are in private lessons and doing Basic Skills comps, I generally check with their private coaches before testing day just to make sure the private coach is ok with the student moving up. Being able to do something well enough to pass it at a learn-to-skate standard and doing it well enough to do it securely in a program are very different, especially for kids younger than seven or eight.

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