Hi! Newbie here.

I'm looking for suggestions to help my 7 year old break her habit of looking at her feet and/or the ice. I've had her skate with a bean bag on top her head, but she won't keep it on long enough to make a difference because she feels silly. I tell her to keep her eyes above the boards, but that doesn't help for long either.

Another thing is that on FI and FO3's she swings her free leg around sticking out behind her (almost in a landing position), instead of holding it at her skating leg. I assume this has to do with the fact that she is looking at her feet, because on the rare occasion she keeps her head up, she has beautiful 3's. OTOH, she has nice, consistent brackets!

I'm not much of a skater, so any advice anyone could offer would be appreciated!

Kids often have trouble doing the right things while skating. Sometimes their intentions are good, but something else grabs their attention and .......

Your daughter probably starts concentrating on her move and that distracts her. It sounds like it's going to take a lot of reminding while she's skating.

Does she take lessons? Is her coach addressing this problem?

Sometimes having someone other than Mom (or Dad) tell them a few times will get through to them better.

You might also try videotaping your daughter. Try to get footage that shows her doing it right and wrong, then praise how "professional" she looks when she has her head and eyes up.

Since you're in St. Louis, drop me a PM. I'd be intersted to know what rink(s) you skate. I skate Kirkwood, North County, Creve Coeur, and St. Peters mostly.

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Many go fishing all their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. - Henry David Thoreau

Sometimes kids do this because of habit, sometimes it's a confidence thing. Either way, it's bad. Looking down causes the shoulders to be useless, which is why she has to force the 3-turns using her free leg. Pick a key phrase to remind her, like "I can't see your pretty face," "look where you're going," "heads up" or "chin up." (What does her instructor/coach say to her? Does that person have a key phrase you can repeat?) Have her say it to herself before she starts the maneuver, and practice at least 10 in a row. They won't be perfect at first, but eventually she'll get 100%!

I can't tell who is coaching her from your message, but I assume you're watching practices. If she does it right, tell her: "That one looked great! I think keeping your head up makes it look better."

If you look in the archives, there is a thread related to improving 3-turns, with a lot of wonderful explanations and tips. Specifically, there are some notes about head position before and after the turn. Good luck - sounds like she's doing really well at skating. She'll break this habit eventually.

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I have had a problem with looking down on some of my jump landings, much to the chagrin of one of my coaches. So for Christmas, I got him a sweatshirt that said "Keep your eyes up!!" with a pair of eyeballs looking up. (I drew it on my computer.) The first day I gave it to him, he was teaching a pairs lesson and this poor girl was falling on a throw. He ran off the ice, put on the shirt, ran back onto the ice, did the throw again, and the girl landed it beautifully with her head and back up, looking at his shirt!

If you're the one helping your daughter, maybe you can do something similar? Or hold up a sign that she has to be watching for after she turns?

Pat

Gosh, thanks everyone

Yes, she does take lessons - FS1, stroking, turns and a private lesson each week. Her coach does not seem concerned about it. I would think it's better to break the habit sooner than later.

I love the sweatshirt idea, that's too funny!

Videotaping has been somewhat helpful. She notices what she's doing right and wrong, but that's about where it ends.

Today she practiced with an older girl, and there was some improvement. I also notice she does better on a freestyle than on a public session.

I will try out your ideas. Thanks again!

I explained it to her this way and it seems to have done the trick - at least for now

I thought it must have been something along those lines, but not being a skater I couldn't come up with the words to explain.

Thanks!

I don't have anything to add that hasn't already been said, I just wanted to mention how great I think it is that you'd come here, admit that you don't skate and are having trouble helping her fix this problem, and ask for advice. I know far more parents than I'd like to who think that if their kid skates, that somehow automatically makes them know what they're talking about. Needless to say, this is not the case and they often end up giving their kids pretty useless (and sometimes just plain wrong) advice. Stop by any time!

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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!

Thanks CanAmSk8ter! I cringe at the thought of becoming one of those parents!