Hi, I am new to the boards and looking for a little reassurance. DD starting skating at age 6 and is now just turned 8. She only skated 45min/week for the first six months so it has been about 1.5 years that she has really been skating. It took until now for me to realize that her coach was not teaching her good habits. For nine months I watched her flounder and not improve. Now after 2 months with her new coach she has drastically improved and looks beautiful. She has an excellent work ethic and is talented (according to a few coaches, but aren't they all??). Her goal right now is to land an axel by the end of the summer which seems possible. My question is whether she is young enough to still develop into a competitive skater. I am not fooling myself to think she could be a champion but I want to give her every opportunity to achieve her dreams no matter what they are (she says she wants to coach some day). Did we waste too much time?

seems to me i read in one of my daughters skating books that jeff butle couldn't land any triple jumps until he joined mariposa when he was 12. within a year he learned every triple except an axel--so if your daughter can land an axel when she's 8. 4 years from now who knows what the possibilities are. i am new to this site too! i have so many questions about skating--- everyone is probably going to get sick of all my questions, but i sure do appreciate all the comments

I should qualify what I said by saying that DD is not anywhere near landing an axel yet. Her coach has set it as a goal. She thinks given her work ethic and recent improvement that it is a possibility. I do trust this coach as she has great deal of experience at beginner through national level. Thank you though for the encouragement.

If she wants to coach, there is plenty of time. Almost anyone can become an accomplished skater, although few will ever be competitive at the international level. Since your daughter wants to coach someday, it's especially important that she understand what she is learning now, not just learn to do things. Does her coach teach her the names of the elements she is learning? Does she know what edges are and can she recognize the edges she sees and does? Some coaches teach almost entirely by example without any technical information given. That particular method is not going to foster a future coach.

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While I agree with most of that, I have to comment that if an 8 year old says she wants to be a nurse when she grows up, nobody thinks she needs to start learning nursing skills right away, so while it's good for her to know what edges are, I really don't think it's necesary for her to start learning coaching skills. 8 is till pretty young and I wouldn't get too worried if she doesn't understand all the concepts of skating.

I just get so worried when I see people focusing so much on a child's future in skating that they miss the fun and enjoyment they should be having for skating's own sake. Because in the end, it's very likely the biggest advantage of this is what she got out of it AT THE TIME for it's own sake.

j

It may not have been the former coach that blocked your daughter from progressing, but rather her age and maturity level. Many 6-7 year olds just do not have the attention span nor the discipline to practice the skills learned in their lessons or retain that knowledge from lesson to lesson.

Many times, an 8-year old will have the same lack of attention span but physically is more mature and will perform the skills when prompted.

I have seen 6 and 7 year olds retain every word that their coach says and remember every skill .......and have 10 year olds who can't.

It is very common for skaters to 'suddenly' master skills after a few years of lessons. It could be that your daughter is now ready to listen and apply herself to skating and that is why she has progressed so quickly.

Enjoy her accomplishments and don't fret about whether she will become a competitive skater. Anyone can become a competitive skater --- just enter a few competitions. That doesn't mean they will become national competitiors. And, while there are age restrictions for competitive categories -- skaters can switch into the competitive stream once they have the required skills at the pre-novice or intermediate and novice level.

Also- remember that the cost of just being a true competitive skater is unreal (someone who just competes and never makes it through regionals or sectionals). If you are hoping your daughter makes it to nationals, expect to pay huge $$$ for the priviledge (and only one skater wins). Plus be prepared to be proactive every step of the way with the school system as you try to fit in hours of training with education. The older she gets - the more time on the ice and by the age of 10-11years old that will be really demanding.

A serious 8-year old skater is probably skating 5-6 days a week - at least 2 hours a day with off-ice, ballet, pilates, trampoline, ballroom, stretch class, plus doing ice dance, stroking, moves and freeskate lessons at this point -- at least 1/2 hour a day of private lessons.

A moderately serious 8-year old will be skating 3-5 days a week with 1/2 hour lesson each day and doing the off-ice and dance portion.

At least that's been my experience.

But if you want your daughter to skate for the love of the sport - which is what all skaters ideally should be doing -- give her all your support and encouragement (plus $$ for lessons, competitions, ice fees, decent skates etc) and see where she will end up. No coach should promise a skater or parent anything unless they have a crystal ball. Who knows where the sport will take her? If coaching is something you would like to consider, make sure she takes the USFSA tests in dance, moves, and freeskate. No one cares what medals a coach got at the lower levels - but do care what tests they have passed (sort of like grades in school). And, a skater who applies herself can acheive their gold medal in dance or moves or freeskate without bankrupting the family and giving up their childhood.

Good luck!

One of my favorite pairs skaters is Amanda Evora. She placed 4th at nationals this year in pairs skating with Mark Ladwig. If you read her bio she started skating at 6 i believe! http://www.evora-ladwig.com/Biography.htm

And these 8-year olds will be doing it enthusiastically 90% of the time, with a drive and focus that seems almost freaky in comparison to most other 8-year olds. Lots of kids have the physical talent necessary to get several triple jumps, very few have the extraordinary drive required. My daughter surely doesn't. Thank goodness! It will save me a boatload of money, lol.

I have often heard "Axel at 8, double axel at 12, Olympics at 16." That's probably not too far from the truth. But if you talk to the parents of National level skaters, you will almost always hear that they just took it day by day, never worrying about how their kids compared to any standard. Their kids skated for the joy of it and competitive success was only a by-product.

We were just told that if my daughter skated every day, she'd be an amazing skater... of course, she's 16 yrs old, and we're just not up for that right now!

So, if you think you want to commit $$$ and time, and lots of other stuff (like the emotional stress of it all) I wish you the best of luck - it's a very hard, and frequently dangerous and disappointing journey. There are 120,000 or so registered skating members of USFSA, and only 10-16 of them get to go to the Olympics, once every four years...

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blades, gary, Lucy, Emily, take care of Aiden and Sami. Sami is my sweetest heart, and always will be, forever. RIP Cubby Boy, my hero dog.

Just because you don't make it to the Olympics, this is not a failure or disappontment or waste of time.

My daughter will never make it to the Olympics...I'd be happy if she gets to Novice by the time she graduates next year. I don't believe she's ever gotten a gold medal for freeskating in any comp (though she has for other disciplines) I do not begrudge one penny I have spent...the confidence and self discipline, and good times we've had on the road to competitions...priceless.

You have to go into skating for it's own rewards. Not gold medals.

j

ITA with this! It is interesting that kids play all kinds of sport and no one ever even thinks about the olympics. Figure skating is a sport just like tennis, soccer, track & field or whatever. The saying about life is a journey not a destination is important to remember. Parents and kids should just enjoy the journey wherever and how ever far it takes them.

I skated competitively up until I was 20 years old. In that time I Skated on the U.S. national team and always placed in the top 4. I quit skating out of frustration but at the time I didn't know what was bothering me. Now I look back and realize that all I focused on at the time was the competion aspect of the sport and never really payed any attention to my love for the sport. Remeber sports and competion don't always go hand in hand. Sports are to bring you to an understanding of body and mind and if you achieve that life falls into place.

Thank you everyone for your replies. My dd is actually very focused and thoroughly enjoys her time. We always focus on fun. We are prepared for the time and financial commitment as long as the fun continues. As defined above she would be a moderately serious skater. Her new coach has made a big difference and corrected many bad habits/poor form. Now we just need to find a way to politely end the relationship with the first coach (they both know she is taking from both) but I guess that is another post...

So far her school has been accomodating but I can see this becoming a problem IF she continues to that level.

Say,I know who she is. But is she a Singles Skater as well bac.=by any chance? LOL,because it sems like it from the way I'm reading it.

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FSWer

She only skates pairs right now. I dont know how long if so she skated as single.