I have been skating now for a little over a year. I can do all the jumps up through the lutz and can do a scratch, sit, and backspin, etc. My level of skating is right around ISI 4-5 (working on axel- landed it at first, now not so much )

My coach knows I am interested in eventually testing. At my last lesson he mentioned creating a program and working towards competing. But he wants to start at ISI 2. Is this normal? I was kinda insulted because I can do more skills than this, so I have been a bit upset. I know it is pretty common to compete one level below what you can do, but 2-3 levels below seems like a lot

Anyone else been in this situation? I am not starting to think all the skills I can do at the higher level must look awful and amy getting discouraged

ANy advice?

Have you officially tested to ISI 4? If so, I don't think you can skate down in ISI?

If you've just informally checked things off, then yeah, it's probably not abnormal. Just because you are workign on something doesn't mean you've mastered it- so he probably wants you to get a bit of experience competiting before moving you up.

In ISI you can't compete elements from above your level though, so you'll only be able to have ISI 2 things in your program.

If you really don't like the idea tell your coach!

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Have you been to a competition yet? If not, go and watch and see to what standard people at the various levels are doing the elements. If you aren't officially at level 4 yet, and can still 'legally' skate at level 2, do it and see how it goes. If you blow the competition away, then next time, you'll move up!

'Test standard' and 'competition standard' are not quite the same thing. Plus, it's a lot harder to put an element into a program and compete it and do it well, than it is to do an element in isolation. That's probably what your coach is thinking of.

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Thats the thing - I am only tested to ISI 2 because I stopped groups and have been doing privates since I got to that level. So, that is probably why. But I think I would rather start working on testing the USFSA adult track vs ISI anyway- and since pre-bronze/ bronze is more the level I am working at, I thought that would be more appropriate.

I mean, I understand why he said it, I was just a little taken aback since its been over 6-8 months since I learned/mastered most of the ISI 1-2 skills, so for him to say that I felt like I am going backwards vs forwards in progress, u know? oh well

As a coach, I can see various reasons why I would do it the way your coach suggests... (but before I start, let me clarify, I haven't seen you skate so I can't really tell. I'm also assuming you have taken any of the ISI freestyle tests.)

First, working on a program can be very different from working on individual elements. Being able to do the jumps/spins individually doesn't necessarily meand you can do them all in a program - especially if you have never done a program before.

Next, working towards a competition is a great way to perfect the skills at that level. Perhaps getting better take off or air position in jumps, and getting more revs and better/nicer positions in spins. It is nothing to do with higher level skills looking awful. Rather it is better to focus on a few skills to perfect first - hence starting at a lower level.

Lastly, there is more to skating than just the elements. It is always worth it spending time to refine basic skating skills and presentation. You may also find yourself having fun learning other "uncaptured manoeuvres" , like trying the ina bauer or spread eagle!

Honestly, no matter how fast my student learns, I would likely not consider putting her in FS4 after just "a little over a year". Still, I wouldn't choose FS2 because personally I do not like the elements in FS2, and also because the real single jumps are in FS3.

You are paying your coach for his expert assessment. It is his responsibility to see that you compete at the right level - not too low, nor too high. You have to give him some trust that he will do his job. But at the end of the day, if you still feel its not right, you should be able to discuss with him and have him convince you this is the right level.

Hope things work out the way you want them to!

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You can't skate up in ISI, so that's probably why your coach said it - if you're entering the freestyle event - plus the FS4 footwork is a bear and that tends to be a plateau level for a lot of people, and then to do it in competition adds more stress that can screw up the footwork completely. I think your coach is doing the right thing - you might suggest entering an artistic even though, where I believe you can skate up a little bit (there's no way you can skate up two levels, however)

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Oh sorry, I read this only after I posted my previous reply...

Is your coach going to put you in a ISI freestyle, or artistic event? If he knows you prefer testing USFSA then an Artistic program would be perfect, since there are no restrictions on elements, so you can probably do a program that can also be used for USFSA track testing. And you wont' have to test any higher levels in ISI either!

I suppose, it will be good to clarify with your coach what his intentions and plans are for you, before getting all down on this!

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I was at a FS4 level and had to compete at FS2. It was so easy that I screwed up because I didn't feel like I had to try at all. And I never wanted to do runthroughs because I didn't want to be stuck doing half jumps for an hour session. Yeah it sucked.

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I think that (technically) you are supposed to do a program to pass each ISI level. Maybe he wants to see you put all the FS 2 elements into a program and do it successfully before he passes you up another level.

Like others have said, it is hard to do all your elements correctly in a program, especially toward the end when you're getting tired. The loop in my Silver program is near the end, and I get it only about 50% of the time right now. But I can do a loop easily in isolation.

Also, maybe he wants you to really refine your technique on your harder elements before you compete with them. Like, I can DO a camel, but I really have to work on perfecting the entry and getting some more speed into it before I could compete with it in a program.

Maybe you should just ask him why? I don't know when the competition is, but it could be as simple as there isn't enough time to get your test paperwork in to pass you up to FS 4 before you have to register for the comp.

I plateaued at FS 4 when I was teenager. I competed at that level for three years...my program got kinda old after a while

Edited to add: Maybe he chose ISI over USFSA because ISI comps are really laid-back and are a good experience to start competing in. Like, a testing-the-waters experience before you jump into USFSA comps.

I'd have to admit that I would be upset too. I'm sorta in the same boat you are. I can jump through double flip but my coach wants me to compete Gold level where that jump is not allowed. But I realize that I have never competed before so I don't know how my nerves are going to affect me. So your coach may be building up your confidence.

BlackManSkating

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Speed up back Camel

I think it's better to do an easier program the first time out. That way you only have to fight the nerves and not worry about being pushed to your limits.

Testing is nothing like skating in practice. You're not well warmed up, you're nervous, you're distracted etc. At some point I had to test the toeloop, salchow, 1-foot-spin, waltz jump and a few other easy things and I could do them in my sleep.
But for the final runthrough we did at the club of the test - I don't know, maybe I didn't have my day or my skates weren't on right or something, but just everything went wrong. I just barely got the passing average. Then on the testing day, everything went as it used to and I only missed a half a point on the salchow and got the max for the other elements. But nonetheless, I mean that "bad day" I had at the final runthrough could've been on the testing date too.

I think you should start with something you can do in your sleep just so you see what it's like.

On my part all I can tell you is that it is very different skating to music then doing the elements on their own. I had my jumps through to filp before I my coach put my first program together and it was so hard to do anything with the music on! First of all the music threw me, I was listening to the timing of that instead of trying to pay attention to the timing on my jumps, also you're skating non stop and believe it or not the first 1min30 program as short as it is - is very hard work! Pulling elements out at the end of it is much harder then just on their own.

My advice would be trust your coach, and if you find it is much to easy for you I am sure they'll be willing to step it up a level. Hope this helps at least a bit.

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