Can they be enough "what skates to buy" questions??????

ok here is mine. What skates to you buy for a child that is taking a break from testing/competing? My dd is shy of 8 years old, fs6, preliminary skater. She suddently developed an infatuation for another sport. Financially we can not do both so she is taking a break from skating but she still skates once a week for fun. That was going well for a couple of months but now she outgrew her skates and needs new. I kind of feel bad to down grade her skates but does it make sense to spend 300$ -400$ for recreation? What do you guys think?

Another question. I am wondering how long she will keep her current skating level by skating only once a week. So far so good except that she started overrotating some of the jumps.

thanks!

At that level, probably not too long. I assume she's been landing the lower singles (salchow, toe loop) for awhile- those she'll probably keep. The ones I'm guessing she learned more recently (Lutz, flip, whatever she's got as far as the axel) she may lose pretty quickly.

Would one lesson a month be a possibility? Even with downgraded skates, she could probably work on the elements from the lower freestyle levels. That way, if she did decide to go back to skating at some point, she'd have less to relearn. I definitely think that $300 skates for a kid who's skating once a week (and probably going to outgrow them before you know it) is excessive. I'm not that familiar with the lower-end Jacksons, but maybe the Riedell Blue Ribbon would work?

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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!

Lots of kids at our rink in the low freestyle levels skate on a Jackson Freestyle. I wouldn't think it's great for Preliminary, because of the blade- but if she isn't "really" skating at that level, just occasionally she might be okay in them. The Competitor is probably too much money for the time she is skating (it's $250 with blade, you can get it without a blade though) especially if she will grow out of these ones soon too.

I'm not sure I'd go below the Freestyle into one of the Jackson recreational skates. I do know some kids who do low freestyle (waltz jumps) on the Artiste and Mystique, but after the skates that she is used to (if you had been spending $300+) I think the change would be HUGE.

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Maybe you should find a used pair of a better skate. Then she wouldn't be down grading but you would still be saving some money. Is there anyone at your rink that is a tad older than her ? They probably have a closet full of skates. I know I do . In fact what sz is she maybe we should talk. .

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Luckey