Improving Basic Skating

[texasdancer]

You often hear so-and-so needs to improve their basic skating. I had heard this in the past about Jenny Kirk, Sasha Cohen, and many other top skaters. My question is how does one go about improving basic skating? Is good strong basic skating something you are just born with or can it be learned? And if it can be learned, how? Moves in the field, dance, stroking excercises? I have a little friend who has earned her first trip to sectionals this year. She can do double axels and even a couple triples, but her speed and stroking are poor. She and her coaches seem clueless how to fix this with her. Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated.

[BittyBug]

Two words - dance lessons.

(BTW - There is nothing wrong with Jenny Kirk's basic skating, she has beautiful edges - it's her flip and lutz that need to be fixed.)

[luna_skater]

I second that. Nothing will improve your posture and edge quality better than taking dance.

[Schmeck]

Doing figures! That's the best way to learn to have control of your edges and excellent body position at the same time.

[BittyBug]

Figures are indeed great for edges, but given that very few rinks offer patch time anymore, it's not a very practical solution. Plus, you ideally need a second pair of skates (with different blades) for figures, whereas you can definitely do dance in freestyle blades (at least the lower level dances). Finally, figures do not really help you with basic stroking and power, which dance does.

[Skatewind]

Edge & movement classes. Like the classes developed by John Curry.

[JKlink]

Figures would work, but without ice and qualified instructors, it's not an option. Stroking and edge classes, maybe, but these classes/sessions tend to be crowded and lack enough individual instruction to make them worthwhile. Ice dancing is the only viable choice, but you still will need a coach that puts stroking and edge quality over passing dance tests. Same thing for MIF! When parents, skaters and coaches see passing tests as a way to judge progress, then it becomes learn it, test it and never do it again.

[Skatewind]

Ice dancing is not the only viable choice for all areas. Groups like ITNY & the Next Ice Age use the ensemble & edge classes. They have younger eligible skaters in their performances as well as professionals. Maybe in your geographic area these classes are not an option, but that is certainly not the case everywhere. The juvenile girls champion in my area has been taking a class like this for a couple years.

[JDC1]

No it's not the only way but it's a GREAT way. The skater not only learns the value and beauty of strong edges but they get the discipline of having to do it in certain beats to music so it would definitely help in a lot of areas. I skated free style for a year and had really shallow edges and after 6(?) months of dance I have edges so deep I scare my coach. :-)

[JKlink]

Originally posted by Skatewind
Ice dancing is not the only viable choice for all areas. Groups like ITNY & the Next Ice Age use the ensemble & edge classes. They have younger eligible skaters in their performances as well as professionals. Maybe in your geographic area these classes are not an option, but that is certainly not the case everywhere. The juvenile girls champion in my area has been taking a class like this for a couple years. I have seen many stroking and edges classes and I put them into two types. The first is where a large group of skaters do repetitive exercises to fast music while they race each other around the rink. I see this as more of a conditioning class rather than improving their skills. The second type is more organized and the larger group is broken down into smaller flights or a single line that skate down the ice to some type of classical or new age music. The emphasis here is on presentation, flow,interpretation and edges. You can find a quality edge class, and the ones you are referring to might be very good, but I'm more concerned with individual instruction that gives skaters the tools they need to develop their skating technique and analyze what they are doing wrong.

Dance is where you can learn how to do 3-turns, rockers, and mohawks with the proper body position. With the right instructor, you can also learn how to get deep in your knees and develop proper stroking technique. I always like to watch a group of kids at a competition explode onto the ice and do that choppy, hockey like stroking where they are trying to get up to speed and impress the judges, but then they have trouble with the speed when they have to do crossovers in the corners. When I watch the ice dancers take the ice, they have this long, powerful stroking where these skaters quickly get up to speed, but it is very graceful and powerful. I like the deep soft knees and the control over their edges and double 3-turns gain speed rather than lose it. This is what I was hoping we would see from MIF, but sadly, this didn’t happen.

I’m for Theater on Ice classes as I feel they help skater develop their presentation skills. This is another area where most skaters need work since most of their training time is spent on jumps, spins and footwork. Their ability to relate to and express the music in their programs can be greatly increased by these classes. I also think speed and flow and can be improved to a point, but any technical problems still need some one on one instruction along with daily reinforcement. Muscle memory takes over when it comes to competitions and those skills that haven’t become ingrained just aren't there.

[JDC1]

JKlink, that's exactly how I feel. Particularly watching the little ones who have all their singles and great spins but whose stroking is constant bobbing up and down and pumping and many have HORRIBLE posture and most of these girls take stroking classes, maybe the secret is to have an Ice Dance coach teach the stroking classes. I NEVER got a really deep continual knee bend until and experienced dancer coached me and within one month of working with him there is a noticeable difference on my outside edges and the speed I've become comfortable with.

[momcoachsk8er]

Proper Skating..............hmmmmmmmmmm
First you need an instructor that knows "skating", has a proven record of "quality" students and a resume that proves they have done their time in the sport(high tests(gold) and/or international competitions(if they have competed internationally, chances are they have high tests))not always though . An instructor that rushes is one that forgets the foundation of skating. It takes a great deal of time to teach the basics to 90% of skaters, the others (10%) are those rare few that catch on the first time. Knees are the key, second is posture and core strength. A quality skater will have a future.........a quantity skater will get injured! Figure skating is a sport of patience, understanding and feeling. A quality coach will be able to convey that and you should see that in your childs skating, if you don't, ask................pay attention to the details, after all , you are paying for lessons. If your child is interested in this sport, do the research, seek out the most qualified person at your rink and ask them for advice. Seek out resumes of coaches, if not available, ask why and then insist on them.(maybe not for coaches that are well known eg.Frank Carroll, John Nicks,TT.etc.)but certainly on any coach that has no "name". Basics are the key to success in skating, make sure there is a solid foundation!