Planet Ice - Skate UK

[ceiliaanne]

Well, there's a test session at Gillingham on Thursday...

[Mieke_the_Hobbit]

So they must still be running test sessions then. They allow Skate UK/NISA levels to be coached privately so I guess that makes sense.

[transmissionoftheflame]

I did Skate UK and felt it was a close to useless preparation for actually learning what figure skating is (or any kind of skating for that matter).  I think there is far too much in it and I ended up not really getting anything even close to properly.  I know you have to learn to walk before you can run, but after going through all the levels I did not what it was like to really be on an edge on one skate or on two.  From what I have seen and heard about Skate Excellence, and from what I have seen of people who are taught using it, it doesn't seem like an improvement.
I think the learn to skate should be hugely simplified to focus on edges, edge quality and understanding posture and how to hold yourself over your skates, first on two feet then on one foot.  If you can't skate a full circle on an edge then you are not in control of that edge and cannot progress to anything more advanced and do it well.  I think we could do worse than bringing back school figures after an initial set of drills to get people used to the ice.

[Mieke_the_Hobbit]

That's intetesting; I never thought of it like that. I must admit that I've not had much of an issue with Skate UK and feel very well prepared, despite the stumbling blocks along the way. Maybe that's partly down to the coach teaching you? I did find the first four levels very tedious though and looking at the structure of Excellence I think I would get very bored and frustrated, but I guess each to their own.

[Loops]

I think we could do worse than bringing back school figures after an initial set of drills to get people used to the ice.

You are not wrong.  I think dropping figures was a big mistake. The ISU did this right after I quit, and I immediately noticed a huge change in the sport.  A few things became more interesting (mostly in the realm of jumps), but the actual quality of edgework and skating in general, in my opinion dropped.  It has gotten better again in recent years, so field moves/skills are doing something good, but you can still see it when a skater was trained in figures. I think they have a very important place.

[Mieke_the_Hobbit]

...the actual quality of edgework and skating in general, in my opinion dropped.

I've noticed that too, having watched lots of slaying on YouTube and seen bits and pieces on television, although it's also somewhat dependent on coach, and whether they really focus on edges or not - like I know free skaters who are coached by dancers for example, their edges are excellent, and I'm always told to focus on my edges also.

[transmissionoftheflame]

That's intetesting; I never thought of it like that. I must admit that I've not had much of an issue with Skate UK and feel very well prepared, despite the stumbling blocks along the way. Maybe that's partly down to the coach teaching you? I did find the first four levels very tedious though and looking at the structure of Excellence I think I would get very bored and frustrated, but I guess each to their own.

I totally agree that  a lot of it is down to the coach - a good coach working with a mediocre system is better than a sloppy coach with a brilliant system.

[transmissionoftheflame]

You are not wrong.  I think dropping figures was a big mistake. The ISU did this right after I quit, and I immediately noticed a huge change in the sport.  A few things became more interesting (mostly in the realm of jumps), but the actual quality of edgework and skating in general, in my opinion dropped.  It has gotten better again in recent years, so field moves/skills are doing something good, but you can still see it when a skater was trained in figures. I think they have a very important place.

As well as learning about edges, figures requires you to learn how to push really well - getting round a full circle with a strike from standing still is not easy and you really need to focus on knee bend and caressing the ice with the blade.

[Mieke_the_Hobbit]

I totally agree that  a lot of it is down to the coach - a good coach working with a mediocre system is better than a sloppy coach with a brilliant system.

[Loops]

As well as learning about edges, figures requires you to learn how to push really well - getting round a full circle with a strike from standing still is not easy and you really need to focus on knee bend and caressing the ice with the blade.

Absuloutely! And learning to generate speed from edge changes, and arm/leg shifts while maintaining control. It all contributes to that enigmatic "quality of skating" the judges and public have to assess.  Figures are incredibly difficult to do to even to testing standard (let alone competition).

Coaching is, of course paramount, and transcends whatever system one is working under.

[antmanb]

I did Skate UK and felt it was a close to useless preparation for actually learning what figure skating is (or any kind of skating for that matter).  I think there is far too much in it and I ended up not really getting anything even close to properly.  I know you have to learn to walk before you can run, but after going through all the levels I did not what it was like to really be on an edge on one skate or on two.  From what I have seen and heard about Skate Excellence, and from what I have seen of people who are taught using it, it doesn't seem like an improvement.
I think the learn to skate should be hugely simplified to focus on edges, edge quality and understanding posture and how to hold yourself over your skates, first on two feet then on one foot.  If you can't skate a full circle on an edge then you are not in control of that edge and cannot progress to anything more advanced and do it well.  I think we could do worse than bringing back school figures after an initial set of drills to get people used to the ice.

I do agree that there are things that probably need improvement, but if the focus of learn to skate was only the things you say and you were not allowed to progress to attempts at some of the more fun skills, then I think there would be even less uptake to the sport than there already is.  It would be like only letting people play scales and arpeggios until they have them down before letting them look at a piece of music    There are tweaks that could be made but I think the balance of skills on learn to skate is pretty good especially in terms of keeping people's interest.  The full NISA levels are there to push the standards higher if that is what someone wants.

Now after a fairly long time skating as an adult I would be more interested in playing around with figures than I ever would have been when i first started skating, and if it was any kind of precursor to getting to learn to jump and spin I would definitely not have bothered to learn.   

I think some of the patterns of the old figures tests are really good learning tools for control and learning how to really use your blades and align your body etc, but figures are always done very carefully and precisely - slowly (compared to free skating), looking down at the ice, some of them require truly ugly awkward body positions in the transitions (especially with eyes fixed down at the tracing) and I don't understand the point of doing them over and over trying to lay one pattern down on top of the other - why that would be a desirable skill seeing as even the best figures skaters in the world never could put all three passes down exactly the same on top of the last one - they were always out albeit it sometimes by only millimeters but still...

I like the moves in the field that we have now.