DID YOU EVER GET TAUGHT OR COACHED BY A YOUNG COMPETITIVE SKATER AT YOUR RINK?

[FSWer]

Say,my other coach is a former competitor,and it feels really great to be taught by her. So,I was wondering if everyone here has ever been taught or coached by a young competitive Skater at their Rink?

 

[Sylvia]

I assume you mean a competitive skater who is no longer young?

 

[FSWer]

LOL. no,I mean just that....a young teenage competitor?

 

[treesprite]

Teenagers would not be coaches. Sometimes they may act as group lesson assistants, which they sometimes do as volunteers or very low pay, usually to get free ice time.

 

[misskarne]

No, and I wouldn't want to be taught by some of the teenage Nationals competitors at my rink.

I'll stick with my older, very experienced, former National champion coach.

 

[gkelly]

About 10 years ago I took some ice dance lessons from a 20-something male ice dancer who was still competing. He was from a different country and just starting to coach, and he didn't know the steps to all the lower level dances that we use in the US. So he could help me with technique but couldn't help me prepare for tests.

Then he moved away to train elsewhere, and I stopped dance lessons for a while.

Now in his 30s he is back and working full-time as a coach, and I am taking lessons from him again. Knowing the steps to the dances and how to get different students ready to test them is his job now, so he is a much better coach for me now than when he was competing.

 

[TheGirlCanSkate]

It depends on the skater and their coach. Are they coaching as a team? Does the skater get live feedback from their coach during the lesson? What are their goals? What are my goals? If I just want to skate enough to feel confident I can think of 2 competitive skaters I would feel confident with - one is an assistant coach for a synchro team and has been doing that for several years as well as being an assistant for group classes for about 6 years. The other is patient and very good at explaining and showing. Both are not national level competitors in singles. Both are in their teens.

Would I pay them what I pay the professional coaches, no. I would pay about half. Would I have either teach my daughter? No. But for myself, just stroking, stopping and two foot spins, yes.

 

[artika]

My first coach was 17 and I loved her. I started skating as an adult and I first met her when she was 15 and she was in my "13 and up" group class. When I decided to start private lessons I chose her because I felt she know exactly what I knew from the class and what I was missing, I was intimidated by "serious" coaches and she was cheaper. But I was very happy with her instruction, she was knowledgeable (working on her senior moves and gold dances) and compared with older coaches she had more enthusiasm and she was teaching from the point of view of somebody who was still learning, so she gave me better answers on how to handle frustration, how to manage my time, energy, expectations...

 

[Skittl1321]

I was coached by teenagers a few times. One was in late high school when I started lessons with him. (He also Co taught snowplow Sam with me. I was actually the lead teacher there, had more experience with kids.)

I also took a couple lessons from an older teen who was a novice man. He is now an international level senior pair, and has long since moved on from our mall rink!

And I had a 14 year old choreography my show program.

Most of the coaches at our rink are older teens or young 20s. Usually college students and it is very transitory

 

[taf2002]

A few years back I took some lessons from an ice dancer whose partner was injured so he was coaching during their hiatus. He was planning to compete again but she ended up retiring so he did too. I think he was from Ukraine & his name was something like Riahte (sp).

Then I got tickets to skate with Todd Eldredge one summer when he was still eligible & he & Richard Callahan both coached me. Fun. Not surprisedly Richard was the better coach.

BTW FSWer, using all caps on the internet is considered rude. It also can make your posts harder to read & is considered yelling at people.