Why don't we see more of skaters training?

KwanIsALegend · May 14, 2015

I was thinking how nice it would be to have a TV crew follow a skater around through their day of training and wondering why there have never really been any shows like this. Sort of like "A day in the life of a figure skater", lets take Ashley for example, the crew follows her around and we get an idea of what skaters do everyday to prepare for competition. I would love a show that showed more behind the scenes, all the workouts on and off the ice. What they eat and how much time they actually get at the end of the day to relax.

We get little glimpses of skaters working with their coaches and choreographers but they are just short clips. I really am curious as to what a typical day for a skater who is competing looks like. I think a lot of people would enjoy it. I know there have been a few shows that Sasha Cohen has done where we follow her around and she talks about working outs and the different things she does like stretching, yoga and Pilates. I like that a lot.

Of course it would have to be edited down but I think it would be a hit.
Just a thought.

shiroKJ · May 14, 2015

Japanese TV usually has specials/short segments for their skaters where they document their daily life. The most recent one in memory is one of Yuna Aoki, where they followed her for a day and she spoke about her everyday schedule. I know they also did one for Yuzuru when he was still in Junior high.
Its quite interesting since they do these segments even for novice skaters. :popcorn:

alia jackson · May 14, 2015

1) Skater's Life: The Daily Routine. Tracy Wilson takes a look at the daily routine of a figure skater.

2)A short documentary on 13 -year-old Yuna Aoki.

- English translation on some segments of the video

- Further info on the video provided by Echo Cheng from Yuzu's FB group
"According the video, this 13 y/o girl has a demanding schedule a day! She aims for Olympics 2018 at 16 y/o.
2:45 am: leaving home to rink.
4:00-6:00 am: first training session
8:15 am - 3:30 pm: at school
5:30 -7:45 pm: second training session
8:30 pm: go home
10:00 pm: bedtime

Her family drive four and half hours a day to take her to rink and school. Wow, no wonder Yuzu ever said it was easier to children to continue skating if there is a rink nearby their home."

Rissa · May 14, 2015

alia jackson said:
1)

"According the video, this 13 y/o girl has a demanding schedule a day! She aims for Olympics 2018 at 16 y/o.
2:45 am: leaving home to rink.
4:00-6:00 am: first training session
8:15 am - 3:30 pm: at school
5:30 -7:45 pm: second training session
8:30 pm: go home
10:00 pm: bedtime

Wait, what? She sleeps not even 5 hours? :shocked:

karne · May 14, 2015

I do think that a series showing the actual hard work and training skaters do, over the course of an off-season and a season, would do a lot to dispel the "skating's not a sport" or worse "skaters are sissys" attitude so prevalent in Western society.

sabinfire · May 14, 2015

Moria Polonius said:
Wait, what? She sleeps not even 5 hours? :shocked:

Training for the Olympics is no joke... that's real dedication to the sport and I admire her for that. Few skaters have had massive success by treating skating as a hobby or as 'just one part' of their lives...

karne said:
I do think that a series showing the actual hard work and training skaters do, over the course of an off-season and a season, would do a lot to dispel the "skating's not a sport" or worse "skaters are sissys" attitude so prevalent in Western society.

Yes, we could definitely use more of the behind-the-scenes training of an athlete, as it is typically not an easy path to walk and can lead to many other sacrifices in one's life to achieve their goals. Also, a lot of people seem to think skaters are made of crystal and are delicate things, but they are well-conditioned athletes equipped to handle a variety of scenarios. Injuries may happen from time to time, as they do in any physically demanding sport, though typically very minor in comparison to many other physical sports...

Given the scarcity of airtime for actual skating events in North America (especially the USA), we would be extremely unlikely to see any documentaries like this on TV -- maybe a tiny clip during a fluff piece at Nationals? I suppose they could always do a YouTube series, though I'm not sure what the demand would be for such a thing (outside of the obvious stars of the sport, Yuzu, etc.) Any such mediums like that would be mostly limited to dedicated fans of the sport, which doesn't sound like the 'ideal' demographic to showcase skating as a "real sport".

cruzceleste · May 14, 2015

I think Yuzuru has 2 videos of behind the scene, one when he was 15,and one when he was 16.

I think this was a series of videos and I guess other skaters got a video too.

I know you can download Yuzuru´s videos somewhere, but I can´t find the link..

Krunchii · May 14, 2015

I think it might be disruptive if they followed a senior skater around for a day, their training is probably more intense and more focused, also when they train in the rink, they share it with other skaters, which could disrupt them too, they would probably have to jump through many hoops, get permission from the rink owners, sign release forms, make sure everyone else who is there is okay being on camera and being filmed.

At least I think that's how it is here in Canada, my friend is a coach for a skating club here, nothing major but photography/video rules are strict because it is not a public rink so you can't really freely film people as if you were outside in a mall or something. Also because ice time is limited, it gets a little bit crowded sometimes so I'm guessing cameramen and/or reporters might get in the way

sabinfire · May 14, 2015

I don't think it would be too difficult. Similar things have been done in other more major sports. I remember HBO ran a series '24/7' where they followed NHL teams: "[...] three-season partnership between the League and the cable network, which produced the four-episode series that brought viewers deeper inside their teams and players’ lives than anything previously attempted by the NHL."

StitchMonkey · May 14, 2015

I too would love to see more of this stuff.

I have been enthralled what non on ice training skaters do ever since I saw clips of Nancy doing some strange pull ups out of a pool during knee gate back when i was little. I still have no idea what she was doing what "thingy" she was using, but still a vivid memory for me that really drove home the point that these are damn hard working athletes. I would love to see more of what they do.

I suspect that a big reason that we don't is that there is a bit of a culture of "don't share your secrets" when it comes to training. Maybe they don't want the competition to know what they are doing on and/or off ice, maybe they don't want the competition comparing how much or how they are training. It could also be that some feel that if you are paying an arm and a leg for coaching, there is a limit to how much the coach should give away for free. In some ways you are paying for that coaches secrets and tricks.

Interspectator · May 14, 2015

Here is a documentary with Yuzu covering his training for the 2013-14 season. Some good training shots at the Cricket Club and its got English Subs. Thanks to the translator!
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x1m5gso_bs-tbs-sports-documentary-10-12-2013_sport

Krunchii · May 14, 2015

sabinfire said:
I don't think it would be too difficult. Similar things have been done in other more major sports. I remember HBO ran a series '24/7' where they followed NHL teams: "[...] three-season partnership between the League and the cable network, which produced the four-episode series that brought viewers deeper inside their teams and players’ lives than anything previously attempted by the NHL."

The thing is more people want to see NHL players than figure skaters, also I think it's easier to get the permission of the venue if it's one team than a skating club where every skater is their own team and everything

ruffledgrouse · May 14, 2015

At my fencing club, you aren't allowed to film. My mom even got in trouble for trying to take a snapshot of me in my beginner's class. That's because we had some high level coaches and fencers there (like, Olympic spot contender level), the training was considered proprietary, and spying was something that happened. I can see figure skating coaches being just as secretive about their training regimes. There was that whole to do when a Japanese camera crew snuck into one of Yuna's practices.

silverfoxes · May 14, 2015

Johnny Weir's documentary and the first season of his tv show covered quite a bit of that (iirc, the second season was more of your standard reality show format). I've seen many of those documentaries and "day in the life" news clips for skaters from other countries, but we just don't seem to have enough interest here in the US right now for a mainstream network. No reason why PBS couldn't show something like that, though. I do understand there's typically a lot of people on the ice, & I guess they would all have to give permission to be taped(?), which could get tricky.

CanadianSkaterGuy · May 14, 2015

alia jackson said:
1) Skater's Life: The Daily Routine. Tracy Wilson takes a look at the daily routine of a figure skater.

2)A short documentary on 13 -year-old Yuna Aoki.

- English translation on some segments of the video

- Further info on the video provided by Echo Cheng from Yuzu's FB group
"According the video, this 13 y/o girl has a demanding schedule a day! She aims for Olympics 2018 at 16 y/o.
2:45 am: leaving home to rink.
4:00-6:00 am: first training session
8:15 am - 3:30 pm: at school
5:30 -7:45 pm: second training session
8:30 pm: go home
10:00 pm: bedtime

Her family drive four and half hours a day to take her to rink and school. Wow, no wonder Yuzu ever said it was easier to children to continue skating if there is a rink nearby their home."

I'm sorry. That's crazy. 4:45 hours to sleep... actually less if you assume that she has to get ready. Aoki is a great talent and at least her rigorous schedule is translating into results, but oh my god, I can only imagine if a skater weren't as successful as her and had that schedule - and I assume many do.

Hanmgse · May 14, 2015

alia jackson said:
1) Skater's Life: The Daily Routine. Tracy Wilson takes a look at the daily routine of a figure skater.

2)A short documentary on 13 -year-old Yuna Aoki.

- English translation on some segments of the video

- Further info on the video provided by Echo Cheng from Yuzu's FB group
"According the video, this 13 y/o girl has a demanding schedule a day! She aims for Olympics 2018 at 16 y/o.
2:45 am: leaving home to rink.
4:00-6:00 am: first training session
8:15 am - 3:30 pm: at school
5:30 -7:45 pm: second training session
8:30 pm: go home
10:00 pm: bedtime

Her family drive four and half hours a day to take her to rink and school. Wow, no wonder Yuzu ever said it was easier to children to continue skating if there is a rink nearby their home."

Isn't it bad for someone so young to only sleep that small amount of hours?

cruzceleste · May 14, 2015

Hanmgse said:
Isn't it bad for someone so young to only sleep that small amount of hours?

And that the reason skater form Japan sometimes need to go overseas, to get Ice time at decent hours.

But for that you need money and I guess JFS is still waiting before raising her schoolarship/ sponsor money.

gkelly · May 14, 2015

Hanmgse said:
Isn't it bad for someone so young to only sleep that small amount of hours?

If an adult is driving her to the rink, she probably does some sleeping in the car. But it's not as good as if she could stay asleep for the full amount of time at one stretch instead of getting up to get into the car etc.

Noolan · May 14, 2015

Looking at Aoki's schedule you can see the real problem is her school, not her training. She spends 4 hours training and about 7 hours at school. Maybe the laws in Japan are very strict and you can't study from home and skip half the classes? Because here in Russia most skaters seem to only visit school a few hours a week.

Barb · May 14, 2015

I know, Shibs always are doing amazing videos but I would love to see them on the ice, training, choosing costumes, etc. but I guess it could to give advantage to their rivals to know what and how they are doing :think:

Why don't we see more of skaters training?

KwanIsALegend

Fly On

shiroKJ

Back to the forest you go.

alia jackson

Rissa

karne

in Emergency Backup Mode

sabinfire

Doing the needful

cruzceleste

Krunchii

sabinfire

Doing the needful

StitchMonkey

Interspectator

Krunchii

ruffledgrouse

silverfoxes

CanadianSkaterGuy

Hanmgse

cruzceleste

gkelly

Noolan

Barb

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