What’s an ideal weekly schedule to improve fast during pre-free skate?

[Viatical]

I’m in a super flexible stage of life right now and have a lot of free time to skate. I’m currently working on Pre-Free Skate skills—like 3-turns, one-foot spins, and waltz jumps—and I really want to use this time to improve as much as possible.

I can do multiple private lessons per week, but I’m also wondering:
How much time should I be spending on the ice practicing on my own?
What’s a good weekly breakdown of private lessons vs. solo practice vs. off-ice (stretching, strength, etc.)?

Would love to hear what worked best for you at this level—especially if you made fast progress or were in a similar situation with lots of flexibility!

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

Hi and welcome. It really is up to you and your coach (they would be best to judge this for you). But please make sure you also aren't over training b/c that leads to it's own set of problems.

Good luck!

 

[Littlerain]

When I took prefreeskate last year I think I was doing one practice and one private lesson in addition to group class each week. I would have liked to practice more but I just couldn’t fit it in my schedule.

I do think everything is so individual but how much are you practicing now? I think in general people should have at least 1-2 days off from workouts in a week. But if you go from skating 1 day a week to 6 days a week all at once that may be tough on your body. So listen to yourself and your coach.

I also think you should have more practice than lessons, but I’m sure the more experienced folks here can weigh in on that.

 

[FSFan1999]

Ease into it. Don't go from 0 to 100. Start with less and listen to your body, building up as you go along.
If for example, right now you skate x hours, add in one more hour of self training. See how it feels and how progress is going. Then consider having another lesson. Then maybe add in another hour. Listen to your body.
Do a lot of prehab exercises, core strengthening, stretching, foam rolling as part of physical preparation, especially if you intend to skate a lot. From there to improve results also consider doing ballet etc.

 

[Query]

I think most group and private lesson instructors assume you will do some practice time without them, including on days in between. The students who don't tend to forget things between lessons, and sometimes you need some time on your own to make a skill work with your personal body. In almost any class, they tend to become frustrated and drop out after a few weeks. (BUT: I've known kids who spend many hours a day on the ice, every single one of them with a coach! Their parents must have money.) Many group lesson programs actually include a few public skating sessions in the price. Of course, if you go to public sessions are too crowded to practice your skills, they may not help much. If you have a lot of free time, then you can go while other people work or go to school, or maybe when it is too early for most people to get up, or during the first few minutes of a session. Also, some rinks have less crowded ice than others, and some mid-day sessions are empty. At a few rinks you can buy season passes that let you skate every public session. If you can't find good practice public sessions, some rinks let people at your level go to (low level) freestyle sessions - but be careful. A lot of freestyle skaters are crazy, and love to play chicken.

If you are fairly flexible (unlike me), this is a sport (like ballet) that can take a lot of advantage of that. I'm jealous of you!

If you have any doubts about safety (e.g., if you have extreme hypermobility, or a history of flexibility related injuries), you might seek advice from an appropriate sports physician, PT or Certified Physical Trainer (ATC). E.g., one of my relatives was advised never to stretch, and I've known a fair number of people who were advised never to stretch ligaments or other connective tissue, only muscle. A really good trainer or PT can probably help you meet your training goals better than if you try to figure out what to do on your own. I know I've made training mistakes on my own that led to injury.