Ideas for making practice MIF more fun | Golden Skate

Ideas for making practice MIF more fun

VegMom

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 25, 2017
Skater thinks MIF are incredibly boring.

On top of that they take a lot of space and are difficult to do when the freestyle session is busy.

Any ideas?
 

Clarice

Rinkside
Joined
Mar 26, 2005
Which moves? How old is the skater?

I happen to enjoy working on patterns like MIF, pattern dances, and even figures. It can be a challenge on busy freestyles, but certain things can be excerpted out, or adapted and put on a circle. Bottom line is the skater doesn't have to enjoy them, but does have to master them if they want to move up in freestyle, so that's a built-in carrot.
 

likevelvet

#Bless this mess
On the Ice
Joined
Feb 13, 2018
Country
United-States
I assume this is when they're trying to work on skills independently, rather than with a coach. Practice with a friend or with their own music in headphones during freestyle? I do my basics every time I get on the ice and they're like my me-time. For a kid the repetition is probably really boring, but that's kind of the sport. If they can learn to get in the right "zone" - with whatever tricks or bells and whistles help them get there - that'll really be an asset to them as they build skills. Because MIF are just the beginning of how repetitive and boring the sport can get when it comes to training, lol.
 

Sibelius

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 28, 2017
One of my skater's group lesson instructors says Moves/Edges/Figures are the green vegetables of skating. You don't have to like them, you just have to do them. Last Saturday there were only 3 girls for the Flow and Movement class (each session they alternate F&M with Edges) so the coach brought out a scribe and drew circles and they did figures for 45 minutes. They groaned, but worked very hard and were peeling off layers as the went, that never happens in Flow!

Another anecdote; my skater's friend landed her Axel a couple of months ago and moved into the doubles class. I overheard the coach for the doubles class talking to her mother in a thick Russian accent, "she has an Axel, but her edges are terrible". Mine finally landed hers and will join that class soon, the coach won't be saying that to me though, she works very hard on her edges/moves. Her private coach insists that edges come before the tricks, she's an old school Canadian Olympic dancer who won't let her test until they're perfect.

So I guess you can consider edges as peas and jumps and spins as carrots!
 

Vanshilar

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 24, 2014
Yeah I wonder if it's something that adults appreciate more than kids because adults prefer the discipline, precision, etc. of working on edges rather than trying to go do jumps right away.

My coach says that back in her day, when working on edges, her coach would put dimes (or some other type of coin, forgot) on the top of her hand when doing them. (Note that the palms are facing down when doing them.) If she could make it all the way down the line with for example consecutive backward outside edges with the coins staying on top of her hand the entire way, then she got to keep them. It was a way to make sure the hand (and therefore the body) stayed very controlled throughout the skill.
 

sandraskates

Final Flight
Joined
Oct 31, 2006
Country
United-States
Yeah I wonder if it's something that adults appreciate more than kids because adults prefer the discipline, precision, etc. of working on edges rather than trying to go do jumps right away.

LOL - Vanshilar. :laugh: NOT THIS ADULT!
I'm backtracking to learn MIF; now working on the Adult Bronze moves. I am so bored working on the skills. I'd much rather be working on regaining the jumps and spin precision I once had.

I did do figures "back in the day" and I enjoyed those. I don't feel that MIF really replaces figures and moves are a pain to practice on any session. Just my very humble opinion.
 

jf12

Final Flight
Joined
Dec 8, 2016
I assume this is when they're trying to work on skills independently, rather than with a coach. Practice with a friend or with their own music in headphones during freestyle? I do my basics every time I get on the ice and they're like my me-time. For a kid the repetition is probably really boring, but that's kind of the sport. If they can learn to get in the right "zone" - with whatever tricks or bells and whistles help them get there - that'll really be an asset to them as they build skills. Because MIF are just the beginning of how repetitive and boring the sport can get when it comes to training, lol.

Please don’t wear headphones in a crowded freestyle while you’re doing MIF! It’s really dangerous!
 

cl2

Final Flight
Joined
Nov 9, 2014
Not sure if something like this will work, but just throwing it out for discussion... How about turning the MIF exercises into a "game"? It doesn't have to be a complicated or sophisticated game, but should use some imagery to enhance the exercise. Doing the spiral step sequence? Imagine you're Mario Kart trying to collect coins on the serpentine pattern. Rocker-choctaws? Imagine a series of narrow doors located where each turn takes place, that you're trying to weave in and out of. In the good ol' days before video games, kids entertained themselves with their vivid imagination, there's no reason why they can't do the same for skating. Their imagination is the limit.
 

VegMom

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 25, 2017
Which moves? How old is the skater?
Preliminary
8

Bottom line is the skater doesn't have to enjoy them, but does have to master them if they want to move up in freestyle, so that's a built-in carrot.
Skater knows this and does practice moves, just doesn't do it enough to satisfy coach. Practices every session for short periods of time then moves on to the fun stuff.

I assume this is when they're trying to work on skills independently, rather than with a coach.
yes

My coach says that back in her day, when working on edges, her coach would put dimes (or some other type of coin, forgot) on the top of her hand when doing them. (Note that the palms are facing down when doing them.) If she could make it all the way down the line with for example consecutive backward outside edges with the coins staying on top of her hand the entire way, then she got to keep them.
Coins won't motivate kid but some money reward might. It's a thought...

Not sure if something like this will work, but just throwing it out for discussion... How about turning the MIF exercises into a "game"?
I can suggest that, certainly might work.
 

treblemakerem

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 24, 2014
Could you intersperse it with other things kind of like an obstacle course (not physical obstacles) like one mitf pattern down the ice and then practice five jumps, a mitf pattern down the ice and then five spins. You could make up a whole course that way it feels more like a fun course rather than practicing boring skills. Plus then practicing the more fun things is kind of like a reward for completing the boring part.
 

Schpanky

Rinkside
Joined
May 25, 2016
Could you intersperse it with other things kind of like an obstacle course (not physical obstacles) like one mitf pattern down the ice and then practice five jumps, a mitf pattern down the ice and then five spins. You could make up a whole course that way it feels more like a fun course rather than practicing boring skills. Plus then practicing the more fun things is kind of like a reward for completing the boring part.
This sounds like a solid idea. That way they are having a little bit of fun and it's not so tedious. Good thinking!
 

hanyuufan5

✨**:。*
Medalist
Joined
May 19, 2018
Maybe make a step/choreographic sequence including whatever needs practice? Find elites who are doing those specific moves and copy them, maybe while listening to or at least humming the music from the program they were in?
 

concorde

Medalist
Joined
Jul 29, 2013
One of my skater's group lesson instructors says Moves/Edges/Figures are the green vegetables of skating. You don't have to like them, you just have to do them.

So I guess you can consider edges as peas and jumps and spins as carrots!

So true especially for the ones that like to jump.

I remember when my skater passed her Senior MIF, I was the one jumping up and down.
 

lines

Rinkside
Joined
Nov 12, 2012
Practicing with a friend is fun. They can follow each other in the moves pattern.
 

Sibelius

On the Ice
Joined
Mar 28, 2017
So true especially for the ones that like to jump.

I remember when my skater passed her Senior MIF, I was the one jumping up and down.


I hope we get there, she's stuck in Pre-Juvenile so we're a long way off. Hopefully testing that one in September. Still struggling a bit with outside edge 3 turns, everything else is rock solid. We hope her new boots with the pronation wedge correction will help her get over on that edge better. She would pass as it is, but her coach insists on leaving no doubt.
 

concorde

Medalist
Joined
Jul 29, 2013
Preliminary was a nightmare (about 1 year to pass) for my daughter and then she breezed through pre-juv. Having said that none of my daughter's friends had problems with preliminary but lots had problem with pre-juv.

Each skater is so different in what is easy/hard.

Good luck! Perseverance does pay off.
 

cl2

Final Flight
Joined
Nov 9, 2014
Could you intersperse it with other things kind of like an obstacle course (not physical obstacles) like one mitf pattern down the ice and then practice five jumps, a mitf pattern down the ice and then five spins. You could make up a whole course that way it feels more like a fun course rather than practicing boring skills. Plus then practicing the more fun things is kind of like a reward for completing the boring part.

Adding on to the idea of interspersing jumps and MIF as a motivation, but how about also think of ways to integrate jumps into MIF moves? For example, if your skater does loops from an inside 3-turn (or even if he does not), you can take the alternating inside 3-turn pattern and throw in a loop on every other RFI 3-turn. Or, power pulls can be modified into power hops: each rise for the edge change becomes a little hop (this is hard, but is an excellent way to train your edge jumps!). It might seem that doing that modifying patterns isn't "practicing", but hey, if you can do a harder (and more fun) modified pattern all the way down the rink, you won't need to spend too much extra time "practicing" vanilla MIF patterns (which is the boring part). Plus, this will also set the skater up for harder transitions and steps into jumps. (Think: Eteri's girls.)
 

VegMom

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 25, 2017
I will suggest these ideas to him.
The issue is I’m a parent. I’m not on the ice with him. I can’t coach from the stands (not allowed). So all I can do is suggest stuff or pull him off the ice when all he wants to do is doubles.
He just complains “Moves are soooooooo boring!” In the saddest, whiniest voice.
 

concorde

Medalist
Joined
Jul 29, 2013
Maybe take a break from the MIF practice.

We had to take a 3-4 month break in the middle of the preliminary practice. My daughter could not focus and as a result, her moves coach got fed up and fired us. It was awful at the time but years later I think it is pretty funny.
 

cl2

Final Flight
Joined
Nov 9, 2014
I will suggest these ideas to him.
The issue is I’m a parent. I’m not on the ice with him. I can’t coach from the stands (not allowed). So all I can do is suggest stuff or pull him off the ice when all he wants to do is doubles.
He just complains “Moves are soooooooo boring!” In the saddest, whiniest voice.

Yes, I totally understand your dilemma. Ideally, it should be the coach who designs the training to be motivating and enjoyable for the skater. Plus, it's unfair to expect skating parents to have the technical knowledge to be able to stand in as a coach. Unfortunately, too often we see coaches take the "you'll thank me later" attitude to teaching MIF, which is not very helpful for the very present and very real lack of engagement. I myself came from that school of teaching, up until about a year ago when I switched to a coach who would design moves that are challenging, engaging, fun and profoundly effective for my development as a skater. Maybe a chat with your skater's coach about the situation might give you some ideas how to tackle it. Keep at it, and good luck!
 
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