Test vs Competition | Page 2 | Golden Skate

Test vs Competition

VegMom

On the Ice
Joined
Aug 25, 2017
Thanks for the replies! Very useful information.

Specifically, my daughter has clean Axel, double flip, double lutz, double loop. Her double Salchow and double Toe loop are not consistent. She hasn't landed double Axel yet. She is fine with sit spin and its variations, Camel spin and its variations, and most upright spins. She is working on layback spin, changing foot and flying entry.

Is she far from competing at pre-juvenile? Or Juvenile? She is trying to make decision with her coach. Her coach doesn't often take students to compete and has no interest either. So I would like to know a second opinion.

There are SO many factors to consider.

My skater has all his doubles (even landed a clean, fully rotated 2A the other day) but only the 2S, 2T, and 2F are consistent. He does a great camel and layback spins, sit spins are more of a challenge but they're getting better. He can do a flying entry and change foot. His footwork is pretty good for how long he has skated but it's not great compared to kids who have skated longer. He's at Pre-Juv MITF.

Coach has him competing at Preliminary at the moment. In a few months he will likely move up to Pre-Juv and the plan is to stay at Pre-Juv all next year. Coach does not want to rush him and says "Every skater should skate about 5 years before competing at the Juvenile level." Indeed, the scores suggest that his 'skating skills' need improvement. We are lucky that most of the competitions we do have IJS scoring down to Pre-Pre so that we can see these things (section on 'skating skills'). And when I look at his total score, I can compare it to what the average scores that other skaters are getting at higher levels. So I can clearly see that his scores would rank him at the very bottom if he competed at the Juv level. We want competition to be fun and successful so he doesn't dread it. So we're not going to put him in a situation where even if he skates his absolute best he's in the bottom of the pack.

It's also worth noting that until they compete with about 2A and above level jumps that IJS awards spins about the same or even higher than jumps. So that's why skaters in Pre-Pre without a consistent axel will often make the podium even if many coaches claim you need a solid axel to move up from No Test. And that's why you don't want to use jumps alone as a guide about what level one should be competing.

I like to reference the SkateCanada guide to developing an athlete. I look at the ages, skills, amount of training hours, and competitions per year as a guide for my skater. https://skatecanada.ca/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Skate-Canada-LTAD-Model-EN.pdf
If coach doesn't agree on the recommendations I see in the guide then I ask why and either try to understand or try to make a plan to follow the guide.
 
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