Training During Quarantine/Rink Closures: Online Skater Sources | Golden Skate

Training During Quarantine/Rink Closures: Online Skater Sources

theblade

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 15, 2018
Hello!

(Currently, the world increasingly understands that we are in a modern-day pandemic that must be taken seriously. Everyone's health and safety is a primary concern these days. In no way does this post mean to diminish our current state of affairs.)

For athletes who are in the midst of their competitive growth - years in, and seek to keep improving as they face indefinite rink closures - what are good online resources for them to keep their skills up?

Our family started our own "self-isolation" a few weeks ago, and our skater has already been away from the rink for over a week. This will be continuing for quite awhile. Our skater is a young teen, and has competed nationally in solo dance while trying to find a dance partner, so it would be great to not have a huge loss of skill set during this unpredictable time.

Please share any reputable sources you may have found in: stretching, pilates, yoga, ballet, etc. Anything related to proper posture, strength training, deep knee bending, turns/pirouettes - it's all good.

Thanks so much and take care out there!
 

jcskates

Rinkside
Joined
Feb 17, 2020
Country
Canada
Coach Hamish and Coach Michelle Hong have great exercises that are good for figure skaters! They're both on instagram. Coach Michelle has a stretch series going on right now on her IGTV on instagram. Hope this helps
 

hanyuufan5

✨**:。*
Medalist
Joined
May 19, 2018
http://posturedirect.com

My favorite link to shove in everyone's faces at the slightest opportunity. :biggrin: I feel like I owe the PT who runs it money after all he has no idea he's done for me (and my skating!). :pray: (I had really, really bad posture, like, "I'm an inch and a half taller than I thought I was"-level bad.)
 

theblade

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 15, 2018
Thank you very much for your thoughtful replies!

It's been a bit of a challenge for our family, in that we finally had a truly promising partner try-out (internationally, and recently) after a few years of searching. Nothing finalized, but a solid option with a decent potential future outlook. But because of this try-out, we became aware of what's been happening elsewhere and immediately cut down all extraneous contact for the past three weeks - living in family-only isolation for almost a week now (except for groceries).

Our entire state has just been put into a "Shelter in Place" order. Some rinks were still open up to yesterday - and it wasn't easy to know others were still getting in training time. We would have liked to as well, but it felt like the best thing to do was stop. And since this stoppage is indefinite, we are going with it.

If there are any more tips, keep them coming!
 

Schpanky

Rinkside
Joined
May 25, 2016
If your skater misses the love and joy of skating I have a suggestion, but not a link. Get out your old roller blades. Remove the front and back wheel and replace them with wheels that are 4mm smaller than the two wheels in the middle. This will successfully rocker your skates and it will feel just like an ice skate. Remove the heal break too. Those things are just plain dangerous (I removed my child's heal brake when he was 3 years old). Drag your foot to stop. Get out on a rail trail. Take some music with you. This will easily fill the void. She'll still long to be on the ice, but she'll enjoy the freedom.
 

theblade

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 15, 2018
Thank you for the suggestion! I am not sure if we have all the materials here to create this ad-hoc solution (due to the shelter-in-place order) but we will see what we can do! I was actually thinking of having her put on her skates and even just trying some ballet barre exercises to work on alignment and extension, so that even the feeling of having a skate on (to help during an extended hiatus) could help make things feel less weird when things are "back to somewhat normal" - whatever that is.

I wonder if experienced skaters did some light floor work in their skates before competing. There is the danger of falling or twisting something, which is why I thought some barre work (plies, extensions) would be less risky...

Just spitballin' here...
 

Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 9, 2017
Country
Olympics
Thank you for the suggestion! I am not sure if we have all the materials here to create this ad-hoc solution (due to the shelter-in-place order) but we will see what we can do! I was actually thinking of having her put on her skates and even just trying some ballet barre exercises to work on alignment and extension, so that even the feeling of having a skate on (to help during an extended hiatus) could help make things feel less weird when things are "back to somewhat normal" - whatever that is.

I wonder if experienced skaters did some light floor work in their skates before competing. There is the danger of falling or twisting something, which is why I thought some barre work (plies, extensions) would be less risky...

Just spitballin' here...

NO. Sneakers only, or she's going to hurt herself.

As far as the knockoff pic skates, just get pic skates or not at all. I'd hate someone to get hurt.
 

SmallAminal

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 26, 2016
Coach Tom Zakrajsek has been posting things you can do off ice and during this downtime in training due to COVID-19.



https://www.facebook.com/CoachTomZ/posts/2663983310367040?__tn__=K-R

On his site he also has free tips and a blog.

On his Instagram he will running two off-ice classes tomorrow that do not require significant space (a great option for those of us that don't have wide-open expanses of space at our disposal).

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9_xv2gp2Rn/

I am so looking forward to having my skater do this!

Also, our entire yard is taken up by a trampoline - we are using it for rotation excercises. I have to find our spinner (not the turntable kind, the small ones for practicing spins) to see if we can do some work with that.
 

cl2

Final Flight
Joined
Nov 9, 2014
All great suggestions on this thread.

My only comment is that, shouldn't your skater's coach also be involved in your skater's off-ice training during this time? What did your skater do for off-ice training during normal times? Many coaches and off-ice trainers are taking their off-ice programs online (technical challenges notwithstanding) to provide continuity of training to their students. Isn't it better to continue working remotely with the same coach, who already knows your skater's skating and has a vested interest to support her, rather than take online programs from coaches (even if they are well-known coaches) who knows nothing about your skater?
 

theblade

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 15, 2018
My spitballin' wasn't too serious, but yes, all fun and games until someone loses an eye - so light ankle weights it is.

Thanks for the tip about Instagram - I wonder if we'd need an account to watch and follow along...

The trampoline in the yard is great - so many of the more athletic skaters have serious gymnastics in their backgrounds - and they always had powerful jumps. A great skill to have.
 

theblade

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 15, 2018
With regards to our coaching - great question! We have no main coach, due to my skater being an ice dancer in a sea of freestylers. And no ice dance school nearby. I cannot tell you how badly that has set her up the past four years.

In the meantime, her main coach is a semi-retired dance coach - that she only would see once a week due to distance. Our skater does some work with a pairs coach, and we haven't been able to get time in with two other ice dance coaches she's worked with. She's a skater falling through the cracks, which is why the recent tryout was so important - all our problems would have gone away simply by re-locating her. (To be replaced by money problems of trying to make that happen!)

Unfortunately, this tryout coincided with the rise of the pandemic (and it put our family at considerable risk of exposure). It seems like every time our family gets a small victory, acts of God/force majeure happens.

Our coaches haven't updated us with any information - so I have waited to see what their plan, if any, was. Unfortunately, our family has been on our own in this. So we are a bit more "free agent" than most skating families.

We have gymnastics covered through Zoom, but nothing from her ballet studio.

No plan for moving forward from anyone she has worked with yet, beyond the gymnastics coach. That, in and of itself, is something I am reflecting on.

But this situation is so much greater than our family's needs, of course. (And I think health care professionals and grocery store employees, to name just two groups of workers, are being incredibly brave given the world's current circumstances!)
 

ice coverage

avatar credit: @miyan5605
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2012
... Please share any reputable sources you may have found in: stretching, pilates, yoga, ballet, etc. Anything related to proper posture, strength training, deep knee bending, turns/pirouettes - it's all good. ...

Just in case the following class would be of interest to you and your skater:

Tomorrow (Sunday) choreographer Adam Blake will teach a dance class on behalf of Theater on Ice Boston, via Instagram Live:

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9-DQL_pbiE/ (posted Mar 20)​

(I have never made any pretense on GS of being a skater, but if I were one, the class potentially would be of interest to me.)
 

ice coverage

avatar credit: @miyan5605
Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 27, 2012

SmallAminal

On the Ice
Joined
Jul 26, 2016
All great suggestions on this thread.

My only comment is that, shouldn't your skater's coach also be involved in your skater's off-ice training during this time? What did your skater do for off-ice training during normal times? Many coaches and off-ice trainers are taking their off-ice programs online (technical challenges notwithstanding) to provide continuity of training to their students. Isn't it better to continue working remotely with the same coach, who already knows your skater's skating and has a vested interest to support her, rather than take online programs from coaches (even if they are well-known coaches) who knows nothing about your skater?

Our coach asked us to Join the Tom Z class today. It was basic stuff and done for people without a lot of space ( a godsend for us). We are doing remote training starting this week as well, but I think anyone offering basic instruction is fine and can give you some ideas to discuss with the coach. Our coach specifically asked us to note some things that the skaters learned from the class.
 

Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 9, 2017
Country
Olympics
Our coach asked us to Join the Tom Z class today. It was basic stuff and done for people without a lot of space ( a godsend for us). We are doing remote training starting this week as well, but I think anyone offering basic instruction is fine and can give you some ideas to discuss with the coach. Our coach specifically asked us to note some things that the skaters learned from the class.

I'm pretty sure cl2 was asking that question to the OP, but they can clarify for you, I'm sure.
 

cl2

Final Flight
Joined
Nov 9, 2014
Our coach asked us to Join the Tom Z class today. It was basic stuff and done for people without a lot of space ( a godsend for us). We are doing remote training starting this week as well, but I think anyone offering basic instruction is fine and can give you some ideas to discuss with the coach. Our coach specifically asked us to note some things that the skaters learned from the class.

That's good too. "Go take that class from so-and-so and come back to discuss with us" is also a form of engagement in the students' training.

OTOH, it seemed to me that OP's coach was keeping radio silence and not even providing alternative options for her skater. I hope the suggestions in this thread helped to fill that hole.
 

theblade

On the Ice
Joined
Feb 15, 2018
Yes, "radio silence" is the term - mostly because she is not part of any coaching group or elite skating school, although part of her training takes her to elite facilities where we see things in passing. (She has achieved quite a bit with considerably less guidance than most skaters in her bracket.)

So any plan is, of course, welcome. No texts or emails thus far in that regard.

Everyone's replies have been really helpful so far!
 

cl2

Final Flight
Joined
Nov 9, 2014
I saw this on one of the Facebook groups.

Ice Theatre of New York is excited to announce that we are doing a live stream of our off ice Edge Class every Tuesday at 1:30 P.M. starting tomorrow! Follow the link below and join us tomorrow at 1:30 P.M. from the safety of your own home. No skates required and completely free!
You are invited to join Ice Theatre of New York’s Off Ice “Edge Class” on Zoom.
When: Mar 24, 2020 01:30 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Register in advance for this meeting:
https://us04web.zoom.us/meeting/register/upUrc-ytpz0qNAKsX_dKK6j_Doy3QObbpA
See you there!
 

Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 9, 2017
Country
Olympics
Figure Skating Club of Park City (Utah) is doing a series of various virtual classes and from the info out there it's open to all.

Info here.
 
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