a lost time

[iceskating21]

My skater is in a bottle neck. For her FS, her 2A takes forever. I even don’t bother to count how long time now. Her spins are ok. She can do those spins. But after some level, more practicing doesn’t seem to improve them much. She won some local competitions, but ranked at the bottom in regional when she tried it last time. For MIF, she has no much technical issue, but she was said to lack power and performance which needs time to build. Hence her coach expects it will still take quite time to pass gold test. She has been in club shows for several years. It’s fun, but not exciting anymore. Her close skating friends, either focuses on competing or sort of giving up to focus on school. Not sure whether it's related to lockdown, her progress last year was disappointing. Recently she especially has no motive. She likes skating but don’t know she can do. I feel like it’s similar to “mid-age crisis”: frustrated and lost. What goal is realistic and how can she cheer up and move on?

 

[MCsAngel2]

Yes, as you move up levels, it takes more and more time between levels, to pass each test. It is very common for skaters to lose motivation once they are high school aged. If she can't find the motivation and desire to skate and improve within herself, while being patient, there isn't really anything you can do about that.

 

[gliese]

Assuming she still actually wants to skate, it's time for a new coach. I notice that most skaters who fall into this slump have outskated their coaches ability. This is especially because everything is stagnant in progress.

Edit: I noticed you mentioned that more practice is not improving her spins. That's because practicing doesn't make things better; practicing new corrections makes things better and if she's not getting the correct corrections, her spins will not get better.

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

I agree with @gliese. And if that's not the answer, then it might be time to sit back and re-evaluate if skating is for her anymore.

 

[WednesdayMarch]

Maybe she needs to rediscover the joy of just skating for the love of it? Has she been aiming for a career in skating? If so, what? And does she really need a double axel for it? If the answer to that is no, then maybe some other kind of preparation rather than just slogging away at the 2A and high level spins would be beneficial?

 

[iceskating21]

She just wants to do better and better. She progressed smoothly before, but not so well last year. Her coach thinks there are up and down so it just takes more time. But she feels bad about it.

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

She just wants to do better and better. She progressed smoothly before, but not so well last year. Her coach thinks there are up and down so it just takes more time. But she feels bad about it.

Everyone lost time last year because of the pandemic. Progress takes time, and I agree that there are ups and downs in training, but if it continues any longer or is really affecting her mentally/emotionally, then perhaps find a new coach. If she continues with another coach and is still feeling bad about her training, you may want to look into a Sports Psychologist. Usually, those aren't needed until Jr/Sr level but if it helps her then that's all that matters.

 

[Ameliaskates]

As a relatively low level skater I'm not sure my "advice" will be any good compared to the very experienced people who already commented, but you maybe could tell her about Natasha Mckay who skates for Great Britain. She progressed quickly and had all her doubles in her early teens but didn't get her 2A and triples until she was 19/20. She had a good few years where she felt she wasn't progressing, but she stuck with the sport and just went to Worlds and got us an Olympic spot! A rare case (and I'm not saying to tell your skater to aim for Worlds haha) but she's a huge inspiration (especially given GBR gives very little funding or publicity to skating. In fact it's not even considered a sport by our current government. Another story for another day.)

 

[gliese]

She just wants to do better and better. She progressed smoothly before, but not so well last year. Her coach thinks there are up and down so it just takes more time. But she feels bad about it.

It doesn't sound like what you're experiencing is an up and down considering how long it has been going on for now. It sounds like she has been stagnant for years which is not normal at all. It really is time for a new coach. It's likely that seeing the possibility that she can actually improve and that she's not stuck like this forever will motivate her forward.

An anecdote: when I landed my axel, it really was my coaches limit. She had never coached a successful consistent double in her life and I was not an exception. I didn't realize this and continued with her for 2 years. For those two years I absolutely hated skating. I described it as "the worst part of my day" multiple times in my journal. I had absolutely no progress. I got a new coach last December and since then everything has improved and seeing that it is possible and that it wasn't my fault that I had been stuck for so long has made me love skating more than ever before.

 

[WednesdayMarch]

Absolutely on the money advice from both @Ameliaskates and @glies there. Yes, our Natasha did keep going through a very long and difficult patch, and considering the woeful state of the sport in the UK, she's really smashed through and done brilliantly.

As to the coaching, I think gliese may well be spot on with the need to have a long, hard, dispassionate look at your daughter's coach and their methods and achievements in the field. I've seen many people stick with a coach who is clearly doing nothing for their skating and actually stalling their progress. Obviously there are many reasons they do this, a mistaken sense of loyalty being one. But in my mind - and from a coach's perspective - it's quite clear that if you're not bringing the best out in your skater, then it's time to move them on to a person who can and will. I know that some coaches don't want to do that but I feel very strongly that it's better to be able to say, "I coached that champion when they were younger/starting out and knew they were destined for great things" rather than, "Oh, yes, I coached that person. Very talented but they got frustrated and gave up." Most coaches start out with dreams of coaching champions but in order to be the best coach you can be, you have to want the very best for your skaters and be realistic about when to move them on.