Six Ways to Work Harder on Figure Skating Practice Ice

A few weeks ago, I read a post on the Dumb Little Man blog called “Six Ways to Trick Yourself into Working Harder,” by Ali Luke.

It resonated with me because sometimes I find myself spending way too much time on e-mail, Twitter, or my Google Reader instead of doing my real job (editing and writing). *I shake my fist at you, you time-wasters!*

When I watch Ice Girl during figure skating practice ice, I sometimes think that the ice time wasters take control of her, too. You know the ones: endless skate re-ties, checking and re-checking her figure skating binder, spinning, stopping off at the monitor booth to use the tissues, spinning, talking to a friend, watching a fabulous skater complete her program, spinning, endlessly circling the jump corners, spinning, and drinking a gallon of water.

I’m going to take Ali’s six suggestions (in bold italics) and manipulate them to fit the rink. I can’t promise they’ll work, but if your skater is skating aimlessly in circles, you’ll try anything, right?

1. Use Your Competitive Spirit (Ali)

If it’s been months since your figure skater’s last competition and the next one’s not for another eight weeks, your skater might not have a clear goal. A competition, even a little one, can give a skater a goal to shoot for.

Your skater might also respond well to some friendly rink competition. If she knows another skater at her level, you might suggest to her that they play Add On. You know the game: the first skater completes a jump and the rest of the skaters must complete the same jump. The next skater adds on some jump or spin and all the competitors must do the same. I’m not sure what happens if a kid misses a jump, spin, or complicated footwork pattern, but I’m sure the kids do.

To my shame, I’ve also used another skater as a person to egg Ice Girl on. It’s not my proudest parenting moment, but this little snot from a neighboring club was at the same level as Ice Girl. I wanted Ice Girl to keep Snotty Skater of that medal stand. As I said, it’s not my best moment, but Ice Girl sure worked her tail off at the rink. Turns out Snot was sick for the competition and Ice Girl won easily. A pretty empty victory and I’m still ashamed of my behavior.

2. Tell Yourself “I’m Just Going To…” (Ali)

You know that pesky double Salchow? Talk to your figure skater in the van about just doing five of them. Setting a goal, even a very, very easy goal, is better than circling the jump corners without jumping once.

Once your figure skater has done this a few times, you can up the goal to seven or ten – but good attempts, not half-hearted pulled jumps.

3. Set a Timer (and Try to Beat It) (Ali)

I’m not sure that figure skating practice ice is the place to beat the clock, but I think that clocks are certainly useful as a motivating tool. You can talk to your figure skater about using the first 15 minutes of practice ice on moves in the field. You can suggest that your figure skater try to end her program on time.

4. Listen to Music (Fast or Focused)
If your rink or figure skating club allows skaters to listen to their iPods or MP3 players, encourage your skater to download music that has a good beat to it. This is especially helpful when skaters are practicing moves and timing is so important. It’s also good for pokey skaters who need to speed up their skating. It’s tough to move like Myrtle the Turtle when Safri Duo’s Played-a-Live (The Bongo Song) is blasting through the headphones.

5. Be Accountable to Other People (Ali)

In the van, ask your figure skater what his goals for the practice session are. Then, watch him at practice. Don’t take notes or anything, but just see that he’s working on his goals. In the van, follow up. Again, it doesn’t have to be a gotcha game. Just ask him how his progress toward his goals went. What went well? What was difficult? What did he achieve? What needs more work? Just that simple bit of accountability can help him to focus and remain focused. It also shows that you care about his progress.

Ice Girl used to have a friend at the rink who would encourage her to push herself. Sadly, this kid moved away, but I know that they used to talk about what they wanted to accomplish that day. If Ice Girl slacked off, her friend would notice and give her a mental shove. Ice Girl would do the same with her friend. It was great for both of them and kept them on track.

6. Give Yourself Rewards (Ali)

Just like the “I’m just going to…” suggestion, this one doesn’t have to be enormous to be effective. If your skater has a good practice, she can use the last five minutes on perfecting something like hydroblading. (I hate hydroblading. Yeah, it’s cool but, here are three words: Cold. Wet. Gloves.)

Other rewards for a productive practice might be: hot chocolate from the concession stand, a Get Out of Dishes Free pass, or a T.V. Remote Control King for an hour privilege, or new nail polish.

Do you have any ideas for encouraging your figure skater to work harder during practice ice? Do you think any of these six ideas will work? Have you already tried some of these? What went well? What failed miserably? Please share in the comments!

Thank you to Ali Luke for her Dumb Little Man post. It was a good read!

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Do you have a question for Ice Mom or a humongous dilemma for the Advisory Board? How about an idea for a blog post? A question about sewing? A scheme for lowering ice fees? Awesome! Let me know and we can plot rink domination together! Here’s to plenty of low-cost, empty ice! E-mail me at IceMom.Diane@gmail.com

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Photo credits:
Endless Time: lrargerich / Luis Argerich on Flickr.com Creative Commons
Stopwatch: wwarby / William Warby on Flickr.com Creative Commons
hourglass 4: graymalkn / Erik Fitzpatrick on Flickr.com Creative Commons
15 jewels: Robert Couse-Baker on Flickr.com Creative Commons
Cincinnati – Spring Grove Cemetary & Arboretum Time Passes: David Paul Ohmer / David Ohmer on Flickr.com Creative Commons
The Soft Feel of Sand: The Welsh Poppy / Rachel Davies on Flickr.com Creative Commons