How Many Private Figure Skating Lessons Is Normal?

A question I’ve been waiting on. Can’t wait to see the responses as we are just as uncertain.

Our daughter is 4. She has 3 private lessons, 30-minutes each, per week. She really wants 4 lessons per week, but, like Ice Mom, I like to keep it one less than she wants. (Daughter started LtS about six months ago at age 3 and quickly moved up. She was soon an LtS drop-out. It is not fun when the other kids at your level are at least twice your age. Or so our daughter says.)

At 4 she has the ability to practice independently for 30-45 minutes and with those practices is skating about 3 hours per week. Again, an hour less than she wants. Our ice time is divided up by level, so she is not on the same ice with advanced skaters, so that helps.

I guess our current rule of thumb is “number of lessons = age – 1″. LOL! Like I said, can’t wait for those with more insight to respond. We feel clueless!

A friend of mine, a pro skater, went to the Olympics in the late 80s. Practiced 3-4 hours/day. Has a hard time with the parents who send their kids to a 30-min lesson a week and expect their kids to be perfect, who tell their kids they are excellent skaters, and then blame the coach when they don’t win something or advance. I say as much as your child wants without it interrupting your lives or her happiness. Or breaking the bank.

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Excellent! I have a 7 year old, myself, and have been asking this same question. Right now I have my daughter (who’s only skated for a year and is only in Basic 3) in one private lesson, one group lesson, and a one hour club skate a week.

I really think three times a week is not only enough for this young but keeps her time open for other endeavors as well. She’s going to be in her first two competitions in March and I’m sure there will be extra ice time before them, just as there was before her first show back in December. Other than that I don’t think it’s good for her to live for just one activity at only 7- she’ll have plenty of time to focus when she gets older.

Needless to say, she would spend every waking hour out there if I (and my wallet) let her. However with three kids, a budget, and my own personal experience with sport burn-out, I think this is enough….. for now. Let’s see in a few months where we’re at, when there’s more competing!

I agree that number of lessons depends on the maturity of the skater, how much they are enjoying it and your budget. I can’t speak from experience about young skaters since my IceBoy started when he was 9, almost 10, but he is starting his 5th year and we have gone through a progression.

Every coach is different.
Keep in mind he was almost 10 when he started in a “learn to skate” type program.
He did one set of group lessons, then started private lessons twice a week for 15 minutes to start,
then 2- half hour sessions about a 1/2 a year later (based on his ability and love of skating).
When he was ready to start pre-juvenile level we added a moves coach (1/4 hr). At first we used some of the 1/2 hour that was designated for his primary coach, then eventually it became an additional lesson time, maybe another 6 months later.

When he was in the late part of his second year or early part of his third year we added a spin coach for 1/4hr a week. He stayed at 1 1/2 total coaching hours a week until this past season when we added more hours. Partly because he was trying to catch up after injury, and partly because his advancing level required more time on edges and moves and choreography. His total time now at the (Intermediate level) is 1.5 hours with his primary coach (3-1/2 hour sessions) and one 1/2 hour choreography/moves. So 2 hours total. His spin lesson absorbed by his primary coach for ease of scheduling. He skates a total of approximately 11 hours on ice.

A few other coaches at our rink give their skaters almost daily for a lesson no matter what their level (within reason, of course not basic skills skaters). I think it might have to do with the way they were coached (we have a very international staff) and partly financial considerations, both coach and family.

“Our” Ice Coach’s philosophy is that the skater needs to practice on their own to learn or master the material from the lesson, therefore needs some time to process and practice between lessons. Otherwise it comes down to babysitting, and it’s pretty expensive “babysitting”. As a parent, I like to see my IB taking responsibility for his skating, practicing efficiently and owning his career path.

However that said there is another skater who started around the same time as my IB and is around the same age, and he “needs” to have a coach around as much of the time as possible. He knows that, his parents know that and his coach knows that. The family can afford it, so he has daily lessons sometimes for an hour at a time.

I think it really depends on the coach, coaching style, the skater and your wallet. I think that you will eventually find the point of diminishing returns. Your skater will improve more as you add coaching sessions up to a point, then beyond that point, your skater will not. In my opinion, I think that that is amount of coaching they should have {or as much as you can afford up to that point }.

In the beginning when my daughter first started using freestyle ice, we did have a few more lessons just so she knew how to practice on her own and didn’t feel out there alone on the “big ice”.

My daughter started really slowly and only had one 15 minute lesson a week up until about age 9.

Up to learning axel, we never had a set amount of lessons. Some weeks – working on a program or before a competition/test and later during Axel Time – we’d add 1 or 2 lessons a week; sometimes a 15 minute lesson would do, other times a half hour was needed. Other than that, one private lesson and one group lesson seemed enough per week. After axel and as her competitive goals changed, we added lessons.

As long as the rink has age/level appropriate group lessons, I try to get my skater in them as much as possible. First, it saves money. Second, skating is such a lonely sport at times; the camaraderie of a group lesson is helpful and a lot of fun for my daughter. Third, even at No Test level – and I’d risk saying even above – I think there are some skills and basic elements that can be learned and practiced in a group setting so that private coaching time can be spent on those skills for which the skater really needs the one-on-one attention.

Right now at Juvenile level, my skater child has 1 1/2 hours a week private. If coach is finished another lesson, she’ll sometimes spot my daughter five minutes here or there to give a quick touch up or pointer. She skates about 12 – 15 hours a week total.

I voted 1/2 – 1 hour per week, assuming we’re talking a singles skater (young synchro team members more often already do that much and more). That’s two 1/2 hour lessons (our coaches don’t do 15 minute increments, unfortunately). Beyond that, let it be either a group lesson or just an open practice session. Anything else – at that age – is a budget killer. Save the money for when she is doing double jumps and NEEDS to be on the ice more frequently and needs more expensive higher-level coaches and equipment.

My skater will be 10 next week and the equation used for her with her coach’s support is a minimum of 1 hour (many times 1 1/2 hours) of practice for every 30 minute lesson. When she was younger her coach would actually direct her practice time with a list of specifics she needed to focus on, but now she has figured out how to balance her practice ice time with practice needs. So dd’s willingness and drive to practice is basically what drives her lesson schedule. On occasion we will deviate if there is testing coming up or a competition, etc, but it has given her a basis to work from.

Do some rinks have group lessons that are divided by age as well as level? Ours does not, but I would love to lobby for that if I had some good examples from other rinks. I joked about our daughter being a Learn to Skate dropout, but, seriously, I feel her pain when she was 3 and skating in a group lesson with kids that are 6-10 years old.

I guess I would tell you if you can afford that the next 10 years its fine.IMO you are setting her up for having more than that when she is older.
As far as being in a group class with older kids, sometimes that is just the way it is.I would just tell her that and she can deal with it or not skate till she is older. I dont mean to sound harsh, but where we live we dont have enough to break it down. I would guess in alot of small places that is common.They also compete with kids of different ages. It teaches them alot of life lessons and addresses the life isnt fair issue.
When my DD was the same age she had 2 15 minute lessons.At age 11 with all her doubles in her program but her double toe and D/A she has 4 lessons a week.
The rest is practice.
I can also tell you my kids compete with skaters that have double the lessons.Doesnt mean much at least in my skaters case.YMMV of course but my kids place better than those that have more.

LOL, I learned something new today YMMV haha! Great!

Not actually answering the question, but related in a general sense. One of the things I see at our rink that I think might be a little misguided is parents who have their skaters in lessons with 4 or 5 different coaches who seem to teach much of the same thing. Add on top of that a choreography coach, then a power coach. I think it’s overkill. These are not high level skaters, these are little skaters pre-pre or below, or older skaters that are barely pre-juvenile level. Oh, and then you have the off ice classes, ballet, off-ice with the coach, yoga, dance, and physical (work till you throw up) “training” classes.

Believe it or not, there are kids who do all this. More often than not Mom is the one who hires these coaches, it is not at the suggestion of their “primary” coach (who eventually gets lost in the shuffle).

Their parents are going crazy with the schedule and balancing the other kids. Not to mention the cost of it all. The coaches are all teaching axel, but with different techniques. The child doesn’t have time to practice on her own.

They worry that their skater has hit a plateau because they stopped improving from last week.

They wonder why their skater is having such a hard time landing her axel.

I want to tell them; More is not necessarily better. Listen to your coach, he/she is the expert in this field. You are paying for their expertise. Consistency and continuity is so important for a skater’s technique. If you are worried that the coach is not teaching it right, and need other input, then why are you paying that coach to begin with?

But then again, I am a very simple person. I like simple, I like routine. I trust “our” IceCoach. hmmm…

Hey IceMom, how about adding a category to your poll; there is no magic number, each skater and situation is different

I don’t know if number of lessons/week can be determined by age so much as by level or experience. For example, here we have a seven year old who is almost done with learn to skate, so having private lessons is a good idea, but I think she probably doesn’t really need more than an hour of lessons each week at this point. However, if you had a seven year old who had been skating competitions since they were 3, 4, or 5, then you probably will be wanting to spend more time in lessons, as they will be working on harder skills and need more attention to progress.

Maturity is also a valid concern. Some seven year olds are very self motivated and aware, and would probably benefit from more self practice time than from an extra lesson. However, sometimes they can get very distracted, so having personal time with the coach can be worth the extra expense to make the ice time productive. There are some kids at our rink (most are in the 9-11 range, but there are a few 6-7 year olds), and when they are all there they really don’t work that hard, goof off and turn practice into a race or playtime. When one of them is in a lesson or they are there individually they all work really hard. I do think it is good that they have friends and that skating isn’t a lonely activity, but they need to learn to use their time wisely and to socialize before/after practice.

Overall, I would say it depends on the kid and the family and the money. In this case, if they kid is mature enough to handle self-motivated practice, I would start with just getting some extra practice time, and then increase the lessons a little bit later if she really keeps pushing for more lessons and more ice time. If the kid really needs supervised practice at this age, then having an extra lesson is probably a good thing so she can continue to progress as she moves up to FS level.

I think figure skating is almost like learning an instrument. You have your lesson, and then your practice time, where you work on things from the lesson, think of questions to ask, etc. That practice time is very important…. helps the skater digest what they’ve learned, and work on their own without a coach constantly instructing, which is good experience in skating, and, well, life.

However, seven is young. At that age, more coaching might be necessary for safely and focus. Though, I’ve seen some very dedicated young skaters. Is it possible to have 15 minute lessons instead of half hour lessons and spread them out a bit so the skater gets a ‘burst’ of coaching a little more frequently? When I was a kid, this is what we did. I would be on the ice for several hours at a time and I’d have three short lessons. Seemed to work well.

We have a LTS tots class for kids 6 and under at our rink. Most are beginners, but it’s a small class on the whole rink so lots of opportunity for individualized instruction. It’s held Tuesday mornings so a good use of some normal rink downtime.

I can only tell you my experience…my dd was like yours serious about it and done with LTS levels by 7 years old. Today, at 10, she does 3:1 ratio of practice to lessons, but that wasn’t really something she was capable of at 7. Then she was also skating on a synchro team so she had 2 truly private lessons a week, her coach also did a ‘group’ for MIF with a few of her private students once a week, and she also had team practice one time a week. So I think skating 3-4 days per week is probably reasonable (assuming she is somewhat mature for her age– my dd was and still is). I’d have her start by practicing on her own (maybe with a list from her coach) for the 2nd half of the session from her lessons and work up from there.

You are not being harsh at all. I completely agree that a big part of any sport is learning other important life lessons. I think 3 and 4 might be a bit young for the lesson she was learning – it was basically that big kids are mean and nasty when the coach isn’t watching. I get that they were jealous, but that concept is still a bit beyond her. (I also get that it can’t be easy for a 9-year-old to watch themselves progressing slower than a 3-year-old.)

While we are setting her up for more lessons later, we plan to first begin adding additional practice time as she gains the maturity to practice more (and longer) independently. And a big part of that will be the maturity to handle the ice trolls. I do need to say, though, that there are a few older girls that already have her back. Those kids I adore. I also love a couple of the parents who prompted their daughters to take ours under their wing. (I think I’ve wandered off to another topic now.)

To me, it is a given that lessons and ice time should never be more than what your budget can handle. Or more than what your child desires. I was more curious about what is considered “average” for a non-competitive track vs. what would be “average” for a competitive track at the various ages and/or levels.

(I just created this profile to respond-I’m the original author of the question) We don’t have the option of 15 min segments at our rink. My DD practices so well w/ her coach there to keep her focused and working hard. I also think my DD is a little intimidated by the other skaters (usually older) around her and is afraid to get in their way. I love the idea of the 15 minute segments though-that would be perfect for her to keep her on track and working hard.

Thank you-that’s partly what I was wondering. If she’s up to 3 so young/low level…what’s next?

That sounds like my “ice girl”…she would be w/ her coach, on the ice, 7 days a week if I could afford it!

“I was more curious about what is considered “average” for a non-competitive track vs. what would be “average” for a competitive track at the various ages and/or levels.” – me too! I would love to find a source of this info. GREAT IDEA!

Bummer, we really never ran into that,when they were younger. We have run into the older kids.or non competive kids teasing/being mean to the younger more competive kids.
Its good some of the older kids are watching out for her.My two have adopted some of the younger skaters now that they are older.
good luck!!

Just speaking from the little experience that I have. My ice girl is 7 and has been skating for 2 years. When she was younger we did 2 15 minute private lessons and then our learn to skate program once a week. She now takes 2 30 minute private lessons and helps with learn to skate. She just passed her preliminary MIF test today. She is on the ice for 2 hours on the 2 days that she has the private lessons. Her coach gives her a checklist of what she needs to work on so that it gives her guidance while she’s not having her lesson. We don’t do ballet or yoga. In the summer we do off ice once a week. We don’t have the pocket book to do much more than that!! This seems like a good balance with school also…which is an important factor to me. I also think that being on the ice with older girls is a great experience for them. Ice girl learns a lot just from watching them. She has also learned that she is not “in the way” and keeps skating right along with them:) Being on the ice with the older girls has also helped when we go to competitions during practice ice. She used to be terrified of the practice time because she thought she was “in the way”, but now just practices what her coach asks her to without being afraid:) Just my 2 cents!

I’m annoyingly late replying, but I’m interested in this answer too!! How many hours would be standard for competitive-track skaters at different ages/levels – particularly for the under 8s whose parents don’t understand skating and are chronic worryworts about everything.

I have a seven year old skater as well. She has 3 half hour lessons. We get to the rink at least 30 minutes before the lesson and stay for a half hour after the lesson. She has been competing for 3 years this spring.
As far as being intimidated by older skaters, I have seen lots of new skaters go through that situation. It has been a great experience for her to talk to girls of varying ages and to deal with both the frustration of learning new things and the accomplishment of learning skills. I also like to her to see the older more accomplished skaters work on learning their skills.

I like this formula: for a skater who isn’t competing, 1/2 hour on the ice for every rotation of jump capability. So a Basic 8 skater (wj, mazurka, 1/2 flip) is doing 1 1/2 rotations should be doing 1-2 lessons/classes plus 1 hour of practice. A FS7 skater (all singles, axel, 2 doubles=10.5 rotations) should be skating 5-7 hours per week. (This is comparable to how much you would be asking them to practice the violin or piano.) This is maintenance level. If you want to keep progressing, add more. At least half should be class or practice, where the skater must self-motivate. How much of the rest is privates depends on your budget. If the skater is testing, add an hour of practice plus 1 lesson for each test she’s working on. If she’s competing, add an hour of practice plus 1 lesson per week. If the skater wants to get to Nationals, and is at or working on the Juvenile level, regardless of age, s/he should be skating every session s/he can get to, and should have some interaction with the coach every day. Fifteen to twenty hours a week on the ice for a Juvenile skater with national ambitions is not too much.

In skating, age is not the most important consideration. If your 7-year old is working on axels and doubles, skating a lot becomes a safety issue. Just as skaters who train too much have psychological and physical difficulties, skaters who train too little also have problems, because they just aren’t practicing enough to succeed. Your skater should train commensurate with his/her level and ambition, and not just his/her age.

That is wonderful information. Thanks Xan!

I voted for “as many as the skater wants”, however, I have a few “rules” that go with that decision.

My skater is almost 5 and is currently in Basic 4. So far my rules are:
(1) add lessons slowly, say, add the next one per week not sooner than a few months after adding the previous one. This allows me to see whether my skater really wants to skate that much.
(2) schedule a bit fewer lessons than what the skater wants. In our case the rule “1 less per week than what she wants” seems reasonable but is hard to figure out because my skater doesn’t have a solid understanding of “week” yet. She can only comment on whether she wants more or less. She keeps saying she wants more, so I add more, but I add slowly.
(3) she has at least an hour of practice for each hour of lesson, private or group. When she wants more, we add practice time first, then lessons. When group lessons are available, we do as many of those as we can. When they are unavailable, we have to do private lessons.

So currently she has 1 hour of private lessons per week, 1 hour of group classes, and 2-3 hours of practice.

Wow. I’m 13 I have one half hour private lesson per week and a 45 min group and about 8 hours of practice time. During the summer though, I have 2 half hour private lesson, 1 45 min group, 2 30 min clinics.

That’s a good idea!

Thank you, Xan! Your reply is very helpful and detailed. Your advice I’m taking!

My daughters coach always said 1.5 hours of practice for every 30 minute lesson (and she means real practice!) as if she didn’t practice she either wasn’t serious about skating and then the choice was hers. I always thought this was a great way of looking at things so if my kids do the 1.5 hours after their lesson and they work reasonably hard they get another lesson. If they are not mature enough to practice on their own then I would have thought they are also not mature enough to decide to skate seriously also it means that I don’t get caught up in working at my hopes and dreams and not theirs! It is very easy at a lower level to see pictures of sparkly dresses and decide upon a future but until you hit a stumbling block (in our case axel! ) you cannot really see how hard they will work….

I have a 5 year old who began skating at 3 1/2. She finished the entire LTS program in 1 1/2 yrs. and had her first “basic level” competition last spring. I would never have entertained privates at 3 1/2, but the coaches at her club talked told us we should encourage her based on what they were seeing. I’m not sure what to look for, so this was helpful, and I trusted they must see something I don’t. She currently takes a class our rink called “Intro to Dance”, and we have 5 of these types of classes that they recommend for all skaters who have higher aspirations in the sport. In this class she works on her basic stroking, which the coaches informed me is a critical skating element. Coaches teach freestyle moves, not the overall stroking component. We coach 3 days a week for 20-30 minutes besides that. My head coach and the director of the club, told us that this amount of time with an hour practice session each of the 3 days is plenty for this age. My daughter is training for Pre-pre MIF test right now, and working on elements that are needed in the Pre-pre freestyle program. They have told us to “save our money” for when our skater is higher level. You said your skater is 7, but hasn’t begun the competition tiers yet, so I think you are safe with 3 days for sure. Everything from skates, to costumes, to ice time will add up as you move forward in this endeavor. A good friend of mine had a daughter who made it to Junior Nationals at 16, and confessed that a decade ago, she spent about 25-30 thousand a year on skating which shocked me. So that’s where it is headed if our young skaters continue. Lower level elements are not challenging enough to require major ice time like they will be when she is working on an axel (which can take up to a year to land clean) with regular coaching. Until they are challenged with truly difficult elements, it is hard to say how much they will continue to love skating because at a Pre-pre level or below, they have only just begun and truthfully, it is still pretty easy to learn those moves! As a former skater, I can tell you that it will become much more challenging, and that’s when you’ll know if they really have the skating bug. I agree with someone else that said it has to be their dream, not the parents. Skaters with national and world aspirations not only have to spend the better part of their childhood skating, but they have to have natural talent beyond their peers. Coaches generally will tell you if and when they see this, and encourage the child/family to change their lifestyle, homeschool, and whatever else is required to reach that dream. If you have a resident head coach at your club, they should be able to direct you about hours/practice time. They will tell you when your skater is ready to test and whether or not you will need to increase hours in order for her to be in a position to pass the next test by a certain time. Once your skater passes the Pre-preliminary test for both MIF and FS, the coach will likely suggest an increase in hours. Our coach told us MIF tests are always ahead of FS. In a basic competition where they are doing a waltz jump, flip jump, salchow, or toe loop, they really don’t have many elements yet, so they don’t need excessive practice time-yet!

I believe ice time and coaching is based on the child and her interest.  What type of skater does she want to be?  What her goals are?  My daughter is 6 1/2 and never wants to stop.  She works hard and most of the time stays focused. I allow her to skate what she wants as her goals are high!  She currently is on ice 7 hours per week which includes 5 private lessons, and aprox 3 1/2 hours off ice trainning we make fun but she is working.  those off ice hours add up quickly when putting in 30 min before ever getting on the ice 4 days a week..  She came home from school telling me she joined a runners club so we add that as part of her off ice as well.  Have no clue where she gets her energy!!!  I don’t push her and ask her all the time if she’d like to bring down he goals and skate less etc..  she gives me this look everytime like i am nuts….  so we keep going based on her.. I know this is a lot of hours but you can ask her coaches as she is just fine with it and having fun.  Have no clue what level she is as i don’t pay much attention.. If have to guess somewhere between Freestyle 3 and 4 maybe??? 

My daughter (is and for the past year has been having a minumum of 1 private lesson each week, but this is also balanced by (typically) 2 semi private lessons (with one other child at the same level as she is) as well as 2 small group lessons.
We only have 2 coaches at our club, but we have 15 Juniors (skaters on private lessons who are not yet landing axels, altho most are working on learning them) on the ice most days.  Each session has a 30 minute group lesson (which includes stroking work, and then either skills, spins or jumps for the remainder of the session), followed by 45 minute freeskate, followed by a 30 minute dance session.  The small group lessons keep the younger ones working and from getting too distracted during the 45 minute freeskate.  During the dance session, the coaches pair one senior with a small group of juniors for a 15 minute “follow my steps” to keep them from getting in the way of other skaters while they learn what to do with themselves on Dance.

Xan, can you please explain the phsychological “difficulties”?  I train EVERY DAY (FS4 level) and don’t experience any physical issues and (hopefully) not any psycho issues that I know of.  I have a burning focus to enhance muscle strength, flexibility, stamina, coordination and coach-listening skills.  Could there be possible “difficulties” that I don’t even recognize?

Huh, where could I find LTS lessons for only 100.00 for 10?  That would be FANTASTIC.  Ours are 200.00.  Given the price of the lessons my daughter practices three hours a week with no private lessons.  Although I have noticed that most if not all of the other kids at the rink as much as her are recieving private lessons.  When my daughter (who is five) lacks direction I lace up my skates and try to make a game out of practicing new skills.  This is difficult for me because she is a better skater and I have to either skate with our one year old as well or put him in a push sled.  I suspect my answer is not super helpful, but I would say this – give your daughter as much support as she needs to feel confident for her first show.  If she feels that she needs more private lessons, then go for it.  If she feels she needs more rink time and more family and friends to help her practice then give her that. So long as it is something your family can afford.

My daughter is 8 almost 9.  She skates 2 days a week, 2 hrs on Sat and 2 hrs on Wed.  I don’t want her to get burnt out.  She is part of the synchro team which requires a stroking class.  She takes 2 group lessons and one private lesson.  I leave the choice up to her if she wants to skate more then that.  Usually she wants to take 2 more lessons on Sat and stay for public skate, which adds another 3 hours.  If she doesn’t want to stay I don’t get mad we just leave.  She likes to skate and can’t wait to get on the ice.  There are many moms I’ve seen begging kids to get on the ice and  yelling at them pay attention to the coach.  If you child doesn’t willingly get on ice and work with their coach to improve it might be time to have a talk with your child to make sure they are still interested.  Ask them how much they want to skate.  Having a skater is fun, but it is easy for the parent to get caught up in all the excitement of private coaches and skating shows.  I don’t think there is a certain age and amount of lessons, every skater is different. Listen to your kids.  They will be happier and so will you.

I’m just wonderin’ here, but how do you know if your child has natural talent. I would allow my daughter to keep skating even if she didn’t of course, she loves the sport. This is just a question out of curiosity really because I do think perserverance, drive and passion count for more than natural talent.