A mother's involvement
|
We are currently moving from ISI to USFSA. We have switched coaches and rinks, and are very comfortable with where we are at the moment (we meaning my daughter and I - although she is the one doing the actual skating). My daughter is 6.5 years old, and loves to skate. At times, the coach will say to me, she needs to work on (pick something here). Lets say it was "She needs to work on her spins". How can I as a non skating mom, help her? I feel so helpless, yet, my little one will go through the house jumping, spinning, walking through routines, etc ALL THE TIME!.... There is no such thing as a normal walk with her anymore (mohawks seem to be her normal mode of a straight line anymore). I want to be more involved with her, but I don't know how. Any suggestions? Ali's Mom |
Marie says:
Mention your frustration to your new coach. She/he can give you suggestions for specific things to look for to help your daughter (hold arms out level on spins, etc.). Ask the coach to write the things down for you. You can help your daughter by reinforcing the things her coach is trying to teach her. But beware -- there are a lot of (non-skating) parents that by trying to help they end up teaching their kids something wrong! Good communication with the coach is really important.
Linda says:
It can be very hard being a non-skating parent trying to understand what they are suppose to be doing. One thing you can try is when the coach says your daughter needs to work on an element (ex. camel spin), you can ask your daughter to show you her camel spin. You can ask her what part of the camel spin is she trying to improve. If you ask her to demo it again, you may be able to see the progress.
Also, when the coach says that your daughter needs to work on a spin (or jump), ask her what she needs to improve on the element and what can you look for. This will help you as well to be better educated as to what your daughter is not only working on but what improvements she has made.