Tis is easily applied to all dance step
sequences, especially FS 6 and FS 7 with the new counters, rockers and loops that are brand new skills for many of our skaters.
COACH 2:
• Teach them the turns outside of the patterns first, breaking down the skill if necessary. For instance, I teach the back three-turn before teaching the freestyle 4 dance step. I often will break down the backward three-turn even further by putting the skater on a circle and practicing the backward to forward two-foot turn first before teaching the back three-turn.
• I only teach about one-third of a dance sequence at a time, paying careful attention not only to the steps but also to the edges the skater is on. Once a skater has mastered the first third of a sequence, I will add on the next one-third and so forth.
• I will add counts to the dance step sequence to help skaters with knee rhythm and timing of turns on the lobe (for example, saying: 1, 2, 3 turn 2, 3, push 2, 3, turn 2, 3 for the forward three-turn to backward three-turn turn in the freestyle 4 dance step).
COACH 3: I used to really dislike teaching my skaters the freestyle 4 dance step. Tey could never understand what I was telling them to do and the worst part was when they did understand, they couldn’t remember it. Ten I realized I was just bad at teaching the step. My frustration was because I couldn’t explain to my student how to do it. Once I realized that I needed to communicate better, my frustration and the student’s frustration disappeared. Tis is what I do — I’m sure I’ve grabbed more than a few ideas from other coaches and made them my own: (Do not try teaching this in one 15-minute lesson! Tis is a progressive lesson over at least four lessons.)
• Teach all the turns separately, not on pattern and holding the entrance and exit of each turn for at least the skater’s height. Once the skater can do this easily, I move on.
• Break up the pattern into four sections. • Start to combine the first set of turns,
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LFO three-turn, RBO three-turn (I make the skater say this out loud).
• Add the mohawk – RFI or LBI.
• Add the cross back step, teaching the proper tuck of the foot. Once they can do this, I will add the
next section and repeat on the right foot:
• RFO three-turn, LBO three-turn – add the mohawk.
• Ten go back to the start of the sequence and add all four turns and the XB. When the skater is somewhat successful with this first half of the sequence you can move on.
• Teach the third set of turns, LBI three- turn, RFI three-turn, and the fourth set RBI, LFI.
• Add the XB, XF. Once they can do all the inside turns
successfully, have the skater do only this half of the sequence. Next lesson, have the skater do the first half; if you have time, the second half. By the fourth lesson, you should be able to put it all together. Don’t sacrifice short turns for the sake of getting through it. Long edges in and out of the turns will make for a beautiful sequence.
COACH 4: Teach each step and turn of
the dance step sequences in isolation and then on a relevant pattern.
Freestyle 2: Start by reviewing the inside mohawk but only if necessary. I quickly move on to the sway, on two feet on the large hockey circle. I teach a dynamic and exaggerated knee bend “into the circle, and back onto the circle.” Once the knee bend and body lean are there, we go to one foot and focus on the edges with the knee bend, “outside edge going into the circle and inside edge back to the circle.” Next I focus on the transition from the sway, left inside to right inside, stepping on the circle. Before I move onto the cross behind, step cross in front part, I go to the wall and explain the definition of
“step” (to simply change feet) and of “cross behind” (transfer weight as free leg crosses behind, or tucks behind) and “cross in front”(transfer weight as free leg crosses in front). I use this step to emphasize that this is not a crossover. We practice on the boards. Next, I put the cross behind, step cross in front on a relevant pattern
(a hockey circle) and work on the proper edges. I teach a knee action like “Pepé Le Pew” (down, up, down, up, down, up, down) and I have a GIF on my iPad to show them if they don’t know Looney Tunes — most kids don’t these days but it makes them laugh. I find that this analogy helps them remember the proper knee action to make the cross behind easier. Adults are terrified to cross behind; it’s only because their knees are too stiff.
After I’ve taught all of the pieces, we
put the sequence together on the hockey circle.
Freestyle 3: It sounds really strange, but I start the FS 3 sequence with the right back outside edge. I do this because I want the skaters to fully understand the expectation of the curve on the second part of the outside mohawk. I tell them that this is their jump landing edge. It helps because I find that skaters in FS 2 are super focused on jumps, and this grabs their attention.
Freestyle 4: Teach the back threes slowly, on a small circle, and with a lot of attention to the knee action. I literally hold their hands and make them bend their knee, turn their head, shoulders, torso and hips, bend again, and then turn the foot. I spend a lot of time on turns in isolation.
COACH 5: Break the dance steps into small
sections and relate parts to things skaters already know. For example: Te freestyle 2 and 3 steps relate to the forward and backward edges they learned in Delta and FS 1.
Freestyle 4: I teach all the back turns in isolation and will not teach the dance step pattern until turns are proficient. I will start with teaching each lobe as separate pieces on a hockey circle, then we will move to putting those lobes on a bigger half circle separately. After skaters are getting the lobes and turns, I will add in the transition steps between lobes. Tis process leads to a better pattern and makes it easier for skaters to remember.
Freestyle 5 - 9: I teach turns separately
before linking small sections together. Working for quality edges and control before and after turns in isolation will help skaters be successful skating on the correct pattern.
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