Last Updated on Wednesday, 11 February 2015 16:40
By Diane Ness
Throughout the winter, we will work with many young skaters of all ages. Many parents have questions about how and when to get started. Typically, every city or area will run a learn to skate program. It is important to find a good one with qualified and experienced adult instructors to help your youngsters.
Most learn to skate programs start at age 4, but some will even go as young as 3. Typically, the younger skaters will do classes in lengths of 25 to 30 minutes. If your child has a good attention span, he/she could maybe even go to 45 minutes.
Remember this is not an open skate; this is actual instruction time. Young skaters are encouraged to practice with a parent or sibling in addition to the lesson time. Most learn to skate programs go once a week, but it is important to try to get your youngsters out on the ice a couple times a week which will be very beneficial in progressing and seeing improvement.
When can they start hockey? That is a very subjective question and everyone has their own opinion. One thing I can tell you is that it is very difficult for Mini-Mite coaches (beginning Mites) to coach a 4-year-old with no skating experience at all. I have been around Mite programs in which kids are thrown onto the ice without any skating experience. Most coaches at this level are dads, some which have some experience, some which don’t, but would just like to help the kids. So what happens? The 4-year-old is basically in survival mode throughout the practice and again some coaches are not equipped to help skaters that have never been on the ice. This can sometimes start the hockey experience out bad for a beginning skater.
The great thing about a learn to skate program is you should have instructors that can provide a 4-year-old with the ability to get up and fall down on their own, become mobile, as well as develop balance and coordination. They will also learn the basic beginning skating skills like swizzles, stopping, two-foot glides, one-foot glide, backward wiggling and flip flops. All of these skills can be learned by playing fun games as well.
As a parent, you will be able to tell a class that is run efficiently even at this young of a level. Your skaters should not be laying on the ice or have an extended period of time without movement and activity. Your skater will be very engaged in a class that is run effectively.
I will not let skaters enter my beginning hockey class until they have passed the Pre Alpha class (beginning skating). Once they have passed Pre Alpha, now you have something to work with. Now the skaters are mobile and dependent enough to fall down and get up on their own. They will have a sense of balance so other progressive skills now become easier to teach and easier for the skater to accomplish.
The skater will really become interested and engaged when they are able to see improvement. Placing youngsters in an environment to succeed is more important than throwing them in the deep end and hoping they survive. The key is to let them develop. Skaters will develop at different rates, but every kid will get better. Good luck!
Diane Ness has been a full-time professional skating coach for over 35 years. She has coached both figure skaters and hockey players alike and is a former U.S. gold medalist in figure skating. She is the Director for the Pro Edge Power hockey camps and the Learn to Skate program at Highland Park Arena. Ness is the skating coach for the New Jersey Devils, the University of Minnesota men’s and women’s hockey teams and the U.S. Women’s Olympic Hockey Team. She has trained players in the NHL, AHL, NCAA, USHL and NAHL.
