World and Olympic coach Audrey Weisiger shares a game she developed to help keep her highest level skaters motivated who were training in near isolation. The game is particularly effective for skaters who are the “best” skater in their rink without others at their level to help motivate and push them. The LRP game is a way to keep track of a small number of attempts of a small number of elements, which can stay the same or change daily or weekly or whatever. L stands for “landed,” R stands for “rotated,” and P stands for “popped.”
Audrey shares examples of the game and a few stories about how effective the game can be. It can even be used with skaters at the same or different rinks that are at significantly different skating levels. The LRP game can also be effective for helping individual skaters (not in a group game setting) to reduce popping. (Editor’s note: It can also be helpful for skaters who “circle” a lot as it’s a way for this behavior to also be tracked and modified. In that case the game becomes LRPC.)
Note that Audrey is suggesting a small number of elements and attempts for each individual game of LRP. The reason is: skaters need to learn to handle pressure and perform the elements when they are required. Simply recording an entire practice session does not have this effect of “doing it when it counts” which is a much more effective training tool to simulate the pressure of competition.
In the video, Audrey makes a point of explaining why it’s valuable to make sure skaters have others to “play with” or compete with in friendly way. If you have a skater who you think would benefit from this kind of interaction and needs to be paired up, please contact Audrey or Sheila Thelen using the Contact Page on the Grassroots to Champions website.
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