Off-ice training · Ottawa + online · EN / RU
Biomechanics-based stretching and strength for competitive figure skaters. No promises about how fast — but homework every week, and feedback on every photo you send me.
Who this is for
Competitive skaters rarely lack effort. They repeat stretches their structure can't answer, push harder into the end range, and end up with the same limitation plus a sore back. The work here starts from how a particular body is built and loaded — then targets the limitation that's actually there.
Spiral, layback and Biellmann lines trained through the joints that produce them, rather than forced at the end of the range where they break down.
The two areas that end most competitive seasons. We manage them through the training load, before they turn into a diagnosis and six weeks off.
Flexibility a skater can't control is a fall risk. Every gain in range is paired with the strength to own it, so it shows up in a programme and not just in warm-up.
If a coach has mentioned collapsing ankles or a rolling foot, that's a trainable problem. Targeted foot and ankle strengthening, worked at the source rather than braced over.
The foundation
The strength work here comes from ballet parterre — the floor sequences dancers use to build turnout, control and a clean line without loading the spine or the joints. For a skater already absorbing hundreds of landings a week, that matters: it builds capacity without adding impact.
It's also why the training travels. Everything can be done on a mat in a living room, which is what makes the online sessions work as well as they do.
How it works
Every skater starts with the same three steps, whether they're in the Sunday room or on Zoom from another city.
Hips, spine, ankles and shoulders measured and observed in the positions the sport actually demands. We find out where the range is coming from — and where it's being borrowed from.
Specific work for the limitation we found, sized to the skater's on-ice load and competition calendar. Short enough to actually be done between sessions.
Short work to do between sessions, sent through with photos. I look at every one and write back — so a stretch that's being done wrong gets caught in three days, not in three months.
Range is re-tested on a schedule, so progress is a number you can see rather than a feeling. The programme changes as the season and the body change.
Classes
Start in the group class to see how you get on. Move to private sessions when a skater needs a programme of their own.
Sundays · in person
Small group work on the fundamentals of range, control and injury prevention. [TIME] at [STUDIO NAME], [ADDRESS]. Bring socks and a mat.
$[XX] drop-in
$[XXX] for 8 weeks
Sundays & weekdays · in person or Zoom
Full assessment and a programme built for one skater, reviewed as the competitive season moves. Weekly homework with photo check-ins and my written feedback between sessions. The right choice for a skater working toward a specific element or coming back from injury.
$[XX] per session
$[XXX] for a block of 5
Weekdays · Zoom
The same method for skaters outside Ottawa, or for weeks when the rink schedule makes Sunday impossible. All you need is floor space and a camera.
$[XX] drop-in
$[XXX] monthly
About
[Two or three sentences: your training and certifications, how long you've worked with figure skaters, and how you came to this work — a skating or dance background, or an injury of your own, if that's the story. Parents read this section carefully before they hand over their child's off-ice training, so be concrete: name the qualification, name the years.]
[One sentence on clubs, coaches or competitive levels you've worked with in Ottawa, if you can name them.]
[Optional: languages you teach in.]
Questions
[Your answer — e.g. skaters from X years old, with younger skaters grouped separately.] Growing skaters need different loading than fully grown ones, so age and stage both matter when I place someone in a group.
No. It sits alongside it. This is targeted flexibility and injury-prevention work, and I'm happy to speak with a skater's coach so the two programmes pull in the same direction rather than adding load on top of load.
If they're under the care of a physiotherapist or physician, that plan comes first — I'll work with it, not around it. For skaters cleared to train, the work can often be adapted. Tell me the details when you get in touch and I'll be honest about whether it's the right time.
I won't promise a timeline, and I'd be careful of anyone who does — real range takes months, and forcing it faster is how skaters get hurt. What I do promise is the work in between: homework every week, photos sent to me, and written feedback from me on every one. You'll always know whether it's being done, and done correctly. Range is re-measured on a schedule, so the progress is a number rather than an opinion.
[Your make-up policy — e.g. missed classes can be taken online that week, or credited within the block.]
Yes. I teach in English and in Russian, and private sessions run in whichever language the skater is most comfortable thinking in. For young skaters especially, that makes a difference — corrections land faster in a first language. Online groups run in [say which languages, and when].
For assessment, in person is better. For the weekly work, online is close — the sessions are built so I can see and correct what matters through a camera, and many skaters train with me entirely on Zoom.
Get started
Send me their age, level, and what's getting in the way — a position that won't come, a recurring niggle, or just a season with more volume than last year. I'll tell you honestly whether the group class or a private assessment is the better starting point.
Send an email