Planning skating lessons around competition season
Test days, competitions, programme run-throughs: how ice skating coaches can add lessons before events, protect training and plan the weeks after competitions.
6 min read
Put the season's competitions and test days in your calendar first, then work backwards for each skater entered: extra lessons in the weeks before, a programme run-through close to the event, and nothing booked on days when you're at the rink side. Book those extra lessons yourself from your calendar, so they don't depend on skaters finding a free slot online, and remove your public slots on competition days so no one books a lesson you can't give.
Start with the season calendar
Club competitions, regional events and test sessions are published ahead. List them, with which of your skaters are entered in each. That tells you which weeks need more lessons, and which days you'll be away from your usual ice. It also shows clashes early: two skaters competing on the same weekend in different cities.
Services for competitive skaters
On Book, each service has a name, a price and an optional description shown on your public page, and each slot belongs to one service with its own start and end:
| Service | Example slot | Example price | Who books it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Private lesson | 30 min | €30 | Skaters online, or you |
| Programme run-through | 20 min | €25 | You, before an event |
| Test preparation lesson | 30 min | €30 | You, for skaters entered in a test |
| Off-ice session (jumps, conditioning) | 45 min | €25 | Skaters online, or you |
Lengths and prices are examples: set your own. Services you book yourself can say "by arrangement with your coach" in the description, so other skaters don't take them by mistake.
Adding lessons before an event
- For each skater entered, decide how many extra lessons and run-throughs they need, and when.
- Create those slots inside ice times you can use, on the right dates.
- Book the skater into each one from your calendar, with a note such as "free programme, full run-through with music".
- Add the parent's or skater's email so they get a confirmation and a calendar file for each.
A booked slot with one place is full and doesn't show on your public page. Extra lessons for competitors don't take away from the slots regular skaters see, as long as you create them in ice time you weren't already offering.
Competition days
When you're at a competition, you're not at your rink. If your usual weekly slots fall on that day, delete them for that date, or cancel and move any lessons already booked, and tell those skaters yourself: Book doesn't email clients about changes. Doing this as soon as the competition calendar is known avoids last-minute cancellations.
The weeks after
After a competition, skaters need a debrief and sometimes a lighter week, then new goals. A short lesson to review the performance, booked before you leave the event, keeps the momentum. Then return to the usual weekly rhythm. Skaters can't move lessons online: they contact you, and you move the booking from your list.
Book doesn't take payments, so explain how extra lessons and run-throughs are paid. Book costs €5/month, everything included: unlimited services and bookings, no commission, no contract.
How do I add extra lessons before a competition?
Can I stop other skaters booking run-throughs?
What about lessons on days I'm at a competition?
Do parents get the lesson dates?
Does Book send reminders before lessons?
- Online booking for ice skating coaches — €5/month | Book
- Fitting skating lessons into the rink's ice times