How Long to Get Here?

[Keely]

From another thread:
Originally posted by singerskates
Oh, I'm 41 and only have been skating for 4 and half seasons. the last, was cut short due to surgery and the first was cut short due to broken elbow. so if you average it out it's really been 3 years of skating from holding on to the boards to doing loops and flips.:?:

Would love to know how much skating equals 1 year ;)

I have been trying to get an idea of how long it has taken adult skaters to reach a particular level, to give me some idea of what I might expect in my own progress. I realize this will vary (perhaps a lot) but like the above, it's usually x years/months, which doesn't really help.... I have no idea how much skating that actually is.

Someone who takes a half hour lesson once a week, and someone else who also adds 6 hours of practice a week, are likely going to be miles apart in progress after a year... and then there are private coaches versus group lessons, etc....

Myself, I have a 50 minute class each week and skate approximately 3 hours more at public skates... I actually write down all the hours I skate in a notebook because I want to know how many hours I get between sharpenings... sometimes I add a note about what I'm learning or what I'm getting better at. So it's been kind of fun noting my progress and it should make for an interesting (or humiliating?) record down the line. Apparently took me 7.5 hours to get the hang of front crossovers.

I wish I had a better idea how long it took other adult beginners to do things so I had some idea of where I might be at the end of this season. Do most adults skate more or less than I do? Any experiences from other skaters would be welcome.

[Elsy2]

I can say I skated about the same amount of time per week as you when I started. After a year, I could do waltz, toe, salchow, loop, half flips and lutz's. All required further refinement, and probably still do after 6 years 8O My biggest problem was learning to spin, which took me forever, and I do mean years.

When I look at progress now I measure the ease and enjoyment I now have when skating. Everything is still a work in progress, elements come and go.....

As for tests, I've passed pre-bronze and bronze FS. I consider myself bronze for life! I started just before I turned 43 and I'm 49 now.

[batikat]

Your progress depends not only on how many times a week you skate and how much practice you put in but also on your age when you start and your levels of fitness and flexibility and your personality. If you are the bold courageous type who is willing to put eveything into learning to jump and doesnt' mind falling you will progress in your jumps very much faster than a more cautious type who hates to fall (like me!!!). If you have good balance then learning to spin will come easier than for someone who doesnt'. So it is really an impossible question. It also depends on your interests - are you focussed on freestyle or do you want to learn dance too?

I started at 37 but my first year was in group classes (of more than 20 kids and adults mixed)so had virtually no individual attention at all and spent maybe 1-2 hours a week practising what I had learnt. Progress therefore was exceedingly slow. For the next year I took private lessons for 1/2 hour once a week but skated 2-3 mornings and took some group classes too. I started learning dance but took a detour in to the lowest level Freeskating (at that time in the UK this did not require jumps and spins). For the last two years I have had 2 lessons a week and skated 3- 4 mornings a week and have improved very much faster. I am still torn between dance (hate compulsories but love Free and Original Dance) and Freeskating so having taken levels 1 & 2 dance am back to trying to learn jumps and spins. It took me probably 2 years to get a decent upright spin and I'm now learning sit spins. I am still struggling with the toe-loop and salchow which I started to learn just over a year ago because when there is a dance competition coming up I stop practising them.

Best thing is to forget what others are doing and how long it took them because their experience is likely to be different to yours anyway. Concentrate on your own progress and as long as you are making some then it's all good. You never finish learning anything in skating anyway. Everything you think you can do can always be done better!!!

[NickiT]

Originally posted by batikat


Best thing is to forget what others are doing and how long it took them because their experience is likely to be different to yours anyway. Concentrate on your own progress and as long as you are making some then it's all good. You never finish learning anything in skating anyway. Everything you think you can do can always be done better!!!

I couldn't agree more. How fast you progress is such an individual thing that it's best not to compare yourself to others.

Nicki

[Keely]

Thanks. Comparing doesn't mean competition and I don't care if I go slow or fast... I just like to hear how other adults progressed. It's just interesting to me. If I wanted to forget about other people, I wouldn't have asked, would I? :) ;)

[mikawendy]

Originally posted by Keely
I actually write down all the hours I skate in a notebook because I want to know how many hours I get between sharpenings...

I also use a notebook to record hours on blades and boots. I also write down every single correction that I can remember from my lessons and edge classes as well as a list of what I practiced (or need to practice) on my own. Since I don't get a whole lot of ice time, It helps me focus on the items that need work. (Otherwise I'd spend all session long doing spirals and spinning, which I love. I have to make myself practice my jumps.)

I really like using my notebook since I've started taking private MIF lessons recently. Since the entire 20 mins. of the lesson is focused on me, I get a lot of feedback and discussion with the instructor, and I'd forget half of it if I didn't write it down!

To answer your question, I think progress is truly individual. I am not at the same level as all of the adults who started when I have--we've chosen to focus on different things (freestyle, or dance, or synchro, etc.) and I have taken time off because of injury, honeymoon :D and breaks in the rink schedule. I know people who have learned their jumps faster than me but I just go at my own pace (so as not to wind up in hospital!!) :D

[NickiT]

Originally posted by Keely
Thanks. Comparing doesn't mean competition and I don't care if I go slow or fast... I just like to hear how other adults progressed. It's just interesting to me. If I wanted to forget about other people, I wouldn't have asked, would I? :) ;)

OK! I see what you want to hear now. As far as I'm concerned I feel like initially I made really slow progress. I started out by taking a group lesson once a week and skating on a busy public session for practice. After 18 months I finished all the rink classes and moved to private lessons - one lesson per week. I can't remember exactly how long it took me to get my first jump or first spin but I had the basic three jumps - waltz, salchow and toe-loop within a year of taking private lessons. I had to stop skating three times for several months at a time - twice for pregnancies and once following a nasty ankle injury for which I required surgery, so each time I got back on the ice, I dropped back a bit. However the most progress I've made has been since returning to the ice three years ago after hurting my ankle. I think a lot of things have contributed to my improved rate of progress - (1) the need to prove that I still could skate as so many people were adamant I'd never skate again after the accident, (2) my children are now at school so I have more time to skate and (3) being able to skate in the day time means I get nice empty ice to practise on and this gives me the confidence to go for stuff I couldn't go for on a busy rink. In the last three years I have learned my loop, flip and lutz, sit spin, camel spin and backspin.

Of course there are other skaters who've reached my standard in a lot less years, but I'm happy with how things are going for me skating-wise and while it's tempting to compare myself to others, I try not to, becasue my circumstances are vastly different to other people's!

Nicki

[garyc254]

I'm a much slower learner, not as motivated, or my fear factor is much higher. I started skating two years ago at age 47. I started taking two private lessons a week for the first year and then went to once a week group lessons.

After two years, I can barely do a waltz jump, can't spin, and can't remember dance steps from session to session. :oops:

My edges are deplorable, but I keep practicing.

The one thing I can do is an inside mohawk. :lol:

But, I still skate at least twice a week and have LOTS OF FUN. :D :D :D

[batikat]

Originally posted by Keely

I wish I had a better idea how long it took other adult beginners to do things so I had some idea of where I might be at the end of this season. Do most adults skate more or less than I do? Any experiences from other skaters would be welcome.

You did say you were asking in order to get a better idea of where you might be at the end of the season and my point was that no-one can tell that because even if you spend the same number of hours in the same type of lesson you would likely end up at a different place than the next person. You might find jumps easy and spins hard or vice versa - some people are mohawk people and some people are 3 turn people (I can't do a back 3 of any kind despite much effort). It is interesting though to hear how different people have got on so I hope lots more people contribute to this thread.

Gary I usually can't remember dance steps even when I am about to do them in a competition - I pray I am not drawn first so I have a chance to watch someone else do them first:lol: I did once get distracted in the middle of a Rhythm Blues and gaily inserted half a side of Dutch Waltz steps.....and got the highest marks I'd ever had for that dance (Guess the judges werent' looking at that point!!:D

[1lutz2klutz]

I find it hard to judge my rate of progress because even when I'm landing a jump consistently, my coach may decide to polish it up or make it better, which always starts with making it worse! I started skating at age 38, am now 46 and have all my single jumps except an axel. I say "have" my jumps to mean that on any given day, I may land them nicely, or they may go off on prolonged holidays in various parts of the world (just not in my rink!) Right now, my lutz in my most consistent jump, and my salchow and loop, which I was landing well, have turned to mush because Coach has "tweaked" the take off on each of them to make it better in the end. My footwork is non-existant, and spinning gives me fits, because I can never find the various parts of my body when I'm going around! So, except for no height on my jumps, no position on my spins, no speed on anything, and a total lack of talent, I'm a really good skater;)

[Keely]

Originally posted by batikat
You did say you were asking in order to get a better idea of where you might be at the end of the season and my point was that no-one can tell that because even if you spend the same number of hours in the same type of lesson you would likely end up at a different place than the next person. Absolutely :) Agreed :) I felt like I was being told I shouldn't even ask, which was surely not how it was meant... apologies for how I sounded :)

I am enjoying the replies a lot and appreciate them.

[batikat]

Originally posted by Keely
Absolutely :) Agreed :) I felt like I was being told I shouldn't even ask, which was surely not how it was meant... apologies for how I sounded :)

I am enjoying the replies a lot and appreciate them.

No need for apologies. I just think it can be discouraging sometimes when you hear how people are apparently progressing so much faster, so you have to keep in mind that they are all starting from a different base and while their acheivements may sound impressive - it may be that there are many things you have achieved in the time that they haven't because coaches often do things in a different order, or may feel neat footwork is more important than learning to jump or whatever and as 1lutz2klutz points out there is a difference between being able to do a jump and being able to do it well and consistently. I had a 3 jump (waltz) at the end of my first year skating but it is only now 3 years on that I would lay claim to a decent one that could be seen out in polite company:lol: I tend to skate with a lot of speed but not much finesse!

To answer your question more specifically I currently skate on average 6 hours a week including 2 x 1/2 hour private lessons and a couple of group lessons (figures - hard but great for edges and control and group dance class because it's fun). Sometimes skate more if a competition is coming up and less when the kids are on holiday.

Have fun and let us know how you are progressing :D

[sk8clean]

I have had to start out slow skating because the first three years I could only skate during the summer. I am finally at the prebronze level and it has taken me five years to get there. I figure as long as I am having fun and I do slowly keep improving thats all that matters. But it is sometimes hard not to compare myself to other adult skaters who move along faster than I do. I guess that is my competitive nature. On those days I open up the skating journal I keep so I can remember how much I have learned.