i cant think of a good title. bish bash bosh

[Kit kat]

okay.
whats a half toe wally?
and... if i am learning a lutz, flip and loop what are the jumps after until i am at my axel?
and im 12. Do you think it is too late for me?
All the people in my group lesson is younger than me. A 8 year old is already on her axel! How long do you think it will take me to get to an axel. i have been skating for about 1 1/2 years now.

Thank yOU! :bow:

[*IceDancer1419*]

I think the axel is often the next jump after those... along wiht starting doubles. THough I could be wrong, as I'm still getting my single salchow to work :roll:

Is it too late for WHAT? See, there's a good chance that it's too late for a serious singles career... ie Olympics, etc. I don't know for sure, and certainly don't mean to discourage you, but the sad fact is that most people out there competing and winning the olympics and higher level skating are young... 15, 16, 17... and while you could potentially get there if you worked VERY hard at it, most people do start young. Again, I don't want to discourage you. Plus, you can have all sorts of ufn with local competitions and even regionals and such the way you're going... it can still be very FUN and you can still get very good at it, even if you don't quite make it to the Olympics or anything. :)

Does that help at all? I'm in a semi-similar predicament, as I'm 14 and started last September... though i'm more into ice dancing, which is a little more forgiving.

[Debbie S]

Do you think it is too late for me?

Well, if your goal is to be an Olympic champion, yes (although I believe Johnny Weir only started seriously skating at age 12). But it's never too late to enjoy skating! And even if you're a few years older than some others at your level, that doesn't mean you can't learn the same things and compete (if you want to) in the same competitions. If you're at the point where you're learning jumps and spins, and really want to push yourself further, you may want to consider private lessons instead of or in addition to your group lessons. That might help you progress faster.

[luna_skater]

okay.
whats a half toe wally?
and... if i am learning a lutz, flip and loop what are the jumps after until i am at my axel?
and i am in my very very early teens. 13. Do you think it is too late for me?
All the people in my group lesson is younger than me. A 10 year old is already on her axel! How long do you think it will take me to get to an axel. i have been skating for about 1 1/2 years now.

Thank yOU! :bow:

It's common to learn jumps in this order:

Waltz
Salchow
Toe-Loop
Loop
Flip
Lutz
Axel/Doubles

I've been skating my whole life, but I just started free skating. I'm 24 and am just starting to work towards an axel. Usually the first step is to land waltz-loop combos. As for a timeline...I know people who've landed their first axel after 45 minutes, and some who've taken years to get it!

[stardust skies]

First of all- ANYONE, don't care whether they are the president of the USFS, the best coach in the world, or just a skating fan, who tells you "YES it is too late" or "NO it is not too late" whether you be 5, 13, or 65, is really holding a high opinion of themselves. Nobody knows. You could be 7, have all your triples, and be at Senior level, that no one who has a slither of conscience would accept to answer that either way. I know that any high level coach refuses to answer these sorts of questions, to the student OR the parent. There is no way to know. Everyone is different, and this is a SPORT- meaning that anything is possible. If you had come on this board 20 years ago and said "I dream of doing a triple jump, is it possible?!" everyone would have said no, and that if it were, only a guy could do it. So don't ask the question about it being too late, or you having a chance to make it, because anyone who answers it will be lying- they cannot know. They cannot even guess either way. Especially on here, because they have never seen you skate. So just go and do what you have to do to be where you want. If it works, it works. If it doesn't, then at least you tried.

As far as the axel, I'm afraid it's not as simple as 1-2-3 it's time to learn it! After you learn the loop, flip, and lutz, you will have to have them all 100 percent consistent. They will have to be faster, bigger, for a while, until they are big enough and fast enough. Then you will have to get all your single combos. This means every jump with a toe loop at the end, and every jump with a loop at the end. Then you will have to get single jumps, with loops, and backspins at the end, especially the waltz jump/loop/backspin, because that IS the axel. You also need to have a very very strong backspin position. Then, most likely your coach will want you to land it off ice first. This can take a while. You don't just need to "learn the jumps" you need to be fast, high, and secure enough in those jumps to be conditioned properly to have a good chance at landing that axel. I just letting you realize that it's gonna take more than just nailing the last three single jumps on their own before you are ready to learn the axel, it is a big step. If you learn it right after you learned the lutz, then you're going to hurt yourself twice as much, and take twice as long to learn it than if you had learned your combos first. Trust me, I watch the other kids. It took me a couple of weeks to get my axels (a long while back) but if my coach hadn't been really stringent on what I had to do first, I would have never gotten it. I THOUGHT I was ready, boy did I. I was so angry, all the other kids were learning theirs except for me, I fell behind my friends. I was MADDDDD. But when I picked mine up in two weeks and everyone who'd been trying it for MONTHS before me still couldn't land it a year later, I wasn't so mad anymore.

Good luck. Don't let the man getcha down.

[stardust skies]

I just saw in another thread that you taught yourself how to skate. Do you not have a coach now? If you don't have a coach, you're never going to learn the axel. If you have never had a private coach at all, and you don't get one, trying to teach yourself an axel would be a death wish. I'm leaving my first post up because I think it's a good thing for people who might be down about their age or progress rate to read, but...if you don't get a coach, you're not going to get doubles (axel is considered one), and if you somehow do, they are most likely not going to be correct technique, and either way you're not headed for the Olympics by coaching yourself, that's one I think I CAN know. My advice to you would be to let go of the axel for a while, and get yourself some coaching- even if it's just a little, depending on what you can afford, to clean up all the bad habits you have inevitably picked up (but can't feel or don't know about) by teaching yourself. If you teach yourself how to skate by watching others, you're picking up their bad habits too- everyone has them, especially on public sessions.

If you want to learn those doubles, get yourself a coach. There's only so much a person can do on their own. If it were that simple, people wouldn't have coaches.

[*IceDancer1419*]

I hope I didn't come across as having too high of an opinion of myself... I didn't mean to... I'm just saying that while you can certainly get VERY good, and if you work hard enoug hat it (with a coach, most likely) it is possible ot be relatively competitive, it's unlikely. not impossible, though! And skating should be fun above all else. :) Do it because you love it.

Just don't set completely unrealistic expectations for yourself. High goals are great... but if you're just starting and your goal is to be a senior level skater within 2 years, the chances of that are... slim to none. (not saying you are, just giving a random example). High goals, but realistic ones, are the key! small steps. ;) :D

Good luck with WHATEVER you choose to do. :D :)

And stardust skies... thanks for the "encouragement" in general from that one post... I do get "down about my age AND progress" a lot ;) lol.

[batikat]

It's never too late to learn an axel - I have friends who are learning theirs now at 30+ and know of people landing their first ones at over 50. My daughter learnt hers at 10 then lost it for nearly 2 years - now it is lovely (big and fast). It's also never too late to enjoy skating as a sport - you don't have to be good enough to make an Olympic team to enjoy skating as a sport. When people take up tennis I never hear them question whether it's too late for them to learn tennis, whatever their age. So why is it that people seem to have a fixation with skating and making the Olympics, to the extent that if you are not aiming for that but just want to enjoy it as a sport, the so-called 'serious' skaters whose only reason for skating seems to be to get to the Olympic team (and let's face it how many of even the serious skaters ever make an Olympic team??), seem to look down on you and believe you should not be taking up room on 'their' ice. Sorry - as an adult competitive skater it's a pet peeve!

Anyway you will get your axel if you want it enough and work at it. But don't worry about others getting it before you or younger than you. Take private lessons if you can and make sure your coach knows what your ambitions are in skating so she/he can work with you to achieve them, as far as your hard work and talent will take you.

[Kit kat]

I just saw in another thread that you taught yourself how to skate. Do you not have a coach now? .

i have a private coach now. i've had him For about a month.

[stardust skies]

I hope I didn't come across as having too high of an opinion of myself... I didn't mean to...

No, no...that was my bad. I miscommunicated that. I know everyone here is really nice and always say helpful things, and realize that their opinions might not be the "be all and end all". I didn't mean people on here, I was thinking more about the attitude she might encounter at her rink and things like that. My bad for not clarifying, sorry about that!!

[Mrs Redboots]

I know someone in her 60s who is learning the axel! She'll land it, too...

Skating is a wonderful sport at whatever age you take it up. You are never too old to be competitive against skaters of your own age and ability level, and if there's anything more fun than trying, I wish someone would tell me what it is? Succeeding, perhaps..... oh, the utter, utter joy of finishing ahead of dear friends in the free dance when they've skated you out of sight in the compulsories (husband says I'm dreadful to be so pleased.... probably I am, but it's very unlikely to happen again, they'll almost definitely beat us at the next competition!).

[cutiesk8r43]

no I don't think your to old to skate. it took me four years to get up to an axel but I only skate like 3 or 4 hours a week. It really depends on how dedicated you are and how many hours you practice. I know an 8 year old who is working on her double salcows but thats because she is always on the ice.Enjoy skating and have fun! :D
~cutie ;)