blunt blades or wet ice

[AndreaUK]

Hi

As Im very new to skating I am struggling with understanding my skates and the ice at the moment.
I had my blades sharpened before I started skating and have skated 10 hours on the ice. Today I didnt feel as secure or stable as usual, now this could have been for several reasons.
Firstly I was tired and had taken to the ice this morning without eating, this did affect my stamina however it wasnt my stamina I was that concerned with. I felt that I didnt have quite as much control over my feet and found that whilst forward skating and forward stroking I didnt feel very steady. I attempted forward chasses and gave up on them as I felt I was going to fall flat on my butt.
The ice today was very wet, infact it appeared to be more wet than usual and I am wondering if this had a baring on my stability on the ice.

If your blades need sharpening does this make you wobble? or could it have been the fact that the ice was very wet? Does wet ice make a difference?

Today wasnt all bad, I actually learned to glide on one leg (inbetween the wobbles) and I managed to skate backwards after only being shown how to on my last session. Im not that confident at skating backwards yet but at least its a skill learned.

Andrea xx

[luna_skater]

Not eating would DEFINITELY affect your skating. You can't drive a car without gas, right? Well, your body can't operate properly without fuel either. It doesn't just affect your stamina, but your concentration, motor skills, etc. I notice a huge difference in my skating if I haven't eaten properly before I get on the ice.

[SpiralSweetie09]

When your blades are dull, its hard to stand on them, it seems as if your legs are sliding under you. This is particularily noticable when you go to stop. You'll feel as if your sliding. After the zamboni goes over the ice, its very slick, it makes it difficult to do tricks when its still glossy. However i find, the smoother the ice, the better I skate, with other skaters it can even be vice versa. If your skating on a pond, Idk what to tell you. Ive never skated on a pond. But I hope some of this might have helped?
Anyways
~best of luck in skating~
Lauren

[gt20001]

Hi

As Im very new to skating I am struggling with understanding my skates and the ice at the moment.
I had my blades sharpened before I started skating and have skated 10 hours on the ice. Today I didnt feel as secure or stable as usual, now this could have been for several reasons.
Firstly I was tired and had taken to the ice this morning without eating, this did affect my stamina however it wasnt my stamina I was that concerned with. I felt that I didnt have quite as much control over my feet and found that whilst forward skating and forward stroking I didnt feel very steady. I attempted forward chasses and gave up on them as I felt I was going to fall flat on my butt.
The ice today was very wet, infact it appeared to be more wet than usual and I am wondering if this had a baring on my stability on the ice.

If your blades need sharpening does this make you wobble? or could it have been the fact that the ice was very wet? Does wet ice make a difference?

Today wasnt all bad, I actually learned to glide on one leg (inbetween the wobbles) and I managed to skate backwards after only being shown how to on my last session. Im not that confident at skating backwards yet but at least its a skill learned.

Andrea xx

I have to say sometimes you can just have off days today was one like you are describing for me i was trying to do my programs which i have done fine on many more occasisons and i skate great in backwards crossovers toda i was struggling to hold on to a backwards crossover i felt really wobbly everything felt extremely awkward it felt as if i had someone elses skates on and i know it wasnt from the sharpening or the ice becasue they were only sharpened recently and the ice was normal. I have had a few other days like this and i have seen other skaters do this as well things they can normally do fine they just cant do sometimes i just go home and try again the next day i know i am hoping tomorrow is better than today becuase today was an all out DISASTER and i mean DISASTER, i couldnt do anything right so i cansympathis.

[jenlyon60]

Even if it was the blades in this case, it is never a good idea to do athletic activity first thing in the morning w/o eating some sort of breakfast first.

If you don't do anything strenuous, you may fare okay. But if you are attempting anything strenuous, you run the risk of whacking your blood chemistry out of kilter, and getting dizzy headed, or worse, nearly passing out.

Been there, done that. Nearly got that T-shirt (NOT on the ice luckily).

A light breakfast with both some protein and some carbs does the job nicely.

[cassarilda]

generally, when Im wobbly, its because Im having an 'off' day, and also Im not bending my knees enough ;)

But perhaps the wet ice affected your confidence as well, so instead of being more bendy in your knees which would help with balance, you did what everyone does as a beginner (I know because I still do it ;) ), and are less bendy? (the theory being that if you go lower, you feel less stable and are more likely to fall over.. :D )

[AndreaUK]

generally, when Im wobbly, its because Im having an 'off' day, and also Im not bending my knees enough ;)

But perhaps the wet ice affected your confidence as well, so instead of being more bendy in your knees which would help with balance, you did what everyone does as a beginner (I know because I still do it ;) ), and are less bendy? (the theory being that if you go lower, you feel less stable and are more likely to fall over.. :D )


I did notice this a lot, I found I wasnt bending my knees as much as usual and I deffinately felt less stable.

Andrea xx

[blue111moon]

10 hours of skating shouldn't be enough to signicantly dull your blades, unless you're skating on gritty outdoor ice or spend a lot of time walking around off-ice without blade guards.

It was probably just an off day.

[beachbabe]

do NOT step out on the ice hungry. On my skating days i usually laod up on breakfast soo much that I can heardly eat the res tof the day, so i never feel fatigued at skating. Trust me, you have to eat.


For blades to dull it would take at least 20 hrs unless you never use balde guards.



it could be just an off day...everyone has those.

[slusher]

deleted: posted in the wrong thread

[icedancer2]

I'm not sure what the "good" thing is or the "bad" thing, I dislike both blunt blades and wet ice. Onwards though.....



This is not the practice journal thread! But I thought so too.

To answer the original poster's question, yes, the ice texture can definitely influence how you skate. There is nothing better than to skate on really clean, dry ice that's not too hard, not too soft, has just the right amount of crunch and your blades just fly.

When it's too wet, or too warm in the rink, or the zamboni driver has had a bad day, or has a bad attitude or there is something wrong with the blade on the zamboni, then your blades can definitely feel like they are sticking.

Dull blades may feel sticky, but sometimes they will not stick at all.

I spend a lot of time evaluating ice quality and blade sharpness and quality so I know of which I speak...:giveup:

[doubletoe]

Generally, wet ice is a little unnerving, but not necessarily bad for holding an edge. The worst ice for holding an edge is very hard, dry ice. But regardless, if you ever feel a little unstable, you can gain control over your edges by bending your knees more deeply (or as I prefer to think of it, lowering my butt).

[bbowie]

I hate wet ice!! I can feel the bumping of my blades with the rough ice under that layer of water . Espectially after a crowded public skating session!!

[Mrs Redboots]

At a competition last year we were running a little behind schedule, so after they've cut the ice, the referee calls the next 2-3 classes over to him and asks if we'd mind starting at once, even though the ice is still wet. I just look at him, and look at my husband, and say "I'll mind like fun if he drops me!"

But luckily he didn't.... although we didn't win that class, alas.....

[slusher]

This is not the practice journal thread! But I thought so too.



oops! I deleted my post.

About ice, sometimes ice is so cold, and freezes so hard, it looks wet. But it's not, and it's unskateable - for figure skaters that is.

[Casey]

At the rink I used to skate at prior to this one, sometimes the in-training guy would zamboni the ice, which would take about 3 times as long as usual, and result in a swimming pool being left because he'd go over the same spots several times. I really quite enjoyed that ice, though, it felt neat and there's something cool about doing a stop and splashing up some water instead of just ice spray. :P It didn't stay that way for too long though, luckily.

Too cold hard ice is what really sucks. There's nothing worse than skating on horrible hard ice that hates you while you freeze through 2 sweatshirts and have to hold your hands over your ears to prevent frostbite. :( There's a rink here with a second "studio" surface which is like that - I hate hate hate hate it.