Skating with an mp3 player??

[jshbo724]

I wanted to get people's input on this, because I got an ipod nano today, and was wondering how many people actually skate while listening to their player. I know it's harder to pay attention to people around you, but that shouldn't be a problem for me since no one ever goes to the sessions I go to. :P

So how many of you skaters out there skate with your mp3 players, and don't have any problems? :?:

~Jess

[_camelspin]

I think it's fine, and I confess I have done it, however be careful. If you fall, which will probably happen at some point, there is a risk it could be damaged.

[Casey]

I do it almost every time I skate, with my phone that plays mp3's with a stereo headphone adapter, which I either put into my pocket if I have one, or stuff into my gloves if not. I run the wire down my shirt/sleeve. It's never been a problem - I look where I'm going. :)

I plan to buy a Nano soon, just because it's so nice and tiny so it would be handier when I don't have pockets especially. Plus the phone only holds 32MB (I could buy a bigger card for it, or a Nano that holds 4 times as much and has features like continuous play without button pushing and random playing for not much more...hmmmmm...yeah...)

(In an ideal world, the Nano would also function as a cell phone with no size increase...give it a few years)

[Hannah]

There is a woman in my adult skate class who has a hot pink nano that she clips to the front outside of her hip. She said she actually fell ON it once (she had a rectangle bruise!) and said nothing broke in it. At any rate, something like that seems like a better idea than a walkman or other large player (there is another woman who uses one of those, and it flies off every time she spins).

[TashaKat]

Having skated on the ice with GOOD skaters who had the remote headphones to skate to I would say that the potential for being a menace is high! It was a nightmare because they were so focussed into what they were doing to their music that they pretty much ploughed everyone else over :x

It's a good idea in theory but that doesn't necessarily translate into practise!

[Casey]

In my opinion it's a lot like the driving while on the cell phone debate.

Some of us can pull it off perfectly, multitasking well and staying in the lane while watching the traffic as usual. Others became so engrossed in their conversation that not only do they have severe difficulty focusing on the road and staying in their lane, but when the conversation becomes more intense, their hands go flying off the wheel in order to make various emphasis moves to the person who can't even see them. These people are truly scary to ride with.

It's a very individual thing, and each person needs to be responsible enough to decide what they are able to do without increasing risk for others around them. I skate fast in lots of public sessions with the earbuds at full volume...and never hit anyone or cut anyone off. Heck, sometimes I'm actually on the phone listening to the other person, when I do jumps or spins (usually this is when they realize something is amiss, and ask if I'm at an ice rink). :D :D So I think I'm just fine in continuing to listen to music.

At least, you're far less likely to kill somebody on ice than going down the freeway.

AND, not using earphones doesn't help with the people who get really engrossed with their music, anyways! Put it on the loudspeakers and they still don't pay any attention when their music is on!

[Rusty Blades]

I just picked up a Nano a couple of weeks ago and I LOVE IT! It's a great way to have your program music any time you want it and be able to start, replay and stop the music as you need.

I watched the skaters at my rink for awhile before I bought one and the only people I see with a player are those working on a program and, strangely enough, THEY seemed to be paying a lot more attention to others than the skaters without headphones. I haven't seen anybody use a player for "general entertainment" while skating.

At the last rink where I skated, the music was so loud that I wore ear plugs anyway to protect my hearing!

[Mrs Redboots]

We use a cheap MP3 player (not an iPod!) and a pair of sports headphones; we only ever wear one headphone so that we can hear what is going on around us, and have never had a problem.

[NickiT]

I've always felt it too risky. I've seen people skating around with headphones on totally oblivious to what's going on around them. I like to be able to see and HEAR other skaters. All too often I can be skating backwards in my programme IN MY LESSON and nearly get knocked flying. If I was practising with an mp3 player I'd have come a cropper. I'm not prepared to take the risk.

Nicki

[Skate@Delaware]

Yeah, it brings up the cell phone debate. On the one hand you have people that CAN multitask safely; then there are others that get into their own world and ignore (and run into) others.

I wear one and only put one earpiece in....if the rink is not crowded at all (i.e. less than 20 people), that's the only time I actually wear both earpieces and I let the people know I'm skating to my own music and working on my routine.

I've never had a problem with running into anyone, because you still have to pay extra attention and not assume people will get out of your way. (I skate mostly on public sessions, but our freestyle sessions are unsupervised so we still have to be cautious).

[Rusty Blades]

I've seen people skating around with headphones on totally oblivious to what's going on around them.

The majority of the people I see doing that DON'T have headphones on!

[Skate@Delaware]

The majority of the people I see doing that DON'T have headphones on!
What is really scary? These people also DRIVE!

[CFP]

I HAVE to skate..[ and ski, bike and climb],, to music. i still use a cassette player though! -- i like to 'cut and paste' my own stuff together.
no music in my ears and it's like ''why bother'?
i don't know about ipods or other gadgetry, but with headphones on, i can still hear people around me. it's up to you to be concientious and courteous to others,, headphones or not.
i always refer to the skiing tag: ''you're responsible for those in FRONT of you... ':)

[xofivebyfive]

If it was allowed I would in a heartbeat.

[Casey]

If it was allowed I would in a heartbeat.
:( I've only been to one rink that had an issue with it (and it was the largest rink, with the least skaters too!). But then, they also asked me to slow my skating down on some days even without headphones...so...

I don't like overly restrictive rinks. Obviously if somebody is being a danger or running into people, that's another story. But preemptively telling people to not wear headphones, or to skate more conservatively (on freestyle sessions!?!) when they're not causing any problems is against my religion. ;)

[luna_skater]

Not in a million years would I consider skating with headphones at my rink. Most of the time I skate on a high freestyle session that is very busy. There are plenty of near-collisions as it is, without people being further distracted.

[Skate@Delaware]

Not in a million years would I consider skating with headphones at my rink. Most of the time I skate on a high freestyle session that is very busy. There are plenty of near-collisions as it is, without people being further distracted.
I had a very-near miss a few months ago. I was in lesson WITH MY MUSIC PLAYING when a woman wearing her iPod and headphones didn't yield to me....my coach was yelling for her to move as I was doing a back spiral....the woman didn't hear anything at all (my coach said she could hear that woman's music even over mine). At the last second, my coach yelled at me to stop and she went to have words with the woman. (I stopped barely 2 feet away from her and she still didn't notice me).

I later recommended that she keep one earpiece out of her ears...her reply? "Well, then I can't hear my music over everyone elses" 8O ok, get decapitated by a blade next time then :twisted:

My coach was ticked but nicer than I would have been. She typically runs interference for me as we have several that skate with headphones on.

Again, I skate with mine on but with only one earpiece in....for this very reason, I want to hear when someone is yelling at me to get out of the way, but you still have to be aware of all the skaters around you.

[Rusty Blades]

you still have to be aware of all the skaters around you.

Yes, THAT is what's important, headphones or not.

There was a nearly identical incident at the rink where I skated last week only the ditz didn't even have headphones on - she's one of these people who skate backward without looking and skated right into the path of a girl skating her program. A number of people yelled but she was on a different planet. Fortunately the girl who was skating her program fared better than Miss-Backwards-Without-Looking.

There's another one in the same rink who has a habit of darting out from the boards without looking for uncoming traffic. I don't know how many times she cut me off in the past month but I told my coach that the next time she stepped out in front of me, I was going to run her over. She did that in the last session again and I MISSED! :cry:

[manleywoman]

Delete, double post.

[manleywoman]

I think it extremely inconsiderate of people to skate with headphones on. You all would hate to skate with me, because I'd be the first to complain about you to the management. It's a very bad idea on many levels.

I once collided with a COACH who was wearing headphones. It was me, her and my coach on the ice. That was all, just the three of us on an Olympic sized rink. My program was playing, and this coach with the headphones still managed to bash into me.

[doubletoe]

People only yell at you when they can see you. I can't tell you how many times I've managed to avoid a collision because I was able to hear someone's blades on the ice behind me. I doubt that I'd be able to hear the sound of blades if I had an earphone in my ear, and I'm sure I wouldn't stand a chance of hearing them if I had earphones in both ears.

And unfortunately, I don't know if it's possible to self-monitor, since the very people who are getting lost in their own music and posing the greatest danger on the ice are too inwardly focused to realize that they are the problem.

[daisies]

You all would hate to skate with me, because I'd be the first to complain about you to the management.I'd be right behind ya to complain, sister! :)

It's totally inconsiderate. I don't know how, if you are listening to your own player, you will know who else's music is playing and who is doing his/her program. AFAIK, it's not allowed on my rink's FS sessions.

[Debbie S]

ITA, manleywoman. As others have pointed out, some people can pay attention while wearing headphones, most can't, so it makes sense to have a blanket rule where you can't wear headphones. By the time you distinguish bet who can remain aware of others and who can't, a serious injury could have already occurred.

I used to skate with someone who wore headphones. As manleywoman and Skate@Del described, I was running through my program, in a lesson, with my music playing, and this guy was in the way. I called out to him several times, louder each time, and he still was completely oblivious. I finally had to stop, since he was standing right where I was supposed to jump, and go around him, and only then did he realize that he was probably in my way and apologized (gee, thanks). :roll: I think enough people complained to the skating director that he was finally asked to stop wearing the headphones.

[jazzpants]

I thought of doing it briefly, only to realize that the people who skate around me at FS session have their music on the loudspeakers WAAAAY too loud for me to figure out whether someone is skating close enough that I better get out of the way. NO, THANK YOU!!! 8O Besides that, I can count beats in my head well enough to work on my program w/o the music anyway.

(I still have to find a use for the iPod though. Probably the gym, I guess...)

[Casey]

I had a very-near miss a few months ago. I was in lesson WITH MY MUSIC PLAYING when a woman wearing her iPod and headphones didn't yield to me....my coach was yelling for her to move as I was doing a back spiral....the woman didn't hear anything at all (my coach said she could hear that woman's music even over mine). At the last second, my coach yelled at me to stop and she went to have words with the woman. (I stopped barely 2 feet away from her and she still didn't notice me).
Oh, geez!! What kind of lame excuse is that! Even at max volume from my phone, I can still hear background music and coaches yelling at their students. :P

I wouldn't go any louder than that with headphones on...there's really no point. Wouldn't use those noise-cancelling earbuds, either.

[CFP]

i haven't experienced any issues with other people wearing headphones in my area,,,, actually,, there have been more 'near misses' with the drama queens who feel the rink is thiers... and theirs alone.
i used to be a 'skate guard' [ the bully that keeps kids in line during public skates]... at a private school. it's the only rink i've ever been to that USED such people! at all the other rinks in the area,, it's a fend-for-yourself atmosphere!! you guys have 'guards' in your area?
those plastic crates kids lean on are horrible.......one lady had her feet taken out from under her. a kid got bored with the crate,,pushed it out into the crowd,,,took her out! she now has a plate with five metal screws in her ankle.

[Casey]

i haven't experienced any issues with other people wearing headphones in my area,,,, actually,, there have been more 'near misses' with the drama queens who feel the rink is thiers... and theirs alone.
i used to be a 'skate guard' [ the bully that keeps kids in line during public skates]... at a private school. it's the only rink i've ever been to that USED such people! at all the other rinks in the area,, it's a fend-for-yourself atmosphere!! you guys have 'guards' in your area?
There aren't guards very often around here...sometimes on busy public sessions at certain rinks sometimes. However they're all pretty nice, and the ones I have dealt with got used to me so there's a nice trust thing. I don't mind skate guards at all, it helps during public sessions to have an authority figure on the ice to tell kids to get the hockey puck they're kicking around off the ice, kick the occasional rude boy out, etc. Plus I think it's good because they can watch people and learn who skates responsibly and who doesn't.

those plastic crates kids lean on are horrible.......one lady had her feet taken out from under her. a kid got bored with the crate,,pushed it out into the crowd,,,took her out! she now has a plate with five metal screws in her ankle.
At my original rink, they used to have these scary horrible metal bar contraptions that the kids would use, and sometimes ride while another pushed. I guess they caused too many problems, because now they use 5-gallon buckets. The problem? The buckets are WHITE!!! (not like the nice orange kind from Home Depot). So they're hard to see against the ice. And then bored kids stack a whole bunch of them up, then shove them down the ice, which sends the whole stack rolling.

I really don't like that rink... :P

[sue123]

I used my ipod today. Of course, I was at times, literally the only person on the ice. Occasionally, one other skater was on the ice, but he's a great skater and so I wasn't worried about him. It was strange, the ice was so empty, but it was great. So I wasn't worried about crashing into anybody. Of course, I needed my ipod as the radio wasnt' working, so it was either that, or skate in silence which totally creeps me out, when it's just eerily quiet.

[jshbo724]

I went in to the rink today, put on my ipod, and went out to skate. Public session, and NOBODY was there. So I was pretty excited since I wouldn't have to worry about other people, then the skate guard came in, and said that it's the same input as the stereo input so I could play my ipod over the sound system. So that was pretty cool. I don't think I'll ever use it for freestyle sessions, unless they're empty. I was mostly wondering if people had problems with headphones flying off, LOL. That wouldn't be good.....

Thanx for the input guys!!!

~Jess

[Skate@Delaware]

you guys have 'guards' in your area?
for what they are worth, some of the problems happen during freestyle ice; our public skate ice guards are teenagers that skate around chatting with their girlfriends.
Not much goes on that they do anything about...:giveup:

[gt20001]

I'd be right behind ya to complain, sister! :)

It's totally inconsiderate. I don't know how, if you are listening to your own player, you will know who else's music is playing and who is doing his/her program. AFAIK, it's not allowed on my rink's FS sessions.


First of all i skate with head phones on the kind that go over your head and have both ears covered i dont blare my music i can hear it well but i can also hear what is going on around me and i watch what is going on around me and i have never had a problem any more than i have had without the music in my ears i can hear when someone else music comes on and can hear when someone calls out to me.

[Mrs Redboots]

First of all i skate with head phones on the kind that go over your head and have both ears covered i dont blare my music i can hear it well but i can also hear what is going on around me and i watch what is going on around me and i have never had a problem any more than i have had without the music in my ears i can hear when someone else music comes on and can hear when someone calls out to me.I, too, am perfectly aware of other people's music, whose music it is, and by this time of year, where they are likely to be skating. Moreover, the Husband doesn't usually wear the other earphone (occasionally, if the dance allows it), so he is even more aware than I am of what is going on. And at least one of us can hear the music and time ourselves correctly, without having to fight the elite dancers for more than occasional non-lesson use of the loudspeakers.

[TripleTwist]

We cant have ipods on the ice.. we can plug it in in the music room for some music on the ice so everyone can hear. if your talking about your own skating music.. what we do is bring out a boom box on the boards and plug it in.. its good... try it.

[gt20001]

We cant have ipods on the ice.. we can plug it in in the music room for some music on the ice so everyone can hear. if your talking about your own skating music.. what we do is bring out a boom box on the boards and plug it in.. its good... try it.

I use my mp3 player becuase i am so sick of listening to some of the crap that is played on our system. I am aware of what is going on today i was on a public session but it may as well have been freestyle session lots of fast figure skaters hockey skaters and public skaters had to be more than 20 and i had headphones on it was really caotic and i didnt have a problem in the least i heard and saw when someone was coming and our regulars i recognized their music and looked for them. People are just as dangerous without players and headphones on their ears sometimes more so it is all about how much attention some one pays and it doesnt take music to distract for someone to not pay attention. the other day a girl without headphones skating backwards on a busy session while looking forward not looking back once and almost collided with me i got out of the way and i had the headphones on she was the danger not me.

[Mrs Redboots]

We cant have ipods on the ice.. we can plug it in in the music room for some music on the ice so everyone can hear. if your talking about your own skating music.. what we do is bring out a boom box on the boards and plug it in.. its good... try it.Trouble is, so does everybody else want to - and a 4.5 minute programme from one of the elite couples seriously eats up music time in a 15-minute lesson! So it's really only the elite couples and people having lessons who can play their music - sometimes you can get a slot when it's not your lesson, but you have to seize your moment ("Please could we play our free dance music as Husband has to go to work in a minute?") and ask every coach on the ice if you can use the music, and it's a pain in the neck, at times! Weeks like this week (half-term, here in the UK) it's not worth even thinking about!

So if you want to run through your programme or dances to the music more than once a week, it's an MP3 player or nothing! I'm lucky that people don't mind here - but then, those of us who use them are very careful.

[quarkiki2]

We don't have rink guards, either. But we also don't have any beginning skater assistance objects (metal contraptions, buckets, crates, etc.). A busy freestyle session has about 15 skaters/coaches with four lessons happening at once. My coach will choreograph during a freestyle wearing headphones, but I'm not quite brave enough to try.

My rink is in a mall, so sometimes public sessions can get very busy -- I'd never try to wear headphones then because a busy public session can mean 50 recreational skaters, two or three lessons, some hockey guys doing drills and an occasional speedskater. On public sessions, coaches follow their skaters with boom boxes.

I've had the very, very rare occurrance of being on an unpopulated freestyle. I carry a couple of cds in my bag as "just in case" music and then I'll pop one in and skate to my tunes.

[figur8asandwich]

aren't you afraid that your headphones will wrap around your neck during spins and choke you?

[emma]

I'm with Skate@delaware people skating with headphones on are clueless to whats going on around them. Every time they are on the ice they are a danger. I cant tell you how many near misses people have with them! If up to me they would be banned. I am not sure how many accidents it is going to take before they are not allowed. Interesting thing is it is only the people who can barely skate who are out there with ipods, etc. The high level skaters never use them because they are out there to practice not listen to music!!!!!!!!!!!!

[phoenix]

I use my ipod on sessions sometimes, but only when it's very empty early morning. A good example is yesterday, when I needed to work out a bunch of kinks in my straightline footwork. I cut just that 30 seconds of music, & copied it multiple times onto my ipod, so I could just have it playing on a loop over & over & over......if I'd put that on the overhead music I would have driven everyone nuts! Plus, this way I could play it as much as I wanted & go back & repeat the same little tiny bit instantly over & over. It was great, & I got a lot more accomplished than I would have if I were dealing with the overhead sound system.

[Spreadeagle]

It's not allowed at my rink, and with good reason. The sessions are crowded, especially now that it's summer, and there are enough near collisions without the added risk of people with headphones.

I have hardly ever seen anyone using one, and usually when I do it tends to be an older skater who doesn't want to listen to the music that the kids put on the overhead speakers.

There's hardly ever a problem with getting your program music played when you want during a session, so there's not really a need to have to play your program on headphones. Sometimes when a coach is choreographing a program, she'll bring a small boom box so she can play the music over and over without bothering anyone.

[Mrs Redboots]

Interesting thing is it is only the people who can barely skate who are out there with ipods, etc. The high level skaters never use them because they are out there to practice not listen to music!!!!!!!!!!!!That is not entirely true - some of us use them in order to practice, otherwise there is no way we can do our programmes to music more than once or twice a week. Perhaps I should make it clear that the ONLY music on my MP3 player is a few tunes for the compulsory dances we are working on, my artistic programme, my husband's free programme and our free dance. End of. No random "music-to-skate-to".

[sk8tenn]

I don't like skating with an mp3 player personally, but when I tried it, I only put one earplug in and left one ear free so that I could hear what was going on around me. I found that it really helped to be able to hear my surroundings on ice.

(But that didn't solve the problem of the mp3 player orbiting my body on it's strap whenever I was in a spin.)

[miraclegro]

I bought one - mostly for working on my program, but i would only do it if there were hardly anyone there. Only problem is, my mp3 player is still in the box and i don't know anything about how to use it and record on it! ha ha

[Casey]

aren't you afraid that your headphones will wrap around your neck during spins and choke you?

No, the wire goes directly into my shirt, and under it down to my pocket where the player is, or if I don't have pockets that day, down the inside of a long sleeve to the player which gets stuffed into palm of my glove. No wires dangling around.

And I don't just listen to music for the sake of listening to music. I listen to energetic music that keeps me motivated, or various other things that I can "skate to" even without any formal program. That keeps me working on things more often, pushing to do things better, etc. more than I would otherwise. So it allows me to make faster progress, and that's invaluable to me. Ban me all you like - I'll go to another rink. :) I don't run into anybody anyways.

Trying to play music at freestyle sessions has been an absolute nightmare for me. Sometimes I can get away with it, other times, I put my very first song on, and somebody with more seniority at the rink decides to go and stop my music 20 seconds in so he can put on his stupid dance track that I've heard 121295 times. I don't mind hearing it a 121296th time, but at least wait for one of my songs to finish. :( And it seems there's always somebody going for the cd player to put in theirs as soon as a track is up. I'm of the generous sort, so I always just let other people play theirs with no worries. Well then I realize it's 2 hours later and I STILL haven't been able to play one song. Screw that. I'm perfectly safe with a personal music player.

Public sessions at most rinks don't allow you to play your own music, and the only one that does during some uncrowded daytime sessions has horrible ice. And their selection is always hideous, ranging from stereotypical techno Fridays at one rink, the all-to-common "crappy tunes of the 80's" nearly everywhere else, and "laid back mexican hour" at the rink I go to during lunch now sometimes. One time a rink I go to put on classical music for a change - that was a nice relief, and I took off my headphones to enjoy it, just as I do whenever I notice the rare decent song playing on the main system. :)

Speaking of indecent music, you do NOT want to hear what the zamboni driver blasts at crazy volume after the last session when everybody leaves as he does the ice for the last time!!

[Skate@Delaware]

Casey, you bring up some interesting points! I also listen to motivating music, while skating and while working out. It helps.

I also try to bring in my own cd's (cuts or my own mix) for public sessions so we don't have to listen to the radio....and the tons of commercials played. I haven't received too many complaints (mostly requests for rap...umm, no, don't think so).

And, instead of getting ticked that someone keeps bumping my cd, I just listen to my mp3 player.....that way I can hear my music over and over and over......without ticking anyone else off!

I wear over-the-head earphones, but wear one out of the ear, and snake the cord under my vest so no cord gets caught in my arms. I haven't had them fall off my head either.

[Mrs Redboots]

I don't like skating with an mp3 player personally, but when I tried it, I only put one earplug in and left one ear free so that I could hear what was going on around me. I found that it really helped to be able to hear my surroundings on ice.

(But that didn't solve the problem of the mp3 player orbiting my body on it's strap whenever I was in a spin.)I always wear one earplug only and leave the other free. And the way to solve the problem of it orbiting is to stuff it down one's front! It doesn't work if you're wearing a practice-dress or leotard, but anything else, you can get it to the right place, stuff it down your front, and reach up underneath to click it on!