anyone skate alone with no lessons?

[ouijaouija]

I think I am beginning to suffer from no input from people, I could be doing everything wrong and no-one could tell me.

I took a few lessons at the start but I stopped because I couldn't afford it.

anyone else in a similar situation?

[jskater49]

I gave up lessons a few years ago because I couldn't afford them and ended up quitting skating all together. I found it too frustrating that I had no feedback, I wasn't learning anything new, what I could do wasn't getting any better and I didn't enjoy skating.

How about at least group lessons in learn to skate?

j

[sue123]

I skated this past year without any lessons, because between work and interviews, I never knew when I could skate and when I couldn't. It is frustrating because you never have any idea if you're doing something right or developing bad habits. I looked into group lessons, but the times I would have been able to go, they told me I was too advanced for the levels offered.

This year (school year, I mean) I don't think I'll be able to take lessons either because I have no money. I couldn't really justify taking out extra loans to pay for skating lessons, especially because I probably wouldn't have enough time to practice and reinforce what I've learned in the lesson. Not really sure what I'll do, just skate for myself for now, maybe once my video camera is working again, film myself skating and try to get some feedback that way.

[peanutskates]

I taught myself (with 0 input from any coach):
teapot
waltz jump
1/2 flip

also forward, back stroking, lemons etc. 3 turns also. (though they improved after coaching)

but after I finished LTS (SkateUK), I definitely took lessons because I was scared of doing things wrong and wasting my time.

Why don't you take like one private (30 mins?) a month or maybe 1 x 15 mins every 2 weeks, just to make sure you're doing OK. that could work. also, post videos on youtube if you can to get feedback.

[MQSeries]

I don't skate much anymore, but when I do hit the ice, I coach myself. I can't self-teach MITF but on jumps and spins I pretty much have a feeling if I'm rushing, dropping the shoulders, etc. I don't need to pay someone $$$ to tell me that I'm dropping my shoulder on a jump, LOL.

[TimDavidSkate]

When I was starting out skating - I barely had a coach on my side since I hardly have any $$$... I had to save up my allowance - and had to rely on all my friend's eyes' and expertise...

It did give me a good lesson on how to be independent - on practices, test sessions, and competitions...
:halo:

[dooobedooo]

Other regular skaters will often be pleased to help - just ask!
(But don't pester ....)

Can you afford a weekly group class?? That will give you more of a progress pattern. Rinks often price these classes as loss-leaders to bring people into the sport, so they are good value. I think the going rate is probably rink entrance price plus about 5 GBP.

It's been mentioned on this board before, but in most rinks, if you volunteer as an ice steward, or work in the cafe for a couple of hours, you can get free ice time. Just ask at your rink reception.

If you can get free ice time, and then save up for the occasional lesson, it will really help your skating - even just 30 minutes per month is really worth having.

[Bill_S]

I'm now coachless for the first time in 5 years. Coach Nadia is relocating to be near her husband and his new job.

Because all of our coaches must be university students here (university rink and university rules), I'll wait to see who shows up in autumn.

However I might not seek much coaching this year. It will save money, and besides, it will be very difficult to find a young coach with an eye for detail like Nadia.

[jazzpants]

If you can get free ice time, and then save up for the occasional lesson, it will really help your skating - even just 30 minutes per month is really worth having.I thought about doing this option just to get ice time... then I realized that given the rate of my lessons, how much I get paid in real life as a software engineer and how I need time to recover from the week, it made no sense for me to do this job. :lol: (I also actually thought about doing group lessons too, but ummmm... my skating sucks and I'm not very good doing even a demo, so I'm not sure I would make a good coach either. ;) )

But given your scenario, ouijaouija, it might not be a bad idea.

[Skate@Delaware]

At my rink (and possibly at others) employees of the rink get their classes for free...so you might be able to do that and take a group class. This applies even to those that work in the snack bar. They might just discount instead of making them free, but even that's better. It's worth asking!

[chowskates]

At my rink (and possibly at others) employees of the rink get their classes for free...so you might be able to do that and take a group class. This applies even to those that work in the snack bar. They might just discount instead of making them free, but even that's better. It's worth asking!

For free?? Wow, that's quite the deal!

We get a 20% discount... which leads to my coach getting a 20% discount on his commission too!! Its a wonder he's still willing to come in at 8am for me!

[dbny]

I was without a coach for a year and a half after I had an unpleasant split from my then coach. I didn't develop any bad habits, but I didn't progress much either.

It's really easy to get things wrong when you don't have a coach to give you feedback and instruct you on the right way to do things. I've seen a few self taught skaters who had to spend time undoing bad habits. I second the suggestions of group lessons or even just a private lesson every once in a while to check on what you've been learning on your own.

[peanutskates]

Oh yeah, don't be afraid of asking others for help. Most of the time, the skaters like to show off ;)

[miraclegro]

What about observing others' lessons? As long as you're not in their way? Sometimes, just watching others skate also will make me aware of something i'm not doing, even though i do take lessons. BTW, most adult skaters seem to enjoy helping one another out. That's the sit. at my rink, only problem is, we don't see each other very often!

[Sessy]

I'm with Peanutsskates here. It seems just practicing at public hours I'm regularly coaching a few people who can't take lessons... :lol: (And yeah it's working actually, and we're talking simple stuff like 3-turns and 2-footspins and toeloops and spirals but nonetheless, and one of those girls is gonna take group lessons from autumn on!). And it's not just showing off (actually there's no showing off involved because by some improbable freak chance, they all are clockwise when I'm counter-clockwise), it's just that I really do like to see them suddenly "get" something and then by the time I see them 2 weeks later at the rink, they suddenly can do it much better than where I left them and stuff, it's so cool to see! And then I can go on to fixing the rest of their mistakes in doing it and they whine they can't concentrate on everything at the same time, just like I do in class, but then they do it right anyway - there's just something about that which I like, LOL! Mom says my biological father also loved to teach, must be his genes or something.

Also, videotape your skating, post it on youtube, post it here and on other skating boards, people WILL give you usefull tips. Even on YouTube they give you usefull tips, but unfortunately there it sometimes takes months before people reply.

[jskater49]

What about observing others' lessons? As long as you're not in their way? Sometimes, just watching others skate also will make me aware of something i'm not doing, even though i do take lessons. BTW, most adult skaters seem to enjoy helping one another out. That's the sit. at my rink, only problem is, we don't see each other very often!

That's doesn't seem quite kosher. Once in a lesson we were working on a spiral where you hold your knee and this other person was following us around and then I see her trying the spiral. It kind of annoyed me especially since I had put out the word that I was looking for someone to share lessons with since I can't afford a half an hour a week - the minimum you need to contract for - so I would have been more than happy to share the lesson with her IF SHE PAID HER FAIR SHARE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

j

[Jeanne D]

What about observing others' lessons?

Oooh....don't do that. :halo:

I've heard instructors complaining about other skaters observing their lessons, they don't like that at all.

Every instructor is different but from what I've seen, they don't like it. I know of one instructor that had management turn on the sound system because she thought other skaters were picking up on her instructions.

Another instructor deliberately gave her student bad instructions every time she thought someone was eavesdropping on her lessons.

Now, if you are sitting in the bleachers observing, that should be OK. (imo)

[Jeanne D]

I think I am beginning to suffer from no input from people, I could be doing everything wrong and no-one could tell me.

I took a few lessons at the start but I stopped because I couldn't afford it.

anyone else in a similar situation?

I don't take lessons and have been skating on my own for years now. Still enjoying it too. I've made some progress on my own but also have lots of bad habits. Fortunately I have a couple of skating friends that help me out anytime I ask.

[ouijaouija]

The rink I go to is often very empty during the daytime, I am often the best one on there, but in terms of standard I am an AMATEUR!

I am trying to learn backward 3 turns, spins and at least a 360 degree jump. I think A coach would help with this things.

The good people only come out during patch sessions, I went on one one time and got shouted for 'getting in the way' by a rude lady coach, when I was just skating around the edges'.

I think that was a way of saying 'patch ice is for good people only'.

Lessons sounds like a good idea, once a month maybe, but not until a few months later when i can afford it

[dooobedooo]

You might also consider getting some skating technique videos/dvds.

The International Skating Union publish a set on basic spins and jumps at www.isu.org , and another source of different tapes is www.skatetape.com . The British skating association NISA www.iceskating.org.uk also publish a video of the skating field moves, but you can't order off the site - you will need to ring them.

If playing US videos in the UK on a local tv set, you will need to ask for British PAL format for videos. Some of the videos/dvds are quite expensive, but still very cheap compared with the price of lessons.

[Sonic]

Oooh....don't do that. :halo:

I've heard instructors complaining about other skaters observing their lessons, they don't like that at all.

Every instructor is different but from what I've seen, they don't like it. I know of one instructor that had management turn on the sound system because she thought other skaters were picking up on her instructions.

Another instructor deliberately gave her student bad instructions every time she thought someone was eavesdropping on her lessons.

Now, if you are sitting in the bleachers observing, that should be OK. (imo)

I agree with Jeanne and J-skater. Apart from this being understandably annoying to coaches, as a skater who often feels ashamed about her slow rate of learning/lack of co-ordination, yadda yadda yadda, it would really embarass - not to mention annoy me - to have someone watching my lesson like a hawk.

Fine to observe from a distance, and obviously if you happen to be practising right next to someone having a lesson you can't help noticing a certain amount of what's going on in the lesson. However, actually 'stalking' someone else's lesson as a way of learning is a no-no in my book. It's distracting - and not fair on the person paying; if you're paying for a private lesson, you expect a certain amount of privacy!

[WhisperSung]

I'm going to be coachless for the first time in years when I move away for law school.

I know someone who taught himself through the double lutz without any input. He watched television skating shows, bought how-to books and videos, and asked for input from other adult skaters on top of videotaping his jumps to get an idea of what they looked like.

Do you have adult only sessions where you skate at? I have an adult who just passed his senior moves who's been helping me learn the patterns on my own. He taught me every senior moves pattern so when I did get a lesson from my coach this morning for the first time on senior moves, I already knew the general steps and we could get working right away on them. Adults are happy to help if they can. I know I've given advice on a friend's juvenile moves before.

One thing you might consider, too, is getting a coach for a lesson once a month? Could you afford that? I plan on doing that after I move just to make sure everything's looking good. I also write down all the stuff I've been taught after my lesson so I can refer back to it if I'm getting confused. That's really helpful and saves on my lesson time, so I don't have to be repeating what I've already learned.

Good luck!

[Sessy]

The rink I go to is often very empty during the daytime, I am often the best one on there, but in terms of standard I am an AMATEUR!

I am trying to learn backward 3 turns, spins and at least a 360 degree jump. I think A coach would help with this things.

The good people only come out during patch sessions, I went on one one time and got shouted for 'getting in the way' by a rude lady coach, when I was just skating around the edges'.

I think that was a way of saying 'patch ice is for good people only'.


Not necessarily. The person could've been practicing a certain pattern along the perimeter for a test, or if there were two, they could've been doing an ice dance, with set points where they approach the perimetre. Finally, if a skater is skating their programme, it's an unspoken rule that you get out of the way and stay out of the way when they pass. And then there's the two lutz corners, in which ccw people set up their lutzes (and the other corners are lutz corners for cw skaters, which there are considerably less of), and considering that the lutz has a relatively blind take-off, you really don't wanna get in the way there either (actually, at some world's or olympics two skaters collided doing their lutzes, got badly injured and stuff.)
The only place more unsafe than the perimetre is actually the middle, where everybody passes on their s-shaped change-edge spirals (which aren't easy to steer even for good skaters).

You could've seriously been interfering with her lesson without even realising it, because a good skater would break off her step sequence or jump or otherwise jump too soon (with possible consequence of jumping improperly and taking a fall) rather than risking collision, and you might not even notice them breaking off their jump setup, so you might actually be interfering without knowing. For example, one of the more common setups for a double loop I've seen is that the skater skates a large circle and does forward-backward 3-turn series on it (not sure what they're called, we call them Rittberger 3-turns because the loop is called the Rittberger here), then the skater jumps the double loop out of those 3-turns. If they'd have to break off the jump, they'd do the 3-turns, then simply continue on the circle for another pass. You'd not even realise they wanted to jump there.
Here's Stephan Lambiel breaking off a jump to let 2 other skaters pass: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UHb2RiofwCg


Our coaches actually insist on putting lower grade skaters on the ice with higer grade skaters, to develop this ability to predict where everybody's going and to skate with others, around others, to learn to break off your jumps at the last moment and to grow eyes in the back of your head so to speak. It's really hard, just when you think you've got it down, somebody comes out of an angle you didn't expect. But you have to learn to do that.