pair skating

[dream2sk8pairs]

Does anybody have any good ideas on how a female skater can find a male skater willing to be patient because I have no experience. I have already been on icepartnersearch.com, and so far no luck, as soon as I say I have no experience, they stop talking.

Please help!!

[flo]

HI there,
Let your coach and other coaches at your rink know that you're interested. Also, if there are any pair skaters at your rink - talk to them. If there is a pairs coach at your rink, see if they are be willing to give you lessons.

Best of luck.

[Rusty Blades]

I am not clear if "I have no experience" relates to figure skating in general or Pairs specifically.

If you have no individual skating experience, then no one is going to take you very seriously because there is a LOT of work to do before you can skate Pairs. You need to take lessons, develop your skills, and become a proficient skater before you go on to Pairs. Placing well in competition as an individual will give you a better chance of finding a partner since very few Pairs teams skate 'for fun".

[Mrs Redboots]

Marry one? That's what I did!

[samba]

I have been lucky enough to have had 2 pairs partners over the years, I say lucky because it really is luck, personally they were men of my own standard who hadnt done pairs before so with the first one we started with a blank canvas.

The second one hadnt done pairs but was the same standard as I am in that he was proficient enough to be able to do what he was told by the coach without her having to explain how to do basic solo moves, so anything new that we learned we learned together, I find lifts by different men feel different so it was almost as new to him as to me.

Both of these I found at my own home rink, why not try attending the clubs or sessions even if they are learn to skate sessions, you would be surprised how good some of them can be, or if you are in the younger group even better, attend some of the competitions and see what's out there.

The hardest thing is to get someone that you can get along with and who wants to work at it as much as you do. Oh and watch your weight I dont mean be anorexic because apart from anything else your stamina will suffer, but keep to a healthy weight the most daunting thing for a man in pairs is the lifts.