What is a Freestyle Pratice sesson like in your own words.

[FSWer]

Ok fellow skaters. I'm not sure if this is something to ask on a Board or not. So I'll start by saying that seeing the Freestylers at my Rink gave me the idea for this thread. But if it's ok. What I'd like to know from you today (if you have one as part of your training) is.....What is a Freestyle Practice sesson like..in your own words?

[dbny]

I have my ice dance lesson on a freestyle every other week, and that particular session has a group of 5 girls with two coaches. They really do not need to be on a freestyle, except that they can't come any other time. They range in skill level from Basic 2 to Basic 4, and can be difficult to dodge as they seem to skate in a little flock. Then there are several kids doing low level freestyle at one end, who don't seem to look out for anyone, nor do their coaches. At the other end we sometimes have high level freestyle, meaning triple jumps. The worst though, is when there is another dance lesson going on. It's pretty much like skating through an obstacle course, or like driving on a wild freeway with lots of traffic weaving in and out and doing the same!

[danasuperstar]

My freestyle sessions are like atoms bouncing off the walls of a nuclear reactor - completely insane.

We have a limit of 23 skaters per session. There are no pairs - thank goodness - and no level limitations so the sessions are all levels. We have about 45% beginner, 45% intermediate, and 2 really, really good skaters. It's those 2 that I constantly have to watch out for. If I see them doing crossovers around one end of the rink, I MOVE THE HECK OUT OF THE WAY of the other end of the rink because they are about to do something really dangerous. I usually watch where they are about to do their jump and then time myself to do my jump right after theirs in the same spot. Because by that point, they are already at the other end of the rink, and my end is clear for a few seconds :frus:

[Deb in Oz]

Think trying to negotiate the roundabout near the arc de triomphe in Paris....

Trying to practise dance amongst a large mixed group of freestylers can also be compared to being the ball on a pinball table...

[miraclegro]

Well, in the past, the ice quality was always different, so it was difficult to progress, but lately it has been better.

OUr rink has a lot of teeny boppers with music that gets played over and over. Never mind that i might like to have something of my own choice to play, but oh well, i deal with that.

It's gotten better since it was brand new where we had kids LAYING on the ice and / or standing around talking. Some of them have really progressed so now the GET IT. But before anyone who knew how a freestyle should be would be treated badly by the others.

So now i just do my Moves and am braver with the fact that they better get out of my way unless they are running a program. I paid for my ice, too!

Actually, the worse end of it is the kids who just got to the level to be allowed on the freestyles and have no clue as to what to watch out for. They allow Gamma level and up, and boy that, i believe, is worse than the faster skaters at the more difficult rinks, at times.

I am glad to finally have a rink in my town, though, so i try not to say too much out loud. I have learned to say EXCUSE ME without apologizing when i have the right of way or am running a program. I'm not getting any younger! Time is a wastin!

[kander]

The more crowded sessions are usually fairly competitive. Everybody is evaluating everbody else.

[Kat12]

OMG, I had no idea they allowed that many people on the ice at once! Are you talking about "public" freestyle sessions your local rink has, or freestyle sessions where your club has purchased ice and then you buy it from them? If the latter, I'd think I'd be pretty pissed to pay for ice and a coach and then find the ice is so packed all I could practice were gliding for three feet and snowplow stops....I would've figured they'd limit it to 5 or 6 people so folks can actually get practice in! Otherwise why not just go to a regular public session, geez.

[antmanb]

Well until about three weeks ago i hadn't been on a Patch session for about 14 months due to my regular rink cancelling the session I used to skate on.

Now that i'm attending another rink on their Wednesday tea-tmie patch session I can tell you it's SCARY! It's a smaller-than-olympic-sized rink and I swear that there are over 30 skaters. So while it is extremely busy with people of all levels including beginning young kids right through to older kids attempting double axels.

It can feel scary but you can still get a lot donw with most people looking where they're going and taking it in turns to concede right of way (unless someone's programme music is going).

The thing that I find quite stupid is having kids on the ice that are barely 5 or 6 years old who clearly have not yet learnt to skate confidently on their own out there. They don't ever look where they are going, dart around in unpredictable directions and fall an awful lot making them extremely difficult to skate around. They pose such a hazard that i think they should be banned until they can skate to a certain standard. I have had to abort numerous spins because they were skating straight at me while spinning!

There are also the usual ice princesses who think they're above everyone and should always be given priority. But i guess every rink has those handful of young teens :lol:

Ant

[sk8er1964]

The freestyle sessions I do are usually during the day. At the one rink it's usually me and one or two other adults, unless I come to the occasional after 6:00 pm session. Then it's usually me and three or four small kids, a teenager or two and sometimes a coach.

At the other rink, where I only do day time sessions, there's usually two teens - one who is working on double axels and the other double lutzes, a senior national competitor and two or three adults. This rink has dance only on one sheet of ice (for the international level teams) while having the open freestyle on the other. On the rare occasion that they are combined, it gets scary. Those dance teams really, really move out there.

I avoid after work sessions at that rink like the plague - they're always very full and busy. I have to do one of those sessions in the summer for my dance lesson, and I picked Saturday in hopes that it might be slightly less busy.

[ibreakhearts66]

I normally skate on public sessions (empty at my rink), but at other rinks I always do freestyle and occaisonally do freestyle at my rink. Freestyle at my rink is really in no way different than the average public session at my rink. The same group of skaters skate it. For the most part, we range from working on axel to working on 2axel and maaaybe starting triples.

The Paramount freestyles can be INSANE though. During their most crowded session, there are elite skaters doing all of their triples, semi-elite skaters doing double axels/low triples, good skaters doing all of their doubles, ok (compared to the rest of the skaters) skaters working on axel/double sal, and sometimes skaters who can't do an axel. It really is like driving--look both ways before you get on the ice, adjust your flow to match everyone else's and expect someone to cut you off. I love it :) It's insane and hectic and can be very stressful, but I find it very motivating to share the ice with such good skaters. I'm usually one of the best people on the ice at my home rink, which is really pretty pathetic.