Just getting back into skating... Nervous

[Daniellemhv]

Hello! I'm new here. I started figure skating when I was 10 years old. I competed and did shows. I don't remember what level I was when I quit but I had just learned the axel and camel spin. I was 12 years old. I only skated for 2 years but my love and passion for it was and has always been very intense. I tried to start up again when I was 18, I rented rink skates and was very wobbly but within minutes was skating backwards and forwards no problem. Then I stopped again. Now I'm 24 and am determined to do it! I just paid for 8 weeks ice time, hired a private coach and bought some Jackson freestyle skates. Everyone has always made fun of me for wanting to skate "I'm too old", so I am so glad i found this site. I don't feel like such a doufus. My first session is this friday. I ordered skates through my local skate/dance shop last Thursday and she told me they would take a week to arrive, she failed to tell me she was closed Friday. So if they don't come tomorrow, I won't get them until Tuesday and will miss my first session and 2 hours paid ice time. I'm not totally thrilled about it. The girl working at skate shop was just filling in for the owner and she didn't know anything about skates. I just liked the look and feel of the freestyle and it was in my price range. I now realize that is not how to buy figure skates lol. So I bought a 1/2 size smaller then my shoe size, research has told me I probably should have went with 1 whole size smaller. So even if they do come tomorrow, the owners gonna tell me its all wrong and send it back and get something else. And if I knew they weren't gonna be here on time I would have ordered them myself with express shipping. Just kind of frustrating.

And.... I'm a full time college student and single mother to a perfect little 4 month old dude.

[Isk8NYC]

The pro shop didn't measure you for the skates? That's odd, unless you told them not to bother. Jackson skates run a bit wider than Riedell skates, so when you pick the up the skates, check the width as well as the length.

I am a firm advocate of buying skates from a pro shop, especially if you don't know what you want/need. You're supporting a local business that can provide ongoing services such as sharpening and adjustments. The discount online stores only want to make sales, they don't care about followup support or you as a skater.

The mistake you made was just walking into the pro shop and telling them what to order and in what size. A good pro shop is NOT just a sporting goods retailer. The instructors or other skaters at the rink might have recommended a different pro/shop, or the store itself might only have one or two qualified people. You should have made two appointments with the correct person: one for the measuring and one for the pickup/fitting.

Don't worry about playing "beat the clock" for Friday's lesson. The skates will need to be broken in before you can really use them properly anyway. It won't make a difference to use the rentals for one more session - you'll be able to do more in your lesson properly on broken in (okay, broken down) skates anyway.

Jackson might be the delivery bottleneck, not the pro shop. I ordered two pair of boots last week and only one pair arrived. (Hopefully, we're getting the first pair tonight for the crying big-footed crying child. "My feet hurt. boo hoo hoo.")

Call the pro shop and send an email to explain that you'd like to pick up the skates before the holiday weekend, if they are delivered. Even if the shop is closed, they might be willing to come in if they have the skates.

IMO Jackson Freestyle skates are a little stiff for a petite or young beginner, but they're okay for you as an adult/former skater because you'll need the support the boot can provide. You'll master the blade's rocker quickly since you were doing axels and camels.

Since your feet won't grow, they're a good investment. Buy and wear the hard guards for walking around. (Ask the pro shop to cut them to length if needed, so you can use them right away.) Also, get a pair of soakers for in-between session storage/protection.

For the first month, leave the top hook undone. Just go around the second-to-top hook twice to pick up the extra lace. That will give you some knee bend and help prevent tripping.

Getting them heat-molded will make break-in time easier since they'll conform to your foot faster.

Make sure they sharpen the blades before you use them. The edge that comes from the factory is often bumpy and uneven, even on top-shelf blades, as explained by an elite skate tech. Pro shops usually include the initial sharpening in the price, but that's not true everywhere. In NY, I was never charged for the first sharpening and the pro just did it after asking for the radius. Other shops charge extra for that service, like my current local shop. (Only game left in town - the two other good shops closed their doors due to the economy.)

[flyingcupcake]

Hi Daniellemhv! I'm sort of in the same boat. I skated from age 10-13, quit when I got to the axel. Started again three months ago at age 25. I had to buy new skates too, since my old Riedells were fitted for my 12-year-old foot.

Not all pro shop employees will measure you unless you insist! I see this most often when I run into a pro shop that' primarily hockey-oriented. I like the pro shop where I got my new skates, but you do have to be semi-vigilant when you buy skates. The first employee tried to fit me for skates without measuring my foot too, though I insisted that he did. He was nice, but he thought that all skate size charts were the same in all brands. :roll: (Not going into details about how frustrating this first fitting experience turned out to be since i DO like that pro shop.) I left, came back later, and that's when the owner of the shop fitted me instead. If I hadn't run into the owner I would've gone elsewhere. So I echo ISk8NYC in that you need to get the right person at the shop to do your fitting.

As for getting back into skating: First two months back in my old skates were fun! The last month has been about breaking in and adjusting to the new skates, and trying not to fall since I hurt my tailbone on a freak accident-type fall. So right now things aren't so fun, but hopefully I can weather the emotional ups and downs of skating better than when I was 12. Good luck in your skating endeavors! :)

[Daniellemhv]

Thanks for all the info! Still waiting for the phone call. The problem with renting skates is that my lesson is at a university arena and they don't rent skates. I called the shop when they opened and they haven't received their UPS delivery yet. It's a fantastic skate shop, so fortunate to have one in my town but the owners daughter just had a baby so she has not been in. My coach was really surprised to hear that because she didn't even know anyone else worked there. Just my luck lol. She said she'd call me when they came in, I'm goig to call her within the next hour and hope hope hope the came! If not I'll have to cancel my session I guess. I'm almost tempted to go to dicks sporting goods and buy cheap skates for one day. Is that crazy? I don't even know if they sell them there haha

[Isk8NYC]

You really rushed into this; you should take a few minutes to plan a little more. You have NO other skate options? I've worked at school rinks with that situation; there was always someone who brought rental/used skates. Call the rink's skating director talk about your skate and ice/lesson options. Ask the director and your coach if they know of a pair you can borrow.

Check your contract for the 8-week ice schedule. You might be able to do a makeup on a different day, start later, or it could be a good on any day. Make sure you know what you signed up for before you call. If you lose one week, that's fine. Justify it as a "mental health day." If the skates don't arrive for several weeks, that's going to be a problem.

Don't think that the grass is greener elsewhere. I ordered skates online once that were supposedly "in stock." They came four weeks later and they were damaged. I had to start over and order the skates through the pro shop, which took two more weeks to arrive. I lost over six weeks waiting for the skates.

I'm almost tempted to go to dicks sporting goods and buy cheap skates for one day. Is that crazy? I don't even know if they sell them there haha
Yes, you are starting to sound really crazy. Sporting goods stores do not carry good skates, even on their websites.

Free advice is overpriced! Here are my suggestions for you:


Cancel your lesson for tomorrow. Period. It's a no-win situation, even with the new skates. It's just making you frantic and stressed.
Don't reschedule your lesson until AFTER you've skated in the new skates and made sure that they're okay. Sometimes you need adjustments or they could be the wrong size.
If you cancel the order, you'll be punishing the pro shop for something out of their control. You're also setting the stage for a less than friendly relationship with the pro shop. Just be patient.
If the skates do come in today:


Go and pick them up. Make sure they're the right size.
Get them molded, sharpened, and guarded.
Wear them to walk around the house (with guards) for about an hour.
Go skating tomorrow just to practice and get used to them.
Skate a few more times, at 45 minutes to an hour each.
Since you seem to be a little frazzled, I'd like to ask you to please not buy impulsively. There's an old saying: "Buy Cheap, Buy Twice." Crummy skates have to be replaced much earlier than good skates and worse, you could get hurt really bad.

In the grand scheme of things, waiting a week or even a month for good skates is well worth it, believe me.

[doubletoe]

If you've waited this long, do NOT rush to buy whatever skates you can get your hands on. In order to function properly and keep from giving you foot problems, skates MUST fit perfectly, both in the length and the width. Please make sure the pro shop measures both of your feet, including both the ball width (front of the foot) and heel width! And yes, make sure the measuring chart is for the specific brand of skates you are getting, since there are no standard skate sizes and they are sized differently depending on the brand. BTW, I didn't start skating until 27. :)

[Daniellemhv]

Okay... Here's what happened *feel free to think I'm crazy*. Skates did not arrive today. They will arrive next week, I made an apt with the owner to get a proper fitting, sharpening, etc. If the Jackson freestyles are just all wrong then she'll help me find the right kind. In the meantime, I didn't want to cancel my first lesson with my new coach so I went and bought $60 skates from dicks. I won't be jumping or spinning on them, just using them so I can keep my lesson and get used to the ice and get to know my coach. And my mother wears the same size as me so I'm going to give them to her. She said she'd like to maybe skate with me at public skate sometimes. I didn't even know she could skate but according to her she used to be good. Probably pond skating, no spins or jumps. I think that all sounds ok right? I hope. My lessons are only bi-weekly for a half hour, the rest is just practice/ enjoyment.

[icedancer2]

Well, welcome back and have fun!

It sounds like you have worked something out that will work for you in the short term - just getting back on the ice is an accomplishment and you have done WAY more than I did when I first came back.

I skated as a kid, quit at 14 - skated recreationally (read: skating with my girlfriends on the weekends to meet boys) for years until I grew out of my skates - picked up a used pair of black men's skates (pretty good skates actually) and continued to hack around on the ice for years before I got up the guts to go to a pro shop, pick out and get fitted for a good pair of (white) skates and then another couple of years before I started taking lessons again - I started by taking an ice-dance class as I knew that's what I really wanted to do when I got back into skating, although I was still doing some pretty lousy freestyle) - FINALLY I met a coach that I felt comfortable with and the rest, as they say... is history.

Anyway, you have made a great start and I am sure you are going to have a lot of fun. You are NEVER too old to start, or in your case, to start again. You may be surprised at how much differently you learn as an adult and that the coaches will approach your learning differently than when you learned as a child - that's what struck me the most when I came back - as adults we are more capable of intellectually understanding what we are diong and not just doing it all by feel, so to speak.

[doubletoe]

Sounds like a great plan! Welcome back to the ice! :)

[singerskates]

Hello! I'm new here. I started figure skating when I was 10 years old. I competed and did shows. I don't remember what level I was when I quit but I had just learned the axel and camel spin. I was 12 years old. I only skated for 2 years but my love and passion for it was and has always been very intense. I tried to start up again when I was 18, I rented rink skates and was very wobbly but within minutes was skating backwards and forwards no problem. Then I stopped again. Now I'm 24 and am determined to do it! I just paid for 8 weeks ice time, hired a private coach and bought some Jackson freestyle skates. Everyone has always made fun of me for wanting to skate "I'm too old", so I am so glad i found this site. I don't feel like such a doufus. My first session is this friday. I ordered skates through my local skate/dance shop last Thursday and she told me they would take a week to arrive, she failed to tell me she was closed Friday. So if they don't come tomorrow, I won't get them until Tuesday and will miss my first session and 2 hours paid ice time. I'm not totally thrilled about it. The girl working at skate shop was just filling in for the owner and she didn't know anything about skates. I just liked the look and feel of the freestyle and it was in my price range. I now realize that is not how to buy figure skates lol. So I bought a 1/2 size smaller then my shoe size, research has told me I probably should have went with 1 whole size smaller. So even if they do come tomorrow, the owners gonna tell me its all wrong and send it back and get something else. And if I knew they weren't gonna be here on time I would have ordered them myself with express shipping. Just kind of frustrating.

And.... I'm a full time college student and single mother to a perfect little 4 month old dude.

Sounds like you've got skating fever! LOL Welcome back to skating. How about joining Competitive Adult Skaters Yahoo Group ( CAS )?

http://ca.groups.yahoo.com/group/compadultsk8ss/

At CAS you'll find other skating addicts.