Weekend Practice Ice @ Home?

[Black Sheep]

Is anybody here lucky enough to get practice ice on Saturdays and/or Sundays, other than Public Skating? In Chicagoland, the only weekend practice ice I can find is either for Ice Dance or packed full.

[Clarice]

Yeah, we have 4 hours on Saturday (but nothing on Sunday - that's everybody's day off). I've also had weekend practice ice in a couple of towns about an hour and a half away from where I live. It doesn't sound like ice is unavailable where you are, though - it's that you don't like it because the sessions are crowded. You're in Chicago, right? I'd expect crowded weekend practices there. Heck, even where I live weekends are busier! We live with it. Besides, we WANT full sessions - if not enough skaters use a particular session, the rink is likely to cancel it.

[Mrs Redboots]

We have an hour on Saturday mornings (followed by an hour of Figure club), and two hours on Sunday mornings. That's when Robert and I have our main practice together of the week, Robert has his solo lesson, and we have our lesson together as a couple. The session is fairly empty at 7.00 am, but gets more crowded later on!

[Black Sheep]

Originally posted by Clarice
It doesn't sound like ice is unavailable where you are, though - it's that you don't like it because the sessions are crowded.

It's too hard to practice jumping and go through my programs in crowded ice sessions.

[MissIndigo]

Originally posted by Black Sheep
It's too hard to practice jumping and go through my programs in crowded ice sessions.

In my area, we do have some Saturday freestyles (I'd have to go to the next town over to skate, and I do when I feel I need to.) We used to have club skates on Sundays at noon, and that was some prime ice time--never crowded. *sighs wistfully* Those were the days...!

I have to agree with you about the crowded ice sessions. I'll be honest here--I don't always find that I can trust that some of the skaters are watching out for themselves or for others, and I never know if I am truly going to have the right of way when I try a jump (when space permits, of course; never would I jump in front of anyone on purpose). On those sessions, any MITF patterns or program passes do not get done. I still try to practice some isolated moves though to make the session count. We have a viable skating community here, but not enough to warrant special MITF or edge sessions or division into high freestyle/low freestyle.

We have enough adults now in our club who are advancing that I wish we could push for an adults-only freestyle...we are still zipping around out there but we are conscious of each other. My other rink has improved a bit though by offerring an adults-only noon skate, but that's a public session smack in the middle of the day and I can't take the time on a weekday to drive 25 miles to get there.

[singerskates]

Depending on which club you belong to in my area you either skate on Saturdays or on Sundays but not both. If you want to have club ice for freeskating, dance or pairs on both days, you have to skate as a guest skater and pay an additional fee and fill out forms.

There is cheaper ice available but that is public ice where you're not allowed to skate backwards nevermind do figure skating elements. And public ice is very crowded with everyone from 3 year olds, hockey wannabes, non-skaters holding on for dear life and lots of teenagers looking for the opposite sex to date. Skating on public ice here is like skating through a wall.

I tend to stick to my already paid for club ice. I'm already skating 4 days a week, 3 1/2 hours Sun., 2 hours Mon., 1 1/2 Tues. and 2 1/2 hours Thurs. This adult body needs sometime off of the ice to rest up.

[blue111moon]

The majority of my club ice is on the weekend: Friday evening, Saturday and Sunday mornings. Hockey claims the weekday afterschool times and college hockey gets most of the weekday evenings.

[ddpskater]

Dallas has a few 3-4 rinks with Sat freestyle ice and 2-3 with freestyle on Sunday. There's also a very uncrowded early morning Sunday public session at one rink.

[dani]

Originally posted by ddpskater
Dallas has a few 3-4 rinks with Sat freestyle ice and 2-3 with freestyle on Sunday. There's also a very uncrowded early morning Sunday public session at one rink.

Some of the best freestyle sessions I have ever skated were at the Dr. Pepper Starcenter in Duncanville!

We have almost nothing on the weekends at either of my rinks. We have a packed club session at one rink and usually nothing at the other.

:-(

Danielle

[melanieuk]

We have Sat and Sun mornings 6.30am - 10am.
There is also club ice and Learn to Skate (Skate UK) on a Sunday.