Hi! I'm a beginner in ice skating, I've never been much of an athletic person, and it's taking me FOREVER to show any kind of progress with ice skating. I'm currently working on forward and backward crossovers and have been for a while. Anyhow...I was wondering how long it took you all to complete basic skills 1 through 8? I know it's different for everyone, but I'm just rather curious Thanks for taking the time to read and answer by the way!

Hi jazzsk8

Well you got that right, it's different for everyone, basically the younger you are the better chance you have of improving faster, I started in my late 30's and have for many years seen young skaters go from stumbling around to doing doubles and it only seemed like yesterday they were asking me how to do a cross-over.

Your age, determination, ability and most importantly your fear factor all count, but no-matter what, if you are determined enough it you will improve, I was the worlds worst coward, it took me 6 weeks to let go of the barrier, I nearly took it home with me

Good Luck and enjoy!!

I had no significant improvement until I let go of the barrier also! Do you know how hard it is to do proper crossovers while holding on to the barrier?

Also, I found that scheduling more practice time helped a lot. Even if you can only squeeze in 30 minutes, it can go a long way if you use your time efficiently (i.e. not chatting with friends, etc). And have a game plan when you practice. Know that you will warmup and work on certain elements for x minutes each every time you skate (or almost every time, sometimes you have to have goof-off time).

Keep a skate journal. In it maybe you will write down things you learned in lessons, with notes. Also ask your instructor/coach what you should practice until the next lesson. Put that in your journal. When you practice, put what you worked on in your journal. Don't be obsessive about it, just jot notes down. If you had a golden moment, jot that down. If something stank write that down also and then you can "remember" better to tell your coach at the next lesson (trust me, sometimes you forget).

Good Luck!!!!! Welcome to the Club of Adult Skaters (hopefully for life!)

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

Welcome Jazz!

Like the others said, it's very individual. Hopefully most people will progress faster than I am! I started skating at the age of 56 near the end of January. After 80 hours of ice time, I don't even have my backward edges yet My forward edges, glides, and stuff aren't too bad and I can sort-of do two-footed turns, most of the time, if I am not going too fast

I am beginning to think that the biggest factor in how fast you progress is whether you have a subconscious fear of falling. I am tempted to wrap myself in bubble wrap and go after those backward edges!

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Dianne
(A.O.S.S.? Got it BAD! )

Hey thanks for the reply!! All of your suggestions sound great! Some of you mentioned fear of falling, and YES, I've been wondering how to get rid of that. I feel fine now when thinking about fallling, and I don't think it's that bad, when on the ice I still know falling isn't that bad, but somehow that fear is still there...in a deep place I can't reach I'm thinking...I should buy butt pads and maybe that'll help a bit

I'm leaving for college soon so I was thinking of sitting down with my coach and making an actual written out goal for the rest of the summer of stuff to cover, would that be efficient?

I AM going to get a skate journal today!!! you all are really helpful!

Hi

It is very individual and I think there is a lot riding on progress. Ive been skating 8 weeks and have now got my backward and forward crossovers. I found them a real pain in the rear and i hated the thoughts of them. It was only last Thursdays session I thought that Ive gotta do this and stop being scared.

I think with skating a lot of it is mental. You have to have the right mental attitude. Tell yourself you CAN do it and praise yourself for how far you have come, praise yourself for the things that you have learned so far instead of giving yourself a hard time because of the things you cant do. After all the majority of the population cant even stand up on ice skates let alone move forward etc. So to be even standing on the ice, skating forwards, retaining some form of balance for a beginner is an acchievement.

Another thing is to let go of the fear. Yes it is damn slippy and yes you ARE going to fall and yes there ARE going to be times when you hurt yourself. You have to accept that and realise that if you do fall, nine times out of ten it isnt serious and you can just get back up. If we skate within our fear boundaries we wont progress as we are always imposing limits upon ourselves. So I would reccommend let go of the fear and enjoy what you are doing. Dont give yourself a hard time over it becuase I think that would have a negative affect. Positive attracts positive etc.

Another thing is that fear tends to keep us a little bit stiff legged and one of the biggest lessons I have learned in my 8 weeks is that those knees have got to be bent. You have to relax and bend that knee and when you do this along with thinking positive and praising yourself for what you can do things will star to improve.

I know it can be a little bit frustrating sometimes when you see skaters who are further advanced and you wish so much to be able to skate like them, but we have to get it into perspective. Probably not all that long ago they were in exactly the same position as us, looking at other skaters wishing that they were at that standard too.

You will get there, skating sometimes feels like three steps forward and two steps back but at least you are still one step further than base. You will get there, you will improve. It takes patience and practice and praising yourself for what you have done so far.

Good luck

Andrea xx

Another reason why I started journaling was to keep an eye on my progress. When I felt as though I wasn't making any, I could look in my book and see that I actually was making progress. It may not be large chunks, but if my coach makes a positive comment "Nice knees" or "great extension" that goes in there also!!!!!

As for the fear, that kept me against the wall for a whole year.....then I got pads and let go! It was a complete psychological process I had to undergo-almost like psychiatry without a license!!! I just figured I wasn't getting any younger and the hunger for jumps outweighed the fear at that point! The first waltz jump I made in the center of the ice was terrifying (and it wasn't that high or big). But I did it and I didn't die! After that, it got better. I've taken a few spills since then but haven't been seriously hurt. Bruised and battered, but not permanently damaged! And I still wear pads occasionally.

But these things happen in small steps. You push in little increments to go a little bit faster, higher, bend deeper, etc. Realize it can't and won't happen all at once and it is better that it happen in smaller steps. We started in Kindergarten and progress through graduation; we didn't just go from Kindergarten and graduate! Skating is the same way.

and I'm still working on those darned back edges!

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

yeh, and sometimes its 2 steps forward and 1 back. I did levels 1-7 in about 6 weeks (I'm a late onset skating addict- 39 tommorrow!) but sometimes you can do something one week and then cant do it again for ages! when I did my first little waltz jump, i did it over and over, the for two weeks after I couldn't do it at all! don't worry about how long other people take to do things, just enjoy each acheivment as it happens! good luck!

Hi Andrea,

I have very recently found that all you say is sooo true. Relaxing and bending the knees seems to make a massive difference to whatever you do, and making a lot more seem really possible to learn. A fortnight ago - I could hardly skate backwards, or even lift one foot off the ice for more than a quarter of a second - but by relaxing and bending those knees, both the aforementioned are developing a lot quicker than I thought. I've just passed level 2 in skate UK today - but we started to learn level 3 and 4 stuff such as one foot glide on a curve, backward sculling and jumps, and it does'nt feel half as nerve-racking as I previously imagined.
For the first time, this week is really beginning to feel like the beginnings of a long and exciting journey in ice skating.

I did the Basic Skills program in the early '90's when it only went 1-6 and freestyle went 1-4. I passed through 1-6 in about 5 years (during that 5th year, I also passed freestyle 1-4 and figure 1-4). I was 7 when I started and just around 12 when I finished.

I think I failed Basic 5 and back crossovers a good 3 times before I got them down.

It's an individual thing. I know people who passed them all in less than a year. I don't seem to be much of a natural skater, so it took me longer (and I think I might've quit for a year to pursue other interests). If you love it, keep at it!

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"Without Vision the People Perish"
שלום לעולם תמיד

I passed all the tests in 4 months. Maybe that's because I started private lessons when I was in the first level because I was so bored with what they were working on, because it was a piece of cake for me. I skipped 2 levels, then skipped another and I'm in Freestyle right now.

ill ditto what everyone says that its very individual how you progress. yes a lot is in your attitude and the practice you put into it. i just looked over the basic skills I think i covered them in about a year give or take a few months. im working now on pre bronze adult MITF i already learned the toe loop and salchow and just started working on my loop jump, in spins im working on a 1 foot, struggling with my sit and began recently my backspin. crossovers and stroking is a work in progress and will always be, i think I once heard that even the elite skaters continue to work on crossovers and stroking, you can never practice that and a backspin too much.

lots of luck and enjoy
happy skating!!

Every freeking day. Not that I'm elite (but they definitely do it too!!), but I've spent many, many, many lessons on basic edges, progressives, stroking. And continue to do so. It's gotten to the point that I enjoy those lessons a lot--like coming back 'home' to old familiar friends. Twisted, huh?

And any time a practice isn't going well, I go back to all my exercises of all the basic stuff--everything else is built off that.

Definitely the dancers work on basics every day... And I'm training with 3 senior teams and 2 junior teams, so I see it.

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American Waltz... Once, Twice, ???? ...

Q: How many coaches does it take to fix Jen's Dance Intro-3 Problems
A: 5 and counting...

Yeah, if the jumps and spins tank on that day, I work on the basics for the rest of the session! Stroking, crossovers, edges, basic stuff.....

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

...lol every every single lesson begins with stroking alllllllllll the time and every time. it used to be annoying but its ok now especially since i feel i made some great improvement in my stroking. )