I've always been (lol, always equals about year, but whatever) the type of person to skate at one rink and that's it. In cases of emergencies I'd skate at another rink but I always went back to my home rink.

Well, now it's looking as if our home rink is not going to be restored post-hurricane damage so I'm in the process of looking for a new rink.

In my area there are 3 rinks within 20-30 minutes of both work and home. There is another rink about 40 minutes away.

My coach will be coaching at the 40 minute away rink - right now I'm only taking one private lesson from him. He says he could take me on a Thursday night freestyle from 6:50 to 7:50, but that's cutting it close for me getting from work to the rink.

The other two rinks don't have convenient public or freestyle times, but through reputation I know of some coaches and I can say that the rinks are nicely maintained.

The other rink I've never been to, but it's pretty close to where I work, they offer public sessions during the day so I could go on my lunch break but I'm not sure of their jump and spin policies on a public....

I'm leaning towards the rink that's close to work - it's a little further away from home than the other two with good reputations, but like I said I could go during the day on a public and then maybe just make the long drive on the weekends for a longer public.

I don't want to leave my current coach, but I think I'd feel weird taking one lesson from him and skating all my other time at another rink? And if I want to start testing, which I do, what club do I sign up with? Do I sign up at the place I never skate at but I have my one 30 minute lesson a week, or do I sign up at the place I skate at most often and feel most comfortable with? Not to mention I was going to look for a moves in the field specialist to start my testing elements and that would be at a different rink too?

I dunno - what do you guys think? I know ultimately it's up to me to decide, but I'm confused. Is skating at multiple rinks complicated? What about club membership? If anyone has any advice for me I'd be eternally thankful.

And if this makes no sense I'm sorry lol.

As far as club goes I would sign up with the one that suits you best, since you have a choice. And for the training and practice - I skate wherever I can find a patch of ice at the suitable time, for example, Wed & Thu I'm skating in Germany, Saturday & Sunday - at my home rink in Coventry, and I'm going to a gym in Netherlands for my off-ice. Go figure!

You are really lucky to have so much choice within a commutable distance. You may ask your coach if s/he minds you being signed up whith another club, and if not - I don't see a problem.

__________________
My other car is a Zamboni

Me, me, me!!! I skate at two rinks on a regular basis and sometimes a third rink if the weekend rink is also crowded and I don't want to make the drive down.

My home rink is a half hour away and I skate there Monday nights and my lesson days. (Both my coaches are at my home rink.) My skating club is here. It's the best ice for testing. Plus, my coaches are here and do keep an ear out for what's going on at the test sessions and can better prepare me for my tests when I'm taking them. (It's not to say that I can't take tests at another club, but...)

My weekend rink is 45-50 minutes away and sometimes 1-1.5 hr coming back. (The commute back from the Bay Bridge can be a MAJOR BEAR.) But during the summer, the rink is quite empty. And it's a BIIIIIG rink!!! No fear of crashing into the boards for me here!!!

My alternate weekend rink is a good 20-25 minutes away, but it's ALWAYS crowded during the weekends, the rink size is similar to our rink, the lockers are CRAP!!! (Hello??? You would think that you get all new lockers but NOOOOO -- they had to use old ones from a previous rink...) Still the commute is MUCH shorter and parking is usually very convenient (except during the holiday season. GRRRRR time for me!!!)

Since this rink doesn't really have a skating club, I'm not sure I want to find a coach here.

__________________
Cheers,
jazzpants

11-04-2006: Shredded "Pre-Bronze FS for Life" Club Membership card!!!
Silver Moves is the next "Mission Impossible"
(Dare I try for Championship Adult Gold someday???)

Thank you for the support, you guys!!!

I skate at multiple rinks, as do most people in my area, b/c rinks have FS sessions on different days/evenings. My home club's rink is about 35-40 minutes away (sometimes over an hour in rush hour traffic) so I try to only skate there on weekends unless there's some (urgent) reason that I need to go on a weeknight. I've always tested there, as they have the most convenient test session schedule (quarterly) and the ice is nice. The rink is also big - 200 ft long - so I do need to practice moves there regularly in order to be in good shape for my test.

Another rink is about a 20-25 min drive (depending on traffic) and I go there on weeknights. I also have my lesson there. Because I bought a package of FS sessions run by the club there, I can test at this rink w/o paying a guest fee, but this club's test sessions are not as frequent as my home club's.

There is a 3rd rink where I occasionally skate if I need to pick up an extra practice session due to schedule conflicts or if a comp is coming up. This rink is about 15 min away, so it's the most convenient, but it is smaller than standard (NHL) size, so it's hard to run through moves patterns, plus collisions between skaters are more likely b/c of the small space. And this rink also has a "closed" pro policy, so I couldn't have lessons there unless my coach was an official rink coach.

I'd say when joining a club, it's important to consider what you are getting for your membership fee. Does the club have special club ice sessions or other activities (shows, etc) that you would want to take advantage of? What are the test sessions like (organization and time allotment) and how often are they offered? What are the club officers and general membership like (nice people, adult-friendly, etc)?

When looking for a rink to skate at, I'd say the important things are convenience (location and schedule), whether your coach is there, and the quality of the ice (plus friendliness and organization of mgmt). Plenty of skaters skate most of the time at rinks other than their "home" rink. It depends what works for you.

It's a VERY good thing to skate at different rinks. It makes it easier to get used to different ice and different visual cues when you skate, which will come in very handy when you have to skate a performance (competition or exhibition) at a new rink.

I regularly skate at 3 different rinks. I have the main rink I skate at on weekday mornings (which is where I take my lessons) and two different rinks that I skate at on weekends. I am planning to start taking additional lessons on Sundays at one of my weekend rinks.

If you like your current coach, you should stick with that coach, but there's no reason that should affect which rink you practice at the rest of the time. I choose where to practice based on their freestyle schedule, and that tends to change, so I also have a 4th, 5th and 6th rink that I will practice at if my schedule requires. Oh, and I get my blades sharpened at yet another rink, a 7th rink, and occasionally I'll skate their public session, LOL!

I've always skated at a couple different rinks across a few states! It just depends where the coach and partner are. At one point my partner and I were driving 1 1/2 hours to skate and get a lesson. Then fortunately all three of us moved to Baltimore.
Skating at more than one rink also means my clothes are spread out across the city!

__________________
Recycle Love - Adopt a homeless pet

I skate out of four different rinks, and I think it makes adapting to different ice surfaces for competitons a little easier. My home club and my primary coach are in my home town and I have a dance coach about an hour or so away. The farthest I travel is 2 hours away to skate with my Granddaughter on Saturdays.

__________________
If you keep your eyes on God, you can walk on water.

Count me in among those who skate at more than one rink. Our primary "home" rink is the one closest to us, but once a month we take a class at another rink, followed by social dancing, and occasionally skate at a third rink in the London area, usually just after having had our skates sharpened - the sharpener is in the area! Or if Husband wants to dance with his Other Woman, whose home rink it is - or, basically just to see her and our other friends who skate there.....

And I know the system is different in the USA, but we have no problem belonging to more than one club, either - we are coached at Streatham, so that's who we represent in Open competitions, and in our League matches, but we also belong to Alexandra Palace's club, and are registered as such by NISA. We don't skate for them, but I have done announcing there. And although I think our membership of the third rink's dance club has lapsed (their club night clashes with ours, so we can't go any more), we still skate for them in their League matches, if asked, since it's a different League from us, so we can....

__________________
Mrs Redboots
~~~~~~~~
I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

Wow...I'm so glad to know that a lot of you skate at more than one rink!

I suppose in terms of practice it's just a matter of what schedules work with mine especially since they're all within the same bit of driving distance.

I have a question about what club you should join though - should you join a club that your coach instructs at so when you test they can be there? Do coaches put you on the ice for a test like they do for a competition? I've never tested so I have no idea how the process works.

I never thought about the advantages of skating at multiple rinks, I'm glad I asked the question because now I feel so much more comfortable being a multi-rinker.

Yes, on the second question! For the first question, I know of enough skaters whose coach is at another rink but they are home club members at our rink and they bring their coaches here, so you really don't have to be a club member at the same rink as your coach. It's whatever works best with your schedule...

__________________
Cheers,
jazzpants

11-04-2006: Shredded "Pre-Bronze FS for Life" Club Membership card!!!
Silver Moves is the next "Mission Impossible"
(Dare I try for Championship Adult Gold someday???)

Thank you for the support, you guys!!!

I would never do a test (MIF or FS) without a coach present unless it was a last-minute issue. For my dance tests, I sort of need my primary coach there (as partner)... otherwise I have to line up another partner ahead of time.

Re which club to join, I'd check out which of the clubs in your area have the most test sessions, generally held at times that if you were testing, would be more convenient (e.g. for adults and some kids, not during the middle of work/school days). Often, a larger club will have test sessions more frequently than a smaller club, but conversely those test sessions might be harder to get a slot on, because of the number of skaters normally requesting to test on a session.

I believe the rules are such any coach that is not under USFS sanction can serve as a skater's coach at any club's test session, not just the club with which they are affiliated. They may choose NOT to do so, for various reasons, or charge an extra fee (For example, when I test at an out of town club, I have to pay my coach's travel fees [mileage/tolls/etc])

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

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

Exactly what I was going to recommend, too! Our club is great because it is the 3rd largest club in the country and has test sessions often. We also get free club jackets every year if we compete at Sectionals or Nationals and we get some slightly discounted club ice time for a few hours each week.

Hi,
Your home club just depends on what you like, and what works best for you. At one point my home club was not even in my state, but the one 2 hours away. It wasn't large, and I didn't test there, but it was an adult friendly club with lots of active adult competitors. At one point we were in the top 3 for medals at AN.
I looked at clubs when I was out of my area on work for a year, but was turned off of the larger club by the attitude towards adults.
Now I'm in a very small club with a large adult representation.

__________________
Recycle Love - Adopt a homeless pet

I skate three days per week at three different rinks. I go to where I can get ice and where it is cheapest, best value.

This is a very individual decision. Other than dance tests where I need the coach to partner me, I very rarely have a coach with me for tests or competitions. Works fine for me as I'm already very familiar with testing procedures and my coach has prepared me for everything I need. I can see where someone with little testing experience would need a coach there to guide them through the process.

I only skate at one rink. Thats possibly because I can't drive and I don't think my parents would like to drive me to multiple rinks all the time after the work day.. (Im only 14).

Although I do have many rinks around me- Guelph, Champions Center etc..
=BUT= i think i'll stick with K-W for now and besides its a very nice rink.
NO BOARDS!.

I skate at one rink September through April (my club rink, which is 15 minutes away, but closes for the summer), then another May through August (2 hours away). I'm contemplating another rink for their weekly social ice dance sessions, but it is also 2 hours away. I wish we had others closer, (or ours stayed open year-round , but that won't happen this year)

My private coach will be going with me to the upcoming competitions to put me on the ice and keep me from freaking out

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

I have skated at four different rinks in the last two weeks. As one coach I know has told me, "Ice Time is Ice Time". All have been my "home" rink at some time in my life.

The biggest issue is quality of the ice. My "home" rink (where my coach is) is where the Dallas Stars practice, so the ice is always awesome. The next best rink is Chapparal on I-35. Stonebriar is across the street from the Starcenter, and I have free passes, so I skate there even though the ice isn't great (heavy public sessions, even during the middle of the day). Austin Ice (where I learned to skate so many years ago) is the worst, but the most convienent because I can zip in between classes.

It was hard to get used to Austin Ice on Tuesday, after skating at the Starcenter on Sunday. That's the main issue I see when skating at multiple rinks.

I skate at several rinks in any given month. I like the idea of getting used to adapting to different rink sizes -- so no matter where I compete, I'm used to compressing or expanding the programs. It also makes it easier to quickly adjust to different ice quality. And when I compete locally, it's much easier.. since I've already spent time running my programs on that very ice.

As for testing, I've tested at different rinks... depending on what works best for me, either in terms of test session times and dates.. or in one case (Pre-Juvenile moves), I went to the smallest rink with a convenient test session, so I would not have to do as many of the 3-Turns in the Field! At the small rink, I only had to do 3 on each foot... at the biggest rink it probably would have been closer to 6 on each foot if I would have covered the entire length of the rink. That was my weakest element on that test... so I didn't want the test to take FOREVER. And my coach goes to whichever rink I'm testing at -- in fact, all our local rinks allow coaches to have a lesson with their students on that ice surface the week before a test or competition.

Hey sunshine -

Sorry to hear that the rink won't be restored, that is the rink I first skated at. For reference, I took group classes at that rink, then just privates from an instructor there. However, all of my practice was at my current rink. I joined that club because I knew I would take most of my tests there (my dance/moves coach was at my new rink) Luckily my FS coach eventually moved to my rink, so I didn't have to travel for my lessons.

The point is that join the club that is the most convenient for you and take lessons from the coach you want.

Hugs!

Dani

ps) My rink is finally opening one surface this Monday!! I can start skating 3 times a week again!!

I skate almost all of my time at one rink that does freestyle sessions between 6am and 6pm. On some evenings and weekends, I skate at a rink that's closer to my house, but isn't as nice. Once every 2 weeks, I drive 45-60 minutes to my old rink to have a lesson with my coach, because I haven't picked a coach at the new rink yet. Occasionally I drive there on the weekend too, because that's where a girl I like skates (*whistles innocently*).

I've also been known to skate at 3 other rinks, just for the sake of adventure. There's nothing wrong with skating at multiple rinks! I have a dream of one day travelling europe and skating at every rink I possibly can there.

__________________
Casey Allen Shobe | http://casey.shobe.info
"What matters is not experience per se but 'effortful study'."
"At first, dreams seem impossible, then improbable, and eventually inevitable" ~ Christopher Reeve

If you plan to do that, you'd want your trip to NOT be in the summer to be able to go to the maximum number of rinks. I think a lot of rinks in Europe close during the summer.

__________________
Ask me about becoming a bone marrow donor.
http://www.marrow.org
http://www.nmdp.org