Help, I am a beginning skater and I have lost my ability to do forwards outside edges on one foot! I don't know what happened; I could do them yesterday and today when I tried, my foot wouldn't turn--I went straight instead of turning! And then I almost fell a few times. It was so embarrasing. Could it be that my blades need sharpening (I have had them for about 3 months, and have not had them sharpened since I bought them), or am I just psyching myself out??

Depending on how much you've been skating, you might need a sharpening. It could also just have been a bad day - we all have them. After weeks of doing gorgeous (okay, semi-gorgeous) spirals, I'll go out one day and not be able to do one at all.

If you can, I'd get a coach or pro to take a quick look and give you an opinion on your blades. But otherwise, just keep trying, they'll come back to you.

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Known as IrishDancerAndSkater/Azlynn at FSW

HI! it could be your blades as it gets harder to hold anb edge when they are dull.
You didn't say how new you were to skating. One of the biggest frustrations I have discovered in skating is being able to do something.... anything... one day. And the next.... it is totally gone!!!!! arghhh! I just hate that. and as I have learned it is perfectly normal.. On everything!!!
so, welcome to the world of skating! Your edges will return, not to worry!

Liz, who has totally lost her lutz, totally....sigh..

My right forward outside edge took a vacation recently. It was very frustrating. :?

At my next lesson, I told my coach about the problem. MY problem was all with the upper torso/posture. My shoulders weren't back, I was rolling my right shoulder forward, I wasn't turning at the waist, I wasn't holding my head up (looking down), etc, etc, etc.

Within 10 minutes, my coach had my edge back.

Even though you may need a skate sharpening, if it was a sudden change for the worse, you may need a good coach to look you over and make corrections.

Good luck!!!

If you are skating in hire boots, there is a chance that you laced them unevenly, without placing the tongue central and snug in the boot, which forced you onto an inside edge.

Edges come from bending the knees and rocking the ankle over.

If you can manage to turn your free leg outwards from the hip and thigh so that the free leg knee and toe point outwards (rather than forwards) this will "open your hip angle" (technical term) and push the weight over more onto your skating leg outside edge. Your skating knee should point in the same direction as the skating toe below it (in a generally forwards direction).

If you are slipping when you skate, you probably do need your blades sharpened.

But were you remembering to press down with your little toe to help you get on the edge? That is what my first coach taught me to do, and it really does help.

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Mrs Redboots
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Thank you all for the advice! I was a little (!) panicked yesterday, but feel much better after reading the above. I have recently returned to skating after a 20 year hiatus, and am having fun, but boy is it slow-going. It seems to take me twice as long as it should to learn everything (and I mean everything), but at least there is a reason for my lousy edges. Now if only I could remember to BEND MY KNEES when I am forward stroking!

I hear you, jolev!

When I returned to skating after a 20-plus year hiatus my FO edges were the hardest to get back. This was especially frustrating because they used to come so easily to me. I struggled with them for the better part of a year before I coaxed them into reappearing. What finally turned things around for me was, like garyc254 said, to realize the importance of my UPPER body -- shoulders, torso & hips -- in getting onto that FO edge. Yes, knee bend is important, as is rolling the ankle over and putting pressure on your little toe (all good advice). But you can do these things and still manage to totally negate them if your upper body position is out of whack. After all, which do you think is more powerful -- your lower leg and foot or that mass sitting atop your thighs ?

Cheers,

Ellen (who now loves her FO edges but is still pleading with her BO edges to return from wherever it is that they went)

I also had a 20 year break and edges were a challenge, even though I did school figures for a short spell as a child.

Correctly grinded blades are a must about every 30 hours of skating.
Also keep them well protected off ice.

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MEL
Absolute Skating

Melanieuk,

In skating things come and go, and anyone who skates KNOWS this. My way of dealing with this is just to say in my head that the skating angel is teaching me paitence. Either that or you have a huge fit on a regular basis out of frusteration. My coach is forever telling me that skating weeds out the folks with a bad attitude. Keep at it and tell yourself that YOU have a great one! I often have new adults tell me how much they want to "look" like me. (I always wonder if they need glasses!) Anyhoo, I tell them if they practice and want it enough they will. Skating has EVERYTHING to do with practice and desire. I agree with the poster who said you might just need a coach fix. I find sometimes I'm doing just some stupid "thing" that blows my whole skill. Often it is something small and easily corrected. Don't worry. When learning new things, it is easy to concentrate too much on some things and not enough on others. Always have fun, and things will come. =-) Good luck!

Chico

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"I truly believe, when God created skating, he patted himself on the back."