After many many years, I finally convinced my sister to go skating with me. Actually she offered. If I go to a concert with her tonight, she'll go skating with me. She skated once in her life, about 10 years ago. So I know to tell her to bend her knees and keep her head up, but you don't tell somebody to stroke on their first time out, right? Is it just marching first? Or is that only for little kids? And what kind of sock should she wear for skating in those cheap plastic rentals? I wear tights or nylon knee highs, but I can't imagine something so thin being comfortable in rentals. Any advice that I can pass along?

Have her start with marching; if she's comfortable and moving ok, she can try pushing and gliding a little- not stroking exactly, because she won't be ready to do much of an extension, but the same idea of pushing with the ball of the foot.

For the rental skates, I would say have her wear a single pair of lightweight socks. I agree, tights or nylons wouldn't be comfortable in plastic boots, but multiple socks or heavy ones will keep her from feeling whatever edge the skates may have.

If she really is struggling to stand up, or if you see her skates sliding sideways at all, don't hesitate to take them back and try for a sharper pair.

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Shae-Lynn and Victor: We knew you were champions, and on 3/28/03 the whole WORLD found out! Thank you for twelve wonderful years!

When I've taken friends skating I always tell them to keep their arms in front of them as if holding bicycle handlebars, and to keep the upper body "quiet"--I've noticed that adults really tend to flail when trying to save themselves from a fall. Similarly, you can tell her to put her hands on her knees if she feels like she's going to fall. That trick has saved me many a time!

I'm glad your sister is going skating with you. I dragged my brother onto the ice several months ago and we had a grand time. Of course after 45 minutes he could attempt forward crossovers and turn front-to-back on 2 feet: stuff it took me weeks to learn!

Athletic socks are fine with the rentals.

Make sure she gets skates 1 size smaller than her shoes.

Lace them tightly, but do not use the top hook.

Give her a 5 minute lesson off ice:

• Hands on table, bellybutton height, out to the sides, but visible without turning head
• March, picking knees straight up and down, do not step ahead
• Grab knees if losing balance
• Fall to the side
• Get on all fours to get up, put one foot in front, hand on knee push with back toe into ice
• Look where you want to go, not at the ice

Do everything with her as you go through it.

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Don't let her spend too long on the ice. Beginners get tired easily - I'd make her take at least two breaks of 15 minutes in a two hour session - coffee, chat, walk around, watch etc.

I took some friends along to skate twice, and spent ages giving them off-ice training on how to bend your knees, fall over properly by rolling over, etc. Then one of them went and fell over, put her hand down on the ice to break her fall, and fractured her wrist. Now I don't think I'll ever get her to go skating again, which is sad, especially as her husband was doing pretty well. She is quite fit - does yoga and running - I think she was just tired.

So far, everything has been really helpful. I'll probably give her that lesson before we go, so she won't get embarrased at the rink. I was going to go through the whole how to fall too, although from my experience, it doesn't always work if you go fast and don't realize you're falling until you hit the ice. But going slower, I can grab the knees and fall on the side, and I don't htink my sister will be going fast anytime soon. She's not the athletic type.

One more question I just thought of, since it's been a while since I've worn rentals. For some reason, the laces are always really really long. Do I just tell her to go back through the hooks a few times, or just make a big bow? I don't think it's good to tie the laces around the back.

I'm hoping to take her to one of the empty public sessions I go to so we won't need to worry about little kids skating like maniacs, and everyone on the ice are adult skaters, many of whom are also just starting out so I don't htink she'd feel so odd being the oldest one learning to skate, if that makes any sense.

That's a good idea, but also, do have her march off ice with the skates on.

You are right about not wrapping the laces around her ankles. That is a big no-no. Going back through the hooks if OK, or making a big bow, if that works, or a combo of the two.

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If you make a bow, make sure that there are no big loops a blade could potentially get caught in, nor are there any free laces hanging down that she could trip on...I'd recommend going back through the hooks a few more times with the extra laces to avoid such problems!

And have her fold her socks over the top of the boots covering the bow of the laces. Another reason why wearing athletic socks would be a good idea.

When I have laces that are too long, I go up the hooks once, then back down again. I tie a bow, hook each loop around all the hooks on each side, pull tight, and then tie another bow.

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~No thinking, breathing, or hesitation!~

Hey, that's awesome that you are getting your sis out on the ice with you!!!

Chances are, there won't be too much more you can teach her the first few times she goes other than bending knees, how to get up when you fall, and maybe some crossovers. She is going to spend a lot of time trying to fight for balance and maybe hanging on to the wall for a while. No big deal. We all started this way! Just have her enjoy what she is doing. Trying to balance on skates is a very beneficial exercise in and of itself!

Have her wear regular socks that are not super thick. Something opaque (aka "not see thru") may do nicely. She could always bring a separate thicker pair of socks just in case the thinner ones don't work out.

Have fun!
Kristin