Ok my fellow Skaters!!! I asked you in my previous thread what a Freestyle Session is LIKE....NOW I want you to please tell me in your own words what it was like when and for you to...TRANSITION from (is it Learn to Skate you transition from) TO a Freestyle Session? Please include how you felt and how you were greeted. BTW. is there a term for a brand-new Skater to Freestyle?

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FSWer

No, there's no official term for skaters new to freestyle sessions. We tend to call them "babies" or "newbies", depending on their age - as in "Be extra careful, we have a lot of new babies on the ice today!" It's meant in a friendly way, not to make fun of them.

Most new freestylers find it kind of scary at first, because it seems like all the other skaters are so much stronger and faster. A lot of the new freestylers tend to hug the walls until they gain some confidence. They might only be out there when they have a lesson with their coach, who will look out for them. The coach will usually take some time to explain to the new freestyler how freestyle sessions work, how to get their music played if they need it, and what the traffic patterns are. At my rink, for instance, we tend to spin in the middle and jump at the ends unless we're doing a program.

It's the job of a new freestyler to learn the rules as quickly as they can and to avoid getting in the way of more advanced skaters, and it's the job of the more advanced skaters to watch out for the newer ones so that everyone can skate safely.

It's SUPER scary! Everyone out there moves so fast!

My coach unknowningly scheduled my first freestyle lesson while Regionals was at a rink about 30 minutes away- all the sessions at my rink became unofficial practice ice - my normally uncrowded rink turned into a madhouse, filled with junior and senior ladies. OMG so scary! We did most of the lesson at the wall, as I was too scared to venture out onto the center of the rink.

After that went away, it was easier to be out in the middle of the rink, but I still stuck to my coach for a few sessions, just to figure out where people liked to practice, where their programs went, etc.

The hardest is when pairs are practicing. They barrel down the rink so fast, and it's terrifying to be near them when they are in lifts- you don't want to be the cause of an accident in anyway.

So far I've never actually seen collisions, so the madness does have a pattern to it. I've accidentally cut people off, and they've done the same for me but a sincere shout of "sorry" keeps the bad feelings off.

But I'd recommend newbies just stick to lessons with their coach for the first lesson or two before venturing out on their own to practice.

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-Jessi
What I need is a montage...
Visit my skating journal or my Youtube videos (updated with 2 new videos Sept 26, 2009)

Does Unoffical mean practice ice that is used for MORE then just Freestylers at that time?

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FSWer

No, skittle means that for a major competition like Regionals, there's typically "official" practice ice which is that time set aside specifically at that rink for people at a given level/in a specific group and "unofficial" practice ice that any skater can buy onto. Because her rink was pretty close to the one hosting Regionals, skaters were buying onto that FS session so they could get more practice ice and were treating it as "unofficial" practice ice to prepare for their event

I just made the transition to the freestyle sessions. As an adult skater and one who is in freestyle 2 (ISI), it was VERY scary. All the kids were really good and fast and zooming around. I have a coach with me during the sessions because they are so much easier to navigate than public sessions (no tiny ones or general skaters getting in your way!). But there are definitely sessions where its high level skaters and I don't even attempt them. I go to the 6am sessions when nobody is on the ice and as it fills in, I continue to give ROW to programs or lessons. I have a program now and I get ROW and that's fun! But it seems like I'm always the lowest skater out there -- not sure if it's true or just an adult/kid thing ... :-)