I kinda want to vent and get feed back from this but since its the summer my skating classes ended. (I take homeschool classes in the spring/fall/winter) and now that its summer I have to go to public skates and there are tons of people! it has been really hard to practice anything! all I can do is shuffle along slowly so that I don't kill little kids who have fallen on the ground. I feel like I am getting worse rather than getting better because there isn't enough room for me to practice...

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is there another arena in the area where they offer freeskate sessions? Perhaps going early in the morning on public ice might have less skaters, especially the teens and wee ones

Good advice, when I was doing public sessions I always found it best to get there as early as possible before the ice was chewed up and before the others have stopped clinging to the barrier and strarted dashing around like headless chickens, I found that 30-45 minutes of productive skating time was better than dodging people for 1-2 hours and achieving next to nothing,

Apart from early mornings (get there before the rink opens and warm up outside the rink first and if you have skate guards put your skates on first so you can hit the ice fast... just dont forget to take the skate guards off again before you step on the ice)
Also try sunday evenings, most parents are working the next day and wont leave their kids out so late. Generally, if its an inconvienient time, its less likely to find many people on the ice.

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Tidesong

hmm
all of our public sesions have a coned off area in the middle for the real skaters to use... of course u still have to deall with the anoying kids that still insist on scooting around in the middle with ttheir plastic walker things...
does yours have that?

you know I never thought about going on Sunday evenings... I think I will give that a try!

no it doesn't. but mabye thats a good thing!

I don't know if you are comfortable skating on freestyle sessions, but my 6:30am freestyle session is practically empty during the summer because kids can skate later instead of having to skate before school. If you can get up really early and get to the rink then, you will be greatly rewarded!

could you ask a skate guard to maybe cone off a small area for figure skaters? Sometimes they do that if its very busy. Do they have open sessions?- the ones for hockey and figure only

thank god mine isn't that busy any more, this week anyway.

sundays are busy, and saturday, weekends always are?

I skate public sessions and do most of my practicing on public ice. I'm cheap and I would way rather pay $150 for 6 months and be able to skate as long as I want during public sessions than pay by the hour for practice ice. I can deal with the hooligans, I figure it just makes me have to be more aggressive which means that if I ever do compete, no one will be able to intimidate me on practice ice.

Here's what I do. May not be for everyone but it works for me. #1, I have skated on all the public sessions my rink makes available and have figured out when is the best time to skate. There are a few public sessions that typically have only a few people on them...these sessions tend to be after 9am and before noon. Takes hooligans a while to get going in the morning and they aren't serious enough to be there as soon as the session opens. So that is when I go.

Sometimes, in spite of my best efforts to avoid such a situation there will be hooligans and birthday parties on the public session. At this point, I typically stake out a circle or a smallish area and work on my stuff there. If you are just out of group lessons this is what you should be doing anyway and as you get better you will find that people will be less inclined to skate into the little area you've staked out.

You also want to be courteous to them even if they aren't being courteous to you, so rather than hog up one corner the whole time I am there, I try to move around every so often. Also keeps one from wearing a groove in the ice.

Primarily, being intimidated by the hooligans that come out on publics is something you will eventually get over (around the time when your skating becomes good enough to intimidate others). Difference being that most of the hooligans don't have the skating skills to control their speed, but in time, you will.

I just think that if a public session is way too crowded to do your own thing, then there's probably not too much that can be done about it. Everybody has a right to do their own normal thing on the rink, but when a lot of people attend a public session, it's not always possible to do our own thing. It becomes a problem for everybody that is on the rink maybe.

Many rinks won't allow figure skating on public ice, especially when it's busy, so if you can practice anything, count yourself lucky.

My main practice ice was public ice. It was a usually-not-too-busy lunchtime session at a university rink. The 'regulars' got to know each other, and our patterns, so the figure skaters could monopolize the center, yet still skate comfortably with the hockey skaters weaving in and out down the sides.

Here's what I've noticed. The actual center circle will be a magnet for toddlers. You'll get better ice in the 'semi-circles' beyond the blue hockey lines--technically outside the 'center', but inside where the rental skaters go. Somewhere on the line is good--I used to use the line as my take-off point for jumps. and it was the best spot for practicing mohawks, stops and turns. Also, those rental skaters will tend to 'cut off' the oval at the outside too, so if you stay at the extreme ends, beyond the lines, you'll have less interference as well.

Try not to go against traffic. If you're a clockwise skater, and the publics go counterclockwise, see if they will have everyone change direction halfway through.

Be the first person on the ice, and the last one off. I used to get my spiral practice in as everyone else was getting off the ice.

Do remember, though, that it is a PUBLIC session. That means that everyone who paid the fee has the same right to be there. You have no more right to get in their way than they have to get in yours.

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"The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg."
--Thomas Jefferson

www.signingtime.com ~sign language fun for all!

My coach wanted me to practice my alternating crossovers during public sessions...she said they are perfect because of the rapidly changing traffic! That and stopping....

I'm lucky, the rinks I skate at let you do almost anything on public session (depends on how crowded it is). I wait for a "hole" for my spirals and jumps. Spins are another story...they just attract the little kids. I haven't been able to practice any camels though.

And, you can always do posture, stroking, edges, swing rolls. Boring but a necessary evil.

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

I was born at public sessions I used to be so annoyed with patrons, I got over that years ago. Its foolish, they pay to zoom around in circles. I already got my freestyle sessions, so if I end up at a public session, I just pay 110% attention to my surroundings. Thankfully I still can do my whole arsenal of jumps and spins. I learned how to look for spaces

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Tim David's Website

I think after another disasterous public skate session this morning I will continue on freestyle/patch in the future. Im finding that its practically impossible these days to do anything on the public sessions as each one is fillled to capacity.

Another thing that I have noticed is the condition of the ice lately, its attrocious even when the zamboni has finished. The ice is still badly grooved and cut up and its supposed to have been resurfaced. Im thinking that seeing as the public dont give a damn about the ice, the zamboni drivers done either.

I went onto a freestyle session last week after the public and again the so called polished ice was absolutley terrible. I think I may put in a complaint

Andrea xx

For beginners and novices, skating around the rink in circles is kind of fun for them, and even a challenge. Many experienced skaters started off in the same way.

Yeh I understand, like I said, I used to. I was a teen then

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Tim David's Website

Maybe the zamboni driver isn't doing a good job, or the zamboni needs servicing maybe. Sometimes, if they have a hockey game on earlier in the day, it's not always easy to make the ice look fantastic again even with the zamboni. For the really nice finish, they probably to cut once and lay the water at the same time, then do it again at some later stage.

He He, sorry Andrea I think i'm part of the problem here!! we have had skating camp every morning this week and though the ice is brilliant to start with when we're finished it absolutely appalling I hate it when its our groups turn on the ice last because its like concrete.

Easton-Skater you hit it bang on the nail, the zamboni is like 100 years old, I'm sure its fuelled with coal.

what I don't get is that on any freestyle session first thing (06:00-09:30) the ice is amazing its smooth, soft and dry. But some how at any other time of the day, whether it had been resurfaced of not, it is like skating in a shallow concrete lined swimming pool (urgh hockey ice)

What are they doing in the mornings that they can't seem to manage for the rest of the day
Its not even like we have a big hockey presence at the rink so why oh why is the ice always soooo hard

They're probably only cutting it in the morning, and just laying down extra water the rest of the day.

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"The legitimate powers of government extend to such acts only as are injurious to others. But it does me no injury for my neighbor to say there are twenty gods or no god. It neither picks my pocket, nor breaks my leg."
--Thomas Jefferson

www.signingtime.com ~sign language fun for all!

And it has all night to "set up" and freeze without being cut up during the process.

YOU KNOW WHATS ANNOYING???

Skating is one way traffic right? How the hell do I learn skating moves the other way e.g. i am learning (crossovers at the mo), I had a go in the centre, but that was only cuz it was nearly the end of the session.

Its very annoying.

Thanks for all your tips! I am going to try to do what you have suggested!