Ok,a few more questions to ask. I left my blade protectors off since yesterday and just put them back on now before I wrote this. Am I doing right there? Also when I leave my bag unzipped...how long SHOULD I be leaving it unzipped? Also is there a place I should be putting it to dry? BTW. we talked about only putting the protectors on in my bag when everythings dry. But is there a time I should be putting the actual GAURDS on? As I only get a ride to the Rink and back, and really never walk around the Rink? Sorry for so many questions. I do this because HECK!!! You skaters are like one big family on-line to me....you help and have helped me a lot. I really DO feel trust in you.Thanks.

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FSWer

If your blades are COMPLETELY dry, you should be fine to put the guards back on if you need to. I prefer to keep my skates out of the bag and without guards whenever I am at home and not at the rink so that they get REALLY aired out

The hard guards are made for walking around the rink in, not for storing your skates, so, it is best to leave them off when you are not at the rink.

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Skating Dreams

"All your life you are told the things you cannot do. All your life they will say you're not good enough or strong enough or talented enough; they will say you're the wrong height or the wrong weight or the wrong type to play this or be this or achieve this. THEY WILL TELL YOU NO, a thousand times no, until all the no's become meaningless. All your life they will tell you no, quite firmly and very quickly. AND YOU WILL TELL THEM YES." --Nike

Let's make it easy, Dana. Unzip your bag when you get home from the rink, and don't zip it again until you're going to go to the rink again. That way your skates will be sure to air out and dry.

Don't put the hard guards on at all, unless you're walking around the rink. That's a piece of equipment you need to have, but won't use very much if you don't walk around the rink. Just carry them in your skate bag just in case you need them.

I agree with Clarice. Listen to her, she's smart!

When we say until I go the Rink again..are we talking about even if I wait weeks and weeks to go back? As far as unzipping goes. Are we talking about leaving it open all the way? Or just opened at like the end? Am I doing right with my blade protectors btw? BTW. I keep my bag up in a closet on the top shelf? It's leaning over.

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FSWer

I'd unzip your bag all the way. It doesn't need to stay unzipped if you're not going back to the rink for weeks and weeks, but it's not going to hurt anything if you leave it unzipped. You could zip it up again the next day if it bothers you to leave it unzipped.

Put the blade protectors on if you're not going to skate for weeks and weeks. Just make sure the blades are totally dry first. If it's only going to be a few days, don't bother.

Storing your bag on the closet shelf is fine, but again, make sure your skates are dry and aired out first. There isn't always a lot of air circulation inside a closet.

Dana, remember too that none of this is magic. Relax! While it's all nice and good to do, nothing terribly bad will happen if you don't. Stop worrying!

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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!

Say btw. it's usually hard to say when I'll be going to the Rink. As far as how often I go. But as a Learn to Skate. Does anyone have any advice on how often I should be praticing tying my skate laces to make them tight? BTW. I was never able to access the link on the correct way to tie skate laces. Thanks.

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FSWer

If you have the hard rubber guards on your blades, then you can practice tying your skate laces anytime at home so you should be able to do them easier/faster when you're at the rink.

Try this corrected link: http://figureskating.about.com/od/bo.../ht/lacing.htm

I'm still getting just a blank white screen after a full down load. Is it supposed to work on webtv?

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FSWer

Don't worry about a website teaching you how to tie your laces. Ask your coach to show you.

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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!

Should I be tying them at the top in the same way I tie shoes?

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FSWer

Yes. Some skaters like to double knot the bow at the top to make sure it doesn't come untied. I usually don't bother. If your laces are really long, don't wrap the extra lace around your ankles before you tie the bow. Instead, keep looping the extra length around the hooks until you make it short enough to tie a regular bow like you do on your shoes. Although, I seem to remember that your laces tended to be on the short side, so you probably don't need to worry about that.

Say,btw. How do you skate up to the boards or to somebody from a short distance? In which case you don't have room to pick up sped first.

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FSWer

So you do it slowly. You push off, as you have been taught, and stop, ideally before crashing into the person!

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

Have you been taught the swizzles yet? The fish or 8-shaped strokes where you don't lift either of the feet off the ice at all, and you can go around the ice rink with them if need be? They're ideal for this.
That's swizzles with an S, not to be confused with twizzles.

Say does anyone happen to have the Sept./Oct. Fall Public Skate Schedule for Newington Ice Arena? I checked their website and they have nothing up yet. I tried calling them. But can't get through to the main office. Is there anyone who skates or goes to Public Skate there that can give me the Fall info.? Thanks.

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FSWer

Say anyone know if Newington Arena is doing Sun. Public Skate this year? We called the Rink and the guy just said that there wasn't any Sun. Public Skate for at least Sept.- Oct. and to keep an eye on the website. However when I e-mailed the front Desk I got the following reply..

"The GM. may add a Public Skate on Sun's later on. But as far as we know he is not planning to do so. As the schedule on Sun's is booked with Hockey."They said thoug that if they add it on Suns it will go up on the site. However I'm not sure if they mean there planing to not schedule Sun. at all this year. Or if it will be scheduled. Just not anytime soon. Can anyone help? Thanks.

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FSWer

I don't know about your rink. At my rink, generally, the schedule they put up in september is the one that will be used all season, except holidays. Those tend to differ (which means march holidays might have a different schedule than christmas holidays).

Just wanted to let all my friends know that I'm still not sure when I'll be returning to the Rink. But that my staff and I are still working on it. So hopefully I'll be able to post more regularly here soon. Again I want to thank ALL of my On Ice Skater friends here for all their insperation,and encouragement they have EVER given me!!!!....HEEEEEEEEEEEY!!!!! If it weren't for all of you Darlings..........I myself would not have become an On Ice Skater. I really feel like I belong with you all and at the Rink whenever I go...and I WANT to invite some of you out to Newington Arena to skate with me sometime. It surely would be a great day to meet some and skate with some of you there. So that's all I have to say tonight. Please keep checking back here for updates on my skating. You all are the BEST!!!!!!!

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FSWer

Just wanted to let you all know that I'm still working on getting back on the ice. I'll hopely be back here reg. soon with more of my On Ice Skater Reports.

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FSWer

Hey FSW'er.

Well, don't forget to practice those spirals you so wanted off ice!

And also, perhaps you could go rollerblading with inline skates or quad roller skates, maybe at a roller skating rink nearby or on the street with some friends? Just make sure to have good knee- and wrist protectors if you do.

Essentially, once you can rollerblade easily you can also skate easily as far as simple forwards skating is concerned! Also simple things like spirals and crossovers and swizzles are easily translated from wheels onto the ice or from the ice onto wheels. And even a 2-foot spin can be learned on rollers.

Say btw. does anyone know were I can buy an ex. pair of skate laces? Do you HAVE to go into a Rink Pro Shop to get them? Or if they didn't have them. Could I walk into let's say...Wal-mart,Target,TJ. Max,etc. into the Shoe Dept. and ask for them? Also does anyone know the standard amount of time the hooks on skates should last if you treat them right,and HOW to take care of your hooks? Also what is the proper thing to do if hooks DO break or come loose? Thanks.

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FSWer

No, you can't buy skate laces at places like Wal-Mart or Target. Regular boot laces, like for work boots, aren't long enough. If you can't go to a rink pro shop you can order them online from places like Rainbo.

You don't have to do anything special to take care of the hooks on your skates. If they break, either the rink pro shop or a shoe repair shop might be able to fix them. When a hook broke on mine once, I took them to a shoe repair shop and they took the broken hook off and replaced it with a regular eyelet. Usually the hooks will last as long as your boots do.

How much does it cost to have them repaired at the Rink roughly? Do they always do repairs? So if I go to the Rink I can buy laces right there,right?

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FSWer