This morning, I bumped into a little girl when i was doing back power pulls. My free leg likely hit her back. I forgot to look behind when I was concentrating on balancing myself. I didn't think I was fast enough to catch up to her either. But it was completely my fault. So hard to get it out of my mind now.

Aww... But is she okay now? I know I stabbed a kid while I was in lesson. It was an accident but I feel so bad. The kid seemed fine though. Perhaps a bruise...

If it's too bad then the little girl will probably start wailing and stuff.

I hope she's fine. Don't feel too guilty. Accidents happen.

I think eventually everyone will run into someone or cut them off on accident. As long as you apologized, don't stress to much about it.

However, make sure to look anytime you are going backwards. You don't want to get a reputation by doing this frequently. I find on back power pulls that the inside edge is the perfect time to glance back. If you are still at the early "must concentrate really hard" stage, don't do them without a spotter. (I'm just now getting to where I can do back cross rolls without someone skating along with me watching where I'm going...)

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

The worse part for me is being in the stands and watching a bad accident about to happen. One of our upper level skaters was going backwards and absolutely pancaked a little one who was just standing there waiting for her music to start. I could see it going to happen and was trying to yell "Look Out!" but there was nothing I could do. Little one was okay but sat out the rest of the session. In all fairness to the upper level skater, the little one could see her, but couldn't be seen. She is absolutely tiny and DD is terrified being on the ice with her as she is below her range of vision.

I whacked a guy at a public session. The end of the rink was empty except for this one man. After he rounded the end and headed down the straightaway, I did a jump and held the landing a little longer than usual with my free foot high. Didn't know the guy had decided to make a u-turn and was skating backwards without looking. I felt a "thump" as my blade banged into his calf. (He was wearing jeans, so it probably didn't do any real damage, but I'll be he got a bruise.)

I was very apologetic; he was very macho in pretending he was fine. (He had gotten on the ice early, waiting for the open stick-and-puck session.) I said "Last time I hit someone like that was in 1987 and she had to get stitches. You should really go in the locker room and make SURE you're okay." He replied "Nah, I'm fine." Ten minutes later, he went into the locker room but I didn't find out if anything was wrong.

If you really feel guilty, be sure to watch where you're going. I teach all of my students to do that on all the moves, although you really can't look and do back power pulls easily. I don't want the skaters to be timid, but I also don't want them being reckless and inconsiderate.

__________________

That's the way I am...I get very nervous with some of our tiny skaters...particularly those who are not the most mobile or have a habit of watching you instead of moving when you are coming straight at them. I am working on Junior Moves and the power pull/quick rockers are scary because those are done completely blind. Luckily, when I am in a lesson, my temporary coach will stand in the middle watching for me.

I've also had the situation where I have had to have a conversation (sorry, in work mode here we "have conversations") with some of the younger skaters when they have watched me coming at them when I am in my program (I have a girl literally lean backwards to move "out of my way" as I coming at her in a spiral) or when I notice them spinning in the lutz corners and our upper level skaters are trying to do double lutzes. It may not be my "responsibility" because I am not their coach, but I do feel that it is my responsibility to teach them about ice etiquette (not that it helps much....)...

That said, mistakes happen. A friend of mine was doing her program (in a lesson) and I was watching for her, but forgot that she changed directions and we slammed into each other...it happens...just don't fret over it!

__________________
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

I took out one of my favorite kids once who was doing a bullet spin and I glanced back and didn't see her. I ended up with her toepick in my bicep and a nasty bruise. She shook it off.

One of the problems at one of the rinks I practice at is coaches who adamantly do not teach their kids to look out for others. Their philosphy is the adults are bigger and therefore have more responsiblity for getting out of the way. Either that or they are emphasizing diva behavior...

__________________
Champagne in 2005, 2008, 2009 - who's next out of the pre-bronze club...?

Wang chung!

I hate that. We also have a few adults who are also notoriously in everyone's way because they will stand and socialize right in the middle of the ice. WITH THEIR COACH who should know better! Socialize on the ice as much as you want, I don't care, but do it along the boards so I don't almost run you all down when I'm trying to do any dance pattern. I almost killed them all when I was doing the Starlight the other day. They knew I was doing dance patterns, too, and that every time I did that part of the pattern I had to stop and go around them. I got pretty pissed.

Stormy and I were on a session practing the day before NYI last year and some kid wasn't looking where she was going and basically bounced off of me. She was fine, I was the one who fell and slammed my head on the ice. Truthfully I didn't feel bad about it, I was pissed. My head hurt, and I woke up the next morning with a splitting headache.

__________________
2010-2011 goals:
Pass Junior MIF test
Don't break anything

She was fine and I wasn't fast. But she appeared scared by me for at least one of my passes close to her after that. It is the thought that something worse could have happened that is bothering.

That's ridiculous and dangerous. I know a coach who used to teach all of his students to ignore everyone else on the ice. If you were teaching on one of the lines and he felt that she needed to jump there, he'd tell her to keep going and ignore your student. Idiot.

__________________

I've seen that...I've also seen coaches be the people who are constantly getting in people's ways...I've been doing my program in my lesson (on our ice, those folks have the highest right of way) and one particular coach would not move out of my way and I needed to go around...

__________________
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

Am I the only person who read this thread as 'Confession of my QUILT?'

^No, I totally did when first saw it...

I was practicing my alt 3s getting ready to test and a much higher skater jumped off the boards and ran into me while I was skating backwards. We both hit the ice, but she took the brunt of it (I'm much bigger and heavier) with the faster object hitting the slower object. I understand she hurt her back and was off ice several weeks.

In another instance, I was doing edges and a diva-type skated right into me doing her back spiral. It didn't really hurt, but I found a cut and blood on my calf when I changed clothes.

I see a lot of coaches don't seem to teach manners. Nor do they seem to teach awareness of other skaters. It seems to be "I'm skating and it doesn't matter what you are doing, I am more important and you should get out of my way" Just because I'm bigger and older doesn't make my faster. Quite the contrary. I started later (and fatter) I am much slower, and you are frequently below my line of vision. Pay attention.

OK, off my soapbox now...

I was in a lesson skating my program and a diva-type skater was not moving out of the way when I skated my back spiral...my coach said "keep skating" to me and eventually the girl moved. I do think it is our responsibility to remind the younger skaters to keep looking behind them when they skate backwards. Even if they should know better.

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

Accidents happen. I have been hit and done the hitting. I feel badly when I bump someone else. However, all you can do is sincerely apologize and help them up. Physics favors me. I rarely go down.

As a coach, I teach my beginners how to look over their shoulders when they skate backwards and remind them to look for others. I think it is important to start skaters w conscientious behavior very early in their training.

Kay

__________________
Visit my figure skating journal
http://www.skatejournal.com/

I've noticed this at rinks around here too. When I was a kid, at both rinks I skated at, they used to be MUCH more strict about on-ice etiquette. The ice monitors and coaches were much more up on enforcing this. Plus so many of us were on the synchro teams at my home club and they were so strict with us there that we just carried that on to regular sessons. If our synchro coaches were there teaching private lessons and saw us screwing around on dance/freestyle sessions (or heard from others that we were screwing around at any rink) we were in huge trouble.

The best people to be on a session with are the ice dance teams. Last year I did an all dance session where most weeks there was a novice team, 2 intermediate teams, 2 juv teams, an adult team and a few other single skaters, and we all peacefully co-existed (partially because dancers are more aware since crashes can be even more dangerous, and the coaches out there are old school and strict with behavior. It didn't matter if you were the adult doing preliminary dances with music and the novice team was working on their step sequence without music right before nationals--you had the right of way).

__________________
2010-2011 goals:
Pass Junior MIF test
Don't break anything

Sorry, but I had to laugh when I read this. I think it depends on the dancers involved. I skate a freestyle session that frequently has ice dancers on it.. and SOME of them are the worst at looking where they are going. I've had to cut out of my program while wearing the neon orange sash that designates who has music playing and they had no clue I was even close to them.. even though this program is a year old and they've heard it at least 500 times.

I always feel very bad when I am in the way of the skaters doing program. But it happens often that the direction I think they are not going to become exactly where they go to. And it does not seem to get better after they practice same thing many times, since I can never remember their routines. Ice dancers are even harder to avoid, since they come in waves. Just when you think they are gone, they are back again. I am not trying to complain. I think this is just a part of skating life. And we all care about it and try to avoid being in the way. But sometimes when we work on something, we may focus too much what are are doing and forget there are people practicing routines in the rink, especially when we are not good yet at what we try to do.

Another thing that frustrate me is that a lot of time I try to abort a jump attempt or change my path so that another skater can do a jump, but they abort too. I am frustrated that they didn't take advantage of the opportunity.

Freestyle sessions with dancers are a little harder, but I was on a dance only session. The coaches on this session and at this rink in general are VERY strict with their skaters, including teaching the kids how to look out and behave on sessions. And the monitor announced what was being played (names of skaters if it was a free dance, dance/names of skaters who requested it and ultimately had right of way if it was a compulsory). Plus on an all dance session, yo're there becauase you dance, and if people are doing compulsories to music, you generally know where patterns are going and where to look/avoid. I wish I could skate at this rink more often, I'd even go home club there, but it's 45 min out of my way versus 5 minutes from my house.

__________________
2010-2011 goals:
Pass Junior MIF test
Don't break anything