Just wondering how many adult skaters that started learning skating in their late 20's and 30's and now doing double jumps axels and the other elements?

It would be good to hear from adult skaters that being old doesnt stop you from doing the stuff that the young ones do.

Please Post

rf3ray: I started skating 7 months ago. I am 43. I took the beginners learn to skate class, the advanced adult and am currently in beginning freestyle. I started with a private instructor as well 3 months ago. I am still on 1/2 jumps and simple spins and beginning moves in the field. No double jumps...in fact only completed one full rotation salchow on only one occasion....giggle...not sure I could do it again.......YET!

I think it is possible to achieve more then I would have ever believed. But I do see a huge difference in advanced skilled people who started very young and those that obtained those advanced skills later. Not sure but it appears to be a grace factor in presentation of an element more than lacking the element itself. Too new to the sport to know for sure that the late starter is the only common denominator.

I am 50 years old and learned to skate as an adult 10 years ago. I have passed Bronze freestyle and Adult Silver Moves. Most adults I know who learned to skate as adults can/have learned through single jumps. There are a few adults who learned as adults who can do an axel or double salchow (most cannot and will likely never learn them, myself included) but frankly, the jumps are typically small, may appear "forced" and do not resemble the axel or double salchows of adults who skated as kids.

Adults who learned to skate as kids usually have better flow on the ice in their basic skating. Also, in my opinion, the truth is, if they learned an axel/doubles as a kid, their axel or double jump will not resemble the axel done by an adult who learned as an adult. I have a friend who is in her mid-30's, who skated as a kid, and her axel appears effortless, it's big, her body knows just what to do. She just soars. I don't know a single adult who learned as an adult, even Gold level skaters, that can do an axel that resembles that jump.

There is continuing debate among the adult skating community of skaters who learned as adults v. skaters who learned as kids. You can go a long way as an adult who learns as an adult, including moves, and, if you are in a lucky few, you may manage an axel or double salchow or even double loop. It's do-able and those who can, may want to work towards that goal. But there is a definite advantage held by those adults who skated as kids. Just my opinion.

I started skating around...was it 37 yrs old..., now I'm 47. About 10 years ago.
I've never hit a double and I'm still trying to learn the axel. However, I've learned all the pairs elements and have them working on ice. I've also done pretty well with MIF. My theory is that I can be any age and learn/ test all of them through senior, whereas with jumps, if I don't get my axel soon, I'll probably never get it.

The big diffrence between adults learning first as kids and adults learning as adults is this:

Kids are basically fearless and learn elements through imitation. I see this in my 14 year old niece. She tells me that she watches the coach, then just goes out and does it.

Adults are much more analytical....and part of this analysis process is that I could break my neck doing this. It's a natural reaction.

I'm 60. I can do a waltz, salchow, and a so-so toeloop. I am in the pre-Bronze level. But over the last year or so I have taken up figures. I have a rebuilt left knee and athritis in my lower back and neck and jumping is beginning to bother it.

I figure I can do figures until they take me off the ice in a pine box.

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Keeping School Figures Alive!!

I started at 27, am now 38. I'm not a freestyle skater, I do ice dance, but I'm with you, I'm trying to keep up w/ the kids & get to a very high level. I've always said I wanted it to look like I've been skating my whole life, not just as an adult. I believe there are moments when that's starting to happen now. So *now* I want to look like I could have been a competitive skater! Not sure if that's realistic or not.

But I'm getting there, I'm passing tests & starting to do some of the hard stuff. For me the issue is time; I skate 6 days a week but only for an hour to an hour & a half each time. To really cover all the stuff I should in a practice session, I should be skating 2 hours at a shot. I can't usually do that, so the progress is slower.

For the record I'm on my pre-gold dances (standard track) & intermediate moves. In competitive terms, I'd be about at Novice for a dancer (minus the moves requirement) (and I wouldn't be very competitive).

I've noticed that an adult can advance at roughly the same pace as a kid if they put in the same amount of practice time, usually 5-10 hours a week. Of course it's not exactly equivelent and I'm sure an adult can reach an age where it simply won't happen, especially if they have a fear factor. Some adults do, some don't.
Maybe a coach could weigh in but I think the average kid advances about a level per year up to Int or Novice and after that, they have to be an extrordinary fighter to keep moving.

hey, i'm almost 40,, i started lessons at 27. i taught myself to skate --only backwards though- on a local pond when i was 7-8. now i'm playing catch-up and am VERY uncomfortable skating forward!
as for skills,,,,,,,hmmmmm i like to goof off. i have a hard time keeping my limbs in place,,, i guess you could say i'm a very 'expressionable' skater......... sometimes i get grooving so much to my music that i forget i have skates on and well,,,, i spend some time on my butt,,but that doesn't bother me,,, i don't make money from skating, so i don't get that self-absorbed with it..
my latest 'trick' as of last season; skate backward on a curve,, grab the arch of my boot and lift it straight up in front of me......... not bad for 40 i dare say! i also love to do splits from a lunge position. ideally, when i improve my forward stroking/crossovers,, i want to learn more 'dancey' elements... [ i skate to alot of techno- industrial stuff] like counters, rockers, bracketts,,ect. i really appreciate complicated footwork and strive to skate to funky music while making it LOOK like i DON'T have skates on...

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JUST BECAUSE SOMEONE ELSE GETS TO YOU FIRST..

DOES 'THAT' MAKE THEM 'RIGHT'?

We were in our 40s when we started. Now in our 50s, the Husband has just done his first ever free skating programme (as a result of a challenge from a friend of similar age - who beat him by 0.03, how infuriating was that!), and we compete at Adult Pre-Bronze level internationally and Adult Elementary in the UK. Husband tends to compete Adult Intermediate in solo dance, although he has yet to do a Free Dance so won't do that discipline in the British Adult Championships.

And this year we are just beginning not to have to assume that we'll automatically come last!

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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!

Hi there,
I started as an adult and have landed a double sal. I did have an axel for a brief bit, but it's not pretty! I've done well with pairs and have combination overheads and death spirals and such. I tried a throw double axel in the harness - it was lots of fun.

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Recycle Love - Adopt a homeless pet

I totally agree w/ that, and everyone hits that point, at various levels. Talent will get you to a certain point fairly easily, and after that it's just hard hard hard hard work. Grueling sometimes, day after day. And the progress comes slower and can be more subtle, so it's not as easy to see as at the lower levels. To succeed in this sport you have to be mentally tough and enjoy endless repetition (or at least be willing to put in the time & do it).

Well I skated from age 14 to 19 and was then off the ice (no skating at all!) until age 56. After 6 months, I am just starting backward skating and progress has been agonizingly SLOW!

The ONLY advantage I have seen so far is that I know what a move should look like and I recognize the feeling when I hit it. Lets face it, after 36 years, every cell in my body that knew how to skate has been replaced numerous times by cells that DON'T know how to skate!

If there is ANY long-term advantage, I will let you know in a couple of years

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Dianne
(A.O.S.S.? Got it BAD! )

Not sure how useful this is, but I am 24 and have returned to skating in March. I skated between ages 3-8 but it was twice a week in group lessons, never private, and to be honest i don't even remeber what I used to be able to do nevermind how to do it.

In March, when i started private lessons I could just about do forwards and backwards crossovers but nothing more advanced, not even 3-turns, and today I am working on my lutz. While I didn't remember how do do anything, I did find the feeling of being on ice completelly familiar and comfortable, to add to that when learning my jumps i am a bit fearless and just go for it. In sum I guess you can learn anything even when you start as an adult if you work hard, but for me, I found it really did help to feel confidend on ice.

Evelina

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The hardest thing about ice skating is the ice.

I started group lessons at age 41, and I am now 54. I have the jumps through lutz. I still harbor hopes of learning an axel....and I think I can do it as long as I don't break something in the process of learning it

I started shortly before I turned 31. I've passed the Silver freeskate. I've never landed an axel, but I've been working on one.

Started at 23, skated until age 28, did some freestyle but mostly dance. Didn't skate regularly from age 28 to age 40, first because I moved to somewhere with no nearby rink, and then I blew out my left knee while skiing. Started up again in 2000.

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American Waltz... Once, Twice, ???? ...

Q: How many coaches does it take to fix Jen's Dance Intro-3 Problems
A: 5 and counting...

I started skating as a kid, took off one semester in college when I didn't have a car, and landed my first clean axel as an adult (well, around 20, so an adult in the real world, but a tween in the skating world).

Well, I've only been at this for two years and a bit, measured in absolute time. In terms of time in private lessons, it's been rather less, since we had about four months in early '05, a nine month gap, and now another five months at a rather higher intensity level. I'm 45 now. I'm doing dance rather than freestyle, so I don't expect to ever attempt a double. On the other hand, progress in dance is being made, so I have no idea yet where I'll top out in that.

Nevertheless, I don't think I'm helping your case much.

Rob

I started at 37; am now 48. Have passed standard Moves through Pre-Juv, and am now working on Adult Gold. I've passed the Silver free test, but did that before the Adult Moves structure came into play, so I've never taken an Adult Moves test. Have all my single jumps, and am doing pre-axel exercises. Spins come harder for me - I'm making slow, but steady progress on my camel. No flying spins or layback yet, but I've got a good sit-change-sit.

rf3ray: You ARE a young'um!!! (From what I saw in the vids anyway!)

Don't know if I am an adult skater! Some of you guys think I am. Others don't. I'll let you judge for yourself.

I skate from age 9 to about 12 in public session on rental skates and had no formal training -- not even group lessons. Just picked up stuff along the way. (Had up to a one foot spin, spiral, shoot the duck (I can't believe I used to do be able to do that since I can't do them for love or money now), and waltz jump. I quit skating when I went to high school and focused on school and work (with the minor obstacle of my old rink being torn down for condos!!! ) until I was 31, when I found out about my current home rink. I am now 38 and am preparing (for like FOREVER!!!) for the Bronze Moves and FS tests. We'll see if I finally pass those BLASTED THINGS this year!!!

I have up to an inconsistent loop and flip clean landing and have a sit and backspin. Working forever for a camel too!

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Cheers,
jazzpants

11-04-2006: Shredded "Pre-Bronze FS for Life" Club Membership card!!!
Silver Moves is the next "Mission Impossible"
(Dare I try for Championship Adult Gold someday???)

Thank you for the support, you guys!!!

Hi

Im an adult skater aged 31, started in May. Im just about to finish the learn to skate program and currently working on lunges/drags and apparently im told im gonna start the bunny hop and walz jump soon. However I dont know when this will be becuase the rink has now cancelled all patch and freestyle sessions during the day to accomodate Britains most stupid teenagers. So it looks like my training will be on hold until September.
This aint a bad thing becuase ive busted my knee with a little fall on the ice (yesterday)

Andrea xx

I started skating when I was 21.

I'm 26 now and I have landed an axel although its gone on holiday of late. It wasn't pretty when I had it but it was rotated. I can do a double salchow most of the time (often underrotated - but I have landed them one correctly). I've got a quarter turn short on a double cherry and double loop although I haven't practised either for ages and both were one off flukes.

I don't really look like a adult who skated as a child - I still have a lot of odd awkward positions. I skate with kids most of the time since my rink is quite small. I practice with them and my teachers expect me to keep up with them - I never feel like an adult skater in that respect. But I think a lot of this comes from the fact that I don't look much older than 18 sometimes (especially at the rink in my skating clothes and my hair tied up) and so the kids and teachers forget I am older. However, one teacher thought I was 18 only last week! Although having said that I would never subject myself to skating in a competition against children.

It just takes me longer than the kids to get stuff. And I don't look as comfortable on the ice - because I haven't been on the ice for as long - unlike most kids who are used to the ice from the ages of 7 or something. Its like walking to them.

I skated as a kid from 12-14, returned to skating 18 years later this January at the ripe ol' age of 32!

In my 2 years of skating as a kid I skated 1-2 times a week and could just manage a double salchow. I had quite a good axel but for some reason salchows and flips were my weakest jumps.

Gradually the skills are coming back. I'm some way off an axel yet, but on the positive side after 6 months my spins are coming better than they were as a child - can't (yet!) get as low in a sit spin but the control is a lot better.

In some ways I find jumps more difficult, as an adult I'm more cautious and won't just through myself in the air as I tended to do years ago! On the plus side, I think I will develop better basic skills, now I'm more willing to work on them, and have the added bonus of being able to get to the rink a lot more.

I'm also enjoying skating a lot more as an adult, it's less competetive (I mean in a negative way), and the adult skating community here in the UK seems friendly.

S xxx

I skated maybe 20 times (give or take) as a teen and didn't really hit the ice until age 40. I only wanted to learn to skate backwards and not embarrass myself or my kids on public skate sessions.....

Now, almost 4 years later I have a nice waltz jump when I try really hard and don't get lazy, not-so-sucky toe-loop, salchow, and a two-footed loop (and can do the 1/2 loop, 1/2 flip and even the bunny hop but I hate that one). Am learning the flip and will probably learn the lutz this upcoming season. I have the scratch spin but only just got (and lost) the camel and backspin (don't even ask about the sitspin...). I'm told I have a very nice spiral.

My coach has encouraged me to do as much off-ice jump training this summer for height in my jumps. She says there is a great chance I have a possible double-salchow in my future!!!

I haven't tested but have been working on my moves during the last season and hope to test sometime this year (although not before my first competitions, where I will compete no-test). That's the plan, anyway.

I skate in the ice shows and have tons of fun!!! I get all the rehearsal time to work on moves.... and then get the freak scared out of me when they teach me something way above my level for our routine...

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

I started skating almost 15 months ago at 20.
I did a small amount of skating as a child, taking lessons for about 18 months, think I was about 8-9ish. I don't remember learning much in the way of spins and have a vauge memory of having a wobbely 3-jump.

At the moment I have my single jumps upto a flip (finally got it back, hoping it won't dissapear again), still working on lutz, and basic spins, sit spin is terrible - i just don't have the leg strength to get down low enough!!

I would hope that with enough work and dedication that one day I will have the most of my double jumps. I entertain no allusions of ever having a double axel but a 2loop would be nice .

The fear factor comes in fits and spurts for me, some days I'm quite happy to throw myself on the floor (I know this should be in the air!!) others not so much.

As for having the grace of some one who skated as a child, definatley not that of those my age who have been skating for a decade but I will that my willingness to work on MIF and think about my posture gives me a little advantage over the young kids who are working on the same jumps as me - (I aslo know that in a few years they will be skating circles around me )