Just curious about how many adult skaters here on the list have chosen not to test/compete (even in 'no-test' competitions?) Does this make you feel out of the mainstream of adult skating?

Is seems like everyone is working on MIF/freestyle/dance tests, etc.

I have decided that I am just not psyched the right way for testing. I've tried preparing 3 different times over the past decade and my skills deteriorate with practice. So to keep skating, advancing my skills, and keep the joy and fun in skating, I have decided testing is a no-go. Coach agrees.

I don't test or compete (and never have), not due to choice, per se, but finances. (I'm not even skating at all at the moment.) The only testing I've done is with my coach, to pass ISI levels, and only made it to FS3.I do feel a bit out of the mainstream, at least, the mainstream around here. (The adult 'mainstream' at my rink did even less than I did--skated purely for social/'fun'/exercise reasons.) I would actually love to compete, but it doesn't look like it's in the cards for me right now, possibly not ever.

__________________
"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!

I have tested, but not at the moment as, if I test any higher, I'll have to compete at a higher level, which I'm not yet ready to do. There are other tests I can take (free dance, variation dance) which won't impact on competition levels, but we haven't got round to doing that!

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

I think I'm done testing and competing. I really did enjoy it and am glad I went through the experiences I did. I haven't done either for two years now, and still very much enjoy my skating.

My dance partner and I have never competed or tested our dances. We still have a great time together.

I have to say that everyone should have a program at least once. It's a great challenge and it's quite different to do elements in a program rather than just in isolation.

I competed for a few years at pre-bronze before testing anything. Those competitions allowed you to skate up a level. When I tested, I felt ready and fairly confident.

I feel a bit out of the mainstream, but I have no stress about my skating now and that's nice too.

I'm another adult skater who has chosen in the past not to test and compete. I DO want the skills and have chosen to work and pass skills upon my coaches say, "She decides when I'm ready to learn new skills and my old are passable for tests." My goals have been internal for the most part. What skills I want to work towards and focus on. As an adult I have chosen to work towards doubles as an important goal. Not the ONLY, but most important at this time. I figure this potential has a small time frame as an adult. I want to look back some day and say I tried and DID. This doesn't mean I have forgotten moves and spins. I work on these every day I skate. =-)I did learn how important the "whole" package is from my old coach. I am getting closer on those doubles and feel it's time to work towards a new goal. My new coach is encouraging me to have a program and test. The program sounds like an interesting goal to add to those doubles, but I'm still not ready for those tests. Like mentioned, my skating is for ME. Right now, testing is not what I want right now. Maybe someday. My coach is supportive and you never know.

Chico

__________________
"I truly believe, when God created skating, he patted himself on the back."

I'm not testing right now, but I'm sure I will again. Like Mrs. Redboots (who I know does dance, not freestyle) , I won't test my next (freestyle) test because I am nowhere near the next level, which is master's. I don't really want to do the Novice moves right now (although I would like to pass through senior), because I'd rather concentrate on the double jumps (like Chico ) I was thinking about signing up for the dance session and maybe doing some dance, to give me something to do when the body doesn't want to jump. I don't know if that would lead to testing, though.

I will, however, be competing again this year. My first comp of the season is in November. Don't know if I'll do sectionals or AN this year, though. With a kid in travel hockey, I may not be able to afford them - especially since sectionals is so far away (Colorado). I'll do locals, though, and maybe the adult comps in Ohio if they have them this year.

__________________
"The only place where success comes before work is in a dictionary." -- Vidal Sasson

"Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway." -- Unknown

Thanks flippet & Chico. I guess I was looking for other souls that found testing preparation was just not for them, yet have continued with skating goals and enjoyment.

I wonder if many adults get pushed into testing and/or competing because of coach pressure and peer pressure. Yes, some adults are testing goal oriented as a measure of their progress, but I wonder what they would do if no testing structure were in place. I wonder how many adults, before the adult structure was put in place, did not bother with the standard track, yet progressed anyway in their skating skills and enjoyed themselves.

Sometimes I think the adult structure is over-hyped, IMHO. All I know is when recently I decided to forget the whole testing scheme, I felt like a great weight had been lifted off my shoulders. Thank goodness I have a great coach that understands my feelings and is not slacking off in lesson quality and growth.

Most of the adults I skated with before the adult tests were put in place did in fact take the standard track tests. However, at that point I skated with a small fraction of the number of adults I skate with now. Adult skating really has grown tremendously in the last ten years- I remember when I started it was a novelty to have an adult skater on the ice with us, even one who had skated as a kid. Not anymore!

Anyway, I can't imagine not testing, but I'll never be a true "adult" adult skater, having started at 11. (Not to mention that I'm not sure I plan to ever be an adult :cool: Just kidding!) But, to each their own. My mother has said several times that she doesn't understand why I do it, which is why I won't discuss it with her anymore. I can't really explain it, except that I can't imagine a better feeling than passing a test, and that I think I'd miss it even though I do get nervous.Between my new coach's very high standards about when he'll sign test papers and his amazing ability to keep me from losing my mind, I think testing will become more enjoyable for me than it has been.

__________________
Shae-Lynn and Victor: We knew you were champions, and on 3/28/03 the whole WORLD found out! Thank you for twelve wonderful years!

Welcome skateflo. =-) I don't know of any adults who have been pushed into testing. Encouraged, but not pushed. I think the "testing" format does keep a coach on track. Thus, why some coaches do encourage. I don't TEST but I do follow the testing schedule sorta. Not exactly....but close. My ability to jump is more advanced than my spinning and moves skills and thus these don't. I do appreciate that my coach seems okay on this. She seems to take me where I'm at, both strengths and weaknesses. If I stuck to the testing schedule 100 % I wouldn't be able to do this. I am learning the skills on the standard track and not the adult track. I disagree with you on the importance of this track even if I agree with you on testing per say. Skills do build upon each other and learning them so helps with the next. Skating is a journey.........process. This journey is different for all, and there truly are no wrongs. Have fun. =-)

CanAm,Sk8ter,

I'm not getting old either. =-) At least my spirit will be young.

Chico

__________________
"I truly believe, when God created skating, he patted himself on the back."

Hi all, I'm one of the very few adult skaters here where I live, Thailand, and it's not so out of mainstream not to test nor compete. I think most adult skaters do what they do because their sheer love of the sport itself. I myself have tested and passed ISI FS1 about a year ago. Now I'm only taking lessons. However, I'm planning to test FS2 soon and when I get to FS3 or 4, I might want to compete in this Skateasia event. I personally didn't want to go out there and compete in FS1 because if I want to compete, I want people to see me doing cool jumps (not that waltz jump and half flip aren't cool ) like say, axel and some double. What whatever the goals are, I know I enjoy skating and that's the most important thing.

__________________
** Skate 'til You Drop **

You just know of one!!!

I understand the reasoning behind my testing Bronze Moves is to push me to work hard to get my skills to a certain level, but it worked against me to a certain point b/c of all the pressure and stress that's been put on me to test and pass the test. But I'm still thankful for the experience...

I don't know when I'm testing. I don't even think right now that I'll be going to AN 2005. I'm very discouraged right now about my basics skills. And it's not that I'm not trying hard. My coaches know that!

__________________
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!!!

Well, just to clarify, for me personally, I don't mind the testing preparation a bit--I like it. (If you can call slapping a program together strictly for my coach so I can pass ISI FS 1 or 2 'testing'.) It's fun to have a goal to put elements together into a program, and skate it cleanly, even if the only people seeing it are my coach, the few other adults and couple of beginning pre-teens on the ice, and their moms and my hubby with the video camera in the stands. It helps me feel like a 'real skater' if I have a program. The nice part is not worrying about throwing money away on a test session, if I were to zamboni the ice with my tush. However, my adult skating friends do only skate for fun, for the most part, and you'd never get them out onto a real test session, or to a competition. One in particular doesn't even really care how far she gets--she loves skating and learning, but for her, it's primarily a way to get exercise and have a little fun on a Tuesday night. She enjoys getting better at skills, but it's not about anything 'more' for her. There's certainly nothing wrong with that--any skater should be able to do whatever they please with their sport, without guilt.

__________________
"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!

Just wanted to clarify that the adult moves are taken from the standard track, they are the same moves, but selected from several levels of the standard track for each level of adult moves. Does that make sense?

Don't get yourself down.... breaking old habits and building new habits is the hardest part of this sport, sometimes. Unfortunately, nervousness tends to make us go back to our comfort zone, which is often those old habits.

I skate a lot of early morning sessions where in the main season, I often get very little warm-up time before my lesson. My coach uses the early morning session (6:30AM) as a gauge of "preparedness." When I can come out and do whatever (Bronze MIF or Silver Tango) at or above what we believe is a passing standard, then we know I'm ready to submit my test papers.

And it still took me 3 tries to pass the blamed European Waltz... 4 tries if you count the first attempt 16 years ago.

Personally, I never found it important to test. I did test through ISI Delta just so I could attend a few classes that were restricted otherwise, but I haven't tested since and don't plan to in the future.

I will continue to try new elements and to improve those few skills I already have.

__________________
Many go fishing all their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. - Henry David Thoreau

Yep! I know there is still some confusion about this out there. I think you are saying that you can test standard or adult.................but if you are just learning them, the skills are the same. An example would be the current move I'm struggling with. It's move name is: "backward perimeter power stroking with back inside 3-turns & forward inside 3-turns". It's NM Pattern 1 & AGM Pattern 5 on the tests........but it's the same move, no matter how you slice it.

Speaking of moves...........I have no intention of ever testing any of them. We work on the ones my coach sees as a benefit for me in particular, so there are some I've never learned, and most likely never will. I'm definitely not a moves fan. I want to jump and spin, and spin some more!!!! For me, however, testing has been a good measure of where I'm at, a goal, and a challenge. It's really different to do a skill well, and do it well to music at just the exact moment. I wanted that measure.............and my little medals to show my grandkids!!!!! Now I've retired to the skating for the fun of it gang. Instead of doubles (go Chico & Sk8er1964) my goal is a death drop!!!!! I live in a fantasy land.

I used to test and hated it, only because I could not control my nerve on test days. But I do see the advantage of testing though. It gives one a logical point to end one set of skills and start learning a new set of skills; otherwise, it feels like it's just your own whim as to whether you have "master" the current set of skills or not. For example, I'm never going to feel good about my double 3's regardless of how often I practice them but it would be nice to have some judges tell me they're at least adequate so that I can stop worrying about them and go on to the next skill set.

I like MIF but find them too difficult for me to master. They're the foundation for great footwork though,and I wish I can do them. If you can incorporate MIF stuff leading into jumps and spins, think how great you would look on the ice.

MQSeries,

I'm with you all the way on those double 3's...............and test nerves. I figure I'll never test moves because of the nerve factor. They'd have to be WAY above the passing average before I'd even test them..........so when the nerves took over I might still have a chance. I do have straightline footwork into a jump sequence. It's really fun when your program footwork gets to the point where it's on autopilot.

jazzpants,

I'm sorry you felt pushed. No fun! I'm kinda a stubborn soul and wouldn't let this happen unless I wanted it. When and if I test it will be my choice. Being stubborn is a positive, but then again it isn't if you know what I mean! I agree on the stress thing too. I have enough stress in my life without making my fun stressful too. I tend to be a "perfect" striving soul, which causes some anxiety in skating, testing would kill me.

My coach really wants me to work on moves off the regular moves "schedule". I've been told here they are very similar or contain most of the same, but this is a coach priority for some reason. I'm just putting along at her say so in this department. Honestly, I don't know.

Chico

__________________
"I truly believe, when God created skating, he patted himself on the back."

Hi-

Okay, this is going to be an obnoxious question, and I apologize in advance for it, but I really really want to get some answers because this is something I hear around the rinks from adults (and some kids) and I simply don't understand, so I'd love some perspectives. This isn't meant in a derogatory way at all, if it were to appear this way to anyone.

What is the point of working soooo hard and spending soooo much money on skating if you never plan on testing/competing? I mean I love skating with ALL of my heart, I've stuck with it through surgeries and having no money and I've driven so much as 3 hours out of my way to be with a coach who could help me land my triples, but, I do all this because I have a goal- it PROBABLY will never happen, but I still have a dream to be one of the best skaters in the world. It's not about money, or a medal, or even "fame", I just want to be at the top of my sport. That's what drives me. I could do it for fun, but if I did then I probably wouldn't spend much/any money on coaches, and I'd probably very rarely practice, and definitely wouldn't try any harder skills that could injure me. But you guys work very hard, you are all dedicated and working on difficult things, so I am wondering, what "drives" you, if not the prospect of passing a test, or placing well in competition? The sheer joy of being on the ice gets you to the rink, but what motivates you to work on harder elements, to stick it out when you can't seem to get something right...what keeps you dedicated to progressing?

I hope this is a fair question, and I hope I worded it properly, again I just really want people's personal perspectives of this, and I can't wait to read some. Thank you!

fadedstardust, I will answer for myself only. I am still on the ice after many major medical problems and even more "Why do you bother?" comments.

I am there because I love it, skating is my passion. I am not testing or competing at the moment, though I may again in the future.

The satisfaction of "getting" something new, whether it be a jump, spin, footwork is what drives me. The feeling of flying when I'm on the ice. Skating a good program even if it's only my coach and I who see it. Landing a jump, spinning a spin, fancy footwork and being so happy I can cry and then wanting to land/spin/do a billion of them in a row, just because I CAN. Feeling so tired I ache but still being there because I *have* to get that move, just because I'm so darn close and *know* I can!

Skating the basics and the feeling of relaxation that I get from nothing else. It says a lot for a person to skate without the goal of Olympics/Worlds etc. I am still relatively young (almost 25) and when I tell people I am a figure skater the first question I get is whether I have been to Worlds/Olympics etc or will I in the future. My answer....no, my goal is to be the skater I know I can be, to be the best that I can. That drives me. That and the fact that nothing is ever perfect in skating (to me). A jump can always be higher, spins faster etc. I strive for perfection, or as close as I can get.

Satisfaction and drive comes from within and for most skaters I know it's much more based on what the skater feels than how others' (judges etc) feel about their skating. I know someone who won a competition, didn't skate her best and was not satisfied, same competition, fourth place getter felt like she won and was 100% satisfied with her personal best skate.

I have to agree with fadedstardust here (I know I said I wasn't going to post again until Tuesday, but there's an hour before I have to leave for the station if I'm going to get a train at cheap rate!); I don't understand it, either. However, I know lots of people who do skate and work very hard for sheer love of the sport, with no thought of testing and very little thought of competing.

To be fair, many of the people I know are dancers, and of course there is social dance; here, most dance clubs have at least an hour's social dance ice per week, and great fun it is, too. But I do know one or two free skaters, who have no such outlet, yet they are on the ice regularly and having fun. I have noticed that they don't always progress very fast, if at all, though.

For myself, I have decided not to compete my Interpretive piece at the British Adult Championships, and am wondering whether I've slightly shot myself in the foot. Robert and I have entered for couples dance, so there is plenty for us to work on as a couple, but I have a horrible feeling that until it is time to work on next year's piece, my lessons will be "same old, same old", all the same exercises that I'm heartily sick of! I plan to have Words with my coach when he gets back from holiday. I would like to be working for something, but as I'm not doing much in the way of solo work any more..... Maybe I'll work for our Field Moves tests; I have Dance Moves up to the level of my ability - Robert is nearly ready to test Level 3, but I'm not - but I could certainly do Level 1 Field Moves, and perhaps level 2.

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

I think this is it, really. Skating is really a very individual, very mental activity, in addition to the physical. The 'drive' can be having the satisfaction that you told your mind to tell your body exactly what to do---and it finally did it! That yesss! moment can happen in a totally empty rink; you don't really need anyone else to see it (even if it would be nice), and sometimes you really don't need anyone else telling you that well, even if you 'did' it, you still don't look like Michelle Kwan. Skating is like painting, or poetry--there are plenty of people who paint or write because they like to see what they produce--but they'd either prefer not to show it to others, or if they do, they realize that tastes differ, and what may be perfect to express the throughts and feelings of the artist, may not seem 'perfect' to the onlooker.

If you skate mostly because your heart needs to, then why bother with what anyone else thinks, because it doesn't matter anyway.

__________________
"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!

Angelskates that was beautifully said. ITA

I don't need to prove myself to anyone but me (and possibly my coach).

Personal satisfaction is a very strong driving force.

__________________
Many go fishing all their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after. - Henry David Thoreau

I'm with Mrs. Redboots and fadedstardust on the testing issue. I guess it helps me to establish goals beyond "I'm going to learn x element". It's more like "I'm going to learn x element and perfect it to the point that I will pass the test". Plus, you can't compete (which I love to do) until you pass the required tests - so if you want to compete they become a necessity.

angelskates mentioned satisfaction. I can't tell you the satisfaction I felt when I passed my Intermediate moves (the first test I took that wasn't a requirement for me to compete) higher than passing average! Or the satisfaction at my placement at Mids this year (which I couldn't have entered without first testing). It wasn't that I needed the judges to validate me, it was more that the judges marks were an external reward for my hard work. I dunno, kind of hard to explain.

Jazzpants - please hang in there. I know it can be awful darn tough, especially when you've worked so hard. Remember, we're all behind you no matter what you decide to do!

__________________
"The only place where success comes before work is in a dictionary." -- Vidal Sasson

"Never give up on a dream just because of the time it will take to accomplish it. The time will pass anyway." -- Unknown