Haven't been able to skate much in the last month, and now I'm having a hard time making the walk to the rink in the mornings to skate and am beginning to think this is a silly sport to take up at age 26.

Words of encouragement?

Sometimes it seems even sillier (or stupid) at the "ripe" age of 43!! But I keep plucking right along.... What takes the young ones a day (or so it seems) to master might take me weeks.....or months....(stupid salchow!)

Do you love it? If you say yes-then keep at it! If you are not sure, then you really must do some deep questioning as to why you are doing it. We do it because we love it; even with all the disappointments and the pain.

The feeling of landing that jump or centering that spin!!! Getting that stroke just right and remembering to point that toe! Feeling like we are flying on the ice just can't be matched by to many other activities. But if you don't love it, and you dread going, perhaps you need to look at why you started-what did you fall in love with? Can you re-capture that feeling again? Did you recently jump in right away with difficult moves? Do you have a plan or current goals? Are you with a coach?

My motivation came (recently) from ...this is the stupid part...watching Ice Princess and wanting to test. I've been reading about everyone on the board testing and competing and felt I was being left out of all the fun. Althoug I'm a show skater, it wasn't enough for me. I felt I could and should do more. How about you? How do you feel?

Give us some feedback...

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

Hi Crayonskater,

Questions:
What in skating do you still love?
Does competition drives you to skate?
What are your goals in skating?
These questions I always have asked myself in the past.
Nowadays, I do not have the motivation to skate everyday or everyweek.
I always have to rely on my testings, exhibitions, and competitions to get my butt in the rink.

After stepping in the adult world, I find that it is never too early or too late to start skating.

Let us know what you decide

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Tim David's Website

What in skating do you still love?

Spinning. I was just learning to spin and I was picking it up really quickly.
I like doing my pre-juvenile moves pattern because I can go really fast.
I like learning toe-loops, though I haven't skated since I landed my first one.

Does competition drives you to skate?

Nope. Unfortunately, I'm never going to have the funds to go Adult Nationals unless it's held in NYC, and there isn't much around here locally, competition-wise, for adults. (No car, which limits it pretty much to the University rink.)

I don't know anything about testing.

What are your goals in skating?

I'd like not to feel like a klutz.
I want to be able to change direction quickly and fluidly. These first two are the main two.

I want to perform in the ice show in February (don't think it's going to happen, who wants to see retarded waltz jumps?).
And I'd like to learn how to spin really fast.

This is what I think:

you are only 26, you don't know what, where and who you are going to be in 10 or 15 years. You now say that you don't have funds to go to competitions but that might change: people get better jobs, get promoted.... a time might come when you will be able to compete and by then you might really appreciate that you held on to your passion, even when it seemed that there's nothing for you in it.

If you set yourself a goal of competing at AN in say 3 years time, you might find the way not only to get yourself in a better physical shape, but in a financial one as well. At least this is how it is for me now - the only thing that keeps me motivated to drag myself to the airport at 5 a.m. every Monday is "this job pays for my skating".

So don't write it off yet - things change, and sometimes when you least expected, so please keep skating, "just in case".

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My other car is a Zamboni

Are you in lessons now? Have you been in the past?

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

Er, hello? The oldest skater at Adult Nationals last year was 85. Are you quite sure that in 60 years' time you won't be rich enough to travel out-of-state? Or even out of the country - that skater is planning to attend the Mountain Cup in 2006, last I heard.

You may or may not decide to give up skating, that's up to you. But you do most likely have fifty or sixty years of active life ahead of you, during which you will need to do some kind of sport or exercise to keep yourself fit and active. Why not choose one you enjoy?

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

I'll admit that I'm sort of in a similar situation -

It's been a little over a month since I've last skated due to the hurricane. When I learned that my rink was closing for good I started shopping around for new rinks, but I haven't actually brought my butt there to physically skate. I KNOW I love it and I will go back, but right now I've completely changed all of my habits and I'll admit I'm kind of afraid to start skating again, especially at a new rink, not familiar with ANY of the staff etc.

But you know what? I've made a promise to myself that I'm signing up for the first group lessons after the holidays, and I'm going to try to get to the rink at least once a week until then. I might not get there this week since I have a huge paper due for the end of the semester, but next week I'm going to go, even if its for an hour.

I have no plans of competing at AN any time soon either for financial and technical reasons (ew, sucky skater here!), but I know I'd like to and the only way to get there is to keep working. If you don't really have the passion for skating thats okay - maybe find something else you love doing and keep skating for the days when you really feel motivated to go. We can't really motivate you, you need to motivate yourself, yanno?

(Raising my cane...) "C'mon, 'ya young whippa snappas!!! When I was YOUR age...."

Ummm... I'm 38 now and I started at age 31? If you think that starting to figure skate at age 26 is silly, what does that make ME?

And oh, I guess I'm also nuts to go on the ice 5 times a week and train at the gym on strength and flexibility by doing cardio, weights and pilates. And I'm definitely silly to go out with a skating dress that barely covers my BIG OL BUTT too!!!

You got a LOT of years in your skating!!! Stick with it and by the time you're MY age now, you'll be skating circles around this old lady here!!! Besides, would you rather be one of those skating moms (or dads) sitting there yelling at her kids, but wouldn't set foot on the ice and miss out on ALL the fun??? (No, I didn't think so either...)

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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!!!

Ok, THANKS A BUNCH!! I feel really much better, and MY birthday is coming up right after the holidays I will be 44 and will have been skating for almost 3 years by then...so as my creaky ole' joints groan with every lap and my chiropractor rubs his hands together every time he sees me (hee, hee) I will keep pluckin' along. You young kids CRACK ME UP!!!!!

And, hey, guess what, Miss smarty-Jazzpants??? Keep skating and doing pilates, off-ice stuff like cardio and everything and that BIG OL BUTT will turn into a really HOT SKATER'S BUTT!! We should know (right Annabel?) 60 pounds and counting!

This is from the girl who skipped gym in high school! Yeah, all those notes from my "mother"??? uh, huh!!

PS-My ole' man is skating now-he just turned 56 and just did a Mohawk (a real one, not a mo-hop!)

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

I know exactly where you're coming from on the weight, Ms. Skate@Deleware!!! Been working out for YEARS too!!! And I was Annabel's diet partner in crime! While she was losing weight, so was I!!! I still got a BIG OL' butt, but I'm getting slim (or at least dbny is telling me that since the last time I saw her last year she says "Lose weight??? WHERE!?!!? ") Trust me! It's there!!! No skater's butt yet!!!

Congrats on the ole' man getting a mohawk (as opposed to a mo-"hop" and not a mo-"hope!") WOO HOO!!!

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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!!!

Thanks, Jazzpants! The weight didn't really melt off until I started watching what I put into my body (South Beach Diet).

Hubby gets discouraged because he, being the Type-A person that he is, thinks he will be at my level after 2 months of lessons although he had a perfect T-stop his first time on ice (both feet).....now, if I can just get him to stop looking at my skater's butt and pay attention to Coach during lessons (we are in the same adult group class)....he says it is a distraction, especially when I wear "that dress"

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

Geeze...all these kids complaining about how "old" they are. I started back skating last May, just after my 56th birthday (you're a young whippah-snappah yourself, Jazzpants!) Problems? of course. Do I think about quitting? YA GOTTA BE KIDDING! And like another responder here, one of my main motivators was Ice Princess (fantasy? sure...but still)...and I even bought the DVD after it came out (when I went to see it I was the ONLY male there (except for several dads who were there simply because their daughters drug them in).

Why do I do it? Good question...there is the potential for some serious injuries (don't ask me about my shoulder...), lots and lots of frustration (why oh why won't my hip go where it's supposed to go!) and I freeze my feet everytime I'm there (there's something about ice that causes that...). So why DO I do it? Simple... I love it. Plain and simple.

Do I intend to compete? Why not?

My philosophy is that if you need someone to "make" you do something that you're supposed to love to do anyway then it's probably not worth doing. Take some time off from skating. If you miss it then skate, if not then you have time to do other things and you can even put the monthly skating money into a mutual fund.

Go to a couple of public sessions with a friend. Try a new rink just for something different. Go to a session where no one else is spinning, and spin.

I'm 26 and although I started when I was younger, I've had to face some unexpected criticism from some work colleagues. I come in on Wednesdays after skating sometimes with injuries, always with my heavy bag and a couple of them are like "why bother?" Well, because I want the exercise and I love the sport. There have been times where I've gone away for years, left tests in fits of tears and wanted to throw my skates in a ditch. But I always keep coming back. It is a disease, as someone once told me.

Sometimes it feels like you have to fight through a lot of stupid stuff - life, work, schedules, unsupportive friends, but it is worth it if you find yourself fighting back against all that and remember why you were drawn to it in the first place.

Well, these "kids" are certainly not yet ready to put their skates away:

http://eastonice.free.fr/Olia/skatin...xh/I5427BP.jpg

That's Belousova & Protopopov at this year's Cup of Russia exhibition.

And here is an article about their future skating career plans:
http://www.figureskatingmystery.com/...rotopopov.html

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My other car is a Zamboni

26, THATS NOTHING!.
It dosen't matter if your 6 or 26, if you REALLY love figure skating then you'll keep at it. So what if it takes a 6 year old to get a toeloop in a week and you in a month? There young and have fresh minds and its been proven that children learn faster then adults. Im only 14 and I skate at an intermediate level and we have girls on there who are 8/9 and are landing double lutzes in about week. Its just.. life. I think you should just work at it if you really love it!

Thats my 2 cents!

This reminds me of an article I read at the Chronicle of Higher Education yesterday, which was talking about writing and career achievements, but was basically saying you sometimes need a faux-nemesis to motivate you.

I think I used to do this to some extent - there was one particular whippersnapper doing lots of double sals, and one day I got to the rink and said "I can do that too" and did 10 in a row. Allowing yourself to have a competitive streak can be a good thing!

That's why I decided this was the year I would compete-reading about everyone's competitions motivated me! I skate in shows but that's different. It's a different set of skills for one thing. Skating for competition, you are pushing always harder and harder.....to get better and better!

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

You sound like me last summer (I'm 25 by the way). Just keep at it, even if you only skate once a week or whatever you can do. You will get over it eventually! I think there's just a point at which we realize that though we still feel young (younger than those in their 30's or 40's might feel, no disrespect to them of course), we are (probably) too old to ever become famous ice skaters, no matter how hard we might try. At some point, you either become okay with that and decide you're going to get as good as you can anyways, or decide you're going to gear up and prove the world wrong (hehehe, okay maybe not).

As others have said, don't let finances get in the way of your dreams of competing. There's always possibilities, and maybe even nice people who are also going and can give you a ride, etc. But you've got to keep learning and working at it to get good first, so no giving up!

*hugs tight* Now, back to practice!

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Casey Allen Shobe | http://casey.shobe.info
"What matters is not experience per se but 'effortful study'."
"At first, dreams seem impossible, then improbable, and eventually inevitable" ~ Christopher Reeve

ITA - Jazzpants..I started seriiously 43 I am now 48 (skating as a kid w/o lessons does't count). Broke my wrist the first year and came back. You don't need to compete against others your own personal goals as to what you want out of the sport are enough. It is a single effort sport so your fiercest competitor is yourself. Enough philosphy.

Every time I skate I have personal victories and defeats. Havingg perfect crossovers was my initial goal, no where in my imagination did I think I could do a combination waltz / toe. It still doesn't look like much but I can do it and I must say I have very nice cross overs which I work on every day.

You will find one day at the rink when you have a break through on an element and go ah hah! It may not be that you landed an axel, but perhaps did a beautiful three turn or centered a spin. The feeling of finally getting it right is tremendous. Don't give up!

Trust me, it takes a 6 year old awhile to do and perfect things.Its all about strengh and muscles which MOST younger kids lack.
To the OP, if you love it, keep it up now matter what your age.Otherwise, take a break !!

OTOH, kids HATE to work on boring things like edges, stroking, 3-turns, mohawks, etc. They would rather spin and jump. So, they can spin and jump, but their in-between stuff is sloppy and all choppy looking. Adults spend HOURS on the boring stuff because we WANT to

Just the other day I asked my daughter (who is 16 so she counts as a kid to my 43 years) to help me with a mohawk. Her reply? "Ew, that's boring!"

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

I think if you have a 8 or 9 year old just starting, that is very true.We see lost of skaters at our rink who just want to do tricks.
My skaters started very young, so she learned from the start about good stroking, edges, moves.She couldnt do the other things, so that is what she spent time on.She knows now to have good jumps, she needs to work on speed.To work on speed, she needs to work on stroking.Her favorite thing is footwork and edges, even though she landed a cheated axle last week.
But its still hard for her to do some things ie her spiral needs work. Its a muscle thing.

I guess I still have more of a kid personality. I always want to get better at the jumps and spins and stuff, but have to remind myself constantly that I need to work on edges and "in-between stuff" too. It's tough for me to keep a balance, but unlike the kids, I can't really get away with skipping the in-between stuff because it has a marked effect on my jumps and spins too.

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Casey Allen Shobe | http://casey.shobe.info
"What matters is not experience per se but 'effortful study'."
"At first, dreams seem impossible, then improbable, and eventually inevitable" ~ Christopher Reeve