I am 18 and my best friend is 20. We go ice skating a lot but its usually just for fun. Weve been really into figure skating recently and we think it would be cool to become a figure skater. We start lessons soon on jumps and spins. Do you think the dream of being a figure skater is to old for us? We know most girls start really young, and we feel kinda old. Should we?

Most skaters who start when they are 5 years old still never make it to the Olympics or even Nationals, so don't stop yourself from taking up a fun sport just because you probably won't be "the best."
If you are in the U.S., you'll be able to compete in the USFSA adult competitions at age 21, and even in Europe there are a few adult competitions now. I took my first skating lessons at age 27 and last year I landed a double salchow in competition, at age 41. Sure, it wasn't a triple, but doubles were all Peggy Fleming ever did, so they're nothing to sneeze at. Just imagine how far you could go if you start at 18 or 20 and don't take 5 years off like I did!
Ask your rink if they have adult learn to skate classes. You might feel more comfortable in a group of adults than in a group of kids.

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"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics

Honey,

There is a whole world of Adult Figure Skating that you can get involved with. At 18-20 and just starting is NOT too late. I started at 37! Depending on your athletic ability and the willingness to train......the sky is the limit! Sure you probably will not ever be in the Olympics but you could get to Adult Nationals!

Welcome!

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Why are you skating so slowly? Get out of my way!

If you skate faster, it makes everything look better!

Depends on what you mean by "become a figure skater". You're not too old to learn jumps and spins, get a program, and enter competitions. I didn't begin skating until I was 37 - I'm 48 now, and still test and compete. Are you too old to qualify for the Olympics, Worlds, National Championships, stuff like that? Yes, I'd say so. By the time you learn enough to be good enough, you'll likely be too old to keep up with the younger kids coming up behind you. But that doesn't mean you can't have a lot of fun learning. US Figure Skating has an entire adult division of tests and competitions, which will be open to you when you turn 21.

Perhaps feeling too old is a common problem? I started skating at the ripe old age of 50, and can testify that by no means am I the oldest starter ... two other chaps at my rink are both my senior by many years ... 15 months later I am practising my first Salchows ...

My advice? Follow your heart.

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The impossible is just a journey away ...

Old, older...? My best friend and I started skating at our mid-30s. It was first time in our life we had such great fun and felt we should start 10 years earlier(which should be our mid-20s). You are lucky to start skating with your best friend. On the way to be a figure skater, you will be grateful to find the comrade. At least for me. Good luck and have fun for your skating.

Well I was 20 starting to skate last year. One of my skating buddies was 21. They told her she'd be lucky if she learned the flip, told me adults don't learn to jump.
I'm practicing my axel now and I have up to my lutz, which is the most difficult single-revolution jump (axel is 1,5). I don't know whether my skating buddy has her lutz yet - I last saw her 1,5 months ago since she's from an other town - but she's definately got the most perfect loop-loop combination I've ever seen (a loop is also one of the more difficult single jumps) and she has some very difficult spins.


Also, one of my skating instructors said a guy she knew started at 22 and actually still learned to do everything double, including the axel (that's 2,5 revolutions).

That's in the Netherlands, where you only have ice for 6 months every year and the rest of the year the rinks are closed and there's no adult competitions except for 1 or 2 a year.


From what I gather on forums, America actually has a very thriving adult skating world. It won't earn you money, but it will earn you health, self-confidence, and a ton of fun. I'd say go for it!

I started at 56 . . . . What's your problem??!! You're not calling me "old" are you?

You might be too old for the Olympics but certainly not too old to compete as high as you want, right up to the National level (in the Adult stream).

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

I started at 21. I'm nearly 27 now. Sometimes its better to start older - you can just bypass the whole pressure the little kids have as to whether they will 'make it as a skater'. If you start old then you are past that but that doesn't mean you can't achieve anything. I do tests and competitions and on a good day can do an axel and a double salchow. And I don't feel I'm finished learning yet.

Have fun!

Let's take the second part first. The answer is clearly yes. You don't have the option of having started when you were five, so the only question is whether you want to start now, start later, or not start at all. 18 or 20 has to be better than 43 (when I started), so there isn't much to say in favor of "later", except by comparison to "not at all".

Compared to the typical public session skater you *will* be a figure skater, so there's nothing to worry about there. Compared to where you might *like* to be, you might as well be warned that it will always be frustrating. *Everything* could be done smoother, faster, stronger, cleaner, and/or higher, so it's good to be the sort of person who enjoys a challenge--because there will always be one. It can get expensive too, because it's an addiction. A little more ice time and another lesson will always seem like a good idea when you're trying to get something, and that will be always, so the expense can creep up on you. Search for Adult Onset Skating Syndrome.

Welcome to the fold.

Rob

I started skating at age 38 and now I'm 44. If you want to be a competitive skater, the mountain is really steap. But if you want to become a competitive adult skater, any time is a good time to start.

If you are Canadian Skate Canada has competitions in which adults can compete including this year's 2007 Skate Canada Adult Championships.

We don't have a separate test system yet for adult skaters. We adults do exactly the same tests as the kids do in the StarSkate (Preliminary, Junior Bronze, Senior Bronze [same as competitive Juvenile], Junior Silver [Pre-Novice], Senior Silver [Novice] and Gold [Junior]) stream. We have separate tests for the Competitive Stream (Junvenile, Pre-Novice [US Intermediate], Novice, Junior and Senior)

But we do now have a separate competitive stream under the StarSkate system called AdultSkate; Adult PreBronze, Adult Bronze, Adult Silver, Adult Gold and Adult Masters (which has yet to be devided into AM Novice, Junior and Senior). The jumps and spins are the same all the way up to Adult Gold but are program times are much longer here in Canada ie. Adult Bronze in Canada can have a program up to 2 m 40 s but in the US Adult Bronze program length is a max of 1 m 40 s.

You might want to join Competitive Adult Skaters Yahoo Group. This is a great place to learn the ins and outs of skating at age 18+.

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"It's not age that determines but the heart." "Skating is not just a sport for the young but it's a passion for the soul of the young at heart." Brigitte Laskowski

I am a nomadic adult skater who is a member of Windsor FSC (Skate Windsor) WOS SC again since Sept. 1st, 2008.

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I love these "Am I too old" threads. I get a warm fuzzy feeling (or is it a cold smooth feeling?) from everyone's positivism and genuine love of skating.

The last time this came up, someone made the comment that when she skates, she has to skate like a 14-year old (as in, not worrying about everything like a grown-up), and I've been trying to put that in my skating. And it's awesome.

Skating can be a life-long sport.

(By the way, I'm 25 in eleven days, and I started skating a year ago.)

Yeah I just added ballet lessons, once a week for 5 euro (like, 6,50 dollar?) per week... Seems like a bargain right? For like 5-6 people in the class and a VERY good, Sovietunion schooled, ballet teacher?
And also like, if I join another club, that'll be way more ice time... Except the cost of skating would over double... eh... Yeah but it seems like a grand idea ! LOL!

I need another job. LOL!


As for in class, actually, nobody figured I was 21 years old until I mentioned it to them. I don't learn slower than 14 year olds and apparently, I look far below my age when I skate (which is weird, cuz normally I look over 5 years above my age). Because frankly, when I'm on the ice, I feel 5 year old. At least in enthousiasm, LOL!
I think 21 is a great age to start, I'm seeing people who started around this age and they can still get out of their skating most the errors adults seem to have big trouble with (like straight shoulders and back and such).

I started at 37 and wished I'd started younger as the younger you start the easier it is to learn stuff. On the other hand if I'd started as a child then I probably wouldn't be skating now.

As an adult skater, 20 is a great age to start - eligible for adult competitions and young enough to still be flexible and fearless which makes it easier too.

The UK has adult comps that start from age 18 so you dont' have to be competing against the kids. The standards can be quite high amongst this younger age group although the comps are all divided by level so you can compete against others of similar standard. The USA has adult track tests and competitions and Canada too now caters for adult skaters in competitions. There are even adult internationals to go to.

How far you get depends on how much time and money and effort you are prepared to put in and the nice thing about adult skating is that these are your choice to make.

I have my jumps up to Flip (on a good day) and can even see an axel is a possibility in the future maybe if the body holds out! The far distant future but I know of several adults who started later than 20 who have axels and are working on doubles. It's harder than for the kids but not impossible. I think the days of adults being told they can only do dance or not skate at all are fading fast. Lots of coaches enjoy teaching adults and while you may get strange looks they are mostly from the parents of skaters rather than the skaters themselves.

Go for it - it's unlikely you'll reach Olympic standard but then how many kids get there either? Very few and yet it doesn't stop them trying and being the best they can or simply enjoying what is a great sport and a fun way to keep fit, make friends and (except when testing or competing!) great stress relief too.

I started group lessons with the kids and while there weren't many adults there were a few and the kids accepted us just fine.

Go fo it! Have fun!

I'd like to have the time to take some off-ice dance at this point, however strange the looks I might get, but I'm already working another job to pay for skating, so time is scarce. There was a thread last summer on how people pay for this; second jobs were not uncommon, as I recall...

Rob

The oldest competitive skater I know is aged 87.

This is a sport for all ages and both sexes - at our rink, it seems predominantly to be middle-aged men, at least at the hours we train (of course, there are the usual quota of kids, and a sprinkling of elites, but they are far from the only skaters). We were well into our 40s when we started, and it has taken us (me, especially) a very long time to make very little progress, but we have enjoyed the journey, and that's the main thing. The Husband plans to land his axel before he is 60.

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