This is mostly a rant/whine/complain.

I'm beginning to lose patience with skating and myself, and I'm starting to wonder if it's worth it. I've been skating three years (caveat: season for me is October-March missing a month in the middle), and while I don't skate tentatively, I don't think I've gained a single interesting skill. Still can't do basic 3 turns, still can't jump, can get about four revolutions on a spin sort of. I have decent edges.

Can't figure it out. I'm in shape. I can generate a lot of power. But even with coaching, I don't seem to improve. Mostly I just want to be able to have good moves. I'm not asking for a sit spin or an axel.

And I'm really debating whether I want to bother with lessons this year. Seems the one-lesson-per-week is just a wasted expense if all I'm going to do is continue to make my basic edges a glacial amount better than they were before. I have fun skating, but it's an expensive sport and I could use the money for other fun sports.

Anyone else had thoughts like this?

I've had my share of frustrating moments in skating. We all go through plateaus where it seems like we're not progressing. The more advanced you get, the longer it takes to master a skill.

If you only skate 4 months a year (Oct-March is 5 months and you said you take a month off in that span), then your progress will be a lot slower than someone who skates 12 months a year. That doesn't mean that you shouldn't skate, but you need to be realistic about the rate at which you will improve.

If learning a certain skill is your goal, and you're not achieving that with your current schedule, then you should probably increase your skating time. If that's not possible, then you should adjust your expectations and appreciate the progress you are making.

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Terri C is a Bronze lady!
Gold Moves, here I come!

Wow. Sounds like you could use some fresh coaching.

How often do you practice? The only way I can see that you wouldn't have even rudimentary 3-turns after three seasons of 5 months each is if the only time you skate is during your lesson, AND you're terrified to push yourself past your comfort zone.

Does that sound like you?

If so, you need to do two things.

1. Fall. Fall a LOT. Fall until it doesn't scare you any more.
2. Find a coach who will push you to attack skills with gusto. Preferably one who understands adult skaters, and knows how to a) explain skills, breaking them down if necessary (it usually is for adults), and b) push a reluctant adult to do things that scare them, step by step.

Everyone can get the basic skills. Everyone. If you can skate at all, you can get a 3-turn. And you can even learn to jump.

I wish I could skate with you--I love trying to help adults with the basics.

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"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!

ITA with flippet, and I also wish we could skate together. I often feel the way you do, crayonskater, but I'm not ready to give up. Instead, I need to rededicate myself, and find the right coach. One of my problems has been the loss of my coach more than a year ago, and I really do need weekly lessons to keep me focused.

Not knowing anything about your coach, I would not say that she or he isn't good or even isn't right for you, but rather you might just need a different approach. If your coach doesn't mind, you could even just have an additional lesson or two from another coach who you think may be able to help you get past those 3's.

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Crayon, be reassured that practically every skater no matter how long they've been skating ... also goes through frustrating periods! You're not alone on this one - and I totally feel you. I've had moments of "Why am I bothering, this is never gonna work, I don't have the time... its never gonna work... " It's a hard sport, and even harder when you're strapped for time/money. I know because i travel several times a year and basically whenever i come back sometimes i feel like i'm starting all over at square one. But it doesn't have to be that way. I agree with flippet on finding a coach that inspires you and puts a different perspective on skating. A good coach can squeeze a lot out of a little bit of time!

To add to flippet's suggestions.. consider asking a coach to teach you "how to fall". I know that might sound silly, but really there is a technique to falling and how not to hurt yourself from a fall. One coach once remarked to me that I am an incredibly graceful faller for an adult and make really quick recoveries... believe me that's from years of falling and not being afraid of it. 90% of the time it doesn't hurt because i've learned to let go the right way.

We know you've got passion for the sport and we'd hate to lose someone like you to something else! (well me in particular cause you're on my sig!! LOL )

You've got all of us pulling for you!

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Keep Evolving. "From this moment forward, every voice that told you - You Can't - , has been silenced." - Freedom Writers

I have forward outside threes at low speeds. I've been shown inside threes once and they're really unstable. I mean, I can't do all my basic edges perfectly, but I have pretty good control on FO, FI, and BO. BI I either nail or wobble. I can sort of do a waltz-8 (though it's reverted to potato-shaped after the summer off.)

Do I have to have these perfect before I learn anything else? My crossovers aren't like dancers', but they're not beginner-clunky.

I think I just need more to do, and I'm not sure how to ask my coach. I know I'm not any good yet, but I think I could learn something that let me move a little bit more on the ice because basic edges are really dull after 20 minutes. I don't really feel tentative, and I skate about four days a week, 1.5 hours a day. I'm only 27, and I've been taking lessons since the spring of 2005.

Everyone makes very good points. Here are some thoughts for you:

1) How many hours a week do you skate? Could you add a few more?

2) Would you be willing to take a few trial lessons with a different coach to see if someone else's teaching style might be more effective for you?

3) Do you measure your 3 years in actual years or skating years? If you only skate 4 months per year, then 3 years is really just 1 skating year and 1 year is not very long. Not to mention you have to catch up every time you come back onto the ice after that 8-month hiatus!

Ultimately, you cannot compare your skating to anyone's but your own, so just ask yourself how well you expect to be skating in 3 years if you keep at it versus how well you'll be skating 3 years from now if you quit.

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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

I could teach you five ice dances that you could do without having to turn backwards in anyway shape or form. If you can do a mohawk I can teach you two more. Maybe even more than that, I do take notes when Mrs.Redboots talks about the UK dances, ie Novice Foxtrot. Sure they're only edges, but it's DANCING!

We could also do some stroking exercises, there's one I do that is simple forward edges, try to do four large lobes down the side of the rink, it's harder than you think. Try two! like my dance coach. Then we could try it backwards.

A bit of fun with bunny hops and toe hoppy things, bubbles (lemons) two foot turns, drags and spirals or attitudes, play with creative movement and music. Jumping isn't everything, I didn't do a waltz jump until I was working on Swing Dance.

All while using mostly forward edges and a stop or two. I'm all about fun. I only skate six months of the year too.

(or, in other words, time for a new coach)

You might enjoy some ice dance lessons--take the solid edges you have & turn them into something fun!

ETA--Slusher & I had the same thought at the same time!

Oh honey, your coach is keeping you stuck on edges?? Definitely time for a new coach.

It all depends on your goals. If you intend to compete--and intend to win (there's a difference)--then yeah, I'd say you need to have your edges pretty polished. But not before getting to move on to anything else!

If you're just in it for a bit of fun (and it sounds like you'd almost have to be, if it's a seasonal rink), then there's no excuse keeping you back from trying anything else. This is how rinks and coaches lose students, and they're left scratching their heads as to why. Will you do better jumps and/or dances if your edges are better? Of course. But that's no reason to never even start on the 'fun' stuff. Plus, as you try new things, it gives you more places and reasons to use things like those pesky inside three turns, and you'll find that first, you'll practice them more, and second, a different way of using them may help them 'click', and they'll be easier than they were before.

The only, only way I'd keep someone back from at least trying something new is if they're very unstable to begin with, and I'm literally afraid they'll kill themselves trying. (i.e., someone who can't do a one-foot glide attempting an axel.) This does not sound like you.

Ask your coach to please, please teach you some 'fun' stuff along with the basics (because you'll never stop working on those)...and if she's not terribly responsive, let her know that she's making skaing not-so-much-fun for you, and that's NOT what it should be like. And you'll be looking for a new coach.

Good luck....and hey, at this point, if you see someone on the ice with more advanced skills than you, just trot right up to them and ask them for some tips. Most skaters are very happy to share their knowledge, especially with the lower-level stuff.

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"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!

crayonskater,

This is skating and your coach will forever be working you towards "perfection". However, no coach should be waiting for perfection before they at least let you experience new skills. And new skills are almost always shakey for awhile. You are learning for goodness sake, if you knew how to do it and you could be perfect you wouldn't need a coach! Besides, personally, I find that when challenged by something new/harder that the easier skills actually improve in the process. If my coach only let me work on the things I NEED to work on I would become very frusterated. For most adults skating is a fun and challenging thing and it needs to be. You don't sound happy. =-( Talk to your coach about trying new things and still working on those basics. If you don't feel like she's listening or is willing to try move on. This is for you and you need to have fun! Of course, it is your coaches job to know your abilities and not "let" you venture into skills that could get you hurt. Saying that, you can learn new/different without taking unrealistic risk.

Chico

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

"Hey, coach! We've been doing edges and three turns and stuff and I do want to continue learning them, but I've been feeling a bit bored and would like to do something else to do to shake things up a bit. What I had in mind is something like <pick something fun to do that you think you can reasonably work towards>? How about it?"

Hope that's a good start... But please don't quit!!! We all go thru rough times (yours truly right now is going thru another hump now with the loop...) In the end, you need to persevere to get to the point where you CAN do all those things you want to do. And yes, if you need a fresh perspective, get a secondary coach (or replace this one if s/he not willing to accomodate you on your request.) I think it's fair for you to ask your coach to do something else for a little while and then coming back to the original stuff. Heck, my coaches does it b/c THEY gets bored going thru the same things. (Bronze Moves, anyone?)

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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!!!

You know what, this is basically what I said to my coach many moons back, the initial response was to laugh, but when she saw my hurt expression, she put me straight on to spins from a standing position, took me a couple of weeks to more or less crack that and the following week she had me doing 3 jumps, the rest is history.

Unfortunately at 57 my body now dictates what I can and cannot do, so if you are of a certain age, do listen to it, if it hurts dont do it.

But as already mentioned we all have plateaus and the better you get, the longer they last, but at your stage with a little encouragement you should progress quite quickly before that happens.

When you practice, do you have a list of items to practice or do you just skate "whatever"???

Maybe you are not being challenged enough by this coach. If he/she is not pushing you to go a little bit harder/faster or to learn new moves then maybe it's time for a new coach or for you to ask for new stuff.

My coach is always saying stuff like: "Let's do that again, but add xxx" or "try that again but go a little bit faster this time" and it really makes a difference. She also gives me "homework" to do before the next lesson.

We also re-visit her goals for me and "stuff I want to do" (i.e. short-term goals).

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

NO!

My coach takes the opposite approach - she keeps me challenged! I am just learning forward 3-Turns and Mohawks. About the time I think I am getting close to being able to do them, she'll say, "Ok, lets see your forward edges." But . . but . . but I haven't been practicing them - I have been working on TURNS! So the turns & edges are coming, now we go back to stroking and refine it! AHHHHH! I need about 4 hours away from her for every hour's lesson just so I can keep up!

Tell you coach you need a VARIETY of stuff to work on to keep you interest up. If that doesn't work, start watching other skaters and trying to pick up stuff from them. If that doesn't motivate your coach, look for another coach.

6 hours a week isn't bad. You DO need some variety and to have some fun out there!

(I am 57, have been skating since the end of January, and I am SLOW at learning things. On the other hand, I skated through spring and summer as well - that helps.)

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

Could this be a fitness issue?

Suggest you visit a gym coach and work on core strength and cardio of all sorts for an hour twice a week. If you can find a good coach it needn't be boring. Pilates is good, too.

You could also try to find a different coach, or a "stroking" class, who has a different approach - making you move and change direction more, and have a go at things without trying to do them perfectly

Out of curiousity - is there a reason why there is no ice between march - october? Are other rinks too far away in the warmer months?

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Keep Evolving. "From this moment forward, every voice that told you - You Can't - , has been silenced." - Freedom Writers

I had another thought--you know what it really sounds like? It sounds like this coach might not be familiar or comfortable with teaching adults. Most coaches would NEVER hold a child skater back like that. Make them practice, yes, but would not hold them back for session after session after session.

Perhaps this coach doesn't realize that you even WANT to do more than the basics. (I have known a few adult skaters who honestly didn't want to learn any more than basic stroking and maybe a couple of turns.) What might be worse--maybe she doesn't believe that, as a beginner adult, you even CAN. (If that's the case...RUN!!!!) Most likely, she just isn't thinking at all, and doesn't realize that she's treating you like a fragile object, where she wouldn't dream of treating a kid skater like that.

I started skating at 24. (I'd pond skated as a kid, but nothing serious--could skate, and turn around, but nothing more.) I passed each level of the ISI basics within a 6/7-week session (well, Beta took me two sessions--darn back crossovers!). I was able to practice four days a week, each time a 50-minute public session, plus my group lesson time. In my mind, unless you have some physical obstacle, there's ZERO reason you couldn't pass at MINIMUM, one level per season. If you attack it seriously within the time you have, and have attentive coaching.

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"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!

You know one thing that has always struck me as odd with skating is that many of these coaches appear to impose limitations on what adults can do. It seems like a bad cultural vibe that's just perpetuated by some stupid narrow mentality.

In personal training or pilates or other forms of fitness there's nothing but respect for the clients that these professionals work with. You never hear in the gym a trainer tell their client they *can't* lose 10 lbs or they *won't* ever bench X number of pounds or the *can't* run a half marathon... blah blah blah.

And then of course you have people who give reasons why skating is sooooo different...

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Keep Evolving. "From this moment forward, every voice that told you - You Can't - , has been silenced." - Freedom Writers

This brings me to a comment my NYC coach made when I first started skating with him. He mentioned that I come off very brave b/c I show no hesitation in learning something. I found it funny b/c my coaches always says how much of a chicken I am on the ice. (Boc boc boc...)

But seriously, if by any chance your coach is holding you back b/c you're an adult... it's possible this coach is NOT used to adult skaters! At my rink, we get TONS of adult skaters (both recreational and competitive) and they're treated just as tough as they do the kids! Equal Opportunity Abuse here!!!

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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!!!

My first coach (LTS adult group) was only used to teaching that realm of adult skaters and none competitively....so I was "stuck" with them and never challenged. She never treated the adults the same as the little kids that were skating competitively, never challenged us. Everything we did was "good" and "great" even though things sucked.

I now have a private coach that is challenging me every time we get together.....Sometimes I get brave on my own and push myself a little bit more (i.e. go faster, jump higher). Sometimes I don't 'cause I'm lazy .

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

LOL!!! EO Abuse!! Indeed YB is adult central, Jazz and its also CA...we liberal westies love EO! I believe we are extremely fortunate to have as many adults as well as supportive coaches at YB. Or maybe the coaches are just terrified of the sheer number of adults that there are?

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Keep Evolving. "From this moment forward, every voice that told you - You Can't - , has been silenced." - Freedom Writers

Do you not enjoy skating, or is it just because of the lack of progress that has made you think twice?

3 turns, I was having problems with these, but my coach really helped me out with the problem, that my free leg is all over the place, and if i keep it nicely tucked away it will help, and he was right.

I think if you befriend some of the regulars in the rink you can also get tips from them.

But talk to your coach and tell thme you aren't happy...


good luck, keep us posted

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starting at 28

It's not a fitness issue. 5'5'', 125, yoga class twice a week, ballet once a week, cardio two days, visible stomach muscles (okay, that's just bragging & just that I store my fat other places. ). I need to improve my flexibility, but weight-wise, I'm pretty happy. This is a bit why it's so frustrating. I'm already in good shape, so it's not like I can say, oh, well, when I lose 40 lbs I can do more.

cecealias, I don't own a car, so I walk to the university rink in the fall-spring season. Hence the winter break (rink closed). I really enjoy skating, and I like the people there, but there's not much of an adult community; I'm on the rink with former competitive child skaters who now just skate for fun.

And with the 20 minute walk & the lack of progress, & the cost, it's got me a bit down.

Are there low-level dances I could learn? I'd have more fun if I could cover a lot of ice, even if it wasn't all that hard.

In addition to trying a different coach, here are two more thoughts for you:
1) Get your blades, boots and blade mounting checked out by a professional to make sure they are mounted correctly and that you are not pronating in your boots (or need orthotics). Someone who knows what he's doing ought to be able to see you stand in your skates and do 1-foot glides and determine whether the blades are mounted in the right place.

2) Have your coach start teaching you the Adult Pre-Bronze moves in the field so you'll have a real goal (the test) to work towards. I forget if you are in the U.S., but if you are somewhere else, there is probably an equivalent test you can prepare for.

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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