Hi all. Here is my dilemma. Fortunately this is the biggest dilemma in my life right now so I consider myself very lucky.

As some of you know I had surgery about 6 weeks ago. I was allowed to skate again after 3 weeks but no jumping or spinning for another 3 weeks. I thought this would be torture but... it was not. Before the surgery I had started to take ice dance lessons along with a free style lesson. I really like the ice dance and feel that I'm well.. better at it. I've always loved jumping and spinning but honestly at 43 years old it has become very exhausting for me. (Just my experience, I know many others my age have no prob w/ this)I've found that I can skate for longer time periods doing dance and MIF. And, by the way I've never really excelled at freestyle. I'm at the adult silver level and have never placed in competition. I just don't have the technical difficulty in my programs. ...because I can't do flying spins.. and no layback. I have been at this level for years. Part me says, just do both. But I don't skate enough hours a week to do both. And another part of me feels like.. well kind of like I've failed if I make the transition completely.

Any insight?

Hi - I'm kind of where you are - Silver level, but without enough difficulty to do really well at it yet. I don't do flying spins, either, though I have an attempt at a layback. (I tell my coach she can have my leg in attitude, or my back bent over, but not both.) I don't know that I'll ever have an axel. And I'm turning 50 this year, so the odds of getting it for the first time are decreasing, although I know it's still theoretically possible. Since I can't go to ANs this year anyway, I'm focusing on Moves at the moment. I started Dance last year, and have passed my Preliminary dances, but our dance coach moved away so I'm kind of stuck for the time being. I'm planning to test the Cha-Cha next month, which is the last one she taught me before she left. I've also started doing figures, and hope to take a stab at the Preliminary test next month as well. The thing is, this stuff is all really challenging! To do Moves, Dance, or especially Figures with the correct edges and on the correct pattern is not easy at all! So if you elect not to pursue jumping any more, I, for one, would not think you had sold out at all! So many of the kids can do the tricks, but are lacking in these basic skating skills. On the other hand, if you want to keep doing freestyle, do it! I know there are only so many hours in the week, but you can do it if you plan your sessions (maybe alternating sessions between freestyle and dance/moves, or splitting the session between them) and realize that your progress will just be a little slower. I plan on staying at the Silver level for quite awhile yet, but will be happy to see the quality of my skating improve.

How come people who go from dance to freestyle don't feel like failures?

j

Dance is the harder discipline! It's no failure to do it.

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Herniated I am the same age as you with a similar dilema, dance is very fun and very enjoyable. It is not easier than free style it just requires a slightly different set of skills. The falls in dance can be just as painful as free style and you will still have some issues with your back. Some of the holds are very uncomfortable, like the foxtrot. If dance makes you happy then you should do it, you should also keep up with the moves and if you have finished the gold MIF then by all means continue on the standard track.

I have been off the ice for 3 months and will start my third week of skating Monday. I am doing all the adult moves, relearning figures, and dance. I will compete in Masters artistic at ANs, I do what I can but having undergone 2 hip surgeries and currently skating on a metal hip I really can't afford to break this hip. So I will be good and I will wait and see what my doctors say in June.

Have fun with dance, I find it very fun, even though I am not terribly good at the moment.

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Don't know the answer to that. Wish I did.

Coskater- I too will be doing Artistic at AN at the Silver level of course. I opted out of the free allready because I can't take my kid out of school for the whole event. I expected the falls to be just a damaging as free. I don't have the rose colored glasses in that aspect. Some of my worst injuries were from footwork/MIF.Sorry about your hip but glad you are skating again!! See you at AN!

Clarice - I'm going to split the sessions for now 1/2 hour free, 1/2 hour dance or MIF. I'm working on Gold right now. This is something I've noticed with my free programs. If I do them without any jumps or spins... well. there's just not much skating to them besides the footwork. My programs are max 2min 10secs. That just makes me feel sad. And my coach is considered a great choreographer and very artistic. But there's not but you can do in that time frame. Thanks for the support!

Thanks too Mrs. R!

I dunno but the (I think) olympic champions (one of the 3 medal pairs anyway) ice dance in Torino both started to do ice dance because they were told they'd never amount to anything doing freestyle...

So I'm not sure of your definition of faillure, but I wouldn't call it that. It's just that some people's talents are different than those of others. Look at some freestylers who are fine clinical skaters with lots of triples, but lack expression completely, and even skate like there wasn't any music on at all, like they could skate the programme to any music. Then look at some ice dancers who maybe even went into ice dancing because they weren't good jumpers, but who have such an on-ice personality! Think Anissina&Peizerat, think Barbara Fusar Poli & Maurizio Margaglio!!!
I would say they are perhaps more talented than those "clinical" freestylers. I certainly wouldn't call it a faillure.

I don't know why I feel like it's a failure. Just don't know why. I do love doing freestyle but it is exhausting me. (Like I said before) I am a more expressive skater. Tend to do well with the artistic programs and enjoy them more. Maybe it's just an acceptance process I'm going through that dance is what I'm better at and it is better for me (physically) at this point in my life.

Don't know.

follow your soul

you're right. Just may take some time to figure out the path to take

When I "switched" to dance I had the opposite problem as you - I was doing freestyle, but wanted to do dance - couldn't really find my way into the dance community in Boston at the time, so I did a lot of freestyle (of course, never competed and it was before any adult stream was in place for testing, so that was not something I did).

But I really wanted to dance. I finally found my way into a group class and eventually found a rink with a dance coach I liked and have never stopped since then!!! Dance is so great and you learn so much about skating and it can also be a great social outlet!!

Just do it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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[QUOTE=jskater49;350527]How come people who go from dance to freestyle don't feel like failures?

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I know it's a rhetorical question- but I have an answer. For most skaters- you start in freestyle, because freestyle moves are taught in the end level of basic skills. So when you "quit" freestyle to move to dance, it often feels like it was because you couldn't make it in freestyle. If you went straight from basic skills to dance- then there was no "quitting".

I don't think moving to dance should make you feel as though you are a failure. Merely that freeskating is not for you. Dance has its own unique challenges and is an exciting and difficult branch of ice skating. Doing dance is NOT taking the easy way out.

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I started taking dance after beating up my body for yrs w axels and doubles. I just got sick of it. I continued to do FS b/c I love spinning and have good single jumps. However, now when I skate, I do 1 hr of MITF/dance and 1 hr of FS. Sometimes I only do 30 min of FS. I generally skate 2 hr sessions.

Try dance. IMO, dance makes you a better overall skater. You can always throw in spins or other FS elements you enjoy.

Kay

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Herniated, you should definitely not feel like a failure. You are a beautiful skater, and I think you would be great at dance, although we would miss you in freestyle. You need to do what makes you happy, regardless of how you think things "should" be or what other people think. I wish I had half of your grace and presence on the ice. I plan on doing freestyle as long as my knees can stand it, but the way things are going, it won't be for long. Jumps and spins are only a small portion of skating. I'm always in awe when I see someone do a beautiful footwork pattern, complete with arm positions and good posture. If you like jumping and spinning, keep going, but if it doesn't make you happy, why bother? Figure skating should be fun, and I think we all put a lot of pressure on ourselves to do things a certain way, without questioning why. I would love to try dance, but my ice time is limited, so I can't really do both. I think you are in the same boat, and it's really hard to do two things half-way.

Thanks patatty! Those were very nice compliments. I skated today and did 20-25 min of freestyle. After not jumping or spinning for nearly 7 weeks I didn't expect much - guess what? I landed everything except the axel of course, on the first attempt. Amazing. Probably because I didn't expect it and didn't really care. The rest of the session I worked on MIF and dance stuff. I was still able to skate longer that usual so I'll see how it works out for now.

I'll keep doing free at least until after Easterns then I'll focus on the Artistic program , MIF and dance. I really want to pass those suckers. Then after AN I'll see how I feel.

See how you feel - good idea.

I was in a similar situation to yours, more or less. I got pregnant, and my coach and I decided that we'd stop jumping for the duration. So, what to do? She suggested dance.

I'd figured I'd only do dance for my pregnancy, then go back to freestyle. But I enjoyed dance so much that I'm still doing it, four years later.

So if you decide to do dance, welcome to the club!

Thanks Roaringskates.

Everyone here has given great advice. You are not a failure if you transition completely to dance. You are only a failure if you don't follow your heart and do what you want to be doing.

I was in a situation in 2001 where I couldn't do double jumps anymore, and I felt like a failure. I took up ice dancing. For several years, all I did was dance and Interp. But in 2004 I found I missed doing FS. I knew I would never do a double jump again as long as I lived, so I put together a FS program with only singles (I am in Masters). You know what? It's my favorite program ever. I love doing it more than I love doing my Interp, and it's double the length! And the reason I love it is because it's exactly what I want to be doing ... freestyle on my own terms. I call it my three-minute and 40-second Interp. I do intend to continue with ice dancing too, but I am like you and don't skate enough to do all of it.

So, like someone else said, follow your soul. I'll bet you will excel at ice dancing. And who knows, in a couple of years, you may come to the same decision I did and go back to FS and not worry about the technical part. Whatever you decide, do it for yourself!

I did both right from the get-go as I thought it looked fun and as a beginner it was a good way of linking steps together into something useful! After doing both side by side for almost two years I decided that (as a 40 year old on the heavy side ) dance would provide the challenge I wanted combined with the means to express myself. I quickly found I wasn't a jumper and couldn't face throwing myself onto the ice 19 times out 20 while learning new jumps. I agree that dance/moves falls are equally as painful but feel relieved that I will no longer have to force myself to jump! Once I'd made up mind to stick with dance and MIF I felt quite liberated and not like a failure at all.

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Level one Field Moves......PASSED 05.06.08
Level one Free dance.....PASSED 02.10.08

GOALS FOR 2009

• Level One Compulsary dances.......PASSED 19.02.09
• Level One Elements.....................PASSED 10.07.09
• Level Two Free dance.................PASSED 19.02.09
• Level One Free...........................
• Level Two compulsory dances.......

Loving it, Loving it, Loving it!!!!!

New Dilemma!! My ice dance coach won't be able to teach after 7am. He will be starting a class (college) soon that he has to get to. My lesson is now at 9:30am. He has openings before 7 but I don't know where yet. I only skate very early one day per week because I have to get my kid on the bus. I also have to skate early on this one day because it's the only time my freestyle coach has. He doesn't teach past 8am in the morning.(At least I don't see him after 8 at any other rink and I know he has another pt job)

The DH is the only other person who can put the kid on the bus. The issue is the DH works till about midnight every night and I can not stress him out by his having to get up early, and get the kid ready for school and on the bus more than once a week. The DH has had health issues in the past related to lack of sleep/exhaustion.

I will speak with ice dance coach and have a lesson this Fri. Maybe we could work something out.

When my son is not in school I HAVE to skate very early so DH can go to work. Maybe I can take lessons when coach has off too during vacation times. What a bummer!! I'm going to ask Free coach if he teaches later anywhere.

Any suggestions? I'm just starting to see progress!!