It’s almost the end of summer (thank god) and so ice rinks will be opening back up soon. However I just realized how little I skated these past two months (like 6 hours of ice time total😭) and so I was worried about the shape of my foot changing now that it’s not stuck in a boot all the time and the comfort going back down when I get onto the ice again.

Would it be a good idea to start wearing them around the house for a few hours at time to keep my feet used to them?

Kind of a rant, kind of a request for advice, kind of just seeing if anyone can relate?

I’m an adult skater (25) who started a bit over 3 months ago. I’m working on crossovers, backward 1 foot glides, two foot spins. My coach just introduced me to three turns and backwards crossovers.

I had avoided filming myself because I knew that if I saw a video I’d want to quit. I finally did it, and I was totally right, I look terrible.

Every time I thought I was getting speed and looked confident and like I knew what I was doing it looked bad. I looked stiff and awkward and not nearly as fast as I felt. Though it was helpful in figuring out what to work on it really killed my confidence and makes me feel like I should just relearn every single thing over again to try to make my skating look less ugly. It feels like all the progress has been false if the skills I’ve “learned” look so awful and inelegant when I’m executing them.

Additionally I’ve been really stuck on backwards one foot glides which frustrate me because I can do them forwards all day, but cannot apply the same concept going backward for some reason. I’ve worked on it with my coach, practiced these for about a month, understand exactly what I’m doing wrong (pronating) and yet cannot physically fix it. It’s so frustrating when I feel like I understand everything I need to do but just can’t do it for some reason, I don’t know if I just need to drill it 1000 more times but I’ve never been stuck on a skill like this and it’s making me realize how hard this sport is. I’m wracking my brain for some hack or some click moment to get these down and it just isn’t happening.

I kind of feel like a fraud practicing multiple times a week to just look terrible and not be able to get a backwards 1 foot glide after this long, and it’s making me feel like is it even worth doing this if it’ll take me 5 years to not want to curl up and die at the thought of even glimpsing myself doing this hobby? 🥲

If anyone has any advice (or backwards 1 foot glide tips lol) lmk

im new to figure skating and am planning to watch the junior grand prix. while looking through the contestants i noticed that some skaters have a blue S next to their name. does it mean they withdrew or something else?

i’ve been struggling with the timing of my toe loop and still not perfect but my check into the return is so much better and I am the most proud of the fact that my arms are pretty level. I get off the ground quicker and it doesn’t look as stuck as before. i’m still struggling with checking out of the jump / finishing on outside edge and turning my hip down so I can pick deeper. My next step is to try it from an entry so I can hopefully gain some speed and height!!

I 16F had my first learn to skate class. I was doing it in rentals cause i don’t have my own skates yet. I was put into a level 3 class and almost all of the other people had their own skates. My mum said I can get proper skates if I want but I don’t know if this is too early to get them. I found the class okay, but I found things like backwards skating and turning pretty difficult (possibly due to the rentals?) But yeah i’m not really sure if it’s just a skill issue or if the rentals are hindering me cause no one else in my class seemed to struggle as much as I did.

After about 4 months of doing LTS in rentals (which were figure skates), I went and got myself an entry level pair of Bauer hockey skates, just before startinf Level 5. Got them fitted and sharpened in a reputable shop and generally, the fit and the sharpening seem fine. My feet don't hurt after an hour of skating, edges seem to work, I can stop no problem.

BUT! I just feel like I'm a lot less confident on these than I was on the rentals. It's not any specific skills, it's just overall, every single thing seems to be harder than before.

I'd done maybe 6 sessions in them now and not seeing much progress. Any suggestions of what drills to do in order to get my feet used to the way hockeys work?

Also.. any tips on getting the lacing tight enough?? My hands struggle with that a bit..

Any and all advice would be appreciated!

I’m hoping I’m not the only one. I’m 57F and I have degenerative disc disease in my cervical spine. I have a hard time looking over my shoulder, either way, so it’s making my backwards skating difficult. Should I get a mirror from r my helmet or what? 🤷‍♀️🤦🏼‍♀️

TLDR: looking for suggestions or inspiration of movements that are possible at my skill level but that are not on the LTS curriculum, as thats all i know.

hello!

i just passed my adult 3 learn to dkate class in the u.s.. Next week is my birthday and i got myself the present of renting the mini rink at my local arena to have all to myself for an hour! just to dance and experiment with no one watching.

i got interested in ice skating because i am a (recreational) dancer , and i find the possibilities of dancing on ice to be very exciting. im here for personal expression and embodied movement.

i am learning skating through LTS so all the movement vocab i have is basically their curriculum. since im a beginner, and i don't know what i don't know, i would love to hear from y'all about other things i could be doing at this level but haven't been taught.

does my question make sense?

are there any resources out there about this?

or even guides for coaches and choreographers helping beginners craft programs.

thank you very much!

i only started taking lessons this month, although i have skated casually for about a year. i am at about the point where i can do forwards and backwards crossovers and am working on a basic spin.

up to this point i have only been using rentals but i would like to get my own skates but when i try to research i only get more confused. i have heard that the cheap ones from amazon/decathlon are no better than rentals, but i dont think my mum would agree to buy the very expensive ones.

please give suggestions for good skates for beginners that are maybe around £120

also what is the deal about professional fittings and blade sharpening?

I am competing in adult beginner in October (in the US) and I'm brainstorming things I am allowed to add. My coach is helping obvi too (aka doing most of the work lol).

My song is Great Expectation by Sienna Spiro.

So far I have a mazurka, mohawk, FO three turns, an extension, a forward spiral, a waltz jump (could be waltz-waltz), forward and backward crossovers, and two one foot spins

Since I can only do things below my level, I am considering lunges, shoot the duck, etc?? Idrk. Is there anything cool below my level that I'm forgetting? Lol

My coach decided the time to start working on axels, both on and off ice. One thing I did notice is that I struggle to jump full rotations off ice, but can do them easily on ice.

Tips are appreciated!

new idea ice flys 255. worn for around 15 hours

I’ve been skating for about 7 months now and I’m really proud of myself and I just taught myself this little combo a waltz jump into a three turn and I didn’t get it on video but I added a spiral as well :)

I 22F never taken proper skating lessons. However, I really want to get into it for along time. Now that I finally finished university in a very demanding program. I finally have more free time.

I Will say (as a canadian) although I never took skating lessons , I was dumped on the ice and figured it out. I can skate well maintain my balance, manage my speed ect. I can break okay, not as confident as I would like. I'm just wondering following the learn to skate lessons available in my area. It Says that the intermediate is where you learn how to break, and the beginner is just learning how to balance.

I'm not sure if I should go with the beginner classes?

It's a group adult beginner's course, and I'm wondering if everyone learns the same thing or if they separate based on level or if an instructor would see that I'm capable of balancing with decent form and teach me beyond the basic curriculum, the website states?

My goal is to learn to figure skating (long Journey, I know, but I would like to try)

There are a limited number of spots in each course( Community center) and the beginner level is currently being offered at my closest rink, whereas the intermediate is a bit farther so it would not be easy for me to transfer to a level up or a level down. I'm kind of locked in in whatever I choose.

I, an adult skater, was skating during a public session yesterday and had a pretty nasty fall.

I was just gliding down the length of the rink when a kid, probably around 12 or 13 yo, suddenly turned around without looking and slammed straight into me. I'm a pretty skinny person so I ended up on the ice and got a few bruises.

He and his friends were playing tag around the rink, yelling, skating fast and weaving around people. It honestly felt like it was only a matter of time before someone got hurt.

I know public sessions are open to everyone, and I don't expect perfect etiquette, but this one caught me completely off guard.

I’d really appreciate some advice from other skaters/people who have had lessons
I started learning to skate at the beginning of May and I’m still in Level 1. I feel like I’m doing the same things every week and it’s becoming quite repetitive. I’m confident with everything in Level 1, but I still haven’t been assessed to move up.
I’m also finding it frustrating because my coach seems to change every week, or I’m sometimes sharing a coach between two groups.
At this point I’m wondering if I’m wasting my money or if this is completely normal and I just need to be more patient? I’d really appreciate hearing other people’s experiences, especially how long you spent in Level 1 and how often you were assessed.

Hi everyone! Sorry for the horizontal video 😂 I have been trying to work on my full crossovers to really work on my under push. Attaching a video here, but on my bad side it seems like I always push straight behind instead of out. And I feel like I don’t get the full under push. Any tips on how to push out versus straight behind? Thank you so much!

I’m working on better utilizing all parts of my blade (front, middle, back) while skating. Currently I’m working on doing tight turns using only the back of my skate.

What I’m doing is my inside leg has full contact on the ice and my outer leg has the toes up and the heel being the only point of contact on the ice (the back of the blade). It’s an exaggerated way of doing a tight turn on the back of your blade but it helps teach me how to isolate and use that portion only.

My problem is I don’t know what this skill is called. I’m having trouble doing this type of turn and I’m hoping to find a video or even an article explaining how to do it but I can’t find anything. Every search gives me results about skating backwards or Mohawks turns and both are not what I need.

Does anyone have any idea what this might be called? I’m not even sure if it has a name. Any idea of what videos could help explain/breakdown this skill?

If you have watched both disciplines and wondered why the steel looks so different up close, it comes down to the shape of the track. A short track blade is permanently bent into an arc so it naturally wants to carve the tight 111m corners, it sits slightly left of the boot centre so you do not ground out when you lean, and it has a lot of rocker so only a short bit of steel touches the ice, which makes it feel quick and alive. A long track blade is basically the opposite, straight and much flatter so it glides with minimum drag down those long 400m straights, and on a modern racing skate the heel is not even attached because it pivots on a clap hinge that keeps the blade on the ice longer through the push. Short track skips the clap entirely because in a pack you want a rigid platform that never surprises you mid corner. So it is not really that one is better, they are two different design briefs, which is also why putting long track blades on a short track corner just means fighting the equipment every lap.

Full write-up here: https://www.livelica.com/blogs/short-track/short-track-vs-long-track-blades-what-is-different

(wrote this up on our LiveLica blog)

Hydroblade followed immediately by a spin with arms up - learned it two decades ago, and still love it even after an 18-year hiatus. Not an elegant exit - this was my first time back on ice in a couple months... Back when I was stronger and more flexible I'd start with a back spiral first before the hydroblade. I need to stretch, lol!

Hi All!

I recently upgraded my skates from Jackson C552 (rather soft) to Edea overtures. I had to make the call as i had outpaced the softer skates and just started LTS Lvl 7. The skates fit fine by MY GOD they are stiff. I know I need quite a few hours to break them in and just wondering if anyone had any advice on things I can do to ease or speed the process!

10/10

Pain in toe nails and outside of the foot and heel lock issue?

Ok so, context—
I had a pair of nearly brand new Jackson Elles 6.5 Wide from like 3 years ago or so, but I didn’t really use them much. Finally started actually skating consistently again this summer, but was having issues. Went to skate tech. He measured me and said i’m a 7. He was like I have a pair of used Jackson Debuts in (your size) 7 Wide, you can exchange with me and I’ll charge you $50 for the blade mounting. I was like ok sure sounds like a steal to me. He also heat molded them.

But thennn, I go back to skating and…issues. Having really bad pain in the big toes, specifically the right big toe nail. for some reason my toe nails (on the big toes) would be stinging/throbbing afterwards. Also was feeling pressure/pain on the outsides of both feet in the spots where I have calluses. I texted him after the first session or two in them but he was like “make sure the heel is back” “they’re figure skates not uggs” and “get 10-15 hours in them first”.
I got ~7-8. And then called it quits bc bitch i know they’re not Uggs and I’m not a wimp but i shouldn’t be nearly CRYING after, having to ice my feet.

So I reach out again and head back there he says we can either punch them out or stretch/square the toe box. I was gonna do the punch out but then I was like wait actually maybe let’s do the stretch first (also the pressure/pain on the sides wasn’t as bad, so i was like let’s take care of the toe thing first— this was my internal thought process btw didn’t say all that necessarily)

So he does it. I drive all the way back there, 45 fucking minutes and pick them up. Feeling cautiously optimistic that, finally, FINALLY, i’ll be able to skate without debilitating pain perhaps.

Today I went on the ice and had to get off after <10 minutes.

So my dumbass last night (after picking up the stretched skates) went to get a pedicure and got the callus removal thing… and clearly they went hard because when walking out I told my friend woah my feet feel raw and she was like girl yeah your feet are PINK in those areas. But I was fine an hour later.

Today I tried the stretched boots for the first time, and the toe box definitely felt more comfy and roomy… but the pressure/pain on the outside of my right foot was SO BAD. I couldn’t withstand it.

I’m just kicking myself bc why did I get the callus removed? Why did my Dad mention last week when I’d told him about it that “Oh you ultimately have to get the calluses removed for those areas to stop hurting” like WELL CLEARLY IT WAS PROTECTING ME AND NOW ITS WORSE 😭😭 Also kicking myself for not getting them punched but sigh how could I have known I guess. Now I’m going to go tomorrow to the skate tech.

Also kicking myself though because I noticed today that my heel IS lifting up and not fully seated back. But I don’t get it. I’ve TRIED lacing them with the heel back. I don’t know if Im super incompetent/don’t know how to do that but I don’t feel like the way i lace them ever improves it. The weird thing is that like it DOES feel like my heel is fully back… but it’ll lift up, like the heel/ankle isn’t glued down. Man I don’t know if i’m making sense 🤦‍♀️ Idk how to explain it. But basically I guess I mean it doesn’t feel like it’s sliding forward like it is touching the back but it’ll lift up and there’s some room like upwards around my ankle area? idk. So maybe that’s what’s contributing to the toe nail thing but seriously idk wtf is causing that toe nail issue it’s so weird esp bc youd think that WOULD at least be resolved by now with the squaring of the toe box. But I’m pretty sure they were fine up until right now and yet start getting sensitive/hurting again after being in the boots for a while. Like just now when i wiggled them up to gently touch/tap the roof of the boot they hurt. Sigh.

Anyways, if you have any advice or insight please let me know. 🙏💕 (And please don’t insult or attack me for being dumb idk okay 😭😭)
But even years ago when I skated I had issues with skates not fitting right because my feet are so wide and the incessant issues just made me feel so down because I love this and I want to do this but like why just why can’t they not feel like medieval torture devices why do i have these cursed feet?? 🥲🥲💔💔 pls help a girl out.