Curious of abilities

So, I have been ice skating since January 2017, around mid-January to give an approximate feel to time. Throughout this year I was lucky if I could get two days on the ice, which is due to college. Thus, on average from the last week of January to May I was only able to skate Friday and Saturday for about 2 hours at a time; there were occasions when I was able to skate more, but that was very seldom. During the summer, I was able to skate a day a week for 3 hours at a time. Therefore, I have been running and lifting more to increase endurance and strength; also, I have been stretching and can now do both types of splits, which now I am advancing to over-splits.

During my time of ice skating I have learned how forward and backward crossovers with both legs/feet, doing at least 20 (most likely more) revolutions with two-footed spins in both directions, learning lunges with both legs and a few successfully attempts at the Johnny Weir lunge; I’ve also learned how to 3-turns, mohawks, Beillmanns (not the spins), Choctaw, brackets, and counter turns, all of the elements can be demonstrated on both feet. Currently, trying to learn how to do 1-footed spins to do layback spins, camel spins, and other elements, as well as cleaning up and getting comfortable with waltz jumps.

This summer I was able to buy new skates, Jackson Competitors, to replace my pre-owned Riedell Emeralds. I went to a skate shop near my local area to get properly sized and outfitted in accordance to the owners, a very nice couple that have been in the skating business for over 20 years; also, I went on a trip to Canada and got a second shop opinion from a more well-known store, which is where I bought my new skates and they were the same brand and size as the 1st skate shop recommended for me. Currently, I am still trying to break in the Competitors because with being back at college, as with what my schedule dictates, I can’t skate enough to break them in faster.

I will be honest, I haven’t had any formal coaches yet. I have been learning how to skate through videos and watching more advanced skaters skate, and occasional getting their help to learn elements and tricks, I do have a local rink friend that is in a figure skating club and does teach me from time to time or to perfect an element so it is correct. Also, I don’t know where and even if skating will do anything for me besides a hobby because I do realize that I did turn 21 years old this year and that I have only just begun skating and will need a coach. However, nothing has ever made me this happy in my entire life, which says a lot because with being 21 I can go to the bar or getting my license a few years back now; all of my closest friends that have seen me before and after skating have all said the exact same thing, “you’re happier and more relaxed after,” “you have this light, or glow to you when you skate like its where you’re supposed to be,” and “you’re good! A natural!” Not to mention when I go to public skates with my friends and their friends/significant others I am always asked if I am a professional skater, or asked if I can teach people things because they think that I have been skating for years rather than months; I've had a coach during an afternoon skate stop by at the end of her lesson with a kid and compliment my footwork, while asking me about my coach and programs only to be highly surprised when I tell her the truth - she offered information if I wanted a coach.

So, all in all . . . I am just curious to see where I lay in the spectrum of skating. I understand that with my age I will not be doing anything grand like the Olympics or things and such, but knowing what I could do would be a goal I could work towards because, like I said, nothing has every made me happier in my entire life, or has come as easily as skating.

Sidenote: if you're going to say something negative, please don't

First, I will be blunt: if you are self-teaching it is highly unlikely that you are doing any of the above turns/steps well, if correctly at all. You are also learning things out of order.

It's great that skating makes you happy, but if you want to save yourself a world of hurt and time spent breaking bad habits, then please get a coach.

At 21 you are old enough to enter Adult competitions, even look towards Adult Nationals as a goal if you want. You can certainly learn to jump and spin and do all those things (but please do them correctly, ie, under a coach's supervision). You could focus on taking tests and passing levels. The Adult skating world is your oyster - once you have a coach.

You do sound like a real natural! When I started, by 10 months skating I had passed the first MIF test and had all of my singles except for Axel, and had a back scratch spin. I was skating about 4 hours a week also. I could not do any brackets, or counters, except when I did (badly) them by mistake when I was trying to do a 3 turn. However, I had a coach and was taking group classes the whole time. I am also kind of a natural, but I've definitely seen other people pick up things faster than me also, where they're doing things like crossovers their very first time on the ice.

If you're happy just skating on your own - just don't do anything too dangerous without a coach's supervision, and if your goals are fitness and fun, go ahead and keep doing what you're doing - there is nothing wrong with just having fun with your friends on a public session and getting great exercise.

I do have to say that the coach that approached you probably didn't think you already had a coach. Coaches at rinks most rinks know most peoples students. She probably saw someone with talent and drive that seemed to not have a coach, and approached you to see if they could get you as a student, and asked about your coach to make sure she wasn't stepping on anyone's toes.

If you do have a goal of doing the more regimented tests and competitions like karne says, you must get a coach. Be prepared to have to un-learn and re-learn things that you taught yourself. Once you've done that though, your progress should be quick, since you have the most important thing, which is willingness to try unfamiliar things.

OP at least has had unofficial lessons from a friend who knows how to skate, which still isn't the ideal situation, but is better than nothing (how much so, depends on how advanced the friend is).

Being told you are a natural really means almost nothing... I work at a rink and tell recreational skaters that all the time.

How good a person is, is relative to the person's goals for skating. If skaters come to a public session to skate for fun, and fall a dozen times and hold onto the wall, yet still enjoy themselves, then I assure them they are doing a good job because they are accomplishing their goals. On the other hand, if a skater has a goal of doing all the single jumps but can only do a bunny hop, scratchy back crossovers, and skidded 3 turns with bad arm positions, that person is not yet what (s)he would consider good.

There is a lot you can do with skating if you work with a coach. At 21, you are young enough that you could still go pretty far up the test ladder if you want to do it. If cost is an issue, you could try getting a job at the ice rink, which would give you money for skating lessons and maybe get some free ice time.

The adult skating world is pretty incredible- you could easily learn enough to compete in adult competitions and even adult nationals or adult international events (they are in Vancouver and Obersdorf). That said I would recommend getting a coach or signing up for group lessons as soon as you are able. Skills like brackets and counters are difficult to do well- I self taught myself brackets and later found out I was doing them completely wrong. Also, if you are going to start jumping it is easy to get hurt without good instruction.

Good luck! I'm glad you are having fun with skating! It really is the best.

I completely understand the part about the coach, but at the same time she never saw me because at the time I just started going to that rink. My local rink is in New York, while the rinks - unfortunately plural to fit my college schedule - I skate at during the college academic year are about 4 hours south in Pennsylvania, and the area has up to 5 rinks, not to mention nicer and a lot more warmer than my local rink, within and hour radius of each, while being known for a hockey and figure skating area. She thought I was either new to the area or just in the area for some new skates or blades and was testing them because she had never seen me before, which she did say in part of her introduction; she's a nice lady and from time to time will teach me a few things when her student is warming up or cooling down, or if she stays during a morning or afternoon public skate.

Also, my friend has been figure skating since she was in the single digits, like 5 or 6 years old. Her reasoning for helping is because she likes to have a figure skating buddy that she likes and if she can teach someone then she knows what she's doing a bit more, which I think is a mental game with herself to calm her nerves sometimes. Shes even teaching me ballet when I'm home, and I do not have dancing bone in my body . . . :shocked:

A nice thing is that you don't need to have a dancing bone in your body to benefit from ballet.

I'm adult skater who is at the Novice FS level skills-wise and to be honest, I get the "Are you a professional skater?" remarks all the time from simply doing forward and backward crossovers. What the public sees is not the same as what the skating world sees, to be blunt about it. Everyone is kind of a "real natural" with the basics, tbh. That's why they're the basics.

The only way you'll honestly know where you fit "in the spectrum of skating" is to take tests and/or compete. This sounds stupid and obvious—it is—but if you really want to know what you're good at, you'll want to put yourself through the same measurement and methods as other skaters.

If you feel confident about your skills now, it is an opportune time to enter a Learn To Skate program, or start private instruction with a licensed coach. It's also worth remembering that LTS programs and coaches have insurance and all the necessary clearances from professional organizations; Youtube videos and friendly advice do not. Not sure if you're near Philadelphia, but there are plenty of great places to skate here. Ice time can sometimes be a bear to schedule, but it's there (especially for adults).

And also, I just want to say that just because it's a hobby doesn't diminish its significance to you, or that you have to treat it as "less than" other areas of your life. You'll figure out how to strike a balance that's best for you. Personally speaking, I'm waaaaaaaaaaaaaay happier skating as an adult than when I was a competitor. From my perspective, the adult skating world is great, and I wish I hadn't taken 20 years away from the ice to discover it.

theoreticalgirl said:

I'm adult skater who is at the Novice FS level skills-wise and to be honest, I get the "Are you a professional skater?" remarks all the time from simply doing forward and backward crossovers. What the public sees is not the same as what the skating world sees, to be blunt about it. Everyone is kind of a "real natural" with the basics, tbh. That's why they're the basics.

The only way you'll honestly know where you fit "in the spectrum of skating" is to take tests and/or compete. This sounds stupid and obvious—it is—but if you really want to know what you're good at, you'll want to put yourself through the same measurement and methods as other skaters.

If you feel confident about your skills now, it is an opportune time to enter a Learn To Skate program, or start private instruction with a licensed coach. It's also worth remembering that LTS programs and coaches have insurance and all the necessary clearances from professional organizations; Youtube videos and friendly advice do not. Not sure if you're near Philadelphia, but there are plenty of great places to skate here. Ice time can sometimes be a bear to schedule, but it's there (especially for adults).

And also, I just want to say that just because it's a hobby doesn't diminish its significance to you, or that you have to treat it as "less than" other areas of your life. You'll figure out how to strike a balance that's best for you. Personally speaking, I'm waaaaaaaaaaaaaay happier skating as an adult than when I was a competitor. From my perspective, the adult skating world is great, and I wish I hadn't taken 20 years away from the ice to discover it.

Click to expand...

oh lol isn't this the truth! When you're doing camel spins and loop jumps and some little kid comes up and is all "Are you going to the Olympics?" LOL I'm almost tempted to say "yes, and I'm sure I'll get the gold medal this year."
Still... its better than the little brats who deliberately get in your way or stand in the center for hours on end.

I'm the same age as Ashley Wagner, so its totally possible! haha, doesn't matter if she's been skating 20 gazillion years longer than me.

theoreticalgirl said:

Not sure if you're near Philadelphia, but there are plenty of great places to skate here. Ice time can sometimes be a bear to schedule, but it's there (especially for adults).

Click to expand...

I wish I was near Philadelphia, but that's roughly six hours away depending on what part of Philadelphia you're talking about :sad21: For me to actually commit to a learn to skate would mean taking off work, which as an RA isn't always feasible, and driving 1 hour and half or so to get to the rink. Also, I don't have the finances to afford a learn to skate program or a private coach, which I understand I need either or and preferable the latter option; I'm fairly certain that most people wouldn't want to fund a 21 year old that just wants to skate for pleasure and the sake of doing so, rather people would help to fund if I were an Olympic hopeful and had extremely raw talent at skating, which I'm not interested in competing at an Olympic event and I'm not even sure if I have true talent at all because a lot of people here say I'm probably learning things wrong.

Honestly, people ask if you're a professional skater if you're able to skate forwards and backwards. I have good posture on the ice (ice dancer) and I could just do a one foot glide and I've been asked if I am a professional. Unfortunately, the bar is pretty low in that sense, though it still feels good to hear.

That said, even if you can get coaching once a month, it will help you overall. You say you've taught yourself counters and rockers, but without seeing it, we don't know the quality of them. You may think they look great, but what you think and what you see are two totally different things. I think I look like Meryl Davis when I skate, it's far from what I ACTUALLY look like skating.

But you can still go far. Adult skating is getting more popular, and while we may never go to the Olympics, there are many national and international competitions geared towards adults.

If you can't afford it and get the time for it right now, know that the ice will always be there - after you graduate and start earning your own money, hopefully you'll have both the budget and the time to get more official lessons. Meanwhile, keep enjoying yourself. Your level of talent, or what other people think of your talent, doesn't matter at all. The truth is, that 99.9% of all of us are better at skating than some people and worse than other people. You have to do it for yourself, your own sense of accomplishment. If you just want to be better at skating than most people at public skate, it seems like you already are. To go on, takes a lot of work, and investment of time and money - and it'll only be worth it if you're happy with your own progress.

Off the topic, if your college is near a skating rink, and you can get maybe 10 other students interested, maybe you could look into forming a club sport - that way, it's possible you might get funding from your college. I remember my school would allow this for sports-like activities.