Is this doable? | Golden Skate

Is this doable?

moonvine

All Hail Queen Gracie
Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 14, 2007
Country
United-States
To get through Adult Basic 1-6 by the end of July? Assume I am the worst skater to ever set foot on ice. I would be taking one lesson per week, but freestyle sessions are $6 per hour and I can do several of those, also I am assuming (and this may be wrong) that I don't need freestyle sessions to practice things like "forward marching" and "forward 2 foot glide" (this may be a wrong assumption, if so please correct me.)
 

treblemakerem

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 24, 2014
I know several ladies who have been in group lessons for several years and just now made it to Adult 6. So if you are the worst skater ever, then no it’s prpbably not doable. However I did it in a couple months. It took me a little over a year to pass freeskate 6. I already was fairly comfortable on the ice and could already skate around but never had taken a lesson before I started the group lessons. I would imagine you are probably not actually the worst skater ever though so I would recommend you just sign up for lessons and see how you do. You shouldn’t need freestyle sessions to practice anything in adult 1-6. See if there is an adult only public sessions at your rink or a public session during school hours. I know at my rink you have to be at least in basic 5 and approved by a coach to skate on freestyles so ask what the policy is at your rink.
 

moonvine

All Hail Queen Gracie
Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 14, 2007
Country
United-States
I know several ladies who have been in group lessons for several years and just now made it to Adult 6. So if you are the worst skater ever, then no it’s prpbably not doable. However I did it in a couple months. It took me a little over a year to pass freeskate 6. I already was fairly comfortable on the ice and could already skate around but never had taken a lesson before I started the group lessons. I would imagine you are probably not actually the worst skater ever though so I would recommend you just sign up for lessons and see how you do. You shouldn’t need freestyle sessions to practice anything in adult 1-6. See if there is an adult only public sessions at your rink or a public session during school hours. I know at my rink you have to be at least in basic 5 and approved by a coach to skate on freestyles so ask what the policy is at your rink.

Thank you very much for the information! Second question, should I join the local skating club now or wait until I am better? There's a pretty highly discounted introductory rate but it's only good for the first year.
 

treblemakerem

On the Ice
Joined
Dec 24, 2014
I believe the skating year starts in July, so I would wait until then if you want to join. You have to pay the whole year even if you join now so it makes sense to wait and take advantage of the discount. You will need to be a club member if you want to compete or test but it might be a while before you are ready for that. I'm not a club member myself but planning to join next year so I can start testing. Some rinks have special sessions for club members or discounts. My advice would be to focus on group lessons and see where you are in July and then decide if you want to join.
 

sandraskates

Final Flight
Joined
Oct 31, 2006
Country
United-States
You've mentioned your challenges. You need to see if you can even skate first. I've seen many step on the ice, turn around, get off, and leave.
 
Joined
Mar 2, 2018
If you are the worst skater ever then no, probably not. However if you are average to good? Possibly! It really varies. I'm 26, and I've had about ~6 months total on the ice (started last April but took many months off in the middle due to life circumstances and injury) and just passed Basic 4. I have some of skills already from 5 and 6 (and am working on some of the pre-pre mitf stuff) but not others (helllooooo backwards crossovers, it's nice to meet you). I have a half hour private lesson every week and skate ~6 hours per week. I consider myself on the low end of average in skill level. Not the worst one on the ice but definitely not great haha. The amount of practice I put in makes up for my utter lack of natural ability. My coach expects I'll be in pre-free or fs1 by June, which would put me at having finished Basic 1-6 in a little less than a year. However I've seen some college age girls with some more athletic backgrounds blast through 1-6 in a matter of months so it really depends. You won't know until you start! ...and even then you won't know, I can't even predict with accuracy when I'll finish 5/6!
 

jf12

Final Flight
Joined
Dec 8, 2016
Learn to skate sessions are loosely designed so the average skater moves though one level in a 6-8 week session, that means taking 9 months or so to pass basic 6. Of course the average is not the rule and there are many people who move faster or slower. Most people who would pass basic 6 so quickly are those that start lessons already comfortable on the ice and effectively start at basic 2 or 3.
 

bunnybarista

If I risk it all, could you break my fall?~
On the Ice
Joined
May 27, 2018
I'd say the average adult takes about a year. While it's possible to pass the lower levels in one session, you quite likely will have to re-take the higher levels, like 5 and 6. I know one woman who passed all 6 levels in a matter of a few months, but she was definitely a rare case - and on the other hand, I know someone else who, after 7 months of skating, was still at level 3.

There are so many factors - age, flexibility, access to practice time, adding private lessons, etc. etc. It's best to not set a time limit and just see how it goes and make sure you are having fun! :biggrin:

To answer your question about clubs, it is much too soon to join one right now - you will likely need a LTS membership to take lessons, but that is about $17 as versus the $150+ cost of joining a club. As someone else mentioned, the new season starts July 1st. See how you progress and, if it's going well, you might consider joining a club in the summer. It's really only necessary if you plan on doing USFS testing or competing.
 

moonvine

All Hail Queen Gracie
Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 14, 2007
Country
United-States
You've mentioned your challenges. You need to see if you can even skate first. I've seen many step on the ice, turn around, get off, and leave.

You're right, I do. I tend to enjoy and be better at individual sports where I can progress through levels such as karate (belts) or swimming where I can make my own progress and compete as a senior citizen. So far I have hated team sports such as softball, basketball, etc. Any sport involving balls I tend to stink at.

The first time I went to karate (free class) I actually fell over backwards and the only thing that kept me from bashing the back of my head into the floor HARD was trained people with good instincts who were able to catch me and lower me down. I loved karate and went from going twice a week taking one class, to 5-6 times a week taking 1-2 classes a day, plus I would go to open gym and practice by myself. And i progressed through the belts, though more slowly than people who were athletically gifted.
 

moonvine

All Hail Queen Gracie
Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 14, 2007
Country
United-States
I believe the skating year starts in July, so I would wait until then if you want to join. You have to pay the whole year even if you join now so it makes sense to wait and take advantage of the discount. You will need to be a club member if you want to compete or test but it might be a while before you are ready for that. I'm not a club member myself but planning to join next year so I can start testing. Some rinks have special sessions for club members or discounts. My advice would be to focus on group lessons and see where you are in July and then decide if you want to join.

My reason for joining would be that a person can apply for financial aid for skating. But if I'm not paying a lot yet I don't need to join yet.
 

moonvine

All Hail Queen Gracie
Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 14, 2007
Country
United-States
Learn to skate sessions are loosely designed so the average skater moves though one level in a 6-8 week session, that means taking 9 months or so to pass basic 6. Of course the average is not the rule and there are many people who move faster or slower. Most people who would pass basic 6 so quickly are those that start lessons already comfortable on the ice and effectively start at basic 2 or 3.

The only reason I want to go fast is to take lessons with Gracie. I'll be in Aston anyway to watch the competition. I don't need to pay Gracie $90 an hour to teach me snowplow stop. But I want to skate with her a LOT.
 

jf12

Final Flight
Joined
Dec 8, 2016
The only reason I want to go fast is to take lessons with Gracie. I'll be in Aston anyway to watch the competition. I don't need to pay Gracie $90 an hour to teach me snowplow stop. But I want to skate with her a LOT.

I have never heard of an adult skater getting financial aid from USFSA ever, and not as many as many kids as need it as well. However I wouldn’t feel too much pressure to get to a certain level before taking lessons with Gracie, if your main goal is to spend some time with her, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind teaching you the snowplow stop!!
 

moonvine

All Hail Queen Gracie
Record Breaker
Joined
Mar 14, 2007
Country
United-States
I have never heard of an adult skater getting financial aid from USFSA ever, and not as many as many kids as need it as well. However I wouldn’t feel too much pressure to get to a certain level before taking lessons with Gracie, if your main goal is to spend some time with her, I’m sure she wouldn’t mind teaching you the snowplow stop!!

It isn't USFSA, it is some local skating club, which I can't find now (there is more than one). I would not even need any until/if I were competing, and I wouldn't deserve it over a younger skater who might go far. I'm just accustomed to Seido karate in which EVERYONE with financial need gets it, but obviously that's a different sport, I was at a dojo which is nonprofit and has a core belief that financial hardship should not keep a person from doing karate, and where the majority of teachers are volunteers. So I need to get that stuff out of my mind. Thanks for the reassurance re: Gracie. I will hope to at least be out of Adult 1 before I get to PA. My main hope is that she will too busy getting ready to skate to deal with me. I think Philly would be a great competition for her.
 

gkelly

Record Breaker
Joined
Jul 26, 2003
You'd have to look into what your local skating club offers before deciding when it would be beneficial for you to join. There is a wide range of how different clubs across the country operate.

Most likely, joining a skating club will be an additional expense for you, not a way to save money.

Club membership is not a huge amount of money compared to the costs of ice time and lessons, but there's no need to join until you can get something useful in exchange for which you need to be a USFS member or a member of that specific club: the right to take standard USFS tests starting with Pre-Preliminary or Adult Pre-Bronze (this would be after finishing the basic skills lessons, so figure at least 6 months and possibly several years after first beginning), the right to compete in standard/adult track events, the right to become a USFS official; the right to participate in club activities like shows, or test sessions without an out-of-club fee, or club ice time if they offer it, etc.

Check with your local club and see what benefits they offer to members. But don't count on any of those benefits to be financial.

Beginning lessons and public practice sessions can be comparable in cost to other recreational activities that require access to facilities and expert instruction. But the further skaters get into testing and competing, including adults, the more the costs can add up.

I've never seen local clubs give money to skaters just so that they can afford to skate.

The costs of skating are primarily paying rinks to maintain the ice and allow you to skate on it, and then to take lessons from professional instructors. In most cases you'd be paying the rink and/or the instructor directly, not the club. But some clubs do offer ice time for their members, and some do offer instruction. You'd have to see what the setup is in your area.

I have seen clubs offer some kind of modest stipend to skaters who compete in qualifying competitions, however they define that. But it would be a drop in the bucket compared to the years of training it takes to get good enough to compete at those levels. Maybe your local club does this, and maybe you will enter adult competitions someday that would qualify for this kind of support, but it's not something that would be relevant at the beginning of your skating journey and it's not something that would make learning to skate in the first place any more affordable.
 

adultskater18

Rinkside
Joined
Jan 15, 2019
I got to basic 5-6 after about 2ish months of adult learn to skate classes. I'm in my early 30s, never skated before although I could skate around the rink at a good clip and not fall or be wobbly or anything . I had one 30 min group lesson a week, and I practiced twice a week in addition to that during public sessions. Probably 3-4 hours a week of practice. I did have some nice adult skaters who taught me some skills and gave me pointers during public sessions, which definitely was a leg up. I also watched a lot of YouTube videos, etc for help. So it's doable
 

DanseMacabre

Final Flight
Joined
May 27, 2018
Country
Iceland
To get through Adult Basic 1-6 by the end of July? Assume I am the worst skater to ever set foot on ice. I would be taking one lesson per week, but freestyle sessions are $6 per hour and I can do several of those, also I am assuming (and this may be wrong) that I don't need freestyle sessions to practice things like "forward marching" and "forward 2 foot glide" (this may be a wrong assumption, if so please correct me.)

It's also worth noting that not only do you not need freestyle sessions to practice basic skills like that, but some rinks won't allow skaters who haven't progressed to a certain point to join freestyle sessions for their own safety and the safety of the other skaters. My rink doesn't allow basic skill skaters on even the low freestyle sessions (you need to be at least Learn To Skate free skate level 1 as defined on this handy chart: https://learntoskateusa.com/media/1088/curriculum_freeskate.pdf). Your rink's rules may differ but you should check before you try to attend a freestyle session. If you're learning the very basics, you'll be fine on a public or general skate session.

ETA: I just noticed another poster made this point as well. Oh well. Still stands.
 

Sabrina

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 13, 2013
Could someone tell me just what are the requirements to get level 5? I don't know many things about adult skating other than it sucks (LOL) when compared to kids and young skaters. I am not talking about people younger than 40. Some time ago I joined some cheap group adult skating. They placed me in the most advanced group. The second class I felt better and tried back crossovers and little spins. I was so happy that I lost focus, so in the next 5 minutes I managed to fall, broke my wrist and got a black eye. My only good thing is that I am skating since I was 5 years old, but never in a club. I only had a coach at 5 and when I broke my wrist.
 

DanseMacabre

Final Flight
Joined
May 27, 2018
Country
Iceland
Could someone tell me just what are the requirements to get level 5? I don't know many things about adult skating other than it sucks (LOL) when compared to kids and young skaters. I am not talking about people younger than 40. Some time ago I joined some cheap group adult skating. They placed me in the most advanced group. The second class I felt better and tried back crossovers and little spins. I was so happy that I lost focus, so in the next 5 minutes I managed to fall, broke my wrist and got a black eye. My only good thing is that I am skating since I was 5 years old, but never in a club. I only had a coach at 5 and when I broke my wrist.

This is the Adult Basic curriculum (six levels) if that's what you mean: https://www.learntoskateusa.com/media/1173/curriculum_adult.pdf
 

Tavi...

Record Breaker
Joined
Feb 10, 2014
Could someone tell me just what are the requirements to get level 5? I don't know many things about adult skating other than it sucks (LOL) when compared to kids and young skaters. I am not talking about people younger than 40. Some time ago I joined some cheap group adult skating. They placed me in the most advanced group. The second class I felt better and tried back crossovers and little spins. I was so happy that I lost focus, so in the next 5 minutes I managed to fall, broke my wrist and got a black eye. My only good thing is that I am skating since I was 5 years old, but never in a club. I only had a coach at 5 and when I broke my wrist.

Are you asking about US or Canada? This is a skills chart for Canada:

http://pickeringskatingclub.ca/wp-content/uploads/2015/10/CanSkate_Skills_Chart-EN-20151008-2-tk.pdf
 
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