Questions for those that skated "patch" and did figures

SmallAminal · Dec 23, 2019

I only knew that the rink had "patch ice" times when I was a kid - I was never there to see how it actually was when people did figures.

Did you get your own "patch" or square assigned to you? Did they assign it in grid form (e.g. square B2 or C5)? How was space allocated?

What was the etiquette for getting on/off the ice (because you know, I imagine it sucks to have random people going through your patch when you are trying to do figures)? Did everyone get on at once and you had to stay on the whole time? Were there "lanes" that you used to get to your patch of ice?

Did they have to do more scraping of the ice after patch (if there were deep impressions in the ice from tracing patterns)?

I'm curious and would love to hear from someone who used to do this.

JSM · Dec 23, 2019

We had marks on the wall to designate patch areas, definitely in a grid. It’s been a long time, so I don’t remember how many. But you were assigned a spot, skated along the wall to get there, and you only went into someone’s else’s space when doing serpentines, and therefore had to cross over the center line. Ah, the good old days!

(I hated them as a kid, but I do miss them now, and will occasionally do figures if I’m lucky to get a fairly empty session).

IIRC, there was usually patch followed by a freestyle session, no ice make in between (no need for it).

gkelly · Dec 23, 2019

I only did about a year and a half. From my memory:

The rink was virtually sliced into strips about 18 feet wide reaching across the rink from long wall to long wall, usually with numbers applied to the boards to mark the center of each lane. Two skaters would share a strip and not cross the center line until later in the session to practice the three-circle figures (serpentines), as JSM says. Skaters would skate next to the wall to get to their patch.

I do remember skaters drawing lines across the width of the ice with their heels to designate the borders of their patch.

As a beginner working on Preliminary figures, I would usually be assigned to the patch at the end of the ice near the zamboni door, which was less desirable because of the rounded corners and sometimes bumpier ice.

sandraskates · Dec 23, 2019

I recall everything about patch sessions that has already been posted.
The rink I skated at had World and Olympic competitors. They ALWAYS got the coveted center patches (smooth and level ice). The rest of the time, patch assignments were rotated. Thus, even if you were only working on the Preliminary or First figures you'd still get some non-corner (worst) patches periodically.
Corners were always assigned last.

If you were working on serpentines it was proper etiquette to always ask "OK if I overlap your patch?" and of course the answer was always "Sure, go ahead!"
Aahhhh, the olden days.

And at one rink non-USA rink I trained at, scribes were totally frowned upon. Although I only used mine to check my circles, I used to get the stink-eye from one of the coaches there.

SmallAminal · Dec 23, 2019

Wow this is so interesting - thanks everyone for sharing!

I remember seeing the scribes and wanting to use it like a compass on the ice - my 7 year-old self thinking it would be great fun to "draw" on the ice with it.

celia · Dec 23, 2019

gkelly said:
As a beginner working on Preliminary figures, I would usually be assigned to the patch at the end of the ice near the zamboni door, which was less desirable because of the rounded corners and sometimes bumpier ice.

If I recall correctly, at our rink the "corner" patches were usually only one patch (you got the whole strip/width of the rink instead of just half the strip to make up for losing real estate on the rounded corners).

It was so meditative. I miss it.

sandraskates · Dec 23, 2019

gkelly said:
I do remember skaters drawing lines across the width of the ice with their heels to designate the borders of their patch.

Oh yeah. And there was heck to pay if you drew that border wrong and narrowed you neighbors patch!

Ic3Rabbit · Dec 23, 2019

Everyone else in this thread pretty much summed it up for me and I agree with their recollections. I loved figures and patch.

sk8kirsty · Dec 23, 2019

Patch in our rink is pretty different to most rinks as we don't get assigned any sort of "patch" to ourselves. The session is still called patch and is on every day from 6:00am till 9:00am however it is not organised in the way that other rinks are.
I'd say there's maybe like 5-10 skaters every patch session so we don't really need to worry about getting in the way of each other as there are not many of us.
In patch at our rink, programmes take priority. So basically if we are in patch and someone is running their programme, we need to be aware of who is running it and stay out of their way. I tend to just stand at the side whenever someone runs their programme bc I don't want to get in their way.
We have strict rules for patch, e.g. no parents are allowed to watch, no talking to friends allowed on the ice, if not training full out you must stay at the side. But overall it has helped me so much to become a better skater so I am lucky to be a part of it.
Hope this helped! [emoji16][emoji119]

tstop4me · Dec 23, 2019

sk8kirsty said:
Patch in our rink is pretty different to most rinks as we don't get assigned any sort of "patch" to ourselves. The session is still called patch and is on every day from 6:00am till 9:00am however it is not organised in the way that other rinks are.
I'd say there's maybe like 5-10 skaters every patch session so we don't really need to worry about getting in the way of each other as there are not many of us.
In patch at our rink, programmes take priority. So basically if we are in patch and someone is running their programme, we need to be aware of who is running it and stay out of their way. I tend to just stand at the side whenever someone runs their programme bc I don't want to get in their way.
We have strict rules for patch, e.g. no parents are allowed to watch, no talking to friends allowed on the ice, if not training full out you must stay at the side. But overall it has helped me so much to become a better skater so I am lucky to be a part of it.
Hope this helped! [emoji16][emoji119]

I think there may be a language difference here. I also visit a UK skating website. What they call "patch" over there, we call "freestyle" in the US. Since you talk about skaters running their programs, I think you're using "patch" in the UK sense (maybe that will change after Brexit

).

The "patch" in the US sense used by the OP refers to what was previously known as compulsory figures.

sk8kirsty · Dec 24, 2019

tstop4me said:
I think there may be a language difference here. I also visit a UK skating website. What they call "patch" over there, we call "freestyle" in the US. Since you talk about skaters running their programs, I think you're using "patch" in the UK sense (maybe that will change after Brexit ).

The "patch" in the US sense used by the OP refers to what was previously known as compulsory figures.

Patch in our rink used to be for figures like what its like in the US but over the years it has changed and is now just a training strict session for practice and running programmes

WednesdayMarch · Dec 24, 2019

I loved patch and compulsory figures. It was so quiet and contemplative. One (slightly rebellious) girl used to eat garlic sausage sandwiches early on Sunday mornings as she traced her figures. Legend had it that she'd been out all night. In the UK we called both figures and free training sessions "patch" and the word is still used for what is now just freestyle/dance training ice.

I was very sad when compulsory figures were consigned to the scrap heap, but I have to admit that I think Field Moves (Moves In The Field) are great. In my ideal world, both would be taught and practiced.

I don't miss having to change skates after figures, though. That was a pain in the backside, as the second pair were always freezing cold.

Vicki7 · Dec 25, 2019

I'm lucky that if I wanted to, I could still do figures in competition

I'm too young to remember when figures were routinely taught, but have done a couple of workshops through Inclusive Skating - including a semi private lesson with Karen Courtland Kelly back in April. I just wish I could see my tracings more easily! It's so serene when there's just a rink full of folks concentrating, in their own little world.

I am terrible at figures, my forward eights are appalling

Questions for those that skated "patch" and did figures

SmallAminal

JSM

gkelly

sandraskates

SmallAminal

celia

sandraskates

Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️

sk8kirsty

tstop4me

sk8kirsty

WednesdayMarch

Nicer When Fed

Vicki7

Similar threads

Connect with us