Adult Skaters: One Thing You Wish You Knew

[HopeSpringsEternal]

So, personally, I always like seeing updates from people on the forums, so I thought I'd give a quick one of my own: I passed Adult Basic One today! I could have maybe (maybe) also passed Adult Basic 2, but my rink does everything one class at a time. There's no LTS for the summer, so I'm getting private lessons, and I'm super stoked. I've had an absolute blast, and I can't wait to suck less than I currently do.

I also figured, I ought to add to the original purpose of this thread! So! My own advice after two months of skating: don't overthink it! I often find myself making things more complicated than they are and reciting to myself "pretend you're not on the ice, not in skates, and just do it" for some simple things!

 

[karne]

So, personally, I always like seeing updates from people on the forums, so I thought I'd give a quick one of my own: I passed Adult Basic One today! I could have maybe (maybe) also passed Adult Basic 2, but my rink does everything one class at a time. There's no LTS for the summer, so I'm getting private lessons, and I'm super stoked. I've had an absolute blast, and I can't wait to suck less than I currently do.

I also figured, I ought to add to the original purpose of this thread! So! My own advice after two months of skating: don't overthink it! I often find myself making things more complicated than they are and reciting to myself "pretend you're not on the ice, not in skates, and just do it" for some simple things!

Congratulations! :yay: :yay:


karne dispenses her wisdom to the thread:

listen to your body. don't overdo it. give it time to recover from injuries. or else, have really good private health insurance and a really good physio. *ouch*

 

[hanyuufan5]

Something I just figured out and wish I had known as a kid let alone an adult:

No near-stationary jumps!!!!! I was always afraid of doing waltz jumps with any sort of speed, because they just never felt steady enough even though I was good at them. Yesterday, I saw that some people in the lessons were doing them out of back three-turns (?) and tried it myself. SO MUCH EASIER AND STEADIER. Yay angular momentum.

 

[vlaurend]

I found myself telling this to someone the other day and then realizing it would have been helpful if someone had told me this when I was first learning back crossovers: If you experience the "click-of-death" on backward crossovers, it's because you didn't keep you butt low enough! The heel of the crossing-over blade catches the toe of the crossing under blade only when the feet come too close together during the crossover. If the feet come too close together, it's because you raised your butt and started straightening your legs. If you keep your butt down the entire time, it keeps your stance wider, so that can't happen. P.S. There's a reason these happen most often when the skater is either nervous (stiff knees) or very tired (thighs burned out)!