Adult beginner

I'm getting back into skating after a 10 year layoff. I'm currently taking group lessons and am working on the basics (backwards, mohawks, turns). How long does it take to be that person in the center ice attempting the single loops and the sit spins?

I think Cinderella is the 47 year old with the axel: how long did you skate before getting it and how often did you practice? (this goes for any other adult skaters as well.)

I will have been skating for five years at the end of this month. I didn't skate at all as a kid, started at age 41. I started at beginner ("wall clinger," actually ) and am now an ISI level Freestyle 2-3. I have a good salchow, pretty solid half jumps although half lutz needs work, a beginner toe loop, a good two foot spin and the one foot spin is coming. I'm not a natural by any means, I often have to fight for skills, but with hard work I'm convinced I'll be able to go as far as an axel some day. It helps that I love it. Since you have experience and are really working on the harder basics now, I think you'll be jumping and spinning in pretty short order. Good luck, and please post on our practice threads so we can see how you are doing. The more the merrier!!!!

I came back at age 38 after a 25 year absence! Some things were easy to learn again (back cross-overs came right back, not so the courage to jump). After about a year and a half back, I am finally at the point where I've stopped wondering "could I do that when I was a little kid"? I've come to see myself as a skater again, not someone who used to skate.

For me, the biggest issue is courage. Learning (or relearning) new things can be scary. But always fun.

Go for it!

Hi Soogar I skated as a teenager but quit because of the expense. Went back to skating in my late 20's but had to stop when my sons were born. I am 44 and haven't been around a skating rink for about 8 yrs until I moved about 10 months ago to an area that has ice rinks. I have been skating regularly for about 4 months now and can do most of my single jumps except the lutz and axel. I can do my one foot spin, scratch spin, sit spin and a not so good camel spin. I am working on my edges and spread eagles, along with my forward and backward spirals. I'm not taking any lessons but would love to start private ones in the near future. My big problem is my skates-they hurt my feet too much So I'm looking for a new pair to buy.

Good luck to ya and happy skating. Keep us posted on your progress.

I skated a lot when I was a teenager and I even took private lessons for a month. I really liked doing figure 8s and my instructor at the time said that I had a knack for them. What sucks is that there is no opportunity around here to learn figures (no patch sessions). I feel really nervous learning how to turn and do mohawks with people all around me. What I loved the most about patch sessions was that each person got their own space and you could learn the element w/out worrying about getting in someone's way.

I can sympathize considering I'm starting to do some "patch" as I'd like to compete a figure this coming May if I can get it together. You might want to consider private lessons if you can swing it money and time-wise and have a coach whom you like who is available. Above all, keep it up. We LOVE hearing about people who are starting out or going back to skating here.

Yazmeen and Dikkes8fan, how many times a week do you skate?

I skate 3 times a week.

soogar: "In season," about 4-5 hours per week, not counting the time I spend on ice as a volunteer assistant coach. In the summer, about 2-4 hours per week.

I have two, half hour freestyle lessons per week.

I have a one hour synchro lesson/practice per week.

I take a 30 minute to one hour stretch class with one of our skating coaches most weeks.

Hi Sooger, welcome back to the ice!

While I won't be 47 until May (ahem ahem, let's not push things here!!! ), I'll be happy to answer your questions too.

I skated for 7 years as a kid, from ages 7-14. At the time I left, I had passed ISI Freestyle 6, which meant I could do a decent 2toe and 2sal and a flying camel and possibly some kind of flying sit spin. I also skated pairs and some ice dance for 5 of those years, so my practices were divided up between skating alone and with my partner. My partner and I could do a number of lifts and death spirals.

Then I basically did not skate for 30+ years, except maybe on about 6 separate occasions. Each time I would try to "regain" my former skills in one skating session, and each time it got uglier and harder!

When I "came back" almost 2 years ago, I was only skating one day a week for about 4 months. Then I realized I had better get a coach, and that's when things started to change. While I could land my single jumps right away, they were ugly and pathetic. She brought them back quickly. I started practicing 3x a week, for a total of 5 hours.

She didn't want me to do axels, but I was working on them in practice. They were ugly, but I would land maybe 1 in 10. But we were so busy concentrating on getting me to pass my Moves in the Field tests, that it wasn't for about 8 months until I started work on them again. Right after I broke my wrist (standing up on the ice, taking notes), I attended a seminar by Olympic coach Kathy Casey. Since I was in a cast, she didn't want me trying axels; only once arounds. But she drew a diagram of how my takeoff should be, and at the next practice I tried it and landed 7 out of 10!!! What a shock! Now I usually land 9 out of 10, and they are much bigger. Now I am skating 4x a week for a total of about 7 hours a week.

But enough about me. What I think is the best thing to do is to not worry at all about what you used to be able to do. Even though I found that things came back pretty quickly, I also think they came back kind of ugly! Your body is not the same body that it was 10 years ago, no matter how good of shape you are in. It's just different. It's older.

So the best advice I can give is to start back from the beginning, have patience, and train your body to do things all over again, right from the basics. Work on eliminating any bad habits and don't worry about not being able to do something yet. I think we "returning" adults are better off thinking of ourselves in the present (like Icer says). Because when it comes down to it, you should love to skate, you should continue to strive to improve, and you just never know how quickly you will follow one breakthrough with another. There is no right or wrong length of time, and you can't judge yourself by what others do.

Remember that old adage, it's not the destination that is important, it's the journey. I try to enjoy every single stroke of the journey. I hope you will too.

And best of luck with your skating!!!!

Thank you

Thank you for your thoughts on being an adult beginner. I too am "starting over", although my background wasn't much - skated casually & recreationally from the time I was little through college, then was fortunate to go to a school with a skating program, had a few lessons, skated in one show...then, I took off for my regular career & left all winter sports behind. About 5 years ago, after my third child, I skated & took a few lessons one summer, but then the scheduling became impossible.

Now just this past season my littlest is in a school not far from a great outdoor rink, so I can drop him off at 8 & then go skate for a half hour or hour before heading off to work. it has been GREAT! I love it. And skating every morning, plus private lessons once (sometimes twice) a week has made such a difference. Clearly skating 2 times a week just won't do it in terms of improving. I have two great teachers - one pushes me to learn more new skills and has lots of experience & tricks to help me; and the other is a genius at pure skating tehnique, and he works on my basic positioning & essentials. Next week I will skate a tiny program in the students' recital, and it is just so much fun. I don't think I'll ever quit again! I'm going to try to keep going to another rink over the summer & continuing with my lessons, & it's time to replace those 30 year old boots & blades with something more real. My only regret is that there doesn't seem to be any adult synchro in my area, as that would be a goal I would love to work for. Oh and I didn't say before - but I'm 47, soon to be 48, & I've improved so much just in one year (inside & outside 3s, mohawks, spiral, back cutbacks, power pulls, 2 ft spins, etc) that I think I don't need to feel limited much by my age or my old body.

I started skating about 6 years ago, at age 30. I had rarely skated as a kid, so was a complete beginner. I've taken one lesson a week since then, with time off recently for having a baby. I have limited time to practice, and often only get onto the ice once a week during my lesson, so my progress has been slow. I don't care, though, I really like it. I've passed my USFSA adult pre-bronze moves in the field test.

I'm really more of a moves type of person, than a jumps and spins type of person. It doesn't help that I'm about 50 lbs overweight. I can do the 3 turns, mohawks, one and two foot spins, have begun a sit spin, and some horrid and very basic jumps. I am working on a waltz jump and a very shaky salchow. I can, however, do a mean spiral. A "better than the young kids, wow look at that old fat lady over there she can really skate" spiral.

How does one go about selecting an instructor? Right now I'm taking group lessons from one instructor and while I like her, I keep comparing her to the instructor I had when I was a teenager who was very technically oriented and would explain everything very well. This group instructor is pretty good however I think I might prefer someone different.
Would she feel insulted if I took lessons from someone other than her?
I'm not sure what to look for in an instructor. When I was a teen, I was skating around and started a conversation with another skater who happened to be a coach and I lucked out there. I really want someone who is a stickler for detail however I am not familiar with the coaches in this rink. I'm also a poor student and I don't have a lot of dollars to spend on coaching and ice time.

Hi everyone! I'm a beginning adult skater. I did roller-skating as a kid, but ice is oh-so-new and slippery!

I've been taking an adult beginner class and today was evaluation day. I made it into Level 2 so I guess I'm doing okay. My one-foot glide is very brief (about a nanosecond) and I still can't really manage a snowplow of any sort. But I'm hanging in there. My big goal right now (don't laugh!) is to do a crossover.

This seems like a great forum and I'm so glad to have found it.

Hi Chana and welcome to GS! Keep us up to date on your skating progress and have fun skating

How does one find figure skating lessons? I would seriously give it some thought. I'm a 33 year old male who hasn't ice skated much...I rollerblade, but I'm sure it's quite different. Would it be realistic to take lessons and one day be able to do jumps?

How does one find figure skating lessons?

Go to your nearest ice skating rink and inquire about skating lessons. Anything from group to private should be available.

Would it be realistic to take lessons and one day be able to do jumps?

Yes! By all means take skating lessons and if you want you can learn to jump-you're still young!

soogar said:

How does one go about selecting an instructor? Right now I'm taking group lessons from one instructor and while I like her, I keep comparing her to the instructor I had when I was a teenager who was very technically oriented and would explain everything very well. This group instructor is pretty good however I think I might prefer someone different...

Click to expand...

I lucked into my coach. She was the skating school director at a new rink they'd built on my commute, and I called her to ask about lessons, and she ended up as my coach. I think, if I had to find a new one, I'd ask her for a recommendation. Where do you live? Perhaps she knows someone there!

Another way would be to call the rink and ask for the name of their skating school director. Call that person and ask them to recommend someone who coaches there and who meets your need for detail, and who teaches adults.