Home practice in skates?

[NapoleonSissy]

Hi,
so I've been taking group lessons. I am generally in the average/better part of our group, but I do have huge issues with crossing over my feet, either in crossovers or crossrolls. I can't even do the prep for crossrolls (the one where you don't lift your feet).
It's quite embarassing because I seem to be the only one who has such a block. And I say block because it's not like I fall when I try.
I can't force myself to try. I always chicken out. Falling would be an improvement.

I've talked with our coach over this and she said I might need to learn how to balance on skates better, especially that motion with the weight and height of the skates. That I need to get this down to feel confident enough to do it on ice.
It seemed weird at first because I work out regularly and my balance seems to be fine, but she had me try off ice with my guards on and yes, I can't balance the motion properly when wearing my skates.It doesn't help me mentally that I'm only 170 cm but I have size 41, so my skates are actually big and my blades long compared to how long my legs feel. But she said bending my knees will make up for that.
Most importantly, she suggested I practice the crossing over motion in my skate guards at home.

I did try it and there seems to be an improvement (like I learned it's way easier to cross from an outside edge than inside), but I am worried if I'm not damaging my blades by wearing my skates so much in their guards and walking/crossing around the house, around 30 minutes a day, few days a week?? I always have my guards on and I'm just "stepping", no jumps or anything.

I have to yet try if it helped on ice as I am able to skate only on weekends. I'm not sure how much harder it is on ice, as balance in the guards, especially on a carpet; is harder than I thought.

Thanks for any help or tips!

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

Hi,
so I've been taking group lessons. I am generally in the average/better part of our group, but I do have huge issues with crossing over my feet, either in crossovers or crossrolls. I can't even do the prep for crossrolls (the one where you don't lift your feet).
It's quite embarassing because I seem to be the only one who has such a block. And I say block because it's not like I fall when I try.
I can't force myself to try. I always chicken out. Falling would be an improvement.

I've talked with our coach over this and she said I might need to learn how to balance on skates better, especially that motion with the weight and height of the skates. That I need to get this down to feel confident enough to do it on ice.
It seemed weird at first because I work out regularly and my balance seems to be fine, but she had me try off ice with my guards on and yes, I can't balance the motion properly when wearing my skates.It doesn't help me mentally that I'm only 170 cm but I have size 41, so my skates are actually big and my blades long compared to how long my legs feel. But she said bending my knees will make up for that.
Most importantly, she suggested I practice the crossing over motion in my skate guards at home.

I did try it and there seems to be an improvement (like I learned it's way easier to cross from an outside edge than inside), but I am worried if I'm not damaging my blades by wearing my skates so much in their guards and walking/crossing around the house, around 30 minutes a day, few days a week?? I always have my guards on and I'm just "stepping", no jumps or anything.

I have to yet try if it helped on ice as I am able to skate only on weekends. I'm not sure how much harder it is on ice, as balance in the guards, especially on a carpet; is harder than I thought.

Thanks for any help or tips!

hi and welcome! You are fine walking about in your skates with guards on in your home. Back when boots were all leather and mine were very stiff due to my skating level, when I first got them I was instructed to walk around to kind of break them in. You will be fine. Good luck learning!

 

[Talionis]

I did just that - practiced the crossing over motion with skate guards on on carpet at home. I also practiced it without skates in bare feet, because hey, why not? I did notice an improvement the next time I tried it on ice - I had a better sense of how high I needed to lift my foot to clear the skating foot while crossing, and less fear that I would set one foot down on top of the other and go tumbling. It’s still not pretty, and I need to practice off-ice some more, but I don’t freeze up as often.