So you want to be a figure skater

[Mathman]

Welcome, and thanks for posting.

Wear a helmet. Yes, skaters at every level fall on the ice a lot and get concussions. Three-time U.S. champion Ashley Wagner has a history of concussions, for instance. Wear a helmet.

Did I mention, wear a helmet?

 

[brightphoton]

Three-time U.S. champion Ashley Wagner has a history of concussions, for instance.

Ashley has a few friends too.

• Ashley Wagner: minimum of 5 concussions, has lost the ability to do higher level math and struggles with short-term memory.
• Rachael Flatt (national champion): about 6 concussions, fought to get the US Figure Skating Association to take the concussion issue seriously.
• Evan Lysacek (Olympic gold medalist): 15+ concussions.
• Dick Button (Olympic medalist and commentator): lost hearing in his left ear due to a concussion.

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

I'm 15 and have always had a passion to learn how to skate and actually compete with it...is it too late though? I can no longer play volleyball or basketball due to too many concussions and brain surgery. Yet I went ice skating for the first time and my friend helped me along the way. I fell in love with it! Although my mom says it's a waste of time and I should just forget about it but I can't help but think about it. Should I listen to her or try harder to find a way to skate? Is it a big concussion risk?

Hi roseyice! I am not here to be bearer of possible bad news, but I have to suggest that you get the advice of your neurologist before attempting skating.

If you were here to say that you just wanted to go to public skate with a friend and wear a helmet then I would say you might be okay. But figure skating can be a highly concussive sport (I know this from personal experience competing at the highest levels) and if you wanted to compete with it then you will be learning jumps, spins and other movements that will put you in your case in VERY high risk for re-injuring your brain or getting concussions. As a pro, I would advise against it.

Please talk to your doctors and get their advice first.

All the best.

 

[Tonichelle]

Welcome, amd thanks for posting.

Wear a helmet. Yes, skaters at every level fall on the ice a lot and get concussions. Three-time U.S. champion Ashley Wagner has a history of concussions, for instance. Wear a helmet.

Did I mention, wear a helmet?

Hey MM, ever think of maybe a helmet?

 

[karne]

Ashley has a few friends too.

• Ashley Wagner: minimum of 5 concussions, has lost the ability to do higher level math and struggles with short-term memory.
• Rachael Flatt (national champion): about 6 concussions, fought to get the US Figure Skating Association to take the concussion issue seriously.
• Evan Lysacek (Olympic gold medalist): 15+ concussions.
• Dick Button (Olympic medalist and commentator): lost hearing in his left ear due to a concussion.

Ashley also received multiple whiplash concussions, which a helmet will do absolutely nothing about.

I will second IceRabbit's recommendation - I'd be having a long talk with your doctor before starting up skating.

 

[GrandmaCC]

Absolutely talk with your doctors, and then your insurance company to make sure they’re cool with you skating - read that policy back to front!! It may be that you’re not considered to be more at risk of incurring a head injury by taking up skating PROVIDED you’ve had your doctors/one of their doctors sign off on it, or stipulate that you may skate but only with a helmet worn, only with a certified coach, something like that. I wouldn’t be taking one step on to the ice without those safeguards in place.

Assuming you’re good to go, I say go and enjoy it!! I took classes at 14 and while I sure felt like an old lady then, now that I’m more than twice that age, 14 seems like a baby!
Provided you’re financially able to be a skater and are content to enjoy competing at levels that, on the balance of probabilities, will not be international or Olympic, go for it

 

[Sabrina]

If you love skating you may do that provided you take extra care, not only wear a helmet but also don't go alone. Regular stroking is not prone to concussions, but it may still happen as ice is slippery. But if you start close to the boards, learn stroking, like pushing with the edge, not the pick it should be OK. I would not recommend high speed spins and jumps, so no competing, and that because of your history of concussions and brain surgery.

 

[Girlbird]

Ashley has a few friends too.

• Ashley Wagner: minimum of 5 concussions, has lost the ability to do higher level math and struggles with short-term memory.
• Rachael Flatt (national champion): about 6 concussions, fought to get the US Figure Skating Association to take the concussion issue seriously.
• Evan Lysacek (Olympic gold medalist): 15+ concussions.
• Dick Button (Olympic medalist and commentator): lost hearing in his left ear due to a concussion.

Does this explain Wagner's inability to refrain from putting her foot in her mouth? O_O

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

Does this explain Wagner's inability to refrain from putting her foot in her mouth? O_O

That's a really ignorant statement to make when you don't know the person and don't know what she's gone through. The head/brain injuries she's had are no laughing matter.

 

[ViolVul]

Derailing a bit from the current topic, I have been thinking... it seems to me that a lot of adult beginners like myself ask if they can ever get triples/quads and the routine answer is that it is very unlikely, sabotaging the chances of a late starter to ever get serious with the sport.
I was on the other hand wondering if there is a similar barrier with ice dance? To my external eye it looks like the main challenges are 1) strength and 2) coordinating with the other person and 3) actually FINDING a partner, possibly? But it seems to lack taxing movements such as in freestyle. I mean, so far, I don't think I have seen anything in ice dance I could not learn (not necessarily elegantly - nor too well - just the ability to get there) with the right amount of discipline. What are y'all's opinions on this?

 

[Mussique]

Derailing a bit from the current topic, I have been thinking... it seems to me that a lot of adult beginners like myself ask if they can ever get triples/quads and the routine answer is that it is very unlikely, sabotaging the chances of a late starter to ever get serious with the sport.
I was on the other hand wondering if there is a similar barrier with ice dance? To my external eye it looks like the main challenges are 1) strength and 2) coordinating with the other person and 3) actually FINDING a partner, possibly? But it seems to lack taxing movements such as in freestyle. I mean, so far, I don't think I have seen anything in ice dance I could not learn (not necessarily elegantly - nor too well - just the ability to get there) with the right amount of discipline. What are y'all's opinions on this?

Well, in ice dance they have longer longevity than in singles for sure. And it's possibly for an adult to learn all the moves —maybe not the lifts but weirder things have happened.

The problem comes with the amount of years/time you can put into training compared with a younger kid. You can probably learn the moves but it's unlikely they'll have the same quality as someone who has had them in muscular memory for 11 years, learnt then as a kid and still trains for at least 2 hours a day —and quality in ice dance is everything: deep edges, coordination, flow... Not to mention is not just training on your own but with someone else.
Also, ice dance is much harder than it looks.

 

[jf12]

Derailing a bit from the current topic, I have been thinking... it seems to me that a lot of adult beginners like myself ask if they can ever get triples/quads and the routine answer is that it is very unlikely, sabotaging the chances of a late starter to ever get serious with the sport.
I was on the other hand wondering if there is a similar barrier with ice dance? To my external eye it looks like the main challenges are 1) strength and 2) coordinating with the other person and 3) actually FINDING a partner, possibly? But it seems to lack taxing movements such as in freestyle. I mean, so far, I don't think I have seen anything in ice dance I could not learn (not necessarily elegantly - nor too well - just the ability to get there) with the right amount of discipline. What are y'all's opinions on this?

You’re right, in that it is probably a more attainable goal for an adult starter to pass all their gold dances with a coach or solo than to pass senior freestyle. If you are a man, and you accomplished that, you could probably easily get into coaching or partnering no matter when you started. That said, in ice dance they make it look easy but it’s actually very difficult. If you can see yourself learning to do the steps but not elegantly, you will not pass the dance. Judging in dance can also be highly subjective, based on overall look of the couple and style, much more than other disciplines. Having style and expression is often something that some skaters have naturally and some skaters find it very difficult to learn.

Even if your main focus is freestyle though, I would highly recommend trying ice dance- it makes your skating so much better!

 

[karne]

I answered in your thread.

It wasn't necessary to ask in three separate threads.

 

[VegMom]

I recently found this guideline for coaches/parents. There are, of course, exceptions.

“Does your skater have what it takes to be elite? Figure skaters who fit the profile of potential to become elite national, international, and world-level athletes:

“Ages 6-8
Well-executed single jumps
Strong expressed desire to learn
Skating 5-6 days weekly, participating in off-ice programs such as conditioning, dance, jump classes, etc.

“Ages 9-11
Immersed in skating, all doubles landed with strong foundation on double axel and early triples

“Ages 12-16
Double axel, triples and triple triples, potential to do triple axel and quads

“Ages 17-20
Men: Triple axel and working on quads
Women: Full set of triples”

https://grassrootstochampions.com/yas/seminars/g2c-elite/#chart

 

[mishulyia]

Hello everybody! I have an almost-5-year old daughter that has been skating since she was 3. She is currently in Basic 3 and has been repeating it the past two LTS sessions. Our rink offers 2 different days for LTS in the Fall, and in the past we traditionally signed up for the once-a-week group lessons, as per the norm. My child has expressed the desire to skate more often recently. Public skate sessions are fun for her, and she sometimes does self-initiate and practice her moves independently, but I am not a coach and not qualified to correct anything I read on the USFSA website that you can ask your LTS skating director to take LTS group lessons twice a week, but I don’t think any other young skaters at our rink do this. Is this common? Or do younger kiddos wanting more ice time go straight to private lessons? We cannot join our rink’s FSC until at least Basic 4, I believe. But I think I could probably schedule a few lessons with one of the high school junior coaches for my daughter. So, should I try that or stick to a second group lesson during the week? Any insight is greatly appreciated!

 

[gkelly]

My sense is that at that age taking two of the same classes each week might be a good way to get supervised repetition of the skills she's working on.

I don't know how common it is, though.

Also, at that age and that level, just playing around on the ice on public sessions could be good practice at finding her balance and keeping her feet under her and moving around forward and backward and curving toward her right and left, even if she isn't drilling specific skills most of the time but just trying to get from here to there.

 

[VegMom]

I read on the USFSA website that you can ask your LTS skating director to take LTS group lessons twice a week, but I don’t think any other young skaters at our rink do this. Is this common? Or do younger kiddos wanting more ice time go straight to private lessons?

My skater started at age 6 and we did twice a week right away. Our rink encouraged people to do any combination of once a week, twice a week, or 3-4 times a week even. Once he reached the higher levels in the LTS program we dropped back to once a week and did a private lesson once a week.

Honestly, I think you should do whichever fits your budget and skater the best. Mine prefers private lessons for virtually everything and doesn't really like classes at all. But if yours likes classes then it's probably cheaper to add another LTS class than to do private lessons. It may also be cheaper to simply do 'drop ins' for extra LTS classes here and there than to pay for the whole course, if the rink allows it.

Depending on your kid, public sessions may be good. Mine loved to practice ALL THE TIME but would get very frustrated by crowded public sessions with lots of rules against jumping and spinning. So we had to find the least busy public sessions to practice on. That, and we found ways to practice stuff at home with a spinner board and trampoline.

 

[loopy]

Our rink had different classes soon day she would take her class level, another day a class that was called jump and spin. There were others classes offered as well.

 

[ayb2]

Hello everybody! I have an almost-5-year old daughter that has been skating since she was 3. She is currently in Basic 3 and has been repeating it the past two LTS sessions. Our rink offers 2 different days for LTS in the Fall, and in the past we traditionally signed up for the once-a-week group lessons, as per the norm. My child has expressed the desire to skate more often recently. Public skate sessions are fun for her, and she sometimes does self-initiate and practice her moves independently, but I am not a coach and not qualified to correct anything I read on the USFSA website that you can ask your LTS skating director to take LTS group lessons twice a week, but I don’t think any other young skaters at our rink do this. Is this common? Or do younger kiddos wanting more ice time go straight to private lessons? We cannot join our rink’s FSC until at least Basic 4, I believe. But I think I could probably schedule a few lessons with one of the high school junior coaches for my daughter. So, should I try that or stick to a second group lesson during the week? Any insight is greatly appreciated!

My younger daughter is 6. She started skating when she was 2. When she was younger, she used to do 2 LTS classes (Thursday 1:15-1:45 and Saturday 1:15-1:45) with a private on Tuesday 1:15 since she didn't have school after 11am at that age. It helped her move through LTS faster (She didn't start privates until Basic 4.). During kindergarten, she moved to 2 privates per week, 1 clinic after school, and 1 LTS on the weekends (more due to timing and her older sister's skating schedule). She's now skating beginner/high beginner ~FS3/4 and just passed pre preliminary moves in the field.