New beginner member with tons of questions

new2sk8 said:

Absolute truth. Rentals at my rink are horrible. I wonder if every rink is like that.

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My rinks are the same.

Pink Ice said:

Finally, I keep an eye for signs of wrinkling around the ankle area that could indicate break down.

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At that point would you replace them?



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I would ask a pro just to confirm but yes.

The time it takes to "break down" a pair of skates depends on how often and for how long you skate. The one time my daughter has broken down a pair, we did not see the above, but rather the back of the ankle area seemed squishy.

Rarely does a child "break down" a pair of ice skates since they will out grow them first. And that is even if they are skating daily.

Adults wil probably have this issue but only after a couple of years. My guess is you will want to upgrade from your beginner skaters before they actually break down.

Having said this, the structure of your feet can play a role in the break down of skates. I knew of one young girl who would break down a pair of skates about every 6 months. She was not skating more than any other kids at the rink; rather it was the shape of her foot.

When my daughter first started skating, we learned that there was one pair of rentals that worked well on her. It was the oldest, nastiness pair but they worked so I always brought her to group classes about 30 minutes in advance to get that one pair.

By the 2nd round of group classes, I did get purchase her a pair of beginner skaters.

I'm really glad that you are enjoying skating so much. It's good that you started out qith your own skates, for the sake of consistency when skating.

I work at a rink, where I always tell regular rental skate users to remember the numbers on some pairs of skates they prefer over the others, then when they come back they can ask for the same pair so they have the consistency they need to learn new skills. Many times I have sharpened specific pairs of skates at the request of specific customers, and I'm sure there are other rinks which will do this any time a frequent customer requests it. We have a mix of really bad skates and newer skates (currently some brand new ones). We have some frequent skaters actually ask for worn out skates, and they seem to skate better in them than the newer ones for some reason. I tell my coworkers (who are all teenagers; I'm over 50), to always give the people with lesson cards the best pairs of skates (because they tend to hand over whatever is easiest to grab), and I tell those customers to always ask for better skates if they get handed bad ones.

treesprite said:

I'm really glad that you are enjoying skating so much. It's good that you started out qith your own skates, for the sake of consistency when skating.

I work at a rink, where I always tell regular rental skate users to remember the numbers on some pairs of skates they prefer over the others, then when they come back they can ask for the same pair so they have the consistency they need to learn new skills. Many times I have sharpened specific pairs of skates at the request of specific customers, and I'm sure there are other rinks which will do this any time a frequent customer requests it. We have a mix of really bad skates and newer skates (currently some brand new ones). We have some frequent skaters actually ask for worn out skates, and they seem to skate better in them than the newer ones for some reason. I tell my coworkers (who are all teenagers; I'm over 50), to always give the people with lesson cards the best pairs of skates (because they tend to hand over whatever is easiest to grab), and I tell those customers to always ask for better skates if they get handed bad ones.

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That's super nice of you. Llittle details like those go a long way with clients, specially inexperienced ones like myself.

Your rink is lucky to have you as part of the team.

gkelly said:

You can learn to skate at any age as long as you can walk and have reasonably good balance and aren't afraid of falling on occasion.

You'll never be an elite figure skater doing triple jumps, but you can become a lower level figure skater if you want. Or just stick to the basics if that's your preference.

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Out of curiosity, what would be the latest age that one would have to start in order to be able to achieve elite status? Most pro skaters start when they are young but are there ones that started later on (mid teens or later)?

katingunicorn said:

Out of curiosity, what would be the latest age that one would have to start in order to be able to achieve elite status? Most pro skaters start when they are young but are there ones that started later on (mid teens or later)?

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How are you defining "elite"?

Good enough to skate at the senior level at all, including landing some triples?
I know of a couple skaters who reached that level starting at 13. Further into teens might be possible.

Good enough, in skating quality as well as in technical content, to place well at major international competitions, be shown on TV, etc?
Alexei Mishin supposedly started at 15. But the sport was less demanding 50 years ago, and he was a pair skater so he didn't have to compete figures or land triples.
Johnny Weir supposedly started at 12 and did develop elite-level skating quality and jump content. That makes him very exceptional.

I think senior level but not international medal quality skating, without having to worry about the jumps, might be more possible in ice dance than in freestyle with a later start, early 20s for example. I don't know offhand of anyone who started from scratch that late and went on to an international career.

The sense of effortlessness across the ice that most elite skaters can achieve is unusual even for most skaters who start young and train hard for a decade or more. It's all the more unlikely for someone who starts older and is unlikely to put in the same number of hours on the ice.

Someone who is already proficient at a closely related skill such as hockey skating or roller skating might switch successfully at a later age.

Tara Lipinski is worth mentioning because of what she accomplished in so little time.

She was a roller skating champion and never stepped foot on the ice until she was six. By 13 she was landing triple triple combinations. And by 15 she was an OGM. So from beginner to OGM in 9 years!

Albena Denkova didn't start figure skating until she was age 9, which is ancient by elite female figure skater standards. She was a gymnast prior to that, which I'm sure helped. But it is extremely unusual for a girl to start skating that late and make it to the elite level. And Albena was switched from singles to ice dance at age 12 - this probably would have been because she was not going to succeed in singles.

Surya Bonaly is prossibly the latest starting female figure skater, in singles, who was elite in the somewhat modern era. She started ice skating when she was 11, but again, she'd been a competitive gymnast prior to that.