So I always thought my jumps were pretty high and my skating was decently fast. I just watched a video of myself and it’s SO BAD. I’m not even exaggerating. I’ve been skating for 9 months and my waltz jumps and one foot spins look like I’ve learned them yesterday. It’s very discouraging and I’m not sure what to do. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.
Quitting...
- Thread starter skater226
- Start date
One recommendation:
Save that video. Keep skating. Video yourself in another 6 or 9 or 12 months. Watch the new video and the old one side by side and see what kind of improvement you notice.
Do you enjoy the way the skating feels when you're doing it? Do you feel like you're going fast and jumping high, and do you like that feeling? Then keep enjoying it.
Everyone looks slower on video than they look in real life. And we all feel we're going faster than we really are. So don't get too discouraged by what the video looks like, if the experience of actually doing the skating is still positive.
Save that video. Keep skating. Video yourself in another 6 or 9 or 12 months. Watch the new video and the old one side by side and see what kind of improvement you notice.
Do you enjoy the way the skating feels when you're doing it? Do you feel like you're going fast and jumping high, and do you like that feeling? Then keep enjoying it.
Everyone looks slower on video than they look in real life. And we all feel we're going faster than we really are. So don't get too discouraged by what the video looks like, if the experience of actually doing the skating is still positive.
- Joined
- Aug 30, 2017
The same exact thing happened to me last week!!!!!!! Hahaha!!
Instead of wanting to quit I spent the rest of the session trying to record myself being faster —no such luck by the way.
It was actually quite useful for me. I discovered I was making mistakes in things I thought I already had covered, such as not keeping my legs straight enough while pushing, not keeping my hips square enough, etc.
Everything looked way worse that I thought it looked, and for me it's been kind of amazing. Like, I know the correct technique. I thought I had the right technique. Surprise!
Since I'm in the same spot: what I am going to do is keep skating and video myself more often because it's obvious I need to have more awareness of what I am actually doing, LOL! And also because from that first video to the last one I recorded there was some kinda small but visible improvement.
...I totally get what you mean about discouraged, though. I recorded myself because a friend asked me to record my half jumps...in the end when I saw the video I was so embarrassed I told him I couldn't take the video! Definitely took my pride down a few notches.
But I think everything will come with time and practice, practice, practice, so I'm not that worried. Please don't quit! Ice skating is fun, isn't it? If you think about it, 9 months ago you could spin at all. You couldn't jump at all. There has been a world of improvement, and there will be a world of improvement. Just give it your best.
... That being said, and while this is going to make me sound like a terrible person, I'm kind of glad I'm not the only one with this problem
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I hope you continue skating. Have fun! That's the most important thing.
Instead of wanting to quit I spent the rest of the session trying to record myself being faster —no such luck by the way.
It was actually quite useful for me. I discovered I was making mistakes in things I thought I already had covered, such as not keeping my legs straight enough while pushing, not keeping my hips square enough, etc.
Everything looked way worse that I thought it looked, and for me it's been kind of amazing. Like, I know the correct technique. I thought I had the right technique. Surprise!
Since I'm in the same spot: what I am going to do is keep skating and video myself more often because it's obvious I need to have more awareness of what I am actually doing, LOL! And also because from that first video to the last one I recorded there was some kinda small but visible improvement.
...I totally get what you mean about discouraged, though. I recorded myself because a friend asked me to record my half jumps...in the end when I saw the video I was so embarrassed I told him I couldn't take the video! Definitely took my pride down a few notches.
But I think everything will come with time and practice, practice, practice, so I'm not that worried. Please don't quit! Ice skating is fun, isn't it? If you think about it, 9 months ago you could spin at all. You couldn't jump at all. There has been a world of improvement, and there will be a world of improvement. Just give it your best.
... That being said, and while this is going to make me sound like a terrible person, I'm kind of glad I'm not the only one with this problem
. I hope you continue skating. Have fun! That's the most important thing.
- Joined
- Jun 22, 2015
- Country
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You've only been skating for 9 months! I can see why it's discouraging but really, it's only been 9 months. Like gkelly says, keep the video and compare in a few months. That's what I do for my dance students sometimes and it's very encouraging to see how quickly people improve.
Most people don’t look that great after skating for less than a year! If your expectations are really divorced from reality maybe you need to examine why you skate. Would it still make you happy if you continued to improve, but slowly and steadily rather than right away? If so, don’t quit.
If you had a video of Karen Chen's first waltz jumps, they would look pretty tiny and slow, too. 
Keep your video, look at it again in a year, then 2 years. Then combine it with your waltz-loop video, then your first axel video. I do that for my daughter and it is SO fun to look back and see how far you come, even when it seems like progress is SO slow.
Keep your video, look at it again in a year, then 2 years. Then combine it with your waltz-loop video, then your first axel video. I do that for my daughter and it is SO fun to look back and see how far you come, even when it seems like progress is SO slow. 
- Joined
- Aug 19, 2015
In my head, I look like Meryl Davis when I do my dance patterns. In reality? Not so much. Do you enjoy skating? If the answer is yes, then keep at it! Everyone started somewhere. Even the top skaters at one point had tiny jumps.
- Joined
- Jan 14, 2008
It's a good thing you saw yourself on video as early as you did. I never saw myself on video until I was competing, and boy was that a shock! I wondered why my coach allowed me to get away with looking so awkward and didn't say anything about it all that time, but what I eventually realized was that everyone else saw me skating all the time and accepted that that was how I looked. I was the only one who didn't know, LOL! The good news is that, while video is the cruelest critic, it is also the most effective teacher. Eventually, there came a day when I saw my competition video and didn't cringe. It's because I worked to correct every little awkward movement and body position I'd seen in my previous videos, and if you push through the pain of watching your videos, you will get to that point, too!
i think you should try to remember how lucky you are, that you can skate. There are millions who can´t do what you do, even if you call it bad or not satisfying.
Every athlete in this world, no matter if world champion or novice, has something special and that is the ability to have fun in your sport. Sure, you want to progress, but that´s not the sole reason why you do sport. It is a lifestyle, an attitude and it gives you freedom to do what you want to. That is what really stands out, nobody can tell you that you are not allowed to do it and maybe that is exactly why some people question themselves so much.
Just be happy, ignore how it looks to you, we are always our hardest judge anyways. Get the feeling back, the feeling of having a unique ability and just enjoy your time on ice. Life is too short, to worry about motivation, believe me
One day you will realize how silly it was to even think about something so trivial.
You could get hit by a car tomorrow, or being diagnosed with a terminal disease, you would kick yourself in the face if you now stop and let go of what beautiful life you have in front of you.
Every athlete in this world, no matter if world champion or novice, has something special and that is the ability to have fun in your sport. Sure, you want to progress, but that´s not the sole reason why you do sport. It is a lifestyle, an attitude and it gives you freedom to do what you want to. That is what really stands out, nobody can tell you that you are not allowed to do it and maybe that is exactly why some people question themselves so much.
Just be happy, ignore how it looks to you, we are always our hardest judge anyways. Get the feeling back, the feeling of having a unique ability and just enjoy your time on ice. Life is too short, to worry about motivation, believe me
One day you will realize how silly it was to even think about something so trivial.You could get hit by a car tomorrow, or being diagnosed with a terminal disease, you would kick yourself in the face if you now stop and let go of what beautiful life you have in front of you.
