Have you ever seen yourself skate?

C

ChiSk8Fan

On the Ice

• 
• 

Joined

Nov 7, 2004

• Apr 30, 2005

• #1

For all of us who are students of skating, recreational skaters as well as fans of skating, I wonder what skaters think when they watch themselves.

It can often be a startling, unnerving and depressing thing, as well as a very good thing.

What are your impressions of this?

 

N

nicole_l

Final Flight

• 
• 

Joined

Oct 28, 2004

• Apr 30, 2005

• #2

Yes, and I cringe every time.
Unless I won, then I feel happy. But even then, I'm sitting there knowing I can never measure up to the girls on TV (in terms of everything but jumps) and it's a little bit of a depressing reality check.

 

icy fresh

On the Ice

• 
• 

Joined

Sep 11, 2004

• Apr 30, 2005

• #3

Sometimes my mom films me and once every so often we'll buy a tape of me at a competition. Let me tell you, I cannot stand to watch myself skate. I am soo hard on myself. I never am satisfied with anything that I do. I'm critical of everything that I do. I haven't been taped recently, but I've gotten a lot of compliments lately on my spins and my jumps!!

 

F

Figureskates

On the Ice

• 
• 

Joined

Jul 27, 2003

• Apr 30, 2005

• #4

Oh yes....and the first thing that pops into my head is..."Am I THAT slow?"

 

B

backspin

On the Ice

• 
• 

Joined

Dec 30, 2003

• Apr 30, 2005

• #5

Ugh, yes. SO helpful, but SOOOOOO humbling!! :banging:

 

M

MannyisHOT

Rinkside

• 

Joined

Mar 14, 2005

• May 1, 2005

• #6

I always tend to mess up on one thing at competitions but my mom buys a video anyway and i watch and i am too hard on myself..... but then this year i went to regionals and didnt mess up once! BUT.... they didnt have it taped.... i could've punched someone.... and whats worse than that is that a teacher at my school is the announcer and she told me the next day that i did a good job and i just wanted to say that i dindnt get to see myself skate so you cant tell me how i did because i will feel horrible!

 

Glacierskater

On the Ice

• 
• 

Joined

Jul 27, 2003

• May 2, 2005

• #7

Makes me want to quit skating everytime I see myself. I have vowed to be taped every month until adul nationals of '06. Not only will this show me what I need to work on, but I will get used to seeing myself and it won't be so painful.

 

C

Clarice

Rinkside

• 

Joined

Mar 26, 2005

• May 2, 2005

• #8

Yes, although I admit I haven't had the nerve to watch the tape of my last performance yet (the club Christmas show - and I even did a good job!). It IS difficult to see all the things that aren't right yet. But usually I can also see where I've improved, which is encouraging. I'm a musician, and the college where I teach automatically records all of my recitals - I never listen to those, either! The recording can't capture the "feeling" of the performance, and I usually prefer to remember it as it happened. I'm actually more likely to watch my skating tapes, since they can show me exactly where I need to adjust my technique or whatever.

 

S

Summerkid

Rinkside

• 

Joined

Dec 8, 2003

• May 2, 2005

• #9

I don't mind watching myself in synchro but I have about 14 years of ice shows and competitions in which I really only like one performance.

 

Last edited: May 2, 2005

dlkksk8fan

Medalist

• 
• 

Joined

Jul 26, 2003

• May 2, 2005

• #10

Ah yes I have been video recorded. My oldest son sometimes comes to the rink and I have had him record me twice. Just like "figureskates" said, my first reaction is that I am REALLY SLOW and my jumps are barely off the ice! But I must remember that I am 45 yrs old and just to be able to go out and skate is wonderful no matter what I look like. I really don't mind how bad I look I just like to be able to see how I am doing and from there improve- I hope.
I just got my son a new digital recorder and I am eagerly awaiting his recording of my skating. I hope there is some improvement.

 

S

Skate@Delaware

On the Ice

• 
• 

Joined

Nov 4, 2004

• May 2, 2005

• #11

AAAAHHH! When I see myself on tape (usually the show tape with our synchro class) I think-oops, I'm out of step, or oops what was I doing there???

We did have a class where she taped us during jumping and spinning and I thought-that doesn't look like it does on tv! (I actually thought that I sucked):sheesh:

 

C

cborsky

Rinkside

• 

Joined

Jul 28, 2003

• May 3, 2005

• #12

I really enjoy watching videos of my skating. It helps me remember the moment and I often get butterflies in my stomach just watching my competitions the same way I do when I'm actually competing. Sure, some of the disaster programs are difficult to watch, but the knowledge that I was trying throughout the performance makes me greatful for the few good arm movements or edges that I pulled off amist the bad elements. Most of all it's great to see technique on jumps, to see what my arms are doing on take off. It really helps to fix some bad mistakes, as well as build confidence when I watch a perfect jump. I'm quite surprised that my skating often looks better than it feels.

My mom records all of my performances. It's not often when she gets to see me skate without a camera lens in her way. I'm so thankful that she's made that sacrifice for me, just so we can have a recording of my performance. She's so great!

 

M

Mrs Redboots

On the Ice

• 
• 

Joined

Sep 20, 2004

• May 12, 2005

• #13

I hate seeing myself on video - I look so round-shouldered, and I look as though I'm looking at the ice all the time. My friends tell me that I have this habt of looking up and smiling as I skate past the judges (doing a compulsory dance, for instance), and then my head goes right down again..... we're working on it.

Mind you, I've lost a bit of weight recently, and haven't seen myself on video since, so I might just have a pleasant surprise (I can't tell you how awful I looked in my Tango dress last year! Rats.... and I looked so nice "in my head"!).

My coach says that Torvill & Dean will have looked at the video of "Bolero" - the one they got perfect 6.0s across the board for - and cringed at the way they skated!