Hi everyone! I started skating in 2022 and recently I just transitioned to solo free dance. I feel like I've been kind of at a standstill lately because although I have been leveling up (now testing presilver FD), I still feel like my skating form and technique is that of a beginner's. I'm doing ballet 2x a week + off ice core and stretches nearly daily, but I want to have more of the edges and poise that I see other skaters on the rink have. I feel like my skating is kinda basic ish esp when I see recordings of myself. How do I get the poise and comfort that other skaters have, especially that of ice dance?
Standstill progress
- Thread starter kinari
- Start date
- Joined
- Oct 22, 2022
Have you told your coach this? What do they say? You must look better than a beginner to have been able to climb the test ladder that far. It's normal to hit a plateau in any activity. Is this dissatisfaction recent, or have you always been hard on yourself, as many people are?
I'm not a coach, so all I can suggest is more plain stroking practice, just doing strong curved edges and edge changes, with crosscuts and swing rolls. Work for speed and deeply bent knees, staying down in those knees and not bobbing up and down on each stroke as even some top skaters tend to do. The speed will make it easier to hold deeper edges. Your edges should get deeper and smoother doing that over and over, starting and ending each ice session with circuits of the rink concentrating only on long, fast strokes, keeping your upper body and arms still and feeling a stretch in your arms right out to your fingertips. If you have control over what music is playing, go for something with a smooth, steady beat, like a slow waltz.
If you have the opportunity and/or can work in the time, trying ballroom dance lessons would do a lot for the deep knees and upper body controlled flexibility. I do both kinds of dance -- ballet for strength and precision, and ballroom for smooth flow and musicality. Both will show up in your skating.
Without seeing you, I still assume with your test record that this is just a plateau. The day someone off the ice remarks to you after your cool-down stroking circuits: "I just love to watch you skate!" you'll know you've stepped up to the next level without even realizing it.
