Too old for Nationals?

[glossyskater]

Ok im 15 i just started figure skating my rink usually make us test every month from basics to fs. I have a few questions can i join well balanced when i am this age in order to get in track to nationals. I have dreams to go to the olympics ( big dreams i know but dream big or go home). Not to mention anybody have tips on off ice practice. I really want to at least make a name for my self. Also does anybody have tips on back ward one foot glide and stops and i kind of suck at these lol.

 

[MCsAngel2]

You can compete as an adult, but no, you would have had to have begun training when you were quite young to have made the levels leading up to Nationals and the Olympics. Even of all the girls that began skating at age three and kept it up, only a very very small percentage of those will ever make it to those top levels. The main issue is that now, to be a top elite skater, you have to have all your triples, and be able to train for a 3A or a quad. I've read that if you don't have all your triples by age 10-12, the others won't happen.

 

[Ic3Rabbit]

Ok im 15 i just started figure skating my rink usually make us test every month from basics to fs. I have a few questions can i join well balanced when i am this age in order to get in track to nationals. I have dreams to go to the olympics ( big dreams i know but dream big or go home). Not to mention anybody have tips on off ice practice. I really want to at least make a name for my self. Also does anybody have tips on back ward one foot glide and stops and i kind of suck at these lol.

This should be in the Lutz Corner first and foremost.

Sorry, you should ask your coach for advice on those one foot glides. Secondly, you're more than likely too old to make it to the level you are wishing for, sorry.
You can still skate and enjoy and try to get to the highest level you can, but there are skaters who have been training since they were 4 or 5 that never make it to the Olympics. Only a small portion of skaters make it that far or even close to that far. That doesn't mean you can't skate and have fun. Also, just know that figure skating is a very expensive sport.

This is coming from a former elite figure skater, now professional.


Love skating, enjoy it, have fun, but don't make that one thing your only main goal.

Good luck!

 

[drivingmissdaisy]

Just to give you perspective, Tara Lipinski retired at your current age.

 

[jcskates]

I started in last year in my early 20s and I had the same dream that I can make it into the Olympics. But reality hit me hard. Learning all of this is quite difficult as a teen/adult. Im not saying that it can't be done but it's almost impossible and realistically, the odds are not in the favor of the people who started late. Also some people who started really young don't even get their triples at all.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but 12 years old is the oldest age I know that started in the sport and got triples. Johnny Weir from US and Andrea Astrain from Mexico. Who knows, maybe someone who started later than 12 would make it big and get triples maybe even a quad.

The sport is very welcoming and there are adult competitions and testing. Not to mention it's a great workout and it's fun.

 

[kolyadafan2002]

You can compete as an adult, but no, you would have had to have begun training when you were quite young to have made the levels leading up to Nationals and the Olympics. Even of all the girls that began skating at age three and kept it up, only a very very small percentage of those will ever make it to those top levels. The main issue is that now, to be a top elite skater, you have to have all your triples, and be able to train for a 3A or a quad. I've read that if you don't have all your triples by age 10-12, the others won't happen.

Not true with the 10-12.

Some late bloomers got all triples at 16-18 and ended up with triple Axel's and quads eventually.

But your point is true of course. Starting early is needed for foundation technique

 

[hanca]

Can you name a few late bloomers who got all their triples at 16-18? And how old they were when they started. I don’t think that olympics is jot a realistic goal for someone who starts skating at 15. Saying that, if one was really, really desperate to get to olympics, there are a few things that it would make it more likely.

@glossyskater, there is no point hoping to represent country like USA, Canada or Russia. To get to the Olympics, one would have to be among the best in the country, and that’s not gonna happen if you are being compared with those who already trained 10 more years longer than you did. So to make it more likely, it would be helpful to represent a country that doesn’t really have any skaters. Then all you need is to qualify. (But you would need to have citizenship of that country).

Second, to be able to qualify, one needs to have certain level of technical difficulty. I can’t imagine someone getting all the jumps when they are starting at 15. I am not saying it is impossible, but I have never seen anyone who achieved that, so it is very unlikely. I wonder if ice dance would be easier to be able to get the skills. I am not saying that you could get to a medal level at the Olympics in ice dance, but to a level where you could compete at worlds and earn the spot for the country for the Olympics. But doing ice dance one needs a partner. And that’s hard to find. Especially when you want the partner to be from a country where there is not much skating tradition and not many skaters (the partner needs to have the citizenship of the country he/she would represent, same as you).

Very, very helpful would be to have a family member who is a skating coach. Looking at Annabel Morozov, how much progess she made, and Davankova, who was coached by her husband and managed to transition from pairs to ice dance, having someone who can give you unlimited lessons without financially ruining you is a huge plus. But considering that you are 15 and only now starting with skating, it is unlikely that you have a skating coach within your family. Unless you marry one...

 

[Seren]

Can you name a few late bloomers who got all their triples at 16-18? And how old they were when they started. I don’t think that olympics is jot a realistic goal for someone who starts skating at 15. Saying that, if one was really, really desperate to get to olympics, there are a few things that it would make it more likely.

@glossyskater, there is no point hoping to represent country like USA, Canada or Russia. To get to the Olympics, one would have to be among the best in the country, and that’s not gonna happen if you are being compared with those who already trained 10 more years longer than you did. So to make it more likely, it would be helpful to represent a country that doesn’t really have any skaters. Then all you need is to qualify. (But you would need to have citizenship of that country).

Second, to be able to qualify, one needs to have certain level of technical difficulty. I can’t imagine someone getting all the jumps when they are starting at 15. I am not saying it is impossible, but I have never seen anyone who achieved that, so it is very unlikely. I wonder if ice dance would be easier to be able to get the skills. I am not saying that you could get to a medal level at the Olympics in ice dance, but to a level where you could compete at worlds and earn the spot for the country for the Olympics. But doing ice dance one needs a partner. And that’s hard to find. Especially when you want the partner to be from a country where there is not much skating tradition and not many skaters (the partner needs to have the citizenship of the country he/she would represent, same as you).

Very, very helpful would be to have a family member who is a skating coach. Looking at Annabel Morozov, how much progess she made, and Davankova, who was coached by her husband and managed to transition from pairs to ice dance, having someone who can give you unlimited lessons without financially ruining you is a huge plus. But considering that you are 15 and only now starting with skating, it is unlikely that you have a skating coach within your family. Unless you marry one...

Ice dance is just as hard, if not harder than singles in many ways. It would be just as hard to make it to the Olympics or Worlds in dance.

 

[WednesdayMarch]

I wonder if ice dance would be easier to be able to get the skills. I am not saying that you could get to a medal level at the Olympics in ice dance, but to a level where you could compete at worlds and earn the spot for the country for the Olympics. But doing ice dance one needs a partner. And that’s hard to find. Especially when you want the partner to be from a country where there is not much skating tradition and not many skaters (the partner needs to have the citizenship of the country he/she would represent, same as you).

Ice dance is technically even more demanding than singles, albeit without the showy jumps and spins, but the levels of skating technique and artistry are way higher. Every step has to be something, no chance of chucking in a few crossovers as you steel yourself for a jump. Every. Single. Step. Counts.

Finding a partner is relatively easy if you're a talented male ice dancer. As a female, however, it's a needle in a haystack operation, for which you need to have vast stores of self-belief and confidence, Machiavellian political skills and a bottomless coffer of cold, hard cash.

Good luck!

 

[hanca]

Ice dance is just as hard, if not harder than singles in many ways. It would be just as hard to make it to the Olympics or Worlds in dance.

I am not saying that it is not hard, but to make your body jump triples is just physically impossible for some skaters. But learning ice dance, if you put in the time, is doable. If it wasn’t, Annabel Morozov wouldn’t be fourth ranking ice dancer in Russia, where is a huge competition among ice dancers. She started quite late with ice dance, in comparison with some teams that placed below her.

 

[hanca]

Ice dance is technically even more demanding than singles, albeit without the showy jumps and spins, but the levels of skating technique and artistry are way higher. Every step has to be something, no chance of chucking in a few crossovers as you steel yourself for a jump. Every. Single. Step. Counts.

Finding a partner is relatively easy if you're a talented male ice dancer. As a female, however, it's a needle in a haystack operation, for which you need to have vast stores of self-belief and confidence, Machiavellian political skills and a bottomless coffer of cold, hard cash.

Good luck!

I know how hard ice dance is, I used to do it.

 

[hanca]

I agree that it will never happen. I never said that it is likely that it is likely that the above poster would get to the Olympics. But there is (however unlikely) a tiny chance.

If the person spend next ten or fifteen years training, with a good quality coaching, I don’t think it is impossible to get to the level of Tankova/Zilberberg (24th in the last Olympics), or Mansour/Ceska (23rd) or Wang/Liu (22nd).

Also, your experience is from a country where there is a huge competition, so skaters really have to earn their spot because the country can send someone else. What if the poster with his/her partner were representing a country who just doesn’t have any other skaters? Then it is only about qualifying, not about being selected as the best. Among blind even one eyed has the advantage.

 

[MCsAngel2]

Not true with the 10-12.

Some late bloomers got all triples at 16-18 and ended up with triple Axel's and quads eventually.

But your point is true of course. Starting early is needed for foundation technique

I, too, would also like some names of girls who didn't get their triples until 16+ and then also learned 3A or a quad. There are so few ladies in the world who can do them, pretty sure we can count them on two hands.

 

[hanca]

Who is Tankova? A skater who moved to ice dance after unsuccessful career as a pair skater. She switched to ice dance at 16. And her father is not a coach. But she got to the Olympics two years after she switched to ice dance. Probably because Israel did not have any other dance couple who they could send.

Who is Mansour? A Canadian skater who couldn’t get any results doing ice dance for Canada, so she first represented Kazakhstan and then the Czech Republic. But she got to the Olympics. Just saying...

It is about what is someone willing to do to get there.

 

[NanaPat]

The OP not only hasn't been back since day 1, they disappeared after the first two replies!

 

[kolyadafan2002]

Ice dance is just as hard, if not harder than singles in many ways. It would be just as hard to make it to the Olympics or Worlds in dance.

The only thing would be if their country had no ice dancers then making it to nationals would be much easier (and vice versa if they had ice dancers but no singles). For Olympics and Worlds you still have the isuse for minimum placements and scores which is unrealistic as even the "worst" ice dancers still have an incredibly high standard of skating relative to a begining skater - to even be like them requires years of foundation work.

Back on the topic of singles, I don't ever usually say this but this is impossible. Even with Johnny Weir he did some recreational skating before and was definitely above the one foot glide level. But skating isn't just about the Olympics. Don't quit just based off the fact you won't go. Not going to the Olympics is the reality for most skaters to begin with, even the ones who started much earlier.

 

[WednesdayMarch]

The OP not only hasn't been back since day 1, they disappeared after the first two replies!

We have stolen their dream.

 

[jcskates]

We have stolen their dream.

I know how that feels. but OP if you’re reading this. Don’t give up! Figure skating is not only about medals and competitions. It’s about expression, movement, athleticism, and just pure joy. With or without the competitions, this sport is very rewarding.

 

[hanca]

What about in pairs? There is a girl in Russia who within two years learned skating from zero to junior level pairs, including two triples. Taisia Sobinina. But she was a circus acrobat from an early age.

 

[karne]

The OP not only hasn't been back since day 1, they disappeared after the first two replies!

Standard. Didn't get the answer they wanted, so flounced off.