Flying on Ice

24 y.o. girl, started figure skating in february 2017. This is my journey.

[flyingonice]

11th october

Hi there ! So, since last time, I had one group lesson and something like... 3 public lessons for 2/2.5h each, I think ?

We had the chance to get one more free hour at our group lesson, that made it to a 2h lesson instead of a 1h. This was because we were waiting for our friend to drive us back home (she is in the advanced group so her lesson ends up later than ours).

So ! We practiced some basic stuff for what I remember, like edges, slalom, backward, crossover... And in the bonus hour, we learned to jump on two foot, from Fd to Bd, a little spin on two feet, and our teacher made us fall on purpose ahah (I got a bruise from that !). 

In the public lesson, we practiced again - I think I have more confidence in my first 3 turns, but I have to work on it more and also practice the other ones (left foot, and other edges). 

I also learned new moves thanks to my friends :

-”cygne” (it’s like a hydroblading, but less lower, I don’t know the english word ahah) -> sometimes I can touch the ice with my hand and sometimes not -waltz jump -> tiny and sloppy one ! But I love this move ! -shoot-the-duck -> the basic one, just by lifting the leg with one hand :)

My friend also showed me the first jump, the toe loop ! I was too tired to try it this time but I definitively will the next time.

Also, I’m beginning to recognize some familiar faces at the ice rink as there’s often the same people coming to skate. Some of them encouraged me yesterday ^=^ That motivates me even more ! The session was great, with lot of people from ice skating (not hockey).

I really need to buy gloves that cover the fingers though as I’m falling more often during practice now ahah !

I think that, from now, my skating routine will be like ;

2h/2.5h on tuesday 2h/2.5h on thursday (1h/2h group lesson on saturday) 2h/2.5h on sunday And maybe add in 2h on saturday and another 2h on sunday.

That would make 5h to 10h/14h a week :)

I’ll try some ballet lesson next monday too, to see if it can improve my skating !

See you :3

[flyingonice]

30th september

Hi guys !

Everything’s going smoothly for me. As I said, I started my first real lessons this month. I had 3 lessons this far and I absolutly love it ! The first awkard impression, when you know nothing and noone, is gone. Our beginner group is really friendly :) And our training (one hour per lesson) is hard-working. But I love that ! Our teacher is kind and helps us to correct our mistakes, but she takes the time to compliment us too. She said that we work hard ;)

So, what did we learn or improved...

-lunges -”arabesques” (I have a good posture on my L foot !) -sit-ups and work on edges (Fd and Bd) -backwards stroking (stil don’t like them tho) -forwards crossovers, better clockwise -backwards crossovers by lifting the foot (feels awkward haha but they’re way better than when I tried in public lessons) -”pas de géant”  -”cygne” -improved mohawk  -improved 3-turns, inside, R and L foot (guess which one is better lol) -switching Fd to Bd, the right way to execute it, on the front part of the blades (feels awesome) -one foot Bd glide (aweful ahah) -improved some basics spinning, found the soft spot (I guess that doesn’t even exist on rental skates lmfao)

I keep going to public lessons once or twice by week for a minimum of 2 hours. I exercise when I feel like it and have improved a little bit of my flexibility. 

I probably will attend another 1 hour lesson, starting in December, with a great coach and no more than 6 pupils hehe ! I’m so excited for this ! 

All in all, the hardest part was to take the first step, decide to buy my skates and go on lessons. But that’s so worth it. I can’t even understand how I did all these figures on rental skates before. I was so afraid to do Fd crossovers because my edges didn’t catch on the ices. Now I do it without fear... it’s so liberating. That would be my best advice : 

Buy your own skates !!

[flyingonice]

15 september 2017, first lesson

So yesterday was my first real lesson !

I started a beginner adults class on saturday morning with a friend. We were so stressed ! We hadn’t skated since months and we just got our new skates - we didn’t have time to try it on the ice before ! (We got Edea Overtures, by the way). I was scared to trip on the front on the blades but everything went smooth ! A bit awkward at first, we needeed to find our sweet spots again and feel the ice beneath. 

We only did some beginner moves, like lemons, sit ups, going backwards and onwards crossovers. The last ones were easier to remember than what I expected but I still had to work a lot on them, again. I am so excited to go the the class next week !

I’m just sad that we can’t have more ice times there - lessons, or even freestyle hours, that doesn’t event exist in my country... But well. I’ll take what I have !

I hope that I will improve fast enough to go to the next level in the middle of the year =)

[averymerrylittlechristmas]

[gingerchives]

[flyingonice]

Find the soft spot

[flyingonice]

April 2017

Didn’t go ice skating this much because of personal schedule and ‘cause I’m beginning to hate these **** rental skates... I really need to buy my own but the ice rink will be closed in one week so I feel like it will be pointless... arg. Also, I had some weekends of 6/8hours of ice practice with another figure skating beginner friend, that were my favorites hours on the ice :3 So during this month ; improved backward crossovers, Fd lunge, mohawks on R feet and learned all Fd three-turns !

[flyingonice]

Back workout

[flyingonice]

Flexibility routine

[flyingonice]

Legs workout

[flyingonice]

How to get to your splits

30s to 1mn each.

Day 1 to 5 : 1 to 5 stretching positions Day 6 : 1-5 + 6 Day 7 : 1-5 + 7...

[flyingonice]

[flyingonice]

USFSA BASIC SKILLS - Chart acquisition

BASIC 1

■ Sit on ice and stand up ■ March forward across the ice ■ Forward two-foot glide ■ Dip ■ Forward swizzles ■ Backward wiggles ■ Snowplow stop ■ Rocking horse ■ Two-foot hop in place

BASIC 2

■ Forward one foot glides R and L ■ Backward two-foot glide ■ Backward swizzles ■ Two-foot turn Fd to Bd (in place) ■ Moving snowplow stop ■ Fd alternating half swizzle pumps

BASIC 3

■ Fd stroking ■ Fd half swizzle ■ Moving Fd to Bd two-foot turn ■ Bd one-foot glides ■ Fd slalom ■ Two-foot spin (2 revolutions)

BASIC 4

■ Fd outside edge on a circle R and L ■ Fd insde edge on a circle R and L ■ Fd crossover clockwise ■ Fd crossover anticlockwise ■ Fd outside three-turn R and L (still position) ■ Backward half swizzle ■ Backward stroking ■ Bacwkard snowplow stop

BASIC 5

■ Bd outside edge on a circle ■ Bd inside edge on a circle ■ Bd crossovers clockwise ■ Bd crossovers anti-clockwise ■ One foot spin ■ Hockey stop ■ Side toe hop

BASIC 6

■ Fd inside three-turn ■ Moving bd to fw two-foot turn ■ T-stop ■ Bunny hop ■ Fd spiral on straight line (arabesque) ■ Fd lunge

BASIC 7

■ Fd inside mohawk ■ Bd outside edge to Fd outside edge transition on a circle ■ Ballet jump ■ Bd crossovers to a Bd outside edge glide ■ Fd inside pivots

BASIC 8

■ Moving Fd outside 3 turns ■ Moving Fd inside 3 turns ■ Combination ■ One-foot upright skin ■ Waltz jump ■ Mazurka

[flyingonice]

March 2017

Lost some tracks from the beginning of the month... Think I went to the ice rink on the 02, 05, 09, 15, 16 ? Then... 18 : 2h30 with a friend. Training. 19 : 1h30 + 2h00 with a friend. Backward crossovers advanced, forward mohawk, working on balance on one foot (forward and backward), a bit of a lunge, a bit of a spin (need to work so much on that)

[flyingonice]

February 2017

02 : Free 2h 04 : Free 2h 05 : First lesson 1h + free 2h -perfected backwards -learned to change direction (forward to backward on one foot) -learned forward crossovers, good on anti-clockwise, need to work on the other one -learned backward crossovers on anti-clowkise, needs work -perfected classical one foot stop + learned T-stop -going with more speed on my lemons, yay 09 :  Free 2h 12 : Having fun 17 : Having fun

[flyingonice]

January 2017

26 : first time skating since months... or years ? trying some wrong backwards 29 : 5/10 mins needed to adapt myself on the ice. Found a canadian hockey player who taught me to stop and to do backwards right !! I can now brake at low speed and go backwards for a short distance.

[yuzusorbet]

[flyingonice]

Skill acquisition chart

Cleanly landed, on a running edge with speed. 250 h. - single jumps 500 h. - axel 750 h. -  double salchow 1000 h. - double toe 1250 h. - double loop 1500 h. - double flip 2000 h. - double lutz 2500 h. - double axel 3000 h. - triple salchow 3250 h. - triple toe 3750 h. - triple loop 4000 h. - triple flip 4500 h. - triple lutz The way to triple jumps : 15 h. per week : 300 weeks, 5.7 years + 48 weeks off = 6.7 years 20 h. per week : 225 weeks, 4.3 years + 35 weeks off = 5 years 25 h. per week : 180 weeks, 3.4 years + 28 weeks off = 4 years Overall :  4 months for singles 8 months for axel 2.5 years for doubles 4 years for triples