Pull your tummy in, keep your shoulders and chest facing forward, your arms slightly out to the side for extra balance. Stop and go Get moving by taking small steps with your toes pointing outwards until you begin to glide. Bring your feet back to centre between each 'push', otherwise you will lose your control and balance. Learning to stop is a fundamental skill. The easiest way to do it - other than crashing into the barrier - is a 'snowplough', rather like in skiing.


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  • Recreational Ice Figure Skating/Basic Skills - Wikibooks, open books for an open world.
  • Figure skating - Wikipedia?
  • Recreational Ice Figure Skating/Basic Skills?
  • Figure skating.
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From a glide, bring your feet into parallel and then push the heels outwards, keeping knees bent and body upright. Steer with your shoulders There's no need for fancy footwork when you want to turn. Simply turn the outside shoulder forward the one on the side furthest from the direction you want to turn and you will turn in a graceful arc. Check your blades The blades on your ice skates need to be sharp to get some purchase on the ice.

If your skates are slipping and have no grip or control, it could be the blade is too blunt. This is most likely if you have hired skates, which have probably undergone a lot of wear.

Break your fall If - or when! If you need to use your hands to get up, do it with clenched fists to protect your fingers. Manoeuvre yourself on to both knees, then one; push yourself up from the raised knee. Speed up To really reap the fitness benefits of skating, you need to add some speed. Increasing the power of the push will help you get faster, as will bending your knees more deeply.

Getting started This is the perfect time of year to give ice skating a go, with numerous outdoor ice rinks open between now and the end of January. London alone boasts seven seasonal rinks, including the original, at Somerset House, founded in For a list of rinks across the UK, go to thisistheatre. NISA runs a learn-to-skate programme called Skate UK, taught by professional coaches at most permanent and seasonal rinks. Your body will need lots of protein in order to work well while you skate.

Try to eat protein that doesn't have a lot of fat, like turkey, fish, or nuts, so that your body doesn't feel weighed down.

Basic Skills

Get a coach or lessons. A coach or lessons might seem expensive, but it makes a huge difference in getting your skills built up. A coach will be able to see what you do wrong and help you fix your mistakes. They'll also be able to teach you new skills and tricks, helping you to become the best figure skater you can be. And then practice some more. Figure skating is a hard skill to learn. If it was easy, everyone would do it. That means that if you want to get good, or even just be okay, you'll need to figure skate a lot. It will take time to get to where you want to be and there are no tricks around it.

You just have to work hard. You can do it!

Learn to Figure Skate

With weekly practice lasting several hours, you can get good enough to do basic figure skating in about a year or two. Daily practice over many years is needed to reach a competition-level of skill.


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If you improve your core, your balance will be improved. Do core exercises like sit-ups, scissors, planks, crunches, etc. Not Helpful 4 Helpful The younger, the better. Skills develop more rapidly the younger you begin practicing them. Not Helpful 2 Helpful I wouldn't do that since snow pants could restrict your movement and make it more difficult to skate.

Not Helpful 0 Helpful 5. A general outfit should consist of something made out of comfortable and flexible material. Clothing should not drag on the ice or be a danger when you're skating. Not Helpful 3 Helpful I recommend Jackson Figure Skates. Make sure you get the ones that are designed for beginners.

Also, do your research on maintenance to prevent rusting and dull blades. Not Helpful 6 Helpful Then you will have to take some time off to recover. Wear safety gear if you're concerned and take a look at the section in this article about learning to fall safely. If you're careful, it's unlikely that you'll injure yourself very badly.

Not Helpful 1 Helpful 8. I don't think that my parents would go for it, but I have loved and wanted to figure skate for so long. How do I tell them that I want to skate, but not just for recreation, I want to compete? You should probably start out skating recreationally to get them used to the idea.

Once you have mastered the basics, try bringing up "taking it to the next level" and suggest getting coaching. Once you have become a good skater, you can talk to your coach about it. If nothing else, skate for recreation until you're old enough to make your own decisions.

How to Figure Skate (for Beginners): 14 Steps (with Pictures)

Not Helpful 1 Helpful 7. If there is an ice rink near you that is not a temporary seasonal rink, then there will be coaches that work there, but you may have to call the rink and have them set up a lesson for you to meet and work with them. Lessons can get to be very expensive, but they are definitely worth it! I would recommend getting beginners skating lessons before going to private lessons though.

All you need to know about: Ice skating

Not Helpful 2 Helpful 9. How can I pursue private lessons in figure skating if my parents don't have faith in me? That would be very hard to do. If you are below the legal age to get a job, 16 , you don't really have other options. If you have relatives near you, you can ask them. Snowplow Sam 1 previously Tot Beginner age This class is for young beginners who have never skated before. The class focuses on introducing young children to beginning skating skills in an atmosphere of fun, using games and ice-safe toys to help teach basic skills.

Elements include proper falling and getting up, marching, gliding and forward swizzles. Snowplow Sam 2 previously Tot Beginner 2 age This class is for young children who have become familiar with skating. Skaters in Snowplow Sam 1 progress to this level. Elements include forward skating, one foot glides, forward and backward swizzles, curves and beginning snowplow stops.

Snowplow Sam 3 previously Tot advanced ages Prerequisite: Elements include forward pumps and stroking, advanced backward swizzles, one foot glides on a circle and beginning forward crossovers, backward pumps and backward stroking.

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Basic 1 For those who have never skated, or have never had formal lessons, skaters will learn the basics of figure skating, how to balance on the ice as well as forward and backward skating. These levels are the fundamentals of the sport. Basic 2 This class has a prerequisite of Basic 1 and continues to teach the beginning elements of skating including: Other elements include two foot turns, one foot glides and backward two foot glides.