Balance advice?

[Weeze]

As a wobbly newbie I'd be interested to hear what in particular helped you feel steady on your feet enough so you could progress.

What element brought you to that "aha!" moment when you "got it."

[rachelplotkin]

Practice, practice and more practice.

[treesprite]

Practice, practice and more practice.

Yep!

[sarahspins]

And PATIENCE.. but seriously, the best thing you can do is not focus on "why can't I ____" but rather "wow, look what I'm doing today that I wasn't doing last week/month/year!"  I promise you are improving every time you get on the ice, even if that improvement happens in increments you don't see very easily.  At all ages, I see skaters get frustrated by their perceived lack of progress, but it's usually because they're focusing on something they can't do, rather than realizing all of the things they can do.

You probably don't remember learning to ride a bike...but that probably took some time and frustration, and you were wobbly at first (and probably fell a lot), and eventually you got better, and at some point you stopped thinking about riding and just did it - all because you practiced, and that practice eventually made it seem easy.. skating is kind of the same way

[sampaguita]

My first real skates. That's when I learned what an edge really felt like, lol!

[Doubletoe]

When I realized that correct skating involves constantly bending the knees and ankles (so that the fronts of your ankles press against the tongues and laces of the boots) and pressing your blades into the ice.  It will make your quads tired a lot quicker, but you will feel much better balance and control!  That's what coaches mean when they tell their skaters to "get into the ice" and not to be "on top of the ice".

[ONskater74]

What doubletoe said. Try to think of yourself as a car... and your knees and ankles are the suspension which ned to be always flexing and dynamic never locked tight.
Arm and shoulder position do a lot as well. Keep your arms loose and use them stabilise yourself. Eventually it will all come together and you can work on finesse of positioning etc. but to start just get secure. Do what works for you.

[rachelplotkin]

Actually your arms should not be loose.  Your whole upper torso should be solid with a lot of core strength.  Your arms will help your balance if you hold them in a strong position and have the sensation of pushing down with them.  This arm position will also let others know that you are learning to skate so they can respect the space around you.

[AgnesNitt]

As a wobbly newbie I'd be interested to hear what in particular helped you feel steady on your feet enough so you could progress.

What element brought you to that "aha!" moment when you "got it."

Try standing one foot in the elevator when it goes up and down.

You can also try standing at home one footed on something like a boss ball or (cheaper) something like this. I have to do this not for my balance per se, but to build up my ankle and knee strength. 

Also, don't look down. I think this gets overlooked.

[Weeze]

Whenever I'm just standing around I practice balancing on one foot.

Today at the rink I had no balance to speak of; sometimes it feels like I'm getting worse, not better.

All I can say I've really learned thus far is forward swizzles, and even those are small lemons.

I try not to look down, especially as if I'm bent enough in the knees I shouldn't be able to see my feet anyway.

The other consideration is that if the ice is choppy or there are any divots that's enough to throw a newbie down.

When I'm on the ice during a one-on-one lesson I have my coach's verbal cues and I can do it; then when I'm alone it falls apart.

Thanks for all your comments!

[ONskater74]

rachelplotkin, I did not say "keep arms flopping around", I said "loose" . Rigidity and stiffness "solidness" through the torso and arms seems counterproductive. I am always using a certain amount of twist through the torso in turns, and my arms must be smooth and quick to check and adjust to maintain glide and balance.
I think tightness of the shoulders and arms is unhelpful. Strength through the core is good, but also the freedom to twist and rotate in turns.
Stiff nervous skaters who look petrified and paralysed are indeed obvious newbies with no flow or grace. I spend a lot of time stretching and practicing NOT to look like that. Why suggest a newbie make a point of looking that way?
Try to flow on the ice, stay soft through the knees and ankles, maintain an erect posture, use your arms to check and balance. Keep your abs pulled in and head centered on your neck.
For me it was just fooling around and playing with the edges that helped me lose some of the wobble. I began to TRUST my edges, to lean, to press, to play with shifting my weight forward and back, to learn where to position myself on two feet, on one foot, to finally manage a one foot glide on both sides, then to learn a 3 turn, then a bracket, then crossovers, then backwards glides and backwards 3 turns, then backwards crossovers, then.... The more I learned the more I see flexibility as the key to good balance and skating with flow

[rachelplotkin]

ONskater I don't believe I quoted you as as saying floppy arms.  My advice is based on what my coach tells me.  Firm upper body.  This does involve a tightness of the core, upper back and arms.  If you upper body is loose then your balance is going to be off.

[FigureSpins]

There are different schools of thought on whether the arms should be relaxed but still strong or held more-rigidly in check.  I've had this discussion with one of my favorite fellow coaches: she prefers the "relaxed" approach, whereas I prefer more tension in a check.  Neither is right or wrong, it's just preference, so long as the check is performed.  The relaxed arms are still checked strongly, like a ballet dancer, but without tensing up.

Noodle arms are definitely a no-no, lol.

[sampaguita]

There are different schools of thought on whether the arms should be relaxed but still strong or held more-rigidly in check.  I've had this discussion with one of my favorite fellow coaches: she prefers the "relaxed" approach, whereas I prefer more tension in a check.  Neither is right or wrong, it's just preference, so long as the check is performed.  The relaxed arms are still checked strongly, like a ballet dancer, but without tensing up.

Noodle arms are definitely a no-no, lol.

Most problems with new skaters is that the upper back and shoulders are too tense so that the shoulders hunch up. I'm not sure which one comes first -- being comfortable with balance or relaxing the muscles -- but I think those two are correlated. When you are able to relax your shoulders, you become more upright, and balance becomes easier.

[Doubletoe]

Sampaguita brings up a good point:  Shoulders hunch up, probably due to fear.  Mine do, too, when I'm doing something I'm not comfortable with!  If you focus on pressing everything DOWN, you will be in good shape.  In other words, if you press your shoulders down (don't let them creep up), you are more likely to lower your butt, bend your knees and ankles and press your blades into the ice like you should.

As for the arm debate, what's really important is the *shoulders* (which happen to be connected to the arms).  You can keep your arms relaxed as long as you keep your shoulders under control.  If you can't seem to keep your shoulders under control while keeping your arms relaxed, try pressing your palms down on an imaginary table that's right at the level of your hip bones while also keeping your shoulders pressed down.

[HannahLouise]

Depends how newbie you mean? If you can do forward cross overs, practice them loads! I remember that's what helped me the most, because you can pick up speed whilst using your edges- which is always helpful!
The more comfortable you become with the ice, your balance should improve because you're more comfortable being on there in general.

Happy skating!

[Neverdull44]

Two to three times a week at the local rink.  Repeat for three months.  You'll see a big improvement.

[SynchKat]

Good advice here.  I wewr ned to skate when I was 5 and I think I just took off across the ice as kids do.

 Sarasphins gives great advice.  I see and know so many adult skaters who just want to learn everything quickly without really learning anything properly. So take your time.

I always tell people to start out bouncing in their knees until they find the sweet spot.  Pick up one foot and then the other.  Still bouncing in your knees.  Remember your knees are like the shock absorbers in a car they should be loose.