What next?

[Cush]

So I was declared done with Adult 4 Basic Skills sometime ago.

Thought that I would try out dancing. I love looking at ice dancers anyway.  But now I am starting to feel like I am particularly bad at it so far. The thought of some freestyle techniques terrifies me, and I am scared to get injured (again), but I am admittedly intrigued to try.

Apart from moves, how did you know what kind of skating you should try to do, and specifically how do you know what will suit you?

[sarahspins]

I think you figure it out just by trying it.  I've learned the preliminary and pre-bronze dances and while I find skating the patterns fun, dance in general is not something I feel compelled to spend any amount of time training (though I may eventually test those dances, just to do it), and I know that because I've tried it out.  Lots of people have the opposite reaction and fall in love with it. 

It's also possible that as your overall confidence and skating ability grows, that what you were once afraid to consider trying suddenly isn't so scary any more.  If you are working with a coach you can work on just what you are okay with doing in terms of freeskating - I do that with my coach, sometimes we work on moves, sometimes we work on jumps, sometimes we work on spins, and sometimes I leave it up to her and she'll throw something crazy at me like moves patterns from Novice (3 levels above what I'm actively working on), but more importantly we have a good working relationship and she knows how far she can push me, when it's okay to throw something completely different at me, and she definitely knows my limits and when I really mean it when I say "no, I'm not doing that."

It's also perfectly fine to be bad at something as you are just learning it... every time I learn something new I feel like a complete disaster on the ice   Eventually it starts to work out, and often it becomes something I enjoy working on - but almost everything you learn in skating will take time.  Remember you are developing a skill, not just learning tricks.

[karne]

Sometimes there's just something you know you instinctively want. That first time I watched skating, I wasn't entranced by spins, or moves in the field, or ice dance. No. It was the huge, giant, powerful, massive jumps.  And so that was what I wanted to do - jump. Even though my coach does her best to balance me out, I still prefer jumps.

[sampaguita]

I used to be horrible at dance. I still am, though I have improved a LOT since I first started. After I watched Kim Yuna at the 2010 Olympics, I fell in love with singles skating -- jumps, spins, and moves -- but it was moves that really entranced me. Until now, I still aim to have an elite skater's crossovers.

I couldn't jump though (too scared to fall), and I'm horrible at spins. This was a problem, since I wouldn't be able to progress through the ISI FS levels unless I knew how to jump. I told my coach that the thing I wanted to learn the most was edges, and he told me to try out dance. I felt horrible on my first dance lesson -- I couldn't stroke fast enough. Eventually with practice, my stroking improved.

I'm more comfortable with the curriculum in ice dance. You get to learn a little new each time, but you also get to practice the same moves with every new dance (swingrolls will always be there, for instance). Some might find this boring, but it works well for me.

My suggestion -- try to stick with it for a while. It will not always work out the first time you try it, but give yourself some time to adjust to the new field. Good luck!

[Qarol]

I work on moves a lot because I enjoy the mental focus. I work on a few spins, but I no longer care to jump. I recently started an ice dancing class and find I really like it. I just like skating and having a pattern of steps to remember. It doesn't matter to me how simple it is. I find it rewarding to take something relatively simple and make it look flawless.

Which moves scare you? The first preliminary dance patterns are all forward stroking. No turns. 

[ChristyRN]

I originally started because my daughter wanted to skate and decided that if I had to be there, I might as well go to class too. I just wanted to learn to skate laps for exercise. I got bored about a year in Adult LTS and moved on.  I wanted to learn to jump and spin.  Jumping definately comes easier than spinning.

Dance doesn't appeal to me, but I can see the beauty of it more now that I used to be able to.

[Cush]

  Thanks for all the replies. I think I will just stick with the dance for some more time and see if it will eventually start to get better.

Qarol, moves do not scare me. Jumps and spins do however.
I have a healthy fear of injury.