how to practice on super crowded sessions?

[jjane45]

I had a very crowded public session where dozens of unfamiliar faces turned up for the middle circle, and made the session very difficult. I tried to make the best out of it and will be curious what specific skills do you work on for busier sessions. Not just public, some freestyle sessions can also become a zoo.

My general rules of thumb: forward skating only for safety and use as little room as possible. What I worked on today:

Outside of the circle when it was less crowded than the middle: stroking, lots of stroking focusing on toe point and extension, edge pulls, narrowed-down cross strokes, then quick stroking to fast tempo music.

Middle circle: lots of change foot scratch spins, remembered to practice some CW spins too. Small dance end patterns sometimes when it was lighter.

End of the rink: stops! Bad side T stop, baby hockey stop, and tango stop.

What do you like to work on when the ice is crowded?

[sampaguita]

Ah, super crowded public sessions? That's unfortunately my expertise.

I usually work on stroking, turns, and waltz jumps (which surprisingly don't take up much space since I only need a circle, but then my waltz jumps are small). Can't do the half-flip because it requires a clear long line, and the casual skaters can't give me that.

Spins are also something you can practice on. A lot of the high-level kids at my rink do spins on crowded publics. Some do scary camels (I mean, what if they just hit someone with their blades?). From what I've seen, sit spins and layback spins seem to be their favorite because the required space is limited, and the probability of hitting someone is low.

I avoid backward crossovers, because you have a huge blind side for that.

[VAsk8r]

I work on spins. Not scary camels, though! I find sit spins to be a little scary because the exposed leg and blade seem like a tripping hazard. Even though it's probably highly unlikely, it's my perception, and I can't spin or jump well if I perceive the situation to be dangerous.

Cross rolls.

Swing rolls.

Forward power pulls.

Slips.

Backward 3-turns. Or double 3's if I can get a clear line.

Jumps I'm working on from a standstill, like waltz-loop-backspin.

Jumps up through loop, but I'm not sure I really get much productive practice in when I'm trying to avoid others. If I can get a clear line, I try to do flips, but I get nervous someone will get right behind me as I'm picking and jumping.

My overly scratchy right forward inside mohawk.

One figure skater routinely works on double lutzes and double axels during crowded publics. It seems like an accident waiting to happen.

[PinkLaces]

How I practice on a crowded public is different than how I practice on a crowded freestyle session.

On crowded publics, I don't do any jumping as I jump CW and most times, the traffic flow never changes from CCW. I will never do anything backwards where I can't look behind me. I will spin - scratch spin, back spin, sit spin, attitude, layback, but no camels. I do power stroking forward & backward, edge pulls, 3 turns, Mohawks, etc.

On crowded freestyles, I will start with moves. If I can't get a pattern in without aborting more than once, I'll wait until the end of the session to work on moves or if I'm doing a double session, wait until the next one. I usually scope out where who is in a lesson and where they are. If the end are crowded, I'll start with spins. If the middle is crowded, I'll work on jumps. Then I sometimes just get impatient and try to just work on whatever I need to work on.

[nicklaszlo]

I learn new turns.  I will be going slow and stopping frequently anyway.

[Bunny Hop]

It's impossible to do any stroking, swing rolls, cross rolls etc on our crowded freestyles - too many people going everywhere. At best you can find a small space near the barrier to practice three turns and mohawks. Sometimes there's enough space for small half circles of back crosses (say 2-3 in a curve beside the barrier). Probably spins (although I've given up on those). So yeah, it's a lot about practicing turns.

[jjane45]

Right, a busy public session is different from busy freestyle and needs different strategies.