How many years did it take for you to reach your current level?

[sk8great]

Few more questions!
- On average, how many years/months does it take to land a jump. (How much time did it take you?)
- How many years does it take to reach the Senior or Junior level?
- Is ISI Freestyle 10 equivalent to USFS Senior Free?
- At what age are you considered to be skating as an adult? (edit)

I do know that each skater has their own pace at learning these things! 

[hopskipjump]

I think it directly relates to amount of hours with a coach on the ice (plus natural athletic ability).

[sarahspins]

Few more questions!
- On average, how many years/months does it take to land a jump. (How much time did it take you?)
- How many years does it take to reach the Senior or Junior level?
- Is ISI Freestyle 10 equivalent to USFS Senior Free?

I do know that each skater has their own pace at learning these things! 

Time to jump depends on the skater and their ability/fearlessness.  My daughter has been skating for a year and a half and she's still in Basic 4.. and obviously not jumping, but she's afraid of everything and to be honest I'm surprised she's gotten that far (she says she wants to complete all 8 basic skills levels.. which is a realistic goal for her, and I doubt she'll keep skating after that).  A friend of mine at the rink has been skating 6 months and is landing doubles.  Another adult I know was landing an axel and some doubles within about a year.  I was probably jumping (at 13) within a few months.. but I shouldn't have been, because I wasn't taking lessons until that point.  I know I landed my axel about 18 months after I started skating, at which point I also had a sometimes on/sometimes off double sal and loop... they were never consistent for me but I could land them once in a while.

How many years to junior or senior.. I've seen it done (test level, not national competitive level) in just a few years.  If you are asking how long until you're doing level 4 spins and footwork and triples.. again that varies from person to person... I have seen skaters work on triples after just a couple of years on the ice, but they are exceptions... most don't progress that quickly and quite honestly an adult learning triples is extremely rare.   It happens, but it's just not possible for most adults to achieve unless they have previous skating experience as a kid or did something like dance... doubles on the other hand are usually possible.

ISI FS10 is often referred to as the "hardest" test in figure skating.. mostly because you don't need a triple to pass USFSA's Senior Free, just all of your doubles except for the double axel.

[sk8great]

I was probably jumping (at 13) within a few months.. but I shouldn't have been, because I wasn't taking lessons until that point.  I know I landed my axel about 18 months after I started skating, at which point I also had a sometimes on/sometimes off double sal and loop... they were never consistent for me but I could land them once in a while.

At what age did you start? 

[platyhiker]

I think putting a person's experience in terms of "years/months" gives a very incomplete picture - you'll understand how much work and effort was for  getting to a certain level if you ALSO ask how many hours of on-ice time that person was doing a week for that time.  People have various physical and mental aptitudes that allow them to progress at different rates, but the amount of time they spend on the ice is very big factor.

For me, I skated through my teens, but only skated 60-90 minutes (with a 15 minute group lesson in there), once a week, about 8 months a year.  I got to my first (half-revolution) jumps fairly quickly (months?) when I started taking lessons at a skating club.  (I had already learned the basics of forward and backward skating at the town rink lessons.)  It probably took me about 4 or 5 years to get all my single revolution jumps (toe-loop, salchow, flip, loop and lutz) down, plus learning the basic spins - upright, sit and camel.  I'm sure that I could have made much faster progress with more ice time and private lessons, but I was happy with having skating as a low-key activity.

I've read more than one account of kids who totally love to skate and practice many times a week and make rapid progress.

[sarahspins]

At what age did you start? 

It's in the quote.. I started at 13.. and I skated every moment that I could.. if the rink was open, and I wasn't in school, I was there.  Within a few months I had all of my singles (I know it wasn't any longer than this, because I got new skates on my birthday that year 4 or 5 months after I started skating and I was definitely already jumping and spinning), but once I finally started taking lessons and later had a private coach I had to rework my technique on almost all of them.. we didn't start on my axel until everything else was "fixed" and that process took what felt like a long time (9 or 10 months, maybe?).  I seriously injured my knee at 15 and was off the ice from March to October, then skated again until I was 17 at which point I stopped taking lessons because my coach moved away, then I skated off and on until I was 19, when I took 10 years off and I got back on the ice 3 years ago.  I've made a lot of progress in those 3 year and I have much better skating skills now than I did as a teenager but I haven't gotten my axel or any doubles back - but I have a set a goal of passing more tests before I really push for regaining those... which probably won't happen until I need that axel or double to pass my Gold Freeskate test (assuming I can manage to pass those gold moves first!)  

[jjane45]

On a related note, I am kind of interested in the progress of a retired Turkish soccer player Ilhan Mansiz, who picked up skating very fast on "Dance on Ice", and decided to start pairs skating in 2010 with his GF - a former Olympian, aiming at Sochi 2014.

According to the Absolute Skating interview (interesting read!), he was working on double jumps in 2011. It's rumored he has triples now, but I haven't found sources to back it up. Seriously, how much can an adult skater achieve with athletic talent, limitless resources, and strong dedication in 4 years?

[sampaguita]

On a related note, I am kind of interested in the progress of a retired Turkish soccer player Ilhan Mansiz, who picked up skating very fast on "Dance on Ice", and decided to start pairs skating in 2010 with his GF - a former Olympian, aiming at Sochi 2014.

According to the Absolute Skating interview (interesting read!), he was working on double jumps in 2011. It's rumored he has triples now, but I haven't found sources to back it up. Seriously, how much can an adult skater achieve with athletic talent, limitless resources, and strong dedication in 4 years?

This is absolute inspiring! True talent indeed.

I've been skating for around 2 years. For the most part, it was 1x a week, 2 hours per session. But I took a break for maybe 6 months, in total. Now I'm still working on the waltz jump and the half-flip.

I'd probably have learned faster if I skated more often and had regular coaching though.

[karne]

I've been having lessons now for two years, three months, but there's a couple of months of time spent off the ice included in that. I am landing up to my loop (and inconsistent flip). I have one thirty-minute lesson per week (it's all I can really afford), and during the last two years have skated an average of 4-6 hours per week in 1.5 hour sessions.

But I've also never been athletically gifted (at anything, really), I'm clumsy and unco-ordinated. There is a boy at my rink, 12 or 13, who started skating only a month after I did...he will take his preliminary test at first opportunity this year, and I was watching his new program today, and he's just getting so good. He was doing flip-loop and lutz-loop combos. No Axel yet but it can't be far away. It all depends.

[Janie]

A friend of mine at the rink has been skating 6 months and is landing doubles.

... WOW!!!!!
I'm sure he/she worked immensely hard, but still, 6 months?? Doubles??!!

I've been skating for 1 year 2 months, and I'm landing up to my flip. For the past half-year, I skate about 5 hours a week, including a 45-min group lesson and 30-min private lesson. My spins are terrible though, I can basically only do the upright one-foot spin.

[rosereedy]

I started when I was 12, landing everything up to double loop by 15 or 16. Had a major life changing event and had to quit. Came back at 20, rink closed, had to quit again, new rink and back at 22, quit again to get married and finish school. Back in the game at 30. Working in up to double loop agin. Retiring end of this year for good due to moving away.

[sk8great]

I started when I was 12, landing everything up to double loop by 15 or 16. Had a major life changing event and had to quit. Came back at 20, rink closed, had to quit again, new rink and back at 22, quit again to get married and finish school. Back in the game at 30. Working in up to double loop agin. Retiring end of this year for good due to moving away.

How much did you skate per week when you started? I wanna take skating more serious now.

[rosereedy]

How much did you skate per week when you started? I wanna take skating more serious now.

On average, about 4 or 5 days a week for a couple hours at a time.  During the summer I was at the rink all day for skate camp.  But as an adult, I can only skate 2-3 days a week because of work and other obligations.  One of the biggest set backs I see is fear.  You can't be fearful and be a skater that wants to do big jumps.