Adult basic skills competition

[Meli]

Anyone compete in an adult basic skills competition?  What was your experience?  I'm planning to enter one this summer, as I'm not quite to pre-bronze caliber yet.  I'm hoping it helps take away some of the nerves when I test this fall.

[littlerain]

I'm curious to hear people's thoughts too ☺️

[cbskater]

I have competed in several Adult Basic skills competitions at my home rink. There is usually only 2 or 3 adults in the competitions, so at least I'm not the only one. At first I thought all the parents of the kids there would think it was ridiculous, but I have had many complements from parents & grandparents there. (And I'm not that good of a skater.) Many have stated that they wouldn't have the nerve to do it.

Working on a program really helps improve my skating. It forces me to work on skills that I otherwise might not focus on because I don't like them or they scare me. Also stringing together several elements into a program is much more difficult than doing them individually. I'm working on my Pre-Bronze moves too, but I'm not ready to test them yet.

It will definitely help with your nerves to get out there & start doing stuff in front of judges & an audience. I skated my first freeskate competition this past weekend at State Games. This was also my first competition at a different rink. I skated Restricted Pre-Bronze level as they didn't offer Adult basic skills levels. This level was a stretch for me to do but I am glad I did it. I improved a lot while working on the program. I was still a little nervous at the competition (I always get nervous) but not bad at all. Afterwards I ran into one of the judges in the lobby & he complemented me. ( I really think this was meant as encouragement as I really didn't skate that well.) There was also someone who threw a stuffie on the ice for each adult skater. They made me feel like they were glad to have us adults participate in the competition.

[littlerain]

Thanks for sharing cbskater! It is so great that you had such positive experiences!