How to get started again?

[lilicedreamer]

I am not skating and want to return.  I tried once and decided that my injury still hurt.  So I'm now almost two years out.  I am an adult skater and on the beginning levels.  Although since I'm semi retired I have a lot of time to work on it.

What would you do?  I need to get new skates at this point, so I'd be starting over with my beginning adult skills in new skates.   

Alexandra

[VAsk8r]

Welcome back!

I'd probably first go to a public session and rent some skates or wear my old ones if I could manage at all in them to be sure I could skate without pain and really still wanted to do it. Then I'd begin looking for some new beginner-level figure skates. There are lots of threads here with recommendations for those, or you could ask the employees at the rink.

And then I'd sign up for an adult group class appropriate perhaps for the level below where I was before, to give me a chance to work on rusty skills. Or did you work one-on-one with a coach before? You might contact her. If she still lives in your area, I bet she'd be happy to work with you again.

[AgnesNitt]

I came back to skating after a year off, and I agree w/ VASK8R. Start with LTS classes maybe at your old level. Explain the situation to the group coach and see if you need to drop down a level.

Lots of practice just stroking around and doing crossovers was helpful to me regain to my stamina and power.

[hopskipjump]

My skater has an injury and is getting better but still isn't ready to return to the ice.  She has been running and doing conditioning as well as lots of daily stretches.  At least when she is ready, she will be in pretty good shape.

When she goes back, she is going to skate with a coach.  The coach can look for odd things she won't notice- as already spotted issues during conditioning. 

My skater will over do it until she is hurting, having a coach stay with her when she returns will help her learn moderation.

[jjane45]

Seeing that you had wrist injuries before, definitely be equipped with wrist guards, and other protective gear as appropriate. Have fun, and stay safe!

[lilicedreamer]

I came back to skating after a year off, and I agree w/ VASK8R. Start with LTS classes maybe at your old level. Explain the situation to the group coach and see if you need to drop down a level.

Lots of practice just stroking around and doing crossovers was helpful to me regain to my stamina and power.

That's so funny!  I used to be just unhappy that I could never do the crossovers that were so easy when I was a junior!  But thanks for the input.  I need something to cheer me up!

[blue111moon]

I think you need to forget what you "used to do" and pretty much start from scratch.  This is something that I've run across in a lot of adults who come back to skating after a break.  The fact is, you're not dealing with the same body you had "back when" so just about everything is new.  Some skills may come a little easier than for someone learning them for the first time but some may not.  I find that concentrating on what I can do and what I'm learning NOW is more rewarding than remembering how I used to be able to do X and Y ten or fifteen or twenty years ago. 

[sarahspins]

I think you need to forget what you "used to do" and pretty much start from scratch.  This is something that I've run across in a lot of adults who come back to skating after a break.  The fact is, you're not dealing with the same body you had "back when" so just about everything is new.  Some skills may come a little easier than for someone learning them for the first time but some may not.  I find that concentrating on what I can do and what I'm learning NOW is more rewarding than remembering how I used to be able to do X and Y ten or fifteen or twenty years ago.

I agree with this 100% and I second the suggestion to start out in a class a level below where you left off, and just see how things go.. you may breeze right through it, ready to move on, or you may find you need the extra time and practice to get your feet under your again.  It's unrealistic to expect to be out there doing everything again right away - it could happen, but odds are good that it won't and you need to be prepared to put in the work again.

I got back on the ice 2 1/2 years ago after more than 10 years off and some things came back REALLY easily, and others haven't, and there are some I am struggling with still after all this time (like lutzes, and back camel spins).  Getting my axel and any doubles back (off the harness, that is) is still a bit of a pipe dream - I'm just not quite ready mentally to commit to doing those again, and if I could go back and do it differently, I would have signed up for a class much sooner (I kept waiting, hoping more would "come back" but it didn't - and in those months where I just kept hoping, I could have been working), I would have started private lessons sooner, and I wouldn't have let myself get so hung up on "but this used to be easier" or "I used to be able to _____" and simply limit my comparisons of my skating from say, last week, to how things went today - because anything that happened longer ago than that probably doesn't matter