How to get more serious?

[Cush]

I am an adult skater in LTS in the Chicago west burbs. Sometimes, my weekday schedule makes it possible to run away from the office during lunch to practice on those nice lightly attended public skate sessions. Most often though I have a lunchtime meeting or too buried with some insane deadline.

One class on Saturdays and a thoroughly congested public skate on Saturday nights and/or Sunday night's don't feel like enough and I don't feel I am making the amount of progress that I might be capable of. Wish I could just throw myself into it maybe with 3-4 good practices per week? Any tips on how to do that on my schedule without breaking the bank? Not really an early morning person but will do before work if it's the last resort (probably won't be allowed on those sessions anyway). There are sessions in the late afternoon at one rink I know of about 30 mins from work, but it doesn't go late enough and you can only get on if you are usually coached by one of the coaches there. Other rinks nearby won't let me on ice any time other than public because I am not high enough level. Wondering what are my real options.

[Cush]

Silly me. Forgot to say what exactly is my "schedule". I need practice time outside of 9am-5:00pm.

[nicklaszlo]

Public sessions are appropriate if you are in LTS.

[Cush]

I agree, public sessions are appropriate. But I am not getting to them, so I am trying to find something that might actually work for me. If that something exists...won't know till I start asking.

[Skittl1321]

Chicago has more ice time than almost anywhere.  You may have to drive to find it- but if you want it, and want to make an effort to get to it, it is there.

Public sessions are crowded, but many, many, people have figured out how to make them work. At the LTS level a lot of what you are doing easily fits into the flow of a public session.  In general, you can't get on freestyle ice without either a coach or being freestyle level.  If you want skating to happen, you're going to have to make it happen, and for LTS levels, that means crowded publics and (for everyone) that often means inconvienent times.


Good luck!

[sk8lady]

I skate on publics all the time. It can be madly frustrating but it's better than nothing. You may need to travel, or skate on a less than optimal rink, including congested ice--find a spot, probably in the middle, and work on things that don't need a ton of room. Claim your space and stick to it. Don't know the Chicago rinks particularly well but you might even be able to work on 3's and mohawks that don't take up a lot of space, or even stroking, at Millenium Park or someplace like that, where you can spend 10-15 minutes just to get some time in each day

[hopskipjump]

getting 3-4 more public sessions - I don't know what the cost is - but let's say it's $9.  If you did 4 that is 36dollars. 

If you don't have a coach, I would get one for a 20 minute lesson during a low level freestyle (about $11 here).  Coach+freestyle ice would be about $40ish.

So my advice is adding a coach and freestyle instead of 3-4 publics you might not get to or are not really committed to (it's easier to commit when you have a coach waiting!  Plus everyone progresses faster with a coach.

[platyhiker]

One thing that may be helpful is to make a list of all the public skating times at all the rinks that are some what reasonably accessible to you.  That helps make clear what all the options are schedule-wise.  I found this helpful last spring when the various municipal rinks started shutting down, in order to figure out where I could skate with my daughter to help her practice her LTS skills.  As the weather starts to warm up, you will likely find that the public sessions are not quite so crowded.  Some sessions will always be less crowded than others - I found a public rink with a 9:30 - 11:30 am Sunday public session and that was noticeably less busy than the weekend afternoon public sessions.

I've heard there are a *ton* of rinks in the Chicago area.  Some of the rinks may require some effort on your part to get to them, but there should be options for you.  I once read a blog about a young boy in the Chicago area who was VERY enthused about skating, so his parents would take him to two different rinks on a weekend day, so that he skate at each of their public sessions.  Not terribly convenient, but it got him the ice time that he loved!  Everyone has a different aptitude for learning skating, but how quickly you progress, relative to your maximum possible rate, is largely determine by how much time you spend on the ice.  More ice time will definitely improve your rate of progress.

[FigureSpins]

As the weather starts to warm up, you will likely find that the public sessions are not quite so crowded.

This is very common around here - once it warms up outside, or the spring sports season starts, the attendance drops.  I refuse to coach or skate on a Saturday afternoon or Friday night, those sessions just too zany for my taste at any time of the year.  Saturday nights are okay, as are Sunday afternoons, throughout the year.  They empty out tremendously when Spring arrives.

Check the public session schedule regularly - when one of the leagues' hockey season ends, our rink converts that time to a discounted-price public session.  For the first few weeks of that weekday-evening session, there are as many as 12 people on the ice and it's awesome for skating practices.  It takes a while for people to notice it on the schedule, but even then, it's never mobbed unless there's a group trip.

You can also check out "club ice" - the skating clubs in some areas rent ice for their members.  Those aren't always listed on the rink schedule, but many of them welcome guests for a slightly higher fee.  To find out about them, you'll either see "(clubname) Ice" or you have to go to the Club's website/schedule.

Most clubs and rinks will allow a beginner skater on a freestyle if they'll spend their ice time taking a lesson with a coach.  If you're going to practice by yourself, be sure any freestyle is listed as "low" or just "freestyle" since you're a beginner.  Avoid "Moves," "Dance," and "High" freestyle sessions.

Ask the skating director if there's practice time included with your group lesson.  I've coached at several rinks that set up a practice area during the group lessons, coning off one end of the ice.  A lot of parents didn't realize it meant the skater could practice for 30 mins, then attend their lesson for 30m.  (It was an hour-long time frame with two 30m group lessons scheduled.)

The lack of convenient public sessions during the week is really killing non-hockey skating in the US.  Gone are the days when a kid could go skating with friends after school or an adult get in a practice from 7-9pm on a Thursday.  You look at rink schedules and all those choice times are rented by hockey leagues, which is why it's growing. They can hire 1-2 professional coaches, add a handful of volunteer parents and fill the ice with kids and cover the rental cost easily.  Sorry for the soapbox rant.

[fsk8r]

  The lack of convenient public sessions during the week is really killing non-hockey skating in the US.  Gone are the days when a kid could go skating with friends after school or an adult get in a practice from 7-9pm on a Thursday.  You look at rink schedules and all those choice times are rented by hockey leagues, which is why it's growing. They can hire 1-2 professional coaches, add a handful of volunteer parents and fill the ice with kids and cover the rental cost easily.  Sorry for the soapbox rant.

This is the one thing which bugs me. I only fly over once or twice a year and always double check the rink timetables before I come and I've yet to find ice time that I can get to with working fulltime, now knowing the area and suffering from jetlag. I keep asking the question how anyone ever learns to skate (I've even checked freestyle timetables), but I do know that I learnt more in my brief time living in the US than I did in any similar period of time in the UK. Mainly this was from actually getting on and working hard because I knew how precious my ice time was. But I did used to do some crazy drives to find ice time. I find that if you want to really learn to skate, you make it work.

[FigureSpins]

ITA but some skaters don't get the idea of "conserve your ice time."  They get on late, stand around chatting, leave early....sorry, I'm ranting.

If I'm going to NJ on business, I check eight rinks' schedules to see who has ice time after work.  (My office is in a very-congested traffic area, so going west/north/south to skate before heading east for the office just doesn't work.)  Many times, I've driven miles to a rink only to find that the session was cancelled and no one updated the website.

[jjane45]

LTS generally does not need freestyle ice, and Chicago is lucky indeed when it comes to ice rinks! Some of my friends (hockey or freestyle) religiously keep track of available public sessions. They are dedicated...

I practiced on late night public ice (offered on two weekdays) thru LTS and maybe up to FS3. It's coned off in the middle for figure skating elements. It took some courage at first to go in there and claim the center circle for a while to practice the back crossovers, but they were NOT improving otherwise going against the general traffic :  I also know 2 other rinks 45 minutes from me that have decent Friday night and Saturday night public sessions that are practice friendly (guarded center ice or just empty in general). Seasonal outdoor rinks are definitely decent options too.

[LindsayH]

I was in a similar situation a few years ago. I have a coach that I see on my lunch at 1:30 every Monday. It's a public session but very light in attendance. Mondays are light on meetings so I knew this would be a better time to schedule a lesson. I found the private sessions more helpful then LTS so I don't even take them any more. I miss the company but it's nice to have my Saturday mornings free.

I agree with some of the above comments. If you can lay out all the publics near you and systematically see which ones you will be able to regularly attend it will be helpful.

[Cush]

Thank you everyone for all the helpful comments! Really helped me to start looking outside the box.

My LTS program does come with free publics for practice. Unfortunately, those are the lunchtime publics I cannot get to. All the rinks near me have only lunchtime sessions on the weekday. I threw the net wider and found a rink about 1.5 hrs from home which has a public session on Tuesdays at 6-8am. But it is also 1.5 hrs from work.    So far I haven't found any with night weekdays though. Will keep looking.
Yes Chicago area has a lot of rinks, but if you live in the FAR west burbs the options thin out considerably.

My experience with the weekend public is that the rink fills up fast to a mad rush of people. The coned off center is filled with several kids flying around doing a lot of advanced moves, jumps, spins etc. If I do go to the center I am quickly feeling pushed out. Maybe as you guys said I just need to bide some time till spring for the crowds to thin out. 

On the option of getting with a coach, I am seriously considering it. I already know exactly where and who I will go to because he already told me that he will take me when I am ready. But not sure I am ready with the $$$. I will do some calculatin' and see.

[Cush]

I just read some responses above again. "Club ice time"? I didn't even know the concept existed. Will have to check into it. Thanks.

[nicklaszlo]

"Club ice time"? I didn't even know the concept existed.

Unfortunately, in Chicagoland, I do not think any will be available to you yet.  SVSC/Winnetka, CFSC/Skokie, and Windy City/McFetridge have small amounts of dance ice, which is probably a bit above your current level.

I think there is ice at Park Ridge at 9:30 PM on Sundays, open to adult figure skaters only, including beginners.  I'm not sure of the details, but if that interests you I can put you in touch with someone.

I only know about north side ice.

[Cush]

Nicklaszlo, for sure dance ice would be above me I think. You are quite a ways north and east of me, but I will never refuse the opportunity to explore an option. I would be grateful for the contact info. Maybe instead of saying west suburbs I should just say I am west and south of Chicago. Would be tricky to attempt that commute several times a week.

I just completed and reviewed the list of all the rinks within an hour of my home. There are 9 of them, all are east of me (includes where I have classes on Saturdays). Some have no weekday publics at all, those that do are all at lunchtime except one day at the furthest rink. This rink is the one I mentioned earlier that has 6-8am public. When I mapped it at around rush hr I got 1.5 hrs, now at midnight it is about 55 mins  . They all have weekend sessions -Friday night/Sat/Sun. I have attended public on weekends at 3 of the 9 regularly enough. Now that I have the list maybe I will check out some of the others to see what their Friday or Sunday might be like compared to the places I am used to.

Other than driving an hr to rink and then an hr-ish to work afterwards on Tuesday mornings, seems a good idea to sign up with a coach if I hope to make it on the ice regularly on a weekday. Unless my work schedule changes. Signing up will likely do me a world of good too anyway. Gotta see how the prices play out, last I checked it was $25-$35/half hr instruction, a cost that I didn't anticipate at this stage. Won't make any decisions till spring.

[ONskater74]

I'm hoping to win the lottery and build my own rink... retire early too....

Until then, I skate at 3 rinks on weekday public ice whenever I can. Weekend or weeknight public ice is bonkers, 500 kids going nuts. Joining a club in March so will be entitled to guest skate on ice reserved for clubs, just pay the fee and skate.
What sucks is that 99% of rinks here shut down for the summer. Summer ice is like streets of gold if you can find it.

[Cush]

  The rinks close in summer? So is your skating forced to be seasonal too. I hope you live near to a rink that stays open.

[SynchKat]

Fellow Ontario skater here, I live in a different city than ONSkater but yes rinks do close in the summer here.  Most of our city run arenas get rid of their ice in April or so.  My club keeps its ice but does take it out for a month or so.

[jjane45]

My club keeps its ice but does take it out for a month or so.

Wow really? Your club seriously closes for a month? Do serious skaters take that month off or do they have other options in the city?

And we have recreational rinks here that nearly go all year around...

[SynchKat]

They try to have the closure coincide with the elite skaters taking their break or when they go off to do shows.  It isn't always a month it is closed for just until the permafrost melts or something like that.  We also have the curling rink we can skate on at that time because curling is over but that rink is small and square and has a cement floor, not fun for jumping on so most start choreography.  And also soooo weird to skate on because of the corners and the mirrors they have in there.  Takes some getting used to.

[ONskater74]

Rinks here are called "Community Centers", so the ice disappears in spring and the municipality makes money all summer by renting it out to Home Shows, trade shows, dances, agricultural fairs, high school graduation, prom night, sportsman show, Flowerama, Model Railroader show, blah, blah. It would be "unfair" to keep the ice in all year. The town I lived was always fighting with the hockey team because the hockey team had to drive to another town for the first month of practices due to a longstanding non-ice rental of the "community Center" by a community group, "Home Show" or same stupid thing. The work of putting in ice would seem to me to be more than just leaving it year round. However, life is like that... No skating from April - Oct

[SynchKat]

Here where I live ONSkater the outdoor rinks have the worst policies.  This year they opened December 3 and close February 26.  Who cares if it is still cold and skating weather you are out of luck.  I hate policies that are just set and make no sense at all.  Most of our arenas like the one in our formerly local park just get locked up once the ice is out and sit there empty.  Some open for ball hockey or when Roller Blading was popular that, but we have so many arenas in the city most just sit empty.  So frustration when you want to skate. 

[Cush]

Oh man! I could see how that could be thoroughly frustrating. Here am I worried that I don't get to practice on a weekday, when you get to have months of no skating at all.