Pairs Skating Resources

[LunarSkater]

I've searched the forum, but I really didn't find what I was looking for.

Does anyone know of any good pairs resources online or offline? My partner and I are currently coach-less. He's skated pairs before, which is why we're able to do as much as we are, but I haven't. I'm also the type of person that needs to understand how something works. My partner is pretty good about explaining, but sometimes I think I just need to watch or read a different explanation. There aren't any other pairs teams at the rink to ask (we're really big on dance).

Thanks!

[Query]

Pairs is way beyond anything I could ever have done, but there are general skating resources:

There are learntoskateusa.com classes on pairs. But I assume they don't go up to the obviously rather dangerous elite levels, because something like that had better be closely supervised.

  https://www.learntoskateusa.com/media/1091/curriculum_pairs.pdf

Partner searches:

  http://icepartnersearch.com
  http://www.iskatemagazine.com/page/Partner_Search (for UK?)

USFSA and ISU pairs rules:

  http://usfsa.org/story?id=84109
  https://www.isu.org/isu-statutes-constitution-regulations-technical
  https://www.isu.org/inside-single-pair-skating-ice-dance/isu-judging-system-fs/isu-handbooks-faq-sandp-skating-2

The ISU has discussion forums, though most are about future events:

  http://forums.isu.org

The USFSA used to have discussion forums or chat groups through their members only website - I don't know if that is still true. It also used to warn competitors to be careful what they post on unmonitored discussion groups - I'm not sure why, or if they still do. Maybe they didn't want people bad mouthing competitors, or saying anything that would reflect badly on the USFSA, or maybe they were just trying to protect the athletes from accidently giving out private info.

There used to be a competitive adult skater Yahoo discussion group, don't know if they are still active, and I don't know if it includes many pairs skaters, but they are specific to competitive level skaters.

  https://ca.groups.yahoo.com/neo/groups/compadultsk8s/info

There is a facebook pairs skating group, but it seems to mostly be about ice dance:

  https://www.facebook.com/groups/60217752929/about/

Maybe you could start one?

Maybe you could cultivate friendships with other pairs skaters. But pairs skaters are so few in number, that I suspect the only places with a significant number of pairs skaters are where the famous coaches are.

I wonder if pairs skating is like ice dance, where many of the coaches don't want you interacting with skaters from other coaches, unless they give specific permission and have arranged a potential partnership through another coach, because they teach such different styles.

[Query]

One last idea: Some figure skating camps offer instruction in pairs. Maybe you could meet other pairs skaters there.

Do you think it would be reasonable and feasible for you to talk to your coach's other students?

BTW, I've known guys who have injured themselves doing lifts in ice dance and lifts and throws in land dance. The same possibility must exist in pairs - and that if you were to lift or be lifted or thrown by someone who had been taught different timing or cues, one or both of you could easily be hurt. Another reason that might be advocated for interacting under the supervision of a coach or coaches, rather than interacting on your own. Could you discuss this question with your coach?

You must be very brave to try something like pairs.

[FigureSpins]

Check out other rinks' coaching staff - most male coaches have done some pairs skating.  If the coaches' bios aren't online, you can search for their CV on LinkedIN or their own website, or you can ask the skating director to recommend someone on their staff.  Another option is to make arrangements to do a week of lessons with a pairs coach outside your area - the Panthers Ice Den in Florida has a number of coaches who specialize in Pairs, or you could go to one of the training centers in Utah, Colorado or Lake Placid.

Many coaches are doing online coaching today but there's no list that I know about; you'd have to contact the coach and ask if they coach that way.  It's more review and discussion than interactive coaching, but sounds like your team can manage that obstacle.

[FigureSpins]

For reference, there isn't that much, but one great investment if you can read-and-process information is the ISI Handbook.  They explain each skill down to the required check position and foot placement. 

Test levels: http://www.skateisi.com/site/sub.cfm?content=testing_requirements#9

Learn to Skate USA (formerly US Figure Skating Basic Skills) also has a Pairs track, which isn't taught anywhere in group lessons, AFAIK.
https://www.learntoskateusa.com/pairs-ice-skating-lessons/
LTS USA Curriculum: https://www.learntoskateusa.com/media/1169/curriculum_pairs.pdf
(When they revised the curriculum, they made it only four levels.)

I think the old Basic Skills curriculum is more comprehensive:
http://www.usfsa.org/Content/PairsCurriculum.pdf

Rink Tank Interactive has an app for the Pairs track - it lists each level's skills with demonstration videos, which is really helpful.  I think it's still using the Basic Skills Pairs 1-6 curriculum, which isn't a bad thing.
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/pairs-1-6/id477540173?mt=8

None of these take the place of coaching, but they do help clarify the skills and progression.

[axelwylie]

My pairs partner and I also coachless at the moment. We leverage YouTube videos a lot and have also done FaceTime lessons with a coach that is farther away. That could also be an option if the remote instruction method works for you.

[Query]

While there are a few English language books:

  http://shop.isu.org/index.php/single-pair-skating-ice-dance/pair-skating-as-sport-and-art,-by-tamara-moskvina-and-igor-moskvin-revised-1992-detail

  https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=sr_nr_n_19?fst=as%3Aoff&rh=n%3A283155%2Ck%3A%22pairs+skating%22&keywords=%22pairs+skating%22&ie=UTF8&qid=1534456987&rnid=2941120011 (2 pages of books; not sure how to search for videos)

One might wonder if some of the best resources aren't in the languages of the best pairs skaters and coaches. Maybe you could ask someone fluent in their languages to help you search for foreign language sources?

Of course, figure skating has always had partially separate training for coaches, judges, and choreographers. It would take a lot of time, money and effort to wade through their training programs, even if one didn't aim to be certified. Nonetheless...

One might wonder if taking at least a few lessons from an experienced pairs coach might be the safest route, even if you have to travel to get it, because from a biophysics perspective, the places and directions that your body that is stressed, and the ways to compensate for that stress, could be different from those in other body positions that you may have practiced in other dance-like disciplines. E.g., bearing weight down the axis of the spine as opposed to in front of the spine would create very different spinal stresses, and placing the arms in a lifted and/or rotated position must change shoulder and arm area stresses and joint positions. Perhaps a good coach could also point out strength training exercises to make things safer.

[LunarSkater]

Thanks for your replies everyone! I'm sorry it took so long to respond. It's been busy.

Query, thanks for the links. I've been looking at them a bit.

Figurespins, thanks for the advice and resources! I'll take a closer look at them.

Axelwylie, thanks for the tip. What channels or videos have helped you the most? I hope you and your partner continue to do well and hope you find a coach soon!

As for remote coaching, my rink has a policy that you must be in lesson with another coach while the other is watching through FaceTime. It's a bit of a hurdle. We can't video ourselves in practice, either, because club policy is there is no videography outside of a coach in lesson. I'm not able to make it to my partner's rink near as often as he comes to mine (work & freestyle schedule alignment), so that's another hurdle.

There are pairs coaches in nearby cities, for a given definition of nearby. They're all over two hours away in other states. We've talked about going every now and then, but the timing just hasn't worked out. My partner is going to an adult camp later this month and he's going to talk to some pairs coaches there. We're at the point we definitely need a pairs coach because corrections on throws, lifts, and death spirals aren't really going to come from anyone else.

[Query]

I wonder how common that sort of policy about videoing is...

I tried once to schedule sessions with a potential ice dance practice partner. Even without adding a coach, it was remarkably difficult for two people to juggle their schedules together. Between that, and incompatible styles taught by different coaches, we gave up. Unpredictable work and personal schedules, unpredictable traffic jams, etc. Now add in scheduling one or more coaches, and it must require true dedication, and maybe a flexible work schedule. I'm sure you are trying to avoid taking leave from work to be together - but you might have to.

I guess we can assume you have looked at other nearby rinks, with other schedules, and other policies regarding video and remote.

I suggested to someone in another thread that they could rent a small amount of dedicated ice time, from a rink, to run a routine. I'd suggest the same thing here. Would be very expensive per minute, but, for videoing yourself, the club policies probably wouldn't apply to ice time the rink rents you personally, and you only need a few minutes to video what you are doing now. If you talk to the rink (and other rinks), they may well have a short time slot you could rent in the near future, between or after other scheduled sessions. BTW, they may be more willing to schedule time with a coach (any coach) than yourselves alone, but I'm sure that varies by rink.

You could have separate lessons, in which you each work with your own coaches, preferably the same coach - but that obviously isn't the same thing as working together under the supervision of a coach.

I have seen people practice lifts (again ice dance, not pairs) off ice under coach supervision - but I'm sure that isn't the same thing at all, and not all lifts can be practiced off ice.

A shame you can't join him at the adult camp. Sure you can't take leave to do it?

Good luck! I hope you manage better than my own prior attempts to get together with someone for ice dance.

[LunarSkater]

I tried once to schedule sessions with a potential ice dance practice partner. Even without adding a coach, it was remarkably difficult for two people to juggle their schedules together. Between that, and incompatible styles taught by different coaches, we gave up. Unpredictable work and personal schedules, unpredictable traffic jams, etc. Now add in scheduling one or more coaches, and it must require true dedication, and maybe a flexible work schedule. I'm sure you are trying to avoid taking leave from work to be together - but you might have to.

I think you might have misunderstood. We've been skating together for eight months now. It's not scheduling that's the issue.

I guess we can assume you have looked at other nearby rinks, with other schedules, and other policies regarding video and remote.

Other rinks? Query, there are only four rinks in my entire state.

I suggested to someone in another thread that they could rent a small amount of dedicated ice time, from a rink, to run a routine. I'd suggest the same thing here. Would be very expensive per minute, but, for videoing yourself, the club policies probably wouldn't apply to ice time the rink rents you personally, and you only need a few minutes to video what you are doing now. If you talk to the rink (and other rinks), they may well have a short time slot you could rent in the near future, between or after other scheduled sessions. BTW, they may be more willing to schedule time with a coach (any coach) than yourselves alone, but I'm sure that varies by rink.

I know you keep putting this forward as an option, but it is simply not feasible for most people. The cost to rent ice is prohibitive.

You could have separate lessons, in which you each work with your own coaches, preferably the same coach - but that obviously isn't the same thing as working together under the supervision of a coach.

We do take lessons from separate coaches. We're both freestyle skaters. Neither of our coaches is a pairs coach. Mine has said flat out when talking options that 'I would love to help, but I am not the right person. I can tell when something goes wrong, but I would not know how to fix it."

I have seen people practice lifts (again ice dance, not pairs) off ice under coach supervision - but I'm sure that isn't the same thing at all, and not all lifts can be practiced off ice.

We do practice lifts off ice. We practice them way before we ever put them on the ice so we're both comfortable with the movements. Again, this is why we need a coach or technique advice that we've dug up.

A shame you can't join him at the adult camp. Sure you can't take leave to do it?

Well, considering it's this week and I'm stuck at work because we're short-staffed, no.

[Clarice]

LunarSkater, I feel your pain. I'm an ice dancer, and there just isn't any coaching available in my area. I have to drive 3 hours to the nearest big city to get partnering and coaching. Blessedly, I am able to do it weekly, but I've done the long-distance partner thing, too, where we lived several states apart and were only able to rendezvous a couple of times a month for training. I'm afraid you may be in a similar boat. It would be worthwhile to hunt down the nearest available pair coach and travel for lessons, even if they can't be very frequent. Getting instruction from somebody who knows what they're doing really makes a huge difference. Good luck to you and your partner!

[Query]

OK, you have nixed virtually everything I have suggested. I'll give it one more try, and then shut up.

Yes, private ice is expensive. But if all you want to do is to have a friend video a 5 minute routine to send to a remote coach (which might perhaps work, for example, through ICoachSkating.com, MySkateCoach.com and OnlineSkateSchool.com), work through the numbers: Assume a rink is willing to tack on a 5 minute extension to an existing session, and that they charge $300/hour. Then that 5 minute extension costs $300*5/60=$25 - probably less than a private lesson, or a couple club or freestyle sessions.

If you can do the routine during a club or freestyle session, and pay a coach to video you, thereby possibly meeting the rules of your club, that might be cheaper - but maybe not if you include the cost of the session, and the cost of the coach. Also, assuming that your club or rink enforces strong enough right-of-way rules for you to capture the whole routine on video during a club session.

Either way, you also have to pay a remote coach to evaluate that video. The number of coaches who are good and experienced at working remotely is limited, and the number of good pairs coaches is also limited, so they might charge more than your freestyle coach, probably more expensive than the ice time. Oh well.

There are lifts and throws in ballet, modern, and contemporary dance, and at the higher levels in ballroom, swing and hip hop. Most teachers and dancers in those areas will not know much about the rules and standards of pairs skating, but perhaps they all worry about safety. Perhaps they can help?

If you can deal with safety that way, perhaps you can hire a choreographer instead of a coach. A lot of them work remotely. Including some of the coaches who work through the sites I just mentioned. Many skaters send videos of their skate routines back to the choreographer for comments, as you might want to do, which is sort of like a remote coach.

E.g., Audrey Weisiger teaches Grassroots to Champions workshops to budding young skate choreographers, and might be able to choreograph for you, or suggest and put you in contact with one of her students for the purpose. She is a very pleasant person to talk to (I met her briefly). Nick Perna advertises that he teaches choreography too. Both work through those sites, and Audrey also advertises through the Grassroots to Champions site.

(They are also both expensive elite coaches - Perna even teaches pairs - so they don't quite fit what I was thinking of. But if either puts you in touch with one of their choreography students, the student might be cheaper.)

Of course, none of this is going to be free!

BTW, even though you already have a partner, you might still be able to use a partner search site, to locate other pairs skaters and the coaches who teach them. The skaters can tell you who coaches them, and discuss other issues with you, and the coaches may be looking for other students, possibly including remote students. In any event, good coaches aren't all that hard to find - e.g., you can easily look up who coaches the skaters who win semi-local competitions, or pass semi-local tests.

But you have chosen a sport which is always going to be somewhat difficult in your location, for your schedule. And if you later decide to coach it yourself, there might be a very limited clientele in small town America. As an athlete, you must love challenges, but this isn't a challenge you overcome purely through training and practice. But of course, you knew that going in.

If you test or compete your routine, you will still have to travel to a big city to do it - unless a local judge knows how to judge pairs. (If one does, most judges, AFAIK, start out skating, then coaching, and might be able and willing to help - though, last I checked, USFSA judges have conflict of interest rules, restricting their ability to act as a paid coaches. ISI rules may be looser - I'm not sure.)

[LunarSkater]

OK, you have nixed virtually everything I have suggested. I'll give it one more try, and then shut up.

Query, I know you're trying to help, which I do appreciate, but sometimes suggestions just don't work for a variety of reasons. This is a public board and things my partner and I have discussed don't need to end up on it. I put out a request for pairs resources because I haven't found a lot and because we don't yet have a coach.

Yes, private ice is expensive. But if all you want to do is to have a friend video a 5 minute routine to send to a remote coach (which might perhaps work, for example, through ICoachSkating.com, MySkateCoach.com and OnlineSkateSchool.com), work through the numbers: Assume a rink is willing to tack on a 5 minute extension to an existing session, and that they charge $300/hour. Then that 5 minute extension costs $300*5/60=$25 - probably less than a private lesson, or a couple club or freestyle sessions.

That's assuming the rink will let you book for that short amount of time. Mine won't. It's scheduled so tightly that some of the people who zam refuse to do it even a minute before they're supposed to. (Which given how timing at testing and competitions can run, I don't understand, but it's not my decision.)

If you can do the routine during a club or freestyle session, and pay a coach to video you, thereby possibly meeting the rules of your club, that might be cheaper - but maybe not if you include the cost of the session, and the cost of the coach. Also, assuming that your club or rink enforces strong enough right-of-way rules for you to capture the whole routine on video during a club session.

Either way, you also have to pay a remote coach to evaluate that video. The number of coaches who are good and experienced at working remotely is limited, and the number of good pairs coaches is also limited, so they might charge more than your freestyle coach, probably more expensive than the ice time. Oh well.

Oh, my coach would be willing to video, no problem. She's very enthusiastic about the whole pairs thing (she choreographed our fun little showcase routine). It's fitting it around her coaching schedule and our skating schedules. And finding a remote coach to watch the video!

There are lifts and throws in ballet, modern, and contemporary dance, and at the higher levels in ballroom, swing and hip hop. Most teachers and dancers in those areas will not know much about the rules and standards of pairs skating, but perhaps they all worry about safety. Perhaps they can help?

I've actually done a bit of ballroom dance, ages and ages ago, and my old skating coach was friends with a ballroom dance coach. It's a pricy suggestion. They actually cost just as much, if not more, than skating! Shocked the heck out of me when I heard my coach's friend's prices.

If you can deal with safety that way, perhaps you can hire a choreographer instead of a coach. A lot of them work remotely. Including some of the coaches who work through the sites I just mentioned. Many skaters send videos of their skate routines back to the choreographer for comments, as you might want to do, which is sort of like a remote coach.

E.g., Audrey Weisiger teaches Grassroots to Champions workshops to budding young skate choreographers, and might be able to choreograph for you, or suggest and put you in contact with one of her students for the purpose. She is a very pleasant person to talk to (I met her briefly). Nick Perna advertises that he teaches choreography too. Both work through those sites, and Audrey also advertises through the Grassroots to Champions site.

(They are also both expensive elite coaches - Perna even teaches pairs - so they don't quite fit what I was thinking of. But if either puts you in touch with one of their choreography students, the student might be cheaper.)

Of course, none of this is going to be free!

We're using a choreographer who's a pairs coach way out west doing the remote thing. (Perna was at my rink last month doing an Axel camp. It was so fascinating to watch him work, even at a distance.)

BTW, even though you already have a partner, you might still be able to use a partner search site, to locate other pairs skaters and the coaches who teach them. The skaters can tell you who coaches them, and discuss other issues with you, and the coaches may be looking for other students, possibly including remote students. In any event, good coaches aren't all that hard to find - e.g., you can easily look up who coaches the skaters who win semi-local competitions, or pass semi-local tests.

There are good pairs coaching in the semi-local area. But my partner and I are adults with jobs and other responsibilities. It's finding an ice session that works for everyone's schedule on a day my partner and I are willing to drive 2+ hours one way is really, really difficult.

But you have chosen a sport which is always going to be somewhat difficult in your location, for your schedule. And if you later decide to coach it yourself, there might be a very limited clientele in small town America. As an athlete, you must love challenges, but this isn't a challenge you overcome purely through training and practice. But of course, you knew that going in.

If you test or compete your routine, you will still have to travel to a big city to do it - unless a local judge knows how to judge pairs. (If one does, most judges, AFAIK, start out skating, then coaching, and might be able and willing to help - though, last I checked, USFSA judges have conflict of interest rules, restricting their ability to act as a paid coaches. ISI rules may be looser - I'm not sure.)

We actually had a Novice pairs team at my rink a few years back, so I know there's judges in the area for testing (which you don't technically need as an Adult as long as you've passed the corresponding Free Skate). Travel for any kind of competition is the norm. I don't know about ISI, as I've not skated under that organization.

[LunarSkater]

LunarSkater, I feel your pain. I'm an ice dancer, and there just isn't any coaching available in my area. I have to drive 3 hours to the nearest big city to get partnering and coaching. Blessedly, I am able to do it weekly, but I've done the long-distance partner thing, too, where we lived several states apart and were only able to rendezvous a couple of times a month for training. I'm afraid you may be in a similar boat. It would be worthwhile to hunt down the nearest available pair coach and travel for lessons, even if they can't be very frequent. Getting instruction from somebody who knows what they're doing really makes a huge difference. Good luck to you and your partner!

Clarice, I am so happy that you're able to make that drive every week! We've certainly talked about long-distance coaching, but it's yet to work out. I hope you are able to continue making your situation work. Good luck to you as well!

[nicklaszlo]

I have seen people practice lifts (again ice dance, not pairs) off ice under coach supervision - but I'm sure that isn't the same thing at all, and not all lifts can be practiced off ice.

Yes, this is really important.  The lifted partner needs to learn where her center of gravity is, and how to place it over the lifting partner's center of gravity.  You have to learn this on the floor. 

On the floor, if the lifted partner puts her center of gravity in the wrong place, the lifting partner can take a step to fix it.  On the ice, the lift is likely to collapse. 

Suggestion:  Record you off-ice lifts and post them on SkatingForums!  I will give you free advice based on zero expertise.  It might not help you skate, but it will be entertaining. 

[Clarice]

My social dance studio is planning a clinic on lifts and other tricks. I'm so excited and will be really upset if it turns out to be on a day I can't go. I'll need to do a dance lift in my next free dance test, and want to try out a lot off stuff off the ice to figure out how this is going to work. If we video, I'll post!

[LunarSkater]

Suggestion:  Record you off-ice lifts and post them on SkatingForums!  I will give you free advice based on zero expertise.  It might not help you skate, but it will be entertaining.

This runs into the same issue at my normal rink: no videography because minors. However, if I ever make it out to my partner's rink to skate, I can try there. I don't think his has the same restriction.

[nicklaszlo]

This runs into the same issue at my normal rink: no videography because minors. However, if I ever make it out to my partner's rink to skate, I can try there. I don't think his has the same restriction.

I suggested the off-ice, because you can do that anywhere.  I recommend a grassy field because you get softer landings.  Check the ground for holes before you start, though.  Hard floors are not recommended.  At my rink you cannot do proper off-ice lifts because it is too cramped.

[LunarSkater]

My partner and I live in different cities. We're pretty much only able to meet up at the rink. My rink has space and padding for it; not sure about his. I've only been there once. (I'm also allergic to grass, unfortunately. Makes mowing the lawn real fun.)

[axelwylie]

There isn't a specific channel or video that has been more helpful.  We usually just search for the element that we are having challenges with and study the videos to see what each of us needs to do. Then we try the element off ice before even attempting on ice.

[nicklaszlo]

What channels or videos have helped you the most?

I recommend the ISU Junior Grand Prix.  Watch the teams with the lower scores to get a sense for how to do elements without the features and transitions.

Before they shut down Ice Network, the Juvenile Pairs Championship was also good to watch.

[nicklaszlo]

I'm also allergic to grass

Getting off topic, but I've been getting desensitized to my respiratory allergy.  It's easy and permanent.  Antihistamines and steroids are also popular, but temporary, treatments.  Antihistamines are over the counter and very cheap.

Avoiding grass pollen sounds hard.

[Query]

OK, I said I'd shut up, but:

Yes, grass is somewhat soft. So are some modern playground surfaces (made from squishy rubber products, etc.), the ones that are supposed to reduce injuries when a kid falls off playground equipment. Playgrounds are also flatter. But I have no idea how good they are for this.

Some of the lifts that look scariest to me are the ones where the man holds the lady up by a single hand in the middle of her back, and she arches her back and drapes over his hand. Not only can he drop her, but that seems like the perfect way to injure the lady's spine. Think about it: the biggest weakness of bone is tension. Where the hand touches there is compression, though there is sheer force all around it. But on the top side of the spine opposite, the entire spine comes under tension, from the base near the hips, all the way up the neck to the head. (What is more, if the lady tries to create a continues aesthetic line, the top of the legs, feet, and all the way down to the toes, comes under tension too.)

We all remember from are Roman history and architecture that arches are supposed to be strong when using materials like poor tensile stress materials like bone and concrete (both are primarily calcium carbonate), but that is when the bottom ends are supported from below, because it helps transform sheer and tension into compression. (Likewise for the arches in the bones of the feet, or the re-curved arches in the spine that support your weight down the spine. But when the middle of an arch is lifted from above, arches aren't strong anymore in poor tensile strength materials. You might get away with it more easily if there were strands of pre-stressed steel embedded in your spine. (many steel alloys have high tensile strength.) Absent that steel, muscle tension will probably have to do.

As near as I can figure it, the only way for the lady to counter that top-wise bone tension is to use muscle tension on top of the spine, all the way along that line. The muscles would have to be strong, have endurance, and you couldn't let up. Of course if the top-wise line of tension is too strong, it might place tension on the distant parts of the underneath of the spine - so you need core strength too all along that line, and maybe a little muscle tension underneath, in the back and neck, as well, to create compression all along that line in place of tension.

Maybe I'm not thinking about this completely right - but it sure seems dangerous. There are safer forms of exercise.

[LunarSkater]

There isn't a specific channel or video that has been more helpful.  We usually just search for the element that we are having challenges with and study the videos to see what each of us needs to do. Then we try the element off ice before even attempting on ice.

Okay, thanks! If I come across anything good, I'll send it your way.

I recommend the ISU Junior Grand Prix.  Watch the teams with the lower scores to get a sense for how to do elements without the features and transitions.

Before they shut down Ice Network, the Juvenile Pairs Championship was also good to watch.Getting off topic, but I've been getting desensitized to my respiratory allergy.  It's easy and permanent.  Antihistamines and steroids are also popular, but temporary, treatments.  Antihistamines are over the counter and very cheap.

Avoiding grass pollen sounds hard.

Thanks for the tip about the JGP! I've been watching. As for the allergies, I've been on a daily antihistamine since I was eight. I'm well used to it....


Query, I don't know enough about high-level pairs lifts to even begin unpacking how they work. Good on you for trying! If you are that curious, maybe talk to a pair skater in your area. I'd be interested to see what goes into it.

[FigureSpins]

The OP is right: there's a dearth of good "how to" videos on Pairs.  Here's a YouTube channel that has some basics: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4CEC62FC01373F03

Probably below your level, but might help someone else.  Good luck.