Improve Your Ice Skating Stroke

Beginning figure skaters often take longer to get their skates under them because they are too busy trying not to fall. A tentative approach to the sport will accomplish the least amount of gains and certainly won't contribute to a new skater's confidence level.

So go ahead and get it over with. Fall. That's right; when you're out on the ice, just let go and fall like you're sliding in to home base. You'll realize two things: First that you have more control over how you fall than you previously thought. Second, falling [correctly] ain't all that bad.

Of course, you don't want to practice falling as a daily habit. The goal is, after all, to stay upright on your skates. But overcoming your fear of falling will free you up to try new skills.

For example, instead of wobbling on top of your blades while you walk your hands on top of the hockey boards for support, bend your knees and feel your blades grinding in to the ice.

Granted, the last thing judges want to hear during testing is blades grinding in to the ice. But when you're first learning to skate, you need to understand that ice is a tool for you to use, not a surface to be balanced over.

Instead of trying to get your balance over your skates, bend your knees as deeply as possible. Keep your chin up and your back straight. Skate through the ice rather than over it.

Skating "Through" the Ice

Don’t think of the ice as a surface of glass you have to stand on. It’s a medium you move through, not over. That's why you have sharpened edges on your blade.

Picture putting a knife horizontally into bread. As it goes deeper into the crust, the knife becomes more stable. Likewise, when you skate into the ice instead of just on it, your skate will becomes steadier.

Practice on Carpet

You can actually step onto paper plates and skate while you’re on carpet, or slip on some socks and shine up that wood floor. (Be careful not to go sliding into the splits. Face-plants are only slightly less painful on the floor than on the ice. Still, this is a great time to practice falling correctly.)

Skate like you would normally, alternating both legs. Consider that the foot placed in back is going to create momentum that allows the front foot forward more quickly. The two feet never touch (or we're back to a face-plant) but rather activate one another through your leg muscles while you're in a deep knee bend.

Let’s try this from the top: Bend your knees. Use weight or pressure on your back foot to push your front foot. Smoothly transfer your weight to that front foot and glide for as long as you can. That free leg then becomes the front foot. Place it on the floor or ice just ahead of the back foot. With your weight on the back foot, push off and smoothly transfer weight to the front foot. Now you're stroking on both feet.

Note: As the back leg becomes the free leg, it is straightened and extended at about 45 degrees behind you. Repeat for some distance, and you will begin to get the feel of skating through the carpet. Take this feeling to the ice.

For the most part, keep your knees bent as far as you can without allowing your chest to come forward or your chin to drop. Legs straighten only when one foot is lifted off the ice surface and held in arabesque during a glide or spiral.

Stroking on Ice

Before trying your new technique back at the rink, be aware that you may go faster than you normally would. Keep your weight centered and your knees bent while pushing. Also a word of caution, avoid the bad habit of pushing off with your toe pick. It is counterproductive and irritating to judges.

Try a technique used by several elite (namely Russian) figure skating coaches. They teach their students to "re-bend." That is, before you place your free foot back down on the ice during stroking, consciously bend the knee of the free leg and the standing leg together. This contraction will give you a more powerful stroke.

Perform this method until it becomes automatic. Remember, your skating will improve as your confidence does. Belief in your own skating abilities will strengthen with practice.

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