Apologies in advance for the long post, but I really wanted to address all the points everyone has made. Also, I've cut some people's post's down, because obviously I don't need to repost every word people have made.
1. Kudos for summoning the courage to post the videos especially if you are not particularly self confident - that's a lot more than I could do. But in all honestly, you really have nothing to worry about :-)
Thanks Andy, it was difficult, but I figured it would be easier than trying to describe my issues.
A young lad use to skate with his feet angled like yours. Then someone else tightened his laces for him, and they became straight.
That said the one thing that I immediately noticed was that your skates looked loose and you were not straight on the blade. Now I'm saying that as someone who has never used hockey skates but others have mentioned it too so it may be something to consider.
I see what you mean when you say you see your right foot leaning. It's not very clear in the videos, but are your skates tied all the way up, with the right tightness? In most cases when your feet are leaning inwards, it's because of poorly fitted skates and/or laces that are tied too loose. You can experiment with the way you tie your skates, or ask your coach/instructor for help.
If it's the skates, and tightening causes you ankle pain, you could try silicon 'socks' like bunga pads, which let you fasten tighter but without pressure on the sticky out bits.
8. Another small tip - if your feet are hurting, try wax laces if you aren't already. My skates were agony (besides the breaking in) until I tried wax laces. They make it easier to vary the pressure around various points of the feet.
I used to tighten my laces as tight as they could go. But I got unbearable cramp-like pain in both my arches. So, I started skating with them looser, and now I usually only get it in my left, and only occasionally in my right. It seems as though if I have them tight then I hurt the arches, but if I have them loose, I tend to angle my feet weirdly.
I've got some wax laces, so I'm hoping they help, although I feel as though they are too short. And I'm looking into insoles now.
Just out of interest where did you get the skates from? Are they definitely the right size as often people buy skates in the same size as their normal shoes and that doesn't work. If you want to progress then it's worth going to a really good skate shop and having them measure your feet and check if you need specialist insoles etc. This is especially true if you have problems with your ankle as you want it to be properly supported.
7. Are your skates fitting properly? If you have cramps in the arches, it may pay to get some insoles.
I went back to the shop I got the skates from, it is a rinkside one, and asked them to check the fit, I got a different person, and she was pretty convinced the skates fit me well. She said the issue was with low arches, as she observed me walk and stand in my skates. She recommended that I try insoles.
You eventually get to know just how they should feel, and find that once you get the laces right, it makes things so much easier.
I just wish I knew how they were supposed to feel.
You do indeed walk rather than skate. Most people do walk fat first, although a few pick up gliding from the start. I'll give you a little lesson on edges. (Apologies if you know this.)
2. I see what you mean about the 'walking'. You are literally picking your feet up, which at that speed, and with your balance still honing in, is making you very unstable, and so you are probably very conscious about your feet going out from underneath you.
It's just that I cannot seem to stop walking. I'll start gliding for maybe 3 strides, and then go right back to walking. And I am pretty conscious about slipping over.
Thanks for the info on edges Leif.
3. One thing I learned very early on from one of my rink buddies, was to get a good knee bend. This lowers your centre of gravity, and consequently increases your stability. It also acts as a natural balancing mechanism for your body.
And as Andy says, a knee bend is important. It makes you more stable, and skate better.
I think I sit on my heels, as I often find myself losing my balance and falling backwards. So when I bend my knees I have to slouch my shoulders forward as well, otherwise I end up going backwards. Not sure how to stop that.
One thing I did notice from the clips is that your feet are quite wide apart and are are bit pronated so you are on inside edges. If you're gliding forward on two feet you should try to be on flat edges so the blade at 90 degrees to the ice, and try to get your feet closer together. Skating is ultimately based on balancing on one foot and that's hard unless that foot is under you. Best of luck with your skating.
So I need to stand on the flat, and not lean my blades in? And I need to bring my legs closer together? It sounds so simple, but my brain can't seem to get it right.
Thank you. I really want to improve.
6. Another tip I was given early on was my foot angle. I see your feet are almost parallel, which in turn is giving you very little edge to push with. My stance is pretty much with my feet at an alternating 10 and 2 position. Again - knuckle dragging hockey ape, but it gives me a good solid push for stroking.
They seem to do that without any input from me. I cannot keep them angled, for some reason, they like to be parallel.
Have they had you stand on the ice, with your heels together, toes pointing outward and march on the spot? You start moving forward slowly without trying when you do that.
Do that with your knees bent a bit, avoiding leaning forward and sticking your rear out.
Work on gliding on one foot for longer before putting the other one down. However long you can do that for, build it up, a half or a whole second at a time.
Once a bit more comfortable on one foot at a time, work on bringing your feet closer together after pushing. This allows a stronger push away.
At the same time, work on the knee bend to generate a stronger push. I used to think in terms of pushing my hips down toward the ice as you don't want to hunch over too much.
Also, I noticed you're rushing a bit - when you lift your foot, you try to put it down and lift the other foot as fast as possible. Instead, when you push off, try to keep your free leg off the ice for x counts, then put it down right next to the leg your standing on, so that your skates touch. Glide with your feet together like that for another x counts, push off with your other leg and repeat.
Thank you guys for the advice on how to build from basic movement, to gliding. If I'm holding someone's hand I can maybe glide for 2 seconds, but on my own, I can't glide on one foot at all really, maybe half a second. I also, find I can push off with my right foot, weight on my left, but I cannot do the opposite very well. So I can do some one foot gliding, but that's about it.
is your weight above the leg you're standing on? are you bending your knees? is your upper body nice and steady or are your arms flying around?
I do find I stick my rear out and hunch over if I try to bend my knees, is there anyway to stop that? Otherwise, I tend to lose my balance and almost fall backwards.
My arms move about a lot, so next time I'll try to control that a bit better.
As I said before, I can have all my weight on my left leg, but it's more of a struggle with my right.
Lastly, don't get discouraged when you feel like you aren't progressing as fast as you'd like, even if you feel like you're getting a lot of practice. Ice skating is a very "slow" sport in the sense that it takes a long time to learn a new skill/element, which can be incredibly frustrating at times.
I think you are being hard on yourself as everyone learns to skate at different rates and as an adult the fear of falling (even just subconsciously) is much greater.
4. Some people just take inherently longer to get used to the zero friction of the ice. A few of us on the LTS classes very quickly got used to the surface, whereas a few people that started at the same time are still clinging to the boards. Everyone learns at their own pace, don't punish yourself if you take a little longer than some of the others.
10. If you are worried about falling over - consider a helmet and padding. It might just give you the confidence to push a little harder and reduce the fear of injury (see previous point).
I think this is what is actually most hard for me. I am used to picking most things up with ease, and ice skating is simply not one of these things. I do tend to get very frustrated, because I want to be good, like right now, even though I know that it takes time and effort.
And yes, I'm terrified of falling, and I think that is a big issue for me. I just don't have the confidence necessary to move across the ice with ease, because every time I think I have it, I almost lose my balance, and that knocks my confidence.
I am tempted to get some elbow and knee pads, and possibly a helmet. I'm not too worried about relying on these, as I want to play hockey anyway, so it's not like I'll have to skate without padding, unless I decide to worry about figure skating.
If you can push onto alternate skates and glide more when you are holding someone's hand, it sounds like there is a confidence issue too.
You could try skating more with someone, and really learn to feel what you are doing different, and being aware of how it feels to transfer you weight onto each foot and aiming to glide for longer.
I'm definitely lacking confidence. I have two people I can skate with, but I feel worried about frustrating them, or holding them back. When they're "looking after me", I'm progressing, and they most likely aren't, and then I feel guilty.
But I like the idea of having less and less contact, and putting a glove between us etc.
What exercises have you been given in your LTS class - lemons? swizzles?
This is another problem, we get given a bunch of exercises, but then basically no time to practice them, whilst being shown.
We've been shown forward and backward lemons, "penguin" walking, and been shown about 4 different stops (snow plough, hockey, a drag one, and a tee stop). But I can't get enough speed to even worry about stopping just yet.
If you stand in normal shoes with feet shoulder-width apart and bend your knees (not necessarily a full squat, about halfway), can you keep your shoulders, hips, knees and feet in alignment or do your knees drop inwards? Where do you feel sore after skating?
I think my knees are fine on dry land. I squat at the gym, and never have any problems with alignment. I don't tend to feel sore anywhere yet, just my feet.
I would also practice those balance exercises at home, where you stand on one foot for longer and longer, then move to doing that with your eyes closed
You can also practise that holding on to the barrier at the rink, but dont close your eyes there!
I think this is something I'm definitely going to try. I think a lot of my issues do come from a problem with balance.
- You've got the gumption to actually get out on the ice; some people can't.
- You are not holding onto the barrier like it's your lifeline.
- Good posture & balance; you are not looking down, and you look reasonably stable.
- 3rd lesson, cool; everybody starts somewhere and progresses differently. Skating takes patient practice. Lots of it.
- Despite what you've said, You are skating.
- Skating is great exercise, focus on that; all the rest will sort itself out.
- Cramp in the foot arch; try arch support insoles, like Superfeet, Sole slim sport.
- You're in a group lesson that you paid for right? Your coach doesn't seem to be that attentive.
- You don't seem to glide that much; what's the grind on your blades? How roughed up is the ice?
- Are you happy out there on the ice?
- Thanks, I enjoy the ice when I'm not getting frustrated.
- I did hold on for so long, but I figured I'd never progress if I didn't at least attempt to move across.
- Everyone drilled into me that I shouldn't look down, but thank you. It's nice to have some positives.
- I know, I guess I just thought I'd be able to skate a little by now.
- Well thank you
.
- I'm looking into yellow superfeet at the moment, would you recommend those for my issues?
- The videos were during the practice after the group lesson. Basically, we get 30 mins of learn to skate and then 30 mins practice time. But to be honest, I think he has to many people to observe us all properly, and hasn't really given me any feedback on my skating just yet.
- I'm afraid I don't know the grind, I just handed them over and got them done at the rink. I wouldn't know where to begin with that. The ice was pretty roughed up during the videos, as we'd all been going over the same patches.
- Mostly.
5. I am not a 'pretty' skater by any means. My coach glides across the ice with grace and poise, in comparison I am a knuckle dragging hockey ape. What are your aims? Figure skating? Recreation? Hockey?
Recreational hockey is the long-term goal. But for now, the ability to go forward and backwards would be excellent.