Author Topic: Keep sliding when standing  (Read 2226 times)

RisingErin

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Keep sliding when standing
« on: March 06, 2019, 11:22:29 am »
Hi, I've just started lessons at my local ice rink and I'm getting good at gliding and doing dips and stopping. When I'm trying to stand still I keep gliding forwards or when we have to balance on different parts of the blades I go round in circles, how can I just stay still?
Thanks.

Leif

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Re: Keep sliding when standing
« Reply #1 on: March 06, 2019, 01:24:54 pm »
It sounds like you are standing on the hollow/flat of the blade i.e. with your skates upright. Try and stand on the inside edges of your skates, with your skates shoulder width apart, so that your legs form a triangle, if that makes sense. That way the inside edges dig into the ice, giving stability. A little leg bend also helps. You can also angle your feet so that the toes point to a spot a few meters in front of you rather than being parallel.

transmissionoftheflame

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Re: Keep sliding when standing
« Reply #2 on: March 07, 2019, 07:26:56 am »
It might not sound it, but staying stock still on skates is quite an advanced skill.  They are designed to make you go, and the blades are curved which naturally leads to going on a curve.


I cannot recall exactly how I set myself to stay still as I've been doing it so long I don't think about it any more, though unlike Leif I have a feeling I am more on a slight outside edge on both skates, and I suspect feet just slightly apart and more or less parallel, weight over the middle of your feet.  What I think would be rewarding for you is to experiment with different positions and try to feel where your weight is and what effect that has on the blades and on where your body wants to go.


I didn't quite follow the bit about going in circles while balancing on different parts of the blades - do you mean on one foot or both?  Moving or still?  Balancing on one skate and standing still is really hard and not something that beginners normally practice, though it could be helpful in developing a feel for the ice.  Most skating, at least figure skating, involves being on an edge and going on a curve, though obviously one ought to be able to go in a straight line if that is what is required.

spinZZ

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Re: Keep sliding when standing
« Reply #3 on: March 07, 2019, 07:25:35 pm »
Hi, I've just started lessons at my local ice rink and I'm getting good at gliding and doing dips and stopping. When I'm trying to stand still I keep gliding forwards or when we have to balance on different parts of the blades I go round in circles, how can I just stay still?
Thanks.
You should check whether your boots are too big, the laces are too loose, or both.  If your foot squirms within a boot, that motion will cause you to move on the ice.

transmissionoftheflame

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Re: Keep sliding when standing
« Reply #4 on: March 10, 2019, 09:10:51 am »
Good point about boots fitting, lacing properly.


I checked out what I do to stand still and honestly am able to stand still in almost any position and don't really know quite how.  It's been so long my body is making micro-adjustments that I am not conscious of.


My daughter, who is a roller blading instructor as well as an ice figure skater, teaches the beginners  on wheels to stand with more or less locked knees (knee bend makes you go, locked knees forces weight onto middle part of blade directly underneath you) on centre edges with heels together and toes pointed out 90 degrees or maybe a bit less.


What are dips?

spinZZ

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Re: Keep sliding when standing
« Reply #5 on: March 10, 2019, 12:14:53 pm »

I checked out what I do to stand still and honestly am able to stand still in almost any position and don't really know quite how.  It's been so long my body is making micro-adjustments that I am not conscious of.

I did the same thing.  I don't do anything special or deliberate to stand still.   It will depend very much on the individual skater, boots, and blades.  One key is to determine what your at-rest relaxed position is:  that is, the position of your feet in particular, but your body overall, that you don't have to exert any effort to maintain.  If your feet squirm, your arms flap, or your body rocks, then you are fighting to maintain a position, and the internal motion will eventually translate to movement along the ice.  For example, my legs are such that my at-rest position results in my feet being pointed out in a V (heels near the bottom, toes pointed out); I'm sure some coaches would say to avoid that position because your feet can slide out from under you, but it's my natural at-rest position.  To hold my feet parallel as ||, or toes pointed in as /\, I have to deliberately exert effort to hold those positions without moving.  It comes natural to me now, but probably not when I was a beginner.
« Last Edit: March 10, 2019, 12:24:27 pm by spinZZ »

WednesdayMarch

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Re: Keep sliding when standing
« Reply #6 on: March 10, 2019, 09:17:21 pm »
What are dips?

Possibly what we used to call "Mister Men"?  Gliding forward on 2 feet and bending both knees to touch the ice (or as near to it as possible)?

One silver lining to not being able to stand still is that it makes standing and gossiping rather than practising more difficult...!
Returned to the ice in Sept 2017 after a major leg injury in 1999. Skating in Jackson Elite Pro & MK Vision Syncro. Still scary after all these years.

RisingErin

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Re: Keep sliding when standing
« Reply #7 on: May 10, 2019, 03:37:22 pm »
Thanks for the advice, I'm no longer sliding round the rink without meaning to.

WednesdayMarch

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Re: Keep sliding when standing
« Reply #8 on: May 10, 2019, 04:03:18 pm »
Hurrah!  Well done.  8)
Returned to the ice in Sept 2017 after a major leg injury in 1999. Skating in Jackson Elite Pro & MK Vision Syncro. Still scary after all these years.

spinZZ

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Re: Keep sliding when standing
« Reply #9 on: May 11, 2019, 02:29:41 pm »
Thanks for the advice, I'm no longer sliding round the rink without meaning to.
Yes, congratulations.  Did you do anything specific, or did you just get more comfortable with experience?

RisingErin

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Re: Keep sliding when standing
« Reply #10 on: June 13, 2019, 03:55:56 pm »
Yes, congratulations.  Did you do anything specific, or did you just get more comfortable with experience?

I think it was just getting used to the ice, one day I just stopped sliding when I didn't want to



 

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