Beginner adult skater - Facing my fear!

[SeanMHC]

Hi all,

I'm new to this forum, having read and sought help from countless posts I thought it's about time I make an introduction.

I'm Sean, I'm 28, and crazily I decided to give one of my most feared activities a run for it's money! I mean I watch the Ice Hockey every week, I've watched dancing on ice.. surely with enough practice I can pick it up?

For a long time now if anyone mentioned ice skated I'd instantly fill with panic and say no. Before I started on this adventure I'd been on the ice a total of twice in my life, each time I was absolutely terrified and wouldn't let go of the barrier. I vowed it to be something I'd never do unless forced to.

Fast forward a few years, I start getting into watching Ice Hockey and I meet my partner who used to play. Obviously, sooner or later I'd have to hop onto the ice and give it another crack. I did.. and guess who didn't let go of the wall again? Guess who filled with panic and fear and froze? Yep. That was me. But something inside me was different, I felt like if I figured out how to skate I could really enjoy it. I mean every weekend I spend 60 minutes watching the Steelers carve the ice to my absolute amazement wishing I could do that one day.

What did I decide to do? Buy a pair of hockey skates and sign myself up for Skate UK lessons.

Then came my first lesson.. what did they make us do.. skate across the ice AWAY FROM THE BARRIER? Fortunately there were plenty of people in the same boat as me as we all tried tirelessly to get across without hurting ourselves. Low and behold, 15 minutes later, my feet feeling like I'd run a marathon, I managed to do it! We learned how to get back up off the ice, how to glide and even tried doing a little 'dip'. Dripping in sweat from fear, thrill and exhaustion I got off the ice with the biggest smile on my face I'd had in a while..

I'd fought and battled my anxiety and my fears and something I thought I'd never be able to do.. I did.

So far up to writing this I've progressed through levels 1 and 2 of the Skate UK program. This most recent weekend I was moved up to level 3, where having only just managing to get over my fear of going forwards on the ice.. had to attempt to glide backwards...

I think for me this is going to be a long journey of self improvement and discovery. One to prove to myself I can overcome my fears, and achieve in something that really doesn't come naturally to me. I talk of all this fear, one might ask why.. because out on the ice, after all of that, my mind is no longer in such a dark place, the sense of achievement I feel and the smile that doesn't leave my face when I'm gliding along the ice.

Hope this wasn't too long and boring! Thank you for reading those who got this far. I'm going to try keep this updated with my progress.

[transmissionoftheflame]

Ah that's just fantastic.  You'll have a grand time.  You don't have to be super-talented - just a bit of patience and a lot of passion.  I was pretty pathetic as a beginner - most around me learned more quickly than I did.  Of the people I learned with and those I skated with in the early years who started around about the same time or even later, apart from my daughters I am the only one left.

[WednesdayMarch]

What did I decide to do? Buy a pair of hockey skates and sign myself up for Skate UK lessons.

Wait, you bought hockey skates?!  Nothing like doing it the hard way... 

I'd fought and battled my anxiety and my fears and something I thought I'd never be able to do.. I did.

So far up to writing this I've progressed through levels 1 and 2 of the Skate UK program. This most recent weekend I was moved up to level 3, where having only just managing to get over my fear of going forwards on the ice.. had to attempt to glide backwards...

I think for me this is going to be a long journey of self improvement and discovery. One to prove to myself I can overcome my fears, and achieve in something that really doesn't come naturally to me. I talk of all this fear, one might ask why.. because out on the ice, after all of that, my mind is no longer in such a dark place, the sense of achievement I feel and the smile that doesn't leave my face when I'm gliding along the ice.

Hope this wasn't too long and boring! Thank you for reading those who got this far. I'm going to try keep this updated with my progress.

I'm looking forward to the progress updates!  Remember, it's all about the joy. 

[SeanMHC]

Ah that's just fantastic.  You'll have a grand time.  You don't have to be super-talented - just a bit of patience and a lot of passion.  I was pretty pathetic as a beginner - most around me learned more quickly than I did.  Of the people I learned with and those I skated with in the early years who started around about the same time or even later, apart from my daughters I am the only one left.

Thank you so much! Despite my fear I'm really enjoying it so far. It's taking me a little longer than a lot of people there, but I've surprised myself how far I've got from being too scared to leave the barriers!

[SeanMHC]

Wait, you bought hockey skates?!  Nothing like doing it the hard way... 

I'm looking forward to the progress updates!  Remember, it's all about the joy.

When I bought them I didn't actually know there was a difference! I just wanted something more fitting and with sharper blades, there was a hockey shop across the road so I thought i'd get some properly fitted boots there! They might not make it easy but I feel much happier than on hire skates

I had my first level 3 lesson on Saturday, in which I managed to finally crack gliding backwards (not great but I found the feel for it enough to do a few crossings of the rink). The biggest challenge was forwards to backwards to forwards on a circle. I'd somehow managed to skip the backwards to forward turn on the spot in level 2 and I kept on hooking my turns instead of a fast 180 on the spot. Once i'd focused on looking at the centre of the circle I managed to get the turns down but I get losing momentum and would come to a stop when I changed direction! Looking forward to giving them another go, I feel like it's going to be a fundamental part of moving on the ice!

[karoklim]

Hi Sean!

just wanted to say hi as I'm 26 and also decided to start skating this year. Although I had a little bit of experience as a child, it's still scary sometimes! I understand the issue of turning, I always get terrified and have to slow down before the turn I'm sure that slowly but surely we will get there... In some ways I think that we might have a certain advantage as adults in that we can read around and understand the technical side of things- I find that it helps me massively if I can break it down to edges and pressure etc. I really like this youtube channel 'kseniyaOleg'- they seem really good when it comes to explaining the mechanics of moves.

good luck!

[SunflowerSkates]

Hi Sean!

As you're a Steelers fan, is it by chance iceSheffield that you're learning at? We have a fantastic adult community!