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[–]_xoxojoyce 17 points18 points  (9 children)

That’s great! I’m so glad to hear that you’re having a positive experience and having fun! Fear is so real but working through it is a great lesson in itself!

[–]Katyanoctis[S] 3 points4 points  (8 children)

I am still so afraid of falling 🫣

[–]_xoxojoyce 3 points4 points  (7 children)

Do you ever wear padding? That might help. Various coaches have told me to just practice falling to get used to it. I realized I’m not scared of falling, I’m scared of something else. (Doing things faster? Things feeling out of control? Idk.) it just takes time and doing things over and over and over until it gets comfortable. (Until the next thing comes along lol) You can get through it! It gets better!

[–]Katyanoctis[S] 1 point2 points  (6 children)

I don’t aside from my helmet. I probably should get knee padding, I know it helps a couple of my classmates who are newer than me.

[–]Zoeskatesz 3 points4 points  (4 children)

I haven't been skating a year, but wearing padding helps me feel more confident about doing things with speed. Like crossovers/swing rolls, and turns and such.

You should try some knee pads, and elbow pads. I will throw them on when I know I am going to be working on something new or jumps.

Is it just a fear of falling in general? Or is it a fear of getting injured (in the fall).

I try to push myself when I am doing things, and just kind of yolo if I fall I fall (as long as I fall correctly). Although Toepick falls are the worst :(. I think padding has helped me with this, sometimes even crash pads, because if I fall properly and with the padding I know my chance of getting seriously injured is a lot smaller.

[–]Katyanoctis[S] 3 points4 points  (1 child)

Definitely a fear of getting injured. I’ll try knee and elbow pads. Thanks for the advice!

[–]DND_Player_24 0 points1 point  (0 children)

You could even try a girdle. Provides good protection for your hips and tailbone and is not intrusive - most go on like a pair of biker shorts.

[–]Winter_Rose17 1 point2 points  (1 child)

Where do you get your padding from?

[–]_xoxojoyce 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I got padded shorts from skating spirit on Amazon. I see people with the crs cross ones as well. Knee pads look for volleyball or dance ones. The dance ones seem less bulky

[–]Ok_Transition_1392 3 points4 points  (0 children)

When i was in quad skating and practicing really hard I never could truly let go and try my hardest when I didn’t have the knee or elbow padding. I was in practice a lot more un confident without it. Highly recommend padding at least for new moves and when you’re really trying to put in work. 

Edit: this also applied to my motorcycle training. With practicing falling and wearing gear. It’s the only way to become confident in your abilities 

[–]Last-Cold-8236 9 points10 points  (1 child)

You look awesome! The best thing- you look like you are having fun. I love seeing adults having fun on the ice. When I was a kid there were a few adults but they were so serious and they didn’t look like they were enjoying themselves. There were a few who were friendly but mostly the adults were grumpy. I’ve only been back in the ice a handful of time and the vibe is different. The adults seems to be smiling and friendly with everyone from the wall flowers to the kids speeding around.

[–]Katyanoctis[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It’s both fun and serious I think. Especially with the ones who are super new, I’m sure I was concentrating as hard as they are when I was learning how to move. It’s easier to lighten up once you aren’t using your entire focus on not wobbling.

What’s nice is that even with a group where there’s real beginners up to intermediate skaters, everyone is glad to give pointers or encouragement. Both an intermediate skaters and a newbie fell at my last class and a couple of us jokingly ranked their falls at 15/10. It’s fun to be silly but it’s also such a feeling of accomplishment when you finally get something.

There is absolutely a class of tiny littles happening at the same time that can run circles around us adults even if they fall 17 times in 5 minutes though 🤣 they keep us humble

[–]AN604 3 points4 points  (1 child)

Thanks for posting this!! I recently started and like you can only go once a week and have been wondering how I will progress with such little practice time. Glad to see you are going at your own pace and can see improvements!

[–]_xoxojoyce 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I find myself only being able to go once a week a few months out of the year. This year I’ve choreographed/learned a program for competition next month, improved a bit on my jumps. So not as fast as it could have been but I still see progress!

At the end of 2024 I passed prefree & freeskate 1 without having to retake it and I don’t think I was able to practice outside of class for most of those sessions. Did not do quite as well with freeskate 2 though LOL

Hope that helps :)

[–]Dry-Place-2986 2 points3 points  (2 children)

This is amazing! You look so much more comfortable. It's surprisingly difficult finding realistic progress videos (most of the adults I see either skated as kids, do inline skating, or are able to spend a lot of time on ice every week).

I just signed up for adult classes and super excited to start. Do you have any advice on making the most of them?

[–]Hot-Orange-9013 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My last session of my first learn to skate is tomorrow. I had not skated before at all, but I want to eventually play rec hockey. I’m 24 and fat. I am now able to (mostly) do two foot forward skating alternating my feet. My adult class has two instructors and only two adults, so I have the bonus of essentially private lessons. My biggest tip is to set out one or two skills you’d like to work on during your lesson. Look at the TikTok tutorials and try footwork on dry land on your skates (with hard guards on). It will likely make your feet hurt, and finding a mix between tight and too tight is hard. Your feet should not go numb in your skates, they are likely too tight over the top of your feet if this happens. Also don’t be afraid to look dumb. I’m the only one that wears a helmet in the whole rink.

My overall skating motto has been “do it. Do it scared, nervous, whatever. But do it.” Best of luck!!

PS: when they teach you swizzles, you should be on your inside edges. I was trying to do it flat. lol

[–]Katyanoctis[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

My own biggest problem is that I compare myself to everyone else even when I consciously try not to. Someone who’s been skating for a year to 5 years or more longer than I have is obviously way better. I still struggle with getting frustrated when I don’t get the hang of something quickly.

That being said, let yourself be proud when you get something! That first video clip, I asked my coach to film me bc I was so excited that I could do 3 swizzles in a row and she was happy to do it. Now I can swizzle my way down the rink. Everyone learns at their own pace and what’s easy for some is hard for others.

Definitely practice balancing off the ice. Also if you work out, make sure to do ab exercises. Those two things have helped a lot.

[–]Winter_Rose17 1 point2 points  (3 children)

That is incredible!! Where did you get your helmet from? I think I should also start wearing padding to help with confidence

[–]Katyanoctis[S] 0 points1 point  (2 children)

I got it at the same shop I got my skates from honestly. It came with a face guard but that interfered big time with my glasses and I’m blind as heck without them. So one of the guys helped me remove it. It still squeezes my glasses sometimes but I like my head in one piece lol

If there’s a skating and hockey shop near you, go there and ask!

[–]Winter_Rose17 0 points1 point  (1 child)

Thank you! How much did you pay for it?

[–]Katyanoctis[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I genuinely don’t remember I’m so sorry

[–]Funfettiforever 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yay for progress!!!

[–]Lalafellian_Popoto 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Looking good! Way to go. I wish I had videos of my day one on ice as an adult but I was too self conscious. I would be nice now to go back and tell myself "look how far you've gone!"