How To Practice Learn To Skate Elements | Ice Skating

So if you're just starting out skating, you are excited to get on the ice and practice the elements you have learned in skate school, which looks something like this. They do some beautiful forward swizzles, then they've learned alternating pops, maybe some one foot glides, then some back swizzles, maybe some backward alternating pops, and some two foot turns. So this has probably taken me about five minutes. Well, I know that most sessions are 30 minutes to maybe 50 minutes long. So we want to maximize that a bit more. And I'm going to show you how to do that today, how we can take the skills that you already know and put them in some amazing exercises. That way you use the whole entire session because we love skating. So first thing first, we're going to get out of that corner. All these exercises are going to be using the whole entire ice. Our first exercise is going to be some pumps with some one foot glides. So let's begin. We're going to pull up. We're going to go right pump, right pump, feet together, push, lift, one foot glide. And then again, pump, pump, hold, lift, down, pump, pump, hold, lift, down. Now I'm going to show you how you can use your arms to make it even more enjoyable. So we're going to go pump, pump, and lift, hold. And then again, push one, push two, and up. And you can even go pump one, pump two, then push and hold. So feel free to change up your arms while doing this exercise. This is a part of skating that I absolutely love when I get to involve my upper body. So with that first exercise, I incorporated two of my skills, pumps and one foot glides. Now with our second exercise, I'm going to be doing forward swizzles and two foot turns. So let's go. So I'm going to pull up. I'm going to bend my knees and ankles, swizzle, swizzle, two foot turn, swizzle, swizzle, two foot turn, swizzle, swizzle, two foot turn, swizzle, swizzle, two foot turn. Now let's add some arms. So we're going to go swizzle, swizzle, two foot turn, swizzle, swizzle, two foot turn, swizzle, swizzle, two foot turn, swizzle, swizzle, two foot turn. And there's your second exercise. So we did some beautiful swizzles. You can do more swizzles or you can just do one swizzle. It's up to you. So before we move on, I want you to click on the link below in the description for your free PDF guide on how to start your figure skating journey. This is going to go over how to find your local ice rink, how to enroll in skate school, how to pick a coach, off ice, on ice. It's just going to be really helpful for you to look over and get you started. So when you're ready, give it a click. So our third exercise, we're going to combine three of the elements. Pumps, one foot glides, and two foot turns. So let's start. I'm going to pull up. I'm going to do some forward pumps. So we're going to go pump, pump, lift, down. Pump, pump, lift, down, two foot turn. And now pump, pump, lift, down. Pump, pump, other leg, down, two foot turn. And we can repeat it again. Pump, pump, up, down. Pump, pump, up, down. Bend, turn. Pump, pump, up, down. Pump, pump, up, down, and two foot turn. Now I want you to make sure that you go the other way. We want to make sure that we hit up both sides. That way we're not stronger on one side than the other. So as a little bonus, I'm going to give you a program that you can use. Because I know most figure skaters, when they start skating and they start learning elements, they're going to want to do a competition one day. And this is a great place to start. So I'm going to start in the middle of the ice. I'm going to pull up, and then I hold. Now we're going to go pumps, one, two, and one foot glide. And then we're going to do pumps in a circle. My two foot turn. Now alternating pumps backwards. Two foot turn. Swizzles. One foot glide. Then we're going to turn backwards. Some pumps on a circle. Turn forwards. And if you've learned a two foot spin, you can go into a spin. There's your program. So it's very simple, but it's combined all those elements that we've learned. We're just using a different pattern. And that's what we're going to do when we compete. We're not going to stay on a straight line. We're going to use different parts of the ice. So this is just a great start for you. So there you have it. That is our lesson today on how to practice as a beginner skater. Now I want you to remember, it should be fun and enjoyable. If you find that you're coming out to the ice rink and it's a bit taxing and then you're getting upset, change up the way you're practicing. I personally like to put elements together because I find it more enjoyable. But if you're happy with practicing that one element over and over again, that is perfectly fine too because you have found out what works best for you. Thanks for watching NextEd Tutorials and looking forward to seeing you in our next lesson.