Everything You Need to Start Figure Skating!⛸ (journeybacktotheice)

Hello and welcome back to my channel. I thought with fall approaching and learn to skate season slash open skate season approaching as well, I would make a complete guide to everything you need to start figure skating. This video is more aimed towards the skaters that are looking to learn jumps and spins and possibly get into some private lessons. However, if you're someone that just wants to skate for fun or recreational purposes, I'll point out the must-haves and some of the other things I mentioned are more for figure skaters. But if you would like those items, I highly recommend getting them. The first item you're obviously going to need if you're going to start skating is a pair of ice skates. I do have a series on my TikTok page going over what kind of skates I recommend and what skates I recommend to avoid. And I can definitely make a longer in-depth video on my YouTube channel as well. But today I'm just going to go over some brief do's and don'ts with what type of skates you should get. If you see yourself as the type of skater that's just going to be doing forwards and backwards skating, nothing too crazy, really doing any crossovers or anything, then you don't really have to worry about investing too much money into skates. However, if you want to learn things like three turns, crossovers, anything more than just forwards and backwards, you definitely should avoid buying really cheap skates. And I know it might be tempting to purchase the very cheap skates, but I will tell you from a coach perspective, it is extremely dangerous to purchase these skates no matter how old you are. Especially if you're working on jumps, spins, even crossovers and three turns, you basically can run the risk of severely injuring your ankle. And that is because brands like the Lake Placid skates have absolutely no stability or ankle support, which is what you need if you're going to be doing any kind of skating. And I know you'll see comments on TikTok, Instagram, or even YouTube saying, oh, well I use the Lake Placid skates, they're fine. No, you ask any skate tech or skate coach, they will tell you that those skates are not good. And in fact, there are some coaches that tell their students they cannot skate in those and rightfully so, because it's basically an accident waiting to happen. So please listen to me when I say spend the extra 50 to a hundred dollars on a pair of skates that are not only going to support you, but they're going to last longer. And additionally, they're going to help you progress faster and just feel a lot more comfortable on the ice. If you are looking for a pair of beginner skates that are going to last you a while and be supportive for your ankles, I recommend looking into any of the beginner level Jackson skates or Rydell skates. I will have a bunch of them linked down below. These are the brands and styles I trust for any of my teen and adult beginner skaters out there. I highly recommend checking out the Jackson Mystique or Jackson Artiste. I also recommend any of Rydell's kind of diamond series. So the Topaz, Ruby, Crystal, those are great options. If you're a teen or an adult beginner, once you have your pair of skates, the next few items are the three most important accessories that you will need if you're going to be skating on a regular basis. The next three items you will need as a figure skater are hard guards, soakers, and a skate towel that you can use to wipe off your blades when you are done skating. These are three skate accessories you cannot skip. And again, something that a lot of coaches require their skaters to have, rightfully so, because if you are going to be skating, you need to take care of your blades and your skates properly. Hard guards are what protect your blades when you are not on the ice. You cannot walk around on cement or metal or anything that is not ice with your blades. I see so many people do this, and you will see memes left and right on the internet talking about how the noise of blades scraping against concrete is a pet peeve of every skater. And it is because you are killing your blades. You're damaging your blades. They're never going to be the same ever again. So listen to me and every single figure skater and skating coach when I say you need hard guards and you cannot walk on cement or metal or anything that is not a skate safe surface without your hard guards on. There are many different options and price ranges for hard guards, but honestly, if you just buy the cheapest available pair, that is going to save you so much time and agony over having your blades not work and you're going to lose your edges. Basically, taking care of your blades properly and paying the $6 for a pair of cheap hard guards is much more affordable than buying a whole new pair of skates or blades, which is a couple hundred dollars. So make sure you have a pair of hard guards. I will leave a couple different options down below. I personally love the Edea E-guards, but I know they're quite expensive. So honestly, if you just want to get yourself a pair of the cheapest available ones on the market, they still work the same. There's nothing different. They're just all different designs, but they all do the same function. So make sure you get yourself a pair of hard guards no matter what. Going in order, the next item you're going to need is a towel, and this can be a cheap kitchen towel, hand towel, or self-promotion here. You could get yourself a double-sided skate towel from my Etsy shop. I'll leave that linked on screen and in the description box below. What? Yes, I hand make skate towels, and I really enjoy them, and a lot of you enjoy them as well. They're great things to have on hand, and you can clip them into your bag. Now back to the video. Yes, you are going to need to have a towel on hand to wipe off your blades when you are done skating. So when you get off the ice, you should put your hard guards on, walk over to wherever your bag is, and then you're going to take your hard guards off, and you're going to thoroughly wipe down your blades. This is just going to clean off any ice chunks that are sitting on there, any moisture, because if you leave moisture on your blades, this is how blades rust, and when your skates rust, this is how they break, and you completely damage your blades or your edges. So just make sure you wipe off your skates when you are done skating. The next skate accessory that you are going to need is a pair of soakers. Again, this is an item where there's a lot of different price ranges out there, but you definitely need soakers, and here is why. So once you finish wiping your skates off, you're going to want to put your skates back in your bag, and you want to make sure that they're protected in your bag, but you don't want to put your hard guards back on, and the reason why is because your hard guards are probably wet, and you've just cleaned off your blade, and if you put the hard guards on, it's actually going to trap moisture inside and just, again, create rust stains. So what you want to do is, now that your blades are thoroughly wiped off with your towel, you will put a soaker on, because soakers are made from a fleece material that absorbs any extra moisture, and so this is going to prevent rust from forming while your skates are in your bag waiting to be used again or in transport. Like I had previously mentioned, there are many different price point options and styles available. You don't have to have an expensive one. The super cheap soakers work just as well as the expensive ones. I like the fluffy ones because I feel like it adds an extra bit of cushioning, but that's just my personal opinion. There's really no difference between the thin $6 ones, $10 ones you can get at your local skate shop, and the fun sequin double-sided soakers. So now that we have all of the main care accessories for your skates, including your skates, you're going to want to probably have a bag or something to carry your skates in, and there are many different options for this. Honestly, I enjoy as a coach just having a tote bag and I throw my skates in there, but when I'm going to the rink for practice or anything, I obviously bring a lot of other things like foam rollers and stuff. So I used to have a Zucca bag. I like those because you can sit on them, so if your rink doesn't have a lot of seating options, I know Zucca bags are very expensive, but for the amount of times I used it, I definitely got my money's worth and they hold up for a long time. If you are just getting into skating and you don't know how long you're going to be doing this for, I just recommend finding a tote bag that can fit your skates, all the accessories, and anything else you want to bring to the rink with you. As long as it's kind of easy to carry, I think it's a great option. Now that you have skates, skate accessories, and something to carry your skates in, what you're probably going to want to find is a rink to skate at and maybe some group lessons, a coach, or just ice time in general. A lot of people ask me, do you need to do group lessons? Do you need a coach? And the answer for this is kind of yes and no. I strongly recommend if you want to progress fairly quickly or you want to learn jumps, spins, anything a little bit more difficult than just going forwards and backwards, you should definitely enroll in either a group class or find a coach that you can just have one lesson a week with. A major reason for this is honestly safety in my opinion, but also if you're teaching yourself through YouTube, you don't really have someone there to correct you if you're doing something incorrectly or to help you work through a problem. I think a lot of beginner skaters assume that you have to be quote good to have a coach and that is simply not true. You can start taking private lessons at any skill level. I have students that are working on the very basics and I also have students that are working on getting their axle or flying spins or combo spins, so it really doesn't matter of what level skater you are. Private lessons can be very beneficial, especially if you see this as a sport you want to do long term and you want to learn as much as you can and you want to progress quickly. However, they can be a bit costly, so I do recommend looking into group classes or group lessons at a local rink nearby. This is a great way to test out if skating is something you definitely want to do. You're basically learning the same things you would in a one-on-one private setting. I know a lot of beginner, teen, and adult skaters are worried or hesitant to start taking group lessons because they're worried what people are going to think about them or they're mostly worried they're going to be grouped with little kids. I will let you know that most rinks, 99.9% of rinks, will not group adults with little kids. As an instructor, teaching a class like that would be extremely chaotic and stressful and another reason is that adults and kids learn completely differently. If you are worried about that, I highly recommend looking for a rink that offers Learn to Skate classes that are certified through U.S. Figure Skating. They will not be allowed to group you with kids if they're through the U.S. Figure Skating Learn to Skate program and as a Learn to Skate member through U.S. Figure Skating, you're going to have access to more informational materials as a skater which is a huge benefit and I think it's completely worth whatever the annual membership fee is. But regardless, I highly recommend checking out group lessons at a local rink. The last thing on my list is just miscellaneous clothing items that you'll probably need. So if you're going to start skating, I definitely recommend getting a pair of gloves. Find a pair of gloves that are going to be comfortable and warm because sometimes rinks can be very cold. Finding a warm and comfortable jacket is another super important thing and what I recommend is do not purchase a long coat. Find something that's going to stop at your hips. I know your instructor or your coach is probably going to wear a long coat but they are not going to be working on all of the things that you will be working on and as a beginner, a longer coat can be very restrictive and make it hard to bend or get up and down. So I always tell my students to avoid long coats and just go for something that's going to end at the hips. You'll definitely want a couple different layered shirts in case you get hot or if you're cold while you're skating. The other thing is please do not wear denim. You can wear denim if you want but honestly denim is very restrictive and it can be cold especially if you get wet and in a lot of classes you do have to fall and get back up several times in order to pass that level and you might just fall in general. Falling is a very normal aspect of skating so I tell all of my students to wear comfortable pants, preferably athletic leggings that are form-fitting, not too baggy. This is just going to make you feel better and more confident and comfortable on the ice. You also won't be as cold. I know as a beginner you think jeans or anything denim is going to be warm at the rink and it's the exact opposite. Speaking from personal experience, I definitely recommend finding a comfortable pair of athletic pants that are going to allow your knees to bend a lot especially your ankles too but mostly your knees because this is a huge part of skating. Another item that you might want as a skater and this one's completely optional, a lot of skaters do use socks but not every skater does. I love socks and when it comes to socks I don't recommend wearing thick woolly socks. I actually recommend purchasing a pair of thin nylon socks because your figure skates should fit your feet almost exactly. They should not be sliding around, they should not be too big, they should fit just right and so if you're able to wear woolly socks in your skate they're probably too big. Most skaters that wear the nylon socks are wearing the Mondor brand ones. You can also get off-brand ones. They're just these tan nude pantyhose style socks. They're thin and breathable. I really like the Mondor brand ones because they have a little bit of grip to them. Like everything else I mentioned in the video, I will leave them linked down in the description box below if you're interested in purchasing a pair. That is where I'm going to end today's video. I know there are so many other little items that you might need as a figure skater and I can make a video going over like the ultimate list of accessories that you might need but these are the basics that if you are just starting skating this fall and you kind of want to know what should I have, this is a generic list of things that I think every beginner skater should have. So I hope this video helped you if you are starting classes or lessons this fall. Let me know if there's anything else you'd like me to make a video about in the comment section below and I will see you in the next video.