How to learn to skate – we all get up on skates for the winter!

Everyone gets pleasure from ice skating – both parents and children of any age. Moreover, regardless of experience. The advantages in this kind of sport (recreation) are the sea, both for health and for mental balance. But the biggest plus is that you can ride even in summer. Fortunately, almost every city today has enough year-round skating rinks. All that remains is to learn how to ride and get your own pair of skates.

And we will tell you – how to do it quickly and without injury.

The content of the article:

Prepare to Skate – Selecting Your Skating Attributes and Exercise

Your first ice skating trip in dreams always looks the same – like figure skaters on TV, beautifully riding on the ice to the applause of the audience.

Alas, in reality everything is much more prosaic.

So first – comprehensive preparation, and only then – the exit.

By the way – it will be useful to learn about all types of winter injuries in children, as well as their prevention.

Preparing the body for going out on the ice

Main tasks:

• Learn to keep balance, stability (we squat on the left leg, putting the right forward and vice versa; we stand on the left leg, taking the right to the side and vice versa). Put on your skates (right in the covers) and walk around the apartment until you feel steady.
• Master the basics of proper sliding, braking.
• Strengthen the ligaments of the foot by walking on toes / heels, as well as on the arches of the foot.
• Train your thigh muscles (squats, half-squatting from left to right leg) and prepare the musculoskeletal system for the ice.

First skates and equipment

Fundamental rules:

• No long scarves or long clothing – nothing should cling to the skates.
• Clothing requirements: waterproof, lightweight, practical. It is better if it is a tight-fitting warm suit to reduce air resistance when riding.
• Thermal underwear will not interfere (approx. – perfectly keeps warm and absorbs sweat).
• For an indoor ice rink, a training suit will suffice. For an open skating rink – lighter clothing than for a walk. Instead of a jacket, choose a sweatshirt. If it’s very cold, you can put on a sleeveless jacket (vest) over it.
• Elbow pads and knee pads DO NOT BUY! They will not save you from injuries and bruises, but they will interfere with movement and proper fall.
• Mandatory for hands – mittens (gloves), on the head – a hat.
• Skates: buy or rent? It all depends on the intensity of your future workouts. If you intend to go out on the ice 2-4 times a month, you can also rent it. If you are preparing for hard, constant training, then, of course, it is better to immediately buy yourself the right skates.
• How to choose skates? Basic requirements: a little larger (not too much! Otherwise, you will not be able to properly fix the ankle joints) by 0.5-1.5 sizes, material – genuine leather (not synthetics!), Blades – steel (for perfect glide), classic lacing instead of clasps (the latter often break).
• Skates with teeth – for professional skaters (for difficult turns – harder, but warmer than hockey), hockey (fortified in certain places, easier than curly ones, with protection from puck hit) or for free skating? For beginners – the last option! They are comfortable, soft and warm.

Learning to lace up correctly!

• We cover the ankle tightly.
• Slightly loosen the lacing at the socks and upper hooks.
• The foot must not dangle! But the convenience must be preserved.

What should be foreseen?

Ice skating is one of the most traumatic types of recreation / sports. The most common “ice” injuries are wounds and abrasions from bruises from a fall, from skate blades, muscle / tendon sprains, and even fractures.

Therefore, we focus on safety rules!

1. Warm up before going out on the ice. It prepares your muscles for work and prevents rapid fatigue and injury. The best warm-up is with a rope or a bike.
2. Choosing the right clothes. That is, we choose the one that does not restrict movement, protects against abrasions of the arms and legs, softens the fall, and does not allow frostbite.
3. Do you feel like a cow on ice? Hire an instructor at least for the first time. The basics of technology are your foundation for staying healthy.
4. Seriously. Of course, you want to fool around and have fun, but for a beginner, jokes on the ice can end badly.
5. First the basics, then the pirouettes. Do not try to conquer everyone at once with your turns, jumps and dances. Learn each element separately, achieve clarity of performance, and only then combine all the elements into a single composition.
6. Keep your distance and be careful. It is rare to see an empty skating rink for you alone. Collisions are the most common cause of injury. You can avoid them by rolling counterclockwise.
7. Learn to fall correctly. This is one of the most important safety rules on a skating rink.
8. If the ice rink is full of skaters (especially for beginners), be doubly careful: do not brake sharply, do not drive at high speed, discard complex elements.
9. Sitting / lying on ice is not recommended. It is also dangerous to take sedatives before skiing or go out on the ice “tipsy”.
10. Frostbite is possible not only in severe, but rather light frost. The first “swallows” of frostbite are pallor of the skin and a feeling of numbness, tingling. It is strictly forbidden to rub the frostbitten place with snow – only with a mitten, a scarf, in extreme cases with a hand. A riding session, of course, should be completed immediately and attention should be paid to health.

Study the article The first signs of hypothermia and first aid – this is also useful when skating!

Step-by-step instructions on how to learn to skate quickly and correctly – video tutorials

First you need to decide – do you really need it?

It is clear that, having stood at home on skates, you will not understand this. Therefore, having prepared, we taste the ice – we just come to the rink, rent skates and try.

Does not work? And two steps can’t go?

Moscow, as they say, was not built right away. Let it be just your first pancake, which is always lumpy.

And now about the riding technique in more detail …

Video tutorial: How to learn to skate?

The basics of sustainability

• As mentioned above, we first train at home. That is, having fastened the covers on the blades, we cut them on skates over our own carpet (laminate).
• Happened? Take your time to put on slippers – we move on to more difficult exercises: we do squats, and then half-squats, stretching the leg forward. For 1 lesson – no more than 10 minutes / day.
• We also learn to transfer our weight from one leg to the other and bend them while moving.

First out on the ice – basic rules

• For stability, the toes of the skates should point outward.
• 1st attempt to slide – only after a steady step and only on “parallel” legs.
• Next – an attempt to slide on one leg.
• We do not try to run – we slide! Moreover, without jerks – smoothly and evenly.

Braking – an emphasis on the ice, or are we braking with a “plow”?

• At low speed, we brake with one skate. We put our leg forward, turn the foot (approx. – perpendicular to the movement). The emphasis is on the inner / edge of the braking skate. At the same time, we slightly turn the body towards your supporting leg.
• At high speed and the need for hard braking we carry out a sharp turn of the body on the go by 90 degrees. At this moment, we put the skates themselves perpendicular to the direction that was set by the toes in the direction of the turn. We tilt the body to the point at which balance can be maintained. When turning to the right, place the left skate on the inner edge, and the right skate on the outer edge. And vice versa.

Progress

1. We remove our hands behind our back, bend our legs at the knees, bend forward a little.
2. We bend the left leg and transfer our weight onto it.
3. Jerk with your right foot and slide on your left skate.
4. Without waiting for the end of the slide, we put the right skate further than the left and, as soon as it touches the ice, we finish the slide with the left skate. Next, we put it on the edge and push again.
5. We transfer our weight to the right leg, etc.

Are you skating confidently? Time is to learn to turn

• Turn right. We lean slightly to the right and, without losing balance, transfer the weight to the right leg.
• We put the right skate on the outer edge, move the left leg forward with the right one and put the legs with a cross so that the left skate rests on its inner / edge.
• Push with the right foot, and take it out of the given “crosshair”, after which we put it next to the left foot slightly in front and to the right. The movement is repeated until the very end of the turn.

Ride back

• We bend our legs a little, we transfer our weight to the left leg, and put the right skate on the inside / edge.
• Smoothly move the heel of the right foot to the side and give it a push.
• We slide on the left skate, after which we transfer our weight to our right foot.
• Do not forget to look around to avoid collisions.

Learning to fall

1. First, we don’t lie on the ice – we get up right away. In order not to catch a cold and make way for other skaters.
2. When falling, we immediately hide our fingers in fistsso that other people’s skates run over them.
3. Falling, we bend our knees and fall on our side (grouped as much as possible) – on the outer side of the thigh.
4. Do not put your elbows and knees forward when falling – the surface of the thigh should take the blow of ice! Falling on “hard” hands is dangerous – we bend them at the elbows.
5. Strain your neck, put your chin downso as not to hit your head.
6. We rise first on our knees. Then we rest on the ice with the teeth of the skate and gently straighten the leg.

What winter sport to choose for a child – we decide in advance!

Where to learn to skate and how to reinforce lessons

I will go to the skaters, let them teach me! Where to go?

There are not so many options:

1. Outdoor skating rink in the city. Convenient, free, fun and not scary (you can get lost in the crowd and no one will notice your first awkward movements). Disadvantages – there are always a lot of people, no one is responsible for the safety of the skaters, for the safety of their things – especially since there is no one to provide first aid.
2. Indoor skating rinks in entertainment complexes. For a fee, there are not much less people, the ice is artificial. Pros: there is no need to warm up too much and drag skates with you (you can rent them there, for rent), things can be left in the locker.
3. Specialized figure skating school. Pay money and hone your craft until you get bored. You can choose the option of individual lessons, just pay for a “master class” or go to group training. The subscription is, of course, cheaper.

In large (and small) cities, there are enough sections, schools and clubs in which you will be taught the basics of skiing.

But if it is in your locality that the authorities did not attend to the creation of ice rinks, do not worry – improvised ice “arenas” will also do.

Practice – improving technique

Naturally, to master the technique “one hundred percent” just fun riding on weekends is not enough. After 6-7 lessons, you will be able to skate very tolerably, albeit without triple sheepskin coats.

But to improve the technique, one cannot do without constant training:

• We continue to perform the necessary exercises.
• We regularly train at the rink (with a coach or on our own, but regularly).
• In winter we skate, in summer (in the absence of ice rinks) we switch to rollerblades. The latter are needed for balance. The skating technique itself is fundamentally different from ice skating.

How did you learn to skate? Share your experience and riding recipes in the comments below!