List Of Ice Skating Tips

Ice skating can be an intricate and complex sport! There are many tips and tricks to being an ice skater, a coach, or a parent of an ice skater; learn all about those tips here!

Tips For Ice Skaters

• When first learning how to skate, make sure to start slow and learn the basics first.
• Make sure to stretch before skating. Practice stretching every day after a short dynamic warm-up.
• Try to focus on your balance when practicing and doing drills.
• Try to learn how to fall on the ice correctly and to get up without the assistance of someone else.
• Learn how to stop correctly.
• Learn how to fall correctly. It will help to protect you from injury if you tumble unexpectedly.
• Have confidence when you skate. Confidence will come easier the more you practice having good balance and strength when skating.
• Don’t look down. It is hard to see where you are going and what direction you are going. Make sure to keep your head up and look in front of you.
• Make sure to not lean backwards. If you do this, it can result in you falling backwards. Make sure to have your arms out wide and in front of you.
• Select comfortable skates. Make sure they fit well, but are not too small. You should be able to feel the boots against your feet, but the skates shouldn’t be painfully crammed in the skate.
• Tie skates the right way. Make sure your skates aren’t too tight or too loose. If you don’t tie your skates the correct way, it can result in your feet going numb or your ankles not having proper support.
• Be sure that you take proper care of your skates’ blades. Proper care will help with keeping the blades sharp.
• Store the skates in the correct environment. Make sure they are stored in a warm and open area.
• Before competing, make sure that you have broken in your skates. By using the new skates for one or two sessions, you should be able to break them in.
• Skate often to sustain progress. Practicing at least three times a week will allow you to make this progress.
• Try to warm up slowly. Since your muscles will be cold due to the cold arena, your body will need some time to warm up to skating.
• Participating in lots of competitions and tests will help improve your competing skills. The more experience you have competing, the better.
• Be able to control and manipulate your body. It will help with your creative movement when skating.
• Try flexibility training. It will help with injury prevention, improving your techniques, and your flexibility.
• Make sure to take proper care of your skates. Proper care will help keep the blades sharp.
• Wear appropriate clothing for skating. Make sure you are warm and comfortable, but are also able to move freely.
• Try to control your pre-add during skating focus. It will benefit you in being able to skate under pressure.
• Be okay with falling or making mistakes. Focus on what you need to do next or how to improve.
• Try to critique yourself by watching videos of you skating. This will help you with working on your techniques.
• Choose the correct coach. It is important to improve your skating skills and techniques.
• You and your coach should have frequent communication. It is important to be able to consistently hear from your coach.
• Take time to practice what you learned from your coach on your own time. The more time you take to practice these critiques, the faster and easier it will be to improve your skills.
• Don’t compare yourself to other skaters or competitors. It will make you more nervous in competitions and lower your confidence.
• Watch skaters at a higher level compete. Make sure to look at their technique and skills to try and learn.
• Before competitions, make sure you come prepared and have all of your equipment with you.

Tips For Coaches

• Be passionate about skating. It will help model your students into becoming passionate skaters.
• Make sure to set goals for your skater. The goals should be structured,  varied, measurable, used to establish a plan for the skated, and viewed as steps to reaching their success.
• Your goals for each ice skater should be different and adjusted based on their age, ability, and their performance.
• Set priorities for your skater. Make sure they are aware of what you want to happen each time you meet.
• Make sure to provide guidance for your skater and allow them to understand what they are going to be doing.
• Try to challenge your skater. This will help them to succeed and allow them to improve their skills.
• Have warm-ups ready for your skater. Make sure the warm-ups are meant for what you are doing that session.
• Make sure to have a cool-down at the end of your session. Some good examples would be, light stretching or a slow aerobic jog on the ice.
• Communicate with your skaters’ parents. This will help the parent address any concerns and it will allow you to do the same.

Tips For Parents

• Make sure that your child is enjoying themselves and is interested in ice skating. If they seem to dread going to their lessons or competitions, it might be good to consider a change.
• Allow your child to have a life outside of skating. If their life is only ice skating, they may start to get tired of skating and want to quit.
• Be supportive with your child. Focus on the positives rather than just critiquing them and discussing what they didn’t do a good job of.
• When trying to help your child progress, try to be positive and focus on what they did well.  But, include some areas they might want to work on.
• Help your child set goals. It will give them something to work towards and to focus on progressing. Make sure these goals are challenging but also realistic.
• Help your child create a positive self-image. Make sure they are staying positive, presenting good sportsmanship, and are being respectful of coaches, officials, and other skaters.
• Be your child’s number one supporter. Make sure to watch as many practices and competitions as possible if they feel comfortable with you coming.
• Do the research to find a coach that is the best fit for your child. Make sure your child enjoys going to practice with them and is progressing.
• When getting equipment, make sure your child has all that they need. If confused, discuss with a coach what equipment might be good to get.
• If your child has practice or lessons right after school, make sure everything they need is prepared before they go to school. This will make it a lot easier on them after a long day of school.
• Make sure when you are watching your child skate that you are present. If you child looks over to see if you're watching and you are on your phone it may negatively affect them.