r/AdultFigureSkating

For some context, I am 30F and skated from age 7-14 when I was a child. I was working on my axel when I quit for good. I am back skating a minimum of 3x a week and have regained my skills back quickly once I got some new skates that fit my feet and skill level. I want to get back to working on my axel and dream of landing a double salchow, but I feel very discouraged. While I’m in very good physical shape, I just feel like I can’t get my body to rotate quick enough to land an axel or double salchow. I practice everyday off ice and my axel is always a little under rotated.

Should I give up trying to land these jumps at my age? Or is there any tips and tricks other adults have that has enabled you to land your axel and doubles? I just skate for the joy of skating and to have a fun workout so it’s not like I’m trying to land these for testing or comps, but I do enjoy physically challenging myself and feel like right now I’ve really hit a plateau. Any advice is appreciated!

I started skating last July, and did go to the rink pro shop for sizing, and was told that I was about a 6.5-7 in skate size. I got some basically new Jackson Elles secondhand in a size 7, and they worked great for the first few months. Now, I've been working on waltz jumps for a month and a half, and I feel like I don't have the proper support. I measured my size at home and it looks like I am closer to a 6 (feet are roughly 238mm).

[For reference, I am 23yo, 5'8/170cm, and ~135lb/62kg. I think the Elles had decent support for a while, but I feel like maybe they are not the best if I am trying to learn single jumps soon].

I wanted to bring this up to my coach much sooner, but I was preparing for competition and didn't want to make such a big change. Now my coach is out of town for the next two weeks, and there's a pretty big timezone difference, so I don't want to bother her while she's on vacation haha.

Is it advisable to go ahead and talk to the skate tech and potentially get new skates, or should I wait until my coach is back so I can talk to her first? At this point I skate multiple times a week and am starting to prepare for my adult pre-bronze skills test, so my skates are getting a lot of use. I really don't want to break my ankles or something :')

Hi friends! I’m worried my skates are too big- I have Jackson freestyles and have always skated in Jackson’s (adult who came back after spending my childhood on the ice). When I first tried this pair on, they seemed to fit perfect. They were snug but they weren’t painful. I have severe bunions from childhood skating, so to compensate I got a wide size and the width couldn’t fit better after breaking them in. But the length and the ankle have loosened quite a bit and now I’m worried they’re too big. I feel like when I do combination jumps I really notice on the second jump that my feet are not completely secure. I will probably not get new skates soon because of the money, but I was wondering if anyone has any ideas to lace them up tighter or other ways to compensate for the length being a bit long? I am currently working on my axel and double sal and am 30F 115 lbs for some context.

Hey, I’m just looking for some advice on what I should do next or if anyone has had a similar experience and if so, what worked for them (new boots, insoles, blade adjustment, etc.)

To give some background, I am 29 y/o. I am also pretty tall (5’10”) and weigh approx. 150+ at a healthy, athletic weight. I skated for about 3 years when I was a kid (7-10 y/o). I recently started skating as an adult again this winter and so, this would be my third go at it as an adult (life events have continuously tried to tear me away from this sport but I am stubborn lol)

My first go as an adult: I was 20 but only skated for about one adult LTD six week session. At that time, I was skating in Riedell strides and working up through Adult level 3 skills. I had absolutely no issues with these skates and don’t remember even having a break-in period with them.

My second go as an adult: I was 26-27 and skated for about six months in Riedell Motions with MK Pro blades, which were fitted by a professional skate tech to my foot shape and size, etc. During this time period, I retook adult 1-3 and then completed adult 4-6 before I was unable to continue skating at that time. Again, I had no issues and no noticeable break-in period. I remember my spins being very easy and I had absolutely no trouble finding my rocker.

Now: at the end of February, I started seeing a private coach to get back into skating, and hopefully compete in the adult track. We were able to pick up where I left off last time and I’m currently working on adult pre-bronze skills. I am still in the same Riedell motion/MK Pro combo skates which are still very stiff and I have only had sharpened TWICE. However, now any time that I’m skating for either long periods of time and/or working on skills where I am down in my knees for long periods of time (crossovers, edges, basically everything lol), I get excruciating arch pain. This subsides very quickly once I’m “out of my knees” or once I get off the ice. I am also having the WORST time spinning this go-around and my rocker apparently does not exist to my brain anymore.

My coach says it’s normal for it to take some time to find your rocker after coming back and is going to ask around about the arch pain for me. However, I wanted to get some additional feedback because 1. It’s pretty frustrating that spins felt so good and natural to me the last time around and now are basically my worst (and least favorite) skill and 2. with skate fit, the more input on different personal experiences with different brands, feet types, arch pain, etc. the better!!

My feet have pretty (maybe even very) high arches, are slightly wider at the toe than the heel, and my foot shape I believe is “Greek” (my second toe is longer than my big toe and they slope down from there ). I think my feet are medium width overall.

I’m not specifically in the market for new boots yet but considering the fit issues and arch pain, it’s something I might look into soon. I am currently working on single sal, single toe and single loop and if I buy new boots, I would like them to be able to last me through most of my doubles as an adult.

If anyone has ever experience something similar, any recommendations on what to do next would be very much appreciated! 😁

TL:DR: weak student (me), impatient coach, when she's impatient she becomes harsh and I finally had a mental breakdown yesterday

I have been taking private skating lessons for about 1 year now. My coach is good at finding my improper forms and correcting them, and I have been improving fast under her guidance.

However, I am a person who had never danced in my life, and I really have trouble understand how to do the dance move by just looking at it for 1 or 2 times. My coach seems to be a talented dancer and skater, and she is frustrated at why I have looked at her demonstrated so many times but still couldn't do the moves right.

When I couldn't do things right, she'll get impatient and visiblely annoyed, which ives me a lot of stress during these kinds of time. Yesterday I was having a really bad day and I think her harsh words kinda got to me, I tried hard not to cry during lesson but I had to rush to the washroom and melted down after lesson.

I still want to learn under her guidance, so I want to tell her that I hope she could be more patient when teaching. But I am still struggling to phrase the talk as I have never confronted anyone in this kind of matters. Any advice?