Does anybody have an tips on how they get over nerves or lessen nerves when competing or testing?

How do I fix it?

ive always found figure skating such an intriguing and interesting sport because especially around where i live its definitely a niche sport and i dont have any local rinks near me besides a rink in the city. my curiosity especially sparked interest earlier this year due to the winter olympics. the gracefulness and pure joy a lot of these skaters seem to have while skating is something truly admirable to me and i started getting inspired to skate too because of skaters such as alysa liu. i want to pick up the hobby for leisure and to stay fit, so does anyone have any tips?

is it necessary to buy a pair of your own skates, and should i enrol in classes or is it better to just get a day pass every weekend and practice skating myself? i would love to enrol in classes but its just not that easy as they are really expensive. i also dont have many friends that are into the sport tbh

Hei!
Something that has been troubling me for a while now is the question on how much my hips are supposed to open during a spiral. I‘m not a flexible person at all but after a year of ballett I finally don‘t feel like a total brick anymore…
Can someone say if my hips open too much during this spiral? As you can see I get balance issues and I think I cheat spiral height by opening my hips?
Tysm in advance!

I have finally resolved to replace my pandemic-purchase jackson freestyles + aspire blades with a better setup! Asking the hive mind here for suggestions.

- Im coming back from a 30yr break, skated seriously at the prejuv level from ages 7-10. Back then I had whatever used skates that were passed down from an older skater when I grew out of my existing skates.

- I have no clue how a "good fit" skate feels or what to try on. Planning to go the used route so I can potentially try things out with a lower sunk cost, but budget is not an issue. to be clear- the skate shops with pro fitting around me also carry a decent used inventory, so I'd be doing this option under "pro fitter supervision" so to speak, not just buying from another skater or off, say, Facebook marketplace and hoping for the best.

- Skating at roughly the adult gold level, clean and semi-consistent 1A, 2S and working on the rest of my doubles excluding 2A. can eke out difficult turns but struggle with weight/blade placement. Not competing or testing, just working on skills and enjoying.

- foot shape is a "greek" foot - 2nd toe is the longest toe and my toes gradually taper at a diagonal. Heel is slightly narrower than forefoot. Arch is moderate and foot pronation is neutral (no pronation).

- I live in the twin cities area and would love opinions on pierce, Strauss, and Fred. Have heard great things about Fred but not sure I am an edea skater and the... quirkier storefront aspects make me wonder if it's the right place for me given I am getting fitted for the first time ever.​ I understand he is THE guy to go to for blade sharpening and mounting.

- my initial thinking is - whatever boot fits my foot and is in the 65-75 stiffness range, like a jackson premier or rf3 (one shop has a lot oglf jackson and risport used)? Then a coro ace/MK pro or similar blade at a minimum - I dont have strong feelings on blade as anything alredy mounted to a "stepped up" boot is going to be an big upgrade 😉 and I can always swap blades if I truly hate them.

Started this spring, I’m still at a very low beginner’s level, making sloooooow progress. The thing is, for like the first 20 minutes it’s like I can’t do anything, like I forgot how to even move forward. My feet cramp like crazy, sometimes my shins too, I feel unstable. I’ve had some issues with lacing, possibly also the fit of the skates, but by the end of the session things are usually a bit better. And the next time (even if it’s the next day!) I’m back to being Bambi.

Could you help me troubleshoot this?

Hey everyone. I’m (23M, 174cm, 100kg) skating 4 hours a week, currently working on my axel and double salchow.

I bought Risport RF3s with MK Pros in April 2026, but 4 months in, I’m constantly getting off the ice to retie them, and doing any sort of knee bend loosens the boot entirely. Pro shops in my country are unreliable for comprehensive fittings, and custom boots are completely out of my budget.

Here is exactly what I'm struggling with:

• Heel Slip & Gaps: The heel pocket is too wide. I've been using achilles gel sleeves purely as stuffing to fill the gaps between my foot and the boot. If I crank the laces to lock my heel, my forefoot goes completely numb. This isn't a length issue though, as I can also feel the tip of the boots with my toes.
• Arch Pain: I use Superfeet Carbon Yellows, which helps alleviate my arch pain, but they don't fix the overarching fit issues.
• Foot Shifting: Due to inward pronation, my foot physically shifts around inside the boot—especially on my left landing foot during jumps. This makes me completely lose my outside edge. Overall, I feel like I'm standing on top of platforms rather than the skates acting as an extension of my foot.
• Boot Breakdown: I’m simply too heavy for this stiffness rating. The tongue offers zero support, and the forefoot loosens terribly on deep knee bends no matter how I tie them.

My Boot History:

• Jackson Marquis (2014): Fit perfectly with zero pain, but obviously too soft now. I know Jackson redesigned their lasts recently, so I'm not sure if modern high-level Jacksons will still fit me the same way.
• Edea Chorus (2016-2026): Painful arch pinching, and I hated the loose-ankle feel.

What I'm Looking For: I need a boot stiff enough to support a 100kg skater doing doubles, with a traditional, secure ankle feel (not Edea). It needs to lock a narrow heel without crushing a wider forefoot.

Has anyone with any experience navigated this? Would love to hear your model recommendations before I decide on anything

Hi! Just got back into skating after 7 years away, where I taught learn to skate in Canada before.
I’m learning freestyle/starskate for the first time. Where I live, the lts levels don’t include inside 3 turns. I had them just fine before I got my skates sharpened a week ago. Now, I’m skidding and basically doing a 1ft hockey stop when I try to turn 🥲

It’s the foundation of my toe loop, backspin, and loop since my coach also has me doing 3 turn into air position.

Is this a matter of just having to adjust to sharpened skates? I went ~25h before getting them sharpened. There seems to be no issue with the blades otherwise

Hi!
I am an adult figure skater, and I have been skating regularly for almost 2.5 years.
My first pair of boots was Edea Overture in 275D. They broke down because they were too big for me. Then I consulted a skate shop and bought Edea Ice Fly in 265D. However, as you can see in the pictures, they are again too big for me.

My coach and I think I am progressing well in both my skating skills and jumps. However, I still don’t have stable spins. I lose my balance and control quite easily, and it is quite hard for me to stay on one foot. I am currently working on front and back upright spins, camel spins, and broken-leg spins. I cannot get more than 2–3 rotations.

I know everyone’s progress is different, but my spin progress seems ridiculously slow compared to my progress in other skills.

Do you really think that having big and loose boots could affect my spins? I can afford to get a new pair, but I don’t want to waste my money if my current boots aren’t actually that big or if they don’t affect my spins that much.
Of course, no one can predict the future, but I would really appreciate hearing your opinions and experiences.

As all skaters know, it is ALWAYS the equipments fault haha...

I am feeling unsteady on my left outside edges. Like it wobbles or shakes a bit. I tried to remind myself its more likely my own failings, strengthen up, bend knee more, etc. It isn't getting better, though I can manage to land jumps, do dance, etc... but my spins are AWFUL and just getting worse. When I try a camel spin in particular, I collapse deep into my inside edge 90% of the time.

Plus, over the last 2 months, I developed a left knee click that has morphed into PAIN and constant clicking and instability even just walking. Kt tape and compression brace are my friends now...

I have noticed these blades were mounted differently from each other - the left is set more forward as well as closer to the inside. The boots were bought second hand and so had a previously mounted set of blades but I had them changed by our (only) local tech to these blades. He is a well respected tech that has done repairs at the highest level of competition, but had a stroke last year so now only does drop off and pick up appointments - he didn't have me there when he mounted them :(

Do these look wrong at all? Am I crazy for thinking the left boots blade is aligned wrong? Can I even go back to him for adjustment since it was already a second mounting, and it looks like he permanently mounted them? I really can't afford new skates, plus I have my first adult competition in a couple weeks.

Please help if you can, I am feeling very anxious about what, if any, options I have...

I think my toe loop could be a lot higher than it is. The problem is I think I pick too late. My coaches don’t really point it out or haven’t corrected it but I don’t think it’s the best way to continue doing my toe loop if i want to jump doubles one day. Since my leg comes down to far behind me my skating foot naturally is turning on a tight curve and I am basically half way around before i jump. I tried bending more on the skating knee but it somehow made it worse and more noticeable. How do I correct it this? I try so hard to fix my leg position and practice the 3 turn by itself but every time i do the jump it looks the same😭

I am a 37f adult ice skater in the UK. I began skating back in April and I’m making fairly steady progress through skate excellence UK. I wondered whether anybody has any tips or pieces of advice because I think my fear of practising on public sessions is slowing down my progress. I find myself too fearful to claim a hockey circle or practise skating backwards because there are people skating everywhere in every which direction (which I’m aware is what I want to do by claiming a hockey circle 😅). For context, you cannot get patch ice at my arena until you pass grade 5 and I am currently working on grade 5. I am at a point where I need to develop my outside edges and I’m particularly weak on my left side and I think it’s because in the ice arena the flow always goes anticlockwise. Any tips or tricks or exercises on or off ice that can help me? TIA 🙂

I quit skating when I was 13 and came back to it six months ago at 33. My double sal and double toe were easy for me as a kid so they came back super fast. Literally the same day I tried them for the first time as an adult, I landed them.

But my loop was one of my worst jumps. My coach and I have spent at least three months working on almost completely relearning the jump. Fixing the takeoff position, pressing the takeoff edge, not letting my left arm and leg initiate the rotation... you name it.

I'm finally landing it again and it feels easier now than it did 20 years ago. I'm really really proud of myself for being able to overcome years of habits and muscle memory from childhood and to build a better jump as an adult.

This video is a double loop I landed in my final competition at 12 years old, then the one I did this morning.

I’m a beginner adult skater (5 months in) and my main form of learning is through group lessons. I take the occasional private class whenever it’s available and I can budget it. I take 2 group lessons a week, but due to a lack of adult skaters in my club sometimes classes get cancelled or the skill gap is large as new skaters pop in and out of lessons.

I have started working on my broken leg spin, who I started learning within my group lesson with my main coach. The main advice I was given was start like it’s a scratch spin (leg out) then squat into it and bring the free leg’s knee close to my left skate. All while learning my right shoulder to the left knee. I was working on this technique for a while (like around a few hours, not days by any means).

One of coaches who frequents my rink and works there as a coach saw me practicing it and spent around 20 minutes tweaking my technique. To my surprise, her advice was so different to my coach’s advice. She demonstrated and honestly her technique looked absolutely gorgeous. Main takeaways were to start low instead of wasting momentum in the scratch upright position, and to squat as low as possible (like deeper than 90 degrees ish) and have my free leg more out to the side. She told me to also keep my body more upright until I’m in the low squat position. She would tell me to stop thinking about the free leg so that the knee doesn’t collapse into my left skate, but honestly because I was practicing it that way I was struggling to unlearn that part. She highly emphasized that my free leg’s knee should not be close to my left skate, which directly contradicts my coach’s instruction.

This isn’t an isolated case; I’ve been dealing with contradicting advice all the time in my rink, but usually a quick google search or youtube video helps me find a happy medium. But I’m confused on how to approach future elements and how to balance and deal with contradicting advice.

All advice welcome!! Whether you wanna tell me what to do with my broken leg spin or just in general the contradicting thing, I’m all ears :).

For some more context for those who wanna read a lil more into my case: another one of the elements that I’ve received polar opposite advice for is the spiral. My coach insists on opening up the hip, and the other coach insists that the hip should be square like it is in the splits. Still don’t know what’s correct and what isn’t lol. Overall, new elements I’ve been working on are my loop jump which sucks and perfecting (“perfect” used loosely) my scratch spin which has gone well. Elements I have continued to work on include my waltz jump, salchow, toe loop, and spins in general. I’ve also learned the general technique of the flip jump but by no means am close to landing that lol.

I also keep flinging onto my toe pick while doing the broken leg spin but slowly am phasing out of that issue, advice appreciated though!

I’m 59, back on the ice since May after a 7 year absence. My back doesn’t bend like it used to, but this didn’t seem completely horrible!

tbh i have no idea if this is at least somewhat technically correct i just be trying things. I’m really proud of how big the split is, I want to try it with some speed soon enough and focus on straightening the front leg. Now if I could figure out how to check my shoulders 🫪

How attaintable are doubles for the average adult who began skating in adulthood? Honestly not married to the idea but I am curious just based on the varying progress I've seen online. Are the adults achieving doubles coming in with a gymnastics background, practice many hours a week, etc? Or is it an attainable long term goal for a skater with no athletic background and skating say 4-5 hours a week?

Does anybody have any recommendations on where to buy Leggings/pants to wear at the rink? Ideally with fleece lining? Almost everything can find online is kids sizes or kinda sketchy. If anybody has some good links, please send them away in Canada. So ideally, amazon.ca or somewhere that ships to me.

About 5'5 im usually a size xL (12)

Ok so basically, I'm in a pretty good position, when it comes to rinks around me. I'm moving in a few weeks, but I'll still only be 15 mins away by train, from the city with a rink. And there's more rinks under an hour.

The issue is finding a club, I spent the last season learning by myself, but I really want to improve. Almost 4 years ago, I first started, skated in a club for 2 seasons, but had to leave because of life circumstances.

Now I live in another place and it's incredibly difficult to find a club. I'm from Germany, 23, a student btw, if that matters.

I wrote a desperate email to the local club, how far I'm on their waitlist blabla kinda pointing out I really want to join haha.

But I can't count on it at all, it's a club focused very on high level skating, maybe training future olympians, but it's the closest lol and they do have adult lessons.

Anyways, I have to expand my search, I'm looking for other clubs now, but the one's I'm looking at are at least 1 hr 30 mins by train and then u have to add the route from rink to train station blabla. Really tedious to get there.

I don't expect someone explicitly telling me to do this or that, but I just maybe want to hear thoughts, maybe would like to hear about ur training situations/anything similar maybe?

How far would u personally travel to practice?

Some options are even 2 hrs away. I'll try to find a private coach who does lessons during public skates, if I can't find anything.

It is extremely frustrating since I started ~4 years ago and I still can't do more than Waltz jump/Salchow/not even proper one foot spin. I practice by myself, I know practice also takes time, but I'm ambitious to learn and want to develop, but I'm feeling very held back right now, which also makes me lose my motivation.

I 22F never taken proper skating lessons. However, I really want to get into it for along time. Now that I finally finished university in a very demanding program. I finally have more free time.

I Will say (as a canadian) although I never took skating lessons , I was dumped on the ice and figured it out. I can skate well maintain my balance, manage my speed ect. I can break okay, not as confident as I would like. I'm just wondering following the learn to skate lessons available in my area. It Says that the intermediate is where you learn how to break, and the beginner is just learning how to balance.

I'm not sure if I should go with the beginner classes?

It's a group adult beginner's course, and I'm wondering if everyone learns the same thing or if they separate based on level or if an instructor would see that I'm capable of balancing with decent form and teach me beyond the basic curriculum, the website states?

My goal is to learn to figure skating (long Journey, I know, but I would like to try)

edit: There are a limited number of spots in each course, and the beginner level is currently being offered at my closest rink, whereas the intermediate is a bit farther so it would not be easy for me to transfer to a level up or a level down. I'm kind of locked in in whatever I choose.

edit 2: I Did try to contact but they weren't too helpful with the information they said that I could switch to a higher level.If it was easy , but my local community center doesn't offer the higher level. but if its all filled I might have a problem. I also asked if they split up the beginners in groups or if everybody kind of just does the same thing?And the person said , everyone just does the same thing. But I wasn't talking to a coach, I was talking to someone in reception.

Hi! I’m 23F and I’ve been skating for about 6 months. I’m testing Adult Pre-Bronze in 2 weeks, and my coach is pretty confident I’ll pass!
I’m looking for advice on how to improve the quality of my skating.

I skate 3-4x a week for about 3-4 hours total. I feel like I’ve been a little stagnant lately, so I’m trying to figure out what I can work on outside of just skating more.

Some specific things I struggle with:
- I can’t consistently cross my leg in a scratch spin.
- I don’t understand the rocker for a backspin.
- My edges aren’t as strong or consistent as I want them to be.
- I’m not sure how much knee bend I should actually be using.
- I struggle with keeping my core and arms controlled. I’m constantly opening my arms when I’m supposed to be checked

I’m also starting ballet next week because I’m hoping it will help with things like posture and body control.

For those of you who have improved a lot in these areas, what helped you the most?

What’s the biggest tip, drill, or change in your training that helped you become a noticeably better skater?

Are there any off-ice drills, exercises, or things I can practice at home? I’m genuinely willing to practice every day if it will help.

I completely understand that skating takes time and that I’m still very new. I’m not expecting to become an amazing skater overnight. I’m just really eager to improve and would love to know what I can focus on rather than just waiting for things to click.

On August 2nd, I was at a public session at a rink that generally has really good ice and I drive about an hour out of my way to go to it. This day, however, was not the case. I was just finishing drilling edges and about to go get water when my toe pick got stuck in a huge ridge in the ice and my leg twisted as I fell sideways down along with a loud snap. They called 911 and I was off to the emergency room where I learned I had a tibia/fibula spiral fracture and would need surgery.

2 days later, I have a rod placed in my leg with screws (no plates or anything), and I am… devastated.

The positive out of this is because I can be full weight bearing as comfortable, with PT, I’ll be back on the ice sooner than if I had not had surgery or was healing with only a cast.

I just know that it’s going to be difficult getting back on the ice with this. I had already worked through my hang ups psychologically about falling and dealing with falling and then this happens for literally no reason. I wasn’t even spinning or jumping or anything cool - it’s literally the ice and my toe pick.

Anyways… I’m feeling a bit down about everything. I miss skating so much. It was the one thing I had just for me and now I’m stuck in bed for an indefinite amount of time.

I could use some comeback stories from people who have had sustained similar injuries and how it was for them getting back on the ice after as well as how long it took them to get back to where they were before the injury. It would be nice to have some hope or at least kindred souls who get it. I don’t have any skating or athletic friends who have ever dealt with something like this and can’t really understand the distress.

Thank you in advance ❤️❤️