You know that saying. With practice, you get better. So, don’t throw those ice skates away the first time you have a fall on the ice. Remember, everybody falls. Even though you are not on the ice, you can still practice your ice skating moves at home. You’ve clicked on the right article because we will tell you what you need to know about skating at home
Why Should I Practice?
Practicing is an incredible achievement. It may take over a hundred tries to get something right. In the end, practice is so worth the incredible success that you are going to feel. Think about it, all those ice skaters that you look up had to practice. Follow their footsteps and do the same for yourself.
Practicing on Rollerblades
Before you rollerblade through the house get permission if that is okay. I hope you are not thinking to wear ice skates in the house. That is a gigantic no-no. The blades are only going to slice up the floor.
Get out those rollerblades and let’s start practicing. I know what you are going to say: what does rollerblading have to do with ice skating? Rollerblading and ice skating are two similar techniques.
Always Stretch Out Your Muscles
Ice skaters are never going to become better ice skaters if they don’t stretch out there core muscles. Leg muscles are used the entire time while skating out on the ice. Try out these lower body stretches. Even after you perform a strenuous exercise you should always stretch.
- Supine Hamstring Stretch
For this stretch, get on your back and keep both legs straight. Lift one leg up and hold the back of your thigh, calf, or ankle for support. As you extend both legs, bring your raised leg toward your head. Feel that stretch in your hamstring? Hold this pose for one or two minutes with each leg.
Note: Don’t pull your hamstring that you feel pain. For better support, use a resistance band or towel looped around your leg.
- Hip-Flexor Stretch
For this stretch stand with the front foot 3 to 4 feet in front of the rear foot. Place your hands on hips and allow the back heel to lift off the ground. Keep bending the front knee directly over the toes. Then lunge down.
Keep your chest up and front shin vertical. Straighten the back leg and squeeze your glutes to feel a stretch in the front of your hip. Maintain this stretch for 30 seconds on each side.
Practicing Jumps
Lots of skaters practice jumps when they’re at home. Remind yourself that your feet are wearing very different shoes in this process. Practice your jumps. It’s a good way to get better at jumping harder and working on your landing. Once you get better at jumping, you can jump anywhere outside your home like in the park.
Be very careful about where you are jumping from. Don’t leap off anything steep or that could break right under your feet. Your parents won’t be happy about that.
Purchase a Spinner Board
Nobody is ever alone when it comes to practicing. Ice skating coaches are here to help. Look into getting a practice spin. A practice spin is great because skaters can work on lunges. Place it under your back leg to get into the correct positions.
Youtube to the Rescue
You’re going to thank Youtube because hundreds and hundreds of videos are posted on this social media platform every day. If you have a free day, get on the computer, and research ice skating. Countless videos of ice skating tutorials and shows exist. Lookup a video and watch how the ice skaters move.
Then practice each move that is demonstrated in the videos. For example, you can learn how to do a better pistol squat. Instructors upload videos about techniques that you can perform, how to move your body, and how to better prepare your body before going into the rink.
Practice These Exercises
- Improving Balance
Balance is the #1 element that any ice skater should improve before getting on the ice. That small, thin blade is not easy to stand up on. There are lots of ways to practice balancing at home.
Build up your leg muscle strength and balance on that leg more than ten times a day. Every stride, crossover, and transition requires skaters to lift one leg and glide, rotate, or shift your weight while balancing on a thin piece of steel on the ice.
- Try Out This Drill
Step 1: Using a ball, stand on the curved side with your feet hip-distance apart. Squat with your hands out in front, bend the elbows, and palms facing forward. Move the hands to the left and right as you maintain the squat and rotate the torso. Keep repeating this 10 times in each direction.
Step 2: Then stand up on the BOSU ball. Lift your right foot and tap it down on the floor. Repeat again on the left leg. Keep alternating sides.
Step 3: Lastly, with your left foot on the BOSU Ball, extend your left leg 2-3 feet off the ground. Keep your toes on the floor with the heel lifted. Bend your knees to perform a lunge and then keep repeating this step.
- Stability and Balance
Ice skaters need the right mindset in order to skate. That goes for everybody who plays a sport. Ice skating or even ice skating is very different. At some moments you may get pushed off your feet. The first lesson is not to get frustrated or angry. Getting angry does not put you in the right mindset. Work on keeping your balance, stay concentrated. Balance on one leg for a minute a few times a day.
- Stimulate the Stride
Most of these moves are not easy because you are imitating the motions on your living room rug and not the ice rink. However, you can improvise a different technique to make it work. Learn how to do the lateral bound. Or another name for it is skaters hop.
Start on your right foot, drop the hip down as you raise your left leg out, and put your arms back. Tighten your core muscles while bent forward. And then jump to your left and replicate that same position. Ultimately it is a test for balance. Repeat this multiple times. It’s a great exercise for the core muscles.
- Shifting Your Weight
Performing these movements requires one to shift their weight on both muscles. In order to shift your weight your back should be straight. Therefore your speed increases. Your legs push out more from side to side. Practice techniques that have lunges. The more you practice these techniques, the more you will improve.
- Practicing Glides
Here’s wear owning rollerblades comes in handy. Because you don’t have the skates to learn gliding, practicing on rollerblades. It is very important that you don’t copy those techniques that you learn on the rollerblades out on the ice. Training on rollerblades is a great method to target specific ice skating movements.
- How to Practice Edging
The key to developing better confidence that next time you get out on the ice is to practice your balance. Which comes to edging. Here’s a drill to practice stability.
Skate (or imitate skating) from one side of the rink (room) to the next. After three strides, turn in a small circle of the leg and focus on balance. Skate forward and repeat the same three strides on the other leg. Keep alternating your legs over the course of the drill.
- Falling Practicing
Everybody falls. And no matter what, you should always get right back up. You’ll take some pretty hard falls or a fall that is so little you don’t even know that it happened. You should shy away from telling yourself, “I’m never going to fall!” Falling happens the first time you get on the skates. All skaters should learn how to fall correctly.
The key to falling is knowing how to land on which muscle of your body. DON’T EVER fall on your hands. Without ice skates, practice in a cushioned room of the house where there are no tables or expensive galore in the area. Also, make note that you are going to fall on a cold surface so dress accordingly each time you go ice skating.
- Steps on How to Fall
- While wearing gloves/wrist guards, point your hands out in front of you and bend your knees in a squat position.
- Fall to your side. Falling your rear end, hips, or upper arms could cause harm or serious injury.
- Getting back up could be a bit tough the first time on skates so we are going to show you how to practice that. Use your hands to reposition yourself on all fours, place one foot between your hands, and then the other. After that, slowly push yourself up to your feet, and keep the knees bent.
