Learn how to figure skate

Now that you’ve been on the ice and tried Forward Swizzles, it’s time to really get gliding. To skate is to glide. Swizzles are done on two feet, and so are Glides. The difference is the edge. The Swizzles are on the Inside Edge, Glides are on the Flat of the blade.

The 2-Foot Glide can be done in two ways:

1. From Swizzles.

Doing them from Swizzles means you’re already moving.

After building up a little speed from some Swizzles, straighten your knees and keep your feet close together.

Your boots don’t have to be touching, but keep them no more than a couple of inches apart. Keep your arms out, look straight ahead, and feel the glide. Practice this new move several times, each time building up a little more speed. Work on your form, bending your knees when you start, then straightening [but NOT locking] them in the middle of the glide.

The second method of learning the 2-Foot Glide is for the more conservative beginner. Standing with your back to the rink’s barrier, make sure that your feet are pointing straight ahead and are close to each other, as described above. Bend your knees, push off with your hands and try to keep your arms out and your posture straight. Do the 2-Foot Glides a few times, making sure no one’s in your way before pushing off!

Once you’ve mastered the 2-Foot Glide, it’s time to do the 1-Foot Glide. Again, do some Swizzles. Go into the 2-Foot Glide, and then lift up your right foot about an inch or two off the ice. It’s important to be secure, so this is why you only do a slight lift. Your arms have to be out to the side, as your balance will suddenly feel a lot different. Looking straight ahead and keeping your posture tall will increase your gliding ability.

You won’t be getting a lot of glide time at first, but that’s only natural. Being comfortable with each new skating move is important. Also, you must practice this gliding exercise on both legs, right foot off the ice, left foot off the ice.

Stopping is essential to all forms of skating. It’s necessary to learn it from the beginning to avoid injuring yourself or others.

The T-Stop is fairly simple to learn. It’s learned with one foot being pulled behind you sideways, in a turned out position, so your feet form the letter T. The arms should be out to the side, palms down. Start with your left foot going straight forwards on the flat and your right foot turned out sideways and pulling behind you. This will slow down your rate of speed to 0 mph. The pull will feel fairly heavy.

Once you’ve learned to skate Forward Swizzles, the 2-Foot Glide, the 1-Foot Glide and the T-Stop, you’re on your way to becoming skilled at the sport of figure skating.