How to Ice Skate - Beginner/Advanced Beginner

This is an instructable all about how to ice skate for beginners and advanced beginners. I will be teaching you how to fall, get back up, march, two-foot glide, dip, left foot scooter pushes, right foot scooter pushes, forward swizzles, backward swizzles, and the rocking horse. The most important thing to know is that you are going to fall. You need to be okay with falling to be an ice skater/figure skater. If you are a beginner, it might be good for you to wear a helmet. Also, remember to keep your knees bent and your arms out when doing all of these skills. You could also do all of these steps while holding onto the wall if you need it. I recommend moving off the wall as soon as you start getting comfortable.

For this, you will need skates, warm clothes, ice to skate on, confidence, and bravery.

This is a pretty simple step. What you want to do is look up skating rinks around your area and find one that works! Also, when you get there, you put on your skates! This might seem like a silly step, but it is very essential because if you didn't have ice or you didn't put on your skates, how would you be able to ice skate?

This a very important step to becoming an ice skater/figure skater. This is also one of the first things you should learn. You have to know how to fall to not injure yourself and the people around you. What you want to do is have your feet together, knees bent, and push outwards toward one side, and land on your side/hip. If you aren't comfortable falling on the ice yet, you could practice this off the ice first. This will make it less likely for you to hit your head and get injured. See the video for an example.

This is also a key step in ice skating. People will try to stand up and slip doing it in a dangerous way. To stand up without slipping you get on one knee, put both hands on the knee that is forward and push on your knee with your hands and stand up. You could also practice this off of the ice first. See the video for an example.

When first stepping on the ice, it can be tricky. Once you get your balance you are going to do marches. These are like walking on the ice. Pick one foot up, place it down in front of you, and repeat with the other foot until you are walking on the ice! See the video for an example.

Once you get marches down, you can practice a two-foot glide. This is doing a few marches and then put your feet together and glide on the ice without picking up your feet. See the video for an example.

Once you have the marches and the two-foot glide down, you can work on the dip. You are going to be doing the same thing you did for the two-foot glide, but when you glide you are going to bend your knees and stay in a low squat position gliding on the ice. See the video for an example.

After you are confident enough to do the dip, you can work on left foot pushes. They are a little more advanced than marches. You are going to start standing still on the ice and push off with your left foot's inside edge behind you. It is very important to NOT PUSH WITH YOUR TOE PICK! Push with the inside edge! Remember to not pick up your right foot. Once you push, you are going to put your left foot right next to your right, glide for a little bit, and then repeat the same thing with pushing with your left foot inside edge behind you. Some people are more comfortable doing right foot scooter pushes, so you can go onto the next step and come back to this if doing scooter pushes with your left foot is too tricky right now.

For right foot scooter pushes, you do the same thing as the left, but with your right foot. So, you are going to start standing still on the ice and push with your right foot's inside edge behind you. Make sure to have some bend in your knees and your arms out to keep your balance. You are then going to put your right foot next to your left and glide for two counts and repeat pushing with your right foot's inside edge behind you. Once you get the hang of it, you can switch off with your right foot scooter pushes and your left foot scooter pushes.

These are a little more advanced when it comes to skating. You are going to start with your feet in a "V" shape on the ice. Then, you are going to push out, with your knees bent, and bring your toes together into an "A" shape on the ice. Next, you are going to put your feet back into a "V" shape and push out and bring your toes and feet back into an "A" shape on the ice. The pattern to remember is "V" to "A", "V" to "A". Remember to keep your knees somewhat bent and to not go too far out or you will fall into the splits. Believe me, I talk from experience, it wasn't fun. See the video for an example. In the video, I don't really bring my feet into a full "A". Make sure to not make the same mistake and bring your feet into a full "A".

Now, these are for people who are comfortable and confident skating on the ice. If you are still learning how to do marches and scooter pushes, I don't recommend trying these. You are going to start with your feet in an "A" shape and push backward into a "V" shape. You can then repeat until you can do multiple in a row. Remember, "A" to "V", "A" to "V". It is the opposite pattern of forward swizzles. See the video for an example.

This is the last thing I am going to be teaching is a little move called the rocking horse. It sounds challenging, but it is pretty simple. What you are going to do is put your feet into a "V" shape. Push forward until your feet are in an "A" shape. So you are doing one forward swizzle. From that "A" shape you are going to push backwards into a "V" shape. So you are doing one backward swizzle. The rocking horse is basically one forward swizzle into one backward swizzle. It may take some time to get used to, but once you get the hang of it, it could be a piece of cake! See the video for an example.