About learning ice-skating!!!!?

Question

I want to ask wouldn' t it be too late for a 15-year-old to start learning ice-skating? And how many grades are there? And how long do I have to learn until I can compete or take exams? But wouldn' t it be strange, you know... for me to compete with younger kids?

But if I learn it only for fun, how many months do you think I should learn? (like 2,3,4,5 moths?) Any suggestions?

And last of all, what do you want to learn ice-skating for?

Answer 1

I started when I wa sabout 13.

I had to practice with the little kids haha.

My frst compitition was when I was 14, and it was with older kids lol.

Now I'm 15.

:]

Answer 2

it would not be too late to start now even if you are 15. I mean I am 15 and I started just this January and now, I can do most of the single jumps. You should just try it out and see what happens i'm sure that there isn't any harm in that. Like me, I just tried it for a few weeks and I began to love it so i continued and started to compete too. It actually depends on you. I just wanted learn Ice Skating because it is my way of relaxation (a way to forget all your worries and problems) and its one thing I always look forward to doing.

Answer 3

It's NEVER too late!!!  If you're interested in the sport, go for it!  Get involved in a group lesson program at your local rink and see if you enjoy it.  Many programs offer adult classes that you could ask to be a part of so you wouldn't have to skate with the little kids.  Group lessons test your skills at the end of the set of lessons in order to qualify to go onto the next level.  The number of levels depends on which program you're in and which country you're in.  For example, through the USFSA, in the group lessons, there are 8 basic classes or 4 adult classes (which are pretty much equivelent to the 8).  Those graduate to 5 free skate classes.  Those are mainly for basic skills, but there are also levels to test outside of group lessons for moves in the field and freestyle, 8 levels in all.  Here in the US, there are basic skills competitions where skaters enrolled in a program can compete, even if they're not jumping or spinning yet.  I started late too and hated skating against the little kids.  Or if you are willing to put off competing until you're 21, you can compete as an adult skater against other adult skaters, which in my experience, has been more enjoyable and more positve than skating against kids.  If you start lessons, within just a few months, you should be able to perform all forwards and backwards skating and even a two-foot spin.  It just advances from there!!  

There are many people out there many times your age just starting skating.  Everyone's reasons are different, but they're having fun, making friends, learning and keeping healthy -- all doing something fun.

Actually, I was thinking just yesterday -- when I was all stressed about upcoming tests -- why do I skate?  What keeps me skating and has kept me skating this long?  My answer was that I have always thought skating was really neat to watch and I just simply wanted to be able to do some of the stuff I saw on my own.  After that, it just gets addicting!  It's a great sense of accomplishment when you reach your goal and it's something that not everybody can do!  :)

Answer 4

Why don't you try it and if you like it, stick with it. I do it for fun, but yet I'm serious.

It depends on how fast you learn and how good you get to compete and test.

They usually seperate competitions into age groups.

I'm 14 and I've been skating for 2 years. I just did my first competition last year and I was in the age group 13 - 18 for Basic Grad..

Answer 5

No, a 15-year-old is not too old to learn how to ice skate. Depending on where you live and which program you decide to follow, there are different levels. In USA, ISI has 15 levels I believe and USFS has 24 levels including all the basic, freeskate, and then the test levels. You can start competing at any level, and in ISI they divide up the groups into age AND level, so you can compete against other 14-16 year olds in the same level as you. You should try out group lessons at your local rink and complete the full term which is around 8 weeks but it varies among rinks. Then if you like it, just continue!! Haha good luck. :)

Answer 6

NO its not too late.

i started at 10. i wish i started sooner but its an amazing sport.

The levels are different depending on ISI or USFSA but ISI is pretty easy but maybe you should learn for about a year before competing so you will have some experience.

but just learn for as long as you want!

Ice skating really is amazing. i cant explain it. but im in love with it! =]

hope that helps

best of luck!! =]

Answer 7

its never too late! people start figure skating at all times! there are tons of 13 14 and 15 year olds starting skating who also would like to compete. you might still have to compete against younger children though if the competitions you go into, dont seperate the groups by age, (seperating by age happens a lot in the lower levels)

levels are in all sorts of groups. i would start at group lessons and go through a couple of the basic levels. then when you want to, ask a coach about private lessons. you can compete at any time, you just need to find a level you are in. personally, i wouldnt start competing until i have a couple of single jumps and some basic spins like 2foot and scratchspin.  after you have learned all single jumps except for axel, you can go into usfsa levels.(united states figure skating assosiation) these are the levels used by the whole world.

no-test (literally means no test, you have not tested up to this point)

the rest of the levels you need to test a freestyle test and a moves test to move up in levels. your coach should know all about this and if they dont...get a new coach.

here are the rest of the levels in order: no-test, pre-preliminary, preliminary, pre-juvenile, juvenile, intermediate, novice, junior, senior.

learn as many months as you like, stay with it!

i figure skate because i love it :P