Off ice training question?

Question

Do you think that putting on your skates at home (off ice) would help your balance? I need more confidence with spirals crossovers and a jump from forwards to backwards,not waltz just forwards to backwards.

Answer 1

Do not use skates off ice to practice jumps or cross-overs.  Even with skate guards on trying jumps off ice with skates on will ruin the blades and weaken the bottom of the boot.  Cross-overs can't be done off ice with skates because the trick to cross-overs is momentum and edge, neither of which exist at all off ice.

Spirals however I'm not sure about.  Practice your arabesques off ice, but not with skates on.  Again, the key to a good on ice spiral is speed and edges are also involved (though not to the extent they are involved in cross-overs).  You should be able to enhance your balance enough off ice without skates on that it isn't worth risking the quality of your skates to wear them off the ice for practice.

For spirals, practice the position and change your arm position slowly (straight in front, straight to the side, slightly above your head) as the movement will improve your balance and you will strengthen your back at the same time.

Answer 2

Gradually go up to skates on off-ice spirals. What I mean by that is when you first start doing off-ice spirals dont use skates, then once you get the hang of it, put your skates on.

Practicing crossover with skates or not wont help you if you practice off-ice. It is just a waste of time. But if your coach says you must, ask your coach about using skates or not.

The jump will help with practicing it off-ice. But don't use skates, just hold the ending land for five seconds and put your weight to your feet.

Hope this helped!!

Answer 3

Well using BLADE GUARDS. Put them on and practice in a room which has carpet. You dont want to scratch your wooden floors. When you have done this you can practice almpst everything, even the jumps.

Answer 4

With the spirals put your skates on. It helps a ton! But it will ruin flooring(including carpet) so stand on something that you don't care about. & just do the spiral form. for the crossovers and jumps it wont help much. If you do the jumps with out skates it might help though.