Any Figure Skating divas out there?

[JoySki]

I started figure skating when I was around 9 yrs old (I'm now 18) - I did do some competitions for a short period of time, but I had to cut back on skating during my final 2 yrs of high school. Now that's all done, skating's gradually becoming regular for me once again, though it's just for fun - the figure skating scene is very limited here in Australia, so I gave up any hope of pursuing that path seriously.

I personally think ice skating is a FANTASTIC sport for skiers. I only took up skiing in 2004, but with my ice skating background, I found it quite easy to pick up skiing. The mechanics of edge control were already natural to my legs, thanks to the huge emphasis on edgework in ice skating. Skating also gives me balance, awareness of posture, strength, and a whole host of other great things - all of which help out my skiing. There's a nice overlap between the two!

Anyone else out there?

 

[ski now work later]

I have only ice skated once or twice in my life, but I noticed that my stepdaughter picked up skiing very quickly and she's a solid ice skater. She really moves along the flats very well! Sounds like a perfect background for skiing. And you'll love the freestyle stuff too (I know I do). :D

 

[Jilly]

As an instructor, I've noticed that skaters, even hockey players, pick up basics faster than non skaters. As you mentioned its seems to be the ability to take the "movement in motion" to longer blades ie skis. Skaters are used to gliding forward, balancing on edges, and being able to use their lower body to move and control motion.

That's why inline skating is a great off season, cross training sport for skiers!

 

[JoySki]

I have only ice skated once or twice in my life, but I noticed that my stepdaughter picked up skiing very quickly and she's a solid ice skater. She really moves along the flats very well! Sounds like a perfect background for skiing. And you'll love the freestyle stuff too (I know I do). :D

Ah, the flats! At my home mountain there's an annoyingly big flat area that we often have to get across in order to access the opposite slopes of the mountain - the skating does come in handy!

Haha you're making me very impatient to get out there and try out some freestyle moves :D
How did you start out in freestyle - lessons, or just experimenting on your own?

 

[JoySki]

As an instructor, I've noticed that skaters, even hockey players, pick up basics faster than non skaters. As you mentioned its seems to be the ability to take the "movement in motion" to longer blades ie skis. Skaters are used to gliding forward, balancing on edges, and being able to use their lower body to move and control motion.

That's why inline skating is a great off season, cross training sport for skiers!

The last time I did inline skating was back in 2005...and I failed miserably when I tried to bust some of my ice skating moves on those rollers

I shamelessly admit to feeding my "ski deprivation" on ice very often! I spend time making ski-style turns, short and long radius, on my ice skates, and it's such an oh-so-nice feeling...!

 

[tradygirl]

My husband is trying to get me playing hockey, so we've been going skating about once a week for the last few weeks. I have a lot to learn!! I'm excited to do more of it - but it's a little overwhelming to think how much better I have to be before I can even think about playing hockey!

 

[altagirl]

I agree - there's a lot of crossover.

I did a bunch of figure skating as a kid - never had lessons, but we built our own ice rink in the yard (2x8's and a huge tarp and then put the hose in it and flooded it every night) and just skated a lot. Picking up skiing seemed pretty natural as a result.

And then this past fall I learned to speed skate, and I get a lot of comments about how quickly I've picked it up, but I think a lot of it crosses over - if you know how to use edges, it applies to all of those types of sports.

 

[Pequenita]

I never got past the waltz jump in figure skating, but I really, really enjoy ice skating.

There are definitely edging similarities between downhill skiing and ice skating, and wrt x-country skiing, there's the whole balancing on one foot similarity w/ ice skating. I went xc skiing for the second time in my life this winter, and two of the people I was with were surprised that I was already kicking and gliding. They told me that lots of newbies weren't confident with having only one leg bearing weight.

 

[MaineSkiLady]

Great thread about skill-crossover. My son took his hockey-playing pal skiing for the first time when they were about 12+-. The friend was a completely solid intermediate within the first few hours - amazing. Barely had to be taught how to parallel ski, just came naturally - or as he said, "like skating on size 200 skates!"

 

[JoySki]

Good luck with your hockey adventures tradygirl! Since you've got similar skills from skiing already, you'll be dashing around the rink on those skates faster than anyone else in no time at all.

altagirl, I'm unspeakably jealous - a homemade skating rink in your yard! Very nice. My yard is big enough for one, but sadly, it'll never be cold enough in Australia for that (or for awesome snow conditions like yours!) :Cry:
Yes, there's that whole "family" of sports that's based on solid edgework. It's great that we can enjoy one, once we know another! I must say - I find that feeling of moving "on edge" incredibly addictive

Pequenita: I agree, XC is incredibly similar to ice skating, perhaps more so than downhill actually, due to the type of surface you often encounter. I've never tried XC myself - I love that rush of zooming downhill too much!

"Like skating on size 200 skates"...I like that, MSL! :ROTF:
My experience was much the same as your son's pal's.
Something else interesting to note is that some skating stops are exactly the same as ski stops -namely snowplow, hockey stop.
The key difference, I found, was having to adapt my edging and ability to consciously change my turn radius, to moving down an uneven (i.e. ungroomed/bumps), sloping surface - as opposed to moving across a perfectly even, flat surface. That's something I'm still working on these days, especially in the bumps.