Adult Figure Skating is FUN! Right? Right!

“I live, breathe, eat figure skating…. I drink figure skating”  

Chasity Brinn, Adult Figure Skater

 

A skating friend of mine sent this hilarious adult figure skating video to me and it made me realize how much fun we have as adult figure skaters… and also how serious it can be if we take everything to heart in this sport.

I think far too often as an adult figure skater we take things so seriously, probably because our free time is precious and well, trying to contort your body into strange positions on very thin blades while skating on ice can be somewhat stressful and frustrating. All too often we get discouraged because our rate of progress, unlike the kids, is usually very long and trying. Any move or jump, or dance that we accomplish learning is the result of many hours on the ice and most of the time we aren’t talking axels or advanced moves.  It could be as simple as learning a three turn or mohawk on the opposite foot. While we celebrate these accomplishments as adult skaters, the in between times when we are working on the same stroking or basic move for the millionth time and feel like we are getting nowhere while the kids zoom by, can be trying.

We can be SO serious about our skating and lose sight of the main reason we skate! I know I do when I am working on my back crossovers for the millionth time or my flip jump because after 10 years I still can’t manage to get it perfect. I see adults become so discouraged because they feel like their progress is so minimal and it’s depressing to think that after expending so much time and energy that there doesn’t seem to be much to show for it.

But then there are the days when we finally figure out how to get our bodies to do that inside mohawk on the left foot or when we are able to finally spin on that elusive sweet spot. That sense of victory is like no other, it makes up for the trials and tribulations that have lead up to that point. The realization that even on two thin blades on ice, that those past their teen years can still float happily across the ice if they work hard enough, is the reason why we all skate.

And… in between those victories (which can be long) we amuse ourselves with the people we meet who share the same crazy obsessive love for the sport. People we would have never met if it wasn’t for this love of skating. Laughing about life in general or the strange things only adult figure skaters do and talk about (birthing pose, anyone? see video) . Humor as an adult figure skater is essential. After all,  how else would we all wake up at 6am in the morning to fall on cold ice only to be run over by 10 year olds? You need humor in this sport.  You just can’t survive without it and I think this video probably sums it up the best.

Happy skating and just remember… Adult Figure Skating is meant to be FUN  so laugh a little and enjoy your time on the ice!