...ice skating agility!
 

How to improve your ice skating agility; skating forwards, skating backwards, right turns, left turns, stops and starts, getting comfy with your skating ability?

Here's what works for me? Go get yourself a four legged aluminum lightweight walker from somewhere such as a yard sale, thrift store, or out in the garage of a deceased uncle or someone who will no longer be using it. Typically, each walker leg comes with a large rubber crutch tip and you want to remove them and replace with four vinyl tips. For some reason, vinyl glides across the ice much much better than rubber, and the Heath Hardware in Center Harbor sells a four-pak of 1 1/8" white or black vinyl tips for about 2.59 so it is not too expensive.

Once you have your walker adapted for ice and adjusted to your height then just get out on the ice and practice, practice, practice, & practice; forward, backward, right, left, stops & starts......and pretty quickly....you will see your ice skating agility get better, faster, stronger, and more in control!

Probably, you want to wear a helmet while pushing your ice skating skills, and a bicycle helmet works good.

Both the Waterville Valley rink and PSU rink in Plymouth will usually allow you to use a walker as an ice skating trainer tool.

?????????????????

Hmmm...
 

I think I would simply try another sport before doing that. Somehow skating with a walker in public doesn't seem very appealing to me. Takes the "cool" factor right out of the equation....

Dan

I like that way of learning. A lot cooler than having a busted head or rear end. Now if only FLL has a good way of learning ski jumping.

Same idea...
 

Just attach his walker to his skis and off he goes.:laugh:

Up at the WV rink, the rink has about eight steel trainer supports in both adult and child size that are somewhat similar to a walker with a couple exceptions. They have rubber tips which do not glide nearly as well as vinyl, and are all steel construction so it's much heavier than an aluminum walker.

At the PSU rink in Plymouth, they use two plastic milk crates held together vertically with nylon wire ties which are ok for children but not as stable as an aluminum walker.

If you compare the aluminum walker vs the milk crates or larger steel supports, it's pretty obvious that a walker makes for a real good ice skate trainer support.

As far as not looking too cool out on the ice what with skating with a walker and a helmet......while that is true.....here's something to consider..... two people can use one walker at the same time.....either side by side....or three people.....side by side by side.....or two people....one going backwards and one going frontwards....so the walker can add a social human dancer style element to learning how to skate better.....and that makes it more fun to do......plus the backwards skater gets to show off just a wee bit.....and two more proficient skaters can do two-dimensional cart wheels by continually circling the ice while using a walker for support and stability as they get more practice time on the ice.

On a scale from one to ten, I consider myself to be about a seven, or a "C" on ice skates, and I have had people including ice rink employees who drive the Zamboni come up to me and ask: "So why do you use a walker when you are already a good skater?" and I usually say that's because I'm trying to become a better skater...

Maybe the walker could be thought to be somewhat like bicycle training wheels except adapted for an ice skater who's training to be a better skater plus it should easily cost less than ten dollars when purchased at a yard sale for like five bucks or so plus the 2.59 four-pak of vinyl tips.

FLL - but the looks of this post I've got to assume your still out of work.....And bored stiff.....

But what you are forgetting is that you will become a better skater by practicing, and without the walker. This is the only way your body and mind will adapt to the current conditions on what it has to do

get rid of the walker
 

The walker or crates is great for a newbie but once you have the balance aspect down....get rid of them. Learning to stop, turn, crossover etc can then be learned by alot of practice and of course, a few falls.

I'm starting to like this walker idea. I'd be inclined to go just one step further....add a Drink Holder to each side of the walker for yourself and the other skater across from you, ...for your favorite beverage. Better yet...maybe even a small built in beer cooler. It all makes perfect sense. :D NB

....now you're talk'n! ...... and then take it up a notch .....for about five dollars.....pick up a 1980's small boom box at a thrift store for play'n cassettes....and duct tape the handle to the walker in a symmetrical spot.......... and skate out for the big smooth ice of Lake Waukewan.....and the....what the heck is it called....the Pond Hockey Ice Happening.....this Friday-Saturday-Sunday.......be there........ cha-cha-cha!!! ....Lake Waukewan, Meredith, NH ......just google that! .......what? ......me bored out of my mind ....... no-way! .......not me! ..... :D:laugh:

Pretty mild winter for cabin fever to be setting in... :eek::laugh:

If I saw someone doing that on the rink I work at, I'd run them over with the Zamboni :rolleye2: JK

Im teaching my GF to skate. I find that leaning on a hockey stick works best

April 1, this Sunday, is the closing day at the Waterville Valley Ice Arena, www.watervillevalley.org until july when the www.saintjohnseadogs.com and other Canadian teams come for summer practice.

St John, New Brunswick is the home town headquarters for Irving Oil, and Irving is supposedly a big, big supporter of the Sea Dogs and Canadian local minor league hockey play.......so's next time u want to get the puck out of here.....maybe u want to fill it up at your local Irving.

....ok.....today is Halloween, Oct 31, 2013 ..... and being a little bored, I decided to go stretch my legs and take about a two mile walk in the rain and 45-degree gloom of the early evening along about two miles of Waterville Valley's smooth paved and granite curbed sidewalks....

...stuck my head inside the front entrance to the WV Ice Arena to see what was happening, www.watervillevalley.org, and the big Zamboni was just finishing up, and it looked like there was not even one ice skater there in that great big, professional sized ice arena .... so that means for just like five dollars.....one can go ice skate in large circles from 5:45 to 7:00-pm entirely all alone in that large indoor space while listening to the sounds of Saturday Night Fever and other ice skating worthy music .....

....other thing to do while here......Jug Town Coffee Shop.....the Legend's Bar & Grill with its huge tv screen and about 500-channels .....Cayote Grill & Bar , a popular restaurant ......so come on up....about 13-miles up the road from Rt 93-Exit 28.....and watch out for that big moose at Hardy Hill ......it's worth the trip!


....while it may be rainy-gloomy-dreary outside.......inside the ice arena.....it is always 45-degrees cool and dry......brightly lighted.....with very smooth, high-quality ice .....just like a huge walk-in refrigerator!

....you know....it seems like ice skating is not really all that popular a thing for the local adults to do ......go figure? Maybe if ice skates had an engine and a noisy exhaust then it would be more popular around these here parts....but just my two cents? I hear that the two year old ice arena down in Plymouth, at Plymouth State University, does not get hardly anyone coming to their public skating time slots either? If only Harley Davidson came out with some motorized ice skates or something, then ice skating at the rinks would be a big hit!

Sad
 

Growing up in Lowell in the late 70's, we would go public skating at the Janas Rink and it was shoulder to shoulder people. Cheap night out, great exercise. I went public skating a couple of years ago at Plymouth and there were 7-8 people there