my BIGGEST figure skating REGRET ️ #figureskating #figureskater #iceskater #iceskating

girl wth. I’m doing group lessons. Been doing them for 5 months and I can already do jumps lol. Skill issue fr

this is how gymnastics was. i could do everything except a pullover (i was a 5’7”/5’8” teenage girl at the time, that’s very difficult to do once you get to a certain height/weight) and i was stuck in beginners.

YESSSS!!!!!! i went through so many classes and passed them all until covid! Bc we had to wear masks. I wish i started privates sooner because i would have been higher.

This is so real. I started skating when I was 7 and they ALWAYS held me back a level even when I could do most of the things correctly. Took me a while to start on jumps and spins

I do both and it’s really helpful! Because more ice time is more practice :)

I wish I could do any lessons at all LOL, in my city there is no coaches even tho there is a full year ice rink, so I have to practice at public sessions alone

I am currently in group lessons and I have no regrets! The basics such as crossovers I got down in the first 3-4 lessons of each session, which helped me move up. For example, last session I skipped 2 levels. Private lessons can be pricey, but they can help. I do started doing group lessons and private lessons, which help so much! (Saying I haven’t failed a level yet.) buttt private lessons are very fast. So you basically are expected to learn a whole level in 30 mins. Plus you have to pay the public ice fee. Also you do learn jumps in group lessons! My friend is already doing axel jump in group lessons. Sorry for blabbing!

At my ice rink if you dont have 1 or 2 skills you can still move up to the next level. After you finish all of the 6 basic levels you move on to pre free skate, and then free skate which there is also 6 of. While you do these levels our head coach pairs us with a private coach.

Do you practice at the Greensboro ice house because I recognize the rink and that’s where I practice

Oof im not sure i wanna be a pro figure skater, but it true that group lessons teach too much at once (30 mins long and im usually late) and you have lil time to practice more in things ur weak at

I got a lot of suggestions from my friends are skaters and they told me not to do group lessons and I start it off of private and it’s going so well!!

It can depend on the club you skate at because group lessons can be very helpful as a figure skater myself! You can learn from your peers 😊

not to be that guy but is that carolina hurricanes my fav hockey team in the back ? 🫣

Totally agree and this is why I made the decision a month in!!

Where do you skate at

YESSSS! I just started privates about a month ago and it’s already so much better than the group lessons both here and at my old rink

I’m a beginner skater and I was set back just because I couldn’t do a one foot glide and I know if I went to private, just like a few sessions, I would’ve been there and do it with pure confidence

That's interesting because I did private lessons at around level 5 years ago, took time off and then went back to group w/o coach and I feel like I'm advancing faster. Maybe it was my coach

prob depends on figure skating club. I really enjoy my group lesson. I got my doubles even

I was In group lessons for 7 days before I changed to private 😂

No fr I was in just the Saturday 30 mins group classes and that doesn’t absolutely nothing to improving on skating but then I got invited to this club for skating and I have been doing it for about a year and a half and I have improved so much like I’m doing exercises for axel and stuff now it’s great. And I have a coach as well I have privates with but only once a week

its not the group lessons its the coach… group lessons when with a proper teacher gives you a ton of knowledge because they should be giving more corrections and basics are always good

I wish I would've started private lessons sooner so that I could've learned better foundational techniques. Being in a group setting means less focus on each individual learning proper technique, and there were definitely some basic things I had to re-work on after starting private lessons because of this.

At my rink, I can't start private lessons until I get all my basic skills down. It's very frustrating because the other people in my group don't listen to the coach and get in my way. So it is just a seemingly never-ending cycle.

This is SO TRUE. Classes are good starters and good supplements but they can’t drive your entire career.

At my rink you have to pass Adult 1-6 before you’re allowed take Adult Spins or Adult Jumps. These should be the same skills and classes all across the U.S. They say it takes an average of26 practice hours to pass a class; some students will need 2 hours of practice to pass while others will need 200.

Me just grateful that I have enough money to just to take one class.

If u can't do one simple thing how would u be able to advance? The " simple" things they teach u are the basics. They don't teach u jumps because u don't have the basic step pattern

Thankfully I haven't failed a level but that's more on the instructors passing everyone regardless of their actual abilities. I started private lessons the same day as my first group class and the improvements I made with my coach were very fast. I decided to continue with the group classes because I told myself I liked the repetition but I can't make excuses anymore. The group classes are holding me back from a faster progression and am just picking up bad technique from the group instructors. I just finished basic 3 and am going to continue with my coach only from now on. Group classes are great if you are on a budget and only want to skate recreationally but I want to see how far I can get in the test so the groups aren't helping me get there anytime soon. Hopefully some of the instructors that teach the freestyle classes also teach private lessons so I can hire one of them.

I didn’t have that experience at all with group lessons at all. I loved it I was the best one in the adult class. My parents when I was a child were too cheap to put me in figure skating lessons so I self taught myself through adolescence I learned to spin on my own as a 12 yrs old lol. I used to get dropped off weekly at the ice skating rink with friends in junior high school to high school. We used to watch the figure skating lessons and used to try things as if we were in the lessons. My first group actual group lesson was 35 yr old LMAO. I went to level 1 the coach passed me saying I don’t belong in beginner level. They wanted me to try one legged spins bc I had already master 2 legged spins. They skipped me over level 2 completely and threw me in a level 3-4 jumping class. One session of level 1 right into a jumping class. I kid you not it depends on the skating rink each one is different. I went to a skating rink that gave you a free skating pass if you were in group lessons every single day for the whole month lol. $95 for say 30 days it was awesome. Now the prices all went up so it kind of sucks. $95 was a bargain for free skating daily too. I couldn’t learn to jump bc my skates were too tight and I needed newer skates it was painful to skate. I had to have 3 neuroma surgery and my skates bc excruciating small to skate in so I stopped. I started skating again then I broke my spine. Now I am scared never fell this bad in my life fell backwards and heard the crack on roller skates I am better at ice skating lol too It been 4 yr of healing and will start again soon with crash shorts to protect the lower back too and I am on osteoporosis meds now. People progress at different speeds I wouldn’t knock group lessons not everyone can afford a coach at $100 per hour or more. I was doing spirals at 12 yrs with no coach, & no figure skating lessons, no training and not even the right skating boots or right blades or even the right width size too. When I finally got the right skates I needed foot surgery from wearing skates that the width was too small on me and they didn’t fit again bc both feet swelled I went up a half size bc swelling didn’t go down. I was doing spirals, skating backwards, 2 foot spins 6 rotations, cross overs, etc and I taught myself by watching lessons on the side. They didn’t know I was watching and listening. I once had this kid say to her father I want to be able to skate just like her and strangely pointed to me and I had the most baffled confused look on my face thinking wow I am faking it I don’t know wtf I am doing lol and this kid thought I was good. Sometimes the people with raw talent don’t even get the right training bc it super expensive sport you have to be rich to be able to afford a coach and the $1,300 yearly skates too it is so sad they don’t have program to teach the poor people or the ones with cheap parents who paid for my brother 7 sports and only let me take ballet, tap, acrobatics dance, then stopped the dance taking gymnastic. I was only allowed one sport it didn’t matter that I was good at figure skating too. As a female I was not expected to be athletic as I was. My parents put all the sports money into my brother lol Italians lol. I skated with a friend in college on an outdoor rink and she called me Nancy Kerrigan for a whole week lol. I look back with such regrets bc with the right training I could have been a lot better. The gymnastic jump and leaps were similar. I could jump and spin 2-3 times in the floor too. I had the acrobatic flexibility and the ballet feuntes 6 rotations too that could have easily been transitioned to figure skating. My mother didn’t even know I could skate until I was 35 yrs old it kind of sad. They should teach skating in gym classes seriously school trip to the rinks lol. There so many kids who just don’t get noticed or recognized that they have raw talent. Coaches should teach kids in school to do outreach or something. Bring skating to all the kids in schools.

This was the same problem for me, the coaches for mine never payed me much attention but once I finally transitioned to full privates I excelled faster then I ever did! Believe me group lessons aren’t great AT ALL

i do group lessons and i like them. i still do private ones ofcourse. but im freestyle 5/6 currently snd i CANNOT GET MY AXEL

Omg this is so real I hate how you fail if you don’t get ONE thing that happened to me b4 but one time I had a nice instructor and she let me pass even tho I couldn’t do hockey stops

Look, no hate but, I’m a figure skater of 7 years and I do Private lessons and Group lessons. I understand your frustration but from what I saw from the video, it seems you should’ve stayed. I’m not saying you were bad but being able to do crossovers well on both feet is a BIG advantage. Even though I’m learning double jumps and stuff, I still constantly have to work on my edges and crossovers that need improving. Because to have better posture, speed and be able to do advanced skills, you HAVE to work on basic elements.

For anyone that is a beginner or wants to start figure skating, here is my advice, start off with Group lessons and if you have to repeat something, don’t complain because these people know what they’re doing. If you feel that you must know if you’re good enough, ask them when they’re alone, before, after or when you’re doing your lesson. Once you feel you have everything ok, and your coach says so. You may start private lessons, but remember to consistently work on edges, speed all the basic stuff because I can tell you now, even olympians have to work on it.

Please don’t get offended, this is just my point of view and sophia, you’re an amazing skater, keep it up!

i did soo many group classes when i started for like years, i landed my first axel and i think some of my doubles in group classes

I totally agree. I find group lessons are only good if the student does not practice themselves a lot, so the lesson time provides some time for the students to practice and to find the feeling.
But if the student is already practicing plenty, then the lesson should be only for getting specific corrections to improve faster.

Same I wish I was never in group lessons because I could not even do a 1 foot spin but now I’m doing jumps and I’m going to world championships just because I have a private lesson coach and I’m not in those lessons

So I’m a sun what new skater I’m in basic five and I’m thinking of doing private lessons but I don’t know why it’s a good idea/ investment for my skating skills I need help! I love your videos!

I feel like my coaches just passed me through the levels even when I wasnt confident enough for it. Then I stopped having the money to participate. Sad but maybe one day i can afford to go bacm

You convinced me to do private lessons I’m starting next week

Fr this is so relatable 😅

not being able to do the basic moves correctly could lead you to learn the advanced moved in an incorrect way. that’s why they want you to have good foundation first instead of rushing you into trying new moves that you’ll have a hard time fixing as you’ll have to break the bad habits.

Sofia I literally go to the same ice skating rink!!

Yes! I’ve currently been in level 7 for about 6 months already and I can’t move on bc I can’t do most of the moves. I will ask for a private coach next time so I can move on levels faster

YES this is SO frustrating but everything I ended up learning helped me a lot when learning harder moves, and I didn’t even notice it!

In my skating club you have 1 main coach per like ‘level’ (starskate) and it depends on the day so we hv either group lessons (max 4 people) or one on ones when we do doubles and stuff so its a good balance bc we get to learn from each others mistakes and we can help each other a lot since its normally 3 of us (4 or 2 on rare occasions) anyways ur doing so good! ❤

I was in group lessons for about 6 months and I totally agree! Since these lessons were just oh you pass or you fail, I couldn’t move forward and I ended up quitting for about a year but I’m staring private lessons soon 🎉

this video helped me start private lessons lol, i was in group lessons for like a month or two and it was rlly nice ofc but the exact same thing happened to me, with having to keep repeating moves. But then i switched to private lessons and omg ive progressed SO MUCH, im working on my spins and started learning jumps and I've only figure skated for a few months! Thank you for this tip lol!

What you are saying is 100% true. I am lucky enough to have avoided that because I found a coach I really liked through group lessons and when I moved up a level I didn’t get her as the group lesson coach and I experienced everything you said. The. The coach I liked offered me private coaching early on and I never turned back.