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Figure Skating · Level 1: Beginner · Sub-level 1.3

First Steps on the Ice

4 tests · 40 facts · updated 20 October 2026 · markdown

Standing, falling and getting up, marching, swizzles and glides, the first stop and jump, stroking, curves and turns.

Each test below is ten questions on Insporta. The list under a test is what the questions check: one fact per question, with the source it was written from. Read it before the test, or come back from a wrong answer.

Test 1Standing, falling and getting upTake a test

  1. Stand with shoulders over hips, feet parallel and the weight over the centre of the skates, arms slightly forward and eyes up.

    Source: Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.1: Badge 1 · recall

  2. The arms are held slightly forward for balance, with the head up and the eyes looking forward.

    Source: Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.1: Badge 1 · recall

  3. Bend the knees into a dip, lower the hips and fall onto one side of the bottom, keeping the hands close to the chest and off the ice.

    Source: Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.1: Badge 1 · recall

  4. Tucking the chin keeps the head forward, away from the ice, as the skater sits down into the fall.

    Source: Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.1: Badge 1 · recall

  5. Catching the toe picks is corrected by bending the knees more, keeping the weight over the middle to the back of the blade.

    Source: Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.1: Badge 1 · applied

  6. Skating forward, the weight sits over the middle to the back of the blade; it moves to the balls of the feet going backward.

    Source: Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.1: Badge 1 · recall

  7. In a dip the knees bend until the hips are level with them, the back straight but angled forward, the arms out in front.

    Source: Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.1: Badge 1 · recall

  8. From hands and knees one blade goes flat on the ice, the other skate comes next to it, and the skater rises slowly from a crouch.

    Source: Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.1: Badge 1 · applied

  9. Badge 1 starts with standing, then falling and getting up, then a dip, and ends with marching forward.

    Source: Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.1: Badge 1 · applied

  10. Two parallel straight lines are a two-foot glide. B's linked ovals are swizzles, C's single line a one-foot glide, D's two curves a two-foot curve.

    Source: Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.2: Badge 2 · applied

Test 2Marching, swizzles and glidesTake a test

  1. In a swizzle the toes point out and the feet slide apart on inside edges, then the toes turn in and the feet come back together.

    Source: Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.2: Badge 2 · recall

  2. Both feet lean slightly in, so the blades run on their inside edges as they move apart and back together.

    Source: Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.3: Badge 3 · recall

  3. In the backward wiggle the skater twists back and forth, moving only hips, legs and feet under a still upper body.

    Source: Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.2: Badge 2 · recall

  4. Going backward the weight sits slightly forward on the balls of the feet; rocking back onto the heels is the classic error.

    Source: Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.3: Badge 3 · recall

  5. The badge asks for a two-foot glide covering at least the length of the skater's own body.

    Source: Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.2: Badge 2 · recall

  6. The free skate is lifted to the ankle of the skating foot; lifting it too high is the common error.

    Source: Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.4: Badge 4 · recall

  7. The correction for feet too far apart is to bring them to hip width.

    Source: Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.2: Badge 2 · applied

  8. From a two-foot glide the feet slide apart on inside edges; the toes turn in and the feet draw together again.

    Source: Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.3: Badge 3 · applied

  9. Badge 2 adds unassisted marching and the assisted wiggle; badge 3 asks for the wiggle alone and five swizzles.

    Source: Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.2-5.3: Badges 2-3 · applied

  10. Linked ovals, like a chain of lemons, are swizzles: the feet go apart and come back together. A is a two-foot glide, B a two-foot curve, D a one-foot glide.

    Source: Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.3: Badge 3 · applied

Test 3Stops, dips and first jumpsTake a test

  1. Badge 4 teaches the one-foot snowplow stop; the other stops come later.

    Source: Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.4: Badge 4 · recall

  2. The stopping skate slides slightly forward and to the side, toe turned in, pressing the inside edge for a skidding stop.

    Source: Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.4: Badge 4 · recall

  3. Lean the stopping foot onto its inside edge, apply light pressure and push outward gently.

    Source: Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.4: Badge 4 · applied

  4. Gliding on two feet, the skater bends until the hips are parallel with the knees, holds, and rises again.

    Source: Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.3: Badge 3 · recall

  5. Land with the knees bent on the balls of the feet, then rock back to the middle and back of the blade.

    Source: Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.4: Badge 4 · recall

  6. Skating backward the skater looks to make sure other skaters are not in the path before gliding.

    Source: Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.4: Badge 4 · recall

  7. Bending too far forward is fixed by arms out, back up and eyes looking forward, bending down gradually.

    Source: Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.1: Badge 1 · applied

  8. From a forward two-foot glide the stopping skate slides out with the toe in and its inside edge skids the skater to a gradual stop.

    Source: Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.4: Badge 4 · applied

  9. Bend, rock onto the balls of the feet, push up for a small jump and land with bent knees.

    Source: Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.4: Badge 4 · applied

  10. In D one line runs on while the other skate fans out sideways in a skid, the mark of a snowplow stop. A, B and C keep gliding.

    Source: Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.4: Badge 4 · applied

Test 4Stroking, curves and turnsTake a test

  1. Each push is made with the inside edge, never with the toe pick, transferring the weight evenly from foot to foot.

    Source: Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.5: Badge 5 · recall

  2. Pushes go to the side and back, with the free leg extending after each one.

    Source: Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.5: Badge 5 · recall

  3. Forward stroking across the rink must show at least four alternating strokes without interruption.

    Source: Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.5: Badge 5 · recall

  4. The skater stands with one foot's toes turned out about 60 degrees, the T-position, before the first push.

    Source: Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.5: Badge 5 · recall

  5. Bend the knees, lean knees and ankles toward the curve, turn the upper body that way and use a slight rise and bend.

    Source: Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.5: Badge 5 · recall

  6. Flat curves are corrected with a down-up motion of the knees, ankle pressure and body lean.

    Source: Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.5: Badge 5 · applied

  7. Not completing the two-foot turn is corrected by rotating the hips in the opposite direction to the shoulders.

    Source: Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.5: Badge 5 · applied

  8. The upper body and head lead the turn, the hips twist through, and the knees bend again as the turn finishes.

    Source: Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.5: Badge 5 · applied

  9. The two-foot glide comes in badge 2, the gliding dip in badge 3, the snowplow stop in badge 4 and stroking in badge 5.

    Source: Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.2-5.5: Badges 2-5 · applied

  10. B's twin arcs bend the same way, the mark of a curve skated on both feet. A runs straight, C is one line from one foot, D shows linked ovals.

    Source: Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.5: Badge 5 · applied

Sources

Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), Riedell's blade, fitting and care guides, a skate technician's blade-care advice, a rink's session rules and Olympedia; original questions authored, nothing reproduced. Numbered ISU rules belong to the rules categories.

  • Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.1: Badge 110
  • Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.4: Badge 49
  • Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.5: Badge 59
  • Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.2: Badge 25
  • Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.3: Badge 35
  • Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.2-5.3: Badges 2-31
  • Special Olympics Figure Skating Coaching Guide (2021), 5.2-5.5: Badges 2-51