# First Steps on the Ice · Figure Skating Level 1: Beginner

Figure Skating · Level 1: Beginner · Insporta Book (https://book.insporta.app/figure-skating/level-1/first-steps-on-the-ice/)

First Steps on the Ice in Figure Skating (Level 1: Beginner) on Insporta: 40 sourced facts behind 4 tests. Covers: standing, falling and getting up; and more.

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

## Test 1: Standing, falling and getting up

- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)

## Test 2: Marching, swizzles and glides

- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)

## Test 3: Stops, dips and first jumps

- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)

## Test 4: Stroking, curves and turns

- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)

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.

Take the tests: https://insporta.app/try?utm_source=book&utm_medium=referral