Ice Skating

I

Introduction

Ice Skating, gliding across an expanse of ice while balancing on steel runners that have been affixed to the bottom of special boots designed specifically for skating. People skate on artificially created ice at indoor and outdoor rinks and on frozen lakes, ponds, rivers, or streams. Recreational ice skating is most prevalent in countries with long, cold winters, although the growing number of indoor rinks has made ice skating popular in warmer regions as well.

As a competitive sport, ice skating takes two main forms. Figure skating blends athletic and artistic skills, requiring physical stamina and imagination. Speed skating denotes racing on ice skates around an oval track. The sport of ice hockey also requires skillful ice skating. This article covers figure skating and speed skating only; for information on ice hockey, see Ice Hockey.

II

Fundamentals

Proficiency in ice skating requires an understanding of basic techniques, proper equipment and clothing, and attention to safety issues.

A

Techniques

Figure skating begins with proper posture for good balance: chin up, body upright, and knees slightly bent. A skater moves across the ice by a side-to-side maneuver called stroking, which involves pushing forward on one foot, then gliding, then pushing and gliding with the other foot. Stroking backwards, a somewhat trickier move, starts with pushing one leg out and to the side while gliding on the other leg; more advanced skaters are able to push and glide one foot at a time. To stop, a skater may use one of several methods. The snowplow, performed while moving forward, entails pushing the heels outward and the toes inward. In the T-stop, the skater glides forward on one skate while placing the other skate at a right angle to it, coming to a stop with the feet in a T formation. In a hockey stop, a skater turns both feet sideways and bends the knees, pushing down and bending the knees to come to a standstill quickly.

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Turns are important for changing direction while maintaining or increasing speed. In a crossover, a skater alternately crosses and uncrosses the feet while stroking through a turn. To turn to the right, for example, a skater crosses the left foot over the right. The crossover is a basic figure skating skill.

Blade edges are the basis of almost every figure skating maneuver. Since figure skating blades are concave on the bottom, each blade has an inside edge and an outside edge. The takeoffs for various jumps and spins originate with specific parts of these edges, which are designated right forward outside (RFO), right forward inside (RFI), right back outside (RBO), right back inside (RBI), and similarly for the left foot.

Jumps are distinguished by their takeoff, which may be forward or backward. The most difficult is the axel, named for its inventor, Axel Paulsen, a Norwegian speed skater. In a typical single axel, a skater initiates the jump facing forward, launches the jump from the left forward outside edge, completes 1y rotations in the air, and lands traveling backward on the right backward outside edge. In a salchow, named after Swedish skater Ulrich Salchow, a skater begins while traveling backwards, takes off from the back inside edge, turns in the air, and lands on the back outside edge of the other skate. The lutz, invented by Austrian skater Alois Lutz, is similar to the salchow in rotation and landing, but the skater travels backwards on an outside edge (rather than an inside edge), uses the toe of the opposite foot to help launch the jump, and rotates clockwise in the air. A loop jump begins on the right back outside edge and finishes on the same edge after the rotations are completed.

Spins are centered on a single spot. The three basic spins are the upright spin, sit spin, and camel spin. In an upright spin, the skater stands and rotates on one foot; arm and torso positions vary. In a sit spin, the skater spins in a sitting position with one leg extended in front, parallel to the ice. In a camel spin, skaters extend one leg behind them, parallel to the ice, and extend their arms forward.

Speed skating blades are flat rather than concave, which ensures that stroking is a more continuous motion. During a sprint (short race), the first few strides should be short and firm, enabling the skater to gain speed as quickly as possible. The skater increases the length of the glide during the race. For longer distances, skaters maintain a steady pace throughout the race, using a longer glide on each stroke than in a sprint. Speed skaters lean forward to reduce wind resistance and make longer strokes possible.

Arm position is crucial to a speed skater’s ability to gain speed, and varies according to distance. In a sprint, the arms move rapidly back and forth, crossing in front of the opposite knee in a wide swinging motion that both stabilizes the body and propels it forward. In longer distance speed skating the arms are kept behind the back, which helps conserve energy. Middle-distance skaters alternate between these techniques or swing only one arm.

B

Equipment

The most important skating equipment is a pair of skates that fit properly and are appropriately equipped for the type of skating. Boots on figure skates are made of leather, have 1.5-in (3.8-cm) heels, and extend above the ankle to provide support. The blades, made of steel, are only a few millimeters wide, slightly curved on the bottom, and have toe picks (serrated teeth on the front of the blade) to assist skaters in certain spins and jumps.

Speed skates must be as lightweight as possible for maximum acceleration. The boots are composed of light, flexible leather and are quite short, with virtually no ankle support. Blades are long and straight, made from lightweight steel, and are thinner than figure skate blades. Competitive speed skaters wear tight-fitting body suits to reduce wind resistance.

Recreational skaters should dress for warmth and comfort, with a hat, gloves, and a sweater or jacket. To allow for freedom of movement, pants and tops should be loose, but not baggy enough to snag the toe pick or blade of a skate. Anything tight could be constricting.

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