Introduction to Iceskating

Hello ice skaters and welcome back to another post, today I am going to teach the basics of iceskating such as the levels you will go through (ISI) and explain the basics into (USFS). In this post I will also  be explaining what moves, jumps, and spins for each level, and most of all the life of an ice skater, for my next post i will be talking about what it takes to be an ice skater, so don't forget to check that out! So lets get started.
First of all ice skating is one of those sports that take a lot commitment, remember ice skating is not an easy sport, of course as a person who does not skate you don't think about the edges, the strength, and the balance you need for that sport, but guess what you can learn the tricks ice skaters use them selves at your local rink, now heres what I recommend as a beginner, depending on your age you may want to consider wearing a helmet if you are 3-5. Definitely as a beginner and you are not comfortable on ice then I would recommend elbow and knee pads, even I sometimes wear them when working on jumps and trust me they are life savers if you take a hard fall. One thing you absolutely  need is a pair of skates. Maybe if you are starting in the first few lower levels but heading towards around freestyle one you will want to buy your own pair of skates. This is because when you reach about that level you start jumps and you will need the support in your feet, and the rentals are not very well made and do not support your feet very well. I would suggest start with the very beginner kind of skates, usually the skate shop guys who are in charge will ask what level you are at or what kind of stuff your working on, and they will know what kind of pair is right for you. Now lets look at the levels you will go through before you start besides the pads and maybe the helmet you will want to get a pair of gloves, and SOCKS VIP, and of course wear warm things.
The first level if you are about 5 or under you will start at tots. This class may be divided into different kinds for example you may be going from tot A to tot B or something like that. In that class you will learn the basics such as how to fall and get up, learn swizzles which is moving your feet in a diamond like shape across the ice, imagine seeing a line of diamond like shapes all lined up across the ice. Anyway you will learn forward marches, and they may ask you just to do a tiny hop right in place, and lastly you will learn dips/tea pots which is just gliding on two feet in a imaginary chair position..
The next level or you may start at this level is pre alpha, in this level you review and practice somethings you did in tots such as the falling and the swizzles but you will learn how to go backwards. You will learn a one foot glide which is when you glide on one foot. You will learn wiggles forwards and backward you may even learn them in tots any way to. Finally you will learn or do exercises that teach you how to do a crossover!
This level is alpha, in alpha, you learn how to do forwards stroking, crossovers, and snow plow stops. A crossover looks like someone who crosses one foot over another while the stroking is just when people push of a leg and extend there leg out back and forth. The snow plow stops are stopping with one foot doing the stop. You may also do exercises for doing back crossovers. Which leads to our next level.
The next level you will complete is beta, in this level everything is basically the same as alpha but backwards. You will learn how to do backward crossovers, t stops which is stopping in a t position. You are going to learn backward stroking but this time you are basically doing half backward swizzles the same leg you used for the half swizzle.  Now you are ready to attempt your first real mini jump.
In this level most people at least at my rink have their own pairs of skates. In this level you will learn how to do a bunny hop your first jump which is almost like practicing the take off for waltz jump. you learn how to do a mohawk, three turn and in delta edges. But in gamma and delta is almost the same thing. Now you are entering the freestyle mode! Yes all these levels it's self is hard and a lot of work but if you stay committed and keep working you will get it. Check back for my individual posts for the freestyle levels!