Could you imagine spending over $1,000 on a new pair of skates or even just a dress.

It’s basically a used car that you first got in highschool, but spending that much in figure skating,shockenly, isn’t that much.

How could that possibly be spending that much, you ask, well let me show you.

In order to skate, obviously, you need figure skates. When you first start skating, you really don’t need fantastic skates, but when you’re doing doubles/ triples, you definitely need a pair of skates that will support the jumps and your ankles.  

These skates are one of the most common skates that lots of figure skaters and even olympians use.

Jadah Torbenson

                         

This is about how much these cost.  

  figureskatingstore.com/edea-ice-fly-ice-skates

But that’s not all, there is also the blades that are needed. Blades can also cost as much as the skates and they both add up fast!

This is about how much blades will cost.

figureskatingstore.com/mk-figure-skating-blades-gold-star-revolution

Now, not everyone needs these exact skates or blades, it really just depends on how determined you are about this sport,which skates you prefer in the long run, and budget wise.

Now that you have your skates, what about an outfit you’re going to wear in a competition?

Lots of people think skating dresses are cheap, but those also add up too.

Personally, I wear the same dress every two years, then I buy a new dress. But many people buy a new dress every year. It’s your personal reference on how you’d like to spend your money and so on.

Not every skating dress cost the same. Some are more basic than others. The more basic, the less it would cost, the more sparkles and gems, the more it will cost.

Here is an example of how much a skating dress will cost.

figureskatingstore.com/jerrys-ice-skating-dress-242-petal-soft-dress

But that’s not all! You can’t just have one dress for every program you do. Actually you can, but what’s the fun in that?! Most people do more than one event, so that means a dress for every event. Some events are more basic than others and some are more artistic, it depends on you and what you love.

Seems like money is spent left and right in the sport, but being serious about this sport means that every penny that you have,you can spend it on figure skating. Your bank account or your mother may not agree with the prices of these things,but they do last a while, with your preferences of course.  

People say ” money doesn’t buy you happiness.” Which is true, unless you spend money on figure skating things, then money can.

“What’s one of the most important part of figure skating.”

Many people have asked this question and there is many other important things about skating. But skating wouldn’t be skating without a routine.

Some of the basic routines are:

• long program
• short program
• artistic
• compulsory
• jumps and spins

youtube.com/watch  Jadah Torbenson,this link shows what a compulsory, artistic, and short program are like ( these are the ones that I compete in)

Long program is about 3-4 minuets long and has all the required jumps that you need. scoring for these are based off  0 points. To get points in this program, the jumps or spins need to be a good height, air position and more. If the judges think that it’s well executed then, there will be a point added to your score, but if not, then -1

youtube.com/watch

 

While with short program/ lower level, it’s based off what place the judges think the place you should get. This pictures shows the places of what each skater got.

Also with programs are music, most of the music skaters use is either:

• their favorite song
• made with different songs
• found on YouTube

When looking for a song also most coaches and skaters lean more towards orchestra and without words because the judges prefer that. On the other hand some skaters care to skate to something that is more rock and roll, not the judges style.

youtube.com/watch Kevin Reynolds AC/DC

While Artistic on the other hand is more of “acting on ice”  this is personally my favorite and in other peoples opinions, it is too.

Artistic is one of my favorites because I can do two things I love at once; Figure skate and act.

Some of the song inspirations come from Disney movies or musicals. Every skater who does Artistic dresses up as the “theme” of their song. For example flapper era, someone would dress in a flapper dress or something similar to this era.

Also with the Artistic, most of this is based on acting skills and some skating skills, but mostly acting. Along with acting, there is a portion of the judging system of how well your costume, music, and skating go together.

All these programs and categories are all very competitive and interesting to watch. These all have some sort of things in common, but some of these are at different levels, all of them are very interesting to watch.

In my last blog I talked about things figure skaters relate to, but how did I get into this sport?

Everyone has a different experiences, mine was in second grade

this image is the first time figure skating in second grade

Jadah Torbenson

I remember the first time skating one of people who worked there said to me “wow, you’re pretty good at skating”

I couldn’t tell if it was sarcasm or if it was serious, but I took it serious and that sentence motivated me to try out this sport. After a few days I forgot about the whole figure skating thing and only thought of it as a class trip that would happen once in my life.

This was not my only source of motivation, my friend also helped me. She was a figure skater at the time, which was a couple of years later. The one time she took me to open skate, she convinced me I should join the Figure Skating club.

I had asked my mom and she said it was a good idea, considering I was anti social and this would be a great way to get me out of my bubble.

When the next season started for skating, I joined. My mom and I didn’t really know what to expect, so we over prepared me. The first day I wore snow pants, a winter jacket, gloves, a hat, and skates.

We knew for next time we shouldn’t do that again because it got hot fast!

After a few years of doing that I finally decided to go the skating show they held every year.

After that year I decided not to do the show anymore because it was a lot of money and for three days I had lots of anxiety.

After a few more years I finally got to do my first competition and from then on I kept doing as many competitions as I possibly could in the year.

Now I am doing competitions and testing my moves in skating to move up levels and to be able to go to different competitions

I am very grateful that my school and my friend showed me this amazing and unique sport. I love this sport and everything it has.

Have you ever heard ” oh my gosh, figure skating, can you do that spiny thing in the air.”

I’m sure all figure skaters have heard this once in their life and it’s very awkward. In this blog I will be telling you about some awkward things about skating and my experiences.

Not every part of skating is perfect. If you ever seen any skating videos or competitions, many of us fall or make mistakes in our program. Mistakes that can happen in our program can be:

• wrong move
• wrong direction
• music skips
• getting our dress caught on our blades

Doing the wrong move or wrong direction isn’t necessarily the end of the world, usually we just try to play it off, but music and dresses malfunctioning it can be rough. Music skipping can be a panic moment because you can’t tell anyone that your music skipped when you’re out there by yourself skating. You mostly rely on your coach to save you from the moment.

Now, music skipping doesn’t cost us anything besides the awkwardness, dresses are very expensive. It can be a total nightmare when you have a dress malfunction when you’re about to go on for your program. You basically get in this panic mode and start to find solutions to fix your dress.

Along with these imperfections, there are many other mistakes or painful moments that happen

• Falls
• Skates

Falls can be very painful because your body weight and how much force you are putting into the jump all adds up and you’re basically hitting concrete. All this impact can lead to something like this or worse :

Jadah Torbenson

Along with dangerous jumps and tricks your skates can also get ruined. A good pair of skates can cost up to $700 just for the boots. When spending that much on a pair of skates and then ruining them, can be painful in your bank account and your heart.

 

Jadah Torbenson

Although there are somethings that are imperfections about figure skating, this does not make it a bad sport. Just like everything, there will be some flaws. Through the falls and the expense, every penny is worth the wonderful journey.