Is speed important in figure skating and ice hockey?

Figure skating, Ice hockey....?

• So well I'm 13 turning 14 next month (I'm a girl) and I really want to get into figure skating, I'm pretty good at ice skating, but I was wondering if figure skating is ...show more

• Answer:

  You don't need a whole lot of flexibility to figure skate. That's a misconception that probably got started with trend of skate grabbing and Sasha Cohen. Normal range of motion that the average person has is pretty much sufficient for all the basic moves and positions except for maybe layback spins and spread eagles. You should still stretch regularly; you just don't have to become a contortionist. As for falling, if you want to learn you're going to have to fall. I've noticed that people who fall a lot tend to progress faster than people who rarely fall. Also you're more likely to get hurt if you're overly cautious and trying too hard to save yourself from falling rather than just relaxing when going down. I skate on bad ice about half the time. One rink has pits. The other has bumps. Sometimes they're covered by an inch of water. When the compressor goes, sometimes the ice is so thin that pipes are almost exposed. Other times the surface resembles a snowy road that's been plowed over with ruts everywhere. You just have to deal. As for hockey, that just depends on what you like better.