Open Skates Skate Card

Skate Pass: free during preview, nothing is charged. When checkout opens: $1.95 a month or $19.50 a year. Pricing

Session planner

Plan a session

Choose how long you have, your skates and up to 4 skills. The plan updates when you press Make the plan.

Skills (up to 4)

Level 1: Find your feet

Level 2: Moving with control

Level 3: Edges and stops

Level 4: Flow and backwards

Skate Pass $1.95 a month or $19.50 a year · Free during preview · what it buys

Open Skates practice card

30 minutes · Ice skates

No skills picked, so these are suggested from level 1. Pick your own above.

  1. 0-5 min Warm-up 5 min

    Hold the wall or boards with one hand. March on the spot, then take small marching steps along the wall; bend and straighten your knees a few times.

  2. 5-12 min Fall and get up 7 min

    Next to the boards or wall, practise sitting down to the side and getting up five times, slowly.

    Cue: Bend your knees and sit down to one side rather than falling straight back.

    Ready when: You can go down on purpose and be standing again in a few seconds without grabbing anything.

  3. 12-19 min Ready position 7 min

    Stand in the ready position for 20 seconds, stand up for 10, and repeat while holding the wall only with one hand, then none.

    Cue: Feet under your hips, knees bent so they are over your toes.

    Ready when: You can hold the bent-knee position for 20 seconds without touching the wall.

  4. 19-25 min March, then glide 6 min

    March six steps, glide on two feet, repeat along one side of the rink or hall.

    Cue: Take small marching steps with your feet slightly turned out.

    Ready when: You can glide on two feet for a count of three after marching, without wobbling to a stop.

  5. 25-28 min Review: Fall and get up 3 min

    Try it once more, slowly, and decide honestly: shaky, getting it or solid. Log it on your Skate Card.

  6. 28-30 min Cool-down 2 min

    A few slow marching steps along the wall, then off the ice or floor: stretch your calves and thighs.

Total 30 minutes. General practice cues, not coaching. Helmet on; follow the rink's rules. openskates.com

Printable card Log this session on my Skate Card

General practice cues written for Open Skates. Not coaching, not a safety guarantee. Wear a helmet; on wheels add wrist guards and knee and elbow pads; follow the rink's rules and the type of session you are in. These cues are our own plain summary, not taken from any coaching programme: if you keep falling, feel pain, or a skill feels beyond you, stop and ask a qualified coach at your rink.