Feeling scared on the ice is normal for adult skaters, and fear of falling is the one almost all of us know. What helps is learning to fall safely, breaking scary skills into small steps, practicing on quieter ice and working with a coach who can tell you when you're ready. Confidence grows from lots of small wins, so notice them, and compare yourself only with the skater you were a few months ago.
Key takeaways
- Fear on the ice is normal, and adults often feel it more because we know what an injury would mean for work and family.
- Practicing falls takes a lot of the surprise out of them, and padding under your leggings while you learn is completely normal.
- Break scary skills into small steps, practice them somewhere calm, and let your coach help you decide when you're ready for the next one.
- Before a scary element, a few slow breaths and one simple thing to think about can help you settle.
- Nerves before a test or competition are normal too. Practice performing, plan your warm-up, and measure yourself against your own last skate.
If skating scares you sometimes, you're in very good company. Fear of falling, of going backward, of your first jump or spin, or of looking silly in front of a rink full of teenagers: almost every adult skater has felt some of these. Feeling scared doesn't mean you're not cut out for skating. It means you're learning something new that feels a bit risky, which is what skating is.
Nothing on this page makes fear vanish overnight. It's about making scary skills smaller and letting confidence build at whatever pace suits you. Most of it you can start on your very next session.
Why adults feel scared on the ice
Lots of adults find they're more cautious than the kids in their class, and there are good reasons for it. We know what a broken wrist would mean for work, family and everything else, and we're a lot further from the ice than a seven-year-old. A bit of caution is healthy, because it stops you trying things before you're ready. The goal isn't to get rid of fear, just to stop it making every decision for you.
Past falls play a part too. One hard fall can stay with you for weeks, and it's common to feel nervous about the exact skill you fell on. Different fears need different fixes, so the table covers the common ones, and the rest of this page goes into each idea.
| The fear | Where it often comes from | What helps |
|---|---|---|
| Falling | A fall that hurt, or picturing what a fall could cost | Practice falling on purpose, wear padding while you learn, and keep your knees bent. |
| Skating backward | Not being able to see where you're going | Look over your shoulder, start near the boards on quiet ice, and learn a backward stop early. |
| Jumps | Leaving the ice feels like losing control | Start with a bunny hop, a small hop with no turn, and build up to the waltz jump with your coach. |
| Spins | Turning fast and feeling dizzy | Start with a two-foot spin, take breaks between spins, and stop for the day if you feel sick. |
| Looking silly | Learning in front of other people | Most skaters are busy with their own practice. Quieter sessions and adult ice help. |
| Getting hurt | Knowing an injury would affect work and family | Warm up, build up slowly, and ask your coach if you're ready for the next step. |
| Not being good enough | Comparing yourself with other skaters | Compare yourself only with where you were a few months ago. |
Start with falling
For a lot of adults, fear of skating is really fear of falling, so that's the place to start. Once you know how to fall, a fall becomes something you can handle rather than something that just happens to you. Bend your knees, go down sideways onto your hip, tuck your chin and keep your hands in. Our guide to falling safely and getting back up walks through it.
Then practice it on purpose. Start at home on a carpet or mat, then on the ice from a standstill near the boards, with your coach or a friend close by. Falling on purpose a few times takes away a lot of the surprise, and getting up smoothly afterward is a confidence boost of its own.
Padding helps too. Padded shorts or knee pads under your leggings soften the landings while you learn, and nobody at the rink will notice or mind. We carry CRS Cross padded figure skating shorts, which cushion your hips and tailbone. Padding softens a fall rather than preventing every bruise, but it can take the edge off the worry.
Break scary skills into small steps
Big, scary skills get smaller when you break them into pieces. Take skating backward: you might start with backward wiggles beside the boards, then wiggle a little way out and back, then try backward swizzles, and only later backward stroking. Each step should feel a little uncomfortable but doable. When it starts to feel easy, you're ready for the next one.
The same idea works for almost anything. Jumps can start as a bunny hop, a small forward hop with no turn, and then a waltz jump from a slow glide. Spins can start as a two-foot spin with just a couple of turns. Our guides to skating backward, the waltz jump and first spins break each one into steps.
Repetition is what makes a skill feel safe. Doing something you can already do, many times and on lots of different days, shows you it's under control, and that's usually when the fear starts to ease. There's no prize for rushing, and going back a step on a wobbly day is completely fine.
Quieter ice, a good coach and other skaters
Where and when you practice makes a difference. A busy public session full of fast teenagers and wobbly beginners is a hard place to try something that scares you. A quieter weekday session, or adult ice or low-level freestyle if your rink has them, gives you room to concentrate. Our guide to ice time explains the different sessions and which ones suit adults.
A good coach does a lot for your confidence. They can break a skill down, stay beside you for the first tries and tell you honestly when you're ready, which takes the guessing out of it. Tell your coach what scares you, because a good one will adjust the plan. Our page on choosing a coach covers what to look for.
Skating friends help too, because every adult at your rink has a fall story and a skill that scared them. If fear stops you skating at all, brings on panic, or is tied to a bad injury or a frightening fall, talking to a sports psychologist or a counselor can help. Plenty of athletes do, and there's no shame in it.
Right before a scary element
Fear tends to arrive right before the scary part: the jump entry, the moment you lift a foot, the turn to go backward. A few slow breaths before you start can help you settle, with an easy, unhurried breath out. Let your shoulders drop as you breathe, because they tend to creep up toward your ears when you're nervous.
Give yourself one simple thing to think about, like "bend" or "look up", rather than a list of corrections. A short, kind phrase can help too, such as "I know how to fall" or "I'm learning this". Talk to yourself the way you'd talk to a friend at the boards.
Some skaters like to picture the skill going well before they try it, from the entry to the landing, in as much detail as they can. Lots of athletes use this kind of mental rehearsal, and it can make the real thing feel more familiar. It doesn't replace practice, but it's a nice thing to do at the boards or on the way to the rink.
Then go, or decide not to. Standing at the start of a jump for ages usually makes it feel bigger. If today isn't the day, skate something you know well instead and come back to it next time.
Celebrate small wins
Confidence is built from small wins, and adults are very good at skipping past them. Your first lap without touching the boards, a backward glide that didn't wobble, a fall you got up from smoothly: all of these count. Notice them, tell someone, and give yourself the credit.
Compare yourself only with your past self. The skater next to you may have started at six or skated for years, and their progress tells you nothing about yours. A quick video every so often, or a note of what you worked on in a notes app or a paper log, shows you how far you've come on the days it doesn't feel like it. Check your rink's rules before you film.
If you like having goals to tick off, the free 12-month goals tracker in the signup below this guide is made for that. Keep goals small and within your control, like working on backward crossovers every session this month, rather than landing something by a set date. Our goal-setting guide has more ideas.
Test and competition nerves
Nerves before a test or a competition are normal, and they don't mean you're not ready. Plenty of skaters who look calm on the ice are shaking at the boards. The aim isn't to feel no nerves at all, it's to skate well with them.
Practice being a little nervous before the day. Skate your program or test elements in front of friends or your coach at the end of a session, or at a mock test if your club runs one, so skating with people watching feels familiar. Plan your warm-up and what you'll do in the minutes before you skate, then practice that routine too.
On the day, keep it simple. Arrive early, warm up the way you practiced, breathe, and think about one or two things your coach has given you rather than the result. Finishing your first test or competition is a big deal however it goes, so celebrate it. Our guides to adult skating tests and your first adult competition cover the practical side.
This is general advice from adult skaters, not medical or psychological advice. If fear or anxiety is affecting your life off the ice too, talk to your doctor or a mental health professional.
