Initiation

There is a saying that one is not a “real” figure skating until one experiences the following:
- Stepping on the ice with hard guards on
- Face planting during a spiral (and therefore knocking all the wind out of yourself)
- Experiencing the “click of death” during crossovers and taking a hard fall
In my years of skating, I’ve done two of the three. I’ve fallen on a spiral during my younger years and knocked all the wind out of me. I experience the “click of death” several times a year so it’s a fairly regular occurrence. But never in my skating career have I ever gotten on the ice with hard guards on. The main reason is because I rarely wear hard guards while at my home rink.
One afternoon, I put hard guards on because I needed to run to the restroom. When I went to get on the ice, I had forgotten that I had the guards on. I took my phone and notebook with me onto the ice. As I stepped on, I realized something was wrong. My blade didn’t move, and I did a slow, dramatic fall to the ice. I landed on my right knee and elbow pretty hard.
My fall was pretty epic because all the coaches asked me if I was OK. I was fine, minus the pain, but it was really embarrassing. I couldn’t bend my knee the rest of the day but it slowly got better as the days went by.
Now that I’ve completed the trifecta of skating errors, I can now fully call myself a real figure skater.
Ouch, Eva! I’m glad your knee is better after that “epic” fall. And I’m glad it wasn’t worse. A few years ago, one of the coaches here went out with guards, fell, and broke her hip. I stopped wearing guards after that, except on those bathroom breaks (but then I keep repeating “take ’em off” to myself the whole time). Feel better soon and congrats on the “trifecta” completion. Never again!
Author
That broken hip sounds so painful! Hopefully this is a mistake I will never make again!