How to Do the Two Foot Glide In Ice Skating

For the beginning ice skater, the wall of the rink is often your best friend. Once you're prepared to say goodbye to this friend, one of the first things to learn is the two-foot glide. This is one of the most basic, but one of the most important, skills in figure skating. It allows you to move around the ice and eventually learn things such as spirals, spins and jumps.

Difficulty: Moderate

Instructions

1. Stand with your feet comfortably apart and your weight balanced across both of your feet. Bend your knees slightly and extend your arms out to the sides for balance.

2. Shift your weight onto your left foot. Make sure to stay balanced on the blade and don't favor the inside or outside edge of the skate. Place the right foot behind and slightly to the right of your left skate at about a 45-degree angle.

3. Push forward with the right foot skate. Use the inside edge of the back skate to push off.

4. Bring the right skate forward and place it comfortably beside the left. Keep your knees bent and arms out to balance your glide.

5. Place the left skate behind and to the left of the right skate, again at about a 45-degree angle, once you feel yourself losing momentum. Use the inside edge of the left skate to push forward.

6. Balance your glide again by bringing your left skate forward to rest beside your right foot.

7. Repeat these steps to continue the two foot glide. Once you are comfortable with the two foot glide, you can begin to keep the pushing foot off the ice to perfect the one foot glide.

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