There are lots of ways to become successful in a sport of your choosing. You can choose to enroll in training centers and look for ways to better your craft. You can also choose to have a personal trainer well-versed in whatever sport you want to do. You can also do the training yourself, but the results can come out not as you expect it.
If you’re thinking of getting into figure skating, there are ways to prepare yourself. One of these is through different activities that strengthen parts of your body needed for figure skating.
Hopscotch
Good for: muscle strength
Hopscotch is a game where you jump from box to box. You draw the boxes using chalk and you use a marker to keep track of where you last stopped. The goal of using hopscotch as a cross-sport is to allow your leg muscles to develop for leaping.
Jump Rope
Good for: muscle strength
Another good exercise for the muscles you use for jumping is jump rope. It’s easy to create; you just tie two ends of a string to a handle and get people to swing the rope as you jump. You take turns when someone gets it wrong. It’s also good for developing rhythm, which you use during certain routines.
Skip to my Lou
Good for: rhythm, speed
Skip to my Lou is a classic children’s game where you skip on one foot and then do a quick-step with the other. It’s a good game to play if you want to learn how to strengthen your muscles for skipping a bit, and a great game if you’re practicing your timing and rhythm too.
Tag
Good for: speed, balance
There’s no better game for developing the speed to drift forward than tag. Tag is an easy game to play. You choose an ‘it’ who tries to capture you. When you become ‘it,’ you also need to chase after others who are playing the game. It’s a good game designed to help you gain balance and speed.
Tightrope
Good for: balance, muscle strength
This game stimulates your imagination as you balance yourself on a line. You imagine that you’re actually balancing yourself on a tightrope, where everything starts over again once you step out of line. It’s a good practice to keep up balance and develop your muscles some more.
Twist and Shout
Good for: dance, balance, motion
When you’re dancing, as a figure skater, you need to do a lot of things at once. Nothing emulates that effect than dancing to music that makes you ‘twist and shout’. The benefits of this activity become visible when you learn to step to the rhythm while also keeping your balance shifted from one foot to the other.
The great thing about these activities, though, is that you can have someone else help you. In that effect, you also develop team work and camaraderie among peers.