How to Ice Skate: A Beginner's Guide to Your First Time on the Rink

There is a particular magic to gliding across the ice, that smooth, near-silent slide you cannot get from any other kind of skating. It is also the winter activity many people keep meaning to try but never quite do, put off by how terrifing those first wobbily steps might look. The good news is that ice skating is far more forgiving than it appears, and almost everyone who sticks with one honest session comes off the ice moving under their own steam.

This guide covers the basics from the ground up: what to wear, how to stand, how to move, and, most importantly, how to stop. Whether you are heading to a seasonal outdoor rink for the first time or buying a pair of your own ice skates, the fundamentals are the same.

What to wear ice skating

Comfort and warmth matter more than looking the part. Rinks, indoor ones included, are cold, and you will spend some of your first visit sitting on the ice, so dress for it. The sweet spot is layers you can move in: thin, warm and flexible beats thick and bulky, so you can bend your knees freely.

A few practical pointers. Wear long trousers such as leggings or joggers rather than shorts, both for warmth and for the odd graze. Always bring gloves, which keep your hands warm and protect your fingers. Choose one pair of thin socks rather than thick woolly ones, since bunched-up fabric inside a stiff boot causes more sore feet than it prevents. A hat helps if you feel the cold, and avoid anything that restricts your arms, a coat or a dangling scarf, because you will use them for balance more than you expect. For younger or nervous skaters, and plenty of adults too, a well-fitting helmet is a sensible addition; the same helmets that protect skateboarders and scooter riders work perfectly well on the ice.

Getting the boot to fit

Whether you hire skate or bring your own, fit is the difference between a fun hour and sore ankles. The boot should be snug, holding your heel firmly with no lift, but not so tight that your toes are crushed. Lace it fairly loose over the toes, then firm and supportive around the ankle. A boot that flops at the ankle gives your foot no support, which is the most common reason beginners feel unstable. Hire boots are worn soft by thousands of feet and rarely fit well, so if you go regularly it is worth browsing the range of ice skates, since a boot moulded to your own foot transforms how secure you feel.

Your first few metres on the ice

If you have ever skated on wheels, on inline skates or a board, your balance already gives you a head start here. Before you glide anywhere, get used to simply standing. Step onto the ice near the barrier, keep your knees soft and slightly bent, and stand with your feet roughly hip-width apart and your weight over the middle of the blades. Standing bolt upright with locked knees is what sends most beginners straight down; a low, athletic stance with knees bent is stable and lets you react.

To move, do not stride like you are walking. Point your toes very slightly outward into a shallow V and push against the ice with the inside edge of one skate while you glide on the other. Little marching steps at first, then longer glides as your confidence grows. Keep your head up and look ahead, arms out a little for balance; it feels counterintuitive, but looking up rather than down genuinely helps you stay level.

How to fall (and get up) safely

You will fall, and knowing how makes it a non-event. If you feel yourself going, bend your knees and sit down towards your side and bottom rather than throwing your hands out flat behind you, which risks your wrists. To get back up, roll onto your hands and knees, bring one foot up flat on the ice, then the other, and push up steadily. There is no rush.

How to stop on ice skates

Stopping is the skill that turns nervous shuffling into actual skating, because once you trust that you can stop, you relax. The easiest method for beginners is the snowplough, borrowed from skiing. While gliding forward with feet parallel, push both heels gently outward so your toes angle inwards, and press the inside edges of both blades into the ice. The scraping you feel is the ice slowing you down. Keep your knees bent and your weight centred, and you will glide to a controlled halt.

Practise it slowly at first. The classic hockey stop, where you turn both skates sharply sideways in a spray of ice, is flashier but takes time to learn, so leave it until the snowplough is second nature. And resist the urge to grab the barrier to stop, as it teaches you nothing and tends to hurt your hands.

Moving forward and starting to turn

Once you can push, glide and stop, real skating is just linking those together. Aim for a rhythm: push with one skate, glide on the other, bring your feet back together, push with the other. Longer glides on each foot mean fewer, smoother strokes and a lot less effort.

Turning comes from where you look and lean, not from forcing your feet. To curve left, look left, turn your shoulders and hips gently that way, and let a little more weight settle onto the correct edges. Small, gradual turns first, building to fuller arcs as you get a feel for the edges.

How to ice skate backwards

Backwards skating looks advanced, but the entry-level version is approachable once forwards feels steady. Standing still with knees bent, push your feet outward and back in a gentle wiggle, drawing shallow S shapes on the ice. Keep your weight slightly forward over the balls of your feet, not leaning back, and glance over your shoulder to see where you are going. It is slow and scratchy at first, which is normal, so give it a few sessions before it feels smooth.

Is ice skating good exercise?

Alongside a helmet, wrist protection is worth considering, since wrists take the brunt of most beginner falls. And it is worth knowing that all this effort pays off: ice skating is a good workout hiding inside a fun day out. It is low impact, easy on the knees compared with running, and it quietly works your legs, glutes and core while your balance gets a proper session. You will likely feel muscles the next day that you forgot you had.

From rink hire to your own skates

If a first session hooks you, and it often does, the natural next step is your own gear. A boot fitted to your foot rather than a battered hire pair is a revelation, and it saves the queue and the fee every visit. When you are ready, the range of hard-wearing ice skates of your own covers beginners through to more confident skaters.

The balance and edge control you build on the ice also carry across to skating on wheels, so plenty of people keep their legs sharp between rink trips on quad roller skates or cross over to skateboards once the bug bites. However you get your glide, the hardest part is simply stepping onto the ice for the first time, and now you know exactly what to do when you do.