Finally, a conditioning program for figure skaters that meets today's competitive requirements of the sport. Figure skating has evolved dramatically in the past few years, with a greater emphasis on triple and quadruple jumps, jump combinations, and dramatic lifts. And to stay competitive, skaters must spend hours developing their strength, power, flexibility, and endurance to perform these maneuvers. "Conditioning for Figure Skating" is a technical, user-friendly guide that teaches you how to improve your strength, increase your power, and condition your body off the ice to improve your on-ice performance. Appropriate for skaters at all levels and all disciplines - singles, pairs, and ice dance - this manual explains the physical preparation needed to excel at the sport. Whether you are a skater, coach, trainer, or parent, you can use this book to establish a training structure to maximize your or the skater's potential.You will find in-depth analysis of: the physical components of figure skating; proper warm-up and cool-down techniques; sport-specific strength training; injury prevention exercises; drills to enhance speed, strength, and power; flexibility training; balance and body awareness; and, muscle endurance conditioning "Periodization," a yearly conditioning plan that creates a peak in physical performance coinciding with the competitive figure skating season.

"So you think that you can skate" is a radical departure from the conventional methods of teaching someone how to skate or improve their skating ability. Few people realize that altering the lacing pattern of the conventional hockey skate boot can bring noticeable improvements to their skating performance. Even fewer realize changing the lacing pattern also allows the skater to use both joints of the foot, namely the toes and the ankle, which is the most powerful muscle in the body. These joints are similar to the two joints of the hand; the wrist and the fingers. These small joints can move faster than their larger cousins. The toes can impart speed and power to the stride. The fingers can impart speed and sometimes strange movement to a thrown object. Just think about what limitations you would experience if you threw the ball without using your fingers or tried to jump up in the air without using your toes. There is one drawback with changing the lacing pattern on the skates of "older" skater's. The usual comment is something to the effect that this is really weird, I cannot do this. The feeling is often so overwhelming, the older skaters simply cannot cope with the sensation they experience. The weird feeling is the sudden sensation that my skates are loose. In reality, the skates are not loose. It is the ankle telling the brain "I am now free to move." These skaters knowingly or not will give up the use of the strongest muscle in the body rather than change their lacing pattern. Young skaters, who do not have any idea of what a weird feeling is, make serious progress in improving their skating. In minutes beginner skaters can be taught balance and stability. Should they fall, these beginners can recover to the standing position unaided. Case in point; three blind teenagers were part of a learn-to-skate program. Each boy had 50 minutes of individual instruction. At the end of their lesson, each could do a T-start; stride around the arena; and do a snow plow stop. At no time during the lesson were they physically assisted. All of this was achieved because each had their stability and balance instantly under control. Changing the lacing pattern of the skates permitted the first movement a humanoid must make before they can walk or run; jump or land; sit or stand. Otherwise there is no controlled movement of the legs. That first movement is the ability to first lean forward. This positions the weight of the body directly over the balls of the feet to provide balance and stability.

Figure skating, unique in its sublimely beautiful combination of technical precision, musicality, and interpretive elements, has undergone many dramatic developments since the only other history of the sport was published in 1959. This exciting and information-packed new history describes skating's many technical and artistic advances, its important personages, its intrigues and scandals, and its historical high points. Abundant full-color and black-and-white photographs illustrate the text. James R. Mines divides his history into three periods separated by the World Wars. First, he follows functional and recreational ice skating through its evolution into national schools, culminating in the establishment of the International Skating Union and the ascendancy of an international style of skating. Second, he explains the changes that occurred as the sport expanded into the form we recognize and enjoy today. And finally, he shows how skating became increasingly athletic, imaginative, and intense following World War II, as the main focus turned to the skaters themselves.

Everything many of us know about figure skating, we learned from the man who's been called the "Voice of Figure Skating." Now Dick Button, the Emmy Award-winning skating commentator famous for his precise, passionate, opinionated rinkside analyses and for his historic career as a two-time Olympic gold medalist, five-time World Champion, and seven-time U.S. Champion (plus being the inadvertent inventor of the flying camel, the first to successfully land a double Axel in competition, and the first ever to do a triple jump) demystifies this art and sport beloved by millions.

In "Push Dick's Button," you'll learn about the difference between a Lutz and a Salchow . . . performance highs and lows . . . memorable entrances, exits, and falls (including his own) . . . costume delights and disasters . . . the new judging rules . . . and nuggets of skating training and history, PLUS stories about Katarina Witt, Peggy Fleming, Johnny Weir, Brian Boitano, Dorothy Hamill, and more, including today's champions, such as Evgeni Plushenko, Davis and White, and the latest sensations. Droll, dishy, dramatic, and dead-on, this book is like a one-on-one conversation with the man whose unsurpassed knowledge, experience, and love of figure skating have influenced generations.