Hippodrome Skating Book: Practical Illustrated Lessons in the Art of Figure Skating

Americans ought to be the greatest skaters in the world. They are athletic people, lovers of outdoor sports and their country is situated in the largest tract of the North Temperate zone occupied by any one nation in the world. In this zone is found sufficient cold weather to produce a great deal of natural ice and at the same time such agreeable weather as to render the use of that ice, for sport, attractive and exhilarating. In this respect the United States is more fortunately situated than any of the countries of northern Europe.

This little book is intended as a stimulus and encouragement toward ice skating among Americans. It is intended as much for women as for men. There are no physical reasons why women should not skate quite as well as men. Skating is a matter of balance and grace, not strength. Young girls often become very expert skaters, doing all the difficult feats that grown men accomplish. Up to within a few years ago, the figure skating championships of Europe were open to both men and women on equal terms. Perhaps the fact that women excelled in grace was partially responsible for the separation of the sexes in these championships.

Much attention is paid in the book to the fundamental strokes, called school figures. These are the foundation of all figure skating. After they have been fully mastered the skater will probably discover a tendency to adopt an individual style and make up special figures suited to individual physical or temperamental characteristics. One skater, for instance, will especially enjoy spins and whirls; another will incline toward big, showy spirals; another will develop individual skill in two-foot movements such as grapevines, etc. Skating, like every other fine sport, becomes an expression of individuality. The foundation rules must first be learned, after which personal choice will direct the skater toward special figures most to his or her liking.

Skating is a sport for everybody—girls and boys, young people and old people. It can be started in extreme childhood and enjoyed far into old age. It can be a fast, strenuous exercise or a gentle enjoyment of poetic motion. It stimulates health, prompts to wholesome life out of doors, is a social diversion and, in its best development, requires considerable mental application. In every respect it is an ideal sport for people of any nation, especially those situated where natural ice is found or artificial ice is provided.