The one position everything comes from: the deep stance with bent knees. How to find it, hold it — and finally stop tipping backwards on the ice.
The honest answer first: if one single thing saves your life on skates, it's the right basic stance — knees clearly bent, weight slightly forward over the balls of the feet, torso upright, gaze forward. This isn't a beginner drill you eventually leave behind. It's the position every push-off, every turn and every stop starts from — for you as for any pro. The reason is simple: bent knees lower your center of gravity, and a low center is stable. That's exactly what learn-to-skate programs build their first competency on, balance. And they solve the most common beginner problem along with it: tipping backwards. Lean back and your weight goes behind the middle of the blade, you lose control and fall — usually badly, because head and tailbone hit first. The basic stance flips it: weight forward, head up, knees soft. This guide shows you step by step how to find this position, hold it in balance and not lose it even when things get wobbly. Because someone who stands securely learns everything else in a fraction of the time.
Stand next to the ice first: feet shoulder-width, bend the knees until you can just see your toes over the boots, hips slightly back like the start of a squat, torso upright, eyes straight ahead. This lowered position with weight over the balls of the feet is the core idea of every basic stance. Practice it deliberately off the ice until it feels familiar — on firm ground you have no fear, and your body stores the pattern you then take onto the ice. Ten calm repetitions on land save you ten wobbly ones on the ice.
Because your weight slides behind the middle of the blade. On the ice, "standing straight" often already feels like "leaning forward" — your instinct lies at the start. Cue: push the knees over the toes and imagine looking over a wall in front of you. Weight behind the blade is the main cause of backward falls. A second trick helps: keep the arms loosely slightly in front of the body, not behind you. Where your hands are, your center of gravity often follows — held forward, they pull your weight into the right zone.
Step onto the ice with bent knees and hold the position for ten seconds, then longer. A useful external cue: "push the ground away with the balls of your feet" — focusing on the movement effect accelerates learning more than watching your own body. When you wobble, don't go higher, go lower: a lowered center catches you, an upright one tips you. Exactly this reflex — when in doubt, bend the knees — later separates the secure skater from the nervous one.
Stay in the deep stance and slowly shift your weight onto one blade, briefly lift the other, switch. This teaches you to balance on a single blade — the prerequisite for every gliding stride. At the start it's enough to lift the foot just a centimeter; it's not about height but about consciously bringing your balance over a single blade. Slowly build the hold time on one leg, and you've already laid the foundation for one-foot gliding.
A backward fall from an upright posture is especially risky because head and tailbone hit first and you can barely catch the fall with your arms on the ice. That's exactly why the deep stance is your most important protection: it lowers the center of gravity and shortens the fall distance. Wear a helmet and gloves while practicing, and hold the barrier at first.
When you feel yourself wobble, go lower — not higher. Instinct says "stand up and stabilize", but the opposite is true: a lower center catches you, a higher one tips you. In doubt, pros bend their knees, beginners lock them. Remember the one sentence that prevents almost every fall: when in doubt, go lower.
Because your weight slides behind the middle of the blade — the single most common cause of falling. On the ice, upright already feels like leaning forward. Deliberately push the knees over the toes and keep your gaze level and forward, and the weight moves where it belongs: over the balls of the feet.
Deep enough that you can just see your toes over the skates — a good guideline for the basic stance. It should feel slightly tiring at first; that's exactly the lowered, stable center of gravity. As leg strength grows, the position becomes effortless.
Yes. The stance isn't a beginner chapter but the starting position for every push-off, turn and stop. Advanced skaters don't skate more upright, they skate from a more stable, deeper base — it just looks looser because the strength is there.
Eislaufen: First Steps and Exercises