How do you glide on one foot? From a two-foot glide lift one foot, keep hips and shoulders calm and stay on a single blade for at least three counts.
The honest answer first: in the one-foot glide you stand on one blade after a run-up, the other foot close to the skating leg, and you hold the balance for at least three counts or as far as your own body height [1]. That is all there is to it – but it is the key to almost everything that follows.
In the Learn to Skate USA adult curriculum, the forward one-foot glide appears on level 2 of 6 and the backward one-foot glide on level 4 [2]. The order shows how the curriculum thinks: first safely forward, later backward, each time right and left.
Why is the effort worth it? Because edges, stops, turns, spins and jumps all end up on one leg. If you do not have your balance on one blade, you cannot "feel" technique.
Gain some momentum with a few steps and go into the two-foot glide [1]. Without speed the blade does not carry you. Milestone: you glide calmly on both feet without your arms wobbling.
Move your weight onto one foot, your "skating foot". Knees and ankles stay bent, shoulders square, arms parallel to the ice [1]. The weight belongs centred over the blade, not forward onto the toe picks.
Lift the other foot, the free foot, only a few centimetres and hold it close to the heel of the skating leg [1]. The hip on the side of the free foot rises slightly with it [1]. Milestone: you hold three counts and do not fall to the side.
The curriculum names three counts or your own body height as the glide distance [1]. Check it calmly: picture yourself lying next to the track and see whether you travelled further than you are long.
Repeat everything on the other leg. Only when both sides carry you do you practise backward: on level 4 the curriculum asks for backward one-foot glides on the right and the left [2]. Milestone: you glide forward on each leg for three counts safely before you start backward.
Plan a short, fixed session for the one-foot glide (rule of thumb, not a study): five minutes of two-foot glides to warm up, then ten attempts per leg. Count aloud to three and end every attempt in a controlled way by putting the free foot back down, not by tipping away. If one side is clearly weaker, give it two extra attempts per round, but only while you are fresh. A phone video from the front helps: if you see the shoulders square, the free foot close to the skating leg and the hip slightly raised, the technique works. If the free foot sticks far out, you are practising the stretching away out of your system.
Your progress shows in duration and calm (rule of thumb, not a study): do you hold four counts instead of three? Does the hip stay quiet? Do you manage the same length left and right? When the weaker side is only one count behind the stronger one, you move on. If not, it is worth another week of one-foot glides before you add stops and edges.
This guide explains and motivates; it does not replace supervised training. If you lose balance in the one-foot glide, you usually fall quickly to the side. In a video analysis of 216 ice-skating falls in children, 93% of the children tried to break the fall with arms or hands, and in 13% the head hit the ice [3]. So wear a helmet, keep the arms at the body in a fall and fall sideways, not backwards. Do not practise in the main lane. Only when both legs carry you do you change direction.
Practise the one-foot glide with a spinning-top image: imagine your skating leg is a top balancing around its own axis. The image of a centred top helps keep the hip above the blade without thinking about joint angles. This is practical experience, not a study.
Gain speed, go into a two-foot glide and then lift one foot close to the skating leg [1]. Keep the shoulders square and the arms parallel to the ice and stay on one blade for at least three counts [1]. Speed matters more than strength.
The leaflet names at least three counts or the distance of your body height [1]. In the adult curriculum the skill sits on level 2 of 6 [2].
Usually there is too little speed or the weight is not centred over the blade. Raise the hip on the side of the free foot slightly, keep the shoulders square and the free foot close to the skating leg [1].
Only after the forward one-foot glide and backward skating. The curriculum asks for backward one-foot glides on level 4 of 6 [2].
The T-Stop: Braking on the Outside Edge