Where to find skating advice

I get lots of email from kids who want help fixing or getting axels and from moms with club problems.

I answer all of them, and some get turned into posts--always looking for good content!--but some of them I can't deal with, often because of ethical concerns with coaching someone else's student (especially at a distance).

There are places you can find skating advice, so in keeping with my new meme of sending y'all elsewhere (why do I keep doing this), here are a couple of the best forums for great skating discussions. As always, if you know of others, please let us know in the comments.

Reddit
Okay, I confess, the skating "subreddit" r/figureskating is not very active, but the rest of the site is so fabulous that I think it could be a wonderful place for discussion.  I've been chiming in under a different username, but I just created a Xanboni account, so look for me there! Right now people are posting a lot of current competition videos, but I think we could get discussions going there like we do here, and for a larger audience. One of the real strengths of reddit is that it is the most completely anonymous forum you'll find-- you do not even need an email to join, just a user name and password. If you've got a really sensitive topic and don't want to be traced, this is the place for you.

Skating Forums
I can't remember what this used to be called years ago, but it's a really great forum, with lots of topics from lots of types-- fangirls/boys, moms, skaters, coaches. I think it was the first forum I found online. They hold a place in my heart because they were instrumental in putting this blog on the map.

Golden Skate
Similar to Skating Forums, also a great place for discussions and rumor, which pretty much runs figure skating fandom.

Yahoo Groups
There are lots of these-- SkateFans, coaches, etc. Use Yahoo Group search to find a group that appeals to.

Linked In
Again, tons of groups. There's a group called Figure skating parents, one for Figure skating coaches, USFS parents, several groups for individual clubs and synchro teams, adult figure skaters, basic skills instructors etc. Even better, you can start your own group quite easily, for instance for your club or rink. Completely the opposite of reddit, Linked In is wide open-- not the place for sensitive topics because it is emphatically not anonymous.

Everyone who reads this, feel free to join these groups and send them to your favorite blog post here on Xanboni! /ShamelessSelfPromotion

There are other skating blogs?

Help me out. A couple of my favorite skating blogs, like Ice Mom, Axels Loops and Spins, and Mr. Zamboni man, have stopped writing!

Here's what I'm still reading, find me some more and I'll add them to my resources page!

A former show skater with an attitude: Ice Charades 

Hockey Mom with toe picks: Ice Pact 

A champions' mom (if your kid competes, read this): Life on the Edge 

A former champion's mom:  Raising Skaters

An adult skater with a sense of humor: The Ice Doesn't Care 

The Executive Director of the Professional Skaters Association: Over the Edge 

There are skate dads?: l.a. skate dad 

Currently in archive, but really worth the read: Ice Mom  
Indepth videos on skating issues and skills: ManleyWoman Skatecast
Skating mom with a wicked outlook: Josette Plank

I'd really love to learn about a skating blog like Mr. Zamboni Man and Axels Loops and Spins that goes beyond fangirl/fanboy gushing and party-line regurgitation.

What do you read, and why? Include the link!

Check out the new pages!

You may have noticed, first, that there's a menu line under the logo now, and second, that some things seem to have disappeared from the sidebar.

This is because in this new and improved Blogger interface, I can now add multiple pages to the blog.

So that's what I've done. You'll now see the following:

"Skate with Xan"  where you can find my schedule, classes, and rates.
"Resources" links to great blogs, skating information sites and other cool stuff
"Products" my Cafe Press link, plus other vendors that I promote (for love, not for money. This is an unmonetized blog, for my sins)

Let me know if there's a product or site that YOU like and I'll add them to the page!