You’ve seen the pros on TV. You’ve dreamed of gliding, spinning and jumping across the ice. The first thing you should do is visit your local ice skating rink. Rent some skates, step out onto the ice and see what you think.

If you enjoy the experience and still want to pursue your dream of figure skating, you’ll need to learn some basics like falling, getting up, stopping, moving, swizzling, and turning with crossovers. Without these, you won’t get too far in figure skating.

Start with the easiest one – falling. Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Anyone can do it and just about everyone does – even the pros. The trick is in knowing how to fall so you don’t get hurt and, of course, knowing how to get up.

If you start to lose your balance and feel a fall coming on, the first thing you should do is squat. The closer you are to the ground when you fall, the less likely you are to seriously hurt yourself. Also, be sure to fall to the side and forward so you don’t hit your head on the ice. Put your hands in your lap until you’re ready to get up so they don’t get run over by another skater.

As you get up, look around to make sure you’re not in the line of traffic and get on all fours. One at a time, place both feet between your hands. Use your toe picks (the serrated metal at the front of your skate blade) to keep from moving while you do this. Put your hands on your knees and push up to standing.

Stopping by falling is always an option, but you’d be better off (and your butt will be too!) if you learn to stop some other way. The snowplow stop is great for beginners. Using the edge of your blade, push your foot out at an angle until it scrapes the ice. Your skate will plow up some snow from the ice, thus the name. You can push out with both feet to stop, but many find one foot to be easier.

So now that you know how to stop, how do you move? Start by marching then progress to shuffling. Take your time and keep your feet on the ice allowing them to glide a bit every now and then too. As you get more comfortable with gliding, begin to push off with one foot and glide on the other. Alternate feet when you’re ready.

Once you’re moving forward, you can learn how to swizzle. Put your feet together with the heels touching and the toes angled out – your feet should look like a V. Bending your knees; slowly move both feet forward and outward. Then, again using your knees, pull your feet back in until they meet once more at the toes. Be sure to keep your blades on the inside edges throughout this maneuver.

Now that you’re a regular in the ice skating rink, you’ll definitely need to know how to turn. The rink is a circle after all. You can’t go in a straight line forever and the wall might hurt. It’s time to learn the crossover. To perform it, you’ll need to pick up your outside foot (the one closest to that wall) and cross it over in front of the inside foot. If it seems difficult at first, you might be better off practicing by sliding the outside foot on the ice instead of picking it up.

What’s next? Head for the ice! Move forward, swizzle away, and take the corners. When you’re done, put on the brakes with your toe pick or, worst case scenario, with a graceful fall and a careful recovery. These are the basics. These techniques will you get you started and well on your way with figure skating.