Grades by country · USA

Learn to Skate USA: Basic 1 to 6

Not checked yet. The level lists on this page are a first draft by a non-expert, and no coach has seen them yet. Read them as a starting point and check them with a coach. Corrections are very welcome.

Learn to Skate USA’s Basic Skills are six levels, Basic 1 to Basic 6, with Snowplow Sam below them for the youngest skaters. They take a beginner from the first two-foot glide to crossovers both ways, the first three turns, a spiral and a one-foot spin.

The lists below are the elements event from Learn to Skate USA’s competition manual, dated August 2026: what a skater performs at each level, in order. It is the one level-by-level list on Learn to Skate USA’s own site. The full Basic Skills curriculum is no longer published there, so a class may cover more than appears here. Counts and directions are the manual’s.

Basic 1

• Forward two-foot glide and dip Two-foot glide, Dip
• Forward swizzles, six to eight in a row Swizzle
• Beginning snowplow stop on one or two feet Snowplough stop
• Backward wiggles, six to eight in a row Backward wiggles

Basic 2

• Forward one-foot glide, either foot One-foot glide
• Scooter pushes, two or three on each foot Scooter pushes
• Moving snowplow stop Snowplough stop
• Two-foot turn in place, forward to backward Two-foot turn
• Backward swizzles, six to eight in a row Backward swizzle

Basic 3

• Beginning forward stroking showing correct use of blade Forward stroking
• Forward half-swizzle pumps on a circle, four to six Half-swizzle pumps
• Forward slalom Slalom
• Moving forward to backward two-foot turn on a circle Two-foot turn
• Beginning backward one-foot glide, either foot Backward one-foot glide

Basic 4

• Forward outside edge on a circle Left forward outside edge, Right forward outside edge
• Forward crossovers, both directions, four to six Left forward outside crossover, Right forward outside crossover
• Backward half-swizzle pumps on a circle, four to six Backward half-swizzle pumps
• Backward one-foot glides, right and left Backward one-foot glide
• Beginning two-foot spin, up to four revolutions Two-foot spin

Basic 5

• Backward outside edge on a circle Left backward outside edge, Right backward outside edge
• Backward crossovers, both directions, four to six Left backward outside crossover, Right backward outside crossover
• Forward outside three-turn, right and left Left forward outside three turn, Right forward outside three turn
• Advanced two-foot spin, at least four revolutions Two-foot spin
• Hockey stop Hockey stop

Basic 6

• Forward inside three-turn, right and left Left forward inside three turn, Right forward inside three turn
• C step, both directions Left forward outside mohawk, Left forward inside mohawk Learn to Skate USA's C step is the turn British Ice Skating calls a mohawk.
• Bunny hop Bunny hop
• Basic forward spiral on a straight line Spiral
• Beginning one-foot spin, up to three revolutions Upright spin
• T-stop T-stop

Source: Learn to Skate USA competition manual, Snowplow Sam to Basic 6 elements (August 2026)