Brackets and Counters

I think I've finally weaned myself off the psychological crutch of the boards while practicing bracket turns. I still only attempt right leg brackets (inside and outside). My right leg is stronger. I figure when those feel solid, I'll try them with the left leg. Cuz these turns are a bit scarier than 3-turns.

At practice recently, I noticed something...the tracing on the ice looks like I'm doing a counter and then coming back to finish the bracket. So I thought, why the heck not? Let's try a counter turn. Wow. It felt easier and more natural than the bracket. First, I was working on the forward outside counter. Then I moved onto the inside bracket and decided to try a counter there, too. Again, feels a lot more natural than a bracket. Weird. I thought counters were supposed to be hard or harder. I mean, there are no counters on the Adult Track for MIF. Just brackets in the field. What's up with that?

Here's how they look on the ice...calling them three-turns and brackets makes sense because duh, that's what they look like. I have no idea how "they" came up with the terms counter and rocker.

Essentially, with a 3-turn, your body rotates in the same direction as the curve (clockwise or counter-clockwise). The opposite is true for a bracket turn. But both of these turns are not only a change of direction (forward/backward) but also a change of edge (inside/outside).

Counters and rockers do not change edge, only direction. Counters start out like a bracket, while rockers start out like a 3-turn. So while brackets are harder to learn than 3-turns, counters are easier to learn than rockers. Probably because of your turning momentum. Or something. But who knew counters would be easier than brackets...

And there's your figure skating turns lesson for the day. You're welcome.