Today, I signed up for a beginner ice dancing class, over at the posh rink. Cuz duh, my older but comfortable rink doesn't offer such luxuries. A friend of mine who takes lessons with the ice dance coach told me about it, and why not? Class is a half hour. Drive time one way is 50 minutes. But I suppose I could hop onto the public session after (this rink has two sheets) to get a bit more skating in, make the trip worthwhile. I'm looking forward to it but also am nervous. My edges and skating are all comfortable, but I lack speed and power. I'm worried I'll be the worst skater by a lot. I hate that. But I'm doing it, have already paid. It's 7 weeks. Wish me luck! (Did I mention the coach is Gary Shortland? Two time UK National Champion. Fun!)
Also had a lesson with my coach this morning. It's been a month. She gave me some things to work on when it comes to my scratch spin...you know, the one that left me. If anyone finds it, please return it to me. I'm sure I could scrape up a reward of some kind. I told her about my bucket list goal of passing senior moves. (Yup, I want to someday say I can do all the same moves tests the olympic skaters can do...maybe not quite as technically correct as they, but you know, roughly passable.)
I was perhaps not completely clear with my coach. I probably won't test. I will be the judge of whether it's good enough or not. But she wanted to go back and do perimeter stroking from pre-preliminary with me. I indulged her, but I certainly don't need to spend money on a private lesson for her to watch me do perimeter stroking. When she wanted to move on to basic edges, I stopped her and told her I wanted to work on more difficult moves.
Cross strokes and edge pulls are what she suggested. These are comical. But...at one point, I said the same thing about alternating 3-turns. And look how well those are coming along. Just keep skating...
Friday, August 23, 2013
Monday, August 19, 2013
When Moves Disappear
My scratch spin has gone on vacation. I have not authorized this. I have no idea how long it'll be gone. *sad face*
I remember for the longest time, I would spend such a large portion of my practice time just on edges. My main goal with skating is to take even the simplest of moves and make it look flawless. For like a year, I would spend 10 full minutes on each set of edges, 40 minutes total. Until my forward edges felt solid, then I would only spend 5 minutes on each forward edge. Then the back outside edges felt solid. May not sound like a lot, but when you're doing nothing else but that move, you can cover a lot of ice and lobes in 5 minutes. And get mighty sweaty. Or at least I do.
Now my thing seems to be alternating 3's. I probably spend at least 10 mins on each set. After warming up. So by the time that's all done, almost a half hour has passed, roughly half the session. I still struggle a bit controlling the back inside edge on my left leg, which makes that choctaw step to a forward outside edge tricky. So I worked on waltz 3's on the hockey circle. Over and over and over. I need to be able to sustain the edge along that circle.
And back outside 3's are fun now. I can pretty much do the back power 3's on my right leg (the strong leg). Along the hockey circle. I'm trying to get this on my left leg. After about the second turn, I start drifting toward the center of the hockey circle, like a spiral pattern. But I'll get it. Hell, a week ago, I couldn't even turn clockwise on two feet, let alone one. Just keep skating.
My back spin is decent. Slow but decent. Much better than when I first began working on it. Now if only my regular scratch spin would come back from vacation. I think most skaters have this problem. You'll nail something only to have it leave you for a while. And you never know how long it's going to stay away.
I remember for the longest time, I would spend such a large portion of my practice time just on edges. My main goal with skating is to take even the simplest of moves and make it look flawless. For like a year, I would spend 10 full minutes on each set of edges, 40 minutes total. Until my forward edges felt solid, then I would only spend 5 minutes on each forward edge. Then the back outside edges felt solid. May not sound like a lot, but when you're doing nothing else but that move, you can cover a lot of ice and lobes in 5 minutes. And get mighty sweaty. Or at least I do.
Now my thing seems to be alternating 3's. I probably spend at least 10 mins on each set. After warming up. So by the time that's all done, almost a half hour has passed, roughly half the session. I still struggle a bit controlling the back inside edge on my left leg, which makes that choctaw step to a forward outside edge tricky. So I worked on waltz 3's on the hockey circle. Over and over and over. I need to be able to sustain the edge along that circle.
And back outside 3's are fun now. I can pretty much do the back power 3's on my right leg (the strong leg). Along the hockey circle. I'm trying to get this on my left leg. After about the second turn, I start drifting toward the center of the hockey circle, like a spiral pattern. But I'll get it. Hell, a week ago, I couldn't even turn clockwise on two feet, let alone one. Just keep skating.
My back spin is decent. Slow but decent. Much better than when I first began working on it. Now if only my regular scratch spin would come back from vacation. I think most skaters have this problem. You'll nail something only to have it leave you for a while. And you never know how long it's going to stay away.
Friday, August 16, 2013
4th Freestyle
Whee! Skating again today. That back outside 3, on my left leg...I finally got it! Broke it down again doing it two foot without moving, then very slowly, then building up speed. Moving onto one foot, struggled a bit. When I finally did it and held the forward edge, my mouth popped open wide. Audible gasp. I was so excited! I did a few others, a little inconsistent, but I did a few more. Then I tried the power 3 move. I struggled but eventually could hold a steady enough forward edge to then mohawk step back into position for the next back 3. I can't quite get these on the big hockey circle yet, but I'll get there. I was just so stinking excited to get it!
Oddly enough, I hold that forward edge stronger than the other leg, which is the "easy" leg. Go figure.
I wonder how long before I need to start learning back inside 3's? oy. Can I just bask in this excitement for a little while?
Scratch spins were not happening today. I was getting mighty frustrated until I remembered it's not good to keep trying something when it's just not clicking because you might reinforce what you're doing wrong. But back scratch was decent today. A few of them even looked like real spins on the ice, maybe 3-4 revolutions, centered...made a nice little image on the ice. I wish I'd had my camera to take a picture.
Today was my 4th practice this week. Go me!
Oddly enough, I hold that forward edge stronger than the other leg, which is the "easy" leg. Go figure.
I wonder how long before I need to start learning back inside 3's? oy. Can I just bask in this excitement for a little while?
Scratch spins were not happening today. I was getting mighty frustrated until I remembered it's not good to keep trying something when it's just not clicking because you might reinforce what you're doing wrong. But back scratch was decent today. A few of them even looked like real spins on the ice, maybe 3-4 revolutions, centered...made a nice little image on the ice. I wish I'd had my camera to take a picture.
Today was my 4th practice this week. Go me!
Thursday, August 15, 2013
Back Three Turns
Ah, scratch spins. Will these ever be consistent? I did one semi-great one today, super fast and controlled. My free leg and arm position need a bit of improvement. Did a few other decent ones, but I can hear my toe pick scraping. And completely fell out of a few others.
Forget my back spin today. I was making progress Tuesday. Today, it just wasn't happening. Annoying.
But my back 3's are making considerable progress. Back outside, I mean. I can't do the inside ones yet. So right foot, which turns counter-clockwise, is fine. I struggle to control the forward inside edge after the turn. It's a bit swingy. But I'm working on it.
However that left foot, clockwise turn, has never been close. I keep coming up on my toe pick. Maddening. Even on two feet. After about 10 mins of trying it over and over, I was standing there thinking, not moving. I went through the motions of the turn on two feet and did it just fine. Why on earth can I do the turn not moving? I did a few more. Then I tried with two feet extremely slowly. Perfect. Every few turns, I would add a touch more speed, until I was doing them normally with two feet.
Time to try one foot. MUCH better. Still not quite there. But I'm hardly coming up on my toe pick. The last few I did, I had a tiny flow of edge after the turn before I had to put my free foot down. Then the session ended. But I'm happy. It's incredibly frustrating to practice something over and over and not see a lick of progress. Then when I see even a tiny bit of progress, I relax a bit. I'll get these. Eventually.
Forget my back spin today. I was making progress Tuesday. Today, it just wasn't happening. Annoying.
But my back 3's are making considerable progress. Back outside, I mean. I can't do the inside ones yet. So right foot, which turns counter-clockwise, is fine. I struggle to control the forward inside edge after the turn. It's a bit swingy. But I'm working on it.
However that left foot, clockwise turn, has never been close. I keep coming up on my toe pick. Maddening. Even on two feet. After about 10 mins of trying it over and over, I was standing there thinking, not moving. I went through the motions of the turn on two feet and did it just fine. Why on earth can I do the turn not moving? I did a few more. Then I tried with two feet extremely slowly. Perfect. Every few turns, I would add a touch more speed, until I was doing them normally with two feet.
Time to try one foot. MUCH better. Still not quite there. But I'm hardly coming up on my toe pick. The last few I did, I had a tiny flow of edge after the turn before I had to put my free foot down. Then the session ended. But I'm happy. It's incredibly frustrating to practice something over and over and not see a lick of progress. Then when I see even a tiny bit of progress, I relax a bit. I'll get these. Eventually.
Tuesday, August 13, 2013
Update on last post
My rink may have lackluster freestyle and an online schedule that doesn't provide a whole lot of detail, but they have great staff. I skated Sunday as usual. Signed in for the walkon. Again this morning, and the guy (who knows me by name) told me he never charged me for Sunday. To make up for the public session last Thursday. I'm so impressed.
And also relieved. I looked into the other rink freestyle costs. Holy shit! At my rink, I pay a flat rate of $10 for the entire session (usually freestyles are 1.5 or 2 hours). So if I skate 10 minutes or an hour or the entire session, it's 10 bucks.
At the other rink? The walkon rate is $15 for 30 minutes. Basic math means that's 30 bucks an hour. I maintain...holy shit! You can buy stickers and reserve your spot in advance for $12 a half hour session, or $24/hour. But don't show, and you're out of luck. Not to mention, this rink is an additional 20 mins drive from my house (50 mins total).
I think I'll stick with my rink, thankyouverymuch.
And also relieved. I looked into the other rink freestyle costs. Holy shit! At my rink, I pay a flat rate of $10 for the entire session (usually freestyles are 1.5 or 2 hours). So if I skate 10 minutes or an hour or the entire session, it's 10 bucks.
At the other rink? The walkon rate is $15 for 30 minutes. Basic math means that's 30 bucks an hour. I maintain...holy shit! You can buy stickers and reserve your spot in advance for $12 a half hour session, or $24/hour. But don't show, and you're out of luck. Not to mention, this rink is an additional 20 mins drive from my house (50 mins total).
I think I'll stick with my rink, thankyouverymuch.