Adult 3, Week 1

Yay! Finally starting the next session of classes. Just two students today, and same instructor as lass class :)

What we worked on :

Backwards edges : I have been practicing these regularly at the rink, but I just couldn't get the hang of it today. Oh well. I did get some pointers on posture, arm and head position, and worked on keeping my free leg in the front before bringing it to the back. Also worked extensively on leaning into the edge to achieve a curve, instead of a straight line. This will take balance, practice, and a lot of patience, but I know it will come with time.

Backwards crossovers: My arms and body were all over the place!! lol. The instructor told me to slow down on the crossovers, and then had me focus on arm and head position,, NOT catching the toe-pick like I always do, and maintaining a curve so that I'm not going in a straight line. And then, hallelujah! It all came together. Its' not consistent, but at least I know how it feels when I get it right (or at least not entirely wrong!)

Spent five mintues on mohawks, and I did a decent one, except I lost all momentum on it with the foot exchange and stopped dead on the ice as if I hit the wall - haha! It must have been the toepick.

Much to practice this week! And I bought a yoga mat so I can do pilates comfortably at home. :) I'm already noticing that I'm a tad bit more flexible than eight weeks ago, just from skating. I know pilates will do much more for me and my skating. :)

As for my boot problem mentioned in the last post, I thought it might be the socks I wear to skate (thick athletic socks). So I bought some microfiber socks with are about the same thickness of skating tights. What a difference!!! No pain with todays lesson! and the ankle doesn't slip like I thought it would. Now to just cushion the ball of my foot and i'll have a nice fit finally.

Practice, Practice, and Pronation

No group lessons this week. Starting Adult 3 on Monday (guess i should hurry up and pay my money!)

Practiced pivots, two-foot spins, and edgework. I attempted some more forward inside mohawks, but I must be leaning too much on my back inside edge because I nearly go into a spin! Considering only 5 minutes was spent on mohawks during the last class, I'm going to bet that I just need some more instruction.

WHEEE!!! I can't believe how much I love to spin. I wish I could spin all day and not get dizzy! My best spin had about 6 revolutions. I'm even starting to experiment with arm positions - behind the back, above my head - just to see what I can do. Too bad spins aren't really part of the Adult class cirriculum.

Other things practiced:

Forward Crossovers: No longer falling going CW. CW still weaker than CCW, but becoming more fluid. Leg extension improving with both directions. Gotta bend the knee!!

Backwards edges: Coming along, but not 100% consistent. Still have instances where doing half-swizzles on the hockey circle, then attempt either the LBO or RBO edge, only to find I'm going straight and the hockey circle is getting farther and farther away...wait!! Come back!!! I know my edge is there!! A quick analysis of my weight distribution and posture usually presents better results with the next attempt.

Spiral: ummm....I can picture it in my head beautifully!! I need to get flexible. My leg is nowhere near where it needs to be. Balance is OK though.

BXO's: Not as scared anymore to try these. Easier going CW. Due to limited instruction, I want to wait until we go over this more in class before I teach myself the wrong technique.

OUCH! My Right skate is giving me grief!!! I am having consistent pain on the outer side of the ball of my foot, but only when skating. FYI: My right foot is pronated much more then the left. Any suggestions on how to help stop the pain??

Zombies, Tests, and Mohawks

Zombies: I worked three 12-hour night shifts in a row, with the last one being a horrid shift. I was a walking zombie and had not been skating since friday morning. :(

Tests: I passed my Adult 2 test today! Yay! I was a bit nervous at first, but then I felt pretty confident. My instructor said I will progress very quickly through the LTS program. I've already learned nearly half of Adult 3 content.

Mohawks: We had about 5 minutes left after the three of us students were done testing, so our instructor picked something off of the list of upcoming content - Mohawks! I had no idea what these were, but I have read about them on various figure skating sites. She taught us the basics and I LOVE mohawks. It made perfect sense, and I can do them well as long as I am along the barrier (hehe!). I'll practice on getting more confident with it this week. And all 3 students in class are going to be in Adult 3! It starts in two weeks, but of course I'm going to skate lots before then.

Skate classes

I've posted the adult skating class cirriculum in the sidebar, since it seems to differ from rink to rink. I wish adults could do the Basic level courses since they have more jumps and spins (I LOVE to spin!). There is also a link to where I got my info.

Not much skating this week due to night shifts, a job interview, and staff meeting. Oh, and Harry Potter 5 in IMAX 3D :)

For readers who have blogs, feel free to leave a comment with your link. I will add you to my links list. :)

Dodgeball: Daycare style

I went to the public skating session today at Steiner's to practice my backwards skating and forward pivot. There were a few other adult skaters on the ice, and then...dum da dum dum....came 20 very enegertic tykes on hockey skates, all under the age of 8. Yikes!!! They were skating and falling in every different direction and I almost tripped over a couple of them. I guess the rules of skating in a CCW direction around the perimeter did not apply. It was absolute chaos. LOL!!! Then things got scary because their advisors/chaperones/18-year olds in charge brought out two hockey pucks and were kicking them around across the rink with their skates!!! Now I had to make sure I didn't faceplant by tripping over a puck, and that I didn't severely lacerate a kid's head with my blades as i'm practicing leg extension on one-foot glides. It was short lived (I only put up with it for 20 minutes), and looking back, the chaos on the rink was just hillarious. Let's hope this was an isolated incident! Lesson learned from this: Always be aware of your surroundings when you skate!

Lesson today in Adult 2-3 was working more with the forward pivot and crossovers (CCW). I can now do three revolutions on a forward pivot, bring my leg in for a two-foot spin (wobbily!), and exit on a LBO edge, then skate forwards. It was glorious because I felt like I was putting more than one move together, and it was like a super-short program! yay! My instructor also told me to practice my spins a lot and that I'm already doing more advanced spinning. She encouraged me to keep it up and keep progressing. :)

Next week is our Adult 2 TEST. EEK!!! Just the word "test" raises my blood pressure. My instructor assured us that we've passed and that the test is more of a formality. She also pointed out that we have already completed part of Adult 3, so there are no problems with passing Adult 2. phew!

Oh! My edges are looking much better - thank you to all those who have helped me on and off the ice with this!

My Husband, the Coach

I went skating Friday night, and my husband came to watch, armed with the camera. I wanted to at least get some pictures of how I skate, since I can't see how my posture is, or exactly what my arms and hips are doing. I forgot that he is a jack of all tradea, and he was able to give me a lot of pointers about my skating.

First thing he noticed was that I lean forward and stick my bum out (see pic). I already have a larger lower body thanks to genetics and lack of exercise, and my posture wasn't doing anything to help it or my skating. No wonder I have lower back pain! He helped me stand straight, shoulders and hips aligned with my chin up. Then he had me skate that way. What a difference!!! It took me a minute to find my center of gravity, but my movements were more fluid and graceful. I will need to practice better posture off-ice as well if I am going to see any major improvements.

Another thing he noticed was that I don't lean into my turns. My upper body and lower body are trying to do two separate things. After having me practice leaning side to side while against the rink boards, he had me try it out on the ice. Putting all fears of falling aside, I finally felt my body leaning into the turn, and I was most definitely securing the outside edge (LFO). My right side is weaker and will take practice.

My FXO's also improved greatly with fixing my posture and leaning into my edges. Even CW are looking better than before.

We finally looked at my skates and realized I don't have them tight enough around the ankle, of course making it difficult to control the skate. My husband tightened them (way too tight!!!) but I got the idea that I need to support my ankle more.

Friday's skate was full of frustrating moments and EUREKA! moments. All in all, I learned a lot from my husband who has never dared put on a pair of figure skates. It was like a physics, kinesiology, and P.E. lesson all in one. He didn't need to know what a swizzle, spiral, or pivot was. So now I have a free coach for keeping an eye on my posture and presentation!

It's back to the ice on Monday for practice and group lessons. A bit of good news: My work schedule is allowing me to continue with group lessons! And I think I will ask about private lessons this week.

"do you teach lessons?"

I was at the public skate session yesterday and a couple of kids asked me if I taught lessons... I must either dress like some of the instructors, or my skating is better than I thought! LOL... (I was only working on forward stroking and RFO, LFO edges.)

I asked the kids if they had questions about something and explained that I am taking lessons. I helped them out on two foot glides and doing backward swizzles. It was fun, but it distracted me a little from working on by backwards edges.



I know I don't have a lot of readers yet, but if anyone has any suggestions about skating on RBO and LBO edges, it would be greatly appreciated! I think I've finally convinced my husband to take pictures of me at the rink, so I should have some pics up soon. I'm sure if I could see myself skate I could fix half of my problem moves.



What I worked on at the rink yesterday:

*FXO (forward cross-overs) are looking better. CCW seems very rhythmic and smooth, and I'm at least not falling going CW.
*I'm attempting BXO's and I'm actually getting somewhere...and with a lot of power. My whole body alignment is off though, especially shoulders. Maybe I'll just put this move on the bench for now until I have a formal class or lesson about it.
*Two foot spin: great fun, as long as I stay on the sweet spot of my skates. I get dizzy easily, and have only attempted the spin going CCW.
*Forward stroking - I've got this down! yay!
*RFO, LFO edges: Looking much better than a couple of weeks ago.

No class today, but plenty of practice time.

There's no class today due to the 4th of July coming up., so I just went to the rink for an hour to practice. My RBO edge is coming along nicely, but the LBO needs more work. In my last class, we learned a two-foot spin, which is SO much fun!! I'm working more one that, and since my RBO edge is working, I can now somewhat exit my spin. I am getting much more confident skating backwards, and backwards one foot glides are just about as easy as forward one foot glides. I seem to be getting into shape too - my husband commented on my figure the other day. :)

Skating is also encouraging me to eat better and take multi-vitamins. More fruits and veggies and less soda and candy.

I am considering taking private lessons, maybe once every two weeks to supplement my weekly classes. I feel that I need help with correct posture and arm position, as well as edges. I think edges are going to be something I can always improve on.

I am also considering joining the figure skating club at the rink. Not sure if this is something I should do now, or wait until I am close to testing. As of right now, I am still far far away from being able to test.

Lessons resume next week, and surprisingly, the rink is open on July 4. Maybe I'll take advantage of the holiday and skate when there are less people.