Monday, July 30, 2007

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.

2 comments:

Amanda said...

I love those microfibre socks / kneehighs! I tried with socks and didn't get on with them (like you, it made my feet hurt). I skated barefoot for a while which I liked, but my skates didn't.

The microfibre things are great - I can buy them seriously cheaply in London, so have about 12 pairs!

Gordon said...

The trickiest part about back edges for me is always the initial push :-).