Eureka!

I've have a hard time with some elements lately. My 3turns are getting to be really bad, and I can not center a spin, no matter how hard I try or what I fix. I've made sure my shoulders aren't dropping, I keep a good strong core, and make sure my free hip doesn't drop. Still, nothing worked. I couldn't find the sweet spot on my blade either and just made a traveling looping mess every time I spun.

I asked a skating buddy about this, and she suggested that I get my skates sharpened. She also said one edge may be higher or lower than the other (which has happened to hers in the past). We made plans to get our skates sharpened. As embarressed as I was at the condition of the blades (inside edges were getting quite dull), I sucked it up and got them sharpened by someone who is very very reputable.

Surely enough, edges on BOTH blades were VERY uneven. With the right blade worse than the left. The skate sharpener spent a significant amount of time correcting the problem, and the blades look great! I will be able to try it out tomorrow.

Could the uneven edges be the root of my skating problems??? I'm not a fan of super sharp blades, but I have a feeling that my spins will significantly improve, my 3turns may come back for good, and jumps may even improve. I wish there was a rink open right now so I could try them out.

Progress

So, I've been making some progress. No longer wiping out on the toe loops. However when I asked my husband how my toe loops were looking, he said "well, at least you didn't fall on your face" Yeah. Very reassuring.


I've been working on one foot spins and trying to get a scratch spin. I can get my leg up and slightly crossed over my skating leg, but then I lose it. LTS instructor told me to try lifing my hip on my free leg. Seems to make a bit of a difference. She reassured me that it will take time to achieve. (but I want it now!!!!) I've been attempting sit spins too, though it probably just looks like I'm trying to stick out my butt and place my free leg in front of me. At least it's a start.


Waltzes are getting much better, and it doesn't take me forever to warm up to them during each session. Still working on jumping more than just stepping. And arms. They're important when jumping. They shouldn't just flop around.


Salchows are inconsistent, and since starting the salchow jump, my LFO3 became very scratchy. I've seemed to have lost it completely!!!


Anyways, here is a montage of my practice video from today. Not stellar, but better than the last video I posted. I am even working on a spread eagle, since I apparently have great turnout. Turnout is great for some stuff (spread eagles, spirals, mohawks, Ina bauers...) but it REALLY sucks for 3turns!!!!!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

new video, Toe loops, and surprise Salchow

I have a new video now of the jumps I'm working on. My waltz jump is improving dramatically - the ones in the video are a bit old. I'm using my arms a lot more when jumping. In class we were taught a toe loop, and I've been really hesistant about this jump. That's because of all the wipeouts I've had with it - hard nasty falls. I was making some progress the other day so I decided to video tape it. Then, one of my skate buddies showed me a Salchow. I tried it and voila!! I can do a salchow a heck of a lot better than a toe loop. It's cheated (not a full rotation) but it's a start. I even got one on video. Enjoy!

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