Checklist of Doom

Lesson today! Are you ready for this? Today was the day of the checklist of doom. So, as you know, I'm taking a Jumps class in which all of the jumps in the USFSA Free Skate curriculum are covered. There are six lessons total and today was my third lesson so Christopher had his checklist out to make sure we are covering all of the jumps. He threw a lot at me today and he had me doing jumps that I honestly didn't feel ready for. But I didn't say no to anything. I just plowed on through. Here's what we did:

Waltz Jump - Nothing to see here. These are just fine.

Half Flip - See above.

Waltz Jump, Side Toe Hop, Waltz Jump Sequence - He was actually pretty impressed with this one. He said that, a lot of times, skaters will slow down during the side toe hop and lose power going into the second waltz jump. Mine actually gained power and speed so he was quite pleased. Moving on!

Toe Loop - I'm still toe waltzing these. We went over to the boards and I was able to do it correctly but out on open ice, I'm still not pulling in with my free leg correctly. I need to take my time with these and not rush them.

Salchow - These have improved thanks to Sally the Snake but they are still very rushed. I think the word Christopher used was "swingy". I need to really check that three turn going into the jump and spend perhaps just a second more on that LBI edge before I bring my free leg around. I'm essentially a tornado and that's not a good thing.

Half Lutz - I'm still flutzing. He emphasized how much of an outside edge I should have going into this but, to me, it just looks like a great way to twist my ankle.

*Are you tired yet? Because, at this point, I sure as hell was!*

Waltz Jump Toe Loop Combo - Waltz jump good, toe loop not so much.

Salchow/Toe Loop Combo - omgthiswasrushed!

Loop jump - He made an adjustment to my free leg and that helped quite a bit! Instead of my feet being lined up, my free leg should be crossed a little so that I'm already in the crossed leg position for the jump. This changes the center of gravity and makes the jump quite a bit easier! Yay!

Half Loop - This is a jump I have never done before! Despite its name, it is a full revolution jump and is exactly like the loop jump except that you land on your left leg instead of your right leg. Goofy but not too terribly difficult. Later during my practice, I found that working on some half loops before working on the loop jump was helpful in getting the feeling of that deep outside edge just prior to liftoff. Now I know a new jump! Fun!

Waltz Jump Loop Combo - At this point in the lesson, I just couldn't even but I was determined to do what ever he threw at me. I tried it but was very unsuccessful. I just couldn't get that free leg to NOT go into the landing position. I should be landing the waltz with my free leg in front to get ready for the loop but my brain and my body were not cooperating with each other. I'm able to do it at the boards but not on open ice yet. I promised Christopher I would work on it.

Loop Loop Combo - Really?! He showed me how it's done but it's the same problem as the waltz/loop combo. I need to train my brain to know that sometimes it's okay to land with your free leg in front of you.

Flip Jump - You thought we were done right? HA! Nope, now he wants me to do a flip. He showed me how it's done and I said I would like to do some off-ice flips first. I just didn't have anything left to give at this point.

And there are still five more jumps left to learn in the Free Skate curriculum. I imagine he might throw those at me next week. Okay, so here are my thoughts on this. I really wanted to be a cooperative student today and do anything he asked of me. But honestly, I'm not ready for half of the things we worked on today. Maybe he feels pressured to fit everything in in a six week session? Keep in mind our lesson was only 30 minutes long so that should give you some perspective on how quickly we just ran through these jumps. I would rather spend some time and get these jumps right rather than slop through them quickly just to say I've been exposed to them. I was exhausted, battered, and bruised....and maybe a little bit defeated because I don't have the skills to land these jumps. I'm actually pretty nervous for our next lesson. I feel like he's going to expect me to start learning the lutz and the axel because those jumps are coming up next on the list. I'm just not ready :(