Sally the Snake

Today was my second lesson in the Freeskate Jumps class with Christopher. He said he saw some improvement but I really feel like it's only a slight improvement from last week. Here's what we worked on:

Hops from a Standstill - Like last week, we started with just getting the feeling of rotation in the air. He had me do some half-rotation hops and some full rotation hops. The full rotation hops are easier just because that feels like a more natural landing position whereas the half hops land forward on the toe pick. He stressed knee bend on these so I can really spring up into the jump.

Salchow - I am able to land this jump and am getting the rotation in the air so Christopher worked with me on arms and free leg position during the jump. As far as my arms are concerned, he wants me to keep my left arm in front and my right arm back after the initial three turn. He said to think of my arms as a snake, Sally the Snake! Sally's head is my left hand which stays in front and her tail is my right hand which will come up to meet her head during the jump (ballet first position). Silly, but for me, sometimes silly helps. He also observed that I am bringing that free leg in instead of swinging it wide through the jump. This closed position hinders rotation.

Toe Loop - These got slightly better since last week. They are still cheated but progress is being made. Dustin made a clever observation during my practice after my lesson and noticed that when I pick in for the jump, I'm picking in with the side of my toe pick rather than the tip. This is something that previous coaches have mentioned to me so I'm impressed that he was able to pick up on it and bring it to my attention (he's really getting good at learning the different elements and edges!). I forgot that that was a problem that I had. I still need more work on these.

Backspins and Loops - I was able to get one rotation with my backspin which, although that sucks, it's better than last week where I couldn't even get around halfway. Christopher said he doesn't feel comfortable working with me on my loop jump until I can secure a decent backspin (three revolutions). However, he did spend some time with me on getting into the proper entrance position for the jump by doing backward crossovers and lining my feet up before liftoff. Later in the evening, Dustin and I went to the gym in our apartment complex and while he was on the treadmill, I did some floor loops. Not so scary when you don't have knives attached to your feet! With the help of my new friend, Sally the Snake, I was able to get three individual fully rotated floor loops!

Half-Flip and Half Lutz - Half-Flip is just fine so he watched me do a couple of them and moved on to the Half-Lutz. Here is where my brain exploded a bit. I don't know if I was really tired by the end of our lesson or what but I just could not wrap my head around this. I understand how the jump is done. Getting my body to understand it is a different story. I promised him I would work on it for our next lesson.

Waltz Jump - Let's end on a high note, shall we? I did a beautiful waltz jump for him to end the lesson. Nothing to work on here. Just some applause and a high-five from my coach. Yay! I can at least do one thing correctly.