Thursday Morning Lesson

Christopher got on the ice and showed me some clips from the Ariel Challenge that took place last week at the Broadmoor Open. My jaw was on the floor. Tim Dolensky is superhuman! I mean...what?!

We talked a bit about what testing will be like the day of. He showed me where the judges will be sitting and talked about what to expect if there is another skater testing their Moves at the same time as me. The judges will not be in the hockey box like I thought but rather up in the stands so I won't really get to skate up to them and introduce myself like I have seen others do on the tests I've viewed on YouTube. For the MIF test, I'm supposed to pause after each individual move, set up for the next thing, and then wait until they look as though they are done writing their comments. For the Freeskate test, I should expect to perform each element in the order listed on the judging form, hold the landing for about three seconds, present, then start transitioning to set up for the next thing. So, like 10 seconds or so between each element. We worked a bit on the presenting part.

After that was done, we ran the Freeskate in its entirety with brief stops along the way for corrections.

• Waltz Jump - Looks nice. Hold that landing for three seconds, step forward, present, and transition. 
• Salchow - I'm not checking the initial three turn and my arms aren't quite correct. After a strong check, my right arm should be back and my left arm should be slightly crossed over in front of my body. You'd be surprised how much of a difference this makes once you make these corrections! Hold the landing for three seconds, step forward, present, and transition. 
• One-Foot Upright Spin - Spin spin spin, landing position held for three seconds, step forward, present, and transition. 
• Two-Foot Spin - Spin spin spin, landing position, step forward, present, and transition. 
• Crossovers - 6 forward, mohawk, 6 backward, landing position held for three seconds, step forward, present, and transition. 
• Lunge - Hold a steady lunge for four seconds, get up, forward crossover, present. Skate to the judges, face them, and curtsy as a "thank you."

We didn't have much time left but he wanted to see CCW and CW stroking. These are fine but he would like to see more underpush on the end crossovers and more of a waltz count for each stroke. This needs more fluidity. I've been able to improve my extensions but instead of just extending and holding my free leg behind me, he wants it to be a bit more dance-like with constant fluid motion and extension. So, I got the extension right, just not the fluidity. Next he wanted to see my Crossovers in the Figure Eight. He advised me to make a bigger pattern instead of sticking to the lines on the hockey circles. Sticking to the size of the hockey circles is ok for a smaller pattern like the Waltz 8 but this move can be BIG! He even suggested practicing it in the middle of the rink so I can make it even bigger and fit in more crossovers. Some other corrections included more underpush on my CW forward crossovers and to more clearly emphasize the change of edge in the swingroll transition. Homework!