Path to the Podium 2019

*Warning: Long Post Ahead*

About a month ago, I registered for an all day clinic down at a rink in Littleton. The "Path to the Podium" clinic includes on-ice and off-ice sessions and the opportunity to get to work with some pretty cool guest coaches. It was tough and I feel a bit beat up and sore but I learned a lot and, if they do it again next year, I'm signing up right away. It was only $80 so it was a great value compared to other clinics or camps I have seen.

Off-Ice Warm-up and Jumps: Although there were separate tracks for the adults and the kids, there were moments where they combined all of us and this was one of them. We started with some warm-ups where they had us do running, skipping, and turns in a line. Nothing earth shattering here just some good old-fashioned movements to get the blood pumping. We then moved on to off-ice jumps which was pretty helpful. Coach Cheryl taught us proper set up techniques ("tick-tock-snap") and how to properly check our take off and landing positions ("hold that iPad!"). I don't really do off-ice jumps as a warm up but now I'm going to integrate it into my routine.

On-Ice Jumps: We had a few minutes to get skates on and meet Coach Cheryl on the ice to take what we learned off ice and apply it on ice. We started with simple 1/4, 1/2, and full rotations from a stand still and then started with actual jumps - waltz, salchow, toe loop, loop, and flip (we also did the lutz but, since I can't do a lutz yet, I just did a half lutz). She emphasized the iPad technique and my jumps overall just felt more stable. This is something I really need to remember to do from now on since I have a tendency to over-rotate my jumps.

Off-Ice Yoga: This was with Coach Ashley and was adults only. After the excitement and mayhem of the jumps session, it was nice to come down a little and relax. I'm especially thankful that the kids were not in this class with us. There were six adults ranging in age from mid 20s to mid 60s so we were at various levels of "bendy." Having the kids with us would have just made us feel incapable and inadequate.

Off-Ice Creative Movement: Again with Coach Ashley but this time the kids joined us. First she had us create a doodle on a piece of paper. I doodled, wrote my name on it, and was promised I would see this later in the day with an explanation of what to do with it. Once our doodles were collected, we started in with some direct and indirect movements with various themes (heavy, light, slow, moving through peanut butter, floaty, etc). She had us partner up and feed off of our partner's energy to create partnered movements where we fill the other's negative space. That was interesting since I don't usually do anything with a partner and I have a thing about people "invading my bubble." But, I was partnered with my friend Sarah so it wasn't as awkward as I thought it would be. That definitely pushed me out of my comfort zone but that's why I signed up for this, right?

On-Ice Spins: Skates on and back on the ice with Coach Cheryl for some adults only spinning! We started with some simple two-foot spins and then transitioned into one-foot spins with an emphasis on holding that entry edge for as long as possible. I was pleasantly surprised that this was the same exercise that Christopher gives me on a regular basis. Stand on a line and push off onto your entry edge but don't hook the spin until you've reached that other side of the line and you are facing the direction you started from. I had some really good spins! Then we transitioned in to the wind-up approach and worked on that for a bit until it was time to work on the dreaded backspin. This was kind of a disaster but not really surprising since my backspins are so awful. But she gave us some tips to make the leg cross easier (think windshield wipers). Something to work on for sure.

Sports Psychology: Skates off and meet Ian in the party room to fill out a questionnaire about how I feel about myself when I'm practicing/competing. I didn't really learn anything new about myself here. I already know I have a tendency to beat myself up over not being able to do certain elements, I perform well under pressure, I care a lot about what my coach thinks of me, and am overly disappointed when I feel like I have let him down. One thing that was mentioned here that I thought was helpful is that, as athletes, we tend to focus on what not to do (don't fall, don't trip over your toe pick, don't get on the wrong edge, etc.). However, our brains don't know how to process the word "don't" and instead our brains just focus on the other words (fall, wrong edge, trip) so we end up doing the very thing we are trying to avoid. So, Ian advised us to think of what we want to do instead (check, strong landing, centered spin, flowing edges, etc). That will send positive messages to our brains that will translate into the outcomes we desire. So, this is something that I'll implement and hopefully it will make a difference in my fear levels on some things. It can't hurt, right?

Off-Ice Stretching: This was nice to do in the middle of the day because, by this point, I was feeling pretty tired and tense. It was a nice release. Again, this was with Coach Cheryl and was adults only. We took turns doing a spiral stretch where Cheryl held our free leg and we pushed it down as hard as we could for 10 seconds and then she pushed the free leg up really high. It's amazing! When I was a kid, I remember doing something similar with my brother where we would stand in a door way and press really hard against the frame with our arms for like 20 seconds or so. Then, when we stepped out of the door way, our arms seemed to float. It's the same principle! Pressing your free leg against some sort of resistance creates tension that, once released, allows you to extend even higher like your leg is weightless. Magic!

On-Ice Movement: Skates on again! We met Coach Ashley on the ice and she had our doodles waiting for us. We were told to skate our doodle. It was at this point that I fully regretted my decision to create an overly complex doodle but I did what I was told. Next, she had us skate our doodles in various ways (heavy, light, slow, powerful). This really forced me to think of using my arms and emoting in creative ways instead of just skating a pattern. Next, we tossed our doodles aside and she she had us skate while using our entire body to create various shapes and negative space. Finally, she had us put everything we learned together to write our names in cursive on the ice being sure to not just trace our names on the ice with our blades but to use our whole body to fill everything out. I never felt so beautiful on the ice. Amazing! This was probably the session that I enjoyed the most. I never thought I could move like that!

Off-Ice Show Skating Discussion: Skates off and meet Coach Ashley in one of the party rooms to talk about careers as a show skater. Even though this was a combined session with kids and adults, it was mostly for the kids because, let's face it, I'm never going to skate for Disney on Ice! But it was interesting nonetheless. We talked about what life is like as a show skater, the audition process, and the various shows to participate in like Disney, other theme parks, and cruise ships.

On-Ice Power: Okay...this killed me a bit but I did my best to keep up with the kiddos. This was your typical power class where you go up and down the ice nonstop doing various and increasingly complex movements while high intensity music is blasting over the speakers. I held my own and tried my best to hang in there even though, one by one, the adults started to disappear from the ice. When it was over and I was exiting the ice, I got a couple of compliments from some of the skate moms who said they were impressed that I held in there til the end. Hey, I paid for this torture! I'm not about to quit now!

Final Thoughts: I learned a lot and I really feel like this is a great value. My only real complaint about this clinic was the on again/off again of the skates. I spent a lot of time taking my skates off just to put them back on and then take them back off again. It would have been nice to have all of the off-ice sessions during the first half and then the on-ice sessions during the second half. I would have also appreciated a true adults only track. Although I hung in there, the on-ice power class would have been better if I didn't have to struggle so hard to keep up with the kids. I think it was pretty telling that so many adults dropped out and left early. The off-ice/on-ice jumps with the kids was also pretty crowded since there were so many of us and I felt like adults need more attention from the coach since it doesn't come so easily to us as it does to someone who is 8 years old. These things aside, it was a great experience and I'm glad I did it.