3 Turnz - It's not a surprise that I'm still struggling with placing my 3 turns at the top of the lobe. I seem to have issues with visualization. I have a hard time keeping track of an axis and I'm hella bad at estimating where the top of a lobe is. If I turn too late then I try to fix it and turn too early. Oof. Part of my problem on the forward turns is my arms. I was leading with the wrong arm making the forward 3 turns more difficult than they needed to be. Once this was fixed, I was able to do the turns easier and maintain the edge a bit better on the backside. The backward turns are happening but they are still forced. But hey, I was able to do both BI 3s so there's that! Again, he told me to keep the free foot out in front and a bit crossed going into the turn. I start out that way but then as soon as the turn happens, instant flamingo! This is tough but I'm getting better each time I do them. Imagine how lovely these will be a year from now.
Cross Strokez - We started with the forward strokes and I seem to be on the right track with these. I still need more of a slide-cross on my left side but at least I know that they are not entirely wrong. The backward strokes are much improved but still have a ways to go. Same thing with the left side. I need to hold the free leg out in front a bit longer before putting it back on the outside edge. He appreciated that I wasn't quick-stepping these so I got one good comment from him! I really need to focus on feeling that outside edge though and holding it out longer. Still lots of work to be done.
Power Pullz - We worked a bit on the forward pulls which are just not really happening for me yet. When I do them, I feel like I'm too much on my heel and it's going to slip out from under me. So, I need to be down in my knees more and have a strong core. These are exhausting! I feel like every muscle in my body is working hard to make even the slightest movement happen (and that's just on my good leg, my left leg pulls are just non-existent). He told me, for now, I should do two forward slaloms followed by two one-foot pulls and keep doing that until I get the flow down consistently on one leg. That should help. We moved on to backward pulls and these were at least recognizable as power pulls but he would still like to see my free leg closer to my skating leg and not sticking out in back as much. My right leg power pulls are okay but when I switch to my left, things get tricky. He held my hands as I attempted these just so I could get a better feel for it. The thing is, I need soft ankles and my left ankle still feels like it's made of concrete. I'll just have to double up on the ankle stretching on this side. I can't see any other way it will work unless I loosen things up a bit more. This is one of those moves that people do and it looks effortless but it takes so much coordination! Sigh.
Spinz - We talked ever so briefly about Bronze Compulsories and he determined that, although I have my choice of spin, at this level, I really should be doing a nice sit spin. So I reeled off a few mediocre sit spins for him. I just feel like I've lost control of these. I need to spend more time on them in my practices to get them back to a place where they are centered, controlled, and low. I feel like lately I can only get one of those three things to happen at any given time. I need to see if I can make all three work in harmony.
So, it was a good lesson and I'm making progress but I feel like I'm in this transition period where I'm going to look pretty inept for while until I get the hang of things. It's all part of learning and growing. I have a tendency to rush through everything because my mind is ready to do these things but my body hasn't caught up yet. I just finished reading "Watership Down" (now in my top 3 novels of all time!) and there's a quote that seems particularly apt to my situation:
“You're trying to eat grass that isn't there. Why don't you give it a chance to grow?”
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