Friday, October 2, 2020

Lutzes, and camels, and Axels, OH MY!

 It's been a week since I last updated. My apologies. My 17 years young kitty has been rushed to the emergency vet so many times this past week and we still aren't entirely sure what might be wrong with her. Send positive vibes her way if you're reading this. She's my whole world and I'll be wrecked if I lose her. Skating has been a nice distraction and I've been hyper-focused on one thing in particular - the Axel! More on that later. 

Movez - This past week, we mostly spent our time looking at the power pulls and backward 3 turns. The LBO 3 turn is still getting worked on yet it is still not happening. I was able to get some progress on it at the boards. My biggest issue with this turn is not ending up on the proper part of the blade right after the turn so I always come to a complete stop after turning. I'm able to get some glide out by the boards and that little bit of something is better than all the nothing I've been experiencing with this bastard of a turn so far. I'll keep plugging away at it. 

Spinz - So.Many.Camelz! During yesterday's lesson, I was able to get multiple revolutions so that's progress! I'm really not throwing myself into this spin like I should and then when I do, I let my leg drop about one revolution into the spin. So, this camel is just more effort than the spins I've been doing. For example, my scratch spin takes minimal effort and minimal movement. Once I'm in position, I can just spin and spin and spin until I run out of steam. Not so much with the camel! There is just so much to remember. I have to get a nice powerful edge going in. I have to keep my left arm out in front and let it guide me into the spin. I have to make an effort to keep the free leg parallel or higher throughout. It's just...a lot. BUT! It is improving slightly every time I try. 

Jumpz - Flips got worked on. We are back to approaching it with the 3 turn entry since my technique is slightly better that way. We've also been working on the lutz. I started with half lutzes to get the entry right and now I'm doing full lutzes. They are gross but they are happening without fear so yay! In fact, Christopher told me that he thinks my lutzes may end up better than flips. Hrmm. Finally, Axels. A couple of weeks ago he gave me the walk-through exercise to do at the blue line (waltz jump into backspin) and said once I got that down, I could move into the harness. I guess he saw some progress because he strapped me into the harness yesterday for some Axels! I really thought they would be easy to do in the harness since I know how everything works and there is no fear of falling but alas, my attempts were mostly garbage. He said I had one that was an "almost Axel" so I'm getting there. It felt awesome to be able to just really throw myself into a jump for once. I still took some spills but because of the harness they weren't as bad. This jump is terrifyingly fun!

That's about it. He said he was going to start teaching me ice dance soon and I'm looking forward to adding another thing to my already full plate :)

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