It's been one whole week skating in the new skates and I'm feeling a lot better than I was last Tuesday when I first put them on. Most of my skills are back now so I'm feeling a bit more confident.
Moves - One of the things that hasn't come back yet are my backward 3 turns and I'm really sad about it. I attempted a couple and felt like I was going to die so I think I'll wait until Christopher can hold my hands or something. It's just unsettling how curvy these blades are on this move and it really does feel like a disaster waiting to happen. On the flip side, my forward three turns are so damn nice and my forward and backward circle 8s are back as well. But my edges are the nicest of all. Like, they are just so pleasant and part of me wants to just skate around the rink doing inside and outside consecutive edges for the whole session. They're satisfying!
Jumps - Earlier in the week, I wasn't able to do much more than some tiny waltz jumps but now I'm jumping everything. However...my best jump is dead. The loop jump was the one jump that I felt like had strength and power and now I'm just unable. I can do a tiny one from a RFI entry but I can't do it at all from back crossovers. Again, the curviness of the blade makes it really difficult to get the deep edge I need to make the jump happen. I'll keep my fingers crossed that this is temporary. I'd be really sad if I lost the best jump I'm able to do. I can even do it in combo with a salchow, but not on it's own. Sigh.
Spins - I think I've got a handle on the forward scratch spin and I've been able to do them like I used to but once I try any other spin, it's disaster. Camels and sit spins are gone. Backspins are hopeless. They'll get there though. I'll probably get a hang of those before I get my jumps back the way they were.
Free Dance - I haven't skated it to the music since I switched skates but I've been able to work on sections and, with the exception of the camel spin, all is well. I think I'll try it with the music next time I'm on the ice.
Pattern Dances - For the 2022-23 competition season, the two Pattern Dances for my level will be Cha Cha and Hickory Hoedown. These are two very fun dances and I'm excited to get these polished up for competition. The last time I competed with the Cha Cha, I didn't place well (to be fair, I was competing against a bunch of senior level skaters but still). I'm determined to do better and part of that is making sure I fill out the whole rink with the pattern. That requires more power than I'm skating it now so I have some work to do. I also need to figure out what I'll skate to. I have Bonnie Raitt's "Something to Talk About" for the HickHoe but I'm undecided about the Cha Cha. All of the songs I really like are wildly out of tempo. I can adjust tempos slightly using Audacity but not that much. I'll have to find something that has a Cha Cha feel and is at least close to the tempo I need.
Cup of Colorado is coming up in August and I would like to compete in Pattern Dance and Free Dance. I think next season will be the "Season of Dance" for me since I can't imagine getting a Silver Free Skate put together in time.
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