Today's lesson was all about moves in the field. We briefly discussed a June test date so now I have a deadline to shoot for. I always work best when I have a goal in sight.
Power 3 Turnz - We worked a bit on getting that weight shift correct and I think I finally got it once he had me add more speed. I think what really clicked today was him having me treat it like the five step mohawks in the sense that everything has an even cadence and I'm counting out the steps. They still aren't perfect but with this little fix, I think they are slightly improved. I also have to remember to step wide onto an inside edge after the 3 turn with a little chasse right before (I think I'm remembering that correctly). There are so many little parts to this to keep in mind and I think that's why I'm struggling to get this to where it needs to be.
BX-BO Edgez - I thought these were fine. Guess what, they are not fine. First, he changed where I placed them. He would like me to now skate then down the center of the rink instead of just on one side so I can make these BIG. Then he pretty much corrected my everything. I need to spend more time on the crossover and then PUSH onto the BO edge.
Five Step Mohawkz - These were generally okay except he would like more of a PUSH on that third step. I was just extending but I didn't push. Push, push push. But he liked my extensions so there's that.
Camelz - We had just a few minutes to look at my camel spins to see how they are coming along. He instructed me to stay bent at the waist as much as I can on the entry edge so I don't have to work as hard bending forward after I've already entered the spin. Also, arching my back will keep things where they need to be. For once, he actually told me that I'm too relaxed going into it. I need to be a little more tense.
Programz - Finally, we talked about Free Skate Testing and how we need to change up the program to accommodate the requirements for the test. We'll look at it during out next lesson but so far he's thinking we might replace the salchow with a flip and replace the waltz-falling leaf-half flip with a salchow. Everything else stays the same.
Saturday, March 23, 2019
Friday, March 22, 2019
Spiraling
I had a pretty productive practice this morning! I pretty much worked on everything with the exception of Backward 3 Turns (I'll see if we can look at them tomorrow during our lesson).
Edgez and Movez - Same old stuff. Just maintenance and trying to get more power in my power 3 turns. In preparation for my camel spin, I wanted to work on the spiral exercise that Christopher gave me last week. I was inspired to work a bit more on these so I attempted the alternating spirals from Silver Moves. Oof, this wasn't pretty. Like...at all. BUT, I did a bunch of them and I know that the more frequently I do a thing, the less scary it will be and the better I will get at it. And, let's face it, I need all the help I can get on my spirals. FO Spirals were not a total disaster but the FI spirals were a hot mess. Yikes.
Spinz - I worked a bit on the camel and I feel like I got my entrance a bit better but the spinning is still not really happening. I'm sure it will get there but it's going to be a long process. I did some backspins as well. They were flamingo'd.
Jumpz - I did all of my program jumps but spent most of my time working on flips. I'm not scared anymore. I thought Tuesday was a fluke but I was able to work on them today too and there was no hesitation. So, at least there has been some progress in my level of fear on this thing. I'll take it.
Edgez and Movez - Same old stuff. Just maintenance and trying to get more power in my power 3 turns. In preparation for my camel spin, I wanted to work on the spiral exercise that Christopher gave me last week. I was inspired to work a bit more on these so I attempted the alternating spirals from Silver Moves. Oof, this wasn't pretty. Like...at all. BUT, I did a bunch of them and I know that the more frequently I do a thing, the less scary it will be and the better I will get at it. And, let's face it, I need all the help I can get on my spirals. FO Spirals were not a total disaster but the FI spirals were a hot mess. Yikes.
Spinz - I worked a bit on the camel and I feel like I got my entrance a bit better but the spinning is still not really happening. I'm sure it will get there but it's going to be a long process. I did some backspins as well. They were flamingo'd.
Jumpz - I did all of my program jumps but spent most of my time working on flips. I'm not scared anymore. I thought Tuesday was a fluke but I was able to work on them today too and there was no hesitation. So, at least there has been some progress in my level of fear on this thing. I'll take it.
Tuesday, March 19, 2019
Running on Empty
There are a lot of scary things happening right now at work. We are in the middle of building a new library which is supposed to open on April 1st and I don't have staffing for our increased hours of operation, I have to pack up soooo many books, and I was just told I won't have bookshelves until May (a month after we open) so, as you can imagine, I'm under a lot of stress and the anxiety is at an all time high. I was looking forward to waking up this morning and hitting the ice because, when I'm skating, I can't think of anything other than what I'm doing. It's nice to escape for a bit.
Edgez & Movez - After warming up, I started right away with edges (forward and backward) and the circle 8. Everything here feels really good. So much so, in fact, that I felt like I just wanted to do the circle 8 for the whole hour. It's like meditation to me now. I ran through the rest of my bronze moves spending extra time on the power 3 turns to really focus on that shift of weight and putting more power into it. I'm not sure if anything improved in this regard but I did the things.
Spinz - I touched on everything today including revisiting the two-foot spin just to see if I still had it (it's been a while). I did some one-foot spins, attitudes, backspins and sit spins but mostly I worked on the camel spin. I'm getting two revs max but no more. I feel like I'm just not positioning my body parts where they should be. I'll keep working on it. I'm kinda hoping that one of these days I'll have an "aha" moment like I did with the toe loop and things will just fall into place from there.
Jumpz - So yeah, things are scary at work so, by comparison, the flip jump seemed like cake today. Absolutely no hesitation to work on this at all. Zero fear. It was more like "my soul is dying so how much harm can a flip jump do, right?" I lost count of how many I did but I do know that I packed as many as I could into a 10 minute time span (because that's really all the time I had left after everything else). They were small and slow but they were landed on one foot. I should be more excited but I'm feeling pretty numb all over at this point. Meh.
Edgez & Movez - After warming up, I started right away with edges (forward and backward) and the circle 8. Everything here feels really good. So much so, in fact, that I felt like I just wanted to do the circle 8 for the whole hour. It's like meditation to me now. I ran through the rest of my bronze moves spending extra time on the power 3 turns to really focus on that shift of weight and putting more power into it. I'm not sure if anything improved in this regard but I did the things.
Spinz - I touched on everything today including revisiting the two-foot spin just to see if I still had it (it's been a while). I did some one-foot spins, attitudes, backspins and sit spins but mostly I worked on the camel spin. I'm getting two revs max but no more. I feel like I'm just not positioning my body parts where they should be. I'll keep working on it. I'm kinda hoping that one of these days I'll have an "aha" moment like I did with the toe loop and things will just fall into place from there.
Jumpz - So yeah, things are scary at work so, by comparison, the flip jump seemed like cake today. Absolutely no hesitation to work on this at all. Zero fear. It was more like "my soul is dying so how much harm can a flip jump do, right?" I lost count of how many I did but I do know that I packed as many as I could into a 10 minute time span (because that's really all the time I had left after everything else). They were small and slow but they were landed on one foot. I should be more excited but I'm feeling pretty numb all over at this point. Meh.
Saturday, March 16, 2019
The Tale of the Wonky Camel
Camelz - As Christopher was getting on the ice, he caught me mid-camel. Obviously a sub-par camel in terms of technique so this is what we started our lesson with. He made some adjustments with my arms and gave me a tortuous exercise that's essentially just a left leg spiral but, as we all know, my left leg is trash. This will take some time.
Power 3z - Next up, a look at my Power 3 Turns. I have the 3s down pat but I'm lacking the power push right before the backwards crossover. I'm just not shifting my weight the right way. I think this move is passable but it's not where I want it to be. I really want to get the technique down. I also need to stay true to the axis. I tend to drift.
Flipz -I knew these were coming but I was just hoping he would forget? He didn't so we got to work on these. He's having me do them slowly on the blue line making sure to stay on the line (I tend to curve these too much). He reminded me that it's not so much a vault off of the toepick but more of a jump off of a backward pivot. We did a few and they were all slow and sloppy but I'm going to work on them hard now. This whole fear thing is really holding me back. Just like the toe loops that I was able to fix by making them slow and small, that's how I'm going to approach these flip jumps until I can build them up to something decent.
Competition Debriefz - Obviously my sit spins are trash because of my injury and there is really nothing more I can do about these outside of continued stretching. Christopher sent me a video of some exercises using a half foam roller that are supposed to help with stability and core strength. As I was looking more into this half foam roller thing I saw that I can also use it to develop ankle strength and improve my dorsiflexion. I immediately ordered one from amazon and I am anxiously awaiting its arrival. So, I told him that I'll keep working on it. My sit spins may never be great but I can at least attempt to make them less awful. He also mentioned that speed and confidence seemed to be an issue so that is something that I will focus on in my practices. Overall, I think he was proud of me and I did what I set out to do - not embarrass myself. So, success!
Power 3z - Next up, a look at my Power 3 Turns. I have the 3s down pat but I'm lacking the power push right before the backwards crossover. I'm just not shifting my weight the right way. I think this move is passable but it's not where I want it to be. I really want to get the technique down. I also need to stay true to the axis. I tend to drift.
Flipz -I knew these were coming but I was just hoping he would forget? He didn't so we got to work on these. He's having me do them slowly on the blue line making sure to stay on the line (I tend to curve these too much). He reminded me that it's not so much a vault off of the toepick but more of a jump off of a backward pivot. We did a few and they were all slow and sloppy but I'm going to work on them hard now. This whole fear thing is really holding me back. Just like the toe loops that I was able to fix by making them slow and small, that's how I'm going to approach these flip jumps until I can build them up to something decent.
Competition Debriefz - Obviously my sit spins are trash because of my injury and there is really nothing more I can do about these outside of continued stretching. Christopher sent me a video of some exercises using a half foam roller that are supposed to help with stability and core strength. As I was looking more into this half foam roller thing I saw that I can also use it to develop ankle strength and improve my dorsiflexion. I immediately ordered one from amazon and I am anxiously awaiting its arrival. So, I told him that I'll keep working on it. My sit spins may never be great but I can at least attempt to make them less awful. He also mentioned that speed and confidence seemed to be an issue so that is something that I will focus on in my practices. Overall, I think he was proud of me and I did what I set out to do - not embarrass myself. So, success!
Friday, March 15, 2019
Camels and Flamingos
I added Friday mornings to my contract and, although in the past I have been intimidated by the higher level skaters who attend this session, I now find that it really pushes me to skate better (mostly because I don't want to embarrass myself or be a poor representative for adult skating). I worked on a lot today and I'm exhausted...and hungry!
Movez - My power 3 turns felt really good today! I feel like they were a lot less scratchy too so maybe these are halfway decent now? Circle 8 was also nice so I did it a few times. I'm feeling a lot more secure on my LFO edge now compared to a year ago when it seemed impossible. BX-BO edges were fine as was my power stroking. I spent some time trying to get better flow on my five-step mohawks. Oddly, it's not the mohawks that are difficult for me, it's really just getting into a groove with it. Hopefully we can spend some time looking at this tomorrow during our lesson just to make sure I'm on the right track.
Spinz - My focus was mostly on backspins and camels today. For the backspins, my "boob trick" is working really well and I had a couple of spins that were right on that sweet spot so I was able to spin for a while (I'm guessing about 5-6 revs?). They are still flamingo'd but I'll take what I can get at this point. Next up were camels and I'm still struggling getting past 1-2 revs. I had one where I snapped up into it from the entry and that was the one where I got the most revs. I think I'm just getting up on my toepick during these and that kinda stops all momentum. I really need to figure out where to put my weight (I mean, I know where to put my weight I just can't get my body to do the thing). I did a couple of sit spins and attitudes just to say I did. They were meh at best.
Jumpz - Well, I'm back to being fearful on my flip again. So stupid. I've been practicing them on the floor at home, I know how they are done, I've done them before, but I just cannot get past the fear! I'm registering for an all day figure skating clinic that takes place here in town in April and one of the sessions they have focuses on sport psychology. I'm really hoping I can figure out why there is such an impenetrable fear block on this jump. It makes zero sense to me and I'm so frustrated with myself because, until I get past this, I can't move on and make progress with my skating. Sigh.
Skillz - I worked on backward 3 turns but didn't make much headway. I'm experiencing some fear issues on these too. In fact, it feels like the same kind of fear I have with the flip jump. I'm wearing padded shorts so backwards falls don't really hurt so there is no reason why I should be scared of these. I wish I could unplug my brain and plug it back in again to reset things. It's crazy how willing I am to work on other scary things but not back 3s and flips. Ugh. Finally, I did some spirals and twizzles to keep those from deteriorating.
Movez - My power 3 turns felt really good today! I feel like they were a lot less scratchy too so maybe these are halfway decent now? Circle 8 was also nice so I did it a few times. I'm feeling a lot more secure on my LFO edge now compared to a year ago when it seemed impossible. BX-BO edges were fine as was my power stroking. I spent some time trying to get better flow on my five-step mohawks. Oddly, it's not the mohawks that are difficult for me, it's really just getting into a groove with it. Hopefully we can spend some time looking at this tomorrow during our lesson just to make sure I'm on the right track.
Spinz - My focus was mostly on backspins and camels today. For the backspins, my "boob trick" is working really well and I had a couple of spins that were right on that sweet spot so I was able to spin for a while (I'm guessing about 5-6 revs?). They are still flamingo'd but I'll take what I can get at this point. Next up were camels and I'm still struggling getting past 1-2 revs. I had one where I snapped up into it from the entry and that was the one where I got the most revs. I think I'm just getting up on my toepick during these and that kinda stops all momentum. I really need to figure out where to put my weight (I mean, I know where to put my weight I just can't get my body to do the thing). I did a couple of sit spins and attitudes just to say I did. They were meh at best.
Jumpz - Well, I'm back to being fearful on my flip again. So stupid. I've been practicing them on the floor at home, I know how they are done, I've done them before, but I just cannot get past the fear! I'm registering for an all day figure skating clinic that takes place here in town in April and one of the sessions they have focuses on sport psychology. I'm really hoping I can figure out why there is such an impenetrable fear block on this jump. It makes zero sense to me and I'm so frustrated with myself because, until I get past this, I can't move on and make progress with my skating. Sigh.
Skillz - I worked on backward 3 turns but didn't make much headway. I'm experiencing some fear issues on these too. In fact, it feels like the same kind of fear I have with the flip jump. I'm wearing padded shorts so backwards falls don't really hurt so there is no reason why I should be scared of these. I wish I could unplug my brain and plug it back in again to reset things. It's crazy how willing I am to work on other scary things but not back 3s and flips. Ugh. Finally, I did some spirals and twizzles to keep those from deteriorating.
Tuesday, March 12, 2019
Back to the grind
Alright, first practice after the competition and boy do I have a lot to work on! I divided my time evenly among three major areas:
Edgez and Movez - My forward edges are just fine because I use them as part of my warm ups but I honestly can't tell you the last time I did backward edges. I know way in the future I'm going to have to start working on the backwards circle 8 so becoming reacquainted with my backwards edges will help. Ooof, these were bad! But, after a few passes, I started to get the feel for them again. After those felt more comfortable, I ran through the entirety of my bronze moves making sure I do each move at least 2-3 times. Everything felt fine as usual but I think I made a slight improvement on my power 3 turns on my bad side. I realized that if I look straight ahead while doing the back crossover right before the step forward, it flows better. I'll have Christopher take a look on Saturday to make sure this is an okay thing to do.
Jumpz and Spinz - I ran through all of my program jumps and then added some fun new ones for variety. I worked on a split falling leaf and a stag jump from a falling leaf. Both were gross looking but it was fun to try. No flips today but I did some flip prep exercises. I hate myself for chickening out on the flips, though. Next, I worked on my program spins, particularly the sit spin to see if I can force myself to get lower (I can't) and the attitude to see if I could get it more consistent (I did). Since Christopher mentioned camel spins in passing while we were at the competition this past weekend, I decided to throw a couple of camels in my practice to get a head start. I'm able to get about 1 1/2 revs out of this but it's nothing spectacular. The tracings look like big circles so I'm pretty sure I'm doing something wrong here. Backspins got worked on as well. I had a bit of an epiphany while working on these! When I pull my arms in over my right boob instead of bringing them in to the middle of my chest, I have more control over the spin and end up with more revolutions! I guess doing it this way prevents me slightly from ending up on an inside edge and falling out of it? I don't care...it works! And I'm going to keep doing it!
Skillz - Since my spirals were so crappy on that weird ice, I wanted to make sure it was the weird ice and not just me being an unskilled pansy so I did a whole bunch of spirals making sure to lean way forward and press the heel. Hey, guess what? I had no problems today with these so I'm totally blaming the weird ice, lol. Next, I tried some backward 3 turns with very little success. Why are these so hard for me? So frustrating! I did some twizzles and fell a lot so I decided to call it a day before I hurt myself :)
Edgez and Movez - My forward edges are just fine because I use them as part of my warm ups but I honestly can't tell you the last time I did backward edges. I know way in the future I'm going to have to start working on the backwards circle 8 so becoming reacquainted with my backwards edges will help. Ooof, these were bad! But, after a few passes, I started to get the feel for them again. After those felt more comfortable, I ran through the entirety of my bronze moves making sure I do each move at least 2-3 times. Everything felt fine as usual but I think I made a slight improvement on my power 3 turns on my bad side. I realized that if I look straight ahead while doing the back crossover right before the step forward, it flows better. I'll have Christopher take a look on Saturday to make sure this is an okay thing to do.
Jumpz and Spinz - I ran through all of my program jumps and then added some fun new ones for variety. I worked on a split falling leaf and a stag jump from a falling leaf. Both were gross looking but it was fun to try. No flips today but I did some flip prep exercises. I hate myself for chickening out on the flips, though. Next, I worked on my program spins, particularly the sit spin to see if I can force myself to get lower (I can't) and the attitude to see if I could get it more consistent (I did). Since Christopher mentioned camel spins in passing while we were at the competition this past weekend, I decided to throw a couple of camels in my practice to get a head start. I'm able to get about 1 1/2 revs out of this but it's nothing spectacular. The tracings look like big circles so I'm pretty sure I'm doing something wrong here. Backspins got worked on as well. I had a bit of an epiphany while working on these! When I pull my arms in over my right boob instead of bringing them in to the middle of my chest, I have more control over the spin and end up with more revolutions! I guess doing it this way prevents me slightly from ending up on an inside edge and falling out of it? I don't care...it works! And I'm going to keep doing it!
Skillz - Since my spirals were so crappy on that weird ice, I wanted to make sure it was the weird ice and not just me being an unskilled pansy so I did a whole bunch of spirals making sure to lean way forward and press the heel. Hey, guess what? I had no problems today with these so I'm totally blaming the weird ice, lol. Next, I tried some backward 3 turns with very little success. Why are these so hard for me? So frustrating! I did some twizzles and fell a lot so I decided to call it a day before I hurt myself :)
Monday, March 11, 2019
2018-2019 Adult Competition Series Results
So, it's the official end to my 2018-2019 season and the officials have tallied up our totals to determine our placements overall for the series. I think that I had a pretty strong season considering this was my first season skating competitively. I'm proud of how far I've come this past year. I worked hard, overcame some huge obstacles (that loop jump fear was strong, ya'll), and improved my confidence and technique. My coach seems pretty proud of me too and that means a whole hellava lot. He has been so patient with me this past year so, if they gave out trophies for awesome coaches, he would win first place for sure just for having to put up with me, lol.
I ended up with enough points to earn a second place finish in the series! WOOT! Look at my super fancy trophy! It weighs a ton but that's because I think it's literally made with all of my blood, sweat, and tears throughout the season.
I'm a happy skater :)
I ended up with enough points to earn a second place finish in the series! WOOT! Look at my super fancy trophy! It weighs a ton but that's because I think it's literally made with all of my blood, sweat, and tears throughout the season.
I'm a happy skater :)
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