Pre-alpha adult beginner classes: what to expect?

[Rubies]

my biggest bruising comes from trying to snowplow. LOL. Ouch, my knees! I dont even attempt a t-stop.
one of my hockey playing friends helped me out. she said to hold on to the boards, and then gently slide your feet out, like you are doing a stop. She said the hard part was the scraping across the ice without pressing too hard, and you can practice that standing still without risk of falling (like if you try to stop). I found this good advice for practicing!

I'm going to try this next week! Everything we've learned has been "Here it is- now go do it!" I need the "break it down" version

[Bunny_Hop]

For snowplough stops, everyone I know uses the "half snowplough" (one foot stopping, one gliding). That way you still have a leg to stand on. I haven't really done a full snowplough since I passed the test for it.

[backspin]

Good heavens, you poor people!

Here's how I break it down (I teach it as a 1-footed stop--not the two foot thing as if you were on skis)

1. 2 foot glide, feet together.
2. dip (bend both knees, but keep your back straight & shoulders back)
3. 1 foot (I use my right) turns very slightly pigeon-toed, and pushes forward & slightly to the side, resting on the inside edge, slowly extending to a straight leg. You are now on one bent leg, and one straight leg. ALL your weight is on the bent leg, and the straight leg is barely touching the ice. I tell students you're trying to shave off only the top molecules of ice.

This takes practice & finesse to find how much pressure to put on the stopping foot (not much). And, the faster you're going, the harder it will be & the longer it takes to stop. I have students take ONE push, then go into the 2 foot prep glide.

I hope that helps!

ETA: you can also practice this off the ice to get used to keeping all your weight on the bent leg!

[Willowway]

Thank you backspin! I have practice time tomorrow and I'm going to try it just as you've written it. Since I can't stop at all (aside from slowing down or turning) a one-footed stop (we call it a hockey stop here) would be HUGE progress.

For any of the other adult skaters who might want what I think is a great idea for their rink - I didn't think this up and it's been in place for a long time, I just get the benefit. Since lunchtime is a slow time during the week at my rink (we have no elite training that goes all day), they have one ice surface for what's called the Coffee Club - no one under 18 on the ice, no hockey at all. So it's a devoted group of adult figure skaters and actually some of the rink's coaches who work during this time period. No class, just individuals doing their separate things. It's Mon, Wed. and Fri for about 70 mins each time. Wonderful to have an all-adult ice time that's calm and uncrowded. It's also less expensive than a full public session and has a loyal group of skaters. I suppose weekday lunchtime is a loss anyhow so it makes some people very happy.

Edited following day to add:

The one-footed stop is harder than it sounds. That said, I made a little progress with it and backspins approach/description was perfect; my ability to implement it, not so much... I'll keep working on it!

[jjane45]

I'm all for knowing what comes next, but I feel it's a real waste of my time and money to start teaching us things for 1/4 of the class that we can't do, especially at the beginning of the session. But two classes down and eight more to go!

It's plain dangerous too. Crossover is NOT going to happen without a secure one foot glide, your coach is calling for accidents. (to give it just one try is different from working on it for extended period of time, expecting results)

Try convince her to divide the class up by level (at least pre-alpha from alpha) and work with each group separately. And if it cannot happen, try to switch to a different class or talk to the skating director.

This link mentions how crucial it is to master the basics before working on crossovers by comparing ISI Learn to Skate and USFS Basic Skills curriculum. See if it helps.

http://xan-boni.blogspot.com/2010/06...e-side-by.html

[Bunny_Hop]

ALL your weight is on the bent leg, and the straight leg is barely touching the ice. I tell students you're trying to shave off only the top molecules of ice.

That's what I meant above. Thanks for explaining it so well. It just seems so much easier than stopping with both feet -- if you do that, there's nothing left to really balance on that's not skidding.

[Susan1]

That's okay. I'm working on pre-silver dances, and I can't really T-stop.

That reminds me of my beginning Dance tests (ISI). It was just the dance steps - chasse's, progressives, swing rolls, forward, backward, different tempos, but at the end of each pattern, I had to do a t-stop. I always laughed watching the tape because the steps were good, but every t-stop was so wobbly, I was glad I had a partner to hold me up.

Couldn't do the two foot snow plow either. I used to just do it on the right foot. Some things are just easier for different people than others. I was doing three turns before I even knew what they were (saw someone and copied it), but I never, ever could do an unscratchy mohawk. I loved doing Salchows but bunny hops scared me to death.