Practice Thread

gkelly said:
However, coach did agree today that the European will probably be ready to test before the Foxtrot. Darn mohawks!
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I can do the Foxtrot mohawk adequately in isolation (coach assisted) but as soon as I try and put it in the dance it goes to shit. But I actually hate the three turn in the Foxtrot more - it can get whippy so easily (and almost wiping out on it one time hasn't helped).
 
i
Bunny Hop said:
I can do the Foxtrot mohawk adequately in isolation (coach assisted) but as soon as I try and put it in the dance it goes to shit. But I actually hate the three turn in the Foxtrot more - it can get whippy so easily (and almost wiping out on it one time hasn't helped).
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i had the same issue. try checking your right arm back extremely hard before you go into the hawk, then checkign your left arm back even harder as you turn. it'll help keep you upright.

anyone have crossroll tips for the paso? i can do 2 beat, but the 1 beat rolls are a bit beyond me at the moment.
 
Maybe it forced you to focus yourself, and helped you get grounded. When I was a kid, if I couldn't stay focused enough, I would go off in a corner on the carpet and do a 4 or 5 minute head stand, then go back on the ice and skate much better. I would probably break my neck if I tried to do a head stand nowadays.
 
treesprite said:
Maybe it forced you to focus yourself, and helped you get grounded. When I was a kid, if I couldn't stay focused enough, I would go off in a corner on the carpet and do a 4 or 5 minute head stand, then go back on the ice and skate much better. I would probably break my neck if I tried to do a head stand nowadays.
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I think it was the concentrating on edges and control (and balance) that made the skating so much better afterwards.
 
C_T_T_ said:
I skated today! :cheer:

Nothing to report on since I have a bad hip injury and am limited to just doing turns and edges but today I was satisfied just to be on the ice. I'm sure frustration will set in again soon!
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I'm happy for you! I hope your having hip heals fast so you can skate lots more!
 
Thank you :) It's been 6 months already and I really miss jumping but for now I suppose I'll settle for being able to do anything!
 
C_T_T_ said:
I skated today! :cheer:

Nothing to report on since I have a bad hip injury and am limited to just doing turns and edges but today I was satisfied just to be on the ice. I'm sure frustration will set in again soon!
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That's great news! Hope everything will get better soon :cheer2:
 
I haven't skated for two weeks, as last Sunday the one rink open decided to close for holiday. Yes, it was a public holiday here, but the schedule had been online for ages, and it said the rink would be open as normal, then suddenly the day before they changed it, removed everything and stated "closed". Yeah, right, and that holiday came as a complete surprise to you???:mad::pblah....

Today there was no public session due to rink being occupied by some trainers seminar... (hockey for sure)

But, camp in two weeks! I've never been to a weeklong figure skating camp before, (just hockey:Dand I was like 15) and two other adults I'm skating with haven't either, but yet another has been to eight camps and are making lists for us on everything. I'd like to start packing right now, I'm like a kid! Any camp tips from you guys are also greatly appreciated. (I guess I should dig out the camp thread again)
 
I remember, from the adult camp in Hackensack, NJ, that I used to sweat through my socks, so if you wear socks or etc. when you skate, bring some extras. I also remember being really hungry the first day, when I hadn't brought enough snacks, so perhaps some snacks as well. Otherwise, have fun!
 
Practice last Thursday was a car crash. To be fair to me I wasn't feeling well and hadn't had much sleep.

Hopefully this week will be better :lol:
 
GarrAarghHrumph said:
I remember, from the adult camp in Hackensack, NJ, that I used to sweat through my socks, so if you wear socks or etc. when you skate, bring some extras. I also remember being really hungry the first day, when I hadn't brought enough snacks, so perhaps some snacks as well. Otherwise, have fun!
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Thank you! I will definitely bring lots of extra snack bars:)
 
antmanb said:
Practice last Thursday was a car crash. To be fair to me I wasn't feeling well and hadn't had much sleep.

Hopefully this week will be better :lol:
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It is dangerous to skate while sleep deprived. The main reason I don't practice as much as I want, is that I have sleep problems and won't skate if my brain isn't clear. I crashed a car by falling asleep when I did not feel sleepy but was actually sleep deprived, and have dozed off standing up before, so I tend to be on the side of caution. Skating is too risky of an activity to do when awareness, balance, and focus are compromised.
 
All I really did today was 3-turns and edges. I texted the coach and told her that for tomorrow's lesson I just want to work on my posture, which I can do by working on doing long edges. Texted also that I was feeling really discouraged because I think more about my skates on my feet than I do on my actual skating.
 
Lesson today! We did a lot of spin work since I tend to neglect that (and actually intended to today - I wanted to jump, but my coach wasn't feeling well and had to coach from the boards, which meant spins it was).

My upright backspins are getting pretty nice, I did some okay upright forwards, and then we started on the sit spin. I. Could. Not. Get. It. Right. No matter what I tried, I just fell onto the inside edge and then off the spin. Again, and again, and again. I could not find the spin spot and I could not keep my weight over my left side. I don't know how many we did. I tried to fight it every time and every time my ankle just fell inside.

After a bit my coach moved me onto camels. I found it easier to be where I should be on these...for a rev or two...then I fell inside again. On one of them I fought it, tried to push my ankle back, and it promptly did a rapid outside-inside-outside-inside wobble that scared the bejeesus out of both of us.

Coach could see I was feeling pretty discouraged, so she decided we'd do something new - back camels. This was a lot more fun (mostly because I can get my leg higher on that side and there were new mechanics to work out) and I even did a sort of half-rev in a mostly camel position! So the lesson ended on an upbeat note.

Coach and I also had a bit of a come-to-Jesus talk about my flexibility or complete lack thereof. Her words were sternly - you are so inflexible that if you do not do anything about it you will never get a camel spin that counts. She is, of course, 100% right. I love my coach because she knows when I need kind words and she knows when I need stern words and I needed to hear that today.

So yay, daily stretching time. Woot, woot.
 
treesprite said:
It is dangerous to skate while sleep deprived. The main reason I don't practice as much as I want, is that I have sleep problems and won't skate if my brain isn't clear. I crashed a car by falling asleep when I did not feel sleepy but was actually sleep deprived, and have dozed off standing up before, so I tend to be on the side of caution. Skating is too risky of an activity to do when awareness, balance, and focus are compromised.
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I'm in a slump right now with my skating, and it's partly because my sleep has been off-and-on lately. I just don't feel safe going on the ice unless I've had at least 6 hours' sleep the night before.
 
misskarne said:
Coach and I also had a bit of a come-to-Jesus talk about my flexibility or complete lack thereof. Her words were sternly - you are so inflexible that if you do not do anything about it you will never get a camel spin that counts. She is, of course, 100% right. I love my coach because she knows when I need kind words and she knows when I need stern words and I needed to hear that today.
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Not intended to discourage you at all but know that whatever you do to improve it, you will need to continue to do every day because the minute you stop, you lose all the gains that you made. I know this from personal experience sadly.

I can't even take my level 1 field moves because I cannot get my leg to hip height on one side (I forget which was my good side now because they're both equally bad). I can randomly get my leg high enough in a camel spin, but not in a spiral.

I practiced leg raises in the spiral position, stretches holding the position on a balance board, then leg raises in the position on the balance board. I made some improvements, but then got to the point of needing to do it all with ankle weights on because off ice you don't have the weight of the boot, so I was never getting it as high on the ice as I was off ice.

I got as far as ordering the weights, and then got lazy :wuzrobbed: So I still haven't taken my level 1 field moves.
 
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antmanb said:
Not intended to discourage you at all but know that whatever you do to improve it, you will need to continue to do every day because the minute you stop, you lose all the gains that you made. I know this from personal experience sadly.

I can't even take my level 1 field moves because I cannot get my leg to hip height on one side (I forget which was my good side now because they're both equally bad). I can randomly get my leg high enough in a camel spin, but not in a spiral.

I practiced leg raises in the spiral position, stretches holding the position on a balance board, then leg raises in the position on the balance board. I made some improvements, but then got to the point of needing to do it all with ankle weights on because off ice you don't have the weight of the boot, so I was never getting it as high on the ice as I was off ice.

I got as far as ordering the weights, and then got lazy :wuzrobbed: So I still haven't taken my level 1 field moves.
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Yeah, it sucks. When I started skating I stretched enough that I barely passed my spirals for Aussie Skate Free Skate (and even then I probably shouldn't have passed 3). But then I guess I got lazy. The problem is that not having a camel position limits my spin options severely, even at Bronze. It won't be acceptable at Silver.

I've found a 5-minute complete beginner stretch routine on Youtube which I vow I will do twice a day. I know I won't ever be Lipnitskaya, but I'll settle for a camel that even I would allow.
 
I just started doing spirals again, but only can do it backwards, and only on one side. Forward ones are too scary, and the other leg I can't get high enough.

I was centering about half of my scratch spins and averaging about 12 to 14 revs, but the last couple weeks they have been really awful, all traveled, sloppy, thrown out of wack. I couldn't figure out why all of a sudden I'm having so much trouble. Today I kind of thought maybe I am psychologically doing it to myself because of anticipation of new skates. It would possibly be focused on spins, because one of the struggles I have with these blades is the trouble they give me with spins (so I'm sabotaging myself, making it worse). What happens with these blades is that right at the end of the back inside edge, before the step forward, I often feel like the back end of the blade is grabbing the ice, holding my leg back so that there is a hesitation before actually getting my free leg into the position it should be as the initial turn is started. I never had that problem with Coronation Ace or MK Pro blades (both have a 7 ft rocker, whereas these Ultima Matrix Legacy blades have an 8 ft rocker). It will probably be another week before we hear from Jackson, then it will probably be a few or several weeks before the boots are finished and ready for pickup, then I have to get blades on them and it might not get done right away because all my money is going to be spent on the boots. I almost feel like not bothering to work on anything until I get the new skates, but that would be silly.
 
Another kind of crappy practice last night :(

I did not have my jumping legs on me. I could barely leave the ice on my jumps so in my lesson we put them to one side and worked on moves instead. We did a FI rocker pattern in a serpentine which goes LFO three turn, RBO edge cross over from the LBI push onto a RFI edge RFI rocker, LBO cross over, from the RBI push onto LFI edge, LFI rocker and repeat down the rink.

My LFI rocker isn't too bad, my RFI rocker is a disaster :lol: I bend forward at the waist, stick my bum right out and fluff the turn. I'm much more relaxed and upright on the LFI and the turn happens easily but on the right foot it all goes wrong.

This is generally the pattern with all moves and turns - the right foot is so much worse than the left and it doesn't even matter which direction the rotation is in which is bizarre because I would expect anti clockwise rotations to be better than clockwise as that is the way I jump and spin, but it's just a dodgy right foot :lol:

I also blame that dodgy right foot for my complete lack of backspin.

Anyway, it's just one of those weeks that you have that wasn't worth the waste of petrol getting to the rink :lol:

Next week can only get better.
 
Lesson tonight. Started with the stroking exercises from the Elementary test - the forward inside, backwards inside, backwards outside, and the forwards and backwards crossrolls, which my coach was very pleased about and said were vastly improved.

Then I got my jump lesson as I wanted. We did waltz jumps to start, looking for the correct spot to take off, which I did eventually find. After that we did some Salchows, and I was having huge Salchow problems. Coach wants me to try to elongate the three turn into the Salchow, which we did with varying levels of success. After a while, I landed a half decent one, and coach let me do toe loops (my favourite jump and my best). She challenged me to make them bigger because she knows I can, so I did. Then I did a clean loop, which was pretty fun!

Then we did some flips, and some flip-toes, which was mostly focusing on the mechanics of the actual combination. I got a decent couple in, and so we moved onto waltz jumps-loop jumps, which I managed to land two of, and concluded the lesson. :D
 
First time on the ice in about 6 weeks. Nearly finished with a course of PT for hip pain and figured I'd better test out the equipment to make sure it doesn't fail prior to my final appointment! Simple edges today, a few 3-turns & mohawks & moves patterns, some wobbly two-footed spins and a few of my semi-crazed FI twizzles. So far, so good. No jumping yet or 'real' spinning (given that for most spins I have to swing that leg around and I think it would be wise to strengthen the muscles around that joint some more before I start whipping my leg all over the place). Felt good to be back on the ice.
 
Since I've passed that stupid dance, I'm working on some new stuff in ice dance, to prepare for the dances at the silver level. I'm learning all sorts of wacky stuff which goes into the American Waltz, the Tango and the Rocker Foxtrot, although my coach hasn't told me that. I know it's coming. Like the shark from jaws.
 
:lol: @GarrAarghHrumph

I was fully expecting another bad practice and lesson last night. I warmed up and still had the pitifully small jumps of last week so was in a bit of a mood by the time my lesson started. I warned my coach about the lack of jump in my jumps so she asked me to show her. She usually makes me do around 10 waltz jumps in a row to get me going, and the first couple were awful, but as I went through the exercise the jumps got better and bigger, higher, longer all good. And that translated back to salchow and toe-loop too :cheer2: we spent a good 5 minutes trying to get a loop out, and eventually I got a small slightly cheated one out, on one foot, with a tiny bit of flow out.

I was prepared to not even try a flip but coach forced me, and I'm glad she did because despite not landing a single one on one foot, I got really good height, proper pick in, easy rotation, just two footed every time :lol: I have a habit of not stretching back to pick in. I pick in close to the skating foot and then cheat it off two feet. But I got clean take off after clean take off and probably the best height of any jump I do. Coach always says there's no reason to two foot the landing, but psychologically I just put it down....if I try to focus on keeping the foot up, the technique of the take off goes to crap :lol:

Anyway I worked hard on jumps for the majority of the lesson including various combinations and sequences including ending things with a side skip, jumped LFO three turn - salchow (with varying degrees of success).

I ended the short session a very tired and sweaty mess - the sign of a good workout :lol:
 
Spin-focused lesson tonight (see, I'm getting better at trying to even out what I ask to work on!). We did back uprights, working on my control and keeping them in one place more or less instead of wandering all over the shop as my uprights tend to do. Then we did forward cross-foots which I actually hit on the first go to my complete surprise (making my coach laugh at the expression on my face). And then we did sit spins and I did a fcuking sit spin I kicked its butt! Ahem. After all my problems last time, I was pretty happy to do a semi-okay one that didn't fall to inside.

We moved onto camels after that, and I even got a couple of decent ones of those in, even managing not to fall to the inside on these, too, which is a huge achievement. Since I was spinning so well, coach challenged me to try camel-sits. I struggle a bit with the mechanics of this, but after a few tries I actually did manage to swing the leg around the side instead of trying to bring it under - at the cost of not doing a proper camel first, so it wasn't a great resolution, but it worked. Then we did foundation back camel work (learning new things always makes me excited so my coach likes to throw them in every now and again). And then she let slip the end goal - she wants me to constantly practice my back camel, so that eventually we can start moving onto step overs into camel! The absolute prelude to flying camel spins! Something I've always wanted to learn! I might have got a little too giddy at this point, so she made me go jump.

I did several wonky three jumps, searching again for the right toe point to take off and land. Then we did some Salchows, and apart from a super-swingy first one I actually managed to lengthen the three turn without hugely compromising the jump. (She said, see, you can make friends with the Salchow. I replied that it was more like a truce. She said that would do.) And then it was the end of the lesson. Time for more ankle strengthening exercises!
 
I'm working with a new personal trainer who absolutely hammered my legs on Saturday....I am still finding it difficult to walk, and tonight is leg day again :scream: I am hoping that this is what I need to get an actual sitspin again. A couple of years ago I finally got low enough to actually say it was a sitspin. I even went to an adult skate camp where a bona fide ISU tech specialist said he'd call that a sitspin...and then I promptly put on weight and couldn't get low enough :lol:

Every time I move and legs hurt I think of a sitpin :lol:
 
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