Learn to figure skate

Working on loop and flip jumps now (started 1-2 weeks ago), and axels off-ice. Still struggling with spins but I think I may have finally broken through on the one-foot. Goal is to get a program and compete within the year – my coach says she’s thinking Spanish dance music :) I’d also love to land an axel within the next year, plus master the sit and camel spins. And of course, improve my ‘footwork’ overall. I want to look like I’ve been doing it forever.

bunny hops! First on the boards and then all of a sudden I could do them easily on my own, several in a row. I know this is a really basic move but it’s one step closer to being able to do jumps! And then this woman who always comes to adult skate, she’s older and really sweet, came up to me and asked me if those were bunny hops that I’d been practicing, and I said yes, and she said she’d learned them too but needed more practice and couldn’t do them as well as me yet! It felt good, the first near-compliment on my skating :)

I also worked a lot on backwards stuff, and the backwards one-foot glides and one-foot pumps on a circle have improved, but I still feel shaky. I wonder if I just keep practicing these things over and over again, if eventually I’ll be really confident. The woman who asked me about bunny hops said the backwards stuff was very difficult for her as well. Time will tell, I guess.

I also practiced forward crossovers. I eavesdropped on someone else’s lesson and just pretended like I was getting the advice! I think it really helped, the part where you push with the outside edge is much better now, and my actual crossing-over is much smoother and more distinct.

Just an hour and a half today, but backwards one-foot glides and backwards one-foot pumps, as well as general backwards stroking, have definitely improved. I need to start picking my foot up after the swizzle on the backwards stroking. Also worked on forward chasses on a circle, which meant going back to basics and really working on my scooter pushes, trying to get a clean push, a nice lengthy glide and good extension. This helped me when I practiced forward crossovers as well.

I think watching the young competitive skaters during the freestyle session before mine was helpful (aside from making me feel wholly inadequate and jealous…), because it gave me a picture of flow and athleticism to hold in my mind while I skated. I noticed they use their knees a lot to gain speed and agility, lots of bending.

Also I think the reason my backwards one-foot glides turn off to the side rather than going straight is because my weight shifts from the toe to the sole and when I do this, it doesn’t come down evenly. So I have to try to get solidly on the flat of the blade before I pick my foot up.

Went to a dance shop before the rink and bought two pairs of skating pants and a pair of black legwarmers. I spent a lot more than I wanted to but it was nice to skate in pants that fit today and showed the lines of my movements! However basic they are at the moment… :)

Really pleased with my two-foot spins and started trying to pick one foot up today, but this is going to take lots of practice. And I want to learn a 3-turn soon! But this might have to wait until I get back to Oxford and can take another lesson.

2 hours practicing today. Played around on my edges for awhile, both left and right foot, just testing them out, and actually felt much more comfortable and able to more footwork afterwards. Also backwards one-foot glides got better, tried some spirals and some moving entries into the 2-foot spin, and forward crossovers on both sides. Today was one of the first days I felt like I looked different from the recreational skaters, like I sort of knew what I was doing.

Fell twice, on very basic movements, both backwards swizzles I think. I noticed I sometimes have trouble keeping my weight squarely over my skates. On two-foot turns it’s difficult to stay with the motion, when I’m turning quickly and moving forward at the same time. But these have gotten a bit less wobbly. I may need to be more conscious of keeping my knees a bit bent.

Lots of little kids learning to skate today, and parents teaching or skating with their kids, lots of fathers and little girls. Lots of the dads looked like they played hockey and it was cute watching them try to get their daughters to skate forwards without their support…some of the kids were more willing than others :) Also a little girl who’s obviously taking lessons, showing her dad what she could do and trying to teach him things like one-foot glides. So sweet!

Worked on stuff for two hours during a busy public session. It’s difficult to skate when so many people and especially little kids are just traipsing about. And of course there are always the show-off teenagers, i.e. the advanced skaters, who don’t seem to look where they’re going and always get in the way. But perhaps I’m just impatient…and most definitely jealous :) But, all in good time…

Still having trouble with the backwards one-foot glides, although I may have seen a slight improvement by the end. I can now definitely balance on my left leg for much longer going forwards than before. And the backwards stroking has gotten easier as well…I just really need to concentrate on leaning my weight onto that outside edge, as it makes it much easier.

I also fell on something stupid, like a forward swizzle. It’s bizarre how my balance can be so inconsistent on skates…I suppose that fluidity and sure-footedness just comes with practice. So, aiming for another 2-hour session on Monday, if the rink is open. I really have to focus on keeping my weight centered and not dropping a shoulder when I’m doing one-foot stuff.

So my lesson yesterday was ok…I did much better when I was practicing on my own, and I also fell once. My backwards moves are still weak and inconsistent. My instructor seemed a bit grumpy too which didn’t help. I wonder if they have less patience for adult learners? I think it’s more difficult as an adult largely because you think about every little thing rather than just going for it full-throttle. But eventually maybe that will make for a very precise technique?

On the plus side, my instructor said my two-foot spin looked great and I was more than ready to learn a one-foot spin, but she wanted me to get more comfortable on my left leg first…so that’s the goal for next week. Lot of one-foot glides, backwards and forwards, backwards stroking and one-foot pulls to practice. She also said that on the whole, I’d improved a lot…that we’d basically covered 3 levels in the few weeks I’ve been home…and that even just in terms of stroking, now I looked like a ‘real skater’ rather than someone who comes and just skates around for fun.

I also learned a two-foot turn but I need to practice keeping the motion going throughout it.

Be able to do all the USFSA Adult Pre-Bronze MIF and/or USFSA Basic Skills 1-7.

Went to break in my skates today…ouch. They rubbed the tops of my ankles so I guess I’m going to have to get Bunga pads, or some substitute. Also the bottoms of my feet hurt, which will hopefully get better once the leather stretches a bit. Also the sharp blades take a lot of getting used to…I couldn’t even do a one-foot snowplow stop! I even fell once today, on something stupid like a one-foot pump…I haven’t fallen in weeks.

I may move Wednesday’s lesson to Friday so I can get another session in with these bad boys. All in all though, I felt very sophisticated in my own pretty white skates…despite the 7 year olds and the senior citizens who were much more skilled than me…!

Another lesson today, in the rental skates because my new ones hadn’t come in yet. They were fine in terms of sharpness, because I asked for the newest pair, but they hurt the soles of my feet for some reason. Anyway I hadn’t gotten to practice this week, so I was glad for the hour of the session before the coach came so I could work on some of the things I learned last time. And the lesson went really well! She said I’d improved a lot. The main things to keep practicing now are stroking and the backwards stuff: swizzles, stroking, one-foot glides and one-foot pumps. We did the backwards stroking for the first time today, as well as a backwards snowplow stop and a two-foot spin…the last one is particularly exciting, which is silly, I know…but it’s one step closer to being a real figure skater!!!

And good news…my skates came in during my lesson! So now I’ve got them, along with pretty blue blade guards and soakers. The only thing I forgot to ask about was waterproofing and general care, but I suppose I can call about that tomorrow. Can’t wait to break them in next week, and feel like a real skater instead of someone who just comes to stroke around every now and then!

There were two young girls practicing today, they must have been somewhere between 10 and 12. They were so good, and they were skating before I came and after I left, with different coaches…it looks like they’ve got one for jumps, one for spins, etc. They were working on double jumps, flying camels, spin combinations, etc., all pretty advanced and they looked beautiful on the ice, so willowy and graceful! One of them was wearing a jacket that said national team, which wasn’t surprising, and I heard the other one’s mother talking about her physical therapist…to need a physical therapist at that age, wow. But she was so amazing to watch, they both were…if I could go back in time I would do the same thing, if it gave me a chance to be great.

Had to change my rental skates because the first ones were too dull to do anything…luckily they had an almost-new pair, and it made such a difference! I can’t wait to get my own skates, those clunky blue plastic ones just affirm for everyone else what an amateur I am :( But the lesson was very good, I learned several new things, including slaloms, inside and outside edge one-foot glides on a circle, scooter pushes, forward and backward one-foot swizzles on a circle, and forward and backward one-foot glides on a straight line. I need a lot of practice with basic stroking, particularly push-offs, and also balancing on my left foot. I’m still not consistent going backwards so that needs a lot of work, as well as being able to stay on one foot for longer, and in a straighter line.

The ice was good today, not too many people on it so lots of space to skate. Two fairly advanced adults practicing more advanced moves in the field, spins and jumps, spirals, etc. One of these warmed up with her iPod, is this safe? Doesn’t seem so but would be so nice to skate to my own music… Also an elderly couple practicing basic ice dance stuff together (so cute!) and a few fairly new figure skaters as well, practicing basic skills stuff…but at this point, they’re still all more advanced than me…

I scheduled another lesson for Friday but I may move it to Monday, because I won’t have my skates until Wednesday and I want to be able to break them in and get used to them a bit before having a lesson.