I had a better session today. We began with something fun and new! My coach taught me a dance-like pattern that is on the first skating skills test. It is a clockwise pattern of three-turns, crossovers and steps that covers the whole ice surface, called 'Waltzing Threes'. It is actually quite fun and I am looking forward to practicing it again. My coach is going to photocopy the pattern for me, because I am still a bit fuzzy about how the pattern goes in the corners of the rink. Strangely, I have not been able to find information about the Skate Canada test content online, even though all of the USFSA test content is available online. So I will have to rely on my coach for now. I hate not being able to find things online!
After the skills session was the CanSkate class (learn to skate). This time I did not have to teach by myself, whew! I helped out with organizing the kids and mostly shouting gems of wisdom like 'Arms up! Feet together!'.
In the group lesson we practiced some weird pattern of edge changes I had never done before. I did not really get to see what the whole thing was, and I was so far back in the line that by the time it was my turn, the other students were doing the pattern back toward me and we had to swerve out of eachothers' way. So that was a bit of an annoying waste of time. After that we switched to more useful drills in a better format. I like the group lessons, but sometimes we try to practice so many moves that I only get to do each one once or twice. I will have to practice them more on my own.
We had another group spin lesson too and my backspin seems to be progressing. My coach doesn't like my free leg position, but this is an improvement over not being able to do the spin at all. Then, she broke my sit-spin!! I have a toe-out, heel-in, foot-on-an-angle position with my free foot in my sit-spin that my coach does not like. Now when I try to have the foot vertical (but pointed), I get even more unbalanced in the spin and travel/fall out. So I am a bit irked that now I can't do a sit-spin. I need to find out which is the more serious offense, an "ugly" foot position or gross traveling. In my opinion traveling is worse but I will ask my coach's opinion. I know that I also don't squat down enough but she seems willing to let that slide for the moment. That is a relief, because I have knee problems and it will take some time at physiotherapy to improve my range of motion in the knee.
Then it was time for freeskate and I spent twenty minutes on my camel spin. I don't normally spend so much time on it but it was taking forever to really warm up. I did spirals and stretches, but it took quite some time to get comfortable. I did manage several respectable if slow camels, but the rest of them all failed in a fall/lean to the inside. I know I need to lean to the outside of my supporting foot, but somehow it's just not translating into actually doing it.
During this experience I began to get frustrated, again. It is hard when you have a good skate (like I did last Saturday) and then the next time or two, or seven, you suck. It is easy to be fooled into thinking that each practice, you will do the same or better as the last. This is completely untrue in figure skating, at least in my experiences both as a child and as an adult. Memories of frustration and exasperation started coming back to me. This became worse as I discovered my broken sit-spin when trying to fix the free foot position, and then when an elite skater commandeered the ice. I had to keep forcing myself to continue for the rest of the session.
I would like to bitch and moan about this elite skater for a moment. Today he spent about twenty minutes working on a triple toe loop. This meant that he would be skating at full blast across two-thirds of the rink surface. At one point I realized that most of us were crammed into the other third of the ice, working on our elements at low speed because there was no room. Then, when he practiced his program I made sure to stand at the boards when he came by, but he still skated WITHIN ONE INCH OF ME. Sorry, I cannot move back any more! It is not reasonable to expect me to sit in the penalty box for the entire duration of his program when I have paid for the ice too. Then, to make it even more disgusting, his run-through mostly featured popped jumps that were poorly landed, so it felt even more so like wasted time. I wish this fellow was in a different session! Our session is labelled Intermediate/Senior so I suppose he is entitled to attend it. However it is also the session with all the new freeskaters like me working on bad waltz jumps and shaky backspins. The next most elite skater is powerful and has an axel and is working on doubles, but I have not had any problems with her. Probably there is nothing I can do about it though, and in general all the other time slots I am in are full of the same level skaters so I had not even had a single problem until today.
Anyway, speaking of bad waltz jumps, I diligently practiced my waltz jump prep over and over today. I even did the jump this time, but I have lost the sense of joy in it that I briefly experienced. As soon as I jump, I know that my step forward was not executed correctly, so that kind of takes the fun out of it. So mostly I focused on the prep and the step. Through repetition, each piece of technique is slowly absorbed so it is very important. I have the backward push, feet together, and change of arms down pat. Now for the rest of it!
I spent a bit of time working on my other jumps, but I am not feeling too jazzed about them right now. I would rather do them while my coach is watching because I know they are flawed. Since my coach fixed my swinging Salchow free leg, the jump feels like a wretched little thing and I'm not much inclined to inflict its ugliness on whomever might be watching me. However it is better than my loop which has been reduced to a weak hop when I try it with the new entrance. From a three-turn, I have more confidence and the jump is stronger (but probably still flawed). At least it is a jump though! Ah well I will never be a big jumper so I don't feel too bad about slacking off on them.
This week there was a spirals competition, which I am not signed up for (i.e. haven't payed for the time slot). I had entertained the idea of doing it anyway, for the practice, but by the end of the morning my confidence was not that high and I just wanted to go home. When I walked by on my way out of the building I saw them practicing front catch-foot spirals, and was glad of my decision. This ugly spiral is new since I was a child skater, so I never learned how to do it. But I know from yoga classes that I am not flexible enough to do even a passable Level 1 version of it. No need to advertise this in front of a group of 12-year old Gumbies!
This afternoon I spent two hours stretching.
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