- My skills coach says that I am ready to test my Jr. Bronze skills
- There's spring ice available and some of it even fits my schedule
- The adult synchro club is having an Open House in April, so I get to go skate with them
Thursday, February 24, 2011
Three pieces of good news
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Monday practice
Yesterday I had my first practice after competition.
After watching my performance, I decided on a few goals for my skating:
For my jumps I also tried to give them more spring but usually my technique ends up going out the window when I do this. I get especially chicken in the waltz jump. I feel good on the entry edge, all coiled up like Tigger, ready to jump. Then when I jump, something feels funny in the way my weight is rocking through the blade and I don't kick out as much as I want to. So I think it's a matter of making sure not to rock up onto the toe too quickly. And being less chicken. Anyway my jumps were ok and no problems with the flip.
For my lesson my coach was also feeling like it was time to learn some new things so we worked on the Lutz jump. We had gotten to this jump before but haven't worked on it since we got tunnel vision over my program. We basically started over from the beginning. There is a lot to think about in this jump and I commented that if I thought the other ones were bad, they were nothing compared to the Lutz. I did squeak out a couple of them at a crawl, and my coach said they were good. Wow! After that I wanted to work on back camel spins but we were running out of time so I only got to show her one. I had to hop in my toe a couple of times to keep from falling. Coach says the technique is basically there, but -- get this -- I'm not pressing into the ball of my foot. That's why I end up on the toe pick. She suggested practicing a spiral position at the boards with a bent skating knee and then gradually straighten it. And then we were out of time!
In group lesson, we worked on some assorted cross rolls and twizzles. The coach was really into the twizzles. We did them forwards, backwards, in singles, doubles, and triples. I was feeling dizzy by the end of it! Not surprisingly, I have the classic problem of being able to reasonably pull them off on the versions that resemble a backspin (same foot and direction) but on the other foot and direction are quite hopeless. I sense much practice on my bad side/direction in my future!
After watching my performance, I decided on a few goals for my skating:
- More 'attack' especially in spins; spin faster
- More height on jumps
- Skate faster
- Be more precise in my movements
- Learn more elements/moves
For my jumps I also tried to give them more spring but usually my technique ends up going out the window when I do this. I get especially chicken in the waltz jump. I feel good on the entry edge, all coiled up like Tigger, ready to jump. Then when I jump, something feels funny in the way my weight is rocking through the blade and I don't kick out as much as I want to. So I think it's a matter of making sure not to rock up onto the toe too quickly. And being less chicken. Anyway my jumps were ok and no problems with the flip.
For my lesson my coach was also feeling like it was time to learn some new things so we worked on the Lutz jump. We had gotten to this jump before but haven't worked on it since we got tunnel vision over my program. We basically started over from the beginning. There is a lot to think about in this jump and I commented that if I thought the other ones were bad, they were nothing compared to the Lutz. I did squeak out a couple of them at a crawl, and my coach said they were good. Wow! After that I wanted to work on back camel spins but we were running out of time so I only got to show her one. I had to hop in my toe a couple of times to keep from falling. Coach says the technique is basically there, but -- get this -- I'm not pressing into the ball of my foot. That's why I end up on the toe pick. She suggested practicing a spiral position at the boards with a bent skating knee and then gradually straighten it. And then we were out of time!
In group lesson, we worked on some assorted cross rolls and twizzles. The coach was really into the twizzles. We did them forwards, backwards, in singles, doubles, and triples. I was feeling dizzy by the end of it! Not surprisingly, I have the classic problem of being able to reasonably pull them off on the versions that resemble a backspin (same foot and direction) but on the other foot and direction are quite hopeless. I sense much practice on my bad side/direction in my future!
Sunday, February 20, 2011
Erin's first competition in 17 years
Yesterday was finally competition day! I was actually relieved that it had finally arrived. I did about half of my usual practice time in the morning; enough to get my feet underneath me but not so much that I would be worn out. My event wasn't until the evening but we got to the rink plenty early to watch some of the other events. I wish I could have watched more of them. Anyway everything went pretty much as I expected and according to plan. I'm glad that I did the simulation last month and also the test day in December helped me get an idea of what to expect in terms of nervousness.
I was definitely nervous and felt really shaky in my warmup. This is about what I expected as well. Mostly I tried to remember to have fun and show everyone how much I love skating. When I skated my routine it actually went pretty well. The shakiness caused me some wobbles in a few places, like in my sit-spin entry and in a footwork section. It threw off my jumps a little bit but nothing major. Watching the recording, I could actually only see the effect in a couple of places. I was most worried about two elements: my flip and my camel spin, and both of them were ok. Not the best I've ever done (nerves) but certainly adequate. At the end of the routine I was so relieved!!! And also a bit disappointed that it was all over so fast. What a paradox.
Of course this competition for me was about the experience and challenge rather than winning or anything like that. With only two other competitors in my event, and such a casual feeling, I wasn't too worked up about the results. The other two girls were doing elements that I can't do, like Lutzes and back camels, so I was surprised to hear that I won!! We stood on a little podium and got medals and everything. I'll post some photos when I can figure out how!
What I learned from going to competition:
I was definitely nervous and felt really shaky in my warmup. This is about what I expected as well. Mostly I tried to remember to have fun and show everyone how much I love skating. When I skated my routine it actually went pretty well. The shakiness caused me some wobbles in a few places, like in my sit-spin entry and in a footwork section. It threw off my jumps a little bit but nothing major. Watching the recording, I could actually only see the effect in a couple of places. I was most worried about two elements: my flip and my camel spin, and both of them were ok. Not the best I've ever done (nerves) but certainly adequate. At the end of the routine I was so relieved!!! And also a bit disappointed that it was all over so fast. What a paradox.
Of course this competition for me was about the experience and challenge rather than winning or anything like that. With only two other competitors in my event, and such a casual feeling, I wasn't too worked up about the results. The other two girls were doing elements that I can't do, like Lutzes and back camels, so I was surprised to hear that I won!! We stood on a little podium and got medals and everything. I'll post some photos when I can figure out how!
What I learned from going to competition:
- Enter every event you can qualify for. I could have entered interpretive and solo dance events in addition to freeskate, I saw a lot of people do this. Makes it a bit more worthwhile especially if you are traveling.
- It's not how good you are, it's who you know. Bring your friends if you want to hear applause!
- Bring your coach.
- Don't rush the packing process. I thought I was clever in remembering to bring a needle and thread in case my homemade dress needed repairs. When I noticed that my applique was starting to come off, I reached for the sewing supplies I had brought and saw that I had remembered everything except a needle. I also remembered my headphones but not my iPod. Duh!
- Bring an extra pair of hard guards. After your skate, dry off your blades and put on the dry guards if you're not taking your skates off right away.
- Print out the schedule, bring it with you, and pick up a program. Not only is a program handy, it would have been a good souvenir, but I didn't get one for some reason.
- Remember to pick up your music afterwards! I left both of my cd's there. My coach won't be happy about this because she uses high-quality cd's.
Friday, February 18, 2011
Mediocrity in the Morning
This morning I had my last practice before competition. Overall I did much better than last Friday morning; I warmed up my jumps off the ice, did plenty of skating and stretching and warmed up my elements before my lesson. Part of the problem last Friday is that I got the first lesson of the morning when I was all stiff and cold. Usually I get the last 20 minutes out of the hour.
Anyway I was feeling pretty good so I asked to do a run-through first thing. I hadn't got too far when the CD skipped, but I thought my coach had stopped the music to correct something (I don't know why, she never does that) so I stopped skating. When I realized it had only skipped I tried to pick it up again but it really threw me off and I made some more mistakes. Meh.
After that we worked on the flip-toe because I had missed that one in the run-through. I didn't chicken out on any of them but I am still pre-rotating my shoulders and my coach is trying to get rid of that. Then we worked on my loop but I was really messing them up, like not wanting to actually leave the ice, and we were running out of time so I asked for another run-through. This time the CD started skipping horribly but I could hear my coach shouting "Keep going!" so I kept going like nothing had happened. It kept skipping like crazy and finally my coach turned it off thank goodness. I tried to just skate it through as best I could without the music. It actually went decently but timing was one of the things I wanted to work on! So, that was my final run-thru before competition, sheesh. Not really what I had wanted.
I spent some time going over it in my living room this evening. I realized I had forgotten some of the arm movements and tried to work on some of the sloppy sections. It's not nearly the same as skating but it is good for working on timing and boosts my confidence a bit!
My coach and I had a bit of a mix-up about the competition. She assumed she would go, and I assumed she would NOT! I hadn't even thought about it. It's a bit of a drive and it's not like I need my coach there at the boards to give me important advice about my triple-triple combination before I go skate. Of course how could I have known that she always goes to the competitions of her skaters and was fully prepared to go to mine? Oops! The longer I skate the more I learn these unspoken rules, heheh.
Tomorrow I usually skate for 3 hours but I don't want to wear myself out so I will probably just go in and do my Skills lesson (hopefully no big wipeouts), maybe teach CanSkate and warm up my elements a bit and then go home. Maybe not even that much. Then at the competition I'll make sure I'm super warm and super stretched out before it's time to get on the ice. Also I have to remember to do my jumps off-ice!
Anyway I was feeling pretty good so I asked to do a run-through first thing. I hadn't got too far when the CD skipped, but I thought my coach had stopped the music to correct something (I don't know why, she never does that) so I stopped skating. When I realized it had only skipped I tried to pick it up again but it really threw me off and I made some more mistakes. Meh.
After that we worked on the flip-toe because I had missed that one in the run-through. I didn't chicken out on any of them but I am still pre-rotating my shoulders and my coach is trying to get rid of that. Then we worked on my loop but I was really messing them up, like not wanting to actually leave the ice, and we were running out of time so I asked for another run-through. This time the CD started skipping horribly but I could hear my coach shouting "Keep going!" so I kept going like nothing had happened. It kept skipping like crazy and finally my coach turned it off thank goodness. I tried to just skate it through as best I could without the music. It actually went decently but timing was one of the things I wanted to work on! So, that was my final run-thru before competition, sheesh. Not really what I had wanted.
I spent some time going over it in my living room this evening. I realized I had forgotten some of the arm movements and tried to work on some of the sloppy sections. It's not nearly the same as skating but it is good for working on timing and boosts my confidence a bit!
My coach and I had a bit of a mix-up about the competition. She assumed she would go, and I assumed she would NOT! I hadn't even thought about it. It's a bit of a drive and it's not like I need my coach there at the boards to give me important advice about my triple-triple combination before I go skate. Of course how could I have known that she always goes to the competitions of her skaters and was fully prepared to go to mine? Oops! The longer I skate the more I learn these unspoken rules, heheh.
Tomorrow I usually skate for 3 hours but I don't want to wear myself out so I will probably just go in and do my Skills lesson (hopefully no big wipeouts), maybe teach CanSkate and warm up my elements a bit and then go home. Maybe not even that much. Then at the competition I'll make sure I'm super warm and super stretched out before it's time to get on the ice. Also I have to remember to do my jumps off-ice!
Tuesday, February 15, 2011
The run-through that wasn't horrible
Yesterday I finally had a program run through that got the 'OK' stamp of approval! There were still moments that were not great, and silly things like almost falling on a swing roll and some sloppiness but overall I was pretty pleased with it. After the run-through we tried to work on my elements a bit and my coach keeps repeating the things I'm not doing properly. Her latest bits of advice are to 'press down on the hands' and 'spin faster'. I'm just happy I didn't give up on my flips :)
I actually missed about 10 minutes of ice time because my bus left early (without me). I had go another way and do a bit of extra walking/running and got to the rink when it was time to get on the ice. Grrr! Well that's the first time that's happened to me getting to this ice time and I guess I will make sure I'm early from now on!
I actually missed about 10 minutes of ice time because my bus left early (without me). I had go another way and do a bit of extra walking/running and got to the rink when it was time to get on the ice. Grrr! Well that's the first time that's happened to me getting to this ice time and I guess I will make sure I'm early from now on!
Saturday, February 12, 2011
Getting ready to compete
I have been really busy time lately, and haven't made the commitment to blog about my adventures. Overall the main focus on my skating in the last 6 weeks has been on my program for the upcoming Adult Regional competition next week. I'm skating to a selection from "Mario takes a walk" by Jesse Cook. Armin Mahbanoozadeh has used it in his short program this season and I really like it. Unfortunately, I can't skate as well as he can, but I think my coach and I have done a decent job of drafting a nice program to it that showcases my better elements. It has taken us a long time to fully choreograph it (and it's still not 100% complete) but it's more complex than the programs she usually puts together (almost 1 minute longer, but fewer elements, so it's got lots of transitions, etc.) Some days I do a decent run-through and other days it's a big ol' mess, but the good run-throughs get better each time, so that's positive. Right now the biggest issues are working out the timing of some of the sections and sloppiness in transitions, along with getting 2 full rotations in the camel position for my combination spin. My sit-spin is better than ever by a mile. But I'm a little spooked that there is so little prep time left. My dress is almost finished, I'm just sewing on the last bit of trim around the hem.
While my good days on the ice are getting better and better, the bad ones still occasionally happen and are starting to worry me a bit. Lately I have been getting chicken about jumps and getting sloppy when I try to do them with more speed. The most irritating situation is with my flip; sometimes I just get a mental block and simply can't execute the jump. This especially bothers me because it used to be my favourite jump, just pure fun; then we tried to improve it and now I think about it too much and try to bail out if I don't set it up just so. I've had a couple of frustrating practices as well where nothing seemed to go right and then the next day I have a wonderful skate so it can be really baffling. Yesterday I had a crappy skate, just a big waste of time. So this morning before I got on the ice I practiced my jumps in my shoes, in the lobby, and that gave me a lot of confidence. Once it was time to warm up my jumps on the ice they were stronger and better than they usually are at first. I was kicking out further in my waltz jump, more confident in my Salchow and loop, and didn't have any aborted flips. I was better about not pre-rotating my shoulders. I didn't give up on any of my jumps. This was great for my confidence so I plan to warm up my jumps off the ice before I skate from now on. Especially at competition next week. Yikes! After my skate yesterday morning I was considering withdrawing. But after a great skate today with 2 acceptable run-throughs, I feel more optimistic about it. Skating can be so weird.
Aside from my program, I have been dabbling a bit in Skating Skills for 30 minutes a week, just one lesson a week. For the Jr. Bronze level there are again three patterns to learn:
For the first pattern I mostly struggle with checking the backward 3-turns and getting the right timing on the Mohawk/Choctaw section, but I can get through it without any major mistakes. The third pattern is my favourite, the swing roll/edge change combination is fun and I can really lean into my edges. Aside from the tango stop, it's my best of the lot. My worst is the power circles pattern. It's not complicated, just a pattern of crossovers around the hockey circles. But, it's done at full speed and the circles are tight enough that I am really deep on my edges so they are difficult to control. Last week I had a huge wipeout when I leaned too far into my backward crossovers, fell onto my hip and slid full speed across the ice. There was nothing I could do but put my feet out to let them hit the boards first and hope that the collision wouldn't damage my blades. Everyone came rushing to see if I was ok! It was a bit unnerving not to mention that it was within 5 minutes of stepping on the ice and not really the way I wanted to start the day. This morning's practice was a bit better, I didn't wipe out but I made my circles too large and couldn't get all the way around them in the prescribed number of steps. We didn't even complete a full run-through and it's been a while now since I have done one. Fortunately, I'm not too concerned about these at the moment because I'm distracted by my competition. It's definitely going to take longer before I'm able to test at this level than it did for the previous level. But if I can say it without sounding stuck-up, I am better at the other 2 patterns than the other 2 girls in my lesson, heheh. And I think they get 2 lessons a week!
In other news my foot is feeling better and ballet class has been a little bit more fun lately. It's not exactly what I expected but to practice good posture for 75 minutes once a week is not such a bad thing really.
Well, time to sign off for now. I hope to go back to more regular posting soon.
While my good days on the ice are getting better and better, the bad ones still occasionally happen and are starting to worry me a bit. Lately I have been getting chicken about jumps and getting sloppy when I try to do them with more speed. The most irritating situation is with my flip; sometimes I just get a mental block and simply can't execute the jump. This especially bothers me because it used to be my favourite jump, just pure fun; then we tried to improve it and now I think about it too much and try to bail out if I don't set it up just so. I've had a couple of frustrating practices as well where nothing seemed to go right and then the next day I have a wonderful skate so it can be really baffling. Yesterday I had a crappy skate, just a big waste of time. So this morning before I got on the ice I practiced my jumps in my shoes, in the lobby, and that gave me a lot of confidence. Once it was time to warm up my jumps on the ice they were stronger and better than they usually are at first. I was kicking out further in my waltz jump, more confident in my Salchow and loop, and didn't have any aborted flips. I was better about not pre-rotating my shoulders. I didn't give up on any of my jumps. This was great for my confidence so I plan to warm up my jumps off the ice before I skate from now on. Especially at competition next week. Yikes! After my skate yesterday morning I was considering withdrawing. But after a great skate today with 2 acceptable run-throughs, I feel more optimistic about it. Skating can be so weird.
Aside from my program, I have been dabbling a bit in Skating Skills for 30 minutes a week, just one lesson a week. For the Jr. Bronze level there are again three patterns to learn:
- "Threes & Power Mohawks"
- "Power Circles 1"
- "Change Threes"
For the first pattern I mostly struggle with checking the backward 3-turns and getting the right timing on the Mohawk/Choctaw section, but I can get through it without any major mistakes. The third pattern is my favourite, the swing roll/edge change combination is fun and I can really lean into my edges. Aside from the tango stop, it's my best of the lot. My worst is the power circles pattern. It's not complicated, just a pattern of crossovers around the hockey circles. But, it's done at full speed and the circles are tight enough that I am really deep on my edges so they are difficult to control. Last week I had a huge wipeout when I leaned too far into my backward crossovers, fell onto my hip and slid full speed across the ice. There was nothing I could do but put my feet out to let them hit the boards first and hope that the collision wouldn't damage my blades. Everyone came rushing to see if I was ok! It was a bit unnerving not to mention that it was within 5 minutes of stepping on the ice and not really the way I wanted to start the day. This morning's practice was a bit better, I didn't wipe out but I made my circles too large and couldn't get all the way around them in the prescribed number of steps. We didn't even complete a full run-through and it's been a while now since I have done one. Fortunately, I'm not too concerned about these at the moment because I'm distracted by my competition. It's definitely going to take longer before I'm able to test at this level than it did for the previous level. But if I can say it without sounding stuck-up, I am better at the other 2 patterns than the other 2 girls in my lesson, heheh. And I think they get 2 lessons a week!
In other news my foot is feeling better and ballet class has been a little bit more fun lately. It's not exactly what I expected but to practice good posture for 75 minutes once a week is not such a bad thing really.
Well, time to sign off for now. I hope to go back to more regular posting soon.
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
Back to Reality
I had an amazing weekend at the Canadian Championships! There were disappointments, surprises, and sensational thrills all around! I got to high-five the pairs medallists and got my picture taken with Asher Hill. I watched Weaver and Poje do a program run-through in their track pants. I saw Amelie Lacoste an Myriane Samson watch the first flight of their events from the stands. Most of the events delivered in the excitement category and it finished with thrilling back-to-back performances from Shawn Sawyer and Patrick Chan.
Yesterday it was back to reality for me as I came home and got back on the ice, only to recall that I can't skate nearly as well as the skaters I was admiring all weekend. Sigh.
With the Christmas holidays and the preparation for Canadians, I haven't done much blogging about my own skating. It's been up and down. I didn't get to skate much during the holiday and although the break was good for my joints it wasn't terribly good for my jumps and spins. I had some real inability to do camel spins and back sit spins there for a while, but they seem to have returned somewhat. I've been building back up my confidence in my jumps and working on better speed and technique. My spirals are not too bad and I can do pretty good leg pulls on forward or backward edges. My three turns are still a bit wobbly especially backward insides (I hate those ones). I started learning Jr. Bronze Skills and the coach teaches it a bit different than the pattern posted on the Skate Canada website.
My program is coming together although it has been a month since my coach cut the music and we still haven't finished choreographing it! 2:39 is actually a lot of time to fill. I'm registered in a competition in just under a month so I would like to get it finished. Although, I just found out there's only one other woman in my category so that's kind of taking the excitement out of it for me. I'm sewing my own dress and I just have to make some small tweaks here and there, then put some decorations on it and it will be done.
I signed up for an adult ballet class thinking it would be good for my posture and flexibility, but I hurt my foot in the second class and I'm not really enjoying it as much as I hoped I would. Good thing the instructor is a childhood friend of mine and such a good teacher, that I will stick it out. Plus I want my money's worth :P
On Thursday we are having a competition simulation that I will attend. It should be interesting because my dress and program are not finished! I hope it is not too embarrassing!
Yesterday it was back to reality for me as I came home and got back on the ice, only to recall that I can't skate nearly as well as the skaters I was admiring all weekend. Sigh.
With the Christmas holidays and the preparation for Canadians, I haven't done much blogging about my own skating. It's been up and down. I didn't get to skate much during the holiday and although the break was good for my joints it wasn't terribly good for my jumps and spins. I had some real inability to do camel spins and back sit spins there for a while, but they seem to have returned somewhat. I've been building back up my confidence in my jumps and working on better speed and technique. My spirals are not too bad and I can do pretty good leg pulls on forward or backward edges. My three turns are still a bit wobbly especially backward insides (I hate those ones). I started learning Jr. Bronze Skills and the coach teaches it a bit different than the pattern posted on the Skate Canada website.
My program is coming together although it has been a month since my coach cut the music and we still haven't finished choreographing it! 2:39 is actually a lot of time to fill. I'm registered in a competition in just under a month so I would like to get it finished. Although, I just found out there's only one other woman in my category so that's kind of taking the excitement out of it for me. I'm sewing my own dress and I just have to make some small tweaks here and there, then put some decorations on it and it will be done.
I signed up for an adult ballet class thinking it would be good for my posture and flexibility, but I hurt my foot in the second class and I'm not really enjoying it as much as I hoped I would. Good thing the instructor is a childhood friend of mine and such a good teacher, that I will stick it out. Plus I want my money's worth :P
On Thursday we are having a competition simulation that I will attend. It should be interesting because my dress and program are not finished! I hope it is not too embarrassing!
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