December 2008
Week of December 1, 2008
Pucked
After teaching mid-day classes, I stay on the ice for a little personal skating. I am trying to get back into some kind of shape. Other priorities have kept me from coming to the rink for more than teaching. I would like to change that even if I am only able to combining teaching with freeskating. I don’t expect to actively train at this point because of time and money issues, but I believe I can stay in shape and maintain a decent set of skills.
I also don’t mind showing off for parents and rink patrons. Maybe someone will approach me for a lesson. Since I am not aggressively training new moves, I am not wiping out all over the place, which can present a problem for a supposed pro. Laypeople see a fall; they don’t necessarily acknowledge the death drop attempt that resulted in the fall. A fall is a fall, and a lot of falls are a splat-fest. This is not the way I want my skating to be perceived by potential clients. Keeping up my skills can be done with minimal disasters. I also look pretty good gliding around the rink in a series of swing rolls. Clean simple swing rolls look better than a failed death drop. Not that my only objective is to look good to whomever may be watching. It is a concern when skating where one teaches in much the same way as one prefers not to shit where one eats.
Everybody had left the arena, and I was out there alone for a short while until a man arrived with his wife and two children. The little kids got on the ice and stumbled around predictably while the parents watched. A few minutes later, the father apparently found a couple of stray hockey pucks and hurled them over the Plexiglas to his kids. The kids were little girls in recreational figure skates; not hockey players. The man encouraged them to throw the pucks and skate to retrieve them. I do something similar with stuffed animals when teaching young beginners. I do not use hockey pucks, nor do I allow the stuffed animals to be thrown into another class’s lane. However, the parent sets the tone for the children and these kids threw the pucks all over the rink. Once one of the kids actually yelled at me: “Look out!”
I wanted to approach the parents and tell them this is not safe during a public session, but since his kids and I were the only people on the ice, I struggled to keep my mouth shut. If anyone else were involved, I would have said something as politely as possible. They were paying customers, and I was skating as a professional courtesy. The mother shouted at one of the girls. I don’t know what she said, as she did not speak English. For all I know, she told the kid to aim for the big broad on the other end of the rink. I tried to stay away from the children. If they kept to one side and me to the other, we could live together in harmony. But wayward pucks continued to slide through my practice area. I put up with this for over half an hour, mainly because I wanted to skate and preferred not to start trouble. Of course, I don't want to trip on a hockey puck either. Finally when both pucks came at me at about the same time, I gave up and got off the ice. The session was almost over anyway. I disappeared into the pro room to eat my lunch.
Week of December 7, 2008
Limp as a Wet Noodle
The adult “class” consists of one woman in her thirties. Last year I taught the adults and enjoy working with them. Many have never been on the ice before or only stumbled around on a few public sessions. This woman, who I shall call Sheri***, had never stepped on the ice before in her life. I took her hand and helped her through the doorway. As soon as her blades touched the ice, she panicked and grabbed for me. Her legs flew out from under her, and she ripped off my glove on her way down. Neither of us expected that. When kids suddenly collapse, I can often save them or at least support them. Not that Sheri is big, but she is a full-grown woman, and I was caught off guard.
Meanwhile, Sheri’s husband caught the entire episode on video. How nice. He wants to capture his wife’s first steps on ice. Too bad they were made on her ass and knees. I demonstrated how to get up and Sheri managed the task, but soon dropped right to her bottom. The camera was still rolling. Sheri leaned on the barrier and reached for me. I braced one blade against the wall and clasped the doorjamb. Sheri’s legs slid around under her. Her left ankle knocked in. The poor woman’s body went limp as a wet noodle. She was obviously afraid and did not want to fall again, but she had no control over limbs. I did not want her to fall again, nor did I want to go down with her. She continued to reach for me and asked for a walker. I assisted her off the ice. A child’s walker would not do an adult any good.
I addressed the problem of the in-turned ankle and discussed body mechanics and posture, having her stand up straight with her legs and feet directly aligned with her hips. I asked her to tighten her abdominal muscles and become aware of her quads. Sheri said she works out in a gym. She appears to be fit. However, skating utilizes muscles in a completely different way than other forms of exercise. The slipperiness factor of the ice can throw the most coordinated athlete to her backside. Throughout my discussion with Sheri, her husband panned the camera between us. I realized he did not plan to turn that thing off. Maybe Sheri intends to “study” the lesson at home, making it more than just a memorial of her first time on ice. Advanced skaters do this all the time to analyze their progress.
We got back on the ice. Sheri did not stray from the boards during our lesson. We concentrated on body awareness, position, and posture. As a very right-side dominant person, Sheri virtually lacked awareness of her left leg. The foot slid behind her because her weight was balanced almost entirely on her right leg. I encouraged Sheri to shift her weight and stand on her left leg using only the right toe pick to assist in balance. Then I asked her to lift the right foot off the ice. She accomplished these tasks, and I assured her one-sidedness is completely normal. In fact, I observe grossly disproportionate strength more frequently in adults than children. Adults have had more time to favor one side and allow the other to lapse into disuse. I suggested Sheri work on balance exercises at home, always doing twice as many on the left. I also suggested strengthening work at the gym, again focusing on the left side of the body.
Adults have an advantage of being able to understand concepts. Sheri and I communicated well. After analyzing her needs, Sheri absorbed all of my explanations and suggestions. It will be interesting to watch her development as she learns to skate.
***Not her real name.
Week of December 5, 2008 Part Two
Free Lesson
Unfortunately, I am not the one who got the free lesson, nor did I give it. I was teaching mid-day classes with another instructor. She had her class and I had mine. When we finished the first class, the manager directed a child to me who supposedly “needed extra help”. I was to work one-on-one with this kid. It was technically a group lesson, but only one kid had signed up. The other instructor was also working with only one student. My student was very easily distracted and seemed more interested in play than skating, which is understandable considering the girl is only five-years-old. I convinced her to move by throwing a stuffed animal on the ice and telling her the animal would get cold is she did not come to the rescue. This worked very well. The child even threw the animal herself a few times. She stopped and picked it up and picked it up while gliding. Amazing what a kindergartener will do for a stuffed squirrel.
The lesson complete, I talked to the kid’s mother and went off to skate the rest of the public session for my own enjoyment. Meanwhile, I saw the other instructor talking to the parent. She must have taught this student in group before and knew the mother. Then I saw her on the ice with the child I just taught giving her further instruction, which could only have been free.
This annoyed me. I had just given this child a lesson for which the mother had paid. Granted it was not specifically a “private” since the child had enrolled in group. Still, I felt uncomfortable that another coach felt the need to horn in right after I worked with this student. Was she afraid I was stealing her student or the kid liked my play-based teaching better than her approach? Did she think the parent might engage me for private lessons rather than her? I am not sure how the code of ethics applies here. Was she actually soliciting my student even though the child was a group student? If I had done this to her, she would have given me a mouthful. Actually, I would have never done this. I might slip a few extra minutes of instruction to my own students, even group students, but I would never take such liberties with another coach’s skaters. In my opinion, that is unethical. For groups, the students and teachers bounce around based on enrollment and availability. We are always teaching different students, most of whom have been taught previously by another group instructor.
This particular coach is aggressive. She is not a very strong skater and only minimally accomplished with adult tests. Handing out business cards to every parent whose child is in your class is perfectly acceptable. However, I do not believe group classes should be a come-on for privates. That’s like taking a vacation and getting pushed into a timeshare sales-pitch. I hand out cards selectively to those who seem interested or could especially benefit from a little extra teaching. Maybe I am not aggressive enough. In this economy, the other coach turns in a lot of receipts to my couple. Aggressive or not, a coach should never step over the line of what is ethical. In this case, I think she probably did.
Week of December 14, 2008
Compliments
I received a couple of very nice compliments this week. The first came from the mother of two group skating students. The previous week, this woman had given the manager all kinds of grief. She complained about the apparent disparity of levels in a beginning class. Her children were at the lower end of the spectrum, and the class is big. Leslie is a very patient and accommodating manager. She offered to put the woman’s children in another class a half-hour later. The woman did not want this or did not understand what Leslie had proposed. The discussion elevated to a near argument and Leslie offered to refund the parent’s money. She told me she would have done anything to get this person out of the rink. Leslie does such a good job of dealing with bullshit, I really admire her. Anyway, the parent decided to stick it out.
I actually dreaded having to deal with this woman before and after class. She approached me as I was leaving the rink. Oh, no, here it comes, I thought miserably. Now she would start in on me because Leslie wasn’t around. The parent asked when the next set of classes begins. Then she asked who would be teaching. Would it be me? Maybe she wanted her money back and would take her chances with a “better” teacher next month. I answered her questions and smiled pleasantly, calmly. Out of nowhere, the woman told me what a good teacher I am and how glad she is that I am teaching her children. I was astonished. I had braced myself for the worst. This was certainly not what I had expected, but I was very pleased. I thanked her and told her how much I love skating and teaching others to skate. She told me it shows. She wanted her kids to have me again for the next set of lessons. You never know what people are thinking.
The second compliment came from a fellow adult skater/coach. We were skating together on a public session. I set up for a loop jump with strong back crossovers. After I finished the jump, the other skater called over to me. She told me I am a strong skater and should take all of my tests. I’d love to test, but right now I cannot afford lessons or registration fees. When things take a financial up-swing for me, I will test as high as I can. She said the strength of my skating would carry me through adult gold even if I cheated my axel (the way I used to when I was actively practicing them). Wow, that was darned nice of her. This woman is working on her gold adult tests, so I took her comments seriously. She told me I could get into more rinks and acquire more private students once my level of ability is documented.
My lack of credentials is holding me back as a skating coach. However, right now there is nothing I can do about it. I may have the skills to pass adult gold tests, but I cannot afford to hire a coach. I can coach myself to a point, but I think I would need to work with someone to choreograph a program. It is something to keep in mind for the future.
Mid to Late December 2008
Walking in the Cold
The weather has been dreary and cold. I have been spending too much time sitting on my butt reading or surfing the internet. Between the weather and lack of activity, I feel lethargic and dull. The cycle feeds itself. The longer the rotten weather persists and I stay indoors, the less motivated I become to do anything productive. I have been falling asleep on the couch in the afternoon in front of the fireplace with a book in my lap. This has to stop.
Why haven’t I been skating? During the week of Monday the 15th, inclement weather cancelled all teaching sessions but one. After that, the public schools closed for holiday recess. I learned my lesson a long time ago about trying to skate in holiday crowds. Any given rink will be packed on ordinarily empty weekday public sessions with crazy hockey kids, goofy teens, and klutzes of all ages. The weekends are even worse. At least a hundred people move in a great human mass like an amoeba in a counterclockwise circle. So I stay away.
I have decided to get outside and take a walk every day that it is not raining or snowing. More often than not, it is cloudy and gray, but I still make myself go. Cloudy and gray is about what you get this time of year. A clear blue sky is a rarity and should be enjoyed even if the temperature drops below freezing. So, I have been taking neighborhood walks for about three miles a few times a week. This has made me feel so much better. I breathe in the chill and pump my arms to get my heart beating. My circuit is hilly, so I get a healthy range of terrain to vary the intensity of my walk. I try to walk briskly and stop to stretch at regularly placed intervals to keep my muscles pliable in the cold.
Some times I shove my hands in my pockets when the wind blows bitterly. In the shelter of a cul-de-sac in a copse of trees, I pull my hands out reach over my head for a whole body stretch. My hands steam their warmth into the winter air. My breath freezes. I’m sweating.
I have been walking for exercise for years, but like many people, I enjoy doing it on a nice day. You don’t always get a nice day. The body also burns more calories in the cold. It requires energy to maintain its internal environment. Then it consumes additional fuel to perform the required exercise activity. In that respect, walking in the cold is a good way to consume body fat. I have actually lost a few pounds.
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