Figure Skating Journal, Reflections of an Adult Figure Skater

July 2004

Week of July 4, 2004
Consistently Good

The last time I enjoyed consistently good summertime ice skating was six years ago, and that was on a small rink. Since then, I have skated on crowded freestyles and crowded publics, or I have barely skated at all. To maintain muscle tone during summer months, I have roller skated outdoors on inlines and quad skates. This year, I have not roller skated outside at all because good ice has been available. In fact, I have essentially abandoned indoor roller dancing due to lack of time. I just had too many commitments to make room for roller dance lessons.

I skated three times this week, all at sparsely attended public sessions. The rink that opened last fall near my home is not a haven for high-level freestylers, and the local yokels apparently do not consider ice skating a hot weather activity. I hope they never do. The facility has two ice sheets, one that accommodates hockey exclusively. This leaves a rink open for public skating every day. Although I check the schedule for large parties, decent ice time is always available.

Highlights of the week include a few exciting spinning accomplishments and continued progress with my rocker-like approach to the flip jump. My camel-change-camels were always acceptable, though I could generate a faster back camel from an inside three-turn or a flying entrance. For some arbitrary reason, suddenly I had a fantastic transition in the camel-change-camel. I rarely practice it because I find its mediocrity uninspiring. Now the combination spin has become a favorite.

While I have also been able to do an attitude-camel forward spin combination for years, I never made a swift enough changeover to continue with a fast camel. This combination is challenging because it requires re-hooking a spin in progress to create the subsequent camel. Concurrently, the skater must dip into the camel position. These two motions require precise timing and exacting body movement. Any hesitation either yields a slow camel or no camel at all. I had a firm grasp of slow camel version. Out of nowhere, I hooked and pivoted with absolute perfection. My attitude spin instantly became a fast camel. Nothing to it!

My flip has improved by leaps and bounds. The thing actually hangs wide open in the air for a delayed moment before dropping downward for blade to impact ice. That pop of hang time can be quite thrilling. However, I cannot brag about my lutz jump. It still amounts to a discouraging flutz. As soon as I crank up the speed on the preparation, my skating foot changes edges disturbingly before take-off. My embryonic walley suffers the same retardation. I inevitably change edges and complete a loop jump or plant my pick to do a toe walley, which would not necessarily be a bad thing if it were intended. I find it very difficult to dig my inside edge into the ice and spring from it counter-rotationally. Sooner or later (probably later) I will simply do a walley without warning or explanation. That is how I have made my greatest advancements in this sport. my inconvenience.

Week of July 4, 2004 Part Two
Rental Skates

Rental skates are universally known for their crappiness which includes, but is not necessarily limited to, the following conditions: dull edges, flat blades, lack of support, and vestigial toe picks. I have not worn rental boots in years. The last pair my feet have had the displeasure to encounter were leather and reserved for me until my new boots came in at a small rink where I began my adult skating adventure in 1992. A rink employee put aside a pair with sharp edges for my lessons, as I began taking privates on rented boots. A couple of years before, I occasionally went to a public session and did backward crossovers in rentals. I roller skated in cheap skates as a kid and basically grew up not knowing how a good pair of skates feels. Ah, ignorance is bliss.

Rentals range from halfway decent recreational leather things in unisex/fecal brown to hard plastic contraptions with generic hockey or freestyle blades to department store hockey-style boots. They seem to have an infinite life span, as rinks rarely discard any equipment that has not completely disintegrated. I would not be surprised if my personal pair of rentals from 1992 are still in service at some rink somewhere in the United States. Since my first pair of real boots arrived in the fall of that year, I have never again worn a rented skate and regard them with disdain.

While enjoying an unanticipated skating excursion, raising my weekly tally to four sessions and a total of about eight hours of practice, a young woman stepped on the ice in rentals. I thought nothing of another person joining the fray. The rink was more crowded than it had been all week, but not disturbingly so; and most of the people circled the arena close to the boards leaving me plenty of room to do whatever struck my fancy. The woman, who I estimated to be college age, took off in the boots. I skated close to her to confirm that these magic skates were indeed the property of the rink and not some funky custom design. She skated around the place like a senior competitor warming up at Regionals. I stood by the boards with another adult skater and marveled at her mastery. How can anyone have such command of the sport that she can strap on a pair of unfamiliar cheap hockey-type boots and perform like a pro? Her lovely posture and presence revealed her to be a former child skater who had apparently quit the sport to attend university. She had come out with friends to enjoy a random morning of ice skating.

During the twenty-some minutes this woman spent on the ice, she demonstrated a wide range of skills including some fascinating field moves, glorious spirals, and powerful stroking exercises. She really could not spin, but I attribute that more to the configuration of the budget blades than any personal deficiency. She tried a few jumps, as though she were preparing for something big. The flip was obviously her favorite and best jump. The diminutive toe pick caused her to lunge forward on the landing, a problem she overcame by completing preliminary trials on both feet. Before leaving, she did two double flips on those rentals. Neither was a clean one-foot landing, undoubtedly due to the skates. She owned a double flip, that was abundantly clear. I would not be surprised if she did triples in her prime.

I personally have to adjust to any small change in my boots or blades. I even have to become familiar with ice of different consistencies. When I am only able to skate once or twice per week, I need at least fifteen minutes to acclimate before feeling comfortable. Given a pair of lousy rentals, I probably could not do much more than propel myself around the arena. But I had just witnessed superior skating on grossly inferior equipment. I have never before seen anyone skate so beautifully on rental skates.

This left me in a state of introspection laced with anger and self-dissatisfaction. While she made chicken salad out of chicken shit, I devised a moves in the field variation. My pattern incorporates backward alternating crossovers with forward power three-turns. The three-turns alternate between sets of back crossovers. It is a lot of fun to do, and I amused myself with it for several minutes until I executed it with impressive speed. Reabsorbed into my own abilities, I landed a few huge flip jumps and loops. Then I started to spin.

Teeth clenched and bared with determination, I approached each spin, gouging my blade into the ice and drilling tiny precise tracings. I performed the following spins and combinations:

Examining my tracings, I had nothing to be ashamed of and no reason to feel second-rate. They were among the best I have seen anywhere. Children gathered to admire them. Confident, I decided to expand my layover/inverted camel repertoire to include a move I have only seen performed well by American elite skater, Derrick Delmore: the layover forward camel. I experimented with this a couple of years ago under my former coach, Geoff’s, tutelage; but to minimal avail. I abandoned the mission in favor of the more conventional backward variant, that eventually happened on its own. Well, I did a forward layover camel with perfect dinner plate centering. I could have dropped a hat on the ice and camel-spun around it. Athletically, I respond well to anger motivation.

My skating is presently at a peak. I am skating better than I have ever skated. And I am in excellent physical condition. When I left the ice after over two hours of practice, I may have been cold, but I was not even breathing hard.

Wednesday July 28, 2004
Skunked Twice

We returned from vacation this week; and, of course, I was anxious to get back on the ice. When we left, I was in peak condition, skating very well. However, after two weeks, I probably had lost some ground. I tried to stay in shape by walking, swimming and canoeing; but nothing substitutes for actual on-ice practice.

I telephoned the rink the evening before I planned to attend a session. No groups were expected, so I shuffled off the next morning, planning to dig my blades back into the ice and make up for any unavoidable regression. As soon as I arrived; a manager, with whom I have developed a pleasant relationship, told me I would not want to skate today. After my phone call, a camp made a last-minute reservation. They expected over one hundred children. The place was already a zoo. The afternoon schedule was clear, so I returned later just to find the same mob of kids still all over the lobby and the ice. For some reason, they had been allowed to stay longer than originally agreed. Apparently miscommunication and poor planning accompanied the eleventh-hour nature of their decision to ice skate.

The manager seemed harried and exhausted from this mess. The campers had been in the building for five hours, and the counselors lost control of the children almost immediately. She apologized and checked the schedule for tomorrow. It looked acceptable. I could have returned that evening, but I did not want to strike out three times. Skunked twice in one day was enough. Too bad driving back and forth to the rink does not count as exercise.

Thursday July 29, 2004
Lessons and Goals

At the beginning of summer, I approached a coach about taking a few lessons. She was agreeable and happy to have me as a student. I told her I would give her a call when I was ready to start. With all of the commotion in my life including vacations, selling our house, and orchestrating a move; I have had little time for skating lessons. Actually, I have not taken a lesson for over a year. My last lessons focused solely on ice dance. I worked the entire 2002-2003 season on dance. During the 2001-2002 season, I worked on freestyle with Geoff before my usual session was cancelled in early spring. At that time, I approached Cynthia (who became my dance coach the following fall) about freestyle training. Sorting all of this out leads to the harsh reality that I have not taken a freestyle lesson for over two years. In that span of time, bad habits appear and ignored problems fester.

Since dance is not available at my new home rink, I have returned to freestyle under the tutelage of a former senior competitive lady whom I shall call Eileen**. Eileen skated in the days of figures and before the straight approach to most jumps that results in faster rotation allowing triples. Eileen had to be retrained to perform doubles without jumping around herself. Eileen landed axels and doubles into her thirties, which I estimate to be about twenty years ago. She began her career as a coach after leaving the competitive sphere, became disillusioned, completed her college education, taught elementary school for ten years, earned a graduate degree, started her own business, got tired of the hard work and long hours, retired, and returned to coaching as a part-time endeavor. Eileen has had knee surgery and no longer jumps. She still spins well and has excellent carriage. Her edgework is beautiful, and that spark of ‘what once was’ shines in every stroke Eileen cuts across the ice.

After initially discussing lessons with Eileen, I have examined my skills and tried to set reasonable goals. I toyed with the idea of returning to my double salchow quest and perhaps even the treacherous axel. However, I want to continue skating at an advanced level into my golden years. My husband says those jumps could lead to serious injury and compromise my future in the sport. Unfortunately, he knows too much about this subject. So, I put temptation aside and reevaluated my ambitions.

I want my single jumps to resemble the power and enormity of those performed by a junior or senior competitor during warm-up. I already skate fast and certainly spin like an advanced athlete. While I may never conquer the multi-revolution tricks, I want to look as though I should be able to do them. For example, my waltz jump presently covers a lateral distance of approximately five feet. It has grown somewhat over the years, but is basically stymied in that zone. I would like the jump to hang in the air, with legs widely reaching to fly at least eight feet. My singles should pop similarly. I would also like to clean up my sloppy flutz.

When Eileen and I met today, I shared my objectives with her. She observed the current state of my technique and the work began. To condense a lot of details, my jumps require a straighter approach (except for the lutz). For the flip, I must pick directly behind the skating foot, instead of to the side. Too much energy goes into pulling myself back to center instead of allowing that wasted power to lift me into the air. I also have to concentrate on a tighter rotational position. I generally jump in a wide-open pose, like a delayed jump. This is harder to do and consumes force better invested in launching me higher and farther. My flutz problem results from picking outside the circle of travel instead of maintaining a backward outside edge and picking behind the employed foot. Once the toe pick touches down alongside the line of movement, the hip drops and the entry edge flops to an inside reducing the element to a pitiful flutz.

For now, I am working on toe placement and edge control. This old habit may die hard. I will dedicate myself to it until I master the proper technique. Eileen told me not to skate at one hundred miles per hour into everything until I correct my deficiencies. She encouraged me to explore each position, do half jumps, two-footed jumps, and finally true single lutzes. Eileen has unlocked the secret. Now I know what I must learn in order to achieve my goals. I think it is possible.

** Not her real name.

Saturday July 31, 2004
Lutz Drills

I attended a freestyle session this morning and worked primarily on the exercises I learned from Eileen to improve my jump technique. My efforts focus on the following skills: lutz, flip, and waltz. I also am concentrating on the split jump, trying to kick both legs concurrently instead of reaching with the leading leg and attempting to lift the other after the fact. Eileen suggested several lutz preparatory drills. The most important one requires performing a backward outside edge and placing the vaulting toe pick on the ice along the line of travel, directly behind the employed foot. Flutzing results from picking to the side, outside the circle, which allows the hip to open and the edge to drop to an inside.

Eileen watched me circling the rink in a series of backward outside edges, simulating a lutz toe-in on every right back outside edge. As a clockwise jumper, I start on the right foot and pick with the left. My jumps land on the left blade. She acknowledged my efforts and took a few minutes to review what she had taught the other day. I spent most of a two-hour workout practicing jump technique, with the emphasis placed heavily on the lutz. Soon I began to place my pick correctly. At this point, I decided to try actually leaving the ice. Every time tried to jump, I automatically switched edges. Apparently I have developed a reflex. When my brain signals a lutz take-off, I revert to an old habit of picking to the side. However, when only trying a placement drill, I edge and tap properly.

The lutz was Eileen’s favorite jump. She called it her “catch-up jump” because she could to hold her backward outside edge if she had gotten ahead of her music in a competitive program. A prolonged glide on that edge allowed her to disguise timing errors. Eileen’s love for this element was obvious from the tone of her voice: “You can carry this jump down the length of the rink,” she explained whimsically. “Don’t practice it on a hockey circle. That is too restrictive. You have to be very free with the lutz.” I could picture a teenage Eileen gliding dramatically and lifting into an enormous double lutz, probably the best one in the entire event. Taking her advice, I held my edge as long as possible, challenging my control over the position, and finally tapping in.

I took a break from these labors to play with tricky spins. I would like to create a back spin combination that consists of three distinct poses: swan dive-layover (or invert)-swan dive. This will accentuate the difference between the upside down pose and the traditional. I am also perfecting my forward layover camel. Today, I realized laying over increases the speed of the camel, which makes sense because the arms follow the shoulders into the layover and are no longer spread in a swan dive arrangement. To further enhance speed, I crossed the employed arm over my chest and raised the other to emphasize the upturned posture. This spin naturally hits the more difficult forward outside edge. I am also working on an upright back spin variation with the free leg crossed strongly behind and extended resembling the under stroke of a crossover. This is an excellent conclusion to a back camel. The secret is to reach the free leg and point the toe while bending deeply in the skating knee. An exaggerated knee bend makes room for the free leg position and prevents riding the toe pick. I hit a particularly good one of these spins. I have wanted this spin for years, but am only worthy of it now.

Confident from the cross-behind spin and a couple of really fast layover forward camels, I tried the lutz preparation drill again. I can feel the pop of this entrance. I picked and did a half lutz. Upon examination of the tracing, I found a clean outside edge, a pick mark in line with the edge, a couple of feet of flight before forward touch-down. There was absolutely no evidence of a flutz whatsoever! I was probably more proud of that simple half lutz that the outrageous spins I completed moments before.

homepage icon current icon archive icon

The content of this site is copyright by K. J. N., 1999 - 2004