May 2008
Early May 2008
Death of Season
People do not think skating is a year-round sport; although, indoor ice rinks remain open all summer in my area. In fact, while I was on crutches someone asked me how I broke my ankle. I told him it happened during the summer while I was ice skating. “Ice skating in the summer?” the person asked incredulously as though he had never heard of refrigeration. This mentality along with nice weather drives people out of the rinks and into the sunshine. Ice Castle is a recreational rink. Its clients are weekend skaters and hobbyists, kids who literally want to “learn to skate”. We have some freestyle, but it is all low. I don’t think I have ever seen an axel in Ice Castle.
After a break between “semesters”, we came back to low enrollment. I find it impossible to call a six-week set of group skating classes a “semester” without using quotes. Leslie, the group skating director, in her ultimate decency, decided to give everyone an equal number of classes. Okay, that sounds fair. Leslie is fair; I like that about her. However, she missed the concept of seasonal, temporary help. There is staff and there is visiting staff. The kids she hired to fill in at peak season are still getting the same number of classes I am getting as a staff member. How thin will she spread the wealth? I know of one rink in the area that is giving each coach one class per week. That is hardly worth anyone’s time especially in this economy of high gasoline prices. Of course, I have been shown the door at the end of the season before, and wanted to excuse myself from Elite before it could happen again. Now that I am a staff pro, I want to reap some benefits like a continued flow of students from which I might draw privates.
I have learned a lot about this business. First of all, it is very difficult to earn a living. Unless you are a well-known skater or have established yourself over years of coaching, this is a great part-time seasonal job. I actually did well (not “well” exactly, but not too badly) for about three or four months. Then the whole thing went down the tubes. At best, I coach recreational skaters. Truthfully, I do not have the experience to do much more than that at this point. Recreational skaters come and go. They are not committed, they are generally not talented, and they lose interest quickly. The economy also affects enrollment. Skating lessons, especially private ones, can easily be cut from the family budget.
It is discouraging nonetheless. I had hoped to teach skaters with a little more ability. I still only have one freestyle student, a girl who only skates one hour per week. Expecting much improvement from such a student would be unreasonable unless the child were enormously gifted, which she is not. Most of my private lessons have been with beginners whose parents are willing to spend money for one-on-one instruction. And I am glad to have them. I do gain satisfaction from their improvement, but it does not fill my need to teach someone how to do a good camel spin. I am nowhere near teaching anyone a spin beyond a basic one-foot. Even my freestyle student has not graduated from the simple one-foot.
So that’s the way it is for a beginning skating coach without high level credentials. I wish I had tested more when I had the opportunity. However, unable to land a decent axel, I knew I could not pass the Adult Gold Test. Adult moves in the field testing did not exist at the time. Nor did I imagine coaching in my future. Now I cannot afford lessons or tests.
Sorry if this sounds like I am crying in my beer. But nobody needs to hear all of the clichés about what a great time I’ve had and how many wonderful people I have met. Of course, I have made friends and had positive experiences. I have also learned a lot. However, it has not been all wine and roses. Another coach with a background similar to mine asked me: “Well, what did you expect?” I guess that simple question made me stop and think.
Week of May 11, 2008
The Girl Who Cried Wolf
After my student’s freestyle lesson, I was talking to her father about her progress. Lexie is a very lopsided skater. I have to push her to do backward crossovers in the other direction. Her clockwise back crossovers are very weak and would not pass a skating test. She screws up her shoulders because she is so uncomfortable. I have talked to her parents about this. Lexie only skates one hour per week and half of that time is spent on lesson with me. Lexie likes to have fun. She likes to play with lunges and shoot-the-ducks and other tricks that she does marginally well. Of course, she cannot manage them on the other foot either. I know Lexie’s parents cannot afford more ice time or lessons for their daughter. In which case, I have suggested that she make the most of the time she does have by not fooling around and practicing value-added skills that are relevant for testing or improve her skating. She likes to glide across the rink dragging her toe pick. I pointed this out to her dad as an example of something that is not worthwhile. If she wants to play, she should practice something fun that still has merit. Of course, I can goof around with Lexie for thirty minutes every week and praise her right-legged lunges and never ask her to employ the other side of her body. Dad said he does not want that. He wants his daughter to learn to figure skate.
Lexie seems to be unusually tired. I asked dad about this too. No thirteen-year-old kid should step on the ice claiming to be tired when she only skates once a week. Is this kid up all night on her cell phone or computer? Every time I see her she looks absolutely drained. She claims sleeping is a fun activity. Her medical history is none of my business, but I would be negligent if I did not mention this to her parents. Maybe Lexie does not really like skating. Maybe it is too much work. Skating definitely is not easy and takes a lot of dedication, something that is difficult to muster in one hour each week. This situation may be very frustrating for her.
In any case, Lexie does not strike me as a hard-worker. She gives up on her jumps and sits down on the ice. Sometimes she just sits there. I have to pester her to get up. I feel like the rink Gestapo. “Come on, Lexie. If you aren’t hurt, you have to get up. You can’t sit on the ice.” One of her favorite tricks is to claim her glove is frozen to the ice. She will pull her hand out of it to reinforce the effect, all the while whining that it is stuck and she can’t get it off. I have never blade-kicked her glove; but I have bent over, casually picked it up and handed it to her.
Anyway, while talking to dad, Lexie did one of her super-special lunges right down the center of the rink. At least it was fast rather than lackadaisical with a triumphant plop at the end. I called out to my student to try the lunge on the other leg. She looked at me quizzically. What other leg? What do you mean? I got out there and showed her. So Lexie tried it. Dad was watching. In a spectacular moment of defeatism, Lexie caught her toe pick and belly flopped.
“Okay, let’s get up,” I called for the hundredth time. Lexie did not move. I went back out on the ice. The kid was curled up in a ball. This was not the first time. Then she started wailing. Oh, $#!+. “Lexie, can you get up?”
She sobbed and coughed. “No.”
Oh, $#!+. I extended my hand to help her up. She continued to bawl like an infant. Maybe she broke something. I was getting really worried. The manager came out and saw right through her act. Lexie could not fool him. She could cry wolf with me, but not with a man she did not know. He got her to sit up. Then she tried to butt-scoot to the exit. This was ridiculous. Okay, so she bumped her knee. Maybe it scared her. Maybe it even hurt a little and would bruise. I was not going to permit her to slide her ass all the way across the rink. The manager and I got her to her feet and escorted her to her waiting father.
The manager sent for ice packs. Lexie must have shed copious tears for fifteen minutes. She made a colossal scene. I am not unsympathetic. I have been badly injured on the ice and hauled out on a stretcher. That happens. However, I remember when I was about seven years old doing a spiral after a group lesson and taking a nosedive much as Lexie did. I knocked the wind out of myself and was in quite a bit of pain. I sucked it up and kept skating without a tear. Lexie and I are two different people. Another coach commented that she sure did cry for a long time. Lexie got a lot of attention and played the drama queen to the hilt.
Next time she says she is tired, I will not push her. Of course, I don’t want any student to get hurt. But I especially do not want to push an apathetic student. Motivation ultimately has to come from her.
I need to get back in shape after an especially sedentary winter. Of course, I have gained weight. The diet roller coaster is a reality of my life, so here we go again. Exercises for highest calorie burn are running and aerobics. Prior to my injury, I had worked hard to improve my abilities as a runner and was very pleased with my progress. Furthermore, I really enjoyed running. Following recovery, I never attained the same level of performance. Some of the problem was due to physical limitations, especially at first. Running is notoriously hard on a person’s joints. My poor ankle really could not accept the pounding. As I regained strength, I just never worked hard enough with enough dedication to get back to where I was.
Now I plan to make running a priority. I no longer have access to a treadmill, as we dropped our gym membership months ago. My husband was not using it, and driving twenty-five minutes for a workout did not make sense for me when I am also commuting to a rink (or rinks). That leaves me with exercise at home. I really like running because it is not dependent on someone else’s schedule. I don’t have to drive somewhere to do it. If a school in the area had a legitimate track, I might take a short jaunt for that, but I have not explored the possibility. For now, I just step out the door and onto the street. What could be more convenient? The weather has presented an obstacle this spring. It has been raining a lot. It has rained for days. Once, I went out under partly cloudy skies just to turn back in the rain. I take advantage of good weather whenever I can get it.
I would like to jog every other day. I understand muscles need to rest between hard workouts, or I would want to run daily. Since I am building up stamina again, I only run in spurts interspersed with stretching and walking. I was having terrible pain in my calf muscles (“gastrocnemius”, for the anatomists in the crowd). I might have expected shin pain due to the extra weight I am carrying, but this was in the back of the lower leg. The pain was stifling. I had to stop. I just could not force myself to run anymore. I jogged on grass in a park. The pain came back. I could not stretch it out. I felt panicked. What will I do if I can’t run anymore? According to my doctor, I have to stretch thoroughly before jogging and had probably experienced some muscle tearing because I was subjecting my legs to unfamiliar exercise. Skating apparently does not use those muscles in the same way, and they were completely unprepared to hit the asphalt again.
The suggestion worked. I have not experienced the discomfort since. I feel stronger, healthier and lighter already.
Week of May 25, 2008
Free Skating
Not freeskating, as in the opposite of compulsory figures; but free skating, as in skating you don’t have to pay for. My supervisor at Ice Castle has allowed me complimentary ice time privileges. Actually, I have not taken advantage of all that is available. I cannot afford to make special trips to Ice Castle just for the sake of personal skating, which is a terrible shame. I could use the exercise and practice. However, I arrive early when I am scheduled to teach and get extra time for myself.
This week, I had an errand that deposited me at the rink much sooner than anticipated. It did not make sense to go home first, then leave and drive to the rink, so I went straight to the rink. The manager on duty allowed me to use the ice. The arena was empty. I enjoyed my own private ice for an hour-and-a-half. I would like to do that more often.
My focus lately has been on ankle flexibility during crossovers. The best exercise to improve crossover fluidity and speed is power circles. In my opinion, it is never too early to learn and train power circles. If you can do a crossover, you should start working on power circles. Starting crossovers from a standstill, and gradually building speed and power improves control, posture and teaches economy of movement. In my case, it warms up my ankle and enhances flexibility. I still struggle with ankle flexibility after my injury. Sometimes I feel a quick pain where the break occurred when I lean into the right-foot understroke of forward clockwise crossovers. My personal goal is to make my forward clockwise crossovers as strong as my forward counterclockwise crossovers. I have similar problems with the right-foot understroke in backward counterclockwise crossovers and have set a similar objective.
In addition to basic skills, I spend time on jumps, working toward increased flight distance. This requires fine-tuning my technique, an interesting and intellectual challenge. I dissect the preparation to obtain maximum results from every muscle twitch. Of course, I love spinning and am improving a variety of combinations. Lately, the back camel, one of my favorites, has been unusually weak. I slip off the hook entrance and trace a large loop on the ice before centering. This drains speed from the spin. Fixing this problem is a priority.
This summer I would like to take better advantage of the free ice time I have been offered and continue to work toward my goals.
Late May 2008
Side-By-Side Crossovers
Sounds like I’m going to write about pair skating, doesn’t it? Surprise! I’m not.
I recently watched two skaters of similar age but vastly different training histories stroke around a rink side-by-side and perform forward crossovers at the ends. Allow me to clarify the importance of this seemingly trivial observation. A common topic of interest in various discussion forums is the difference between “adult” skating and “youth-trained” skating. This does not compare a forty-year-old to a teenager, but two people of similar age and build varying only in when they learned to skate: as a child or as an adult. The most obvious differences involve the ability to perform advanced maneuvers such as axels, doubles, and flying spins. In general, adults tend to skate more slowly and tentatively than child-trained counterparts. More subtle nuances may also be recognized such as posture, extension, musicality, knee softness, etc. However, more fundamental differences exist which may be identified and corrected to greatly improve the appearance of basic skating skills performed by skaters trained during adulthood.
The two people I observed were young women between sixteen and twenty years old. They have similar body types but vastly divergent training backgrounds. Amy***, a high school student of previous “Entitlement-ism” fame, learned to skate recently. While a sixteen-year-old is certainly not an adult, her body is fully developed, and she did not benefit from learning to rotate as a prepubescent. Rene***, a college student, was a competitive skater and trained from childhood. They skated side-by-side while enjoying a casual conversation.
I did not intend to critique their skating, but noticed such a stark and unexpected contrast, I could not help analyzing their movements. Rene executed progressive-style crossovers in which the crossing foot takes the ice alongside the employed foot before crossing over. Her extension created an attractive, unbroken line from hip to toe. Rene moved effortlessly, fluidly, economically. Amy kept up the pace with Rene but seemed to struggle to do so. Amy performed a beginner crossover rather than a progressive. Her free foot remained elevated until it cleared the employed foot then touched the ice. This gave her crossovers a clunky, heavy appearance that seemed strenuous and forced. True crossovers need not be condemned in favor of progressives for a skater to appear advanced. Amy’s error was not the crossover itself, but her lack of attention to detail during the action. Amy flexed her foot throughout the crossover rather than pointing her toe to achieve continuous extension. This probably originated from a fear of catching the toe pick at some point during the stroke and cross. The upward flex of the foot disrupted her entire bodyline and crippled her motion. She had to put her blade down heel-first resulting in a clomping step rather than a smooth transition.
This one simple and highly correctable mistake made Amy look like a beginner. It would not matter if she could land all of the double jumps up to the axel. Her basic skating would still need improvement.
***Not the skaters' real names.
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