May 2010
I teach an hour-long low freestyle class at Ice Castle. For the most part, the kids are middle school age. However one child, who is the most talented and able member of the group ( I shall call her Paula**) comes as a package deal with her younger sister, Penny**. Penny is only about six years old. She does not have the skills to be in this group, but she has been part of the group since I began teaching it last spring. I have never passed her on any test that I can remember. She skates at about a Basic 4 or 5 level. Her sister recently passed Freeskate 1. The other students are working on passing Freeskate 1. Penny is out of her league. I have politely mentioned this to the parent. When I first met these two girls, I directed Penny to another coach who was teaching a lower class. The kid cried her eyes out and went to the other class. This never was allowed to happen again. The manager told me the mother wants them together. In fact, Paula told me she could not have private lessons until Penny caught up. Was this supposed to motivate me to pass her so I could get private students? I did not pass Penny.
The mother is doing both girls a disservice. Paula is older and a more advanced skater. Penny needs help with crossovers and other basics. Penny gets lost in the shuffle of a freestyle class. I teach this class myself without an assistant. An assistant should not be required as there are only six kids in the group and all are capable of skating independently. I try to work with Penny on crossovers every week. Her crossovers leading into waltz jumps and spins are so poor, she should not even be trying the other skills.
Inevitably, Penny starts crying. I have seen tears running down this kid’s face so many times, it has started to annoy me. She also becomes sullen and sulks. She and her sister go off together away from the group. Paula is a very loving supportive child. She takes care of her sister and is her constant companion. Initially, I felt sorry for Penny. I still do, but my patience is wearing thin. I have been dealing with this situation for a long time. I praise Penny’s progress and give her constructive input to improve her weak points. Penny does not want instruction. She only wants to hear that everything she does is perfect the first time. If she does not get this reward, she sulks. I tried to help Penny with her waltz jump by offering her my hand. She refused to take it; would not even look at me.
Myself, I was never a cry baby. My parents would not tolerate that type of behavior. If I started crying during an ice skating lesson, my mother would have dragged me out of the rink by my ponytail. Penny is in a tough position. I wonder if her mother sees her child’s behavior. Does she realize why the little girl is crying? She may well be a spoiled emotional kid, but she cannot be expected to equal her sister in everything she does. Certainly plenty of six-year-old children can perform at a Freeskate 1 level, but Penny is not presently among them.
I understand that the parent wants her daughters to pursue skating together. These girls can skate together, after class. The pressure for Penny to keep up with her older sister is not fair to her. She is too young to handle it and should not have to. Having Penny in my class distracts my attention from the other children who are skating at roughly the same level and are ready to work on skills that Penny should not attempt. Penny is frustrated. I am frustrated. I plan to talk to this parent again and gracefully suggest Penny enroll in another class.
* Names have been changed.
Week of May 9, 2010
Breaking Them In
My skates are shot. I have been using them for years. Although I don’t skate as much as I used to, boots still wear out. When I began coaching at Ice Castle almost three years ago, my trusty old skates already had at least 100,000 miles on them. That’s fine for teaching as I stand around a lot and demonstrate basic skills that don’t require much ankle support. Even at this level of skating, my oldies were starting to let me down. My ankles twisted occasionally, a sure sign that the boots could no longer tolerate even the slightest amount of stress.
I brought my new skates to the rink on a day when I did not have to teach. These beautiful shiny boots are also equipped with brand new blades. Of course my old blades have had the hell sharpened out of them and the original rocker has been obliterated. New boots and new blades all at once; I am asking for trouble. My boots are custom made Harlicks. Actually this particular pair was made about six years ago and has been in storage. At the time, I was working a real job and coaching on the side. Harlick was giving pros a great deal, and I bought two pair. I thought I would continue to skate with my previous vigor and wear out the first pair in a couple of years, which was my norm. Then life got in the way, and I stopped skating as often and eventually dropped down to just coaching.
In the interim my feet have changed. Like many pros that stand around on their skates for hours at a time, my feet have widened. My formerly broken ankle is bigger than it was back in the day. And I have a bony growth on my pinky toe. Welcome to the world of middle-aged ice skater podiatry. To make a long story short, I need a new mold and pattern for my next set of custom boots. In the past, I have never had a problem breaking in custom skates. Within a half hour, I am jumping and spinning. Never a blister or serious pain. I always loved my new skates. Now not so much. It isn’t the skates’ fault. It’s mine. I can’t put the same pattern on different feet and expect the results I got before.
My feet hurt. On that first day, I skated for an hour. I did lots of slaloms, swizzles, and strokes interspersed with dips to break in the stiff leather. As the leather yielded, I relaced and went back for more. One of my group students came in with her mother. The kid immediately noticed my new skates. Nothing sticks out more than a shiny unblemished pair of figure skating boots. I did some two-foots spins that centered like a drill bit biting into the ice. Good stuff that. My one-foots spins were less perfect. I attribute this to the rocker. Sharpening flattens a blade’s rocker distorting its intended curvature. Over time, the skater adjusts to the gradual change. After too many sharpenings, a new rocker feels like a hugely convex bulge that causes the unaccustomed skater to slip to the toe pick during spins. I felt like a kid on a hyperactive rocking horse. Not so good.
I went back to teach the next day and carried both pairs of skates, new and old, into the rink. I planned to work on the new skates then change into the old ones if necessary before classes. I toughed it out with the new boots. By the end of the session, the stiff boots had rubbed a blister, popped it open, and continued to abrade my ankle. I limped off the ice and tore the offenders off my feet in the pro room.
At home, I dug through a drawer until I unearthed the ankle sleeves I used to break in my last pair of boots. Into my skate case they went. Next trip to the rink, I positioned a sleeve around my sore ankle and pulled a knee high stocking over the works. Back on the ice for two hours of teaching. My old skates were in the car in case of emergency. I survived my classes in the new skates but just barely. During freestyle group, I could not demonstrate much. I did a lot of walk-throughs. Fortunately, these kids know how to skate and basic demonstrations work for them. We reviewed skills rather than attempting new elements I could not perform with confidence.
I plan to get my ass on the ice every day next week until I can skate in those things.
Read about my previous experiences with new skates.
December 2000
April 2001
December 2004
January 2005
January 2010
January 2010 (Part 2)
Week of May 16, 2010
Off My Rocker
So much for getting to the rink everyday this week. Actually, I came in twice for the sole purpose of working on my new skates. I survived over an hour each time. The boots themselves are breaking in nicely. I have to start by lacing loosely then progressively tightening. This minimizes searing pain in the arch. If I get overly ambitious and lace up tightly from the beginning, the pain becomes intolerable. I learned this lesson long ago. This seems to be caused by placing the foot in a tight boot and concentrating pressure over a very small area, namely the blade. It is more severe when practicing skills that increase pressure such as one-foot swizzle pumps around a circle though this is a great exercise to break in skates.
At this point, I am satisfied with my progress on the boots. I am actually having more trouble with the blades. These blades are brand new. They actually have a rocker. My old ones were over-sharpened and the rocker had been flattened. This happened gradually over years of use and sharpening. I should have chucked them before the situation got this extreme. Over time, I made minute adjustments to the sharpenings and diminishing rocker. Suddenly I found myself on a real rocker and discovered that all of those small changes added up to a big problem.. Every time I did a three-turn to initiate a salchow, I slipped to the toe pick in an unexpected and sudden jerk. A friend recommended I check the three-turn more strongly. This helped. When my blade is not where I expect it to be, the upper body has to compensate. In truth, my technique has gotten sloppy because the flat blades allowed too much leeway for errors.
To adjust to my new rockers, I am practicing various moves in the field including three-turns on a hockey line, power threes, various stroking exercise, edges, swing rolls, chasses, mohawk steps, slaloms, and figure eights. My spins have not suffered. My spin technique has been very consistent for many years. It is actually easier to spin on a more pronounced rocker than a flat one. The sweet spot is better defined. A little concentration on balance and better, faster, longer spins can be achieved. My sit spin is very well centered, stable, and fast. Camels are a different story. In my opinion, camels require the most precision. Slipping off the hook can destroy a camel before the skater even starts rotating. The initiating three-turn skids and the camel forms a big loop rather than a tight center. The extended body position also requires more precise balance over the sweet spot to prevent the camel from rocking to the toe pick. This will require more effort.
So far, I have tackled waltz jumps, salchows, toe loops and flip jumps. No lutzes, loops or combinations yet. A major difficulty in adjusting to new curvaceous blades involves controlling the landing. If the free leg is too high, the unbalanced skater slips to the toe pick and scratches to a halt. Flat blades allow more freedom for sloppy landings, which is really not a good thing.
This break in period is not much fun. I feel disgusted while I am practicing. Of course, this is all my own fault for letting my equipment go far too long. I should have changed boots and blades at least two years ago. New blades, boots and little practice all at the same time equal "three strikes and I'm out". A lot of coaches teach in soft old boots. I joined the club. It is difficult for me to switch back and forth between two pairs of skates even if one is for teaching and one is for my own skating. Some of my colleagues were surprised to see me teaching in the new skates. For me, it’s all or nothing. It’s been nothing too long. Now I have to suck it up.
Mid May 2010
These Kids Are Driving Me Nuts
The kids in my low freestyle class are driving me crazy. The class consists of six girls ranging in ages from about six to eleven years old. Some of their behavior is to be expected of children in this age group. That is not what bothers me. However, I left the rink after teaching this group one evening frustrated half out of my mind. These kids presumably like to skate. I have been working with most of them for over a year as their group instructor. Their family situation may not allow extra trips to the rink for practice or private lessons, which is not their fault. In spite of my numerous efforts they still have trouble with very basic issues as follows.
- Differentiation between left and right
- Lack of understanding of inside and outside edges
- Toe pushing
- Insufficient knee bend
- Incomplete crossovers in the backward direction
- Leaning forward
- Lack of attention to verbal instructions and visual demonstrations
I could continue this list, but these items hit the high points that have resulted in my frustration. I realize toe pushing, knee bend, and poor posture are problems that can persist for years in skaters far above the ability of these students. However, I am dismayed that they have still not mastered left and right or inside and outside. I do not expect well-skated edges, but I do expect a student to know which edge she is on. I ask these kids to skate a right forward inside edge and invariably more than one of them skates a left forward outside or some other permutation. Fortunately, the kids all seem to understand the difference between backward and forward.
Poor attention span is the bane of many teachers whether on the ice or in the classroom. I have actually wondered if some of my students in this group (and others) have been diagnosed with ADHD or other learning disabilities. Some of these kids seem to have trouble processing visual and auditory information. Since the rink is not a school, I cannot refer the student to the child study team. I also feel I would be overstepping my bounds by sharing my concerns with the parents. However, I am a former schoolteacher, and see signs of these disorders in some of my skaters. I have mentioned to parents that their skater needs to learn left and right and have suggested working on this at home. I usually throw this in along with off-ice exercises for the child to practice.
Forward edges skated on a hockey line are a test skill for USFS Freeskate One. Kids hate them. Kids don’t understand them. They skate the wrong edge, swing their free legs and wave their arms, and lobes are grossly lopsided. Someone help me! I skated side-by-side with one student showing her what to do with her arms and free leg. I drew the tracing on the ice with a marker and placed an “X” at the midpoint of the lobe denoting where the change of free leg and arm position should occur. This was not the first time the class performed this exercise. I gently force it down their throats every week. Then I had the kid remonstrate the skill as I looked on. What a horror. I was ready to beat my head against the hockey boards. The only thing this girl did remotely right was to skate forward. Everything else was a mess. Meanwhile, the rest of the class was getting antsy. Obviously, this child was not going to “get it” during this session. She was obviously confused. I told her we would work on it some more next time. I know when to punt. I need to talk to this student’s parent and suggest a private lesson to help her learn this skill.
I would like to have a dry erase board at the rink to draw diagrams for my students and will look into this. I think a classroom style visual would assist in learning.
Week of May 23, 2010
Ice Dancing Again
I need a reason to get to the rink above and beyond teaching or breaking in new boots. I have to want to skate. Skating in new boot pain is no fun. Even though the only way to solve the problem is to plow through and suck up the discomfort, it is not very motivating. While goofing around on the Internet, I stumbled upon some ice dance videos. My last skating interest before I retired from regular lessons due to working fulltime was ice dance. Although I did not test any of the dances, I had mastered preliminary and pre-bronze and was working on bronze. I loved ice dancing. It forced me to use the whole ice surface, to increase flow, extension, and edge quality. Dance made me a better skater. During this period, which lasted a couple of years, I focused primarily on dances and moves in the field. I could skate an entire two-hour session without doing a single spin or jump. I had learned to appreciate skating for its simple origins of gliding on ice.
My Internet perusal led to a desire to dance again. The next day, I went to the rink armed with my old dance diagrams. I had forgotten the steps to even the easy Dutch Waltz. I studied the diagram and started skating. It was so much fun! I fell in love with the sport all over again. Sure, my feet hurt and I had to relace my boots several times. The first half-hour in new skates is a killer until the leather warms to accommodate my sweaty feet. I set a goal to work on the six beginning dances: Dutch Waltz, Rhythm Blues, Canasta Tango, Cha Cha, Swing Dance, and Fiesta Tango. This was an ambitious goal, and I did not achieve it. However, I worked on parts of all of the dances if not the entire patterns.
I never liked the cross behind chasses in the Rhythm Blues, but did them in both directions on the center hockey circle until I caught the toe pick of one blade on the heel of the other and gave myself a good scare. The Cha Cha has always been my favorite, and I skated it several times. I also love the Dutch Waltz for its pure simplicity. I skated the open mohawks for the swing dance extending my free leg and trying to be graceful. The Fiesta’s change edge is one of my favorite dance steps. I did them all around the rink. My lips moved as I counted the various rhythms. Wandering kids and a hockey guy kept stepping into my pattern, but I either skated around them like a real dancer or stopped like a chicken. Depended on the situation.
I plan to continue working on all of these dances until I feel comfortable then revisit the bronze set: Hickory Hoedown, Ten Fox, and Willow Waltz. I am anxious to take lessons again and will focus my efforts on dance and moves.
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