September 2004
Friday September 3, 2004
Last Hurrah
Today I skated for the fourth time this week. It was by far the best, least populated session. However, this rink has not been especially crowded all summer. I have called ahead to avoid large camp groups and parties and was rarely disappointed. In the many years that I have been skating, I cannot remember getting better summer ice. I certainly have not in recent years. Usually this meant supplementing scant opportunity to ice skate with other forms of exercise including artistic inline skating, distance quad skating and aerobics. For the first time in four summers, I did not roller skate at all. This was primarily due to the availability of quality ice.
Early last spring, I dropped my aerobics class when the schedule became too frustrating. Unfortunately, I have not replaced it but plan to begin doing aerobics on my own in the new house. Now we have ample space to permit dancing to music of my choice that won’t blast my eardrums into early deafness. My aerobics instructor had the annoying habit of announcing mid-routine, “I’m going to turn it up” although the place was already reverberating. In addition to inconvenient class times, I got tired of leaving with a pounding headache.
I call Friday my “last hurrah” because after Labor Day, I will return to work. As an employee of a public school district, I have enjoyed about nine weeks of absolute freedom. Although I went on vacation and was busy with our move, I squeezed quite a bit of productive skating into my schedule. I actually regained my former spinning prowess, though my usually excellent back camel took a holiday of its own this week. I find the temporary disappearance of a reliable skill very annoying. No one would be surprised if I suddenly lost an axel, assuming I had one; but the back camel is a basic movement that I perform with such ease and confidence, I should own it come hell or high water. Nothing is eternal or steadfast in skating. However, that back camel will return without warning, just as unexpectedly as it vanished.
Though I did not achieve anything concrete that could fill a test report with passing scores and glowing comments, regular practice bred a familiarity with the ice that resulted in faster skating and more confident edges. If I were to set a goal it would be to improve my lutz, more specifically to eliminate the flutzing problem that plagues me. I made strides toward that objective by taking a lesson. I work on Eileen’s drills every time I step in the ice. I could easily dedicate hours to lutz exercises. My investment has yielded a clean half-lutz with neatly crossed legs. I am taking my time with this skill; not rushing the full rotation jump. Instead of hurrying toward the target, I prefer to form good habits and develop improved technique. Hopefully, during the coming skating season, I will land correct single lutzes.
Once I return to work, I will skate regularly on Saturday mornings and try to attend an afternoon public session during the week until the season kicks in and the publics degrade into madhouses. In October, I plan to start teaching group lessons again which will include the fringe benefit of free skating and an additional half-hour or more of practice time one afternoon per week before students arrive. No more sweet, succulent, almost empty daytime sessions; that is, not until I take a personal day or call in sick.
Week of September 5, 2004
Return of the Back Camel
Last time I skated, I could not do a decent back camel. After more than a week off-ice, the amazing vanishing camel reappeared. However, I have not been able to hook and immediately center a forward camel for several skating sessions. This normally means my blades have dulled. A mysterious one-day desertion can happen to anyone at any time. This is a fluke, and the move will return as quickly as it departed. A prolonged problem can indicate the development of bad habits in the absence of regular lessons and/or practice or equipment problems.
My boots are broken down, and I have ordered a new pair. My blades also need sharpening. The forward camel is my blade barometer. This skill is so sensitive, as soon as my blades need attention, the ability to anchor this spin and center it without skidding or traveling deteriorates. I can compensate for the problem to some extent. I even performed a camel-forward illusion-sit spin that elicited compliments from a skating friend.
Donna, the rink’s skating director, asked when I would be returning to teaching group lessons. Although we discussed this before, I told her I plan to come back in October. She said that would be perfect since enrollment increases dramatically after families settle into the school year. Until then, I will enjoy the freestyle hour on Saturday morning and stay on the ice during the miniscule group lessons. This week, back of the rink was left empty, just for my entertainment. I took full advantage of the space to practice jumps. My flips and loops are very respectable and possibly improving. My new lutz remains a half; but a very good half from a clean outside edge. Unfortunately, my split jump has not improved. I cannot lift my trailing leg and apparently am kicking more than jumping. My basic skating skills remain strong. The effort I have invested over the years in dance and moves in the field have paid off nicely. I hope the same will be said in the future about my lutz and split.
Saturday September 18, 2004
Little Split
My split jump suffers from a common problem: a low trailing leg. In my case, this problem originates at the take-off. Instead of allowing both legs to leave the ice simultaneously, I kick the leading leg then try to lift the picking leg. After years of working on splits and stags, I have achieved very limited results. My leading leg kicks quite high, and if its position were duplicated on the back end, I would have nearly a 180º split leap. In order to correct this deficiency, I must concentrate on pushing with the vaulting leg, as though I were leaping on land. The toe that picks into the ice must dig in and push the body up and forward. As a consequence of that pushing action, the motion may continue into the air allowing the leg to lift and extend.
While I readily perform my lazy split things without much thought, I really need to concentrate on fixing what is wrong. During practice, as I execute the mohawk and reach back to pick, I think “push!” as a loud mental exclamation during take-off. Most of the time, nothing special happens. However, I had one breakthrough jump when my trailing leg flew from its anchorage in the ice and kicked out behind me. I was thrilled! I tried to repeat the minor miracle but to no avail. If I did it once, I can do it again. Eventually. Someday. Just not today.
So, I worked on pushing up only, not even trying to kick my leading leg. I thought about lift and extension coming out of the ice. This resulted in some nice pops. As a continuation of this exercise, I practiced ballet jumps. Taken from a forward inside three-turn (like a toe loop), the ballet jump can be done at speed. This simple trick allows me to focus on extending the leg that trails during a split. The ballet jump (and toe loop) pick with the opposite foot compared with the split jump, flip and lutz. I have no trouble with this jump and am working on stretching my picking leg to give my ballet leap a little extra emphasis.
I made a small bit of progress today. Apparently I possess the fundamental ability to do a decent split jump.
Saturday September 27, 2004
The Secret’s Out?
I decided to go to the rink in spite of recovering from a cold that wiped me out at the beginning of the week. Maybe some exercise would help to clear my sinuses. I did not expect much more than that. In the lobby, I saw a serious-looking teenager with a big rolling case and an equally serious mother. The girl wore a skating dress and fashionably shabby tights with runs where they abraded against her boot lacing hooks. “Oh, no,” I thought, “The secret’s out.”
This relatively new rink that opened about a year ago is only ten minutes from home, now that we have moved. Freestyle sessions have been quiet; mostly adults, a few low freestyle girls, and some kids in Donna’s elite class. “Elite” is a misnomer for children who passed basic skills and are learning freestyle. The teenager joined the group after the session started, skated around once and did an axel. A controlled and competent jumper, she continued with all of the doubles then began working the double axel and triple salchow. All of this happened within about twenty minutes, after which she gathered her belongings and left the ice. She apparently used this session to warm up for something else, possibly a lesson elsewhere or a test or competition. No one skates for only twenty minutes without a specific motive.
Hopefully this girl will not tell all of her friends about our skating hideaway. A few more advanced skaters practicing doubles and triples will turn our friendly productive session into a madhouse. Actually, I could match this girl’s speed but not her familiarity with skating on a crowded high freestyle. I may be strong and quick, but these kids are fearless and agile. An adult can easily keep away from one high-level kid, but when a few of them dart around the rink, they seem to be everywhere at once. While this is probably inevitable, I relish the quality freestyle sessions I have now. Someday they will certainly come to an end.
The newcomer may have actually inspired me. I skated powerfully and landed some big jumps. My flips have become more secure, and I popped a loop that covered about four feet, a large distance for an adult-trained skater. My flying camels were also very good. While I try to spin right on top of my landing point, this rarely happens. Usually I travel one big circle before controlling the back camel.
Though I had few expectations, I skated very well and spent about an hour on footwork. I have dedicated myself to improving my backward inside three-turns, a skill that has plagued me in recent years. To create flow into the intimidating turn, I perform double threes, back inside figure loops, and back inside threes from backward crossovers. I practice a simplified version of the backward inside three-turn novice field move on a hockey circle. My exercise consists of a backward crossover, a BI3, and a mohawk into another back crossover. When I feel brave, I do the actual pattern on the circle with a forward inside three followed by a BI3. These drills have made me comfortable with the difficult turns and have resulted in significant progress on a nemesis skill.
Week of September 28, 2004
New Session
The rink has introduced a new freestyle session one afternoon per week. Since it fits into my schedule and will offer much needed exercise and practice, I decided to check it out. Of course, the session is expensive, at least it seems expensive to me. All summer I skated publics, got free ice time while teaching, and skated mostly publics or inexpensive daytime open sessions for several years before. Since I plan to start teaching the next round of group lessons, some of my ice time will again be complimentary.
I was wired from a busy day at work and, as a boxing announcer might say, I came out fighting. I circled the rink in one field move after another, never stopping, just changing patterns with each successive lap. With only an hour to skate, I had to warm up and increase my heart rate fast. I basically skated like the proverbial bat-out-of-hell for an entire hour. Three teenage girls attended the session, two of whom could do very strong attractive axels and doubles. However, they spent much of their time chatting in a corner. I think they inspired me to skate faster and push harder into my jumps. My loops were really big for a woman my age and size. My knee bent deeply digging my blade into the ice and launching my body upward. It was an amazing feeling of strength and power. I spent most of the session jetting around the rink and jumping.
Whenever possible, I plan to attend this session. Once I return to teaching mode I will skate an hour on Saturday, about a half-hour on my coaching weekday, and another hour or hour-and-a-half at this session. I will also have three hours of on-ice teaching. It is certainly not great, but not too bad either.
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