I made it to the think both yesterday and this morning. I am happy to report that despite my grave lack of practice, my skating has been progressing. Before I get that that, I have to gripe about the incident I had yesterday with my old coach. (I suppose I should mention that although I have a new coach, my old coach is still working with me for MIF, so I guess she still considers herself my coach...) Anyways, my old coach comes up to me and hands me a postcard upon which she had typed up the events I should enter for our rinks Basic Skills Competition coming up in August. I looked at the card....Freestyle 1? Ok, Freestyle 1 is basically what I have been competing at since last winter. I bluntly told her "I am not wasting my time competing unless I can move up a level." After all, with a loop and a backspin in my arsenal now, I definitly don't want to do the same damn jumps that I have been doing at every other competition. Not to mention, last year we only had one other adult compete, and I'll probably be the only person in my class, so what have I got to loose?
Her response, however, was, "Well I'd like to see you skate with more confidence and more speed, blah blah blah." True, but if I can do that in my old routine, I can surely do it in a new routine. I used to have to memorize AND choreograph three routines a week for colorguard in high school, so I think I can handle memorizing a 1:15 routine by August. Not to mention, I HATE the music to my old routine. Cut me some music that I like, and maybe I'll skate like I don't have lead in my ass! (Personally, I would love to skate to Objection by Shakira, though I don't know if I'd be able to skate fast enough to that music).
So yea, I was frustrated with that. Not to mention, my coach has a 9 yr. old student that she teaches, and she always tried to compare me to her. I could go on and on, but I won't...all I'll say is that I get tense when my old coach and her 9 yr old "prodigy" are on the ice... I feel like I'm constantly scrutinized by the coach, which is rediculous, because you can't even compare a 9 yr old with someone in their 20's who's learning to skate.
Ok, onto skating stuff. My scratch spins have been really decent the last two days. Each day, I have ended my session with a scratch spin, and each time, it was perfectly centered and it sure felt fast! How often can I say that? Not often! I have somewhat "gave up" on getting my freeleg as high as it should be. That will probly come with time and lots of stretching, which I haven't been doing lately. Right now, I am more focused on doing them consitantly and centering them. Backspins have been so so, I have learned 2 new ways to go into the backspin, so that has taken a while to get used to, and as a result the spins are sorta remedial looking. My waltz jumps and salchows have gone on vacation for some reason, though my new coach fixed my position in the salchow, and she said they look much better- much more controlled, even though they feel more awkward to me right now.
Toe loops have stayed at the same spot, I don't really practice them as much as I should. This is because I am having so much fun working on the LOOP! This jump is getting better, though my position in the air is something I still have to work on. Typically, I concentrate on one thing (arm position) and neglect another (not waiting so long to jump). But these are improving. We also worked on the flip today. Again, I cannot emphasize how much walkthroughs help. I landed 3-4 totally sh*tty flips. The great thing about my new coach is that she can pinpoint exactly what I do wrong, and why it causes the mistake it does. We walked through the jump some more, and I tried one. Somehow, my body did everything it was supposed to, and I landed the jump in astonishment....holy crap, that felt EASY! I couldn't believe how easy that jump felt when I did it correct! LOL, now if only my body would cooperate every time!
But anyways, I was at the lab till 7 tonight, just so I can go to freestyle tomorrow at one of the rinks out of town. Unfortunately, my rink has cracked down on open skate and banned jumps and spins, unless your'e getting a lesson- go figure. Hopefully I'll have good things to say about my practice tomorrow.
Well this week marked the beginning of summer skating. That's right, waking up at an obscene hour to battle the morning commuters and get to the rink. The things I will do to skate... :) I contracted ice for 2 days a week for the months of June and July, and will then hit August hard, with 2 weeks of skating at least 6 hours per week, and one week of skating at least 9 hours per week. I typically go to open skate to practice, so these numbers will likely increase. As I mentioned, I am working with a new coach this summer, and it is going FANTASTIC. I absolutely love working with her, she teaches well and has fixed a lot of little problems with my jumps that have made them easier already. I actually have a decent loop now, though it is not consistant. Perhaps my biggest accomplishment is that I landed 2 real flip jumps! I know I claimed to have landed these before, but what I did before didn't really qualify as a real flip jump...it even felt wrong when i tried it. Today, however, I was doing real flips! My coach had me walk through the jump and that helped like you wouldn't imagine. :) Unfortunately, my "easy" jumps (the waltz, salchow, and toe loop) weren't up to par today, but I didn't do to bad considering that I didn't practice at all since my lesson on Monday.
So I am trying to "map" out my goals for the summer. I am sure this will be modified, but I would like to have a consistant scratch spin and back spin, have all my jumps through the lutz(at least semi-)solid, and have a new spin (sit spin?) before school starts in September. I also want to pick up the pace, and be able to do my program with more power. WQanting all of that may be unrealistic, especially since I often wonder if I'll EVER have a consistant scratch spin, but at least I have something to work for.
I am finally starting to see improvement in my skating, and that is what's motivating me to try harder. I think that if I can find a time to have my boyfriend videotape me skating, I'll be shocked to see what I can do! Mostly, I am eager to see what my loop and flip look like. Probly not as good as I wish they were, but I'm eager to find out. Until next time...
It has been way to long since I updated this site, but the insanity of finals and the lack of any decent skating sessions put it at the bottom of my priority list. I wish I could say that skating has been rewarding lately, but it has not been. Though I can justify my lack of progress to the fact that I have barely skated once a week for the past few months, I have been having coaching problems that can't be remedied as easily. Though my coach has done a wonderful job with my basic skills, there has been alot of miscommunication as I have entered freestyle. I managed to get past my "toe loop hump" that had me stalled for quite some time, but this required I basically re-learn the jump after practicing it and doing it wrong for several months without being told. Now I am having the same situation with the loop jump. I was taught this jump, and practiced it the way I was told. I was so proud when I actually began to land loop jumps! I then came to find out that my coach had taught me the jump slightly incorrect, so I had to relearn it. To make a long story short, my second time learning it was not correct either, so now any ability I have to learn the loop the right way seems to be gone. I am sure I will get it sorted out, just like I did the toe loop, but I feel like so much money and so much practice has gone into learning a jump that wasn't even correct. UGH. But my coach did admit that she didn't feel comfortable teaching me through freestyle, so I will likely learn MIF from her, and I will be working with a new coach this summer.
To update on my skating this afternoon, my scratch spins were crappy (what's new..they come and go like the wind) but I had several good back scratch spins. My salchows and toe loops seemed good, being that I haven't practiced in very long, but I am anxious to have someone videotape me so I can see whether they have actually improved or not! The only thing that kept me from being completely dejected about not being able to do the loop jump anymore is that I have been practing ina bauers and I can actually do them! They are completely premodial and I can only do them about 25% of the time, but they are there, and with more practice I think I can develop them into something nice!
So that is what I have been up to lately. My garden is growing wonderfully and I have a new pet cockatiel. I have a great research internship at the Medical School in the surgery dept. so I have been trying to skate around that. Once I get my summer skating contract figured out, I will post my goals for the summer and beyond. :)
