I had this journal entry half finished two days ago, but my computer froze up on me. Anyway, I am back from spring break, back to mounds of homework and an iceless ice rink. How depressing! But I had a great week off, and it was good to be back skating regularly. It was especially good to have lessons again. I have had very few lessons since Badger State Games, and all of my lessons before that had been geared toward perfecting my program. Needless to say, I was getting bored with practicing the same moves again and again. Luckily, my coach must have been reading my mind, because we started working on something new right off the bat. That something was the backspin. As you recall, I have been attempting these just for the fun of it for a while. After "officially" learning them, I realized I had been going into the spin wrong, but I think the practice I had been doing helped, because I caught on pretty quick. I had a fun time practicing these all week. Although I have a problem with spinning on the inside edge rather than the outside edge like I'm supposed to, at least I can feel when I'm on the wrong edge and attempt to fix it....we also worked on the preparation for the loop jump. I am looking forward to being comfortable enough with the set-up to actually do the jump! So aside from the fact that my scratch spins were out of order again, I had a lot of new things to practice, and that was exactly what I needed.
Although I hadn't planned on skating this morning, one of my friends from the skating club called and asked if I wanted to go, and since tonight's open skate will be canceled due to a hockey game, I figured why not. I probably shouldn't have gone, as my left ankle hurt like mad and a week off would probably would have done it good, but it was a decent practice none-the-less. It was the same old story with spins...inconsistant. Some were pretty good, others were awful. As hard as it is, I have to try and remind myself that somewhere within me, I have the ability to do good spins- I have done them before. And even if my spins suck at any given practice, I can't dwell on it and let it ruin the whole session.
So I worked a lot on forward and backward power pumps (or one foot slaloms, whatever you call them...)which I really enjoy doing. I remember being at open skate just last year, and watching somebody do them and thinking to myself, "How on earth do you change edges on just one foot???" It seemed impossible to me. But hey, now I can do them! I also worked on my backwards consecutive edges. I haven't quite learned the technique for doing the inside ones, so I'll have to ask my coach about that the next time I have a lesson. Anyways, being that I never practice these, they were actually pretty decent, and I vow to practice them more. :)
My backspin "attempts" were also better today, although I still just end up doing a bunch of tiny three turns instead of making actual circles. If nothing else, I guess I'll have a head start on these when I actually learn them. I worked a litte bit on my salchow and toe loop, though not enough to actually show any improvement. I spent a bit of time working on waltz jumps. When I watched the video of the competition from Badger State and then from this last weekend, I noticed that I have the bad habit of bending my freeleg when I jump. Not only does it look terrible, but it takes away from the height of the jump.
So after all of that, my practice time was up. My friend had been working on some footwork, and showed me how to do a bracket. Too bad I already had my skates off, or I would have went back on the ice and tried to do one! Oh well, next time... I should also add, this may be my last entry for a week or two, unless I end up skating on saturday morning. I don't have internet access at home, so I'll have a big "recap" entry when I return to school. Happy skating!
I decided to take a break and not contract ice for tonight. I opted to for-go a lesson in favor of open skate with my boyfriend. I had a GREAT time at open skate. It was crowded, but not too crowded, so I could still practice a bit. My spins hit a new high for my standards. I think that once I don't have to stress about spinning well, and I can just let loose, they are great! I worked a lot on getting my free leg higher, but I think that will take a while and it will come with more stretching. I also worked on backspins, and I did some (very few actually) that were sorta ok, even though they were more like really-really close three-turns....at least it's a start. At least my brain is getting used to balancing on the opposite foot for a change! So after my great time tonight, I am looking forward to skating this week.
On another exciting note, not only will I be able to skate a ton next week over spring break, but our family will be getting a little bigger too. My boyfriend and I just adopted another kitten! She comes home with us this coming Friday. :) I just hope that Xena, our current kitty, will take it well! I have a ton to look forward to starting this Friday, but it is going to be a long week with midterms! I just hope I can find some time get on the ice before they melt it. :)
The competition went surprisingly well. Despite the fact that I had "lost" my spins earlier this week, everything was back to normal once I got on the ice. I didn't skate stellar, but considering how busy I've been with classes, I did pretty well. Ironically, I screwed up the waltz jump/mazurka in my freeskate that I screwed up at Badger State, how wierd is that? I NEVER screw that up in practice! I think I just rush it in competition. I also blew the back pivot at the end of my freeskate program. It was good enough to win though. However, my freeskate event included people in levels freeskate 1-3, and I was probably a level above the other two women, so winning wasn't exactly a great triumph. Had I competed with the kids, I probably would have placed last! My compulsary program went really good though, my consecutive edges were nice (though slow), my waltz jump was solid, my spin was pretty good, and my half flip was pretty decent considering I was a little dizzy from finishing the spin! I also had the chance to ask my coach about a spin trainer. She told me that she didn't recommend them at all. As luck would have it, a friend of mine had hers at the competition so I had the chance to try it. It was NOTHING at all like spinning on the ice! So I think I'll just save my $40 and work on my flexibility, I think that will help my spins more than a spin trainer.
That morning....
What a horrendous skating session this morning. :P I had initially thought that I'd have a decent session based on the fact that I woke up feeling refreshed, as opposed to dead tired as I usually am, but that wasn't the case. My nicely centered spins had vanished. VANISHED! Every spin I did traveled across the rink like a stretched phone cord. I haven't done spins that bad in months. Why did my spins have to go MIA just 3 days before my competition? As much as I tried to fix them, nothing worked. However, I did come up with some possible reasons for my sucky spins: A sore left ankle....Poor body position....I've been cursed by the skating gods. I am inclined to blame it on my ankle, but I hate making excuses, especially when the problem is most likely due to my inexperience. However, my left ankle continually bothers me, so that may be the problem. I have what feels like a "shin splint" on the outside of it, and the more moves I do which stress my left foot, the more it hurts. But who knows if that is the problem or not. Unfortunately, I can't say anything I did that morning was up to my ability. My waltz jumps, salchows, even half flips were lousy. More than anything, I just need more practice and more lessons. Now if only I could find a way to become a "full time" skater and "part time" student...
Later that night...
My meeting ran a little late tonight, but I managed to make it to open skate for a good 45 minutes of skating. Also to my advantage, I found the rink to be nearly empty. My spins were better than this morning, but still not as good as I am capable of. I believe my problem had a lot, if not ALL to do with body position, because once I focused on standing strait and trying to stay balanced, my spins centered better. I had 2 or 3 that centered nicely, even though they weren't that great of spins (poor speed, poor free-leg position.) I still had a few that traveled across the rink, but... I worked a lot on waltz jumps, and doing three, four, or five in a row. I found this to be fun, and it makes me concentrate on what I am doing rather than rushing into the next jump. My salchows were better too, except for a few that I fell out of, mostly because my brain was somewhere else. I worked on back three turns, and not just the outside, the INSIDE too! ( I tend to get into the habit of practicing what I am already able to do, fancy that...) Overall, it was an ok practice. My spins weren't as good as I know they can be, but I tried to move onto other elements and not obsess over spins. My jumps were pretty good, except for the toe loop, but that is a different story.
As I left the rink today, I grabbed a schedule and realized that next Friday will be my last day skating before they melt the ice off the rink. :( I will really miss skating during school, it helped to ease my tensions. (except for those days where my spins dissappear, adding to my stress...) Since my spins are not stellar, and the rink will be closing, I am thinking of buying a spin trainer to work on my spins. **** If anybody has any experience with these, could you let me know what you think before I spend $40 on one??**** I am also looking forward to next fall, my last semester. Since I only need 10 required credits to graduate, I am making sure to plan my schedule around the open skate schedule. I also plan on taking ballet to satisfy my phy-ed credit, and hopefully improve my skating.
In the meantime, I will be skating one more time (Fri. morning) before the competition, and before that, I am going to try to compose a list of my short and long term skating goals, as well as a more consistant practice regime.
I am plagued by inconsistancy. Allow me to explain. I went to the freestyle session today, and was pleasantly surprised to find only half a dozen people there. I started out with some edge work, and worked on my program for the compulsary moves for this Saturday. This program without music consists of progressive inside and outside edges, a waltz jump, scratch spin and half flip. Easy enough. I enter the scratch spin from a waltz jump and connecting steps, so I have a bit of speed going into the spin. My scratch spins were stellar. :) I did a few that centered within a foot, which is good by my standards, and some that traveled a little, but still felt really balanced. I was so happy. Unfortunately, it didn't get better from there. My program with music starts with a scratch spin, so I practiced that. For some reason, I could not hit the scratch spin with just one back crossover to generate speed. Maybe, i thought, I was just psyching myself out, because starting the program with a scratch spin always made me nervous. I think I ended up doing a few good ones after a while. As the session progressed, my spins went from great to ok, to total crap. ARG! I should have just stopped after I hit 5 or so good ones. But i didn't. By the end of the 2 hour session, I could not do a balanced spin or was spinning on my toepick or the wrong edge. I cannot decide if it's a mental problem, a physical problem, or both. Probably both. I think it starts with my spinning ankle getting tired. It gets sore on the outside, so I am hypothesizing that I naturally start to lean on it to avoid the discomfort. This results in a crappy spin, and me panicking. The additional discomfort in my ankle and panic in my brain results in me being unable to do a decent spin. SO naturally, I leave every session wondering if I will EVER be able to do a scratch spin again. Luckily, the first scratch spins of the session are always good. I just need to learn to quit while I am ahead.
So aside from my spinning fiasco, I skated fairly well. I have been working a lot on RFI 3-turns and RBO 3-turns. These are actually starting to get pretty good. Just for the fun of it, I tried working on backspins. I haven't actually learned them in a lesson yet, but I will probably be learning them soon, so I figured why not try. I find them to be next to impossible, but if I try to keep myself balanced like when I do the 3 turns, I can manage to grind out one or maybe 2 actual revolutions. I only suceeded in doing this one or two times though. But it showed progress. So I guess if I try to focus on the positive, I did about 10 or so really good scratch spins. I should be proud of that. Even some of the crappy spins were someting that I would have been proud of 3 months ago. Hopefully I can make it to the rink on Weds. and Fri. morning and get some practice in before the competition this weekend.
I had a brilliant idea this morning...since River Falls has an outdoor rink at the city park, I thought I'd go check it out and get some practice in. I drove to the rink before meeting some friends for lunch just to see if the ice was ok. From the parking lot, it looked manageable. So after lunch, I drove to the park, laced up my skates, and decided to give it a try. I was on the ice for about 20 seconds before I decided it was a complete waste of time. The ice was ungodly lumpy, and way to soft. I dejectedly got off the ice and put my skates back in my skating bag. So much for getting extra practice. I went home and did the next best productive thing. I slept till 5 pm. :)
