Figure skating lesson one
May. 11th, 2013 04:01 pmAhhhh, this is so fun! Since the class was advertised as being for 13 and up, I was a little worried it would be me and a gaggle of giggling 14-year-olds, but in fact it was me and two moms taking classes along with their kids. (All the classes meet on the same rink, just in different areas with different instructors.) None of us had ever taken lessons before, so we were all starting more or less from scratch.
Anyway, the first thing we learned was, as advertised, how to fall down safely. The idea is to crouch as much as possible and take the impact with your thigh. Getting up was a bit harder, and made me glad I wore gloves.
We then learned "marching," which is exactly what it sounds like except your feet are in a V. Obviously this is very basic, but it was helpful for me in that doing it made something click in my brain about how to distribute my weight when skating forward so that I'm not constantly toe-pushing. Still can't help myself sometimes, but the idea is there. We also marched backwards, which was pretty awesome but somehow not recreatable in the practice session that followed after. Maybe next week.
Finally, we learned swizzles both forwards and backwards. I can now say I have skated successfully around the rink backwards thanks to these things. ;) Again, they're something I've done before on my own, but having someone tell me how to distribute my weight and insisting I bend my knees more made them work so much better.
At the moment, I seem to be the class member progressing the fastest. This is an unusual position for me, because in dance classes/practices, I've usually been the one who's enthusiastic but definitely in the bottom half of the class. Maybe I have found my niche! Or maybe it'll all come crashing down next week, who knows.
\o/!
Anyway, the first thing we learned was, as advertised, how to fall down safely. The idea is to crouch as much as possible and take the impact with your thigh. Getting up was a bit harder, and made me glad I wore gloves.
We then learned "marching," which is exactly what it sounds like except your feet are in a V. Obviously this is very basic, but it was helpful for me in that doing it made something click in my brain about how to distribute my weight when skating forward so that I'm not constantly toe-pushing. Still can't help myself sometimes, but the idea is there. We also marched backwards, which was pretty awesome but somehow not recreatable in the practice session that followed after. Maybe next week.
Finally, we learned swizzles both forwards and backwards. I can now say I have skated successfully around the rink backwards thanks to these things. ;) Again, they're something I've done before on my own, but having someone tell me how to distribute my weight and insisting I bend my knees more made them work so much better.
At the moment, I seem to be the class member progressing the fastest. This is an unusual position for me, because in dance classes/practices, I've usually been the one who's enthusiastic but definitely in the bottom half of the class. Maybe I have found my niche! Or maybe it'll all come crashing down next week, who knows.
\o/!
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