Skating: The March Towards Gamma
Aug. 24th, 2013 12:25 pmWe're making progress toward outside three turns. Today we glided to the top of the semicircle on one foot, put the other foot down and turned, then picked it back up again to complete the semicircle.
Okay, that's not what happened at all. It was more like we glided to the top of the semicircle on one foot, put the other foot down and turned, then said, "You want us to skate backwards on one foot? Haaaahahaha, good one!" Once we were over that, for me it was, "Wait, which is my right foot again?" Then, "All right, figured out which foot to pick up! Hang on, why am I making a tight little circle rather than a nice big curve?"*
At one point I forgot to put down my other foot for the turn and still kept trying to turn (i.e., I mistakenly attempted a real three turn) and nearly landed on my face. Fun times.
The exercise went a little better when I got reminded to keep my shoulders checked after the turn, but it's still going to need work.
We skipped crossovers this week, which was a relief because I think I'm always going to hate forward crossovers. I can do them, I'll pass the test, but I don't enjoy them. I like backwards crossovers better than forwards, and I can't even do those very well yet. (On the other hand, I managed six of the advanced type in a row going CW--with something approaching flow between them, even!--and three CCW. Woot!)
Backwards stroking improved tremendously with a reminder to, you know, stand up straight. We learned today that forwards stroking is an entirely different animal than I understood it to be (more glide than push), but it feels really cool when done right. I've been doing some thigh and whatever-muscles-are-around-your-hips stretches in addition to my calf stretches, and I think they're helping. (I have dreams of spirals. They're not realistic dreams, but they're dreams nonetheless.)
Finally, a variation on my Frankeninsoles totally worked, and I love it. I would love it even more if I could get the left one just a little bit closer to filling the space that needs filling without being too big, but it's better than nothing, and the right one is perfect.
* Likely I was leaning over too far, but I'm still not entirely sure.
Okay, that's not what happened at all. It was more like we glided to the top of the semicircle on one foot, put the other foot down and turned, then said, "You want us to skate backwards on one foot? Haaaahahaha, good one!" Once we were over that, for me it was, "Wait, which is my right foot again?" Then, "All right, figured out which foot to pick up! Hang on, why am I making a tight little circle rather than a nice big curve?"*
At one point I forgot to put down my other foot for the turn and still kept trying to turn (i.e., I mistakenly attempted a real three turn) and nearly landed on my face. Fun times.
The exercise went a little better when I got reminded to keep my shoulders checked after the turn, but it's still going to need work.
We skipped crossovers this week, which was a relief because I think I'm always going to hate forward crossovers. I can do them, I'll pass the test, but I don't enjoy them. I like backwards crossovers better than forwards, and I can't even do those very well yet. (On the other hand, I managed six of the advanced type in a row going CW--with something approaching flow between them, even!--and three CCW. Woot!)
Backwards stroking improved tremendously with a reminder to, you know, stand up straight. We learned today that forwards stroking is an entirely different animal than I understood it to be (more glide than push), but it feels really cool when done right. I've been doing some thigh and whatever-muscles-are-around-your-hips stretches in addition to my calf stretches, and I think they're helping. (I have dreams of spirals. They're not realistic dreams, but they're dreams nonetheless.)
Finally, a variation on my Frankeninsoles totally worked, and I love it. I would love it even more if I could get the left one just a little bit closer to filling the space that needs filling without being too big, but it's better than nothing, and the right one is perfect.
* Likely I was leaning over too far, but I'm still not entirely sure.
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