Today's lesson
Aug. 29th, 2014 06:56 pmI officially know how to do a Salchow!
Actually doing it is, of course, a different matter, but at least I know what it's supposed to look like. I'm not quite to the point where I can do it all one one foot, but I might actually get there sooner than I thought. For once, my crappy 3-turn checking comes in useful, because you need to curve back in on yourself after the entrance to get the "hook" you need to swing your free leg around and leap off the skating leg. P is always genuinely cheerful and enthusiastic, but I think she was truly excited at how quickly I caught on, which gave me a nice little glow of pride.
Speaking of 3-turns, she managed to work absolute magic on mine by mentioning that I should try keeping my inner hip/leg forward just a bit on the entrance to counter the rotation of my shoulders, as opposed to basically turning my whole body into the circle and then trying to check out afterwards, and...magic. MAGIC, I TELL YOU.
My spirals are 1,000% better than they were in February. I think my free leg is getting pretty close to the height I can manage on dry land. Apparently I also have a nice arch to my back. (I would hope so, given how uncomfortable that position is...)
Still in spin hell, but what else is new. P says that the new skates I'm getting in October (assuming Rainbo ever writes me back...) will help a lot, because the blades I'm getting have a bigger sweet spot for spinning than my current entry-level ones. They'll also have a nice deep rocker, as opposed to the baby rocker I have right now. Yay.
Finally, we worked on crossrolls for a lark, including backwards ones. Backwards crossrolls have to be the most awkward movement on the face of the earth. Imagine walking backwards, putting one foot behind the outside of the other (so you make a slanted T with your toes touching the outside midfoot of the other foot). Then do it on ice. It probably gets less awkward when you actually do the roll, which is a glide on an outside edge, so it curves in like a C, but right now...oof.
(Apparently what we did in class last winter was something different from a real back crossroll--maybe a back cross-stroke?--so we started from scratch. Too bad.)
Oh, and I also learned a half Lutz, which is exactly the same as the half flip I already know but for the entry edge. Can I just say, I knew intellectually why some of the pros "flutz" (switch from the Lutz outside edge entry to the flip inside edge entry), but now I have all new respect for people who do triple versions of these things correctly, and sympathy for those who don't. Aside from back crossrolls, there's nothing more awkward than sailing along on a left back outside edge (so you're angling clockwise), and then plunking your right toe pick in and turning to the left, which is entirely counter to the arc you're on. My whole body was like, "WHAT WHAT WHAT ARE YOU DOING THIS IS NUTS!"
Arguably, everything in skating is nuts. Some things are just more nuts than others. ;)
Actually doing it is, of course, a different matter, but at least I know what it's supposed to look like. I'm not quite to the point where I can do it all one one foot, but I might actually get there sooner than I thought. For once, my crappy 3-turn checking comes in useful, because you need to curve back in on yourself after the entrance to get the "hook" you need to swing your free leg around and leap off the skating leg. P is always genuinely cheerful and enthusiastic, but I think she was truly excited at how quickly I caught on, which gave me a nice little glow of pride.
Speaking of 3-turns, she managed to work absolute magic on mine by mentioning that I should try keeping my inner hip/leg forward just a bit on the entrance to counter the rotation of my shoulders, as opposed to basically turning my whole body into the circle and then trying to check out afterwards, and...magic. MAGIC, I TELL YOU.
My spirals are 1,000% better than they were in February. I think my free leg is getting pretty close to the height I can manage on dry land. Apparently I also have a nice arch to my back. (I would hope so, given how uncomfortable that position is...)
Still in spin hell, but what else is new. P says that the new skates I'm getting in October (assuming Rainbo ever writes me back...) will help a lot, because the blades I'm getting have a bigger sweet spot for spinning than my current entry-level ones. They'll also have a nice deep rocker, as opposed to the baby rocker I have right now. Yay.
Finally, we worked on crossrolls for a lark, including backwards ones. Backwards crossrolls have to be the most awkward movement on the face of the earth. Imagine walking backwards, putting one foot behind the outside of the other (so you make a slanted T with your toes touching the outside midfoot of the other foot). Then do it on ice. It probably gets less awkward when you actually do the roll, which is a glide on an outside edge, so it curves in like a C, but right now...oof.
(Apparently what we did in class last winter was something different from a real back crossroll--maybe a back cross-stroke?--so we started from scratch. Too bad.)
Oh, and I also learned a half Lutz, which is exactly the same as the half flip I already know but for the entry edge. Can I just say, I knew intellectually why some of the pros "flutz" (switch from the Lutz outside edge entry to the flip inside edge entry), but now I have all new respect for people who do triple versions of these things correctly, and sympathy for those who don't. Aside from back crossrolls, there's nothing more awkward than sailing along on a left back outside edge (so you're angling clockwise), and then plunking your right toe pick in and turning to the left, which is entirely counter to the arc you're on. My whole body was like, "WHAT WHAT WHAT ARE YOU DOING THIS IS NUTS!"
Arguably, everything in skating is nuts. Some things are just more nuts than others. ;)
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