So at my last edge class, no one showed up but me. (The weather was horrible, but that's no excuse for missing the Mass or a lesson.)
The result was, Coach Cruella had me all to herself. She said, "How would you like to do swingrolls?"
Not much.
I've been exposed to Cruella's swingrolls before. She's extremely fussy about body position, edges, depth of knee bend, leg position. While she tells me pretty much the same stuff Dance Coach does, he seems to be a little more easy going. He takes the long view. "You need to work on X." he'll say, "It will come". He's got issues with my power, and patterns and stuff to move one to. Cruella is more like "We're going to fix your swingrolls now." So, it's working out well for me. As I've said elsewhere, I like the way my two coaches scope their lessons differently.
Anyway Cruella wants me to do swingrolls facing down the line. Up to now I've been doing them facing the direction I'm skating. Now, Cruella wants me to face the axis of the swingroll pattern and continue to face in that direction, while the swing rolls rotate around my body.
That doesn't make sense does it?
So, the video below, is NOT NOT NOT the Cruella way:
See how she is always facing the direction she is skating? The Cruella way, the skater would be facing the camera the whole time!
Did I just hear you go, "Eeek,That's hard!" Yes, indeedy, it is.
There's a quick but not jerky switch from one shoulder forward to the other that begins just as I approach the longline of the swingroll pattern. Also, I have to swing the swinging leg to pass next too the skating leg, and cross in front of the skating leg, ending up with the heel pointing inside the circle.
After a half hour I can do the facing down the axis thing fairly well on outside swingrolls. Inside ones? Meh.
Cruella swears this will delight Dance Coach when I show him.
Am I sensing competition in the invisible partnership? Mmmmm, what fun!
I like the idea of your coaches competing! "I'll have her doing twizzles first!"
ReplyDeleteI've never done swing rolls without facing perpendicular to the line. Aren't they just edge patterns otherwise?
In answer to your question, I think I'm in murky waters. Edge patterns to me, don't have the swingy bit. I've been taught to to them toe-to-heel, gentle transition to heel-to-toe.
DeleteI do know that in hold, I do the facing down the line bit, I just wasn't conscious of it.
You're learning to cross check. This helps you stop the rotation so it's easier to change direction when doing alternating swing rolls. That cross check will also be very useful when you learn higher-level turns. Eventually you will probably find it more natural than staying square to the tracing.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the information! Checking is my weakness.
DeletePeople think good skating is about rotation but good skating with control is about stopping rotation! Checking starts with your skating foot as I'm sure your coaches have told you. What you do with other body parts can also help. The foot part is the hardest to master but gives you great control. Keep up the good work!
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