I've had that for the last few weeks with my three turns. I used to have nice ones. Not great, but consistent and I could do them with any foot, leg or arm position.
Today I saw Dance Coach leaning on the boards while he waited for Miss Cheerleader to warm up for their Gold Moves lesson. "How is your return to skating coming?" he was kind enough to ask.
"The knee and the hip," I waved my hands in frustration, "I'm going nowhere fast."
That was a hard statement to make. I must have looked really down. Dance Coach smiled sadly and said, "Skate safe." What else could he say?
Five minutes later, I fell off my back edge in a 3 turn. I almost walked off the ice. What was I doing? This constant stream over the weeks of choppy three turns, no improvement,...
But I'd paid for the ice, so I skated to the other end of the rink to get away from the 'falling spot.' 'Falling spots' carry bad juju for a few minutes so it's best to skate away, just so it doesn't reach out and zap you. Yeah, I'm a doofus.
Other end of the rink, I do a FO3, and just as I'm about to do the turn I squeeze my thighs together. Bam! Perfect three turn with about 10 feet of glide, steady as a rock.
Rest of the session I'm doing outside threes with any foot, leg or arm position, either direction equally well. As long as I bring that free leg in so the thighs touch, I'm golden.
No idea what's going on, but...
 |
| Back in love with skating! |
What's going on is that your free foot can't dangle precariously out there, flapping in the breeze and pulling you off your edge, if your thighs are squeezed tight. At least, that's what my coach told me when she told me to do that very squeeze. And if you try to just stand up in your living room, squeeze your thighs together and simultaneously flap your foot around, you'll find it's pretty impossible.
ReplyDeleteALSO, what's going on is: YAY!! You fixed it yourself!! You rock. :)
If your thighs are squeezed together, not only are you not pulled off your edge, but you are also balanced over your skating foot and can also stabilize your hips against your shoulder rotation. Ergo, three-turn! My coach teaches threes with "thighs glued and free foot toe glued to skating foot heel.". On a lobe that spans half a hockey circle. While placing the turn exactly at the top of the lobe. Without scratching the turn, and with what he calls "rock star confidence and posture." If I violate any of the above, or put a foot down or fall, then I owe him three more patterns. Thisis how I'm learning FO-BI and FI-BO three-turns. If he's feeling extra-ornery, he makes me do double-threes just to fool me into thinking the other ones are less scary. I can't believe I pay someone to torture me so.
ReplyDeleteNot a session goes by that I don't say what the first cat says. It gets better, or at least that's what I've been told. Every day is a victory, even when it seems that you're moving backwards or standing still.
ReplyDelete