Getting Off the Hockey Circle

This post is for beginner skaters--so you freestylers may want to hop over to www.skatingforums.com and see what's going on in the Pro Shop or Sitting on the Boards sections.

Most ice rinks have  hockey markings under the ice; There's 5 circles on the surface, one in the middle, and one in each corner. Many rinks use the circles as placers for LTS classes. So when you start taking group classes it's tempting to practice certain skills on the hockey circles. There's a time and a place for this. First and most important, it puts you on a curve and helps you get an edge. Also, it keeps you out of the way of experienced skaters (who know what you're doing) and gives you a space to work. But eventually you won't need to skate on the circle,  it will get boring, and you'll want to do something more. This post is about how I got to the 'more'.

What do you do once you've got comfortable with the skills? How do you move forward? How do you give your skills equal time on each side?

I picked this up from Coach Amazing. I was frustrated that I was having difficulty getting 'time' on the hockey circles on crowded public session. She told me, "Just do it down the sides, alternating." Man, it was like a light went off in my head!

So remember, I AM NOT A COACH. I'm just going to lay this out as how a beginning skater might want to try getting off the hockey circle to practice some beginning skills.

Forward Crossovers. This is probably the one of the easiest skills to practice on public because you can always see what's ahead of you.  Do a forward crossover, take a stroke, switch arms, do a crossover in the other direction. If you can only do crossovers in one direction, you can still do these. You could do the crossover you can, stroke along a curve as if you could do the other crossover, repeat the first crossover.

But what if you don't feel at ease doing them one after another. If you feel you need more speed, or you want to stabilize yourself,  you could take an additional stroke or two, or glide on two feet before entering the next crossover. Do what makes you feel safe and comfortable.

Alternating crossovers would take a path something like the dark line
The dashed circles are imaginary hockey circles, just for reference

The goal here is not to do perfect alternating crossovers right away, but to get accustomed to doing one crossover one way, then the other in the opposite direction down the side. I found it built up my stamina and power. Also, it made skating more of a challenge as I had to place my crossovers so I didn't interfere with other skaters. And I gave equal time to each side.

Back Crossovers--This is pretty much the same, but harder to do on a busy public session.You may need to glide backwards on two feet after the first crossover, or take a mini stroke, then do a crossover in the other direction. Don't forget to look behind you for traffic.

If you can only do two in the beginning, that's a start. You may feel the rink is too crowded, or you're not comfortable with back crosses yet and you really do want some practice on the circle. Your safety comes first. But if you can do two along the line, that's a beginning.  Soon you'll want to do 4, then all the way down the side. Maybe it will take a few weeks, but it's really a way to build up confidence and get off the circle.

I've found when starting with these it was easier to begin at a corner so I was in familiar territory as if I was doing the crossover on the circle then 'unwinding' it down the side. 

There's also a way to do mohawks down the line.  I do a mohawk, turn forward, stroke (depending on how you count, it may be 'stroke twice'), repeat the same mohawk.  There's a way to do alternating mohawks, but I'm not there yet.

I use these mostly for warm ups, but I also have some simple (very simple) footwork drills I'm working on that I can do across the short end of the rink. There's usually some nice open space next to the coned off area and I like to have some little short footwork drills to do when a space opens up unexpectedly.

So there's some stuff I've learned over the last year based on Coach Amazing's suggestion.

Don't focus on the hockey circle so much you miss the rest of the ice!

The Amazing Coach

"You're starting to skate faster and you're skating backwards around the rink. You're bouncing between Intermediate and beginner skater," the Amazing Coach said, "You need to learn how to fall better."

I balked, " No, no , no , no, no"

Nooooo! Please don't make me do fall training!

"You've got your pads on. It's time to fall."

Her goal was to train me to roll when I fell so I ended up on my hip pocket. So for the next ten minutes she had me falling and rolling onto my hip pocket on both sides.

Jeremy Abbot falls on his hip pocket

Shudder.

Even with bones as fragile as china, I learned to fall safely (source)

Two hours later I caught a toepick (this never happens!), sprawled forward and reflexively rolled onto my hip pocket. The Amazing Coach made it across the rink in a heartbeat. I want to think she pointed her finger at me and said, "See! See!" But that would be a false memory.

What she actually did was tell me "Get up! Get up!"

This is part of the Amazing Coach's training. She says that if you fall and don't get up right away, you're training your mind to failure on that particular skill. So I have to get my legs under me and stand up as quick as I can ---- which is pretty slow. I look like an arthritic cat trying to go up the stairs. Another skater said I got up like a 5 year old in CanSkate. Then she demonstrated the correct way to get up. Hello sweetie, when you're 60 then we'll talk. Right now I'm happy to get up at all!

An Ice Show Group Number: A Time Line (edited)

Phase 1: Herding Cats--Everyone's all over the place

Phase II: Herding Flamingos--people know their spots but there's some wildness still going on

 

Phase IIb: The skaters get 'into' their roles as zombies--Every one has a different zombie artistic vision...

 

Phase III: The group number comes together and the coach's vision is realized

 

Phase IV: The show: Now and Forever!

 

PhaseV:The Coach Gets a well deserved nap

Thanks to Coach Amazing for her great choreography and super coaching! Here's a virtual bouquet of our thanks!

The Ice Show Cometh

I'm not quite panicked yet, but a little tremble of speculative unease is beginning to build.

Last night Coach Amazing gave me my choreography as the Angel of Death for the zombie number. The dress rehearsal is coming up. And there's going to be spotlights at the show. This weekend I finish the costume, and take it to practice on Saturday freestyle. As soon as it's picture worthy, I'll post it.

Basic Costume Idea

On the lighter side, I took a plastic foot and plastic hand to Coach Amazing for her to use on zombie costumes. "You can now say I gave an arm and a leg for the show," I said.

What does my choreography consist of? In the beginning, I have to do some simple 'band leading' of the herd of zombies, then I have to skate around and cue people by clacking the hockey stick and calling out their numbers so they can strut their zombie stuff one at a time. I think this is where the spotlight comes in. They get spotlighted as they do their jumps or spins. I have to cue one skater by touching her, since she's hard of hearing, and that's about it. At the end I have to do a slow two foot rotation waving the hockey stick over 'dead' zombies and fake laughing. So, nothing special.  No jump, spins, and I suspect a swing roll is not a good Death move. I was tempted to do the step behind from the Rhythm Blues, but I have to cover too much ice.

This role would be dynamite for someone with real skating skills. Somebody tall and thin, who could pass for Death. But, they've got me.

Hi! I'm short, cute Death.