Power! More Power!

Russian word for the day:
Id-ee-uht--"Idiot"

"идиот" Dance Coach mutters under his breath, after a teenager rams into him while we were doing Killian hold inside swing rolls, then speeds off. It wasn't an accident, it was deliberate. I missed my one chance to legitimately say "The little  ублюдок" before coach streaks after him and gives him a talking too. It's a typical day on a Saturday public session in mid-winter; lots of ice tourists, hockey boys, and three coaches with students in the center. Amusingly, Dance Coach keeps skating us directly at Moves Coach but very carefully skates us around everyone else.  I finally found out why. Some years ago, Moves Coach was demonstrating a jump and did the landing glide directly into Dance Coach's leg, leaving a walloping big bruise.  Apparently, he's still seeking revenge.

I hab a code in de head. A code! A code I tell you! I'm slowly filling up the trash can in the hockey box with phlegm filled tissues, but Dance Coach shows no mercy. He starts off the lesson with zippy elements in foxtrot hold, then rapidly goes back and forth between killian and reverse killian doing inside and outside swing rolls, forward stroking, progressives, chasse's, and every other dance element he can think of. Then we start on elements of the Cha-Cha and the Swing Dance. He thinks I can't tell what's going on, but I can. We're going fast, really fast -- for me.

Finally, I back him up to a blue line, "You're trying to make me skate with more power without telling me, aren't you?"

The look on Dance Coach's face was the following:

Dance Coach's  'expressionless' face

So, yes, even though he doesn't say anything, I know my answer.

Power! More Power!

Getting more power in these new dance boots is tricky. The dance boots aren't exactly hinky, but I have to  be very precise with my blade placement when I do the strike. The boots are unforgiving of any error in the angle of the blade when it hits the ice. Still, I only have a couple of instances where I jerk forward. Not bad for a beginner. 

For the swing rolls and slide chasse's I'm supposed to bring my foot higher, point it harder, and keep my back straight, head up and look like I'm having a good time while keeping my thighs together and not thinking of how big they are.  I'd be more sarcastic about this, but actually it works pretty well. Then we do back swing rolls, back chasse's and back stroking in waltz hold. By 'back', I mean I'm going backwards. This is actually rather relaxing, all I have to do is keep my arms stiff (but not rigid) and my weight slightly back of the rocker while moving my legs and feet appropriately. I'm along for the ride. Dance Coach is  driving me like a truck. If I have my body correctly aligned, and the hold solid, he could skate me as fast as he wants. I just stare at his chest, move my feet and legs appropriately and mentally plan a grocery list.

Finally, we start doing three turns in Waltz hold. "Skate between my legs, " Dance Coach tells me. As will be seen in the next few sentences, there's a reason he's making that odd statement. "Not to the left of me, not to the right to me. Skate directly at me as if you are aiming between my legs." For a moment I flash back to the time I fell backwards and toe picked Coach in the 'inner thigh' right before his wedding. But what he's telling me is typical waltz 3 advice, the lady skates directly at the coach. Apparently, I have not been doing this adequately, hence the  inadvertently risqué tone to the advice.  We do a few waltz 3's and Dance Coach is pleased.   I'm not skidding or going around him. We do several waltz 3s in a row successfully without me becoming dizzy. Just don't ask me to do more than 3 one right after another. 

As we finish with the waltz 3 exercise, we stop short of a half dozen 13 year old girls, all legs and giggles.  With his wavy Russian ice dancer hair, and good looks he's very striking and the effect on unsophisticated teenagers is amusing. They're staring at Dance Coach in awe. A few minutes later I see them trying to figure out how to do the waltz hold with each other.  

We end with a few rounds of Obstacle Course Canasta Tango around the dozens of people on the ice, "With power," coach says.  We zip right along and don't hit anyone. The kid who blindsided Dance Coach at the beginning of the lesson, carefully stays out of our way. He's pestering other people, so I just death glare at him occasionally to keep in practice. 

Am I going faster? Yes. Is it scary? Not if I'm in hold. I have complete confidence in Dance Coach's preservation skills. Even when idiot kid rammed into Dance Coach when we were deep into inside swing rolls, Dance Coach didn't budge. It was like a fly ramming a mountain, Dance Coach is that solid a skater. So I have complete faith in him. Am I going scary fast alone? No. Scary fast alone is a long time in the future. I want to gradually work up to it.

Whatever. I'll get over it.

Sometimes It's Not You

One of the tenets of this blog is that a beginner skater needs to stop blaming the ice, the boots, the blades. Most of the time, whatever is wrong is my fault. My head position, my knee bend, ankle bend, posture.... you name it. It's my problem, not the ice's.

That's the motto of this blog: Don't blame the ice, because the ice doesn't care.

But there will come a point, where it will stop being you, and it actually will be the ice, the boots, the blades.

The issue with skating, is that every time you skate you degrade your equipment just a little. And because it's just a little at a time, you get acclimated to the condition of the boot and the blade. There's a point where the boots are just perfectly broken in, and then one day, they're too broken in. There's a point where the blades are fine; Then the next day they're completely flat and have no edge.

In my case, I kept feeling my blades were too dull. Dance Coach and Moves Coach took a look at them separately and both said, "They're fine." But my coaches aren't me. They're powerful skaters who have been skating since before they could read. The could probably skate on blades with no edges, but what they find skateable is not what I am comfortable with. I need a nice sharp edge.

I've been struggling along for the past 2 months, trying to get certain moves. But I'd skid. Or go on the flat. Or in the case of three turns, I'd really have to haul my upper body to get the turn. But I stuck with it.

Back in November, I had ordered a pair of Jackson Finesse ice dance boots with a new pair of Mirage recreational blades. Last Sunday, I took them out for the first time and skated with them. The new boots are like concrete blocks at first, but when I did a three turn, wow! it was a revelation. It was so easy. My mohawks were easy too.

I went home and compared my old blades with my new ones. My old ones were 4 years old with many sharpenings on them. They were just a tiny bit flatter than my new ones. Not flat enough so that the rocker was nonexistent (I have the world's best skate tech), but just enough so I could see it when they were side by side. I'm not a powerful skater who learned to skate as a child; I'm an adult learner, and my skills aren't strong enough to compensate for the change in the blade's rocker. I'd needed new blades for a while, but my lack of faith in my skate sense made me hold off from replacing them.

Today Dance Coach saw me skate in them for the first time. I'd had a total of two hours in the new boots. I'd do something and astonishment would light up his face.  At one point I was doing solid inside swing rolls and he said, "I never thought I'd ever say this, but you've got too much curve in your swing rolls. Skate them flatter."  Three turns in waltz hold; No skid.  Three turns to landing position; his jaw dropped. I was consistently hitting that outside edge on the glide which I hadn't been able to do in the old boots without a lot of effort. We did a shrunken Canasta Tango in what clear area we could find (mid-winter publics, after a hockey game, ugh!) and again he was happy. Last time we skated it, I skidded all over the ice; This time I was solid.

So I guess getting dance boots wasn't a vanity move after all. My skating's improved with the new blades and the extension and toe pointing has improved with the designed for dance boots.

It's not always the skater at fault. Sometimes it is the ice, the boots, the blades. Knowing when to make that distinction---that's the art of being a skater.

New Boots and Blades: A Test Run

My freestyle boots (Jackson Competitors) are five years old and still have lots of life in them. But the blades are also the original blades, and they're getting a little flat. At my last lesson, I could not get an edge, and turns required hauling my upper body around. I'd been delaying starting on my ice dance boots due to Dance Coach's testing schedule, but since I don't test again until April, I now have time to break them in. So today, I finally brought out my fabulous new ice dance boots with their new blades and took them for a skate down at the rink.

Before I started with the ice dance boots, I skated in low freestyle rec boots that have served me very well.

Jackson Competitors

I like my Jackson Competitors. They're a reliable recreational skate for low freestyle. When I got mine, they were sold without a blade. I have the Mirage rather than the Aspire. After 4 years of sharpenings, they're pretty flat. But, when I put the boots on, it's like putting on a familiar friend. I have the whole inside the boot thing pretty much down to a science. Silipos tube on the right heel, stretch cloth tube on the left. Perfect tying technique. Pronation fix that took me a year to work out, but it's perfect now.  But I though getting dance boots might help me get a better point and help improve my extension so I bought:

Jackson Finesse

I set out with the same in boot fixes as I had in the freestyle boots. Oh, wow, it was total failure. These aren't just boots with a lower shaft and a deep curve at the back, these boots are completely different construction.  Since there are 3 hooks instead of four, I lace them all the way to the top rather than leaving one hook open. The shaft of the boot seems thicker on the sides that the freestyle boot. You can actually see it bulging under the hem of my trousers.  The Finesse also have an instep that it's going to take time to get used to. The Silipos tube on my right heel was a total failure. These boots are tighter in the heel than my  Competitors. I had to stop and readjust the lacing at least twice and remove the tube in the first 15 minutes on ice. The soles of my feet ached for the first 45 minutes, then the pain finally disappeared. I've had this occasionally happen in my Competitors as well. I don't know why it occurs. 

The blades are new Mirage blades, freshly sharpened. Unlike my old blades, these have a decent rocker.

So I went out to a local rink and spent an hour stroking, doing swing rolls, chasse's, crossovers and three turns. My friend the Big Guy came out to watch. The shortness of the shaft means I really have to get my blade placement on the ice right. Initially, I felt like I was skating without any support, although this was just a mental illusion due to the short shaft. These are new boots and it's like skating in bricks. After the first half hour, I began to feel at ease with the boot.  Towards the end I felt fairly stable, and much more comfortable. 

I don't know if my extension and toe point is actually better in these boots.  I was more concerned with just getting the feel of them rather than doing any extensions requiring a high leg position. I didn't feel that comfortable yet.  The Big Guy said I looked less stable than in my Competitors. Duh! These boots will require some adjustment in my technique.

Downside to the Finesse is the padded collar. I thought I would like this, but it actually rubs painfully on the back of my ankle when I extend the leg and point the toe. I now will just slide the Silipos tube around my ankle to protect it.

The new blades were great. After having to haul around for turns it was nice to be able to just turn with minimal effort. I tended to over turn, I was so used to my old blades and their intransigence.

My judgement's still out on the Finesse. These are new boots, and feel like concrete blocks. Although in Jackson's rating system, they're 'less stiff' than Competitors, they aren't 'less stiff' than 5 year old Competitors. Also, the lower shaft seems to make them more appropriate for experienced skaters. I dread to think what would have happened if I had started in these. 

I'll have to report back after I've been skating in these for a couple of months, and after Dance Coach has made comments.

As for the Competitors?  They're getting new blades. I'm thinking Wilson Majestic.

New Boots! A Halloween Scarefest!

Today I went to my skate tech to pick up a pair of new boots. I presently skate in very low end freestyle boots, but in a year they'll be trashed. Since it will take me a year to break in a new pair of boots I bought a pair of  dance boots to replace them. A year from now dance boots will be appropriate for me to take lessons in, and it will take me that long to break them in.

So I put on the new boots and my skate tech walked me to the ice. I got on.

Scary. New boots, new blades of a different length, new sharpening. I didn't fall, but it wasn't as comfortable as my old freestyle boots.

Dance boots are low cut in the back, since the shaft is lower there's only 3 hooks.  First time out I just laced up the first two hooks since for freestyle you leave the top hook undone in new boots. That was a tactical error. It was like skating on blades on sandals--no control at all.  I retied them all the way to the top and did some edges and crossovers. Then I tried some 3 turns.

Ooops! That's not gonna happen!

The new blades are the same model as my present blades but they're a quarter inch longer. I couldn't believe that made such a difference.  It felt like the rocker was too far back. My skate tech showed me how my old blades had not a much rocker left (they're 4 years old) so that may have some impact too. He offered to move the blades but I decided to get used to the skates first and let my coach comment on them. I've made the mistake before of messing with my blade position when it was ME not the skates. I've learned my lesson not to mistake my lack of skill for equipment error.

I guess I've got a year of using these boots for warmup while I break them in.   I'll be like a skater in the sixties hauling two pairs of boots to the rink: one for patch and one for freestyle. It will build up my shoulder muscles :-).

Still if any of you do ice dance and can give me suggestions on getting used to dance boots, I'm all ears.