Boot Whisperer Jr. and the Best Blister Solution

Remember the Gold Level skater at my rink that consulted me about a blister on her heel?  I didn't have the right stuff available, but I made some suggestions, and sent her on her merry way. Well this week she came back to me with the results of her blister protection experiments. Let's think of her  as Boot Whisperer Jr.

That's what I want to see; real science applied to figure skating! Gold Skater did a fractional factorial experiment using the following protection devices:

Bandaid

Gel Blister pad

Doughnut Callus pad

Medical Tape

Gold Skater's Report

1. Band aid only. Pretty worthless. Band aid comes off while skating.
2. Band aid plus medical tape. Keeps the band aid in place but blister still hurts.
3. Gel blister pad only. Same as #1. It feels good to start but the pad moves after skating and then is worthless after it migrates from the blister. 

4. Gel blister pad, with callus pad on top. Worthless. Everything moves while skating. 

5. Callus pad (ones with the cut out hole) on its own. Worthless. It moves around when skating.
6. Callus pad plus medical tape. It stays in place but the blister still rubs against the boot so it hurts.

In summary for the above

7. Gel blister pad plus medical tape. Now we are getting somewhere. This only works well when the band aid has formed an air bubble over the band aid (it takes 1-2 days of wearing the blister pad for the air bubble to form). This feels good and prevents the blister from hurting. Without the air bubble, the combo is worthless.   

But maybe it could be still better?

8. Gel blister pad with corn pad plus medical tape. This is the winning combination and is even better when the gel blister pad has the air bubble.

So, thanks to Gold Skater for her tireless research and contributions to skating science backed up by experiment and testing. 

Someone to Watch Over Me....

Miss Bianca started me on back 3's today.

Don't get your hopes up. Those things are notoriously difficult for adult learners to master, so I'll be bitching about them for some time to come.

Anyway, she had me doing them two footed on the semi-circle where the hockey guys put their net thingy, right on the centerline of the rink. It was a light session, a last minute change to the schedule , so there were only 6 people (including coaches on the ice). She and I are focused, then we hear the sound of blades coming at us.

Dance Coach and a woman skater were doing twizzles along the centerline, straight at us. We slide to one side, and when they're gone we go back to back 3s.

A couple of minutes later, Dance Coach and his student are skating along the long boards, doing some tango thing. They come around the corner and pass through the goal crease.

Miss Bianca and I gave them a long stare as they came up the side. They had two options as they rounded the corner: pass behind us into the privileged area, or pass right through us. They chose the "through" option. We moved aside.

Ice dancers always have the right of way. They're a black clad train that will mow you down without a care in the world. Give them their space.

So Miss Bianca and I yielded as Dance Coach and his student started working on a program. Sometimes it was twizzles, other tiems foot work; sometimes behind us, sometimes through, sometimes to once side.  Still Miss Bianca and I weren't bothered, they weren't a constant annoyance. Have I told you my perception of ice dance practice? Thirty seconds of skating followed by five minutes of bickering about edge placement. We had plenty of time between passes.

Then as the session is close to the end, Dance Coach and student come along the board, do a turn and go into a lift.

Sorry, not this one, But it is pretty.

Miss Bianca and I stare thoughtfully. Will they go into the privileged area or right through us?

I'm between Miss Bianca and the team.  She's directly behind me, and we just stand there, because we've never seen this program before, any way we go has a probability of being wrong. They know we're here; sometimes it's better to stay still.

They pass behind us and then into a diagonal foot work sequence.

I turned to Miss Bianca. "Hey," I say, "I was between you and Dance Coach. You're the coach. Aren't you supposed to protect me in case they crashed into us?"

"You were juuusssst where I wanted you." Miss Bianca said.

Really? Cause I expect the coach to take the bullet:

Welcome to Public Session

This is what the music was like at the rink today.

Yeah, up to 11.

This was my lesson.

I'm still recovering.