I wear tri-focals (Hello, old age and death) and the coach told me that they caused me to unconsciously hold my head in an awkward position. Now I know that looking down at the ice has the power to pull you off-balance, so I was willing to give it a try.
Did I have a miraculous fix to my skating? Hard to tell. My stroking did improve, and my head position and posture got better and some of my skills I have difficulty with did get incrementally better. But was it, "Take off your glasses and you get an axel?" No.
Is it worth a try? Well, if you're not Velma in Scooby-doo and you have a reasonable degree of vision, I'd say yes. You certainly don't want to skate in a competion with glasses on, so why not train without them?
The only problem was that I now have to keep my glasses, a pen, and my skating card in my bra. It's a little crowded in there when I need something.
I'm definitely Velma on this one. At least, if I wasn't wearing my contacts. I've added reading to the contacts for close stuff but that hasn't been an issue for skating. My son wears glasses but his vision isn't so bad he would run into people so I'll encourage him to give it a try!
ReplyDeleteMy scrip is like 30/20. I can see just fine without them, except I can't pass the vision test for driving. I definitely don't skate with my glasses on...but if someone steps on the rink really far away, I probably couldn't identify who it was.
ReplyDeleteDon't cut yourself short. I once recognized someone across the rink from a balcony when he took a single stroke. You'll recognize more than just a face, arm position, jackets, stroking style; those give people away.
DeleteI got lasik well over a decade ago (the kids kept breaking my glasses) and the happy result is that I can stare at the ice all the time!
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