Independence of Head and Body

Back when I was showing horses, one of the things my trainer was strict about was independence of head and body.

The independence of arms and body and legs and body is also important, but I never had a problem with that.

Keeping my upper body from turning when I turned my head to look over my shoulder proved to be very difficult. Every time I skated backwards and turned my head, my shoulders went with me.

I was turning my head like Angelina Jolie in the picture below.  What's notable about this picture? The  chin is pressing down towards the shoulder.

I'm not this pretty

So, when I looked over my shoulder with my chin down towards the shoulder, I pulled my opposite shoulder with me and I'd lose my independence of body and head, making me twist and my skates turned as the body twisted.

This 'look down over the shoulder' appears to be the norm as I went through hundreds of pictures before I found this:

But I am this cute!

What worked for me was to get my chin up as I turned my head and tilted it to look over my shoulder, then my upper body maintained its independence.

Here's a better picture:

See, chin up and tilted. This works for me.

I didn't experiment much or anything, I just stumbled on it. One day I got my chin up and got stable going backwards instantly. If you're having trouble checking behind you while you skate backwards, let me know if this tip works for you, 'cause I have no idea why it works.

The Turn Forward--The 'Back Mohawk'?

I skated for years and was unable to do the turn forward from a back outside edge.  You all know what this is. You skate backwards on an outside edge, then facing out of the circle step forward onto an outside edge.

If that doesn't meet the definition of a back mohawk, I don't know what does.  No one calls it a mohawk though. Maybe because forward mohawks can be so intimidating (to adults anyway), it's easier to call it a 'step forward' or 'turn forward'. There doesn't that sound nice? And if you don't think it's a mohawk, maybe it will be easier to learn.

We do a lot of this in our culture; we call things by 'nice' names to make them seem less bad. We use the term 'charge it' rather than  'take out a short term high interest loan'. We use the term 'economy' on an airplane rather than 'third class'. American politics and advertising are full of these 'reframing' techniques. Reframe the name and you reframe the perception.

Not a perfect example, but you get the idea

So when I was learning the 'step forward', I immediately turned to my then coach and said, "Isn't this a back mohawk?" She looked a little sheepish, "Well, yes but we don't call it that."

Once I had that in my head, combined with the fact I was lousy at skating backwards, lousy at forward mohawsk and had other bad skating issues (hunching, looking down, you name it), I couldn't do a back outside step forward unless I got lucky. And at my age, you don't get lucky that often.

So in Coach Cruella's edge class,  I finally learned the back outside mohawk. She taught me in 5 minutes and I've been able to do it ever sense.

First off, I can now get a strong back outside edge, and I don't hunch/look at the ice/ etc. My posture isn't perfect (Cruella wants me to skate as if my back is to a wall) but it's good enough.

So, I take a back outside edge, then Cruella has me put the toe of my free foot to the heel of my skating foot, facing out of the circle.

Then 'open the knee' (that is, move the knee of the free leg as if I'm opening a door, with my toe still at the heel), step forward.  Zip, zap thunderclap, Back outside mohawk.

I didn't get it for the first few tries, but after 5 minutes of so I had it down perfect. I can now do them either direction without thinking about them.

So what's going on there? I think even after getting better backwards skills, still the 'toe of the free leg to the heel of the skating leg' may have been the critical technique for me. It kept me from sticking my free leg behind me and put my center of gravity more solidly over the skating foot throughout the entire movement. If my free leg was off to the side or behind me, then when I tried to 'step forward' I wasn't balanced and kind of 'tipped forward'. Or 'fell forward' on my bad days.

Back inside mohawk? Easy peasy. I don't think anyone has a problem with them.

My only problem is that when I step forwards I tend to start on a back outside edge, and after the transfer, end up on a forward inside edge and headed away from my original circle, onto a different lobe.

Wait.

Wait.

That's not a flaw,
That's a choctaw! Oh, happy day! PARTY TIME!

Oh. . .

Back Underpush instead of a Back Crossover

Much technical skating jabberwocky in this post. Sorry.

So in an earlier post, I mentioned that when doing back crossovers I have a tendency to do an underpush on my weak side. I also mentioned 'advanced alternating back crossovers'. This post will explain both those. I assume you know basic skating terminology about edges,  inside and outside, because this post is full of that.

Back Crossovers (AKA back crossovers with a crosscut, and Big Girl Back Crossovers)
Note: I am not a coach (obviously) I'm just writing this using the editorial 'you'. Don't consider this instruction.

Skate backwards on two feet, facing inside the circle. You step obliquely back into the circle with the inside leg so that you lean inside the circle. Your blade inside the circle should be on the outside edge. Your blade on the outside of the circle should be on the inside edge. 

As you're gliding backwards on these two now separated feet, draw the front (outside) leg across the back (inside) leg so that the front boot passes in front of the back boot. Remember the front boot is on the inside edge.

When the front leg is drawn across the back leg, the front foot moves, and the back foot stays fixed (relative to your body).

The Underpush in Back Crossovers
In an underpush, the front (outside) foot stays fixed, and the back (inside) foot crosses behind and under the front leg.

The reason I get to the underpush on my weak side is because I'm on an flat on my inside leg, and a weak outside edge (or a flat) on my outside leg. In other words, on my weak side I don't have the strong lean into the circle I need. Instead I draw my stronger leg back leg (the one inside the circle), under the fixed front leg.  I know they're wrong, but I'm in my happy place doing these. This week two coaches made me fix them.

How I feel about leaving my happy place

Inherently, an underpush going backwards is not a bad move (my way is just a bad way to do them). You see it all the time in elite skaters. Maybe they use it for  positioning, timing, spacing, or setting up for the next element.  I don't know why they use it, it's just there.

Advanced Alternating Back Crossovers
This is a USFSA term from the Adult Basic Learn to Skate video. And as this post is too long already, I'll post that tomorrow.

The Torture Edge

For the last two weeks Coach Cruella has had us working on edges inside and outside, forward and back, facing out of the circle!

The first week is forwards facing out of the circle. I'm not adverse to skating forwards facing out of the circle. I had a Czech national champion coach once, who taught me to do crossovers facing out of the circle. I like to use it as a kind of warmup to get my edges and body position neatly in place. The challenge is to put your back solidly on the circle, with your arms on the circle--yes, while facing away from the center.

Then Cruella adds a special twist, she has us look along the back arm while going forwards. Well, this opens your chest more to the outside, and makes the whole thing immensely harder!

What good is facing out of the circle?, you ask. It's not on any tests as far as I know, and seldom gets exercised. (Edit) As was pointed out by commenters, it appears in tests as part of more complex steps. Let me rephrase. As a stand alone element, it doesn't get tested, it is a developmental skill for the hard stuff to come. (Stand by for further edits if that sentence is wrong too. Sigh. I hate being a beginner.End Sigh.)

Skating on edges facing out of the circle is a good way to do two things:

a. Build upper body, lower body independence. This helps you learn to keep your legs operating independently of what your upper body is doing.
b. Improve your edges.  If you can get on an edge and glide there, the hard way, you'll find your edges facing in the circle are much much easier.

(edit) c. Get ready for back 3's and the evil 8 step mohawk! (Thanks Anonymous 1 and 2!)

I'm actually doing the forwards stuff pretty well. I've done it before, and sometimes if he's feeling generous Dance Coach will let me do forward crossovers facing out of the circle in foxtrot hold (although I don't know if there are any dances where the girl takes this position).

The next week, we do backwards edges in Cruella's class facing out of the circle.

Let's just say there were a couple of occasions where I skittered backwards across the ice completely out of control, but on the other hand,  after half the lesson was over, I could get my back solid to the circle and glide along backwards. As long as I can see myself in the boards, I seem to be able to do it. Once I'm relying on muscle cues: no clue.

This is where Coach Cruella introduces the "torture step".

Face out of the circle. Glide backwards on two feet. Take a back inside edge and extend the free leg behind the skating leg and out of the circle. Keep gliding.

Think of doing  a back crossover, hold the inside edge, extend the free leg under the skating leg and hold. Now do that facing out of the circle.

Facing backwards. With your back solid to the circle


Congratulations. You've just done a "torture edge".

My feet still hurt too.

Deeper! Deeeepppppeeeerrrrrr!

Coach Cruella has a small all adult (all women too) class of skaters wanting to improve our edges. Her spin class is full of the fanatics that like to get high by using centripedal force to brush their brains up against the interior of their brain pan, but in the edge class, there's only us 3. And one is a woman in hockey skates. (We're on the ice during the Learn to Play class. Based on the number of women in hockey skates in that class, Learn to Play is the new place to meet guys.)

Coach Cruella's approach to skating is much like every other coach I've ever had, get down in the knees. But she enforces it.

Her first lesson to us was stand in front of the boards and look in the glass. Then we had to mark where our noses were in the reflection. Then we bent our knees until the top of our head was at the line where our nose had been. That, she declared, was how deep our knees should be.  And when we skate, she makes us stay there until we whimper.

This is what her class is like:

Down in the knees or a puppy dies

It's a solid half hour of deep knees, using the hips as headlights, and resting 'the girls' on the table. Then this week she added pinching your shoulders back until it hurts. I may look beautiful on ice, but right now I feel like a soldier in a corset.  I ache when I get off the ice.

In the last lesson we learned how to get our back edges.  Her approach was to re-teach us how to do backwards pumps. I apparently pump to the back of my foot. I'm supposed to pump so that the outside foot comes to the font part of the inside foot (does not cross ahead of it). And it works! I'm on a well-balanced outside edge! It's not a miracle, but it's one advance over my awkward back edge issues.
Now if she can help me channel my inner Maia Usova, I'll be happy.

I'm the one on the left, going "Huh?"

Back Edges and Death

So, I signed up for an edge class at a new rink. Coincidentally, a coach I know at the new rink asked me to skate as Death in the Spring Ice Show.

Yes. Death.

Technically, the short cute version of Death.

I do have an interesting skating life don't I? How many readers have skated as Death? Anyone? Anyone?

As a friend of mine once  told me, the worst transition she ever saw while grading college papers was "Speaking of dolphins as we were." So, here goes: "Speaking of Back Edges as we were."

I've decided part of my problem in back edges is not only my leg position, hunching, and the push off, it's that I really fell uncomfortable holding the position. This rather came to me today as I was tramping around the building where I work and I thought, "These high heels are the same height as my skating boots. I wonder what I can do with that?"

I tried it out in a spare moment of work privacy (the handicapped stall in the ladies room) and yes I can get into a really good back edge position with my body. Since I'm not worried about falling backwards, I have the luxury of working on getting my weight over the right part of the foot while at the same time getting head, knees, ankles, arms and anything I left out into the correct position.

As a shaping and positioning exercise, I think it has promise. I'll try it for a few minutes a day for a couple of weeks and let you know if it makes any difference.