Things I Hate about Skating. 7, 8, 9 (Pre-Xmas 3 for 1 Sale!)

7. When  RINK STAFF (!) interrupts my lesson to talk to my coach 

On the outside

On the inside

8. When some guy in hockey skates decides to hog the center hockey circle to practice his crossovers

Dude, you're annoying me--and all the spinners, jumpers,
skaters in lessons...

9. When the ice is too cold, too hard and covered with bumps over the entire surface

Hip To Be Square

Since this is a problem that I thought might be experienced by other adults, I thought I'd write about twisted hip. In twisted hip, one leg drags the body back and to the side. This might also be called open hip.  Instead of keeping my hips square when I skated, I would twist my right hip. This affected even something as simple as basic stroking.

There's a lot of reasons to twist the hips when skating, but as a basic skills skater, it seems easier for me to learn a lot of basic skills if the hips are square.

 It's hard to find a picture of basic stroking with twisted hips, instead these are the best illustrations I could find of yoga positions, just so you can get the idea.

This gives a view of how a hip can twist back

You can see here how hips can be square. Notice how
even they are.

Anyway the physical therapists wanted me to get my hips square while I was stroking.  I spent a lot of time on an exercise machine strengthening my gluteus medius to make it happen. After  couple of months they succeeded and I was able to stroke with squared hips. It smoothed out my skating and my coach stopped yapping about how the left side skated better than the right side.

Once I got my hips square, I was able to conquer 3 turns. With hips square I stopped flinging my way around the turn, and they became controlled. Without squared hips, I sort of jerked my way around.  I'm making progress on my spins as well.

I had a coach who was yapping about my crossovers. Finally, I turned on this coach  and I snapped, "Am I the only one that has every coach find a new problem with my crossovers? Crossovers with the arms holding the circle. Crossovers with the arms square. Crossovers with the arms in any position. What do you want me to do, now?"

"Ah," the coach said, "Keep your hips square, and twist your upper body."

So, I did. It made her happy.

Just knowing the next coach will want me to do something different in crossovers, so I'm not holding my breath this is the last crossover 'fix' for me.

Still, keeping my hips square has helped me a lot with my basic skating skills. If I ever stay well enough to advance, I'm sure there's elements where a twisted hip with be the thing to do,  but for now, I'm square hips all the way.

Toughing It Out

 Madam Mim is determined in my post injury restart, to get me to use power.

Backwards.

So we spend about a third of the lesson in back crossovers and back edges or in transitioning to back edges (waltz threes). And I have to use real, adult power. Not scaredy cat adult power.

Power? Backwards? You sure?
I'm okay in here in the no power hotel.

Madam Mim won't accept a weak back crossover (usually my clockwise ones). We start with back crossovers around the circle, and those go fine. They're as smooth and solid as my forward crossovers (which are superior).

It's not until I'm doing alternating back crossovers that my sidedness issues appear.  Madam Mim lightly touches my hand to get my leading shoulder further back . And reminds me to 'sit' into the crossover. After a couple of tries, I'm laying them down, alternating CW to CCW, with power and good edges on my own.  Probably some of the best alternating crossovers I've ever done. I'm not nervous, or twitchy. The transitions are smooth. The crossovers are soundless. I am in complete control.

NO TOEPICKING!

Say hello to no toepicking in back crossovers

Yes, I'm making real post injury progress; now I'm finally starting to improve, not just recover basic skills.

Unfortunately, I'm going through tissues by the pound. I use up all of mine, then I have to dig into Madam Mim's stash and I go through hers. Stupid head cold.

At the end of the lesson, I have a really bad back fall. My right skate 'gets stuck' in a drop three and a fall backwards so that my skating foot is almost tucked under my butt when I land. There's a pain in my bad knee like a knife. I don't really remember that landing, I just know I rolled around in what must have been scary to behold.

 I hear a sudden silence in the freestyle, then the sound of skates coming towards me.

"I'm good." I tell Madam Mim quietly. She calls out "It's okay." I'm able to get up on my own and we go back to lesson.

Yeah, my least inspiring lesson in a long time. But I came off the ice feeling that I'm finally comfortable with backwards skating. I'm getting tweaks now, not corrections. I feel at ease going backwards. I don't feel uncomfortable looking over my shoulder to see ahead, and I have good skating skills. I'm happy with that for today.

Had to stop at a grocery store to buy some frozen peas to ice my knee, but I'm okay.

Useful in an emergency when you don't have access to ice.
Or an ice bag.

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!

USFSA's "Advanced Alternating Back Crossovers"

In an earlier post, I mentioned 'advanced alternating back crossovers'. I used this to describe the alternate back crossovers with two foot transition displayed in the Adult 4 Basic Skills iPhone app. There are two levels in the video, beginner and advanced.

In the beginner's version of alternating back crossovers, the skater in the video does a back cross, then brings her two feet together then does a back crossover in the other direction. The skater goes down the rink in this fashion.

In the advanced version of alternating back crossovers on the video, the 'power push' becomes involved (that's what it says on the title card).  The skater does a back crossover, steps obliquely back into the circle after the cross,which separates the feet, then shifts her weight in the opposite direction, and with the feet separated begins a back cross in the alternate direction. Yeah, you gotta see the video.

This video shows the scissor like action that must be what MommyTime and Q were describing in yesterday's comments. If this is so, then I can do that 'power push' on one side. I'm just not feeling it the way it looks, but I'm pretty sure I'm doing it.

So thanks for the question from Anonymous, and the tips from MommyTime and Q.

Tomorrow we return to our regularly scheduled pictures of cats.

Or puppies.

With occasional skating stuff in between.

Don't cry, she'll be back to doing funny tomorrow.
She just has to get this out of her system.

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.

Crossovers

"Don't do that." The visiting coach said (edit: five years ago) as she watched me do my tremulous baby crossovers. "You're swinging the leg out before the step over; bring it in next to the foot and then do the step over."  It's funny how advice can be good and bad in the same statement.

I had terrible problems when I learned crossovers.  I don't know if I'm typical. After all I started at 55, which is pretty old for learning skating.  But I think my skating errors journey can be instructive.

First things first. Crossing the legs while moving is unnatural in animals. I looked at hundreds of pictures for this post, and except for a couple of photo manipulations, I couldn't find any where crossing the legs while running or walking was a natural movement in any mammal.  Humans do cross legs sometimes in sports like baseball or football or soccer in order to make a quick turn. But crossing the legs repeatedly as part of motion forward (or backwards) appears to be limited to figure skating and hockey.

I learned with beginners crossovers, the ISI way, which is to step over the skating boot.  These are for absolute beginners, but even then I had some problems. Because of my pronation, I could be on the inside edge of my skate while actually being on an outside curve. Coaches would say, "You're on the inside edge on an outside curve. I've never seen anyone do that before. How do you do that?"

Uh, lousy skating skills? 

Because I was on the (incorrect) inside edge on the skating foot, crossovers were scary and uncontrolled. I was swinging the free leg away from the body as I brought it forward and rocking over to the outside edge during the step over. Then the guest coach told me to bring my free foot next to the skating foot before doing the step over. This actually worked. I had controlled crossovers,  since the two feet were together I was now on the flat rather than the inside edge of the skating foot. This made it possible to do the crossover, even though I had defective skating skills.

After I restarted skating I took a couple of lessons from Master Disaster.  I could not stand him as a coach. But he did give me a correction on crossovers. Crossovers are supposed to 'proceed' forward, so rather than stepping over (yes, I was still doing that)  I was supposed to move my free foot ahead of the skating foot during the cross.

 After that, Coach Amazing rebuilt my crossovers at my request Then Moves Coach tweaked them to emphasize the Twinkle Toes Maneuver. And once, just once, Dance Coach murmured 'Beautiful' about my crossovers.  But the story isn't over.

Crossovers are unnatural. I find if I think about them too much, they get worse. Once I started breaking them down, I consciously (stupid me) brought the free foot next to the skating foot just like that long ago coach told me to. Let me tell you, you can't proceed  the free foot forward of the skating foot this way (unless you have really good knees).

Then I watched Coach Cruella demonstrate crossovers. She arced her free leg outward as she move it forward, then brought it at an angle to cross in front of the foot. I mimiced the movement and my good crossovers were back.

With the improved edges, better posture, balance and knee bend I've gained over the last couple of years since the restart, I am now back to almost the same stroke with the free leg I had 5 years ago.

So, what can I say? Same stroke, different day!

Foxtrot Hold: Inside/Outside the Circle

Imagine you are standing in waltz hold. If you are the lady, your right hand is held in the gentleman's left hand. If you are the gentleman, then you have your right hand at the lady's back. Now the two of you turn to face your clasped hands. You are no longer facing each other, but you're facing your skating direction. Congratulations, you're in Foxtrot Hold.

Now skate.

I like Foxtrot hold. I don't know if I've been introduced to all the subtleties yet, but when we're stroking along, it feels like flying. I know we've done chasse's and maybe swing rolls in foxtrot hold, but Dance Coach really likes to work on crossovers in hold. I assume this is a preparation to getting me ready for progressives.

The first few times we did crossovers in Foxtrot hold, we did CCW crossovers. This puts me on the outside, with Dance Coach on the inside of the circle. It's a little awkward for someone who's on the inside,  they're not skating the crossover in the way they're taught: with the skater facing inside the circle. It didn't really ring the bell of my memory until Dance Coach had me in Foxtrot hold and doing the crossovers in the CW direction.

The lightbulb finally went off. Whoever is on the inside of the circle in Foxtrot hold is facing out of the circle!

[For those of you who don't have a private coach, or who may have never run into the terminology before, the inside/outside of the circle talk may baffle you. Here's a simple introduction. Most skating is done on a curve. This curve is colloquially called 'the circle'. So, if I am physically 'inside the circle', this means that Dance Coach and I are skating on a curve. I am physically inside the circle's boundary, while Dance Coach is on the outside. Facing inside the circle means that the person is turned so that their face and chest are facing the center of the circle, thus 'facing inside the circle'. So when doing crossovers, it's normal to face inside the circle. To do a crossover facing outside the circle requires you to cross one leg over the other and face the opposite way.]

So here I am, on the inside of the circle, and I realize I need to do a crossover what facing outside the circle. I've done this before, and a very useful exercise it is.

I had a figures coach at the beginning of my skating career, Olga Ullman, who had me do crossovers in figure 8 patterns. She had me vary this exercise to do crossovers while facing out of the circle.  Say I'm doing clockwise forward crossovers. My left foot crosses in front of my right foot, while simultaneously my upper body is twisted to the left; In other words, I'm facing away from the direction of  turn.

This is a great exercise! It really forces me to the edge. It's also helped me gain independence of the upper body from the lower body. But I hadn't done that exercise for years.

Still, when Dance Coach had me do the crossovers facing out of the circle in Foxtrot hold, my old skills came to the fore. I laid those things down pretty smoothly.  Like riding a bike, I guess your body never forgets.

Sadly, while I can do this  facing out of the circle thing well, the Foxtrot hold may be the only time I'll ever use it.