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.

Turn Your Head

Sometimes, it's the little things.

A couple of weeks ago Coach Cruella fussed at me about my two foot turns. I can do them forwards and back, and in either direction, but only if I'm at a moderate speed. And when I turn from forwards to back, I tend to slow to a halt rather than glide gracefully backwards.

"Lead with your head, " she said. "Turn your head in the direction of turn, before you do the turn."

Head turn leads the body turn

It was a little thing. But like most little things, it worked.  I practiced the two foot turns a few times, making sure to lead the turn with a turn of the head. It took me a few tries to get over my hesitation of doing them at speed, but I'm now able to do them without difficulty and I have a nice glide backwards.

Why the sudden focus on two foot turns? What's all this leading up to?

The depths of beginning skater hell....back threes.

Yeah, those'll cause some posts where it will be hard to keep the Demon Negatron at bay. Wish me luck!