Mid month update

As I feared, I haven't got to skate my regular schedule. This time of the year is busier, and I also did the Nutcracker on Ice that took a lot of time. To add to that, we've had our holiday on ice annual party, where each of us brings a treat. We do skate but there is lots of talking especially because people that don't skate regularly come to this session to catch up. Then, I woke up one day with a stiff back, I think I may have been cold during the night. It doesn't feel injured, just painful. And next two weeks the ice schedule it's gonna be even less manageable.

I've decided to concentrate only on the Ten Fox and hopefully get that tested mid January. I was able to add an extra lesson this week and next week, so even if I skate less time, I'll have more of my coach's guidance. And I think this will work, because the majority of the work left to be done on this dance is for partnering. There are few spots where I go on my own way, instead of following my partner. And, because of that, I'm slower on those spots and I fall behind the music.

Besides the dance, I'm going trough the Pre-Juvenile moves each time I'm on ice.

But, what I'm really trying to work on, is the basic alignment. To progress to the next level I need develop and to show more power, and that usually is described as speed. But is confident speed, and that is only possible with a good lean, pressure/ grip into ice and these are only possible with good and quick balance and alignment. Skating forward, I was paying attention to the spot on the blade where my weight should be, and for skating clockwise I was always forward on my blade and leaning/reaching forward, and I think I improved that a lot. Now there is mostly that the skating hip sticks out. I'm quite sure that I don't use my core muscles enough.I'm trying to make myself do some core exercises, but I'm not good at sticking with it. Skating backwards needs even more work, it seams that I do all kind of things with my hips with the back push (like allowing the free hip to go back after the push, and/ or dropping this free hip).

I'm sure everybody goes trough these rebuilding of the basic skills phases. And I'm wondering how everybody approaches it. It used to be frustrating for me. I think I felt that feeling frustrated was counterproductive to my skating and I've blocked it, repressed it. But the feeling may still be there in a different form, because I still have a negative emotion about this process. And I'm wondering now if repressed frustration isn't actually worse then acknowledged frustration.