Lesson with New Freestyle Coach

 My first love is ice dancing, but I cannot find a coach close by, I have a dance coach at 30-40 minute distance and my old coach at 1 to 1.5 hours distance.  It is pretty time consuming to go and see either of them.Anyway, dance instruction is pretty specific so a half hour lesson per week is needed. It would help to have more instruction towards other skills, in the past I used to ask my old coach to coach moves in the fields, jumps and spins, only for choreography I went to a different person. I was very happy to find a coach at the close by rink (this is 10 minutes away from my house), she is a freestyle coach, so she can help on all things not dance, so then, I keep my dance lesson as pure dancing.

So! The lesson! For the first freestyle lesson we decided with the new coach to show her what I usually do for warm up and exercises (excluding the dance) so she could build on them. As the lesson progressed we decided to keep a list with what I would like to revise on the following lesson, I'll put a star on those exercises*

- slalom forward and backward, play with the rhythm ( 2 slow, 4 quick)

- FI edges play with free leg and arms, free leg at ankle, front, and B crossed*1 love this, and arms over head palms up, connected, or low at the back

- BO edges, and many exercises going forward she said to keep the head calm, looking forward, she feels my extreme head turning is messing my alignment and stability. She went into a variation with the free leg going back, that is actually a swing roll, same note with the head.

- BI edges, she didn't "hear" the power, she showed me how to push just as I finished the previous edge, before shifting the weigh to the next foot. I couldn't really do it, but I understood, I'll work on it.*2

-  FI Twizzels:arms straight over the line, bring the back arm but stop at the middle (I crossed over), in a ballet position or straight forward grabbing fingers. Stay straight (I was forward). Keep free foot close.*3

- I asked for the power 3-turns  for the preliminary test, the 3s were fine, but I released the free foot to quickly, she wanted to hold it close and then to power push (the same weight shift like for the BI edge), she also wanted me to hold the under cross from the B xovers, longer, more stretched*4

- I tried the dropped 3-turn for Tenfox, she doesn't do dance but, she said that I rise too soon and  I don't have enough pressure into the ice. I think this is valid, I cannot wait to try working on them

- B xstrokes, she said to hold the B edge longer to settle into the position (I'm trying now to twist the upper body over the edge, not square) and we worked on that position, back shoulder more back, head forward, free leg over the circle*5

- I shared with hear that I don't always engage my core, and she suggested to stroke holding an elastic band slightly stretched, I loved that!

- I also asked for quick off ice exercise that would help the core engagement, and she suggested the plank (front and sides), because it engage core, shoulders, back, arms and even legs, and since I don't last long, it is really quick :)

- During the class, as I asked clarifications, she asked permission to film me so she can show exactly what to change. I love it so much, and I remember I used to film myself and it was helpful, I plan to do this again.

1st week of July

Guess what... I haven't skated Monday and Tuesday... as I was saying in the previous post, I lost my motivation as I don't feel I have a plan, I ended up exactly where I didn't want to be...working almost exclusively at the Tenfox 3-turn, getting bored if not frustrated... There is not gonna be ice Friday and Saturday, so this week looks like I'm gonna skate Wednesday, Thursday (public session) and maybe Sunday... I canceled my dance lesson for Thursday, I felt with so little skating I have noting to show.  Plus, at the time I have this new lessons at south rink, there is traffic... 45 minutes instead of regular 20... I remind you that I'm taking lessons with this new dance coach because I cannot drive an hour and a half (because of construction on expressway)  instead of 30-40 minutes regular traffic to see my old coach...

But, good news, I found a coach (freestyle not dance) at the rink that is close by me! A while ago when I was looking for coaches, I was talking with somebody from this rink, I've found out that a coach I knew from the previous rink, occasionally teaches here. I really like her lines and style, she could be the coach I was looking for to help skate for my own enjoyment... I called her and I felt she understood where I'm at (working hard for progress and losing motivation when that progress doesn't happen, and getting stuck with the same old exercises). I immediately planned for a lesson, for the next day! I specifically asked for her to give me new exercises and moves and to correct my posture, core and extension, to make me feel "pretty"

Wednesday I had a freestyle lesson, well more like skating skills... I haven't put any expectation into it, as I haven't skated since Saturday, and the new coach didn't know my skating level at all. We decided to show her what I usually do, excluding the dance stuff, and she would correct and build on it. Well, I was very happy! I will write a separate post about this, but I've got new exercise or variations involving, edges, B xstrokes, 3 turns, weight shift from BI push, Twizzles. I couldn't wait to go back skating.

Thursday there was a public session, it was reasonably crowded at first, I could skate the exercises (incorporating the lesson suggestions) using the whole length of the rink. I then went into Tenfox, 3-turn still scraped :( Then it got crowded, so I worked on smaller ice spots, on Twizzles, spins, 3-turns, brackets, 3-turns again. Then the ice got cleared but it was choppy. Knowing I won't skate until Sunday, but more probably Monday, so I'll have time to recover, I decided to go for muscle tiring exercises, those that require deep knee bend, like xovers, chasees, progressives. And then I did cool off exercises on 2 feet and deep knee bend to have stability, so I could add arms and breathing. It was a good day! The new exercises from the new freestyle coach invigorated my stale approach on them... exactly what I thought I needed for motivation and enjoyment.

I checked the ice schedule for the next week and I see Monday 6.30am (definitely not for me), Tuesday 7am (maybe?) and Wednesday 6pm (I don't know, I will probably be tired). I should have the dance lesson Thursday at 3pm, so I need some skating to prepare.

I don't usually skate on weekends, but, with the awareness of the lack of ice for next week, I decided to go skating on Sunday, . It was crowded but it was a freestyle session so at least it had some rules. The intention was mostly towards the TenFox that went just like before, so scraped and late 3-turn. But I had the new exercises from the new freestyle coach that I was able to figure out and develop. So I was happy about that!

1st week of June

On Wednesday I'll have a business meeting North side.  That is where my boot fitter is and there is where my old coach is. I've decided to drive up and have a lesson on Tuesday and drop the boots, and pick them up when I get off my business meeting on Wednesday/

Monday. In preparation for my lesson with old coach, I practiced the double 3 turns. They were very rusty but got acceptable during the practice. The only negative was that I took a pretty heavy fall and my muscles tensed up and hurt. But luckily I haven't injured anything. 

Tuesday. The drive there was 1 hour 15 minutes, but back was an hour and a half... so, yeah, it not doable to see my old coach too often. As I work on dance with the new coach, I though to have this lesson toward moves in the field. I requested a full hour lesson. 

- The warmup was edges (correction: look where I'm going - I was flicking my head towards forward, and don't  twist, meaning stay square and encourage the edge by leaning). For the FI edges, tailbone under and more ankle bend. More ankle bend (push into the tongue of the boot, knees have to surpass the toes) I continued to hear during the whole lesson. On B edges more ankle bend and arched back, forming a Z.

- The coach wanted to start with simple 3-turns.  LFO3, surprisingly, the correction for the (the one that troubled me as I couldn't control the exit) was that I didn't turn it on the ball of the foot, I was towards the middle of the blade. I was also not completely aligned over the hip, the correction that worked was to lift the ribs over the hip. Then, a strong check is needed. RBI needed better alignment (lift over the hip and the free shoulder should pass the skating heel, so I should lean into the circle way more) and have the free leg thigh/ knee press into the skating leg. RBO same correction for the free shoulder. Also turn on the back of the blade, on the last 2 screws...

- For the double 3s is very important to check the 1st 3, use the top of the lobe carefully to change the upper body and extend the free foot (for the B 3s)

- Power 3s, after Mo, a push into B3 is acceptable, then the power comes from a lift like for a Loop jump. Strong check and repeat 

Wednesday, after I picked up the boots, I stopped by the rink on my way home. It was a bit of bad lack that the session I used to go to, was now an hour later. I decided to enter the session that was on right then, but I had just 15 minutes of skating. They had then, a 30 minutes break... so I didn't stay for the next session. With that little time I decided to not go through the 3-turns correction. I decided to work on the TenFox 3-turn. Yeap still scrapping...

Thursday. After 2 days away from home and work, I had so much to do. There were 2 skating sessions that day, morning at 9, and mid day 1.30. I decided to go to the 9 am one, because from my previous experience, when I get too much work to do I get caught up or exhausted  and I don't go skating anymore. While driving I though on how to organize the skating sessions and I couldn't really. My mind kept slipping back to work. So, I skated in default mode, and that took my again into the TenFox... mostly the 3-turn. I skated only TenFox related exercises and I skated hard so I felt tired after 35 minutes. Maybe it was ok for that day, as I had lots of work waiting. But,  this is exactly what I don't want to do... I want to balance each skating sessions (to work on more things) and the skating journey in general. My goal from this month, is to find ways to do that.

Anyway... the TenFox 3-turn. 

- I figured I was pressing towards the ball of the foot to accentuate the FO entry edge while rising, so at the point of the turn there was no more space to rock forward.  So I have to stay on the back of the blade. Probably a stronger core and posture, with the tailbone underneath, or hips forward, would help

- While twisting (and turning) I have to bring the hip forward (the free ribs and hip feel stacked over the skating side). And of course, the feet together (correction from my new coach). Then, I figured maybe I should think ate pigeon toe instead of feet together, that may bring the hip forward too.

Friday I went skating with the thought of finding balance in my skating. 

- I warmed up as I always do - fast

- I added some alignment awareness warm up exercises (like slower edges) - slow

- Chasses and SwRolls - fast

- Those seamed to help the entry into the TenFox 3-turn - slow

- TenFox - fast

- regular 3-turns with emphasis again, on alignment. I insisted on the LFO 3-turn and the circles (edges) F and B - slow

-TenFox - fast 

- exercise for TenFox of RFO double bend into the 3 turn. I think I finally figured out how to fix it. I was rising at the end of the 4 count double bend. The new coach suggested to stay low, but you have to rise to push into the 3-turn. I watched some videos of the dance and it looks that both the rise in the middle of the 4 count, and at the end of 4 count are very quick, not a full beat, so the rise is AFTER the 4 count double bend edge, and it IS the push into the 3 turn. With this approach the 3-turn seems to be on time. I think I was adding almost 2 beats there... one to finish the 4 count lobe and one to push into the 3-turn. If this is figured out, fingers crossed, I still need to make everything a little quicker to match the required tempo. 

 -Twizzles - I didn't work on them in a while and they weren't stable - slow

- the B power 3-turns, but slow, working at the form 

-F  Stroking and Xstrokes - they were slow, a sign that I was tired

- Winding down 

This took 45 minutes, I was happy at the end. Of course I could have felt happy because I felt progress on TenFox. But maybe I made this progress because I tried a different approach. Also, a shout out to the alignment exercises, they seam to help and I can do them slow, when I'm tired. I should continue to incorporate them into most of the session. And I looks that I intuitively worked on some fast things, then some slow things.

3rd week of May - New Dance Coach

I expect to be tired and hurting when I start skating after a break, but last week I was more tired than I expected. Through past experience I’ve realized is better to skate shorter sessions so I don't get the muscles so tired that they would need a week to recover. I skated short sessions, and still... tired.

And this Monday I was still tired, both as overall feeling and the muscles felt sluggish.

Wednesday I’ve met a Friend and skated together, I did bursts of skating harder and then breaks for social skating. I felt OK, but not strong. 

Thursday I’ve took a dance lesson! I found a new dance coach! My old coach is an hour and a half away, the new one, 20 minutes. I will work wit the new coach towards testing the TenFox. During the lesson I skated quite hard (speed and knee bend) to show her the dance. I was careful to pace myself, take some breaks. My tiredness level was OK, better than my very diminished expectation from the previous week experience. The lesson was also OK, I tried to not put much expectations being that I like my old coach so much, plus the new coach is a lady so it will be probably more difficult to partner. But she used to skate with my old coach so there is some similarity in their style so some continuity.

Friday I was out of the house for a meeting that finished when the ice was available, so I went and skated again. I was very tired but excited to try some corrections I’ve got. I feel I can correct most things, the hardest to correct is the quickness needed. I feel pretty balanced, I think, at this point, what holds me back is the muscles strength. That will come. 

I feel excited to push the dance. It is nice to feel excited after so long of feeling hopeless and frustrated. But, for next week I will have to be careful to be patient and not work too hard, to let my muscles recover.

 

 

Summer skating, planning for the fall - the rinks situation

As the rinks summer schedule is all over the place, I haven't even tried to make a plan for my skating. The idea was to go as much as I could and stabilize my muscle and my skating ability. Also I wanted to observe the rinks to hopefully be able to make a plan for the fall.

 I'm generally more comfortable skating on "adult only" ice, that is offered at noon time during the fall through spring, and I can make it work into my schedule. Without a skating plan, without stamina and without clarity on what to work on, plus with the intention to plan for the fall, I tried to stick with "adult" ice, but that is more rare in the summer.

I use the 3 rinks that I used previously. My old home rink offers in the summer for adults, only 45 minutes on Mondays, besides the inconvenience of driving more that I would want, for only 45 minutes of skating, I felt I'm back "home". I went on some Wednesdays and Fridays to the new rink I've used during the last year and it become clear I don't like it there. The skaters here skate more randomly and the ice is way colder, so harder to control. Then, I've come back to a rink that is very close to my home (5 to 10 min) but it is the home rink of the city's hockey team and their schedule for public or Freestyle ice is wildly inconsistent. Besides the schedule I used to like going there last year, I gave up on that rink last summer when it become crowded. This summer it was manageable, though they didn't have a lot of ice available. To conclude, I skated enough during these summer months and I can see that in the fall I can use my old home rink and this hockey rink close to home. 

Also good news, the boots are finally feeling better as I stretch the left boot regularly. I have more control on the left foot (I work on awareness and pressure on both feet, comparing them), but I still would like them tighter.

The muscle conditioning goes very slowly, partially because I don't have a regular skating/ work out schedule. I don't feel I have more energy, time and will to put into it. I have to be patient to develop the strength slowly.

My skating skills are all over the place. I think I'm getting more sure on edges and I get more flow and speed, but I feel I need some goals, a plan on what to work on each week and a coach' s supervision. So, the next step is to find some coaching, as I don't think, at least for now, that I want to drive north to see my old coach.

To test or not to test?

Should I test the Pre-juvenile MITF? I felt I was ready, in fact I registered to take this test 2 years ago, and there was a problem with the registration and I changed clubs. Then, just as I put myself together to test, I've hurt my hip, ah.. the joy of adult skating... Then Covid hit, rinks closed, then open with restrictions like reduced schedule and coaches not being allowed on ice...Then, as I was starting to feel in shape to test again, I couldn't find a test session in the next two months and so I decided to change my boots (that was December), and as you know, that's not going well. I've got a pair of defective boots, I returned them, started to look for another pair, and while I did put the blade back on my old boot, it didn't feel right so I stopped skating for a month. That put me both in bad skating shape and in bad mood in general. The second pair of new boots I bought was defective too. I put the blade back on my old boot and adjusted the blade myself so I wouldn't take another month break. Actually it would have been more than a month as I wasn't sure what boot model to buy next. 

While back on my old boots... I knew the right booth was collapsed towards inside as I pronate on that foot. I already had wedges to correct that, I added more. I was surprised that I need wedge on the left boot too. I think I collapsed that boot too when my hip was hurt. So I had some kind of alignment, not ideal. I felt I could do most of my old exercises but I didn't trust the boots to go fast, to push for new staff and progress... I started to get unmotivated, I've stopped the lessons. I was mostly skating around while talking to friends.

Then I found new boots. I was cautiously optimistic... But what if these are gonna have some problems? How will I motivate myself to continue? I decided to delay changing the blade on the new boots for two weeks and take advantage of the new possibility to record tests and submit it virtually. I talked about virtual testing here. 

I recorded the test! Unfortunately my friend that recorded it didn't know the exercises and missed me from the viewfinder a little. That, combined with the fact that the new boots felt reasonably good, made me postpone the decision of sending the test to be judged. There is a period of 30 days from when a test is recorded to be sent in.

And then, the boots didn't go so well. It is the insole mostly... at least that is what I hope. I cannot lace my boots tight enough without proper arch support, if I try, I collapse my arch and my feet start to hurt, cramp and freeze. I started to get frustrated and unmotivated. So I went back to the thought of sending the test to be judged to hopefully pass and motivate me, or at least keep my mind occupied and distracted from still adjusting to the new boots for two week, while I'll get the results. 

I've asked my coach (that I haven't seen from December) to watch it, and he agreed that it's a good effort and the video taping is not terrible. So I've sent the video to be judged!  I should have the result in around two weeks... I'll share the video soon, I just want to edit it and take out the personal info that I needed to put in for the virtual test.

Fingers crossed!

Progress... slow progress

I haven't really worked at my skating skills and for progress, since the beginning of the summer. The reasons were the lingering pain after the small hip injury, getting upset and put off by the politicking in the skating world, to what it was added the inconvenient summer ice schedule. As a result of all that, I've got both unmotivated and out of my skating rhythm. I've tried to get them back in the fall and I just couldn't find a way. So I've decided to skate for my own enjoyment, which I have lost when I was working too hard, for progress, and I wrote about it here. Ideally would be, of course, to work for progress and enjoy the process, but I couldn't find a way to do that just yet.

I wrote here, over a year ago, about progressing from a skating Beginner level to a High Beginner level. I though at that point I was at a High Beginner level, and I think I was right. I was wondering then and I'm still wondering, how to push into an Intermediate level (a beginner Intermediate level). I think I'm at the threshold. I need just a final push to get over it. And I think working towards finally testing the Pre-Juvenile MITF and the Ten Fox will finally get me there. So I'm trying to pump myself up to work for testing. And I'm shooting for testing in mid January. There are few test sessions in mid December that that's after the week and week end I'll be busy with the Nutcracker on ice, so I expect I'll be too tired. Testing  though, is just a symbol of passing a threshold. What I'm wondering is what skills should be acquired for a skater to be (look like) an Intermediate level skater.

I'm so grateful to my coach that he asks and listens about me feeling stuck and unmotivated, not confident even, and trys to help. Lately, instead of going trough the MITF exercises and the Ten Fox, he actually went for skills developing exercises. I mentioned them here and here.

So, just to review what I need to work on with awareness:
- posture and looking up,
- alignment over edges,
- pressure into ice
- touching the boots before pushing (so no wide stepping)
- bending into the ankles at pushes
- pushing perpendicularly away from the axis
- holding the whole body engaged (I think of it at tense, but is more like core engaged, upper body lifted, keep the tension after the push to have straight knee and pointed toe for the free leg.
- speed

I feel quite solid on forward skating. On backward skating I still don't find the balancing point quickly, I feel the push on the left outside edge is "empty". I immediately loose the good posture after the push and I'm not always on the edge. Theoretically I know I have to work on all the things I mentioned, and allow them to became body memory. So I plan to do lots and lots of backward stroking, chasses, progressives both on a circle and on alternating lobes, swing rolls. And of course, the turns (the dropped 3-turns from Ice Dancing and the forward to backward 3-turns from the moves) will get better when the back edges will be better.

Skating technique: Beginner Back foot Spin and the Change Foot Spin

A requirement in ISI Freestyle 3 level is a Change Foot Spin that is a tree spins combination: from forward one foot spin (free foot at ankle or crossed) to back spin (free foot at ankle or crossed) to forward spin again. Each has to have 3 revolutions. Another requirement is that each spin should not be started further away then hips width.

My old way of doing it in Freestyle group class was from a short forward inside pivot-pump lift the right foot to the left ankle (so forward spin) and hold 3 revolutions, put the free (right) foot down on the toe pick and do a quick back inside pivot style pump, lift the left foot at the ankle of the right foot and hold 3 revolutions, then again forward inside pivot to forward spin. Here is my video:

As I was saying in my previous post, there are  some tricks for these spins, both forward and back.
- finish the pivot bringing the foot that pumps to the ankle of the spinning foot, before lifting it (so you won't throw yourself off center)
- the spinning is happening on the middle of the blade not on the ball of the foot (as the forward spin)
- keep the weight over the spinning foot
- keep the upper body square over your hips
- press into the ice
- lift the upper body (that would hopefully help keep it straight)

My private coach wants me to start with a forward spin from winding up from back crossovers, hold 3 rotations, put the free (right) foot down for a short 2 foot spin and pick up the left leg for the back spin for 3 revolutions, and same again for another forward spin. This last spin should be held as long as comfortable to give the impression you are in control. I cannot do it... Firstly, starting with winding up from back crossovers, I have too much speed to control the change of foot. But even with my regular slow pivot entrance, I'm off balance on that 2 foot spin in between the first forward spin and the back spin. Then, I often allow the left side to go back, instead of holding it square.  He also says I'm not pressing into the ice, that's probably why I like using the pivot, because I press into that and I re balance.  Also I'm still rocking back and forth on my blade, the coach says I'm too forward on my blade. I do occasionally hit the sweet spot that is more towards the middle of the blade... As I start the spin (I'm still talking about the back spin) from the pivot, I have the toe pick in the ice, and I think it is quite impossible to hit that sweet spot and balance of it going from the toe pick over the place where the blade is most curved. And that is why I rock back and forth...

My coach from the summer group class said  to hold the arms out laterally for the whole first forward spin and during the transition to the back spin, maybe even on the backspin and bring them in just for the last forward spin. That's actually helping a little. I spent few month on this on group classes, few years ago, then stopped doing it and it was lost. So I had to spent again, few months to get it but this time with more awareness of what I was doing.

Despite all the "challenges" I was having, my private coach wanted me to stick with this back spin without the free foot crossed, until I've got comfortable, so the fear was almost gone. I don't know if you can read the frustration between the lines. Just in case you cannot not, I'll say it... Learning the back spin and the change foot spin as describe in these 2 last posts, must have been the most frustrating time in my skating. And it took me between 6 months and a year to get to the point described here. But then, when I started to do the back spin from an inside 3-turn (that gets you on the sweet spots more smoothly, plus it's crossing the free foot by itself, literally), everything got on a path that made sense.  I will describe this intermediate back spin with the free foot crossed, so the back scratch spin, after I describe some more beginner stuff, plus I progress a little more, so I'll be able to describe it a little better.

Mid month update

Many updates to the plan for this month...

One of the kittens I took in, didn't make it. I'm terribly sad. I'm not gonna go into details. I'll say that I did the best I could, but I wish I could have done more.

The skating goes reasonably well. I still skate only 3 times per week and I work equally on everything, as planned, so as I said, I don't expect much progress.  I still start with a little Freestyle. Then I do the moves  without thinking  to make them ready to test. My private lessons, as always when I don't ask for something else, went towards Ice Dancing. My coach is primary an Ice Dancing coach so that's were he goes. But I have no complains, I actually felt progress in Ice Dancing! We've started to partner the Ten Fox!

I've registered to a Freestyle group class, starting next week. It is Freestyle 4 on USFSA not ISI that I was doing until now. It works on the same things the Loop Jump, Sit Spin and Back Spirals. So I'll get help on those, and also it will add an extra skating session per week but an easy one, because in the group classes there is some lost time and the class is just 45 minutes to start with. But that is not even the reason I registered to it.

The reason is that that rink (not my home rink), has an annual production of the Nutcracker in December, and I wanted to be in it. The requirement is to be registered in their group classes. I'm very excited about it, because I love ballet in general, I also love winter and "that time of the year". But it's a big time commitment. I plan to enjoy every second of it! That is a new thing for me, skating for my own enjoyment, that I first mentioned here. And because I lost my regular private lesson this week, due to Columbus day scheduling, I also planed a lesson with the new coach that works with me towards skating for my own enjoyment. I mentioned my first lesson with him in the plan for this month.

There is more... That is Figures. That is the old style tracings that were done in the past including in competitions. They are not popular anymore but they are the foundation for the skating edges. A friend told me she is doing them at a certain rink and it would be easier to keep using that time slot if more people would join in. It is too far away from me and not fitting my schedule, but it made me think that the Figures are easy on the body so I can add skating time to my 3 days of skating I do now, without being afraid I hurt my hip...  I asked my coach about figures and he teaches them. He also said that there is no way he can teach all (Ice Dancing, Moves, some Freestyle and Figures) with one lesson per week so I would have to add one more.


Feels like a lot, but I think I will be able to enjoy it all for this next two months (until the show), IF I don't expect and push for progress.

Monthly skating review: progress and goals adjustment

After not skating much during the summer, the last two weeks I skated 3 times a week.  I knew I'll have to find my skating legs and that I'll have to build back some of the muscles. What I didn't expect was that I have to build stamina too. Maybe that is related to me needing to "muscle" trough things, as I don't have the muscle to do the things the easy way. The result is the same, I'm in a rebuilding phase. Looking back I kind of regret letting my skating slide. But I cannot go back in time and in those past moments it felt the right thing to do.

I worked mostly on moves because I thought I'll be able to get back to being ready to test quickly, and passing a test is always a confidence boost, plus I wanted a focus, a goal while skating. But, I worked at them as I used to when I was ready to test them. And that is 5 minutes warm up, then present the moves in full force. I'm happy that I feel I'm almost back, ready to test. And now... "the but"... But, after these 15 minutes it took me to go trough the warmup and test, I was all spent... I couldn't really work on the dances or the jumps, so the rest of the session was wasted.

The plan for next month is to rebuild and organize.

Off Ice: After feeling pain in the muscle after an intense skating session (a lesson), I decided to put in the time and start doing exercises for the hips every day. It didn't happen every day but I did them often enough to feel they help and I want to stick with them.

MITF: I could push them for testing but it seams that it would be all I would be doing, and then I would be too tired for anything else. I don't feel it is worth it so, I'll work on the technique a little bit more and wait to add the power needed for testing when I'll feel stronger, hopefully on the second part of the month.

Ice Dancing: I'm thinking to focus my private lessons and the biggest chunk of time on Ice Dancing. That would be again, on technique not on power. I didn't do Ice Dancing consistently in probably 6 months so I need to review the technique.

Freestyle: While I rebuild the muscles and stamina that I need for both moves and Ice Dancing I plan to put a little more time into Freestyle. I'll try to start with them, after warming up a little bit and see how it feels. I hope I can get a little progress there and still have energy for dance and moves. And as motivation, as soon as I'll have the loop jump and sit spin (at least be close) I'll start working at a new program.

Skating for my own enjoyment: When I started private lessons around 3 years ago, I had this plan to push for progress in skating in order to enjoy it later. And that went well for over a year and the progress was enough motivation for me. But lately, I couldn't push for progress. First, a little over a year ago, it was the hip injury.  Then, I had an emotional withdrawal caused by disappointment in how skating is organized (clubs, testing, rinks). So I'm at the point where I need something back from skating itself, I need to find a way to either enjoy the process as a whole, or at least to alternate period of work for progress with period of enjoyment (like working at jumps and spins, then putting them in  a new program). On the other hand I admire somebody's way of skating at my rink, both the looks of it and the joy he seems to get out of it. He does a little bit of coaching not as a first job, not even as a second job but maybe more as  sharing the joy for skating. At least this is how I perceive him. Anyhow I want to take some lessons from him and I already told him that I want him to teach me how to skate for my own enjoyment, in addition to continuing lessons with my current coach that are focused on technique.

Mid month update

These last 2 weeks were again, just ok... The reason is the same, I'm tired, I don't get enough sleep. It seems that in order to skate well, I would need uninterrupted 8 hours of sleep. And I'm registered to test the Pre-Juvenile MITF next week-end.

The good news is that I've had a good skating day each week. That keeps me confident. But that's what I've used those 2 days for, to keep my confidence up. Instead, I should have organized and get myself together for the test. I was planing at the end of last month  to slow down and rework some technique and alignment and that didn't go that well. Now was the time to put together everything, see what levels of precision and power I can do at the same time, kind of marrying them. So that's my problem right now. Sometimes when I get more power I lose my balance and put the foot down. That's an automatic negative score... But then again, I cannot pull back too much from the power as it is a requirement of the test.

The other 2 days I skated on my own each week were hang in there days. I think it was still better then not skating at all. On a somehow positive note, those tired days accentuated my weakest skills, so in a way it pinpointed were I needed  extra work and corrections from my coach.

On the private lesson days I choose to skate just the half hour lesson, no warm up. By warm up I mean working on my own for half hour before the lesson. And that's because on the lessons on the weeks before I was tired from my half hour working on my own. I think it was a good decision.

On my lesson 2 weeks ago, my coach wanted a full performance of the test starting with pretending I look at the judges for the nod to start, the lifting of the arms and en engaging the posture, the confident intro steps and the powerful ending steps. We worked on these before but he gave me extra feedback on how he wants me to display power after each move. Also he pointed 2 spots where he suggested I take a deep breath. And one feels almost sneaky. I used to go to my starting point, assume the posture, lift the hand and then look at the judges. He said, to skate casually at the starting point, look at the judges, and when I have their attention, assume the posture, lift the arms and take a breath... It makes such a difference. He also wants me to put in an ending pose after my t-stop when I finish each move, so I can take a breath right there. If you red my post about my first MITF test, these intro and ending "presentation" used to stress me so much. Now I can actually use them in my benefit.

On my lesson last week he said to stop after each move for corrections. And that gave me some of that test organizing that I was seeking. I've realized a while ago that I need same key words/ reminders to help at a certain point in a dance. My choreographer for the Freestyle program actually said he was using them himself and suggested  places in the programs and words to use. Not to many, or it will  stop being useful. So I've got some "reminders" for each move now:
1. Power crossovers (reminder for backward, posture- push hips underneath).
2.3. The 3-turns were rushed, and on the backwards one I'm turning often before the middle of the lobe. I told my coach that it was a crowded sessions and I was eager to turn so I won't bump into somebody, and you know, fall and hurt my hip. He said excuses, excuses... But with what feedback he gave me I was able to choose one instruction/ thought that helps. On all of them I have to really look at the boards to be parallel with them. This also help my posture be erect.  For RFO is to let the left shoulder get back. For LFI is to turn my head to the right.
4. The power pulls, on all of them fall into the edges and lift up. Forward were fine (coach says hips forward but I would rather remember core engaged), backward there was always somebody in my way. I wouldn't say I'm worried about them, but I don't remember when was the last time I did them without obstacles, so really do them. Reminder: shoulders back.

5. On the back circle eight I'm just chocking when the coach is watching. Actually my theory is that the ice is more chopped then I'm used on my regular sessions.  Also, the coach is coaching me trough it, so I feel I'm letting go on the balance and concentration as I try to hear him and incorporate what he is saying. Excuses? I don't think so, because when I do it on my own, is fine! Reminder: posture (and look up). I feel that if I'm erect the push is good, and the alignments is good.
6. On the last move he always wants something more, like flow, power, look, up, sell it, but there is no specific instruction, But to be honest is the last one and I'm probably giving up a little. So, I cannot do the at at the test. Reminder: don't give up.

The very bad news is that the schedule at my rink changes this coming week and while there are few practice sessions I don't know which of them will be less crowded. On a crowded one I don't think I can do much good. And my lesson is at another rink. So yeah, ready or not.. here I come...

Test: MITF Preliminary - part 1

Here is a link to the judging form.

When I tested, the scores were given from 0 to 6, and for the Preliminary MITF test the passing average was 2.5. Now the scores are between -3 and +3, so the same range, but an element that is done as expected for this level would be scored 0. I tested this one first on June 2017, and got a "retry" (a nicer way of saying failed) for "lack of power" and I tried again and passed on October 2017. If you remember, I'm an adult testing standard quality test, for this specific reason, to get the power that kids get.

Firstly, let me tell you about the preparation for the tests and the tests days. As I was saying in my post about the Pre-Preliminary MITF test, at the point when I started to learn the moves for the Preliminary test, I was talking group classes and having my first private lessons with different coaches. Close to the point of the Preliminary test I took in June, I designated one coach in charge with the moves. She was specialized  in dance, not moves but extremely good coach. She is also the nicest person. She never once mentioned "power" in preparation, for either her inexperience in judges expectations, or for our similar soft personalities. For the second test I trained with a different coach, who pushed me the hardest on power. But, I'll fess up. We both knew perfectly well at that point that I didn't understand the power and I haven't got it. He coached me that I should display power trough a confident attitude.

Another thing that I'll fess up is that when I was preparing for it I thought this test is gonna be easy. I thought I already knew the elements in it. But I knew to do the elements separately, when I put them together, even not trying to show power, I've still got more speed that I was usually putting into those elements and that made me lose some of the control. Plus, as we know now, I really didn't have enough power required for that level. Looking back I don't think this test it's easy, I think it's a strange phase in a skater development, in the sense that you are still a beginner at this phase, not truly understanding how the moves work, but doing them somehow.

Funny thing, I had wardrobe troubles for both tests :) For the first test, the trouble was on practice the day before. In the summer I like to wear a tunic over leggings to the rink (I made myself the wrap tunic in the first video that follows). At the rink I'll put on a jacket over the tunic. Well, I forgot the jacket home. I was cold but I stayed and skated and I've got used with it. That gave me the idea to wear the same outfit for the test, instead of a leotard and nude tights and skirt (that I would have had to change into at the rink, and as somebody that never performed as a kid in any type of show, seamed very dressed up and made me self conscious). On the day of the test my coach couldn't be there and that surely didn't help. I felt like I didn't belong. I was also the only adult in the test session. I later wondered if my choice of a more comfortable costume also made me feel like not a legit skater...

The second test was in the fall, so I could drive in my leotard (that I also made) and nude tights with black leggings over, and the skirt in my bag. Guess what, I took with me the wrong skirt (I have a long skirt from the same fabric as the skating skirt). Luckily I had the wrap tunic in my skating bag and I took it over the leotard and nude tights. It was way shorter compared with the skirt I was planing to wear. And remember, I was self conscious, but I wanted to display confidence, and maybe it helped... You have to look the part to play the part. But lesson learned, now I check my bag numerous times before leaving for a test and I started to even take 2 outfits and tights with me, just in case... I'm now thinking I should throw in some treads and needles for emergencies...

And here is the first test, June 2017- retry

And here is the pass test in November 2017.

I'll describe the 6 elements of this tests in my next post.

Working at my first Freestyle program part 7

Here I am talking again about my program. And that's because there is a new development. My choreographer/ freestyle coach won't be able to be with me at the test. I went by myself to one of the MITF tests and I felt kind of lost. So I asked my main coach, with whom I do dance and moves if he's gonna be at that test session with another student already, if he'll "put me on ice". That's what it's called... What that means is that he follows the schedule, tells me when to warm up, when to put on the skates, gives me exercises to do, tries to not let me get nervous, checks the costume, has back up for music... basically baby sits and that's great especially if I'm nervous.

This week I'll have a lesson with my choreographer on Wednesday to polish the program, and one with my main coach on Thursday for him to see the program. The thing is that my main coach is very exact, plus everything I do with him is standard testing (as kids learn) quality, not adult quality. For the freestyle I've chosen the adult testing because I just don't think my jumping will ever go high enough to be considered standard. So, now I'm curious how he will react to my program. Will it be good enough for him? I kind of feel more nervous about showing it to him that the test... Will he give me corrections? In past, I didn't like new corrections so close with the test. I'm a little afraid that if he's not gonna have a positive reaction it will affect my confidence.

My plan for this week was to work hard on the jumps and spins separately, and for the program to still try to make it better, like better hand movements, smile (that's tough for me), look up, be on music. Then next week I wanted to pull back and find the speed and performance involvement that would allow me to present the jumps and spins at their best. I think I'll have no lessons. Choreography should be done and my main coach lessons slot is Thursday and I don't won't to skate too much before Saturday morning when I have the test. I would rather skate on Friday then on Thursday.

Today I was tired, I didn't sleep enough. I warmed up, did few jumps and spins and decided to run the program before the ice got crowded, as I saw few skaters getting the skates on. I ran it twice and everything was ok. On the first run I've got a little early on music at the beginning and I liked the comfort it gave me because I didn't rush the Waltz jump and the 2 foot spin (which I want to hit on a music accent). I want to see if I can get to do this each time. Then I've got to "work" on jumps and spins. The spins were ok. Not as centered as Friday, maybe because I was tired? And I'm getting comfortable with the inside 3-turn entrance before the 2 foot spin, and being comfortable I'm not rushing anymore. For the jumps, I never had much instructions besides the group classes, so I don't even know what to correct. I think, meaning, I felt, I was successful in getting the waltz jump and the half flip a little higher. The Salchow, for some reason I think was better a month ago... I had few better then others, but not something I could grab onto and be confident I'll do it better consistently. It may be just that I do it better when my legs are rested and now I jumps each time I'm on ice. Things to remember next time on ice:
-straight 3 turn (3 counts), check and wait on 1 count (I don't think I do this consistently),
-jump up from the hip not just foot (think hip and hip)
-allow upper body o rotate (it seams I'm blocking the rotation holding the left shoulder forward). A correction I've got was to not drop the right shoulder.
- work at them in this succession

I ran the program few more times mostly trying to smile. It was more smiling than last week but that is gonna be a long long process...

After writing all these I'm realizing the only issue I have is the Salchow. That's not too bad. And I have 5 more ice sessions before the test.

Working at my first Freestyle program part 6 (video)

Here is my program after my 6th meeting with coach B on Monday.
Read about the experience with coach A here, then, the first, second, third and forth and fifth lessons with coach B.

I watched the video on my phone immediately after the coach took it and I said "Oh, lots of things to improve, posture, hands, I forgot some steps, the spins were a mess, I wasn't on time..." and he answered "You just see the negatives...".

So lets start with the positive. As it is in the video, the program would pass the test, so let's check that and don't worry about it. Even if there were people in my way and I felt I'm late on music and I forgot some steps, I made it work. The jumps were there, the spins were better then last week. And coach B keeps complimenting my edges, that I worked hard for with the Ice dancing...

Now things to improve:
- Posture! The blouse that I had on was ruched and did rise up my shoulders but still...
- Don't look down! I think that would help fix the posture too.
- Smile :) I am really really serious. I actually soo enjoy skating my program, I should be able to smile. I tried today to start the program with a smile and I forgot about it after the first 5 steps. My previous coach, coach A, was around and he advised me to choose some points in the program when I'm comfortable and to smile there. And maybe to add victory smiles after the jumps. Just as I was adding the arm movements. He always has practical advice!

Now picking the program apart from the beginning
- After the inside spread eagle where my palms are up, I would like to turn them down, today, I become aware just after the first step to flip them.
- Before the step like a spiral, I don't like how I bend the right hand from the wrist, again, today I was barely becoming aware of it while I was already moving, hopefully I'll start to remember before.
- The hand movements on the next steps are all very short, like after thoughts, I would like them to blend into each other and feel more connected to the upper body. These I feel ware better, in fact I was somehow complimented on it by somebody saying that at the end of the program my arms are not so controlled and pretty as at the beginning.
- I have to remember to not push on the back crossover before the Salchow. If I feel I have too much speed I hold the next edge too long and I get off time. Actually it is not the back crossover, it is the forward crossover before the mohawk that I felt I gained a lot of speed. So, again, an awareness moment. On that forward crossover would be also a good spot to smile :)
- Remember to check the Salchow, thou, lately it worked quite well. Smile here? Maybe not, because usually I'm rushing to do the next 3-turn and then the outside power edge where I look up...
- From here on, everything was late on music, I can recover if I do just one crossover after the Salchow, but as I slowed down more to avoid a person in my way I needed 2 crossovers and I added a chasse before those. Smile :) on crossovers and swing roll.
- At least look up during the dropped 3-turns if I cannot hold the smile..
- Jump the Waltz Jump, it was really tiny
- I messed up the entrance in the spin. I want to do an inside 3-turn. I did an outside one...
- Hopefully I can hold the spiral higher. I didn't do it in a year because of the hip pain. Also I didn't get a good push into it as people were in my way, so I adjusted the trajectory. And smile :) while doing the spiral.
- Don't rush the final spin
- After the spin I should do a back pivot, I just started practicing that, hopefully I can make it better... I learned today that have to stop the spin while in control and keep that control during the spin exit so I can do the pivot.
- And smile :)

I think the biggest positive is my coach's comment that he can see improvement each time I do the program. We think with my current ability I'll be able to improve it a little more. Then I will have to get back at work, and work hard moves, Ice Dancing and next jumps and spins to be able to increase my ability.

My legs were a little tired at the end of today session so I decided not to skate tomorrow (I had to cancel the Ice Dance lesson) so I'll be fresh for Friday. My test will be in 2 weeks on Saturday morning and one of my worry is to not be too tired. So this week skating just Monday, Wednesday and Friday would be a test to see if I'm rested enough. If not, I still have next week to figure it out.

Working at my first Freestyle program part 3

This is the second lesson with coach B that is doing my program's choreography.
Read about the experience with coach A here and the first week lesson with coach B here.

We started by reviewing what we've done last week. At the end of the first week I filmed the coach doing the choreography so I'll have reference. I learned the steps reasonably well. I asked for help in the arms movements  that I numbered last week 1, 2 and 3.

And here are the next steps, I put in bold characters the things that are new to me...
- after the spiral like step I continue with a left forward mohawk,  step wide for a power push with one hand over the head movement 4.
- back crossover and step forward on the right foot with both arms 5 coming from low to lateral. This step brings me to the right hand and forward corner from how I started in the middle facing the judges.
- step on the left with some arm movement 6 that waves somehow, forward crossover with long inside edge. That is right, left and stay on the left and continue holding the inside edge and bring the right foot forward. I'm always tempted to put the right foot down and even if I don't, I usually mess up my balance, so my flow, and the arm movement 7 associated with it... All this brings me towards the center again.
- right forward mohawk, back crossover, back edge, Waltz Jump
- left forward 3-turn and wide step and ride backward on the inside edge,  on a bent right knee (similar with a back pivot maybe but in a lunge position not putting the toe pick in the ice)  twisting the upper body with arms lateral, palms up. This is soo pretty! And I am now in the right corner but back to the initial center position.

Some things that caught my attention:
- I noticed about many steps that they have a rhythm like short step, short step, hold the edge...  And it makes sense since my music it's waltzy.
- Some of the arms movement are ballet inspired done with a square upper body. Others, those with a wavy motion use the shoulders and breathing to initiate them.
- Breathing is a very effective tool for enhancing the movement. For example on the first element: arms up with inhaling , then arms down and initiating the pivot with exhaling...
- I was asking about keeping the body tense. I was wondering about it for a while and he said that it's tense, but not that tense. There is a balance between softness and stiffness. So you should be holding some tension so you can control the movement and extend, but then release it before it becomes stiffness and  actually would stop the movement. This goes hand in hand with the breathing... Theoretically, I knew it was something like that, but I was actually able to see him doing it and copy some of it. Then of course, I loose it when I try on my own.
- I was pleasantly surprised that I learn the choreography reasonably quick. That was a big worry for me. I haven't done any sports, dance, music or performances as a kid, so I really have nothing to build on. I did my rink adult group number at the annual show and I was really, really bad in picking up the choreography. Then I did some contemporary dance class last summer and I was quite overwhelmed. My regular skating, with my main coach, is MITF and pattern dances, that are all, for my level, very repetitive steps. When I started with the first Freestyle coach, coach A, I was still getting overwhelmed. But somewhere along the way it got better. Firstly, while not rocking science I've never had to do connective steps and weight shifts to change the direction, so I had to learn them and give them a little time to became comfortable. Then, I literally told myself to not be overwhelmed. And it worked, I can follow along for a bigger chunk of the program then I expected. I realized I'm getting stuck on things I cannot do, not on choreography.
- I'll ask my coach on my next lesson if he has any advice on how to approach the process of learning a program. I would think firstly is to learn the elements and the order of the steps. Then add arms, put it on music and add expression. But I suspect, as in Ice dancing there is a back and forth approach.
- And related with learning choreography, I asked my ballet instructor if he has any tips for beginners, more exactly what to pay attention to. I already told him that my goal is to improve my posture and hand movement. He said that it is more important to get the rhythm. The exercises I'll learn the more I do them. Something to think about...

Monthly skating review: progress and goals adjustment

I start each "skating month" with reviewing the previous one and then planning the current one.

I didn't do much skating last month. On the first week the rink schedule was inconvenient, then I was taking it easy because I had some pain from a fall in December. Then I fell again :( and decided to rest for few days to see if I don't come back to regular form faster. And then we had the polar vortex! The rink was closed 2 days.

Ice Dancing: I'm working on the Ten Fox. We tweaked the pattern, mostly the 3-turns placement. The outside mohawk is fine! As I still work on the pattern and I was protecting the hurt muscle, I haven't got yet to go full power and speed and I'm not on time yet. Also I didn't partnered yet. I feel the coach pushes on each lesson for a better backward skating, Higher extension, pointed toes, re bend before the new push, less time on transitions between lobes, and of course the posture.
I asked start to work on the European Waltz,  which is 3-turn after 3-turn because I wanted to work on something that will require patience, not power. My problem is that I don't re bend when stepping from backward to forward. That is both after the back edge, before the 3 turn, and in between the 3-turns on the end pattern. I can do it at slow speed, and I also train it off ice. So it's gonna take a lot of repetitions done correctly, at slow speed first, to get it in the muscle memory.

MITF: As much as I don't want to accept it, the truth is, I cannot make them better if I cannot put power into them. And if I have any kind of pain, I can't... both physically and mentally. So, they are right there, almost ready to test, from a year ago, jut not quite there.

Freestyle: I've had just one lesson, on the first week of the month. We reviewed things that we've done before and I made it clear I wanted the Pre-Bronze program so i can test it. And then my coach got sick and then he had to travel. So I hired somebody else. And he got straight into the program! My goals from doing programs is to learn new elements and how to link the elements I have. And I actually want to work with many coaches/ choreographers because I feel they all have different styles. The first coach, let's call him coach A, I worked with, was specialized in adults. The coach I hired now, coach B, is a quite experienced choreographer and performer, still settling in my city, so still approachable as price. He has such a beautiful style with lots of upper body movement! I first tensed up, thinking I won't be able to do much of what he showed me, but he broke down everything and he said that whatever I won't get comfortable doing in few weeks we'll change. So I take it as an opportunity to learn new elements, even if they are not gonna get used.

Off Ice: I did 3 weeks of ballet now. Overall I love it, but it is as tedious as the skating, if not even more. My goal here is mostly to improve my posture, upper body  movement (as I tense and rise the shoulders) and learn some arm movement. But my mind gets lost in between remembering the exercises, actually doing them correctly, so for now I keep forgetting about my posture..

I think this month I have to be patient to consolidate what I have in dance and moves and I think the progress that I crave and push for, will happen on it's own. And I have now the Freestyle program and the ballet to keep things interesting.

Test: MITF Pre-Preliminary part 1

This was the 3rd test I took, the first two were in Ice Dancing (read here about the Preliminary and Pre-Bronze Pattern Dances). It was in fact in the same day as the Pre-Bronze Dances but 2 hours later and it really felt like a different session. The biggest difference was that I wasn't nervous, like I was on the dance test. My coach says the better prepared you are, the less nervous you feel. And I felt reasonably prepared for this test.

This was the first test I intended to take, to see if I can handle the pressure and if it gives me any benefit to train for testing not just to learn elements. I happened to test the Preliminary Pattern Dances first because the group class I was registered in, had this small testing session organized and the instructor said I was ready.

For the moves I haven't had a specialized coach. I was still talking group lessons and I had few different instructors. Then, I was taking private lessons with a talented teenager that was going to move away. Then, I started privates with the Ice Dancing group lessons instructor and then, with the male Ice Dancing coach that was also partnering me for tests. So I was asking everybody for help with my MITF test. I had lots of opinions. Some of the instruction was not matching, some instructors gave me tricks to get the job done, others advised me to wait to test until the elements are correct. I wasn't worried about getting confused because it was the "easy, encouragement" test. I indulged in allowing myself to listen to everybody. But I was also looking to choose a main coach, because obviously, listening to 5 different opinions wouldn't work in the long run.

Pre-Preliminary is the first test from the total of eight in MITF. It is roughly the same as an Adult Pre-Bronze test, but I decided to test the standard track to build strong basics, as the adult test are more lenient. It's an "encouragement" test to start you in the process of testing, and has no scores but a pass/retry. The street wisdom is that if you don't  make a major mistake like falling or forgetting steps you'll pass. As I looked at the requirements I said to myself, "piece of cake, I can do everything". Well, not so quick! The test asks you to follow a certain diagram, and to "present" the skills. That was something that I've never done before and it proved to be a challenge.

To "present" in figure skating means that you have an introductory pose and an ending pose. The MITF tests have a rule that each element should start from standing (then up to 7 intro steps are allowed to gain some speed) and come to a full stop at the end. While the intro and ending poses are not judged, they do show the judges the level of confidence the skaters have. As I never "posed" before, it felt very awkward to me. As for confidence, my mindset was not "look at me, I've worked so hard and I can do this", but more like "please excuse my not too good skating, I'm just a beginner". The other thing about "presenting", it was that made me aware that I was gonna eventually show those skills to other people to judge, so that made me uncomfortable, if not  nervous.

The other  thing to be nervous about was that I was gonna be alone on ice for the first time, or so I thought. On the dance tests, my coach literally hold my hand... On this test, I actually had to share the ice with 2 other skaters, it seems it is common for low level tests and the possibility was mentioned to me while preparing. Other new things to deal with on this test was meeting the judges and the specific warming up. When steeping on ice you go first to the judge so she/ he checks your name so she won't judge another person. Also the skater will know which judge's instruction to follow during the test. As they write during the test, after finishing a task the skaters watches for the judge to finish writing and watching before starting the new one. Meeting the judge makes it very real, even if the judge was extremely nice...Then, the warm up is 5 minutes total and is tricky because there is not enough time to run the whole test. I took 1 minutes to just get the feel of ice, then rush and do a little bit of each skill...

The test has 4 elements:
1. Forward Perimeter Stroking (CCW and CW) with focus on power and extension.
2. Basic Consecutive Edges on alternating lobes (FO, FI, BO, BI) with focus on edge quality
3.  Forward Right and Left Foot Spirals with focus on extension
4. Waltz Eight with focus on edge quality

Here is a link to the judging form.
https://www.usfsa.org/content/Pre-preliminary-mitf.pdf

In my next post I'll share the video of my test and go over each element. But I'll say now that it went well and I passed.

Coach's critiques

I saw recently a post in a skating group on facebook of somebody that felt that the Coach critiquing every little thing with no encouragement made her feel like a failure as a skater and everything that she was doing was ugly and bad and she almost wanted to quit. There were answers ranging from saying to fire the coach, to advising that some time personalities of the coaches and students don't match, to pointing out that that's what we pay the coaches for: to critique us...

I started learning skating in group lessons of 4 to 8 people. There wasn't time for much individual critique. There wasn't much time for much instruction either. When I started private lessons I was craving and got instruction, lots of it! And then came the corrections, lots of them... Let's see how many corrections I can come up for the Forward Stroking. 1.Posture, 2.Shoulders back 3. Chin up, 4.Look over the glass boards, 5. Press into ice 6.Bend the knees 7. Bend more... 8.Free leg goes laterally after stroking 8. Extend the free leg higher 9.Hold the extension 10. Free leg straight, don't bend the knee 11. Free foot pointed 12. Free foot turned out 13.Free leg is to lateral now, a little back 14.Don't lean the upper body forward when you stroke 15.Re bend with the weight on the skating hip 16.Feet in V before a new stroke 17.Keep knees separated before the new stroke 18. NOOO, don't collapse on the knew skating leg before the push 19.Soft arms 20.Look up (I know I said it before but I hear this a lot). My coach could add to these, I'm sure. Now, I don't think I heard all of them at once, but 15 of them wouldn't be unusual. And that's just for a 2 min exercise. There are 28 more minutes in the lesson.... After the lesson I write down all the corrections I remember, and I don't remember all of them. I'm panicking... Then next day I'm on ice I try to incorporate the corrections I remember, then I go and read the notes and work on more corrections. Damn! there are too many.

I honestly had moments when I felt exactly as the facebook skater. I was brave for maybe a month after I started with my private coach and then I told him that I cannot handle so much instruction and corrections. He said, "Oh, no! I don't expect you, or anybody, to work on (or to remember) all the corrections at a time. The reason I give so many corrections is because different people pick up different things to correct and get stuck on different things. Just choose few of them, 3 maybe, and correct those, then I'll give you the rest of them again, and... add to them. Aha!

A few weeks ago, I did mention it at the time, my coach said that I hit some milestones to my forward chasses in alternating lobes. Not easy, beginner stuff, but more towards intermediate, like lean and correct change of lobes direction. And immediately he said in a devilish, satisfied that he can pick on something, voice "but your free knee is bent". Thoughts were running trough my mind: "No my knee is straight, I corrected that a year ago".  I had to work hard not to burst into crying. Actually it wasn't like that at all, but that's what it felt like :) In reality, he was very excited about my progress and said in a neutral voice that my knee is bent... He didn't even say straighten your knee, it was obvious that I can and I will. Me wanting to cry, that's real. After few minutes of gathering myself, I thought to ask why I don't do the things I CAN do? He said that when I concentrate in doing a specific correction I let go on the things that are not yet body memory. It seems that it takes an even longer time than I thought for some skill to become body memory...

Some random things different coaches said, related with critiquing...
- well, sometimes you have to take it with a sense of humor (the temporary failure in doing something, and the repeated corrections/ nitpicking)
- the hardest part in a coach's job is to trick the student into doing something she doesn't want to do

To draw some kind of a conclusion, nobody likes to be criticized, it's important to think at these coach's critiques as corrections or constructive criticism. Also, the coach cannot know how you feel if you don't say. So the student should say if she/ he is overwhelmed, or needs encouragement. I've got into the habit of asking my coach if I improved a certain skill. I ask specifically about something. For example, it seems that I grossly misjudge my speed and flow (power) improvement. As I test at standard level I need to show power. I'm always on the hunt of that, especially because it's against my personality. It seems that I improve steadily, and I don't realize because I'm comfortable and in control skating with this increased speed.

I also do agree that not all personalities work together. I believe that sometimes, despite everybody's best intentions and effort a relationship doesn't work. On the other side of too much criticism, I would mention that I had a coach that was so nice that I didn't feel she was drawing out of me all I could give.

Monthly skating review: progress and goals adjustment

I usually skate Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. That's 4 sessions a week, while last year I was skating 7, 8 sessions a week. I would have the time to skate more, but I felt it was best to let the hip injury heal. At the beginning of the month the rink was closed for renovation, then there was just public ice on Veterans day and around Thanksgiving. So I was skating even less and that translates in less progress...

Ice Dancing: I had 3 private lessons (my private lesson is on Thursday and I lost 2 lessons because of the ice schedule). We worked exclusively at the Willow Waltz as I want to test it. And we decided to register for the December 23rd test session. That is an hour session that goes after the Ice Dancing group lessons 2 months classes to allow the students to test what they've learnt. It covers just up to bronze dances. I love these sessions as they are less pressure then the 3 hours long sessions. So, I was ready to test this dance in March (and I didn't test because I've got injured), and I was confident about it. Where did that confidence go? My coach says that my skills are improved, and I agree. I think that protecting the hip I lost the tension in my body that makes somebody look sure of themselves... I'll have to find it quickly...

MITF: I didn't work on these with my coach in months. Again, these Pre-Juvenile MITF were close to be ready for testing in March, when I couldn't work on power because of my injury. I occasionally ask him to see one move if I have questions. At some point I lost my backward circle eight so he helped me adjust the weight on my hip and I got it back.The power crossovers with inner edge he likes. On the power pulls I do well, except the the back ones on the hurt hip. But they are coming along. The 5 step Mohawk was always good. All it's left is the forward to backward 3-turn... And I do them fine! Except when I try to put a little speed in them. I think again it's about not tensing my body enough. I tried to have my coach look at them and I did way worse then I do on my own. He couldn't really correct anything because I was not doing them. Usually he corrects the timing as i was turning before reaching the middle of the lobe. The he always finds some weight over the hip adjustment. The only thing I could take away was to look up. I look down after the turn. I think the thing I need is that confidence back.... because honestly, I CAN do them.

Freestyle: This month I had 2 lessons with my new Freestyle coach. I described the Freestyle lessons here. Last lesson was about going faster and going bigger. When I hired him I thought I was going to like him, and I do like him even more than I expected. And here comes the BUT. I like all he is teaching me and I respond well to his instructions. And I agree I need eventually to know all these. BUT, I hired him to do a program for me, 2 moths ago. I want my program! I know I'm being childish, but am I? The program should be a Pre-Bronze one for testing, not competition. So it doesn't need more difficult skills than I already have. He brought up again the back power 3-turn, that are next level MITF. And while I can do them, I kind of don't want to work at them. I didn't do Freestyle in 2 years and I don't have allocated time in my week for it. I have to make room, so to take away time from dance and moves where I already feel I have less time than I want (like 8 sessions a week,  before injury). Now to be honest, each day on ice, I do have "I don't know what to work on" moments. So why wouldn't I work on the back power 3-turn. I'm definitely being childish, trowing a tantrum instead of working on things as an adult.

Last thing I'll mention is my hip pain. It is mostly good. I did hurt after jumping a whole session, but it went away during the long Thanksgiving weekend. I'm giving Thanks for that! Then I've fallen again on that side but I was wearing the gel hip pad, and while the fall hurt a little, I think it didn't add anything to the previous injury. Thanks for that too... Something new, I took a pilates class that is offered just after the ice time on Friday. It was my first time talking pilates and while I expected a good core workout (and sore muscles), I was surprised of how much it made me work the hip muscles too, so I may continue taking it. A physical therapist was also taking the class and she joined the conversation I was having with the instructor comparing yoga and pilates . They both consider that pilates is more beneficial as a core and hip strengthening and stabilizing exercise while cautioned me about the risk of injury if yoga is not done properly.

The plan for next month, if I feel no hip pain, is to skate Monday trough Friday and have 2 private lessons with my old coach, one Monday after my regular skate and one Thursday. That would give me more instruction for the dance I plan to test, plus would bring me to 5 and a half sessions of skating per week. BUT, if I feel any pain I plan to be on the cautious side and cut back on skating. As I'm registered to test the Willow Waltz I'll have to prioritize to work on it. The problem is that I need fairly empty ice to be able to put in the whole pattern and keep the beat. Usually the beginning of the sessions are emptier, so I'll have to work at the dance first.  The big disadvantage of this is that Ice Dancing makes my muscles tired because of the continuous bending and rising of the knee. That definitely affects my jumping negatively. But if I'm able to skate 5 1/2 sessions per week I'll have time to start incorporating some Freestyle in my training. I might not take any freestyle lessons, to keep the skating budget under control, or I'll go crazy and spend, thinking of it as a holiday gift...

Working towards my first program part 1

If you've red some of my older posts, you know that I was doing Freestyle group lessons for 5 years, then I hurt my left ankle so I stopped jumping and spinning. I started Ice Dancing and MITF (moves in the field). That was more than 2 years ago. I've always had the intention to come back to jumping but there is just so much training time in a week and I was filling it with Ice Dancing and moves. Now, as I hurt my left hip 6 months ago and I couldn't work on power and extension that I need in Ice Dancing and MITF, I was thinking how to still learn something while not pushing my body physically. So I thought to to link all I have together and to have a program choreograph for me. It's gonna be an USFSA pre-bronze program for testing. I wanted to maybe be able to use it as an ISI Artistic program to show it at my rink very casual summer competition, but I think the requirements don't mach.

An USFSA pre-bronze Freestyle test doesn't actually require a program, but you can do one, if you choose. The requirements are 2 jumps (could be 2 half jumps, so easy jumps), 2 spins (I think they require a 2 foot spin and an one foot spin), forward and backward crossovers and a spiral or lunge. The program could be maximum 1.40 minutes. My choreographer/ coach would like to put 3 jumps in, just in case I mess up one, so those plus the spins will take a lot of time. It's not gonna be much time left for the artistic side. An artistic programs requires strong edges, flow, choreography, innovative moves and musical interpretation and is has no score for the technical elements.

My goal in doing figure skating in general is toward enjoyment and self expression. That made me want to progress as much as possible so I can move more freely and securely. I use the process of testing to structure my training and progress. Similarly, I would like to use the process of learning and showing a program not for competing but for developing knowledge to choreograph myself, again not for a competition program but for moving around the rink for my own enjoyment.

I work with a new coach because my main coach doesn't do programs (he is a busy Ice Dancing coach). We had 4 lessons and we plan on few more before really choreographing the program, just so he can see what I can do. But he's teaching me in between all the planning, both technique, and how to approach the elements so I can eventually put them together myself.

The first lesson was about arm movements. He was asking me to do things I know (like power crossovers) and he showed me different arm movements to add to those. Meanwhile he also judges the quality of my elements. He introduced the choreography concept of stepping outside the circle, making a new circle, so creating interesting patterns on the ice, while teaching some arm movement on left forward crossovers and then step on a right forward outside edge.

The second lesson was about turns (steps). Programs ask for a step sequence made of turns (like mohawks and 3-turns for this level). The same turns  are used between jumps and spins and are called transitions. Again, he judged what I can do. For example I can do Ice Dancing 3-turns (dropped 3-turns) faster then the Freestyle power 3-turns... He put together a third of the rink circular step sequence that was 2 strokes, right forward mohawk, 2 right backward power 3-turns  and a double back 3-turn. We got stuck on a pretty flourish on the inside edge of the double back 3 turn. That I could almost do :) And I've got an update on the 3-turn instruction that was all things I knew. But just hearing it from a different voice sometimes helps. I told him after this lesson that I would like easier steps (then back power 3-turns and double 3-turns that I never did before) so I can have more speed, less struggle and feel more artistic. I think one of the purposes of a program is to push you to improve your technical content. I just feel that this being my first program, I'm all pushed already. We decided on the music. I had in mind a piano intro to a song I love but was just 1.30 min. The coach wanted 1.40. So I tried Audacity software for the first time. I was trying to add  from the main song and cut from the piano intro but it seamed to have no focus. Then I tried to chose a part from the main song and I didn't like it. I ended up copying a little of the piano music and pasting it somewhere. Now I have 1.45 min and it's fine as long as I don't move the first 5 sec. I think it's actually great to have 5 seconds to breath before skating.

The coach saw me trying some Salchow jumps just before starting the third lesson. He asked if I wanted any help. I hesitated because I didn't do jumps in a while and I was struggling to remember the entrance and the motion of the jump but I said yes. I was also planning to work on jump technique with my main coach and I was worried not to get confused between the two of them. But I'll have to put jumps in my program and with my main coach I work hard on dances, it doesn't seem I'll do Freestyle soon. I was again happy with him refreshing what I knew. He also added to it! And I felt it helped... Then he gave me some steps that  would potentially work on my music. I was soo happy that I learned them quickly. It was a huge worry for me that I won't be able to remember the choreography. But, I have to say, I really think he explains it so it is easy to remember...

Last week was about how to continue after a jump landing. And the coach gave me 3 options. Step forward on the left leg and continue with forward crossovers on a new circle. There is a little bit of a tricky part when changing the orientation of the upper body. I definitely needed it explained. The second option was to step into a left forward power 3 turn and change direction. AND, the third option, a tap toe for those times when you don't lend perfectly... As I said, I feel he teaches me strategy and choreography options. Exactly what I asked for!

One thing he insists on from the first lesson, and I'm not doing it yet, is to add an intro and an ending to each element I do. So, few strokes, add arms, turn, then jump or spin, then few steps out and arms again. I think it's a very good advice to get used with connecting steps.