Author Topic: What didnt you achieve this week all help welcome  (Read 94125 times)

Jo

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Re: What didnt you achieve this week all help welcome
« Reply #473 on: January 25, 2020, 05:33:07 pm »
Forward one foot three turns. Actually I've not achieved these for a number of weeks now. Today at my lesson was the first time since I started a year ago that I had to keep reminding myself that skating is meant to be fun when all I wanted to do was cry and I ended up stumbling around. Instead of my usual one hour of practice after my lesson, I left the ice after 10 minutes. Fingers crossed next week is better.

transmissionoftheflame

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Re: What didnt you achieve this week all help welcome
« Reply #474 on: January 25, 2020, 06:00:02 pm »
Forward one foot three turns. Actually I've not achieved these for a number of weeks now. Today at my lesson was the first time since I started a year ago that I had to keep reminding myself that skating is meant to be fun when all I wanted to do was cry and I ended up stumbling around. Instead of my usual one hour of practice after my lesson, I left the ice after 10 minutes. Fingers crossed next week is better.


I think for almost everyone learning to skate is a process of some steps forward and some back, and in the dark moments you could remind yourself of where you started from.  I've been skating a long time and still have moments when I feel like a clumsy oaf.  I strongly feel part of the learning process is learning to remain calm in those moments, knowing when to not be so hard on yourself, maybe go back to a very basic element that you feel more confident with, breathe, feel the movement, feel the ice, rebuild belief.  It's as much a test of patience as anything else.  We're all different - some may find it helpful to have specific goals, or tests, or be very intense and have very high expectations, for others (like me) that seems to work less well.  I improve most when I just try to enjoy my skating and relax - but obviously you still need to know what you're meant to be doing and be receiving good input.


Some less philosophical things to try:
 - Two-foot three turns, done really well, really feel the outside edge.  Do them on a hockey circle.  They are harder than people imagine.
 - Improve your forward outside edge, hold it for longer, forever, for a full circle.  Feel how you can control the edge by holding your free side back.  Stand up tall, don't look down.  Feel how when you let your free side come round, it's the start of a three turn
 - Improve your back inside edge, hold it for longer, for a full circle if you can


I think if you have excellent forward and backward edges, 3-turns are easy, or at least much easier.  If you're uncomfortable with either the entry or exit edge, the turn is unlikely to go well.


If your rink lets you, stick inspiring music on your headphones.

Jo

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Re: What didnt you achieve this week all help welcome
« Reply #475 on: January 25, 2020, 07:07:31 pm »
Thank you very much for both the philosophical and practical advice. I've got to shake it off and move on. I think the practicing holding my edges for a full circle is a brilliant idea I'll work on next week.

WednesdayMarch

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Re: What didnt you achieve this week all help welcome
« Reply #476 on: January 25, 2020, 07:40:16 pm »
Forward one foot three turns. Actually I've not achieved these for a number of weeks now. Today at my lesson was the first time since I started a year ago that I had to keep reminding myself that skating is meant to be fun when all I wanted to do was cry and I ended up stumbling around. Instead of my usual one hour of practice after my lesson, I left the ice after 10 minutes. Fingers crossed next week is better.

Oh dear.  You've just had a Plank Day.  Trust me when I say that everybody has them.  Everybody.  From the person who's been skating only a few weeks to the Olympian.  We all have days when we feel we're skating like a plank of wood and that, frankly, a plank of wood would probably make a better hash of things.  They pass.

They're also part of what I call "P Theory"; we Progress, we Plateau, we Plank, we Progress, we Peak, we Plunge... Ad infinitum.  It's all part of the, er, joy of skating...  But the thing to remember is that we all do it and we all progress anyway, even when we can't see it ourselves.  I have a couple of ladies who have both been skating for almost a year now.  They are both progressing at different rates.  Neither can see progress at all.  Luckily everybody else can.   ;)

Transmissionoftheflame has made some excellent points and practical suggestions.  I especially like the one about working on two-foot three turns.  And yes, those things are properly hard!  I will never understand how NISA/BIS think it's an appropriate move for Skate UK Level Two.  So many people get very, very stuck on it and very, very frustrated.  And yes, it's an excellent thing to practice to get the feel of turning the three turn on one foot.

As you practice the turns - on either one foot or two - try to make sure that you bend as you go into the turn, then when you're ready you need to rise up to "release" the turn and then bend again to control and help check the edge after the turn.  The rise up is really important to get yourself up, out of the ice and able to turn smoothly and without scraping.  Of course, it's impossible to rise up, if you haven't bent your knees in the first place, so make sure you start off properly with a good knee bend.

And practising holding edges for a whole circle is a skill that an astounding number of skater don't seem to learn or be able to do.  I do miss compulsory figures...

I hope you feel better next time you step onto the ice.  Plank days don't last forever and neither do the plateaux.  I promise.
« Last Edit: January 26, 2020, 09:06:36 am by WednesdayMarch »
Returned to the ice in Sept 2017 after a major leg injury in 1999. Skating in Jackson Elite Pro & MK Vision Syncro. Still scary after all these years.

Jo

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Re: What didnt you achieve this week all help welcome
« Reply #477 on: January 25, 2020, 10:43:48 pm »
I really appreciate how supportive you are. Thank you. Really does mean a lot to me.

And yes, I don't bend my knees as much as I should. Or rotate my shoulders and trunk properly. There's so many elements to keep track of! But my main problem is that I'm nowhere near stable enough on one foot so I definitely need to develop that.


transmissionoftheflame

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Re: What didnt you achieve this week all help welcome
« Reply #478 on: January 25, 2020, 10:57:29 pm »
Skating has been one of the most enduringly rewarding things in my life and my daughters' lives for many years.  It's worth persevering with.


I hesitate to emphasise how hard it is to do well for fear of putting people off.  On the other hand I think a lot of us have unrealistic expectations to begin and are soon discouraged, and are too hard on ourselves.


With patience and effort and the right input you will become a skater who feels great pleasure on the ice, but it's not achieved overnight.

Carrie

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Re: What didnt you achieve this week all help welcome
« Reply #479 on: January 26, 2020, 04:04:36 pm »
If anyone is interested in seeing edges skated have a look at The Royal Skating Club Facebook page at the videos posted on there. I don’t belong to Facebook but was able to watch the videos.


With English Style skating, arms are at ones side and it’s the shoulders that do the work.  It has it’s own terminology. A forward set is started with a right forward outside edge so the call can be:forward and inside. And means change feet, so inside means left forward inside.  For big turns, the skaters get up speed by skating from one end of the rink to the other, then skate on one foot to the centre, change edge and carry on to the other end, finishing with a three turn, Mohawk, counter or rocker! I only ever did a two-foot three turn if I had any momentum left by then! 


Sadly, I had to stop doing English Style a few years ago but couldn’t cope with 7 am start on a Sunday morning, in the summer.  I did do it for over 12 years and really enjoyed it.

clairen

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Re: What didnt you achieve this week all help welcome
« Reply #480 on: January 29, 2020, 12:16:27 pm »
Re: forward outside edge 3 turns - I too have felt like crying and almost gave up. I went to the rink to practice before my lesson, thought to myself, 'well, I'm never going to nail this so I'll not even think about when I'm doing it' and, lo and behold, I got it! When I stopped over-thinking it just happened and I can now do them easily on both feet. I'm now working on inside 3 turns which are a bit trickier but once you've done an outside 3 turn I think any turn is do-able. Good luck and don't give up, you'll get there!

WednesdayMarch

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Re: What didnt you achieve this week all help welcome
« Reply #481 on: January 29, 2020, 03:05:15 pm »
If anyone is interested in seeing edges skated have a look at The Royal Skating Club Facebook page at the videos posted on there. I don’t belong to Facebook but was able to watch the videos.

Oooh, those are great, thank you!  I've never seen it skated so they are fascinating. 
Returned to the ice in Sept 2017 after a major leg injury in 1999. Skating in Jackson Elite Pro & MK Vision Syncro. Still scary after all these years.

transmissionoftheflame

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Re: What didnt you achieve this week all help welcome
« Reply #482 on: January 29, 2020, 04:43:05 pm »
Re: forward outside edge 3 turns - I too have felt like crying and almost gave up. I went to the rink to practice before my lesson, thought to myself, 'well, I'm never going to nail this so I'll not even think about when I'm doing it' and, lo and behold, I got it! When I stopped over-thinking it just happened and I can now do them easily on both feet. I'm now working on inside 3 turns which are a bit trickier but once you've done an outside 3 turn I think any turn is do-able. Good luck and don't give up, you'll get there!


Totally agree about over-thinking.  Obviously you need some idea how to do a particular element, before attempting it, but if you have had good input, followed the recommended stetps/preparation, and are physically able, often the blockage is mainly mental.  Once you're over that hurdle you can then relax and concentrate on improving aspects of the execution.


I am currently in a phase where I am improving more than I was a few years ago, despite cutting down from 4 sessions a week to 2 - I think I come to it fresher and almost forget what I can't do/struggle with/what my weak side is.


FI 3s gave me a lot of trouble, I think it's mainly a case of believing they will work - there's a tiny leap of faith there.  It seems so far round, but really the blade makes the turn on its own.  As always, lots of work on great FI and BO edges will help you feel confident going in and coming out.

Jo

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Re: What didnt you achieve this week all help welcome
« Reply #483 on: February 01, 2020, 10:05:45 pm »
Today went better thanks. I still can't do the 3 turns but having an optimistic attitude (and a different instructor) definitely helped me to feel like I am making progress again.



 

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