Bronze Free Skate Test
First things first, I took my bronze free skate test last week, and I passed! Looking back after a week, my feelings are that I did a respectable job on my elements (with a few bobbles), but I feel like the rest of the program was kind of half-hearted. By the time I got to take the test, I really just wanted to get it over with so that I could focus on my competition version of the program. But my performance at the test has made me realize how much I want to polish my skating, especially my transitions, for upcoming competitions. Now that I've passed this test, Adult Nationals 2014, here I come! Here's the video:
Coaching Changes
Coach Picky is moving next month. We've been able to meet less and less, and with the amount that I'm skating right now, I realized that one 20 minute freestyle lesson a week is not sufficient. This past week, I took my first lesson with the coach that my current primary coach often teams with. We took a few minutes at the beginning of the lesson to discuss goals and then she had me show her what I could do. She gave me some tips on my sit spin, back spin, flip and lutz which have made for good homework. It was a good first lesson. It was so satisfying to do a really good camel spin for her, because it's been eluding me so much lately.
Could it be...?
The last thing I showed her in the lesson was waltz-loop and waltz-backspin, since I told her that axel and beyond are part of my goals. She gave me a correction on bringing my knee through more on the waltz-backspin, and I think I did quite well with it. Her response was, "I think you're going to have a very nice axel." We scheduled a lesson for the beginning of next week. She said she wanted to start axel on the harness with me in our next lesson! She told me excitedly, "I want to be the one to start you on your axel. I'm selfish that way!" That's fine with me, since I haven't been working on any drills with either of my current coaches. I am beyond excited. Maybe she's stroking my ego to get my business, and if she is, it's working. But I also hope that the enthusiasm is genuine, of course. I will be sure to keep you posted on my first outing in the harness, and my first attempt at the axel on ice!
