These past two weeks have been axel agony. For almost all of October, I seemed to be getting closer and closer, and then all of the sudden, I was moving backwards again. I tried and tried to think of each practice as a fresh start, an opportunity to get back what I knew of the axel and make progress, but it just wasn't working. It was hard not to get frustrated. Well, I did get frustrated. But I tried to diligently put frustration behind me and work at what was going wrong. But for two weeks, I made no progress. Suddenly, what had become a pretty stable take-off for me started falling apart and it was waxel city. I bailed on the take off a lot and sometimes just got it plain wrong. I did a lot of two footed once arounds.
Saturday morning, I got to the part of my practice in which I was practicing axel. I did some exercises, muscled through a few poor attempts, flubbed some take-offs, and then I went for one again. My toe-pick hit the ice and I went down on my butt. I felt dejected. I sat there grumpy, a little longer than I should have. I made eye contact with one of the only coaches on the ice. He isn't my coach, but he's on just about every session I skate on. Pretty sure he had seen the jump I said, "Was it even close?" I wasn't sure of how far around I'd been when my toe pick bounced off the ice. "No," he said unequivocally, "maybe half a turn short." I sighed and pulled myself to my feet. It wasn't what I had wanted to hear, but I appreciated his candor. Then he whispered to me, "I would hold the edge a little bit longer," and then he put a finger to his lips, as if to say it was our little secret--after all, he's not my coach. "The entry edge a little longer?" I asked to confirm. "Yes, a little longer," he confirmed and again held his finger to his lips. We then went our separate ways.
I was willing to try anything, so when I went for my next attempt, I waited on the entry edge. And there it was. Not a fully rotated, beautiful axel with lovely flow out, but the quarter turn cheated axel that I had been doing for the previous month. I tried it again and again, and I was still bailing on some, but when I reminded myself to wait that fraction of a second longer than I think I have to, the majority of the jump would come. It felt familiar; it felt good.
Today, I did enough of them to even be able to think about my position in the air and holding still and tight until the landing, which I think was what had done me in in the first place. I'm still in this tenuous back and forth place. When the take-off finally got consistent, I started focusing on getting that landing, and then I stopped getting the take-off right because I was no longer thinking about it, but it's not quite muscle memory yet. I'm so ready for all the pieces to come together. But why do I feel like the axel will always be the cause of some amount of agony?
Sunday, November 9, 2014
Thursday, October 23, 2014
The Any-Day-Now Axel Update
I've started joking that my dying words will be that I'm going to land my axel any day now...
I suppose as long as I keep the optimism that it's going to happen, it's a good thing.
The take-off feels much more consistent, even good, and I generally get around to the quarter mark, but often my weight is still traveling forwards instead of backwards at that point, and it's like I reach for the ice with my skating foot. I think my take-off is generally pretty good, but what needs to be adjusted is my air position, and holding that position all the way through landing. I'm trying to identify those things by using video and exercises that train the correct feeling so I can finally land the darn thing.
But here's a few videos of recent axels so you can understand the phrase I utter virtually every day, "It's sooooo close!" In chronological order, but all from the past month. Typical axel practices.
I suppose as long as I keep the optimism that it's going to happen, it's a good thing.
The take-off feels much more consistent, even good, and I generally get around to the quarter mark, but often my weight is still traveling forwards instead of backwards at that point, and it's like I reach for the ice with my skating foot. I think my take-off is generally pretty good, but what needs to be adjusted is my air position, and holding that position all the way through landing. I'm trying to identify those things by using video and exercises that train the correct feeling so I can finally land the darn thing.
But here's a few videos of recent axels so you can understand the phrase I utter virtually every day, "It's sooooo close!" In chronological order, but all from the past month. Typical axel practices.
Friday, September 26, 2014
My Dramatic Program: It's So Funny!
I've had this song picked out that I wanted to do a dramatic program to for about a year and a half. I was playing the album on a nearly empty session one day and this song just grabbed me. My friend said, "Oh, you *have* to skate to this!" But up until now, I'd never done it. First, I was a little scared to try doing a dramatic event. Then I couldn't figure out how to cut the music. With the registration deadline for my last competition of the season coming up, I decided it was now or never. If I could cut the music in time for the registration deadline, I would sign up. And that's what I did.
My goal with this program was to try to move in a way that felt comfortable and expressive for me, so I wanted to do my own choreography. I ended up doing most of it, but because I only had about a month to put it together, I enlisted my coach for a little bit of help when I got into a time crunch.
There are parts of this skate that I love, and also a lot of parts that I'd like to rework. But I'm going to count my first dramatic program outing as a success, and I think I will continue to work on this program and keep it for Adult Nationals next year.
Oh, and the title of this post? Right before the competition, I ran into a young girl on a public skate who had been on a number of freestyle sessions where I'd practiced my program. She told me, "You do that program where you kick your leg! It's so FUNNY!" Her interpretation made me chuckle, but I corrected her, "Well, it's not supposed to be funny, it's supposed to be..." I struggled for the right word to use with a 7 year old, but she piped up first, "I know, I know. It's supposed to be dramatic!"
So there you have it folks. It may be funny, but it's supposed to be DRAMATIC! You be the judge!
My goal with this program was to try to move in a way that felt comfortable and expressive for me, so I wanted to do my own choreography. I ended up doing most of it, but because I only had about a month to put it together, I enlisted my coach for a little bit of help when I got into a time crunch.
There are parts of this skate that I love, and also a lot of parts that I'd like to rework. But I'm going to count my first dramatic program outing as a success, and I think I will continue to work on this program and keep it for Adult Nationals next year.
Oh, and the title of this post? Right before the competition, I ran into a young girl on a public skate who had been on a number of freestyle sessions where I'd practiced my program. She told me, "You do that program where you kick your leg! It's so FUNNY!" Her interpretation made me chuckle, but I corrected her, "Well, it's not supposed to be funny, it's supposed to be..." I struggled for the right word to use with a 7 year old, but she piped up first, "I know, I know. It's supposed to be dramatic!"
So there you have it folks. It may be funny, but it's supposed to be DRAMATIC! You be the judge!
Wednesday, September 17, 2014
About That Axel...
This post actually has almost nothing to do with skating.
It's about a pronoun.
And axels. It's about axels, too.
When my club did its spring show, they brought in an outside choreographer who chose soloists for the show by reviewing video submissions in which the skaters gave an introduction of who they are and showed some of their skating. One young girl earned herself a spot in the show by quipping, "Now about that axel..." in her video introduction. This phrase stuck out to the choreographer and inspired him to give her a little piece in the show where they explained to the audience a little bit about what the axel means to figure skaters and included a double and triple axel demo from our top skaters.
I've never talked about any interests outside of skating on this blog, but I am a language geek. I speak a couple of languages and I enjoy thinking about language structure and word connotation and all sorts of other language related issues. I listen to this podcast called Lexicon Valley that recently did an episode on demonstrative pronouns, you know, like this, that, these and those. Now everybody knows how these words are used to refer back to topics and things previously mentioned, but this podcast explored a different use of pronouns---using them to refer to things that you have not immediately been talking about, such as "About that axel!"
You can listen to it here if such a topic appeals to you, but the gist of it is that this use of pronoun is used to refer to a common understanding that the audience and the speaker share. Its intent is to cause a familiar emotional reaction to the thing and it forms a bond between the speaker and the listeners. The podcast centered around how a particular politician made frequent use of this type of pronoun, which has the effect of strengthening the positive reaction of people who agree with the common understanding that's put forth, and enhancing the negative reaction of people who disagree. Anyway, it can be a powerful rhetorical tool, and I didn't think much of it after I listened to the podcast.
But now I can't not notice it. I realized that I write and talk about "that axel" all the time! I am doing this exact thing with language and have never thought about why! Obviously, I've made previous posts about axels, so I could be referring back to those, but in the case of the auditioning girl in her video, no previous mention of an axel had been made, but the way she used that phrase, "about that axel"... inspired an entire piece in the show. She had tapped into that angst that all skaters have known just by the use of that one pronoun and it resonated with the choreographer who knew exactly what she was talking about. She did that with just one word! Isn't language fascinating??
Oh yah! And skating is fascinating, too. I'll get back to rambling on about that axel in my next post ;)
It's about a pronoun.
And axels. It's about axels, too.
When my club did its spring show, they brought in an outside choreographer who chose soloists for the show by reviewing video submissions in which the skaters gave an introduction of who they are and showed some of their skating. One young girl earned herself a spot in the show by quipping, "Now about that axel..." in her video introduction. This phrase stuck out to the choreographer and inspired him to give her a little piece in the show where they explained to the audience a little bit about what the axel means to figure skaters and included a double and triple axel demo from our top skaters.
I've never talked about any interests outside of skating on this blog, but I am a language geek. I speak a couple of languages and I enjoy thinking about language structure and word connotation and all sorts of other language related issues. I listen to this podcast called Lexicon Valley that recently did an episode on demonstrative pronouns, you know, like this, that, these and those. Now everybody knows how these words are used to refer back to topics and things previously mentioned, but this podcast explored a different use of pronouns---using them to refer to things that you have not immediately been talking about, such as "About that axel!"
You can listen to it here if such a topic appeals to you, but the gist of it is that this use of pronoun is used to refer to a common understanding that the audience and the speaker share. Its intent is to cause a familiar emotional reaction to the thing and it forms a bond between the speaker and the listeners. The podcast centered around how a particular politician made frequent use of this type of pronoun, which has the effect of strengthening the positive reaction of people who agree with the common understanding that's put forth, and enhancing the negative reaction of people who disagree. Anyway, it can be a powerful rhetorical tool, and I didn't think much of it after I listened to the podcast.
But now I can't not notice it. I realized that I write and talk about "that axel" all the time! I am doing this exact thing with language and have never thought about why! Obviously, I've made previous posts about axels, so I could be referring back to those, but in the case of the auditioning girl in her video, no previous mention of an axel had been made, but the way she used that phrase, "about that axel"... inspired an entire piece in the show. She had tapped into that angst that all skaters have known just by the use of that one pronoun and it resonated with the choreographer who knew exactly what she was talking about. She did that with just one word! Isn't language fascinating??
Oh yah! And skating is fascinating, too. I'll get back to rambling on about that axel in my next post ;)
Monday, September 15, 2014
Camera Shy
It was a blissfully empty morning on the ice. Two adults in lesson, one responsible teenager and me. I was getting close to the end of my session and I decided to go back to the waltz-backspin axel drill to practice the feeling of take-off and alignment over my right side.
The first one was a mess. I had a good take-off, but I landed on my inside edge and wasn't able to hold it and turn it into a backspin. Suddenly I hear my coach and his adult student exclaim from across the rink, "That was an axel!" I turned and looked at them. "That?!?" What are they smoking? I think. They confirm, "Yes!" and I ask again, because I'm sure what I've just done is a mistake. But they're waiting for me to do it again.
So I line up to do an axel from a stand-still, which I don't do often, but that's how I do the drill. As they watch, I push onto my left leg, push through the toe and lift my free knee through. I came down on the quarter mark on the other side and landed on one foot. Now that was an axel! A cheer came up from my coach and his current student, as well as the teen who had now stopped to watch.
Buoyed by this success, I tried again, the same way. Again, success! A third try was not so succesful.
"Do you want me to video you?" the teen asked. I accepted her offer, since my camera was out of battery and I needed someone to hold my phone to film me. "Of course, they probably won't show up for the camera," I joked. And so it went. The first few were back to my old familiar forward landings. "I'll take as many as you want!" The teen promised, "This is a big deal!" That one statement meant so much to me. She is not a girl who minces words. She won't tell you it was good unless it was, and she's seen me working on axels for a year. I kept going. Eleven videos later, we had a few okay ones, but none as good as the two I did before. I knew then that lightning wasn't about to strike again, so I released my volunteer videographer to her own practice.
Every day, though, that axel is getting closer. I capture that feeling that I know is the right technique and I almost get all the pieces to come together. I feel it getting closer and closer. I continue to think "any day now..." even though I've been thinking that for months. Days of progress like this one keep my hopes up.
So stay tuned for the news and the video because I'm going to land that axel any day now...
The first one was a mess. I had a good take-off, but I landed on my inside edge and wasn't able to hold it and turn it into a backspin. Suddenly I hear my coach and his adult student exclaim from across the rink, "That was an axel!" I turned and looked at them. "That?!?" What are they smoking? I think. They confirm, "Yes!" and I ask again, because I'm sure what I've just done is a mistake. But they're waiting for me to do it again.
So I line up to do an axel from a stand-still, which I don't do often, but that's how I do the drill. As they watch, I push onto my left leg, push through the toe and lift my free knee through. I came down on the quarter mark on the other side and landed on one foot. Now that was an axel! A cheer came up from my coach and his current student, as well as the teen who had now stopped to watch.
Buoyed by this success, I tried again, the same way. Again, success! A third try was not so succesful.
"Do you want me to video you?" the teen asked. I accepted her offer, since my camera was out of battery and I needed someone to hold my phone to film me. "Of course, they probably won't show up for the camera," I joked. And so it went. The first few were back to my old familiar forward landings. "I'll take as many as you want!" The teen promised, "This is a big deal!" That one statement meant so much to me. She is not a girl who minces words. She won't tell you it was good unless it was, and she's seen me working on axels for a year. I kept going. Eleven videos later, we had a few okay ones, but none as good as the two I did before. I knew then that lightning wasn't about to strike again, so I released my volunteer videographer to her own practice.
Every day, though, that axel is getting closer. I capture that feeling that I know is the right technique and I almost get all the pieces to come together. I feel it getting closer and closer. I continue to think "any day now..." even though I've been thinking that for months. Days of progress like this one keep my hopes up.
So stay tuned for the news and the video because I'm going to land that axel any day now...
Tuesday, August 12, 2014
Dancing for Bronze
I interrupt this post hiatus to announce that I will be testing the Hickory Hoedown and the Willow Waltz on August 23.
Probably.
I've pencilled it in, because I'm testing on a freestyle so I don't have to turn in papers in advance. I'm hoping that neither Dance Coach or our judge has to back out.
But the good news is that Dance Coach pronounced my Hickory much better and the Willow 90% correct. This is pretty high praise coming from him. The better news is that I feel like I'm finally making improvements on these dances where I feel like I've been unable to correctly apply his corrections for months. I was getting so frustrated, not being able to understand what I was doing wrong, and never getting it right.
We had a good talk at the end of my lesson about the times when we struggle the most often being the times when we're learning the most. I mentioned that there are times when I understand that's what's happening and can continue to hope but this was a time when I started to lose faith that I was progressing through the struggle. He reminded me that all skaters go through that, citing how he sees it in the most advanced and talented skaters at our rink. It was good encouragement and a good lesson for the next time this happens, but it also just feels so good to be finally coming around and seeing the progress again.
So August 23rd I dance for two of my bronze dances. I hope for good results because the following weekend I hope to dance for gold in my first ever pre-silver solo dance event!
Probably.
I've pencilled it in, because I'm testing on a freestyle so I don't have to turn in papers in advance. I'm hoping that neither Dance Coach or our judge has to back out.
But the good news is that Dance Coach pronounced my Hickory much better and the Willow 90% correct. This is pretty high praise coming from him. The better news is that I feel like I'm finally making improvements on these dances where I feel like I've been unable to correctly apply his corrections for months. I was getting so frustrated, not being able to understand what I was doing wrong, and never getting it right.
We had a good talk at the end of my lesson about the times when we struggle the most often being the times when we're learning the most. I mentioned that there are times when I understand that's what's happening and can continue to hope but this was a time when I started to lose faith that I was progressing through the struggle. He reminded me that all skaters go through that, citing how he sees it in the most advanced and talented skaters at our rink. It was good encouragement and a good lesson for the next time this happens, but it also just feels so good to be finally coming around and seeing the progress again.
So August 23rd I dance for two of my bronze dances. I hope for good results because the following weekend I hope to dance for gold in my first ever pre-silver solo dance event!
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
June
Wow, has June been a busy month!
Skating wise, I had both a competition and an ice dance weekend. They both had me thinking a lot about where I was at this time last year.
Ice Dance
The June ice dance weekend last year was my first ice dance weekend. I was just about to take my pre-bronze dances. I knew a grand total of 6 dances and when I showed up for the Friday evening dance session, I knew a grand total of no one. I was considering giving up ice dance after I tested, but the dance weekend totally changed my mind. I saw how fun social dancing was and how interesting the higher level dances were, and I decided to stick with it. Since then, I've travelled to two other ice dance weekends, did the social ice dance session at Nationals and have made occasional treks to a neighboring skate to get partnering practice with an ice dance friend. Going into the weekend this year, I was looking forward to seeing the friends I'd made throughout the year and excited to dance 13 or so different dances. Hard to believe all that has changed in a year
Competition
At the June competition last year, I skated pre-bronze. I was probably borderline bronze at the time, but my coach didn't want me to move up just yet. I didn't have a great skate. Neither of my spins were very successful, but I won anyway. I felt a little bad. This year, I skated at silver. Comparing the program I did in this year's competition to last year's competition makes it really evident how far I've come in a year. A lot of that progress I didn't really notice it as it was happening.
Other June news
I started my first double jump! We started with double loop. I think it's because there's no weight shift in it. I'm off to a pretty good start, I'm mostly trying to work out the timing. Too bad it's not even allowed at gold, but I think it will help with axel and other doubles. Also, in one banner day, we started both flying camel and flying sit. I don't have a really strong back camel so flying camel will probably take a while. But flying sit I think will be a good spin for me. Coach is even talking about putting it in my program for a competition at the end of August.
I'm trying to talk dance coach into letting me take my bronze dances. He's agreed, but I haven't gotten him to sign the test papers yet. I can't quite figure out what the hold up is. It may just be that he's not sure of his schedule yet, but I keep wondering if he doesn't think I'm ready yet, or if he doesn't want me to stop working on these dances yet. I probably won't get the test in time to do the next level of dance at the competition in August, so I may not do solo dance and instead try to put together a dramatic program.
Let's see, any other skating news? Well, I'm enjoying myself at a skate camp right now, which I hope to post about later. Camel spin continues to come and go. Axel is still not fully rotated. So, you know, business as usual :) How's your summer skating going?
Skating wise, I had both a competition and an ice dance weekend. They both had me thinking a lot about where I was at this time last year.
Ice Dance
The June ice dance weekend last year was my first ice dance weekend. I was just about to take my pre-bronze dances. I knew a grand total of 6 dances and when I showed up for the Friday evening dance session, I knew a grand total of no one. I was considering giving up ice dance after I tested, but the dance weekend totally changed my mind. I saw how fun social dancing was and how interesting the higher level dances were, and I decided to stick with it. Since then, I've travelled to two other ice dance weekends, did the social ice dance session at Nationals and have made occasional treks to a neighboring skate to get partnering practice with an ice dance friend. Going into the weekend this year, I was looking forward to seeing the friends I'd made throughout the year and excited to dance 13 or so different dances. Hard to believe all that has changed in a year
Competition
At the June competition last year, I skated pre-bronze. I was probably borderline bronze at the time, but my coach didn't want me to move up just yet. I didn't have a great skate. Neither of my spins were very successful, but I won anyway. I felt a little bad. This year, I skated at silver. Comparing the program I did in this year's competition to last year's competition makes it really evident how far I've come in a year. A lot of that progress I didn't really notice it as it was happening.
Other June news
I started my first double jump! We started with double loop. I think it's because there's no weight shift in it. I'm off to a pretty good start, I'm mostly trying to work out the timing. Too bad it's not even allowed at gold, but I think it will help with axel and other doubles. Also, in one banner day, we started both flying camel and flying sit. I don't have a really strong back camel so flying camel will probably take a while. But flying sit I think will be a good spin for me. Coach is even talking about putting it in my program for a competition at the end of August.
I'm trying to talk dance coach into letting me take my bronze dances. He's agreed, but I haven't gotten him to sign the test papers yet. I can't quite figure out what the hold up is. It may just be that he's not sure of his schedule yet, but I keep wondering if he doesn't think I'm ready yet, or if he doesn't want me to stop working on these dances yet. I probably won't get the test in time to do the next level of dance at the competition in August, so I may not do solo dance and instead try to put together a dramatic program.
Let's see, any other skating news? Well, I'm enjoying myself at a skate camp right now, which I hope to post about later. Camel spin continues to come and go. Axel is still not fully rotated. So, you know, business as usual :) How's your summer skating going?
Sunday, June 1, 2014
Upright Spins
In 2013, I made a goal to get 15 revs in my scratch spin. It's one goal that I didn't really meet. I think I did it once. But after I started working on more different types of spins, I didn't pay much attention to my scratch spin. Whenever I would try it, it would travel a mile, and then I'd try again, and still not having success, I'd move on to sit spins and camels.
But lately something has clicked. I think it's holding the entry edge longer, which is a lesson I've learned from sits and camels. I think I may have also just gained control over the free leg and position, to where I can control it without losing my balance over my sweet spot on my spinning leg. Anyhow, I achieved 15+ revs on my second try yesterday without much problem at all.
One of the reasons I've been working on my scratch spin lately is to try to make progress on a layback spin. No one has ever told me this, but I'm pretty sure that if you can't center a scratch spin, you'll have no hope of centering a layback, since it's a more difficult upright spin.
I have high hopes for a good layback, since I've always had a pretty flexible back, but most of my attempts so far have been flat out ugly. I haven't been able to get the mechanics right. We've hardly ever worked on it lesson, so I don't work on it much. But a friend of mine has a beautiful layback, and she says she got it by playing around and figuring it out for herself. This gave me motivation to do the same. The following video has two spins. The first is more or less what my laybacks have looked like for a while, and the second is one where I tried to fix the free leg position. I think it is an improvement and I could feel what the difference was, but I didn't get to replicate it, as I was starting to feel like I was getting in the way with my camera. I now have a better idea of what to work on and hope to make more improvements soon.
But lately something has clicked. I think it's holding the entry edge longer, which is a lesson I've learned from sits and camels. I think I may have also just gained control over the free leg and position, to where I can control it without losing my balance over my sweet spot on my spinning leg. Anyhow, I achieved 15+ revs on my second try yesterday without much problem at all.
One of the reasons I've been working on my scratch spin lately is to try to make progress on a layback spin. No one has ever told me this, but I'm pretty sure that if you can't center a scratch spin, you'll have no hope of centering a layback, since it's a more difficult upright spin.
I have high hopes for a good layback, since I've always had a pretty flexible back, but most of my attempts so far have been flat out ugly. I haven't been able to get the mechanics right. We've hardly ever worked on it lesson, so I don't work on it much. But a friend of mine has a beautiful layback, and she says she got it by playing around and figuring it out for herself. This gave me motivation to do the same. The following video has two spins. The first is more or less what my laybacks have looked like for a while, and the second is one where I tried to fix the free leg position. I think it is an improvement and I could feel what the difference was, but I didn't get to replicate it, as I was starting to feel like I was getting in the way with my camera. I now have a better idea of what to work on and hope to make more improvements soon.
Wednesday, May 21, 2014
Moving Up, Moving On
Today, the axel went into the program.
We have a local competition here in June, and I was going to skip it. I just did Adult Sectionals and Nationals not so long ago, and later this year my area has a big adult competition and is hosting Regionals, both of which I was planning on skating. This June competition seemed like a good one to skip. But I was talked into it.
Sunday, I passed my silver free skate test, and my local silver level skating friend begged me to compete. Frankly, I'm interested in seeing how we'll fare against each other. She moved up to silver last year after Nationals, before I'd passed my bronze test, so we've never competed against each other. Secondly, I knew that once time for the competition rolled around, I'd be sorry not to be out on the ice. But I've spent so much time on my program since December, I kind of wanted to give it a rest and work on some other stuff.
But I signed up, and last night I sort of grudgingly recut my music, since silver allows 2:10, where bronze can only be up to 1:50. I tried my best to do something that wouldn't completely uproot my current choreography. The easiest thing was to add music to the beginning, but that's where some of my favorite choreography is. Silver allows one more jump pass than bronze, so I knew that's what would be going in there. The cut sounded decent, so I brought it to the rink to let my coach hear it to see what she wanted to do with it.
She likes it. And she wants to put the axel in there right up front. And she found a way to put in some choreography that I really like around it. We're also changing up my spins a bit, if they'll fit. The camel-back sit, will become a camel-sit-back sit. And the sit will become a sit-pancake. It feels like we've breathed new life into my program. Suddenly there's new stuff to work on baked right into the program.
I did my first run-through, and as I went into the camel, I thought, "I'm not usually this tired here." It wasn't until I was done that I realized that I had done 20 seconds more skating at the beginning! (Well, not quite, I think I added like 17 seconds.) I still kind of see this competition as a throw-away, and luckily, my coaches do too. It's an opportunity to put some new stuff out there without too much pressure, and now I'm looking forward to it. I'm glad I signed up. I knew I would be.
We have a local competition here in June, and I was going to skip it. I just did Adult Sectionals and Nationals not so long ago, and later this year my area has a big adult competition and is hosting Regionals, both of which I was planning on skating. This June competition seemed like a good one to skip. But I was talked into it.
Sunday, I passed my silver free skate test, and my local silver level skating friend begged me to compete. Frankly, I'm interested in seeing how we'll fare against each other. She moved up to silver last year after Nationals, before I'd passed my bronze test, so we've never competed against each other. Secondly, I knew that once time for the competition rolled around, I'd be sorry not to be out on the ice. But I've spent so much time on my program since December, I kind of wanted to give it a rest and work on some other stuff.
But I signed up, and last night I sort of grudgingly recut my music, since silver allows 2:10, where bronze can only be up to 1:50. I tried my best to do something that wouldn't completely uproot my current choreography. The easiest thing was to add music to the beginning, but that's where some of my favorite choreography is. Silver allows one more jump pass than bronze, so I knew that's what would be going in there. The cut sounded decent, so I brought it to the rink to let my coach hear it to see what she wanted to do with it.
She likes it. And she wants to put the axel in there right up front. And she found a way to put in some choreography that I really like around it. We're also changing up my spins a bit, if they'll fit. The camel-back sit, will become a camel-sit-back sit. And the sit will become a sit-pancake. It feels like we've breathed new life into my program. Suddenly there's new stuff to work on baked right into the program.
I did my first run-through, and as I went into the camel, I thought, "I'm not usually this tired here." It wasn't until I was done that I realized that I had done 20 seconds more skating at the beginning! (Well, not quite, I think I added like 17 seconds.) I still kind of see this competition as a throw-away, and luckily, my coaches do too. It's an opportunity to put some new stuff out there without too much pressure, and now I'm looking forward to it. I'm glad I signed up. I knew I would be.
Monday, May 12, 2014
Mid-Year Goal Update
Eva's last post on goals inspired me to post my own. I never wrote down any official goals for this year, so you'll just have to believe me when I tell you what I had in mind at the beginning of the year.
One of the reasons I didn't write down goals for this year is because beyond the following three things I knew I wanted, I wasn't sure what else I wanted to accomplish.
I wanted to have a clean skate at Nationals, or at least feel like I'd skated my best.
I would say that I accomplished this. Could my combo spin have gone better? Yes. But I skated everything else basically as well as I possibly could have. I also wanted to medal in the free skate and finish in the top half of the solo dance event. I wasn't sure if I could make it a goal, though, since those things don't depend completely on me. But I won both events, so I realized that goal, even though I never stated it.
I want to land my axel.
Well, I'm still working on this. I still think I'll get it this year, but my experience working on the axel so far is that you can't really make predictions about it. I did have a bout of hubris with this jump when I started it. I thought I would get it faster than average, because my coach thought I had a good concept of the jump and I have pretty good body awareness. But I'm definitely not setting any speed record on this jump, and that's okay.
I wanted to pass Gold moves and Bronze dances by the end of the club year (June 30).
Honestly, I was hoping to win my club's award for most tests passed again. It's kind of a silly goal, but I had it in the back of my mind anyway. So far, I have not gone for any of these tests, and while bronze dances are still somewhat likely this summer and I'll definitely do them this calendar year, gold moves will probably not happen. But I'm testing my silver FS next week, which was not even on the radar for me at the beginning of the year. Our awards banquet is next week, so those tests wouldn't count for the award anyway.
And those were my goals for this year. I'm still working on the axel, the gold moves, and the bronze dances, so I suppose they're still in effect. I'm pretty close to obsessed with the axel, so I feel like it might be healthy to make some other goals to work on too. I'm working on the skatingforums spin challenge, though a bit informally, as well as trying to get some more interesting spins going, in anticipation of moving up to gold some day. Which brings me to my long term goal: qualify for championship gold someday. This is not a goal for this year, nor for next calendar year, but maybe the year after that? (2016) I guess if that's my long term goal, since I'll need my axel and my gold moves and that competitive experience to get there, my current goals are on the right track.
One of the reasons I didn't write down goals for this year is because beyond the following three things I knew I wanted, I wasn't sure what else I wanted to accomplish.
I wanted to have a clean skate at Nationals, or at least feel like I'd skated my best.
I would say that I accomplished this. Could my combo spin have gone better? Yes. But I skated everything else basically as well as I possibly could have. I also wanted to medal in the free skate and finish in the top half of the solo dance event. I wasn't sure if I could make it a goal, though, since those things don't depend completely on me. But I won both events, so I realized that goal, even though I never stated it.
I want to land my axel.
Well, I'm still working on this. I still think I'll get it this year, but my experience working on the axel so far is that you can't really make predictions about it. I did have a bout of hubris with this jump when I started it. I thought I would get it faster than average, because my coach thought I had a good concept of the jump and I have pretty good body awareness. But I'm definitely not setting any speed record on this jump, and that's okay.
I wanted to pass Gold moves and Bronze dances by the end of the club year (June 30).
Honestly, I was hoping to win my club's award for most tests passed again. It's kind of a silly goal, but I had it in the back of my mind anyway. So far, I have not gone for any of these tests, and while bronze dances are still somewhat likely this summer and I'll definitely do them this calendar year, gold moves will probably not happen. But I'm testing my silver FS next week, which was not even on the radar for me at the beginning of the year. Our awards banquet is next week, so those tests wouldn't count for the award anyway.
And those were my goals for this year. I'm still working on the axel, the gold moves, and the bronze dances, so I suppose they're still in effect. I'm pretty close to obsessed with the axel, so I feel like it might be healthy to make some other goals to work on too. I'm working on the skatingforums spin challenge, though a bit informally, as well as trying to get some more interesting spins going, in anticipation of moving up to gold some day. Which brings me to my long term goal: qualify for championship gold someday. This is not a goal for this year, nor for next calendar year, but maybe the year after that? (2016) I guess if that's my long term goal, since I'll need my axel and my gold moves and that competitive experience to get there, my current goals are on the right track.
Monday, April 28, 2014
Nationals Free Skate
I'm happy to be able to share a video of my skate from Nationals with you!
I had conveniently forgotten that I tripped when I went to curtsy after the program. I think this will be the next thing I try not to do in competition, but there are only so many chances you get to stop without tripping with all that adrenaline running through you! I didn't realize we had sweepers so I tried to pick up all the tossies, which can also be hard to do right after you've skated.
In this program, I'm particularly proud of my opening jump combo, my footwork sequence and my forward sit spin. It felt great to have this skate at Nationals.
Thank you for sharing in my journey with me.
I had conveniently forgotten that I tripped when I went to curtsy after the program. I think this will be the next thing I try not to do in competition, but there are only so many chances you get to stop without tripping with all that adrenaline running through you! I didn't realize we had sweepers so I tried to pick up all the tossies, which can also be hard to do right after you've skated.
In this program, I'm particularly proud of my opening jump combo, my footwork sequence and my forward sit spin. It felt great to have this skate at Nationals.
Thank you for sharing in my journey with me.
Wednesday, April 23, 2014
A Recap of My First Adult Nationals
I'm a little late with a Nationals recap, but there's so much to say, it's been hard to settle on what to write. So before we get *too* far removed from the event, here are a few highlights. It was my first adult nationals, and there was a theme of first running through the whole event for me.
- I was the first competitor of the first event of the entire competition. My turn to skate came up so fast, I didn't have too much time to get nervous about it. I was really pleased to be taking the ice at Nationals when I skated out to start and I think it reflected in the way I skated. I also had a great group of supporters in the stand, in the form of fellow skaters. They cheered their heads off for me and it made me feel like I belonged out there and helped me skate my best.
- I did skate well. I messed up my combo spin again, but I didn't fall. And because the spin didn't last its full time, I was a little early before my footwork and my little time filler was messy. BUT, I hit my final sit spin like I never have in competition before and I was thrilled! The joy I felt when I finished my program was electrifying!
- After you skate, you get showered with gifts! When in your life does that ever happen?
- I got to be the first skater of the whole competition to climb on top of the podium! It can be scary to climb up a podium on skates.
- I was first to skate for my solo dance event, too. There were 12 skaters in the dance event, and we were divided into two warm up groups. For the second dance, the second of the warm-up groups goes first, so I had a while to wait between my two dances. I took off my skates after I finished my first dance. My legs were shaking and I felt really nervous. Later, putting on my skates for the medal ceremony for the dance event, my lace snapped. It freaks me out a little to realize how close I came to breaking a lace between my two dances!
- I never remember much from the actual skating in my dance events. I didn't trip when I stopped at the end like at sectionals, thanks to choreographed endings from my coach.
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| Heading into my opening jump pass |
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| Ten-fox Ending Pose |
- One of my favorite parts of the dance event was the camaraderie between skaters. Competitors stood together besides the boards and watched other skaters' patterns. We chatted as we watched and waited. Going into the event, I had no idea what sort of placement to expect, but I earned first place! At the awards for that event, one of the competitors told me that the result would have been the same if they had taken a vote among the competitors. It was a really sweet comment and meant a lot to me.
- I got to be a sweeper for the silver ladies 4 and 5 light entertainment events and those women were hilarious! So fun to get to stand with them as they prepared to take the ice.
- I got to meet some new people and friends from the internet in real life. This included Eva from Eva Bakes, Diane from WaltzJump, Kate who is a friend of my non-skating sister. I even got to know some people who live close to me better. One member of my club came as a spectator. We watched some of the dance events together and during a dinner break, I discovered he and my dad had lived parallel lives. I also met Dick Button, Doug Wilson, Paul Wylie, and even danced with Mark Ladwig at the competitor's party.
- Watching the championship gold and championship jr/sr events were highlights of the week. The skating was truly wonderful to watch. It is my dream some day to compete in championship gold. My spins are going to need a lot of work!
- Another favorite moment of the event was celebrating with a skating friend when she medaled in her LE event. She'd felt great about her FS and then placed very close to the bottom and she was really struggling with that. When she showed me her medal for her artistic program, she was absolutely overcome with joy and I got emotional sharing that moment with her.
- Returning home to my rink was also a wonderful experience. I don't think I've ever won anything this big in my life, and many skaters at my rink and coaches from my club have whole-heartedly congratulated me. It feels really nice for the kids to recognize an adult in what is such a kid dominated sport.
Monday, March 24, 2014
I (or at least my spins) will not be denied
All this spin drama has me determined to nail my spins at Nationals. And I will say, my spin consistency does seem to be improving. I took some video during practice the other day to see how I was doing. I felt really good about the camel-back sit I caught on tape and then it looked sooooo slooooowwww on video. I also know that I used to do lower sit spins in my old boots (see here), so I've started pushing those lower and hope to get video of that sometime soon. I'm still having a hard time getting the back sit lower, but I have sore quads on both legs as evidence that I've been working on it. And to show you all that I'm not lying when I tell Coach that I *do* practice my spins, here's a little tiny bit of proof:
Edit: I added a link to an earlier sit spin and found a video of me doing better camel spins six months ago. Bummer.
Edit: I added a link to an earlier sit spin and found a video of me doing better camel spins six months ago. Bummer.
Monday, March 10, 2014
Sectionals
I'm back from my first Adult Sectionals competition. I had a lovely time and it was wonderful to see adults competing in so many events.
I was pretty happy with how I skated, even though I fell on a spin. I also had a few of those normal competition bobbles, where I tripped here and there. But I held onto my sit spin at the end, even though it wasn't the best. It's too bad, since I did a terrific one in warm-up, but it was also a triumph, since I've screwed up my sit spin almost every time I've performed a program.
I thought when I fell that I had for sure lost my chance at winning, but I quickly pushed the thought aside and kept going. I got to watch the last four skaters in my group and they skated wonderfully. I was hoping I still had a chance for a medal, but I was preparing myself for other eventualities while waiting for the results.
When the runner posted the results sheet, I saw my name at the top and was confused. I'd been scanning for my name in the middle of the pack. What was this list? It wasn't the start list, wasn't it the results? And then it hit me. I'd come in first. I was shocked! And then thrilled!
I was happy it turned out as it did, especially since some family I don't get to see very often got to come and watch. I hope to continue to make some improvements before Nationals, where I hope to nail both my spins. Here's my performance:
I was pretty happy with how I skated, even though I fell on a spin. I also had a few of those normal competition bobbles, where I tripped here and there. But I held onto my sit spin at the end, even though it wasn't the best. It's too bad, since I did a terrific one in warm-up, but it was also a triumph, since I've screwed up my sit spin almost every time I've performed a program.
I thought when I fell that I had for sure lost my chance at winning, but I quickly pushed the thought aside and kept going. I got to watch the last four skaters in my group and they skated wonderfully. I was hoping I still had a chance for a medal, but I was preparing myself for other eventualities while waiting for the results.
When the runner posted the results sheet, I saw my name at the top and was confused. I'd been scanning for my name in the middle of the pack. What was this list? It wasn't the start list, wasn't it the results? And then it hit me. I'd come in first. I was shocked! And then thrilled!
I was happy it turned out as it did, especially since some family I don't get to see very often got to come and watch. I hope to continue to make some improvements before Nationals, where I hope to nail both my spins. Here's my performance:
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Return of the Remedial Spinner
About six months ago, I showed my sister a video of some of my spins and she said that I no longer qualified as a remedial spinner. I'd hoped she was right, but I still didn't think it was time to change the tag line of my blog.
Well, I still deserve the title in spades. I may manage quite a nice camel, sit or back spin from time to time now, but my ability to do it on demand is horrendous.
I signed up for a club exhibition so I could try out my new program in a competition-like environment before Sectionals. They scheduled me last, for which I ended up being very glad. All the coaches left after their skaters finished and most of the skaters and parents had too.
A bronze level program is allowed two spins, and mine are a camel-back sit combo and a solo sit spin, which ends my program. My camel spin has been hot and cold this week, as always. Last weekend, it was eliciting compliments from fellow skaters, but mid-week in my lesson, it was garnishing admonitions from my coach that I need to practice my spins more. (Believe me, I practice my spins a lot!)
Well, in the program, I actually hit the camel! But the back-sit never got going. I kind of hopped around a little, trying not to lose my balance and finally stood up to move on, already late for the next segment of my program. At the end of my program, I step down directly into the sit spin from a salchow. I miss on the sit spin from time to time, but it's more stable than my camel. Well, not this time. I absolutely flubbed the entrance. I stepped into the entrance and then, next thing I knew, I was on two feet, standing up and not having a clue what to do. I absolutely blew it. I don't think I ever even got a single revolution. I basically did a nice deep edge into a two foot gobbledegook. I took a few steps forward, baffled about what to do and then posed when the music ended. It's devastating to end a program with a major mistake.
I was beyond disappointed. I've botched the spins in 2 out of the 3 competitions I've done so far, and now this. I was embarrassed as it was announced that I'd be competing at sectionals. "Not skating like that!" I wanted to shout out to the few people still watching. I felt like I'd had no business putting myself up for the exhibition.
I was so ashamed of how I'd skated. In addition to the spins, I tripped over my feet about 3 times on the hard ice. My parents and roommate who'd come to watch me were very kind, so I tried to shake off my foul attitude quickly. But I'm bummed. I was hoping I could boost my confidence with a strong showing. Maybe the fiery disappointment of knowing I can do better will strengthen me just as well.
I can't put the remedial spinner title behind me. Not yet. I can only work even harder at those spins and hope that eventually, I'll have something to show for it when it counts. (Hopefully next weekend, even?? Sigh, one can hope.)
Well, I still deserve the title in spades. I may manage quite a nice camel, sit or back spin from time to time now, but my ability to do it on demand is horrendous.
I signed up for a club exhibition so I could try out my new program in a competition-like environment before Sectionals. They scheduled me last, for which I ended up being very glad. All the coaches left after their skaters finished and most of the skaters and parents had too.
A bronze level program is allowed two spins, and mine are a camel-back sit combo and a solo sit spin, which ends my program. My camel spin has been hot and cold this week, as always. Last weekend, it was eliciting compliments from fellow skaters, but mid-week in my lesson, it was garnishing admonitions from my coach that I need to practice my spins more. (Believe me, I practice my spins a lot!)
Well, in the program, I actually hit the camel! But the back-sit never got going. I kind of hopped around a little, trying not to lose my balance and finally stood up to move on, already late for the next segment of my program. At the end of my program, I step down directly into the sit spin from a salchow. I miss on the sit spin from time to time, but it's more stable than my camel. Well, not this time. I absolutely flubbed the entrance. I stepped into the entrance and then, next thing I knew, I was on two feet, standing up and not having a clue what to do. I absolutely blew it. I don't think I ever even got a single revolution. I basically did a nice deep edge into a two foot gobbledegook. I took a few steps forward, baffled about what to do and then posed when the music ended. It's devastating to end a program with a major mistake.
I was beyond disappointed. I've botched the spins in 2 out of the 3 competitions I've done so far, and now this. I was embarrassed as it was announced that I'd be competing at sectionals. "Not skating like that!" I wanted to shout out to the few people still watching. I felt like I'd had no business putting myself up for the exhibition.
I was so ashamed of how I'd skated. In addition to the spins, I tripped over my feet about 3 times on the hard ice. My parents and roommate who'd come to watch me were very kind, so I tried to shake off my foul attitude quickly. But I'm bummed. I was hoping I could boost my confidence with a strong showing. Maybe the fiery disappointment of knowing I can do better will strengthen me just as well.
I can't put the remedial spinner title behind me. Not yet. I can only work even harder at those spins and hope that eventually, I'll have something to show for it when it counts. (Hopefully next weekend, even?? Sigh, one can hope.)
Monday, January 20, 2014
Friendly Competition and "Compliments"
I've had the pleasure of having a few friends in skating with whom I am competitive, but completely friendly. It's so fun to compare notes on how we're progressing on certain elements.
One friend keeps staying one step ahead of me in her tests, so we've never competed against each other, but we're both trying to get our axels right now. We have the same coaches. She's dying to land her axel, and often talks about my attempts spurring her on.
She reported to me a recent conversation she'd had with Coach.
"How is my axel looking?" she asked him. "Does it look like an adult axel? Or a kid axel? How does it compare to Alejeather's?"
Coach was reluctant to compare our axels, but she pressed him, and he finally admitted, "She gets around more than you do."
"He said I get around more than you?" I asked when she told me the story. "That's only a compliment in figure skating!"
One friend keeps staying one step ahead of me in her tests, so we've never competed against each other, but we're both trying to get our axels right now. We have the same coaches. She's dying to land her axel, and often talks about my attempts spurring her on.
She reported to me a recent conversation she'd had with Coach.
"How is my axel looking?" she asked him. "Does it look like an adult axel? Or a kid axel? How does it compare to Alejeather's?"
Coach was reluctant to compare our axels, but she pressed him, and he finally admitted, "She gets around more than you do."
"He said I get around more than you?" I asked when she told me the story. "That's only a compliment in figure skating!"
Wednesday, January 15, 2014
Never Enough
I did a clean run-through of my program in my lesson this morning. I landed every jump. I hit all of my spin positions, I didn't stumble in any of my footwork or transitions, and I finished on time. I was beaming when I finished.
There were still a few minutes left in my lesson and my coach asked me if I could do a split jump. I told him he'd seen me do one before, because he'd said, "I didn't know you could do that!" He didn't remember, but sent me out to show him one. I had no idea where he was going with this.
Then he said, "This time, after the split jump, do a mohawk into a flip jump." So I tried it.
Then he said, "Do it again, but add a loop-toe loop after the flip. Now that's a sequence!" So I tried it... and it wasn't so bad. I do a flip-loop-toe as the opening jumping pass in my program, and so I thought he was maybe trying to strengthen the combo by making me try something more difficult.
"That's pretty good! I want you to add that into your program." Um, what? I thought he was joking, but he wasn't and told me to show my choreographer/coach in our next lesson.
I'm not so sure about it. I think my split jump is okay--my extension isn't what it used to be and my arms always go way too high. I also think it takes away from the combo, which isn't as big and floaty with the split jump first, but maybe that will get better with practice. And finally, I don't know that it works choreographically. But we'll see what my other coach has to say.
The moral of the story is, you run a clean program for your coach 7 weeks before the competition, and it's never enough! You'll get more troubles heaped on!
There were still a few minutes left in my lesson and my coach asked me if I could do a split jump. I told him he'd seen me do one before, because he'd said, "I didn't know you could do that!" He didn't remember, but sent me out to show him one. I had no idea where he was going with this.
Then he said, "This time, after the split jump, do a mohawk into a flip jump." So I tried it.
Then he said, "Do it again, but add a loop-toe loop after the flip. Now that's a sequence!" So I tried it... and it wasn't so bad. I do a flip-loop-toe as the opening jumping pass in my program, and so I thought he was maybe trying to strengthen the combo by making me try something more difficult.
"That's pretty good! I want you to add that into your program." Um, what? I thought he was joking, but he wasn't and told me to show my choreographer/coach in our next lesson.
I'm not so sure about it. I think my split jump is okay--my extension isn't what it used to be and my arms always go way too high. I also think it takes away from the combo, which isn't as big and floaty with the split jump first, but maybe that will get better with practice. And finally, I don't know that it works choreographically. But we'll see what my other coach has to say.
The moral of the story is, you run a clean program for your coach 7 weeks before the competition, and it's never enough! You'll get more troubles heaped on!
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