Can I share something with you, Michael?: growing as a little Gymnast, snow-Skier, & Sprinter, with a few isolated incidents, I chose experiencing life happy & healthy, as allowed.
Serving others in typical joyful CHEERleading-fashion :stars I gave, & contributed, & sacrificed, but in 1999 I nearly died from a sudden Adrenal collapse, robbing me of all energy, attention, Focus, concentration, & some eyesight: Abilities we depend on, to succeed (pretty much anywhere) & especially on the ice.
No wonder, pro-Skaters said I should not be there, trying to learn. - However, my LOVE-affair with life knew better, thank God!
Fortunately too, I was blessed with a precious DD, and a Sweetie whose Inspirational wisdoms... proved resuscitational:
Positively-encouraging me, I began to dream again...
I’m glad you stuck with learning how to skate. Never let anyone tell you otherwise if you are out there wanting to learn more
Skills I continue seeking, include during tomorrow's Practice:
1. the Kinesthetic-FEEL of what we skate; do you know what I mean?
Sure, I can SEE when I'm on the Flat, as opposed to on either Edge, yet telling by FEEL... I am just beginning to sense; can we speed this awareness up?
I oftentimes find myself telling the same thing to adult skaters, which is trust your body. You have the basics down, and you can move across the ice. Therefore, at some point you need to trust your body and stop thinking, and start feeling. Sure, you’ll fall a few times, but eventually you’ll get comfortable, and before you know it, you’ll be feeling yourself on the ice.
Now, to be technical, I suggest bending a lot in the knees. A lot of skaters think they’re bending a lot, and my advice (even to myself) is if you think you’re bending enough, exaggerate the feeling even more and bend as hard as you can. You’ll be amazed how having really deep movement in the knees greatly increases the feel of what you do on the ice. I ironically told a skater to do this the other day, and she thanked me a week later. I told her the reason she was having trouble with moving was due to her stiff legs.
And again, on a non-technical note, you just need to break free of too much thought and allow your body to move as it naturally will…this way, you’ll learn the feeling of what you’re doing. Hope that makes some sense.
2. I posted last year re skating faster around the rink (like can do on Swizzles, lol); but I meant Stroking... as Neurologically the Speed of changing from one foot to the next, sometimes overwhelms me. - How, other than nutrition-wise, can I improve this?
As I said above, it’s all in the knees. If you are not bending deeply, you’ll never be able to master the speed or the ability to stroke around. Practice swizzles with a very deep knee bend.
Then, based on the direction you intend to stroke, hold an outside edge with your very bent skating leg, and hold the free leg back as if you’re going to do a cross-over, but don’t cross the foot…just hold it in the air and glide along a circle. This will help you get used to the edge.
Then try a cross-over (all while keeping a nicely postured upper body). I taught a friend cross-overs this way and he said it was helpful to learn like that.
So on a circle, try swizzles first, then one foot glides simulating the cross-over motion (with a very bent knee), then try a full cross over. The key here is to be comfortable on the edges, and you can only do that with good body posture and nicely bent knees
You’ll quickly notice that the knees are probably the most important aspect to good control.
3. as I posted in my 'Beginner Warm-UP' thread: a major reason for struggling to skate BACKwards, is at this point soo focused on how...that can't turn around to see where I'm going, hence I'm skating blind! 
Other than having a 'Spotter', Michael - how can we advance past this little challenge?
Good question!! Not sure of the answer though. I would practice in a line where you know no one will bump into you. Also, without turning your head you need to learn reference points on the ice to know how far you’ve traveled. I’d also suggest going backward and just looking to your left and right as you move so you get used to the motion of looking over your shoulder. This answer even baffles me LOL….what IS the best way to do this??
4. Since my present goals include: '10 Consecutive Waltz-jumps' (btw. I have loved skating them with 1-hand assists for the Landing), & can jump them all day on the floor; do you think it would be OK to practice just landing on both feet? - til I can get my RBOE 
I think you’d be fine doing that, but sometimes doing that will create bad habits. I would first suggest, from a standstill position, doing a waltz jump where you land backward on both feet, and upper body square. Land this with both knees BENT well.
Once you get used to that, then try more from a standstill, but with landing on one foot.
Like a broken record I am right now, you’ll succeed better with bending the knees deeply.
Michael, you come across Thoughtful, & Supportive, plus offer insightful & Clear explanations, you make a Wonderful coach!!
Many Thanks, and good luck with your skating!!
So in short, I think really exaggerating the knees will be of great benefit. Let me know how it goes for you. Like I say, and like my coaches used to tell me…if you think you’re bending enough, bend even MORE.
If you have trouble bending a lot, I suggest lacing the top two hooks a bit looser. What I do before I get on the ice is stand up lacing my boots. When I get to lacing the final top hooks, I actually bend my knees a bit THEN tighten the laces on the top hooks. This way, my foot isn’t too tight in the boot, and I have room to bend. I notice a lot of skaters lace the top part of the boot very tight…the most important areas to lace tightly are along the arch and right where the foot and ankle bone meet. The lower hooks should be tight, and then the upper hooks can be a bit looser so you have some give in the skate when you bend.
If you have time, check out my old videos from last year on youtube. I have a lot of stroking videos that might demonstrate some stuff I’ve mentioned.
Topic: Joyfully practicing Skating (Read 2922 times)