Skating update, year 4

[skategeek]

Skating update, end of year 4.  I've found it's really helpful to go back a year and see what I was doing then so I can see how much progress I've made.  I'm now skating about 3 hours a week and hope to continue that for the coming year.  I've started working with a coach in addition to the weekly classes, and it's making a big difference.  I'm also taking a few lessons (and did a workshop) in actual school figures to improve my posture and edge control, but unfortunately that'll end when summer camps start.  Over the past year my forward skills, like edges, crossovers, perimeter power stroking, have improved a lot; backward skills are improving, but more slowly.  There are things my brain only lets me do if I'm next to the wall or holding onto my coach, which is the main holdup in my progress right now.  But meanwhile I'm now working on 3-turns and mohawks, back edges, edge changes, power pulls, and an itty bitty waltz jump.  Still haven't fallen.  Last year's totem animal was the tortoise- I'm slow and stubborn, but I get there eventually.  Still works, but I'm thinking that I need something more motivating.  Suggestions welcome!

[riley876]

Fox!

https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=skating%20fox&tbs=imgo:1

On the basis, that what you currently lack in skills, you can make up for with sheer cunning!

[Doubletoe]

Tortoises aren't so bad . . .  and sea turtles are the most graceful things you'll ever see once you get them into their natural environment! 
Q: What did the snail say when he got onto the turtle's back? 
A: "Whee--!!!"

[skategeek]

Fox!

https://www.google.com/search?tbm=isch&q=skating%20fox&tbs=imgo:1

On the basis, that what you currently lack in skills, you can make up for with sheer cunning!

I like it!  Some FB friends suggested basilisk (they run on water) and dancing crane (elegant and awkward all at once).  I'm thinking maybe otter.

Tortoises aren't so bad . . .  and sea turtles are the most graceful things you'll ever see once you get them into their natural environment! 
Q: What did the snail say when he got onto the turtle's back? 
A: "Whee--!!!"

Love sea turtles!  Snails aren't bad, either.  A nice slow glide...

[iomoon]

Hula dancer? They have slow movements, but also look very graceful!

[Ethereal Ice]

Skategeek, I just wanted to thank you for posting your progress reports. I actually have your three year report saved as a favorite, not because I am a complete stalker, but because I found it somehow doing a search on here, and it reminds me that sometimes slow and steady wins the race.

I am on my sixth month skating (3-4 hours a week) and am working on forward crossovers, two foot turns, backwards stroking, backwards circle pumps, etc. Just trying to get through my alpha elements right now. I get frustrated that things seem to come so slow sometimes, but I can nearly always say that this week is better than last week. Just today I did multiple front crossovers in both directions independently  (have been holding hubby's arm for support and it is hard to make myself let go) and this is better than last week where the independent ones were fewer and far between. I have goals but I try not to make them unreasonable. By the end of the year I hope to be comfortable with beta elements, but if I'm not, I am sure there will be tangible improvement that I can still be proud of.

I can relate to the falling thing a bit, I fell three times in the first couple of months skating (I started as a rail hugger) but have not fallen since. Though I did not really hurt myself in the falls, I had a really hard time getting up... I was shaking so badly, and I even got teary eyed though I was not hurt. It must have been adrenaline running or something, I had practiced getting up with my guards on at home with no problem, but in an actual fall my legs just went to jelly. I am afraid to fall still, and I think though that fear may sometimes slow me down, it does not ever stop me. Thanks again, and please continue to keep us posted!

[skategeek]

Skategeek, I just wanted to thank you for posting your progress reports. I actually have your three year report saved as a favorite, not because I am a complete stalker, but because I found it somehow doing a search on here, and it reminds me that sometimes slow and steady wins the race.

I am on my sixth month skating (3-4 hours a week) and am working on forward crossovers, two foot turns, backwards stroking, backwards circle pumps, etc. Just trying to get through my alpha elements right now. I get frustrated that things seem to come so slow sometimes, but I can nearly always say that this week is better than last week. Just today I did multiple front crossovers in both directions independently  (have been holding hubby's arm for support and it is hard to make myself let go) and this is better than last week where the independent ones were fewer and far between. I have goals but I try not to make them unreasonable. By the end of the year I hope to be comfortable with beta elements, but if I'm not, I am sure there will be tangible improvement that I can still be proud of.

I can relate to the falling thing a bit, I fell three times in the first couple of months skating (I started as a rail hugger) but have not fallen since. Though I did not really hurt myself in the falls, I had a really hard time getting up... I was shaking so badly, and I even got teary eyed though I was not hurt. It must have been adrenaline running or something, I had practiced getting up with my guards on at home with no problem, but in an actual fall my legs just went to jelly. I am afraid to fall still, and I think though that fear may sometimes slow me down, it does not ever stop me. Thanks again, and please continue to keep us posted!

Aw, thanks!  I really do think it helps for those of us who progress slowly to take that longterm view. I used to go practice and spend an hour just trying to work up the nerve to do one crossover on my own, then get annoyed when I chickened out.  Now it takes me just a couple of minutes of warmup before I can start them.  You're making good progress!

[skategeek]

Also, for anyone who's interested and doesn't feel like digging, here are my previous updates so you can see what four years of progress looks like for a slow adult skater!  (Year 3 is from the forum, but I don't think I posted years 1 and 2 here; those are from my Facebook posts to family and friends.)

Wrapping up year 3 of skating, so I thought I'd summarize for myself and anyone interested.  This year I did a summer skate camp, passed ISI Alpha and USFSA Adult 1 and 2, and survived my first competition (ISI Adult Nationals) without major embarrassment beyond that of being the lowest level skater there.  I got new properly fitted skates, still being broken in.  I skated more than twice as much as I did the previous year.  In terms of skills, I'm taking the tortoise approach: slow and stubborn.  Those backwards skills are taking their own sweet time to click (though there's incremental improvement), but meanwhile I've gotten much better at forward crossovers, inside and outside edges, t-stops and hockey stops, and beginning two-foot spins, spread eagles, and pivots.  Now working on cross rolls, two foot turns, grapevines, and other odds and ends that need improvement.  Three turns and mohawks may be in my near future, but I have to get the backwards stuff down better first.  The awful part is that I Still. Haven't. Fallen.  I'm really good at maintaining control and staying up if I bobble, but I'm also not taking any risks, so I'm not progressing very fast.  Major goal for the coming year is to change that.  Other goals: pass ISI Beta/USFSA Adult 3, sign up for some sort of off-ice class, and practice more.  And maybe think about the NJ Basic Skills competition series, so I can get some more use out of that dress I put so much work into!

Year 2:
6/1/14
Wrapping up skating, Year 2. Improved on a lot of last year's skills (esp. crossovers), added some new ones (perimeters, forward edges, baby two-foot spins), and starting a couple of new things (pivots, proper backward stroking). Getting ready to start on 3-turns and mohawks, but still struggling with some of the backward skills. Now that I'm officially testing, though, I'll be a little more motivated to master them instead of skipping over them to work on other things. Hoping to pass ISI Beta and USFSA Adult 3 by the end of the summer...

Year 1
5/28/13
As of today, I've been taking skating classes for a year. Things I can do that I couldn't do a year ago: forward crossovers and one-foot glides, two-foot spin, forward and backward swizzles and wiggles, snowplow stops. Things I'm working on: two-foot turns, edges, forward perimeters and cross strokes. Things I've been struggling with for a while: backwards stroking, one-foot glides, and crossovers. I wonder what Year 2 will bring.

[Ethereal Ice]

Aw, thanks!  I really do think it helps for those of us who progress slowly to take that longterm view. I used to go practice and spend an hour just trying to work up the nerve to do one crossover on my own, then get annoyed when I chickened out.  Now it takes me just a couple of minutes of warmup before I can start them.  You're making good progress!

Thank you so much, and thank you for posting year one and two here as well. It is nice to know that I am not the only one who is going to take a while to get comfy with backwards stroking. To me, right now the act of going backwards on one foot at all, even just the lift at the end of each stroke, is crazy challenging. I am reassured some by my coach telling me it is very hard and usually takes time, but seeing the actual timeline for you getting comfy with it really helps. I will keep plugging along.

I also totally relate to your description of trying to work up the nerve to do a crossover alone. I don't know how many times in the last month I have been doing circle pumps saying to myself, "Just pick up your foot, you can do it, you do it fine by yourself when husband is just standing by you this is no different!!" And not having the nerve. We were in coffee club this past Monday, hubby was sitting on the bleachers and somehow I got the nerve to fling my leg over. And I didn't die, or fall. I dunno whose grin was wider, mine or husband's, he knew how I had been psyching myself out. It was a really cool moment.

[riley876]

I too was petrified by backwards skating.

I eventually learned to skate backward by first starting with one foot directly in front of the other.  Just doing simple curves and slaloms like that.   Eventually moving all the weight to one foot and picking up the other.   The major advantage of this, is that you're not going to fall over forward or backwards, since your "wheelbase" is so long.    Though it still took some brass ones to force myself to actually pick up that foot.   But I think you do need to get the maneuverability on one-and-a-half feet before it is viable to pick up the foot.

Keeping knees together (i.e. one knee nested in the hollow of the other) really helped get my weight truly over my skating foot.

Learning to steer on one (or one-and-a-half) foot is essential as a mechanism for balancing .   For forwards:   
- Just glide in a straight line with free foot in front and knees loosely nested.
- If you need two feet down use as little weight as possible on the front free foot
- Gently move your weight to the front of the skating foot
- Gently lean on your big toe to grab a little edge one way (careful not to grab the pick)
- Gently lean on your little toe to grab a little edge the other way
- Just alternate back and forth between these two edges, doing a microscopic little slalom, keeping maybe one second on each side.
- Somewhere between these two edges is your balance point.
- Don't look down!

For backwards, it's the same except a) the free foot goes behind and b) your weight is on the heel of the skate to steer and c) it's safer because of no pick.

The other balancing mechanism that took a little while for me was simple hip adduction/abduction.   Seems so obvious now, but I simply didn't think to use these to pull myself back on top of a wayward skate.

Backwards stroking is a lot more advanced than it looks. I don't think it should be people's first thing they try to learn backwards.

[beginner skater]

 I used a similar but different technique to Riley's for backward skating. I stated with my legs wider apart than normal, so I had a broad wheelbase, for support. It also made it easier to be sure my weight was over the skating foot, as I had to move definitely sideways to get on it. As you get more confident, and faster, your legs naturally come together more.

[Toby Wollin]

I've been skating since last November  (11/2016) and I  fall  alot,  mostly when skating backwards. I used to think it was skating backwards (and I'm not sure that it doesn't have something to do with it), but I  managed to snag an end if the season iceskate time at a local rink where there were probably 6 if us on the ice. I  went down to the far end and just worked on backwards stuff. Once I looked around and established that everyone else was doing their stuff at the other end, I  relaxed a  lot and was able to do backwards circle pumps over and over while just keeping a little eye on everyone else.  That's when I realized that a lot if my falling is associated with being freaked out about ice traffic and trying to keep my eyes on what everyone else is doing. We have very aggressive skaters in our club and we also have some skaters who don't watch out for anyone else, even in classes, so now I know what my issue is mostly. Now, on the side of safety and protection  (seeing as how I am not exactly young), I  wear a reinforced padded headband as well as padded mountain biking shorts.  Not exactly elegant and I'm sure that the first time I  put on a skating dress and tights to test (working on the Dutch Waltz ), I will freeze,  but those shorts are sort of my "magic feather "(if you remember the movie "Dumbo").

[skategeek]

I've been skating since last November  (11/2016) and I  fall  alot,  mostly when skating backwards. I used to think it was skating backwards (and I'm not sure that it doesn't have something to do with it), but I  managed to snag an end if the season iceskate time at a local rink where there were probably 6 if us on the ice. I  went down to the far end and just worked on backwards stuff. Once I looked around and established that everyone else was doing their stuff at the other end, I  relaxed a  lot and was able to do backwards circle pumps over and over while just keeping a little eye on everyone else.  That's when I realized that a lot if my falling is associated with being freaked out about ice traffic and trying to keep my eyes on what everyone else is doing. We have very aggressive skaters in our club and we also have some skaters who don't watch out for anyone else, even in classes, so now I know what my issue is mostly. Now, on the side of safety and protection  (seeing as how I am not exactly young), I  wear a reinforced padded headband as well as padded mountain biking shorts.  Not exactly elegant and I'm sure that the first time I  put on a skating dress and tights to test (working on the Dutch Waltz ), I will freeze,  but those shorts are sort of my "magic feather "(if you remember the movie "Dumbo").

Part of my problem with backwards is very similar- especially early on when I was practicing on semi-crowded public sessions, it was really hard to feel comfortable even attempting it because of all the other people.  I'm practicing more on a light adult session, which is helping a lot.  I'm also working a lot more now on really, truly getting my weight over on one foot, just doing a backward slalom.  I think once I get more comfortable with the weight shift things will improve quickly.

The wall is my magic feather... I can do all sorts of stuff if I'm near it!