Weak basic skating skills

[AgnesNitt]

I doubt I ever saw it happening at real basketball size, coach or students... Nice to think that way though.

It's hyperbole, to get the skater to think about the real depth of knee required.

[ls99]

Gotcha.
  When I do a T pushoff, there usually is room for a basketball between the the knees. That is the only way I found to get any distance from the pushoff.  Happened purely by experimentation.  Now to get a decent 3 turn thereafter would be great. All in good time.

[sk8lady]

The most hideous drill for learning to push effectively, as taught by my dance coach, is to start at the goal line of the rink, push once, and make it all the way to the other end.
It requires that your one push be off the edge of the free blade with a deeply bent ankle, with a slow rise to a perfect, erect, still posture that doesn't wobble on the blade AT ALL, and utilizes the free leg to help balance, all the way down the rink.
I can usually get past the center (but that usually includes hitting a bunch of bumps and ruts on the way down the ice).
He strongly feels that I should be able to do it on either leg!

[jjane45]

The most hideous drill for learning to push effectively, as taught by my dance coach, is to start at the goal line of the rink, push once, and make it all the way to the other end.

that one really requires perfect ice surface and perfect control!
I remember doing it in group lessons only when the ice is fresh and smooth

[icedancer]

The most hideous drill for learning to push effectively, as taught by my dance coach, is to start at the goal line of the rink, push once, and make it all the way to the other end.
It requires that your one push be off the edge of the free blade with a deeply bent ankle, with a slow rise to a perfect, erect, still posture that doesn't wobble on the blade AT ALL, and utilizes the free leg to help balance, all the way down the rink.
I can usually get past the center (but that usually includes hitting a bunch of bumps and ruts on the way down the ice).
He strongly feels that I should be able to do it on either leg!

The hardest thing about this is that you have to be on a flat!  Much easier if you can do it on a circle (as in figures) and just catch that edge and flow!

[AgnesNitt]

Yep. on perfect ice, with warmed up legs, I can get about 2/3 of the way down.
I have to hold my upper body and arms 'the ice dancer way' too, so it's not just the push.
Two years of figures comes in handy as well.

[FigureSpins]

This video made me think of this thread:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxC_ChfV8c4/

I have to wonder if she was skating on brand-new skates because I find it incredible that she landed an axel when her mohawks are choppy and wide-stepped.

[fsk8r]

The most hideous drill for learning to push effectively, as taught by my dance coach, is to start at the goal line of the rink, push once, and make it all the way to the other end.
It requires that your one push be off the edge of the free blade with a deeply bent ankle, with a slow rise to a perfect, erect, still posture that doesn't wobble on the blade AT ALL, and utilizes the free leg to help balance, all the way down the rink.
I can usually get past the center (but that usually includes hitting a bunch of bumps and ruts on the way down the ice).
He strongly feels that I should be able to do it on either leg!

I was shown this by a retired coach. He was in his 70s when he demoed it, he only skated once a week for 10 weeks of the year at the time. You don't actually need to be going fast to get from one end of the rink to the other, but you do need to not move a muscle once you've pushed off and maintain the perfect control and posture. Being slightly younger than him, my initial push was stronger, but it was quite humbling when he came past me as I ran out of speed.
I think the control needed for this exercise had come from all those years of figures practice. I've got better at that exercise since learning figures, but I only get the 10 weeks of figures a year.

[hopskipjump]

Is it harder to do that exercise "It requires that your one push be off the edge of the free blade with a deeply bent ankle, with a slow rise to a perfect, erect, still posture that doesn't wobble on the blade AT ALL, and utilizes the free leg to help balance, all the way down the rink." because the leg is down? 

They do that as a game with spirals for the kids.  It's fun to watch.

[jjane45]

Is it harder to do that exercise...
They do that as a game with spirals for the kids.  It's fun to watch.

Do they go into the spiral with two strokes first? If so, it's easy to cover the length of rink, even if ice is not perfect.

The evil drill discussed here has a single push only.

[jjane45]

This video made me think of this thread:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hxC_ChfV8c4/

I have to wonder if she was skating on brand-new skates because I find it incredible that she landed an axel when her mohawks are choppy and wide-stepped.

Wow. I wonder what kind of event was it (spotlight? showcase?)
and whether it was choreographed by a skating pro.
The skater was standing still posing for 1/3 of the time?

(PS: my mohawks kind of step THAT wide so cough cough...)

[hopskipjump]

I haven't noticed - I'll ask today. 

[sarahspins]

I have to wonder if she was skating on brand-new skates because I find it incredible that she landed an axel when her mohawks are choppy and wide-stepped.

No kidding, that shocked me too!  If you hadn't spoiled it by saying something I probably would have snorted my coffee when I saw it!  I doubt that is new skates... everyone I've ever seen (at the axel+ level) with new skates just looks slightly cautious, they don't suddenly lose their skating ability completely.  That is just..wow.

[spiralina]

To be fair, her videos from a couple of years ago are much better (though I wouldn't say that the basic skating skills were astonishingly good, either...)

[MiaHoll]

I've always been a scratchy skater.  It doesn't matter what the toepick looks like--from that tiny one on my first skates to the one on my Competitor blade--I'm going to scratch.  I'm simply amazed when I don't scratch.  I think it stems all the way back to when I started.  I had poor posture then from trying to disguise my big boobs and have never completely learned to stand up straight on ice.

When I do back two foot slaloms, I have to work really hard and focus, but I can do them without scratching.  However, if I lose focus for something as simple as seeing someone out of the corner of my eye, I immediately start scratching.  I'd love to figure out how to fix that on a regular basis so I don't have to think about it.

Based on my experience toe scratching is caused by one of these three things:

1. A high heel on your boot.
2. Not sitting back on your heel enough (try sticking your behind out and down)
3. Not keeping your shoulders back and chest out (if you're self conscious about your chest get a minimizing bra for skating)