Funny advice

[rosereedy]

What's the funniest advice you have gotten or given when learning something? For me, a coach many years ago told me to feel like I was a dog chasing my tail in a camel position. It helps and I have since told others and they find it helps them too. It gives that stretch and pull for a nice position. Also, for brackets I told someone to "flick" the free foot because they weren't putting the foot in the right place. It also helped them. So chase your tail like a dog and do some flicking pretty amusing to me.

Who knows, maybe some funny trick can help someone here that's having an issue.

Mod note: topic moved.

[VAsk8r]

My mom cracks me up sometimes, though unintentionally. The last time we went skating together, I worked on axels, and she came up to me and said, "That's twice today I've seen you fall on your wrist. I don't think you should work on those anymore." (She hadn't seen the other eight times.)

Recently I was chatting with a coach I don't know too well, and I mentioned I was considering testing in a few weeks but wasn't sure I'd be ready. He replied, "You just need to practice more." Oh yeah, I already spend all my free time and money at the rink, but it's really simple, just practice more!

My coach has told me a couple of times that I'm holding my leg like a dog about to pee. That always makes me fix the problem pretty quickly. Also, when I was learning flip jumps, my hands kept falling down in front of my legs, and she said, "There's nothing to protect there!"

[rosereedy]

My mom cracks me up sometimes, though unintentionally. The last time we went skating together, I worked on axels, and she came up to me and said, "That's twice today I've seen you fall on your wrist. I don't think you should work on those anymore." (She hadn't seen the other eight times.)

Recently I was chatting with a coach I don't know too well, and I mentioned I was considering testing in a few weeks but wasn't sure I'd be ready. He replied, "You just need to practice more." Oh yeah, I already spend all my free time and money at the rink, but it's really simple, just practice more!

My coach has told me a couple of times that I'm holding my leg like a dog about to pee. That always makes me fix the problem pretty quickly. Also, when I was learning flip jumps, my hands kept falling down in front of my legs, and she said, "There's nothing to protect there!"

I've learned in the past to weeks that n order for my axel to have proper kick thru of my free leg, I must see my neon pink laces in my lower peripheral vision. Strange but it works. Otherwise I have flamingo free leg. Bleh!

[mamabear]

As I was learning a 2 foot spin one coach would tell me to stand tall like I was in a Pringles can.  It's a funny image but worked better for me than imagining myself as a marionette which was someone else's advice. 

[irenar5]

My coach told me to wrap the free leg around a tree when teaching the transition from scratch to layback :-)

[nicklaszlo]

Not advice, but these seemed funny at the time:

A boasting pairs coach, eager to show he knows how to work with student's limitations:

I've had lots of students with broken arms!

Another incident

Coach 1:  Do triple double.
Skater:  But triple triple is easy for me!
Coach 2:  <grinds teeth>
Skater:  *splat*
Skater:  I didn't pop!

[sarahspins]

He replied, "You just need to practice more." Oh yeah, I already spend all my free time and money at the rink, but it's really simple, just practice more!

But it is that simple!  Practice builds confidence, and when you're ready, you'll know.  I knew I was ready to test my silver moves when I no longer felt panicked about getting them ready when the test session was announced, and I was confident enough to turn in my paperwork early.  Now if course that test session is one week away and I'm totally freaking out, but it's all about really stupid things, like being nervous about getting nervous (yes, really!), what I'm going to wear, or sleeping in late and missing the test session completely.. I'm not actually nervous about the skating

[alainajane]

After 14 years of taekwondo vs 5 months of LTS, I have a natural tendency to hold my arms in close (guard position) while skating.  My LTS instructor constantly has to remind me that nothing on the ice will attack me.  Though on Friday night public sessions, with a significant number of high school hockey boys, that point is some what debatable. 

[jjane45]

A boasting pairs coach, eager to show he knows how to work with student's limitations:

I think he just tried to say no in a nice way, LOL!

[4711]

After 14 years of taekwondo vs 5 months of LTS, I have a natural tendency to hold my arms in close (guard position) while skating.  My LTS instructor constantly has to remind me that nothing on the ice will attack me.  Though on Friday night public sessions, with a significant number of high school hockey boys, that point is some what debatable. 

you should leave the boys alone! 

[treesprite]

When I was a kid learning scratch spins, my coach told me not to hold my hands like puppy dog hands.

[Doubletoe]

I agree with the dog-chasing-its-tail analogy for the camel spin and regularly repeat that to people.  My favorite advice on the lutz takeoff is "Imagine someone is pulling you backward by your bra strap."

[AgnesNitt]

When I was trying to learn Figures my coach told me "Get your boob over the line!"

What did she tell guys?

[ls99]

When I was trying to learn Figures my coach told me "Get your boob over the line!"

What did she tell guys?

Change boob to moob, in the instruction

[Rachelsk8s]

My coach has told me a couple of times that I'm holding my leg like a dog about to pee. That always makes me fix the problem pretty quickly

Soo funny!!! My coach uses the exact same phrase to me too when I'm doing something wrong, and it does usually help me to fix the problem:)

[lemongranita]

When I was trying to learn Figures my coach told me "Get your boob over the line!"

What did she tell guys?

Our group coach one time, trying to improve our posture: "Come on, present your boobs! [to the men] Yes, you too!"

[davincisop]

"You're going to step behind, like a backwards penguin walk!"
- my coach on the Schaffer push in backward crossrolls.

[jourdanwantstoskate]

When I was learning backwards stroking the other guy in my LTS class said he always imagine himself dancing the salsa or the tango to help with the hip movement! Believe it or not, it actually kind of helped! haha

[karne]

Coach, teaching cross-rolls to group of older ladies:

"Be more sexy hips! Be more sexy hips!"

[jjane45]

Coach, teaching cross-rolls to group of older ladies:

"Be more sexy hips! Be more sexy hips!"

lol, I need to try this one!

[AgnesNitt]

From my old dance coach

"More Extension!"

"That's as high as it gets! I'm in my 60s! "

"NOT MATTER IN ICE DANCE!"

I don't knof if that's funny advice, but well, it happened.

[SynchKat]

Back in the day I was told...

Turn you foot out so your toes point to the ceiling

Turn it out enough so that I (Coach) could rest a tray of tea on it.

I have told people...
Imagine you have a pole stuck to your spine.

Fix your squid hands (you know hands that just droop, total pet peeve)

[supra]

"You look like a damned ape out there." In reference to my back not being straight enough.

"OK, open your hips like you're about to give birth." In reference to inside mohawk transitions.

There's plenty more, one I remembered was too inappropriate to post here.

[accordion]

Funny peculiar not funny ha ha.

I'm learning to spin and my coach asks if I spin to the left or right. I don't know! Both directions seem equally awkward, neither is more comfortable. I like doing waltz threes to the left, but that might be because I can do several in a row while going with the flow of the other skaters.

The coach's response was that it needs to be sorted and soon. As in before I do any more spins and start jumps.

Does anyone spin/jump ambidextrously?

[techskater]

There are a few who jump one way and spin the other, most notably, John Curry did until Carlo Fassi made him "fix" his spinning direction