Skating on the Planet

[shanshani]

8 hours ago, yuzuangel said:

 

Haha so I've been taught (aka corrected) recently that even when doing crossovers you don't ever spend that much time with both feet on the ice. When you cross your front foot you should be pushing your underpush at the same time and the amt of time you spend with both feet on ice is only a half second or so. You could try to glide longer in the underpush position if you're going to fast. I also can't manage the speed which is why I'm scared to do crossovers on a crowded rink because it would be hard for me to stop suddenly (especially with feet crossed) or change directions. So I try to push very little 

 

 

I first worked on single pulls on one of the hockey dots for a while. Basically you just slide on one foot towards the dot and do one single pull around the dot and come back where you came. So you do a 180 degree lobe basically, or half circle. And power pulls are just...many of these single pulls connected together alternating inside and outside edge. 

Oh yeah, actually when I'm actually doing the underpush my other foot doesn't come down until I'm more than halfway done with the underpush. Weirdly that was always pretty intuitive for me. Maybe because when I was first learning I was scared to put my front foot down so I always lingered on the outside edge for a while  It's after the crossover that I have to put my other foot down because I'm going faast and it's scary. The crossover itself is actually fine and secure-feeling, at least on my good side. 

 

Hm maybe I'll try that power pull exercise. Sounds good for edge control, plus I'm sick of swing rolls.

 

Successfully did more 3 turns today! Even managed one or two sort of passable ones in the other direction. And I also even managed a few crummy mohawks! Remembering to look in the direction of the second foot helped a lot. Finally this stupid element is starting to happen haha. Backwards glides from stroking are finally starting to happen as well. I feel like I've made so much progress in the past week 

[hoodie axel]

12 hours ago, yuzuangel said:

Like the first (pre-bronze) test has all 4 edges (forward, backwards, inside, outside) on a line, crossovers in a figure 8, waltz 8 pattern, forward spirals on a line, and perimeter stroking. I'm doing my pre-bronze test in...10 days?   I hope to pass the Silver test by the end of this year and start working on the Gold!   

 

And maybe do the first Freestyle test  

Best of luck for your tests!

[shanshani]

Stream of consciousness practice journal (lol):

 

My 3-turns are getting pretty stable! They aren't good, since I sometimes skid/scrape/wind up on a flattish edge, but I'm basically managing to turn and hold a backwards glide out in both directions fairly consistently as long as I'm focused. Yayyy. My coach now wants me to practice 3-turn-backward crossover-step forward-3-turn sequences, so I'll take that as a sign I've got a passable enough version of the element down. (Also I'm pretty sure the step-forward would be a choctaw if I didn't completely lose momentum during the step, since it goes RBI to LFO but I can barely do a mohawk so I won't be too ambitious there.)

 

Weirdly despite them being a relatively new element for me, 3-turns were basically the only thing I was managing to practice successfully during an absolutely horrible practice I had on Saturday. It was awful--the rink was so, so crowded, the ice was fully of deep gouges and there were random chunks of ice sticking out of the ground! I felt like I had regressed more than a month in that one session, and considering I've only been skating 4-5 months that's a ton. It felt like I was going to fall on everything. Except 3-turns.

 

But anyway so forward mohawks are still Granted, I did one or two successfully, but usually either both my feet stay on the ice for too long when I step over (so basically a really ugly mini SE between the foot change), or I just don't wind up going backwards at all. Tried a couple of backward mohawks from crossovers, but couldn't maintain momentum through the step, although weirdly after I stepped over I regained speed very quickly/it felt like I was on the same circle. *shrug* Might be time to pull up some youtube videos.

 

BUT WHO CARES ABOUT MOHAWKS! I FINALLY HAVE RBO AND LBO GLIDES! My coach told me to lift my free leg up behind me and for some reason this helped a ton (maybe because it helps counterbalance any tendency to lean forward). Seriously, my glide time increased by like a factor of 3. My right outside edge continues to be worse than my left, which kind of sucks because that's the edge I'm supposed to land jumps on, but I did do a few successfully so whatever. I'll just have to practice more. (Speaking of jumps, my coach mentioned jumping for the first time today! I mean, it's probably still going to be a while until I get to actually jump, but it's going to happen! ahhhh!)

 

Random rink occurrences:

I saw someone jumping waltzes whose forward crossovers looked worse than mine. So that a nice reminder that just because someone has learned x element and you haven't, doesn't mean they're necessarily better than you at other elements, and there's no need to rush to learn a bunch of new things since progress is measured by quality as much as quantity. And tbh when watching random people practice I'm more impressed by a beautiful waltz than an ugly double, even though the double is harder (and worth more points lol). I saw a random lady once who did a beautiful waltz, and I'm still more impressed by that than the meh double axel I saw a random girl do (though obviously the double axel is way harder).

 

A guy who was ON HIS PHONE shooting a video of his kid skated right into my backward crossover circle, resulting in me running into him because I can't see what's going on to my outside behind me. Then he had the temerity to look annoyed at me! SKATING WHILE ON YOUR PHONE IS DANGEROUS, DON'T DO IT. And don't skate into the middle of people's practice circles! Fortunately neither of us were going very fast so no one was hurt, but I was pretty ticked off.

 

I collided with another person that session too, but that was my fault. I randomly tripped on my toepick and fell and slid really hard, which resulted in me knocking into him. I don't remember if he got knocked over, but I felt pretty embarrassed because it was a really dumb fall Fortunately, the guy I ran into seemed fine, and I fell well so I didn't even get bruised.

 

Actually I've been falling more lately after a long streak of no-fall sessions, I wonder why. It hasn't even been on new elements, just dumb stuff like catching a toepick or slipping off the back edge. I don't think I'm getting careless. Maybe muscle fatigue (my muscles seem weaker this week--I think I know why and it should go away soon, but there may be other reasons like the fact that I cut my food intake the past couple of weeks/I'm doing more squat-like exercises on and off-ice which might be wearing them out more).

[yuzuangel]

On 3/6/2019 at 2:44 AM, hoodie axel said:

Best of luck for your tests!

Thanks. It's this Wednesday and I'm nervous 

[hoodie axel]

3 hours ago, shanshani said:

Stream of consciousness practice journal (lol):

 

My 3-turns are getting pretty stable! They aren't good, since I sometimes skid/scrape/wind up on a flattish edge, but I'm basically managing to turn and hold a backwards glide out in both directions fairly consistently as long as I'm focused. Yayyy. My coach now wants me to practice 3-turn-backward crossover-step forward-3-turn sequences, so I'll take that as a sign I've got a passable enough version of the element down. (Also I'm pretty sure the step-forward would be a choctaw if I didn't completely lose momentum during the step, since it goes RBI to LFO but I can barely do a mohawk so I won't be too ambitious there.)

 

Weirdly despite them being a relatively new element for me, 3-turns were basically the only thing I was managing to practice successfully during an absolutely horrible practice I had on Saturday. It was awful--the rink was so, so crowded, the ice was fully of deep gouges and there were random chunks of ice sticking out of the ground! I felt like I had regressed more than a month in that one session, and considering I've only been skating 4-5 months that's a ton. It felt like I was going to fall on everything. Except 3-turns.

 

But anyway so forward mohawks are still Granted, I did one or two successfully, but usually either both my feet stay on the ice for too long when I step over (so basically a really ugly mini SE between the foot change), or I just don't wind up going backwards at all. Tried a couple of backward mohawks from crossovers, but couldn't maintain momentum through the step, although weirdly after I stepped over I regained speed very quickly/it felt like I was on the same circle. *shrug* Might be time to pull up some youtube videos.

 

BUT WHO CARES ABOUT MOHAWKS! I FINALLY HAVE RBO AND LBO GLIDES! My coach told me to lift my free leg up behind me and for some reason this helped a ton (maybe because it helps counterbalance any tendency to lean forward). Seriously, my glide time increased by like a factor of 3. My right outside edge continues to be worse than my left, which kind of sucks because that's the edge I'm supposed to land jumps on, but I did do a few successfully so whatever. I'll just have to practice more. (Speaking of jumps, my coach mentioned jumping for the first time today! I mean, it's probably still going to be a while until I get to actually jump, but it's going to happen! ahhhh!)

 

Random rink occurrences:

I saw someone jumping waltzes whose forward crossovers looked worse than mine. So that a nice reminder that just because someone has learned x element and you haven't, doesn't mean they're necessarily better than you at other elements, and there's no need to rush to learn a bunch of new things since progress is measured by quality as much as quantity. And tbh when watching random people practice I'm more impressed by a beautiful waltz than an ugly double, even though the double is harder (and worth more points lol). I saw a random lady once who did a beautiful waltz, and I'm still more impressed by that than the meh double axel I saw a random girl do (though obviously the double axel is way harder).

 

A guy who was ON HIS PHONE shooting a video of his kid skated right into my backward crossover circle, resulting in me running into him because I can't see what's going on to my outside behind me. Then he had the temerity to look annoyed at me! SKATING WHILE ON YOUR PHONE IS DANGEROUS, DON'T DO IT. And don't skate into the middle of people's practice circles! Fortunately neither of us were going very fast so no one was hurt, but I was pretty ticked off.

 

I collided with another person that session too, but that was my fault. I randomly tripped on my toepick and fell and slid really hard, which resulted in me knocking into him. I don't remember if he got knocked over, but I felt pretty embarrassed because it was a really dumb fall Fortunately, the guy I ran into seemed fine, and I fell well so I didn't even get bruised.

 

Actually I've been falling more lately after a long streak of no-fall sessions, I wonder why. It hasn't even been on new elements, just dumb stuff like catching a toepick or slipping off the back edge. I don't think I'm getting careless. Maybe muscle fatigue (my muscles seem weaker this week--I think I know why and it should go away soon, but there may be other reasons like the fact that I cut my food intake the past couple of weeks/I'm doing more squat-like exercises on and off-ice which might be wearing them out more).

Woah. When I'm bored, I fire up my old DS games.

[utsukushii3A]

shanshani, crowded sessions are rough on practically everyone, try not to beat yourself up too much! I never feel like I've regressed at crowded sessions, but I have horrendous depth perception, so I don't do much advanced stuff out of fear of slicing someone's leg while kicking back for a toe jump or something.  

 

23 hours ago, shanshani said:

A guy who was ON HIS PHONE shooting a video of his kid skated right into my backward crossover circle, resulting in me running into him because I can't see what's going on to my outside behind me. Then he had the temerity to look annoyed at me! SKATING WHILE ON YOUR PHONE IS DANGEROUS, DON'T DO IT. And don't skate into the middle of people's practice circles! Fortunately neither of us were going very fast so no one was hurt, but I was pretty ticked off.

 

Was this at a public session or a freestyle session? If it were a freestyle session, are parents usually allowed on the ice?    Unless he were practicing or taking a lesson, he'd have been kicked off fast at my rink. At the very least, he'd have been told to stay by the boards or in the hockey box if he wanted to film his kid.

 

One of my coaches always scolds us if we don't look behind ourselves on back crossovers. Not saying this was by any means your fault, since not all coaches teach that way, but you might want to try that if you weren't.

[yuzuangel]

I might try to get to the skating rink earlier tomorrow to practice right before my test because I tried to go through the test stuff today and I'm definitely not that solid (I almost never practice it )

[axelnojutsu]

10 hours ago, yuzuangel said:

I might try to get to the skating rink earlier tomorrow to practice right before my test because I tried to go through the test stuff today and I'm definitely not that solid (I almost never practice it )

You can do it 

Good luck 🍀

[hoodie axel]

23 hours ago, yuzuangel said:

I might try to get to the skating rink earlier tomorrow to practice right before my test because I tried to go through the test stuff today and I'm definitely not that solid (I almost never practice it )

Best of luck!

[jinxxoo]

On 3/12/2019 at 11:03 AM, yuzuangel said:

I might try to get to the skating rink earlier tomorrow to practice right before my test because I tried to go through the test stuff today and I'm definitely not that solid (I almost never practice it )

Good luck!!!

[shanshani]

On 3/12/2019 at 11:28 PM, utsukushii3A said:

shanshani, crowded sessions are rough on practically everyone, try not to beat yourself up too much! I never feel like I've regressed at crowded sessions, but I have horrendous depth perception, so I don't do much advanced stuff out of fear of slicing someone's leg while kicking back for a toe jump or something.  

 

 

Was this at a public session or a freestyle session? If it were a freestyle session, are parents usually allowed on the ice?    Unless he were practicing or taking a lesson, he'd have been kicked off fast at my rink. At the very least, he'd have been told to stay by the boards or in the hockey box if he wanted to film his kid.

 

One of my coaches always scolds us if we don't look behind ourselves on back crossovers. Not saying this was by any means your fault, since not all coaches teach that way, but you might want to try that if you weren't.

Public, idk if my rink even has freestyle sessions since public sessions run from 9:30 to 10PM almost every day except Sunday.

 

I probably wasn't looking behind enough since I have a tendency to look more into the circle than behind, but even if I was I'm not sure I would have seen him because he came from outside my circle, right where my head would have been turned away. Mostly I'm just annoyed that someone would move and be on their phone at the same time and then get annoyed at someone else for the collision

 

On 3/13/2019 at 1:03 AM, yuzuangel said:

I might try to get to the skating rink earlier tomorrow to practice right before my test because I tried to go through the test stuff today and I'm definitely not that solid (I almost never practice it )

I hope it went well!

 

[guitarist]

3 minutes ago, shanshani said:

Public, idk if my rink even has freestyle sessions since public sessions run from 9:30 to 10PM almost every day except Sunday.

 

I probably wasn't looking behind enough since I have a tendency to look more into the circle than behind, but even if I was I'm not sure I would have seen him because he came from outside my circle, right where my head would have been turned away. Mostly I'm just annoyed that someone would move and be on their phone at the same time and then get annoyed at someone else for the collision

 

I hope it went well!

 

God I know... There was this one time I was just skating forward, literally just skating forward, and rather slowly at that. Out of the corner of my eye I see this young woman coming at me, so she ends up bumping into me and tries to grab me to hold on. In the end I managed to stay upright but she fell. So I help her up, ask her if she's ok (and half expecting an apology because she's the one who bumped into me), and she glares at me and tells me to watch my back! Me: .....  

[yuzuangel]

On 3/13/2019 at 12:31 PM, hoodie axel said:

Best of luck!

 

On 3/13/2019 at 4:56 PM, jinxxoo said:

Good luck!!!

 

6 hours ago, shanshani said:

I hope it went well!

 

Thank you, I passed 

 

here was the scoresheet:

 

[Xen]

@utsukushii3A: commercial rinks generally would not have sessions for FS, unless there's a team or something that rents out for a price. IE at my rink, which is also commercial and located in a mall, we only have closed sessions for hockey. FS just skates with the public. So you get funny stuff happen, and usually the rink guards won't yell at customers. So I've also had the happy encounters where adults run onto the ice in normal shoes to chase after their kids, kids being told by the parents to ask me to teach them, and incidents where people decide that running into my spins are a way to stop. Usually the only workaround is to a) go so early in the morning that there are no people on ice, or b) go so late in the evening that there are no people on ice. Only time for footwork practice and stroking practice are lunchtime sessions. T_T

 

The one I actually take lessons at does have people yell at public skaters who are on phones etc- but it's not the rink guards, usually it's the coaches. For some reason, a lot of people don't listen to rink guards.

(so far I might be the only one in a friends circle of around 30 people who hasn't had skate guards get stolen or broken by kids).

[shanshani]

I really do need to practice looking behind me, even when the rink is empty  I have a terrible habit of looking at my feet when I feel unsteady, which is always like the first 30 min of the session. Today I was warming up with backwards half swizzles and accidentally bumped into a coach. The coach was a huge jerk about it though, he threatened to sue me if I knocked him over. Like lol you're a Worlds medalist, aren't you? You're not going to get knocked over by a beginner going 2mph. Sorry that I have some bad habits I need to fix, and I should have been watching where I was going, but that was uncalled for.

 

So that kind of distracted me for the first hour of my session. But I did some successful choctaws (which are easier than mohawks for some reason??? my mohawks still suck lol. unless I literally don't know what a choctaw is. I stepped RBI to LFO, that's a choctaw, right?), RBOs, and overall felt super steady. Waiting for the ice to be zamboni-ed now--hopefully I can be more focused the second session.

 

edit: lol someone is playing seimei music in the waiting area. I feel you, that's why I skate too