T-stop!

I went to the public session tonight. I usually don't go skating two days in a row, but I had planned on going skating with one of my classmates (although she couldn't come). It was a really nice skate -- the ice was in great shape (freshly resurfaced!) and not very crowded at all. I more-or-less went through my practice schedule and did everything there. No great breakthroughs for the most part, but some small progress on my backward 1-foot glide. I did some practicing of that against the boards and did a little better. Some good two-foot turns too. Worked on crossovers but I'm still very clumsy -- I know it needs to be more deliberate in the change of foot and mine is not at all right now.

The one major breakthrough is that toward the end of the evening I decided to spend some time on my T-stop (it's on my list of fun stuff). I practiced that against the boards and something just clicked (and it wasn't my blades!). I now have a pretty good T-stop, although it's not entirely perfect. Still, I did several really good ones in a row, so I know it's not just an accident. The secret seemed to be both turning my ankle out so that I ensure getting the outside edge of the braking skate, and most importantly really squeezing my feet together as I put the braking skate down. I think what was happening before was that I wasn't squeezing enough, and so as I put the braking skate down it would get pulled away from the skating foot heel and then catch the inside edge. So squeezing as I put it down seems to work. It's very cool :-).

Since I skated Wed. and tonight I don't know if I'll go to coffee club tomorrow or not. I'd like to since I'd like to work with Cecilia on my backward skating at the lesson, and also observe Nicole's lesson with Anna to see what she's like. Work is likely to be very busy tomorrow though, so I may not make it.