Trial Lesson #1

I had my trial lesson with Anna today at noon. I really wanted to title this entry

Whee!

or maybe

Wow!

I am that jazzed about it. I'm going to try to write this down in detail so I'll remember it all.

We started by discussing my goals -- she actually asked me first what my goals are (always a good sign) and we discussed that briefly. From there we went on and looked at a number of things...

• Stroking. She suggested I need to think more about "edge pressure." This is an important theme in Anna's technique, and it makes a lot of sense to me. For one thing, instead of focusing on a means (i.e., "bend your knees") it focuses on an outcome ("edge pressure"). To attain the outcome you have to bend your knees, but also do other stuff. It really resonated with me because one of the revelations I had some time ago (I think I blogged about it but it was probably months ago) was that it was hard for me to really just put my weight into the edge. Instead I often felt (and sometimes still feel, especially backwards) like I'm skating on eggshells, so to speak -- this is something Anna actually said, so major kudos for the insight.
  
• Crossovers. We looked at them and she suggested that I really need to go ahead and turn my body more, and that my weight is still not firmly over my inside skate. She suggested just skating some edges and holding my free foot in front to get the feel of having my placement on the blade in the "juicy spot" as she put it.
  
• 3-Turns. She had me do first a two-foot turn and then 3-turns (LFO and RFO). We spent quite a bit of time on this. She said that I'm trying to force it too much, and that I'm trying to do too much with my upper body and not enough with the actual edge. We worked on it for probably 10 minutes or more, with some improvement even on the RFO. As for my "cheating" issue, she didn't think it was too crucial but that it was something I needed to clean up. She also emphasized that I should feel like I'm being "pulled along" by my leading hand, and that I need to keep my head up (something mentioned elsewhere also).
  
• Backward glide. We only had a few minutes for this but she said I'm not really getting my weight firmly over my skate, and that I need to feel more of a conscious change-of-center for it as I do for forward edges. She also suggested keeping my free foot straight back instead of to the side and pointing the toe. Mostly though she talked about sitting more firmly on my blade ("edge pressure" again!) and not feeling like I'm so much on the ball of my foot.
  

After that we had a couple of minutes to ask questions. She has competed at nationals (ice dance) and has been skating since she was 4. She grew up in Detroit and skated with Tara Lipinski and Todd Eldredge among others; as she put it it was just the right place to be. She did freestyle as well until age 12. I then asked if she was teaching any other adults besides Nicole, and she mentioned another skater (presumably a teenager) that she teaches "like an adult" -- which led me into my next question, what is different for her about teaching adults vs. kids. Without the slightest hesitation she said that adults need things more analytical, not just "do this" with a demonstration. After that I asked her if she was going to be around for a while (since I know she's in school) and she said at least for the next 2 years (which is plenty long for my purposes) and perhaps longer. I told her I had a couple other trial lessons to do and that I'd call her before Christmas and let her know. And that was the end of our lesson!

I am very, very impressed. She clearly is able to relate things to me in ways that I can understand and implement. She not only knows her stuff but she can both demonstrate and analyze for me, break things down in ways I can grasp. If I were not the thorough creature I am I would have signed up on the spot! I'm really happy and exhilarated, it was a great lesson.