Trial Lesson #3

I had my trial lesson with Melinda today. After a brief discussion of my goals etc., we looked at:

• Edges. We first looked at forward outside and inside edges on the line. Melinda said I need to bring the free foot forward (ideally from behind to in front). I knew this (I'd read it) but I'd never done it. Actually it makes the edges easier to do. Then we worked on arm positions; for outside edges it's the same hand forward, then doing a sort of scissors action so that by the time you come back to the axis you've switched to the opposite hand (which will be the correct hand for the next edge). We looked at my inside edges, which are a bit weaker but not too bad.
  
• 1/2 swizzle pumps on a circle, forward and back. We looked at these as preparation for crossovers. On the forward ones, she suggested trying to get my outside foot pushing back more, and having a feel of pushing from the heel more. She also suggested being more turned into the circle with my upper body.
  
• Crossovers. We specifically looked at getting down in the knees more, and getting a better stroke before the cross. She also had me work on skating in the crossed-over position (e.g. LFO and RFI crossed over), which is something Cecilia had had me look at quite some time ago (I've been working on these a while!). This was actually much better than the last time I tried it, and after a few abortive attempts I was able to do it a little bit. It's definitely something to work on.
  

After skating, I asked some questions. She's been skating since age 3, and teaching for 4 years. She's tested through (I believe) intermediate in freestyle, and novice in MITF. She's not teaching adults right now. I thanked her and I told her I needed to think about it and I'd let her know by the end of the week.

My general impression was quite positive; she has a very straightforward demeanor and I didn't have any problems following what she was trying to convey to me. She also clearly was able to note what I'm doing and give me feedback on what I'm doing and how I can make it better.

Now that I've had these trial lessons I'm going to sleep on it and make up my mind tomorrow or Thursday. As I said after my 2nd trial, it's not easy. All three of them are well-qualified for what I'm after and they are smart and talented. I'll have to review my notes and my impressions. Keep reading to see how it comes out!