Slavedriver!

I was off the ice for a couple of days due to some flu-style bug that I caught. Fortunately I was feeling sufficiently well today to both go to work and have my lesson. As I was finishing my warmup, Anna was finishing up Nicole's lesson, and she wanted me to "show off" some things for Nicole, including my BO edges and my one-foot spin. For once, I got a fairly good one-foot spin when people were watching! Yea!

We worked on quite a number of things today:

• spirals --Anna showed me the pre-pre spirals pattern. It's basically the same start as perimeter stroking (steps down the width of the rink, then a crossover), then an LF spiral for the first half of the rink, change feet at the red line and hold to the end (more or less). As usual the LF spiral is okay. The RF one still needs work. Anna wanted me to work on holding it straight as she says I tend to be flat-edge-flat-edge and kind of wander on it. Anna suggested trying to feel like I'm bringing the skating shoulder back toward the free foot.
• BI edges -- we worked these on the line. Anna says they've improved a lot since she last saw them. Still need to not short-change the length of the pushoff stroke. Anna reminded me that for the first half of the lobe I'm facing outside the circle, then change at the top of the lobe to facing inside the circle. And of course I still need to get the free foot in front for the first part of the lobe -- the whole "push, set" thing is lacking. Still, it's progress.
• Mohawk combo -- yes, Anna wanted to look at this again. It's a little improved, even the cross step (which is the whole crux of the problem for me). I still need to bend the knees more, I think, though.
• back crossovers -- the main thing Anna wants from me at this point is to have, at the end of the outside foot stroke, the outside foot closer to the inside foot in the "x" dimension (if "x" is the width of the body), but further away from the outside foot in the "y" dimension (where "y" is the dimension "in front" and "behind" the body). Part of what I need for this is a bit more knee bend on the back (inside) foot.
• perimeter stroking -- we finished up with a quick lap around the rink. Anna said my extension wasn't as good as it could be/should be/has been, but that I had good speed and my end crossovers were better. Of course, she wants the extension too.

Anna was definitely in a "slavedriver" mode (or perhaps more "pc" would be to say, a very accomplishment-oriented mode). Still, in a way that's good, since I take it to mean that she thinks that I'm coming along to the point where she thinks she can expect more from me. As Martha Stewart would say, that's a good thing!