Spirals In Solitude

I attended the adult skate today, which was on the back ice again although it looks like the problems with the front ice are all fixed now. It was a nice session, very quiet (3 of us to start, then just 2). Points of interest:

• Cross-step -- I spent a good chunk of time working on this by the boards and on the ice. The key seems to be to really bend the knees more so that it's not stepping down so far. The other issue is that the new free foot needs to come off the ice at an angle and that seems to be an issue.
• Spins -- I spent some time on these and got some good ones. I'm still fighting to keep the right side up, though, not to mention making the pump not so big and keeping my weight over the pivoting foot. I'm doing much nicer on the exit, though, usually keeping my eyes/head up and even bringing the free foot back with a pointed toe :-).
• Back edges -- the BI edges are getting better slowly! I'm getting more consistent on the BO edges too. Still lots to be done, of course.
• Spirals -- I spent a fair amount of time on these. My LFO spiral is developing well. I've noticed (another Duh! moment) that if I can really get my torso down low I can get good height on the free leg (good height for me, that is). If I don't, I don't. The RF spirals were being problematic. I have a hard time keeping the skating leg straight (knee tends to bend) and still tend to feel off-balance. Bleah! Still it was nice to be able to work on these without anyone watching (except Linda, who was on the session -- she's an instructor so she doesn't count :-)) so I didn't feel so dorky. I had a couple that felt really good, which is helpful in knowing what to aim for.