Lesson With Caryn Kadavy

Today Caryn Kadavy, 4-time US medalist and world bronze medalist, was at our rink giving private lessons and making an appearance. I had an opportunity to have a 20-minute lesson with her:

• spin entrance -- we started with this. I had talked with Anna about what I might want to work on with her and this was first on our minds -- beyond that, Anna suggested "fun stuff". Anyway, we spent probably 10 minutes on getting the entrance from a step forward with some real progress; I managed a couple of wobbly 2-foot spins from this entrance with her help. Very exciting stuff!
• BXOs -- we cast about for other stuff to work on and we came up on this, interesting since I'd just worked on them with Anna this morning. We worked on getting the front foot to fully cross, while keeping the weight on the back foot. Some progress.
• FI Mohawks -- while working on the BXOs I had done a couple of Mohawks, and finally she had to say something :-). I've gotten pretty sloppy about these when I do them on the circle (in the 5-step they are actually not too shabby). I'm tending to make it more like a swing Mohawk where you bring your foot forward and then back -- which would be okay if that was what I intended to do! So we spent a couple of minutes on these. Note to 3Turn -- she said at one point "Mohawks are hard!" so there you have it, independent confirmation! :-)
  
• Forward T-stop -- or "tango" stop. I wanted something fun and 3Turn had mentioned these, I think. She wasn't familiar with the term "tango stop" but we had some fun working on the forward t-stop. You really have to open your hip! They are really cool looking, I have to admit. I would love to be able to close a program with one of these, I have to think it would leave a good impression (at least, if I did it right! :-))!

And that was all we had time for!

General impressions -- she was very kind and nice. Of course, she's an awesome skater, but she also didn't make me feel at all uncomfortable in spite of the fact I'm such a newbie. It was fun. She emphasized some different things and wanted some positions different than I'm used to, which gives me food for thought. Interestingly enough, it made me appreciate Anna all the more; I'm getting really good coaching. Anyway, it was definitely worthwhile and I highly recommend doing the "celebrity coaching" thing if you have an opportunity!