Turns & Fun Stuff

Today's lesson was just great! After 4 (count 'em, 4) lessons in 3 days (!) I'm a bit tired, but today's lesson was awesome:

• FO3s -- during my warmup I had done some 3s, my first ones in 10 days or so; but I wasn't happy with them. Still, we worked on them and actually they are better (the RFO3 is a bit rough still). I did probably my best LFO3 ever; what was good about it was some actual control on the exit edge. What helped this most was getting a better edge and better flow through the turn, and then remember to bend the knee/settle on the edge after the turn. Another way of thinking about it is to think beyond the turn.
  
• FI3s -- these were a little rough to start off with but definitely improved. I had a problem with leaning back/balking into the turn, which was interesting since other than that it was fairly aggressive. I still tend to rush these; Anna called out instructions as I skated to help me time it better: push - set - rotate - set - turn - set. That helped some. I can do pretty decent FI edges so I really just need to relax, take my time and control these.
  
• Mohawk/back 2-foot turn -- just a few minutes on these. Anna reminded me to bend my knees a little just before the 2-foot turn; and to keep my feet fairly close together. Anna was pleased with the Mohawks. We mostly did these as intro/prep for:
  
• BI3 prep -- we worked on these briefly. Again, not the actual turn, what we really worked on is just having a comfortable, firm BI edge. My LBI is definitely a bit weaker/less confident than the RBI. I need to spend more time on these, of course it will have to be at a FS or adult session.
  
• spirals -- after a lot of hard work we went to working on spirals. Anna had seen me stretching before our lesson (I stretch about halfway through my skate, almost always), which reminded her that she wanted to look at these. I think it had been a while. My LF spiral has improved, but I still tend to wander off onto an LFO instead of keeping a nice flat; my control is lacking. I then went off and did the best RF spiral I've ever done! I was so stoked, it just felt amazing. It also fell off onto an RFO, but not as bad as the left foot. I was so stoked! It's my 'bad' side and I had what felt like just great stretch and extension and it felt really great! Anna was pleased. Mind you I still have a long way to go to get my foot up where it needs to be -- I'm nowhere near hip height yet -- but the good thing is, as Anna said, my basic position is quite sound and I'm keeping a nice straight line from the back of my head clean down to my foot. So I need to work really on getting my torso down and my leg should follow along (for the most part). Anna said she wants me to work on these a little every time I skate, which means getting over the feeling that they stink and no one would want to see them. Oh well! I also asked her about whether I need to lock my skating knee or not, since right now it is not locked. She said it wasn't obviously bent at this point and not to worry about it; depending on how your legs are physically bent, locking your knee might mean it's either difficult to do a good spiral or be just what you need. She said she'd let me know if she thought it was an issue. Since I won't actually test spirals for a long time I'm not too worried about it.
  
• lunges -- Anna was pleased with these; even the right foot one (which I'd practiced earlier this week) is looking much better. The only correction Anna really had was that I tend to enter them by pushing onto the skating foot, then placing the free foot back and kneeling. She wants me to enter them by just letting the free foot trail behind me 'til it's extended while I kneel. I found this to be harder, but Anna says it will give me more consistency in my placement.
  
• perimeter stroking -- just when I thought I was done and could go home, Anna asked for a round of perimeter stroking ("left and right"). As usual, I still have problems convincing myself to properly prep and execute the end crossovers. Anna said she wants me to thinking about beginning the underpush for these as the other foot is crossing. Still, on a positive note the extension is much better than it was, and there's a lot more power than there used to be!
  

All in all it was a long lesson, about 40 minutes. Anna's Mom was at the rink, visiting from out of state. She's great. I call her my "skater grandma" which is kind of funny, really, since she's not old enough to be my grandmother OR my mother; she's probably not much older than I am, actually. She takes an interest in all of Anna's students (I assume Anna must talk about us!), and knows all of us, which is pretty neat.