Hello everyone!
So my coach asked me to help her do some videos for Skate Canada so she can get her next coaching level. Since she has been so awesome I decided to help and I'm really really glad I did. We went through a few things I already know. All my edges and stroking techniques that I'm familiar with, although my forwards crosscuts done on each edge are a bit shaky. Ill practice those when I get the chance, but it was a lot of fun re-running through all of it so she could get some video. I feel like I'm improving, hopefully I don't lose TOO much over the course of the summer.
We also did some of my first attempts at jumping. Three-turn jumps, bunny hops and we did attempt a few jumps where you go from backwards crosscuts to a turn and then a jump. You end up backwards at the end of it. I don't remember the name and I probably explained that poorly. It was AWESOME though! I had a ton of fun and admittedly, I'm really not looking forwards to a pause on lessons for the summer. At least it opens up time for wedding planning!
My biggest achievement this time I think though was my backwards crossovers/cross cuts. Up until this session I've struggled to wrap my head around the concept of them and getting the footwork down. This time I totally managed to nail them! I managed to do them around a full circle and get the footwork down more. I also am working on figuring out where my arms go and how to counterbalance my movements. I was SO excited for this! I've tried it a few times at a few of the adult skates but I have yet to really nail them until now. Yay!
I really have to find out how to practice during the summer so I don't lose all of the knowledge I've gained. It's interesting, I've noticed with skating that the more I do it, the happier I am doing it. I keep getting driven and motivated to go back to it. I think over the summer I'm going to focus on skating where I can while getting into better shape for skating, as well as improving my gracefulness and body placement which are both things I can easily do off-ice.
I've got the skating carnival this Saturday I'm going to watch as well, a friends daughter is skating in it and it should be a lot of fun!
Anyways, that's about it for this entry!
Ciao for now!
Sam
Thursday, 30 March 2017
Sunday, 26 March 2017
Skating Show: Preston, Ontario
Hello once again!
So as the skating season comes to an end in most places, so too comes the series of shows and carnivals that most clubs put on. I personally haven't got to put a skate down in any of them but I do have tickets to several, the first of which was last night at the Preston Figure Skating Club in Cambridge. My current skating coach was skating in it and I decided to go and see it and support her in doing so.
I'm really really glad I went. What an amazing show! It was all well thought out, put together and choreographed beautifully. It even had stuff you wouldn't typically expect in a skating show like kids on swings hanging from the ceiling and ice ramps that the skaters went down to make their entrances. It was AWESOME! It was also a touch bittersweet as well because it made me realize how much I'd love to be involved with something so awesome.
The hard work all the skaters put in was really showcased at the show. I had a lot of fun.
Just a quick entry!
Ciao for now!
Sam
So as the skating season comes to an end in most places, so too comes the series of shows and carnivals that most clubs put on. I personally haven't got to put a skate down in any of them but I do have tickets to several, the first of which was last night at the Preston Figure Skating Club in Cambridge. My current skating coach was skating in it and I decided to go and see it and support her in doing so.
I'm really really glad I went. What an amazing show! It was all well thought out, put together and choreographed beautifully. It even had stuff you wouldn't typically expect in a skating show like kids on swings hanging from the ceiling and ice ramps that the skaters went down to make their entrances. It was AWESOME! It was also a touch bittersweet as well because it made me realize how much I'd love to be involved with something so awesome.
The hard work all the skaters put in was really showcased at the show. I had a lot of fun.
Just a quick entry!
Ciao for now!
Sam
Saturday, 18 March 2017
Final Lesson of the Season
Hello once more!
So the time in which my lessons will essentially be on hold until September has come. Yesterday was my final figure skating lessons before the current season at the arena ends and I have to say it has been an awesome (But short) journey! I didn't expect to enjoy it nearly as much as I have. Nor did I expect to do as well as I did. I'm certainly no professional, but I definitely did better than I anticipated I would.
A big part of why my experience was so good is owed to the club and my coach. The club was super flexible in allowing me to join and I don't think I could have landed a better coach. I've been told that one of a students greatest strengths is their coach and their ability to teach skills to the student. I've grasped a lot more concepts than I expected to and I find her teaching style, much like my horseback riding coach. Really works with me. As many know, I'm more of a practical learner than a theoretical learner. So seeing it and then simply doing something is much easier for me to learn. So thank you to my coach, Lindsay for being great! Hopefully we can continue in the near future.
The club itself, has been great. While I had plenty of things to do in order to register and sign up. Once I got my foot in the door, they were all great. Going into something primarily done by kids, as an adult. Can be a bit of an intimidating experience. But the club has been from what I can tell, very accepting which I'm more than thankful for.
Skill-wise, from day one. I've learned a fair amount. I've got most of the basics down and my balance has significantly improved over all. From simply riding my edges to doing stuff like three turns and twizzles. It's been SO fun. I'm really making this sound like a goodbye aren't I? My bad. It's not. I intend to continue practicing and skating through the summer and then registering when the new season begins. Whether that is with the local skating club or otherwise.
I've mentioned before that I used to skate as a kid and the decision to get back into it has kind of bounced around the back of my head for the longest time and while anxiety held me back, I'm glad I decided to take the plunge. The experience overall is just not something I can put into words. It might seem silly to some people, but for someone like me it is significantly more special. Hopefully, it continues this way as it has improved several aspects of my own life. My balance while horseback riding I feel has improved because of it, my anxiety levels in crowds are definitely a little more settled. Time will tell!
So, I guess the next real step is where and how to practice and retain my skills through the summer? I know a fair amount of my skills can be translated to rollerblades which I have a good pair of. But I am hoping that I can find time at public and adult skates that run through the summer. I still have to inquire if Norwich still runs these through the summer or not. If not, then I'm sure other nearby cities will.
So, this concludes my lesson-based sections of my blog for now. With the season coming to a close my writing in here will likely slow down a bit. But I'll make entries whenever I have skating related stuff to post. I might even consider putting my horseback riding endeavors in here as well. I've enjoyed writing this so much more than I expected to.
Thanks for reading and commenting!
Ciao for now!
Sam
So the time in which my lessons will essentially be on hold until September has come. Yesterday was my final figure skating lessons before the current season at the arena ends and I have to say it has been an awesome (But short) journey! I didn't expect to enjoy it nearly as much as I have. Nor did I expect to do as well as I did. I'm certainly no professional, but I definitely did better than I anticipated I would.
A big part of why my experience was so good is owed to the club and my coach. The club was super flexible in allowing me to join and I don't think I could have landed a better coach. I've been told that one of a students greatest strengths is their coach and their ability to teach skills to the student. I've grasped a lot more concepts than I expected to and I find her teaching style, much like my horseback riding coach. Really works with me. As many know, I'm more of a practical learner than a theoretical learner. So seeing it and then simply doing something is much easier for me to learn. So thank you to my coach, Lindsay for being great! Hopefully we can continue in the near future.
The club itself, has been great. While I had plenty of things to do in order to register and sign up. Once I got my foot in the door, they were all great. Going into something primarily done by kids, as an adult. Can be a bit of an intimidating experience. But the club has been from what I can tell, very accepting which I'm more than thankful for.
Skill-wise, from day one. I've learned a fair amount. I've got most of the basics down and my balance has significantly improved over all. From simply riding my edges to doing stuff like three turns and twizzles. It's been SO fun. I'm really making this sound like a goodbye aren't I? My bad. It's not. I intend to continue practicing and skating through the summer and then registering when the new season begins. Whether that is with the local skating club or otherwise.
I've mentioned before that I used to skate as a kid and the decision to get back into it has kind of bounced around the back of my head for the longest time and while anxiety held me back, I'm glad I decided to take the plunge. The experience overall is just not something I can put into words. It might seem silly to some people, but for someone like me it is significantly more special. Hopefully, it continues this way as it has improved several aspects of my own life. My balance while horseback riding I feel has improved because of it, my anxiety levels in crowds are definitely a little more settled. Time will tell!
So, I guess the next real step is where and how to practice and retain my skills through the summer? I know a fair amount of my skills can be translated to rollerblades which I have a good pair of. But I am hoping that I can find time at public and adult skates that run through the summer. I still have to inquire if Norwich still runs these through the summer or not. If not, then I'm sure other nearby cities will.
So, this concludes my lesson-based sections of my blog for now. With the season coming to a close my writing in here will likely slow down a bit. But I'll make entries whenever I have skating related stuff to post. I might even consider putting my horseback riding endeavors in here as well. I've enjoyed writing this so much more than I expected to.
Thanks for reading and commenting!
Ciao for now!
Sam
Sunday, 12 March 2017
Fear and Anxiety used to hold me back: Lessons #4, #5 and Public Skates Galore!
Hello!
WOW! Has it been a while since I did an entry. (Admittedly...I did several and haven't published them because they were sub-par in my opinion. Not much meat and potatoes to them.) It's mostly because my ventures during afternoons in skating are limited to the adult public skates. Whiiiich I only got to attend two of because of wedding planning. Not a bad tradeoff though. I wouldn't have done it any other way.
So today I'd like to talk about myself a little bit. I'm a 25 y/o male. I work full-time at a factory and my hobbies include Writing, Horseback Riding and Skating. (I did gymnastics for a while, but it has fallen through many a time so it's kind of on the back burner at the moment.) Now, the latter two hobbies are what has become a big change in my life. I've explained before that I get anxiety when doing just about anything but I've noticed over the course of time (With some pushing from coaches and otherwise) that with these activities, my anxiety drops significantly. Instead of worrying what people thing I find myself actually getting excited to get out there.
It's strange, because less than a year ago I was freaking out about going out to get on the back of a horse. Now it's the reverse, I can't wait. I owe a lot of this change to my coaches, fiancée and few family members that I've told before. As per the title, there was in fact a time when fear would hold me back. Not anymore. At least with my hobbies. I still don't do crowds well.
Enough about my personal issues though! I need to combine my last two lessons, as well as all my public/adult skates into this singular post before I get back to posting regularly! It's been both crazy, fun and filled with plenty of interesting bits! I was going to write this in paragraph form but I think I'll roll with bullet-points to make it a little more manageable and readable. (And so you can skip any boring or repetitive bits. :D):
Skating Forwards - Forwards techniques are always included in my lessons. We've worked on all of them and I find myself getting more and more comfortable simply moving forward and around the ice. Its interesting to be able to look back to when I first climbed back on the ice, to now. I hold myself a little bit differently than I did five lessons ago and I'm certainly more confident with my foot movements! Forwards goes well!
Switchbacks - This is kind of becoming second nature when I need to turn around now or reset. Quick and easy and I haven't really messed one up much in a while. So I'm happy with that. Not really much to say about these other than we've been segwaying into more advanced techniques using this technique which Ill elaborate more on shortly.
Skating on Inner/Outer Edges - Forwards, I'm confident. I can do inside and outside edges decently now, but when it comes to the reverse I am still very shaky. Although the positive side is that I'm learning to keep my momentum and where to place my feet which helps a lot. An odd thing I'm noticing is that I'm less confident doing my right outside edge when skating backwards than my left. I tend to not be able to lean/turn it nearly as well as the other. Do skaters have dominant feet? To google!
Balance - Balance is DEFINITELY improving. I noticed this especially when I potentially wipe out and catch myself a lot differently than I used to. I don't go into panic mode as much now and try to catch myself with my hands on the ice (PS. Hand+Ice does not equal a good way to stop a fall!) I tend to re-find my balance and stop it before it happens. It's awesome! I'm no pro, but I definitely find I have a lot better balance now. I also tend to not lean nearly as much now.
Mohawks - I can do about two sets of these now confidently. I have a hard time keeping my momentum, but I am getting more confident in placing my foot down and still gliding along whatever edge I'm making use of. My coach makes it look WAY too easy for its own good! These are a lot of fun. I say that a lot don't I? It's all fun. Seriously.
Three Turns - Still kind of riding the basics on these. I have yet to really get too far past a single turn. I CAN stay upright after one turn now, but keeping my momentum and setting up for the next one I still struggle with. I think as we develop my other skills I'll get better at these as I figure out that 'sweet spot' as well as improving my balance.
Crossovers - Before I say anything, I still have yet to get a backwards crossover down. But my forward ones I am fully confident in! I even use these during regular public skating sessions and stuff now when I'm circling the arena. Instead of just relying on one outside foot to get me around the end of the arena, I go into crossover mode and skate around the end, it also keeps/gains me some momentum as well which I believe is the point of crossovers.
Skating Backwards - Like last time, I won't list all the individual techniques on what we have done skating backwards. It basically all the same as forwards except in reverse. I still struggle with a lot of them but I have improved my backwards skating in general. I can get a fair amount of speed and skate around backwards easily enough now. It's nowhere near perfect, but I'm not ending up flat on my backside every few minutes now! It'll be nice when I can skate backwards confidently and do things in a steadier way.
Brackets - So we busted open this skill the other day and much like switchbacks, I CAN do them, but I fail to keep my momentum going through more than one or two. I have to figure out how to give a bit of a push-off during these turns that'll keep me going. It was actually this skill that made us give the next skill a try in my lessons!
Twizzles - I swear that's the real name. I googled it. This is basically tucking everything in, spinning and then letting everything back out to stop the spin. Then doing it the other direction. It's kind of hard to put into words but after a few tries I found I did pretty decent at these!
I can't say too much though about twizzles however because I actually broke my skate during my last lesson attempting these. I imagine it's because we've been fairly hard on my skates since I go tthem, and the fact that they're used, but during my last lessons end the 'heel/blade' part essentially separated from my skate completely. Luckily I felt it before I tried something else. It's a shame because the skates were actually starting to fit really well and I was really getting comfortable in them. My new ones are just a solid, cheap pair I got from a local store that will hopefully last me until I save up for a good quality pair.
My only gripe with the new ones is that they feel more 'recreational skate' rather than 'figure skate'. They do have figure skate blades, they just don't feel as secure on my feet as I hoped they would be. Hopefully they will last for now and then I'll be good to go!
All in all, my lessons have been going extremely well. With a friends help and advice I've been doing a lot less procrastinating with things and forcing myself to 'get out there' more lately, and it's been doing me good. I've enjoyed every aspect of my lessons and I can't sing my coaches praises enough, anyone who can teach me to be balanced and even slightly graceful has talent in my books!
So there isn't much more to tell. I've got a lesson coming up tomorrow which I'm excited for. The only bad thing is with each lesson the end of the season/session grows closer very quickly. And that kind of sucks, hopefully I can find some form of skating/lessons during the summer! If not I guess I'll be focusing on horseback riding for the summer. Time will tell!
Anyways, thanks for reading!
Ciao for now!
Sam
WOW! Has it been a while since I did an entry. (Admittedly...I did several and haven't published them because they were sub-par in my opinion. Not much meat and potatoes to them.) It's mostly because my ventures during afternoons in skating are limited to the adult public skates. Whiiiich I only got to attend two of because of wedding planning. Not a bad tradeoff though. I wouldn't have done it any other way.
So today I'd like to talk about myself a little bit. I'm a 25 y/o male. I work full-time at a factory and my hobbies include Writing, Horseback Riding and Skating. (I did gymnastics for a while, but it has fallen through many a time so it's kind of on the back burner at the moment.) Now, the latter two hobbies are what has become a big change in my life. I've explained before that I get anxiety when doing just about anything but I've noticed over the course of time (With some pushing from coaches and otherwise) that with these activities, my anxiety drops significantly. Instead of worrying what people thing I find myself actually getting excited to get out there.
It's strange, because less than a year ago I was freaking out about going out to get on the back of a horse. Now it's the reverse, I can't wait. I owe a lot of this change to my coaches, fiancée and few family members that I've told before. As per the title, there was in fact a time when fear would hold me back. Not anymore. At least with my hobbies. I still don't do crowds well.
Enough about my personal issues though! I need to combine my last two lessons, as well as all my public/adult skates into this singular post before I get back to posting regularly! It's been both crazy, fun and filled with plenty of interesting bits! I was going to write this in paragraph form but I think I'll roll with bullet-points to make it a little more manageable and readable. (And so you can skip any boring or repetitive bits. :D):
Skating Forwards - Forwards techniques are always included in my lessons. We've worked on all of them and I find myself getting more and more comfortable simply moving forward and around the ice. Its interesting to be able to look back to when I first climbed back on the ice, to now. I hold myself a little bit differently than I did five lessons ago and I'm certainly more confident with my foot movements! Forwards goes well!
Switchbacks - This is kind of becoming second nature when I need to turn around now or reset. Quick and easy and I haven't really messed one up much in a while. So I'm happy with that. Not really much to say about these other than we've been segwaying into more advanced techniques using this technique which Ill elaborate more on shortly.
Skating on Inner/Outer Edges - Forwards, I'm confident. I can do inside and outside edges decently now, but when it comes to the reverse I am still very shaky. Although the positive side is that I'm learning to keep my momentum and where to place my feet which helps a lot. An odd thing I'm noticing is that I'm less confident doing my right outside edge when skating backwards than my left. I tend to not be able to lean/turn it nearly as well as the other. Do skaters have dominant feet? To google!
Balance - Balance is DEFINITELY improving. I noticed this especially when I potentially wipe out and catch myself a lot differently than I used to. I don't go into panic mode as much now and try to catch myself with my hands on the ice (PS. Hand+Ice does not equal a good way to stop a fall!) I tend to re-find my balance and stop it before it happens. It's awesome! I'm no pro, but I definitely find I have a lot better balance now. I also tend to not lean nearly as much now.
Mohawks - I can do about two sets of these now confidently. I have a hard time keeping my momentum, but I am getting more confident in placing my foot down and still gliding along whatever edge I'm making use of. My coach makes it look WAY too easy for its own good! These are a lot of fun. I say that a lot don't I? It's all fun. Seriously.
Three Turns - Still kind of riding the basics on these. I have yet to really get too far past a single turn. I CAN stay upright after one turn now, but keeping my momentum and setting up for the next one I still struggle with. I think as we develop my other skills I'll get better at these as I figure out that 'sweet spot' as well as improving my balance.
Crossovers - Before I say anything, I still have yet to get a backwards crossover down. But my forward ones I am fully confident in! I even use these during regular public skating sessions and stuff now when I'm circling the arena. Instead of just relying on one outside foot to get me around the end of the arena, I go into crossover mode and skate around the end, it also keeps/gains me some momentum as well which I believe is the point of crossovers.
Skating Backwards - Like last time, I won't list all the individual techniques on what we have done skating backwards. It basically all the same as forwards except in reverse. I still struggle with a lot of them but I have improved my backwards skating in general. I can get a fair amount of speed and skate around backwards easily enough now. It's nowhere near perfect, but I'm not ending up flat on my backside every few minutes now! It'll be nice when I can skate backwards confidently and do things in a steadier way.
Brackets - So we busted open this skill the other day and much like switchbacks, I CAN do them, but I fail to keep my momentum going through more than one or two. I have to figure out how to give a bit of a push-off during these turns that'll keep me going. It was actually this skill that made us give the next skill a try in my lessons!
Twizzles - I swear that's the real name. I googled it. This is basically tucking everything in, spinning and then letting everything back out to stop the spin. Then doing it the other direction. It's kind of hard to put into words but after a few tries I found I did pretty decent at these!
I can't say too much though about twizzles however because I actually broke my skate during my last lesson attempting these. I imagine it's because we've been fairly hard on my skates since I go tthem, and the fact that they're used, but during my last lessons end the 'heel/blade' part essentially separated from my skate completely. Luckily I felt it before I tried something else. It's a shame because the skates were actually starting to fit really well and I was really getting comfortable in them. My new ones are just a solid, cheap pair I got from a local store that will hopefully last me until I save up for a good quality pair.
My only gripe with the new ones is that they feel more 'recreational skate' rather than 'figure skate'. They do have figure skate blades, they just don't feel as secure on my feet as I hoped they would be. Hopefully they will last for now and then I'll be good to go!
All in all, my lessons have been going extremely well. With a friends help and advice I've been doing a lot less procrastinating with things and forcing myself to 'get out there' more lately, and it's been doing me good. I've enjoyed every aspect of my lessons and I can't sing my coaches praises enough, anyone who can teach me to be balanced and even slightly graceful has talent in my books!
So there isn't much more to tell. I've got a lesson coming up tomorrow which I'm excited for. The only bad thing is with each lesson the end of the season/session grows closer very quickly. And that kind of sucks, hopefully I can find some form of skating/lessons during the summer! If not I guess I'll be focusing on horseback riding for the summer. Time will tell!
Anyways, thanks for reading!
Ciao for now!
Sam
Saturday, 18 February 2017
Lesson #3: Sore as before!
Hello once again folks!
So as I'm quickly learning as of my latest lesson (I'm a day late writing this. I was absolutely wiped after my lesson yesterday) my backwards game is in need of work. Is it something that most skaters struggle with? My body is having a hard time wrapping its head around doing most backwards skating techniques. I won't lie, I ended up flat out and on my butt more than a few times. While that might discourage some people I find that the falls really motivate me to try harder and do better.
As I told my coach, many people learn from their falls and I'm no different. By the end of the lesson I was doing fairly well and I really feel like I came out of it with better form and technique in skating backwards. Before I just kind of moved my legs about to try and figure it out, but now I can actually pick up some speed and get moving a bit more confidently.
Going backwards has been a very interesting experience, mostly because as a whole, people generally tend to always be 'forwards' in everything they do. Everything we do is in front of us and now suddenly I'm doing things in reverse and have to rely on myself to be confident in doing so. It's definitely a hard egg to crack into. I find my brain tends to go into overdrive and telling me that this isn't 'safe' or 'right'. You know brain. You're a jerk.
Alas, let us get into the meat and potatoes of what I did in my last lesson:
Skating Forwards: We did plenty of forwards based techniques but generally speaking. Going forwards and just basic skating is not an issue for me. Now that I've gotten a bit more used to the presence of toe picks and how to move my feet and be aware of how they move this is hardly ever an issue anymore. In fact, I find I'm using more and more figure skating techniques just in general as I move about. It's fun how they seem to translate to just general moving about.
Switchbacks: This is one of those 'techniques' I find myself using here and there. If I know I have to reset after trying something and I have to be the other direction. I push my feet together and spin about. I'm pretty confident here although nowhere near perfect or 'pretty' in a figure skating sense.
Skating on Inner/Outer Edges: This is where I'm both confident and a bit shaky at the same time. Inner edges are fairly easy although I definitely have to work on my 'control' when going about them. We're doing them up and down the length of the rink now. As for outside edges, I'm struggling to keep my feet in the right spot and not be so shaky when I go into them. My coach did say the outer edges tend to be a bit more of a struggle and come in time. So I'm not overly concerned. Practice makes perfect!
Balance: Like last time, I feel like my balance is improving. But I still struggle to not lean forwards in either panic or to try and find my balance. Like my horseback riding, I tend to lean forward and it is a terrible habit I'll have to break. I'm sure if both my different types of lessons drill this into me, it'll come with time!
Mohawks: Now these are where I'm figuring things out a bit more. I managed to do a few fairly good ones and I'm happy with how these are coming along. It's the first bigger 'technique' that I'm getting the hang of. I do have to work on keeping my momentum through these however as I have a habit of losing it long before I can make it through two sets.
Three Turns: Now that I actually remember the name of them, we have been doing some three turns. Which is more or less changing direction on one foot. I've just learned during these lessons about finding that 'sweet spot' on your skate. Admittedly, I completely forgot it existed and now that I've discovered it, I'm managing to pull off things much better including three turns. I still can't get past one three turn as I tend to fight the edge I'm riding but this will come in time!
Skating Backwards: I won't list all the individual techniques we worked on here but the lesson did focus a bit heavier on upping my backwards skating abilities. I can now get a lot more speed and stability when going backwards although many of the techniques we worked on are rough to say the least. Like I explained above, getting my body to accept moving backwards as 'normal' is difficult to wrap my head around. We did attempt to learn backwards crossovers but I didn't even manage them in the slightest. Next time I shall do better!
So that sums up most of what we worked on. All-in-All I feel I'm improving and doing better within my means. It's been a LOAD of fun up until this point and the only downside is that I now have to wait a full two weeks until my next set of lessons. The downsides of working a crappy rotating set of shifts in a factory job that you work 6 days a week at. Sometimes doing an adult job just sucks! Oh well. Responsibility ho!
Now, that's not to say my next two weeks will be packed with no skating. I've researched and figured out a good schedule for all the nearby public skates/adult skates that I can make use of to practice in between. Some of them don't allow figure skating, but that doesn't mean I can't just up my skating stamina and such. I'll make just as much use of these. The main hurdle I'll have to get over is again; anxiety. It's a lovely beast that loves to spite me. I have to get comfortable enough to practice with people watching. Hopefully I'll be able to get through this over time.
Well, that's about all I've got for today! That was my most recent lesson and both my successes and failures! Hopefully you've enjoyed reading my journey as much as I've enjoyed living it!
Ciao for now!
Sam
So as I'm quickly learning as of my latest lesson (I'm a day late writing this. I was absolutely wiped after my lesson yesterday) my backwards game is in need of work. Is it something that most skaters struggle with? My body is having a hard time wrapping its head around doing most backwards skating techniques. I won't lie, I ended up flat out and on my butt more than a few times. While that might discourage some people I find that the falls really motivate me to try harder and do better.
As I told my coach, many people learn from their falls and I'm no different. By the end of the lesson I was doing fairly well and I really feel like I came out of it with better form and technique in skating backwards. Before I just kind of moved my legs about to try and figure it out, but now I can actually pick up some speed and get moving a bit more confidently.
Going backwards has been a very interesting experience, mostly because as a whole, people generally tend to always be 'forwards' in everything they do. Everything we do is in front of us and now suddenly I'm doing things in reverse and have to rely on myself to be confident in doing so. It's definitely a hard egg to crack into. I find my brain tends to go into overdrive and telling me that this isn't 'safe' or 'right'. You know brain. You're a jerk.
Alas, let us get into the meat and potatoes of what I did in my last lesson:
Skating Forwards: We did plenty of forwards based techniques but generally speaking. Going forwards and just basic skating is not an issue for me. Now that I've gotten a bit more used to the presence of toe picks and how to move my feet and be aware of how they move this is hardly ever an issue anymore. In fact, I find I'm using more and more figure skating techniques just in general as I move about. It's fun how they seem to translate to just general moving about.
Switchbacks: This is one of those 'techniques' I find myself using here and there. If I know I have to reset after trying something and I have to be the other direction. I push my feet together and spin about. I'm pretty confident here although nowhere near perfect or 'pretty' in a figure skating sense.
Skating on Inner/Outer Edges: This is where I'm both confident and a bit shaky at the same time. Inner edges are fairly easy although I definitely have to work on my 'control' when going about them. We're doing them up and down the length of the rink now. As for outside edges, I'm struggling to keep my feet in the right spot and not be so shaky when I go into them. My coach did say the outer edges tend to be a bit more of a struggle and come in time. So I'm not overly concerned. Practice makes perfect!
Balance: Like last time, I feel like my balance is improving. But I still struggle to not lean forwards in either panic or to try and find my balance. Like my horseback riding, I tend to lean forward and it is a terrible habit I'll have to break. I'm sure if both my different types of lessons drill this into me, it'll come with time!
Mohawks: Now these are where I'm figuring things out a bit more. I managed to do a few fairly good ones and I'm happy with how these are coming along. It's the first bigger 'technique' that I'm getting the hang of. I do have to work on keeping my momentum through these however as I have a habit of losing it long before I can make it through two sets.
Three Turns: Now that I actually remember the name of them, we have been doing some three turns. Which is more or less changing direction on one foot. I've just learned during these lessons about finding that 'sweet spot' on your skate. Admittedly, I completely forgot it existed and now that I've discovered it, I'm managing to pull off things much better including three turns. I still can't get past one three turn as I tend to fight the edge I'm riding but this will come in time!
Skating Backwards: I won't list all the individual techniques we worked on here but the lesson did focus a bit heavier on upping my backwards skating abilities. I can now get a lot more speed and stability when going backwards although many of the techniques we worked on are rough to say the least. Like I explained above, getting my body to accept moving backwards as 'normal' is difficult to wrap my head around. We did attempt to learn backwards crossovers but I didn't even manage them in the slightest. Next time I shall do better!
So that sums up most of what we worked on. All-in-All I feel I'm improving and doing better within my means. It's been a LOAD of fun up until this point and the only downside is that I now have to wait a full two weeks until my next set of lessons. The downsides of working a crappy rotating set of shifts in a factory job that you work 6 days a week at. Sometimes doing an adult job just sucks! Oh well. Responsibility ho!
Now, that's not to say my next two weeks will be packed with no skating. I've researched and figured out a good schedule for all the nearby public skates/adult skates that I can make use of to practice in between. Some of them don't allow figure skating, but that doesn't mean I can't just up my skating stamina and such. I'll make just as much use of these. The main hurdle I'll have to get over is again; anxiety. It's a lovely beast that loves to spite me. I have to get comfortable enough to practice with people watching. Hopefully I'll be able to get through this over time.
Well, that's about all I've got for today! That was my most recent lesson and both my successes and failures! Hopefully you've enjoyed reading my journey as much as I've enjoyed living it!
Ciao for now!
Sam
Wednesday, 15 February 2017
Meat and Potatoes!
Hello again readers!
The title isn't really all that relevant. It was my failed attempt at making a clever title. I am quickly learning that it is not easy to think of a good title for every entry, so you'll have to forgive me for my shortcomings in that department for now. So then! On to the meat and potatoes of this blog. Ah crap...found my title! The last paragraph is basically going to be irrelevant. Confused yet? I am.
I tossed a post up today on my facebook page and asked my friends what to write about and while I only got one response. It was actually a really good one from a friend whom I have a lot of respect for. She suggested I write about how skating is different from everything else I've done and the specific reasoning on why I chose skating. An excellent topic madam! I'll break this up into two parts to make it as straightforward as I can.
Now, when it comes to the many interesting (Interesting to me anyways.) things I've done. I've been around the block a few times. If I include from when I was kid up to now the range of things I've tried and done has been pretty varied. Soccer, Baseball, Horseback Riding, Percussionist Ensemble (Public school, I still drum these beats!), Pottery, Gymnastics, Skating, and many other things! I'm a person who loves experiences and trying new things. To me, at the chance of sounding a bit cliché:
Variety is the spice of life.
Why should we go through life having just done one thing? I want my life to be full of experiences and meaningful ventures. No regrets. The same goes for skating. Except skating is a bit more special to me than other ventures. Much like horseback riding, I have a history in it and this kind of places up pretty high on my 'dedication' list.
When I think on all the sports I've done, horseback riding included. There is a big difference in skating from them. They all require skill, but skating requires a bit more than that. Not talent, not fancy outfits (Well...maybe a little), and not just a curiousity. As many of you know, I'm a guy. It's not exactly the most common for guys to simply jump into a female-dominated sport. This has been the biggest difference, for me.
It might seem silly, and trivial to most. But this has driven my anxiety into overdrive. It's been different in the respect that I am not used to eyes being on me in the way skating more or less demands. At the club, I'm literally the only guy on the ice amongst a sea girls. With all the other sports I've done, they were fairly varied in their gender range. Not that I'll let this scare me off. Being the only real 'adult' and the only guy when I skate also makes me feel...unique I guess? Perhaps that's a bit vain. Oh well.
There is also the fact that skating requires a VERY different set of muscles than most people are used to activating. My first few skating sessions and lessons I find everything below my last aches from top to bottom and muscles I forgot I even had are like 'HEY! What are ya doin' ya crazy git!' Evidently my muscles hail from Britain. This has been a huge factor for me. I was sore when I got into horseback riding, but that alongside everything else I've done doesn't come close to what this feels like. But I digress as it is not a 'bad' pain so much as I know I'm activating those muscles. It's kind of cool actually.
So all in all, those are what I feel the big differences have been between getting into skating when I compare it with other things. It's been hell on my muscles and anxiety. But I don't think that's enough to send me packing. Even if I do flee from public skates T.T
Now I have touched base on 'Why Skating' before in a few previous blogs. But lets get into the down and dirty bits of it. WHY skating? Well, I did it as a kid. Is that not good enough reason? Well, I guess it's because my fondest memories I have of doing a sport (Other than recent horseback riding.) have been of skating. I remember a sense of happiness and accomplishment that I've never really felt anywhere else and admittedly, I kind of crave that as an adult. We lose so much as we age that feeling that way is not the easiest thing to come by anymore.
Skating is also a unique skill. Sure, plenty of people can skate. But can you skate like a girl? Because seriously. They rock it. Although I can't say much because some of the top skaters are men. I won't lie, I hope I can only skate half as good as the girls. Maybe even look half as good. But it's not a skill everyone can say they have. It's not the most common. Which is nice. Again, variety is the spice of the life and skating does not fail to provide. Figure skating, Power Skating, Ice Dancing, Skills and even competitions for those who want to pursue them. There is so much to do in this field that it'll be hard to get bored.
Now, I'd always kind of tossed around the idea of getting back into skating in my head. Privately. Because it's not something I generally advertised out loud. Even to my fiancée, whom supports me through everything. But that's more or less where it had remained. In my head. It was only recently after meeting a good friend at my place of work that things kind of materialized in front of me. This friends daughter is big into figure skating and posts about her were constantly popping up in my news feed. This helped as a catalyst for me to really start considering going back into the sport. Just seeing her success made me smile. I will forever be thankful for the pair of them. Thank you Roxanne and Jocelyn for indirectly/directly re-igniting my passions. (No last names. This IS the internet after all.)
Now, this alone may not have nudged me into it. But I also have a rather special cousin. Who has pursued and followed his dreams no matter what gets in the way. He's gone from a teenager going through life to someone who has found his true passion and something I'm sure he will be successful at. It is his success and passion that also helped me decide to go back into skating. It's funny how the drive of the young can help us adults be brave enough to pursue our passions! So to my cousin, Brandon. Keep on keeping on bud!~
Jeeze, this is awfully sappy yet again. My bad. So then. My last post mentioned the 'freedom' on the ice. There is a certain freedom from the world that comes with skating and my other hobby, horseback riding. When I push myself out there and focus on the skill I find that for that while I can forget everything else. There is a certain solace in getting lost in a hobby and while some might see that as trying to escape reality, I disagree. We all need an escape once in a while, something to make us keep smiling and make the rest of world tolerable. Then there's the glide. That smooth motion as your skate moves over the ice. THAT feeling can't be reproduced anywhere else. Sliding on ice or something slippery just isn't the same.
Hopefully this is an interesting insight for some of you reading! That's about all I've got for tonight. I really enjoyed writing this. Thanks Rachel for the excellent idea!
Ciao for now!
Sam
The title isn't really all that relevant. It was my failed attempt at making a clever title. I am quickly learning that it is not easy to think of a good title for every entry, so you'll have to forgive me for my shortcomings in that department for now. So then! On to the meat and potatoes of this blog. Ah crap...found my title! The last paragraph is basically going to be irrelevant. Confused yet? I am.
I tossed a post up today on my facebook page and asked my friends what to write about and while I only got one response. It was actually a really good one from a friend whom I have a lot of respect for. She suggested I write about how skating is different from everything else I've done and the specific reasoning on why I chose skating. An excellent topic madam! I'll break this up into two parts to make it as straightforward as I can.
Now, when it comes to the many interesting (Interesting to me anyways.) things I've done. I've been around the block a few times. If I include from when I was kid up to now the range of things I've tried and done has been pretty varied. Soccer, Baseball, Horseback Riding, Percussionist Ensemble (Public school, I still drum these beats!), Pottery, Gymnastics, Skating, and many other things! I'm a person who loves experiences and trying new things. To me, at the chance of sounding a bit cliché:
Variety is the spice of life.
Why should we go through life having just done one thing? I want my life to be full of experiences and meaningful ventures. No regrets. The same goes for skating. Except skating is a bit more special to me than other ventures. Much like horseback riding, I have a history in it and this kind of places up pretty high on my 'dedication' list.
When I think on all the sports I've done, horseback riding included. There is a big difference in skating from them. They all require skill, but skating requires a bit more than that. Not talent, not fancy outfits (Well...maybe a little), and not just a curiousity. As many of you know, I'm a guy. It's not exactly the most common for guys to simply jump into a female-dominated sport. This has been the biggest difference, for me.
It might seem silly, and trivial to most. But this has driven my anxiety into overdrive. It's been different in the respect that I am not used to eyes being on me in the way skating more or less demands. At the club, I'm literally the only guy on the ice amongst a sea girls. With all the other sports I've done, they were fairly varied in their gender range. Not that I'll let this scare me off. Being the only real 'adult' and the only guy when I skate also makes me feel...unique I guess? Perhaps that's a bit vain. Oh well.
There is also the fact that skating requires a VERY different set of muscles than most people are used to activating. My first few skating sessions and lessons I find everything below my last aches from top to bottom and muscles I forgot I even had are like 'HEY! What are ya doin' ya crazy git!' Evidently my muscles hail from Britain. This has been a huge factor for me. I was sore when I got into horseback riding, but that alongside everything else I've done doesn't come close to what this feels like. But I digress as it is not a 'bad' pain so much as I know I'm activating those muscles. It's kind of cool actually.
So all in all, those are what I feel the big differences have been between getting into skating when I compare it with other things. It's been hell on my muscles and anxiety. But I don't think that's enough to send me packing. Even if I do flee from public skates T.T
Now I have touched base on 'Why Skating' before in a few previous blogs. But lets get into the down and dirty bits of it. WHY skating? Well, I did it as a kid. Is that not good enough reason? Well, I guess it's because my fondest memories I have of doing a sport (Other than recent horseback riding.) have been of skating. I remember a sense of happiness and accomplishment that I've never really felt anywhere else and admittedly, I kind of crave that as an adult. We lose so much as we age that feeling that way is not the easiest thing to come by anymore.
Skating is also a unique skill. Sure, plenty of people can skate. But can you skate like a girl? Because seriously. They rock it. Although I can't say much because some of the top skaters are men. I won't lie, I hope I can only skate half as good as the girls. Maybe even look half as good. But it's not a skill everyone can say they have. It's not the most common. Which is nice. Again, variety is the spice of the life and skating does not fail to provide. Figure skating, Power Skating, Ice Dancing, Skills and even competitions for those who want to pursue them. There is so much to do in this field that it'll be hard to get bored.
Now, I'd always kind of tossed around the idea of getting back into skating in my head. Privately. Because it's not something I generally advertised out loud. Even to my fiancée, whom supports me through everything. But that's more or less where it had remained. In my head. It was only recently after meeting a good friend at my place of work that things kind of materialized in front of me. This friends daughter is big into figure skating and posts about her were constantly popping up in my news feed. This helped as a catalyst for me to really start considering going back into the sport. Just seeing her success made me smile. I will forever be thankful for the pair of them. Thank you Roxanne and Jocelyn for indirectly/directly re-igniting my passions. (No last names. This IS the internet after all.)
Now, this alone may not have nudged me into it. But I also have a rather special cousin. Who has pursued and followed his dreams no matter what gets in the way. He's gone from a teenager going through life to someone who has found his true passion and something I'm sure he will be successful at. It is his success and passion that also helped me decide to go back into skating. It's funny how the drive of the young can help us adults be brave enough to pursue our passions! So to my cousin, Brandon. Keep on keeping on bud!~
Jeeze, this is awfully sappy yet again. My bad. So then. My last post mentioned the 'freedom' on the ice. There is a certain freedom from the world that comes with skating and my other hobby, horseback riding. When I push myself out there and focus on the skill I find that for that while I can forget everything else. There is a certain solace in getting lost in a hobby and while some might see that as trying to escape reality, I disagree. We all need an escape once in a while, something to make us keep smiling and make the rest of world tolerable. Then there's the glide. That smooth motion as your skate moves over the ice. THAT feeling can't be reproduced anywhere else. Sliding on ice or something slippery just isn't the same.
Hopefully this is an interesting insight for some of you reading! That's about all I've got for tonight. I really enjoyed writing this. Thanks Rachel for the excellent idea!
Ciao for now!
Sam
Tuesday, 14 February 2017
What do I love about skating?
Hello once more!
So Ive had a few friends in the world of skating ask what I love about skating and while I have touched base on this in a few previous pieces I have a more solid answer that I feel expresses how I feel about it a bit more.
I think for me that skating represents a few things and has a few reasons why I love it. First, it was really the first real sport I jumped into as a kid, I have the most fond memories of it out of all the sports I did and for me it has a certain nostalgic appeal for me.
Second, there is something about skating that just "clicks" with me. I cant stop smiling, I want to do more and for the thirty or more minutes my lesson or skate session lasts it feels like Im free and can forget about all lifes problems. There is something about that smooth glide as you go into a swing roll or that fluttery feeling in your stomach when you figure it out.
It just makes me happy. There is also something special in the grace, beauty and skill that goes into figure skating and like many...I hope I can skate half as good as a girl! Haha.
Ive never once sat at a sporting event and just enjoyed watching but during a recent test night when I was meeting up with a friend and her daughter as well as the president of the club I found myself happy and intrigued just sitting and watching. No phones. No distractions just me, the ice and the amazing skaters at the club. It was lovely and the first time Ive ever done that.
But like I said, its thirty minutes of freedom. Thirty minutes of living how I feel I should have. While I may never get anywhere with it, at least I enjoy it.
This is turning out to be a sappy post isnt it? Sorry.
In other news. My last lesson for two weeks is friday. Lame. I hate rotating shifts sometimes! Anyways, thats all for today folks!
Ciao for now!
Sam
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