What Skating moves have you just found yourself capable to do,and enjoy doing?

[FSWer]

Ok fellow skaters!!! What I want to know from you today is...what skating moves have you just found yourself capable of..and enjoy doing? I myself as I mentioned in my Reports have found myself capable of and really enjoy skating on my Edges. I also enjoy skating into the Boards when the time comes. BTW. does anyone know if there is an offical name for the move you do to glide into the Boards off ice?

[fsk8r]

I've just worked out that I can do forward change of edge spirals. Any edge change, any foot. Some of the changes need to be made a bit quicker, but they're all in spiral positions so I'm quite chuffed with that. Couldn't do them last time I tried to do them so was a nice surprise.
Need to pluck up the courage to try them backwards (or better still an empty rink!).

[londonicechamp]

Hi

Currently I enjoy very much doing change foot spins. Even my coach said that they are coming along nicely, during my lesson yesterday. :lol:

I also like doing sit spins. As per one of my UK friend's advice, I have started doing wall squats and one foot (right leg squat) on a daily basis, my sit spin is now a bit lower. They were even centred during my practice yesterday. :D

Occasionally, I like the scratch spins too.

londonicechamp

[flo]

I am enjoying rockers now that they're better!

[SkatEn]

I didn't know I could do it, but wow. I put my arms behind and twisted my upper body in a sit spin. Super fast, and really dizzying.

I did back power pulls rocker pull. It was fun because I didn't know I could do it! I saw someone doing it, so I tried, haha.

[FSWer]

BTW. how do you put speed on going backwards?

[Mel On Ice]

I've always enjoyed spirals. I learned the spread eagle on a whim when I was trying unsuccessfully to do some sort of spin.

[Skittl1321]

BTW. how do you put speed on going backwards?

The same way as when you go forward. You need to get very comfortable moving slowly, and then once you are comfortable, you push a little harder.

[sk8joyful]

Ok fellow skaters!!!
what skating moves have you just found yourself capable of..and enjoy doing?

I found myself capable of, and really enjoy skating on my Edges.

Congrats!! on enjoying your 'edges', as most skating is done (not on the flat)
but on one part of an edge ;) or another ~ I love skating my edges too! ;)

Once I get going on my fxo's, I am told they look "very smooth & graceful" :D
And too, I yearn for a boe, so I can finish! nice Waltz-jumps (without the current 1-hand assist) I'm so excited about jumping...
Now to figgering-out Spins. I try skating lunges & spirals, all forward still; and as I allow myself to play... (& ignore re looking silly :oops:), then sometimes they actually happen... :D lol
.

[TiggerTooSkates]

The other day, and quite by accident, I found myself doing very tentative BXOs COUNTERCLOCKWISE, which for me is a very big deal. I've been told my clockwise ones are very nearly perfect - I love them; I feel like I'm flying.

Now to get my blades sharpened and do them CCW in earnest...

[Morgail]

Pancake spins, when they actually work! They make me super dizzy. :lol:

[CoachPA]

I also like doing sit spins. As per one of my UK friend's advice, I have started doing wall squats and one foot (right leg squat) on a daily basis, my sit spin is now a bit lower. They were even centred during my practice yesterday. :D

londonicechamp

Great exercises, but make sure you practice doing one-foot wall squats on both legs (right and left) as you'll eventually need to have strength in your left leg for your back sit as well.

[FSWer]

Pancake spins, when they actually work! They make me super dizzy. :lol:

LOL,ok. Could someone please explain a BXO. Move and a Pancake Spin to me? Those are sure new ones to me.

[Skittl1321]

BXO is an abbreviation for Back Cross over.

A pancake spin is a variation of a sit spin, the leg you stand on is bent just like a regular sit spin, but instead of being out in front of you, the leg rests on top of your knee and your body bends over.
Here is a picture: http://www.sk8strong.com/t//pancake_spin.jpg and another one http://www.nancarrow-webdesk.com/warehouse/storage2/2008-w44/img.394987_t.jpg (which was actually posted in a recent thread that had this discussion! Your arm's don't have to go up like that, it makes it much harder)

[Skate@Delaware]

Forward power pulls; which I could not do very well before (if at all). I like trying to get a lot of knee bend in them and getting a lot of blade "rip" noise!

[Kim to the Max]

The Junior Power Pulls :) I've been struggling with these for a while, and somehow, someway, something clicked!

[niupartyangel]

I am really proud of my y spiral since it is something i have been working on off ice as well as on ice for awhile now. And today I was able to do it on my left leg (right leg skating) as well, which is my less flexible side. But I got it up, and got gliding :)

[caffn8me]

I'm not up to the stage of doing a Y spiral yet (more stretching needed) but I can manage a plain vanilla spiral with the free foot higher than the hip and turned out. I really need to work on flexibility in my spine to get the body more upright though.

No face plants yet and I can consistently travel most of the length of the rink (olympic size) without wobbling! I can go round corners too ;)

Given that I've only had six Skate UK (Learn to skate) group classes and four private 30 minute lessons, I'm quite pleased with this as people who have been taught spirals tell me mine is fine and very steady. I am self taught and I guess it answers Is it possible to teach yourself a Spiral? (http://www.skatingforums.com/showthread.php?t=26510)

I just wish I'd got my act together when my friend, dani, posted this thread about me back in 2002; Question for my British friends! (http://www.skatingforums.com/showthread.php?t=2663). Well, I now skate at Streatham but will be at Guildford in an hour and a bit for blade sharpening before a lesson back at Guildford. I also occasionally skate at Oxford. I should be skating with dani in Florida in about five weeks :)

I had never had lessons when I skated about an hour a week in Oxford back around 1990. I finally got my act together and took up skating again the last week of February this year with group lessons and stopped for three months the last week in April as I managed to fracture my wrist (not doing anything fancy - just standing still chatting after practising two foot spins for Skate UK 5). I started again in July.

Sarah

[Mrs Redboots]

My favourite move is back inside loops, which I find relatively easy - but people gasp and say, "Wow, those are hard". Er, they can't be hard - I can do them!

[fsk8r]

My favourite move is back inside loops, which I find relatively easy - but people gasp and say, "Wow, those are hard". Er, they can't be hard - I can do them!

I've just learnt all 8 of the loops and can safely say the 4 insides are easy (forward or backward) and the 4 outsides are horrific with back outsides verging on impossible (despite my coach saying that she finds back outsides the easiest!). Now why did I suggest to her that I could do the creative skating competition in dunkerque?
Bizarrely they were apparently on the old Silver figures test but now are Level 10 on the new field moves system. Another example of declining exam standards?

[liz_on_ice]

I love B3 turns - all of them, they are just cool. :D
Good thing I like them - ISI FS4 dance step sequence has all 8 threes.

[Mrs Redboots]

I've just learnt all 8 of the loops and can safely say the 4 insides are easy (forward or backward) and the 4 outsides are horrific with back outsides verging on impossible (despite my coach saying that she finds back outsides the easiest!). Now why did I suggest to her that I could do the creative skating competition in dunkerque?

Well, you only have to do the easy ones for those, don't you? I'm glad you're having a go at that; I should have quite liked to, but wasn't quite sure what they were asking us to do! I mean, whose Field Moves? Ours? The American ones (similar but different)? French ones (do they even have Moves tests in France)? And when a Move normally takes up the whole rink, what do they mean by incorporating it in a step sequence - would they count, for instance, one change-of-edge on each foot followed by a crossover/held inside edge (both taken from Level 3 moves) which would get you the whole length of the rink?

I shall watch what people do, and see if it's anything I can work up for next year.....

[FSWer]

Well, you only have to do the easy ones for those, don't you? I'm glad you're having a go at that; I should have quite liked to, but wasn't quite sure what they were asking us to do! I mean, whose Field Moves? Ours? The American ones (similar but different)? French ones (do they even have Moves tests in France)? And when a Move normally takes up the whole rink, what do they mean by incorporating it in a step sequence - would they count, for instance, one change-of-edge on each foot followed by a crossover/held inside edge (both taken from Level 3 moves) which would get you the whole length of the rink?

I shall watch what people do, and see if it's anything I can work up for next year.....

BTW. anyone know the trick to putting speed on skating backwards?

[Kim to the Max]

BTW. anyone know the trick to putting speed on skating backwards?

When I teach kids, it's all about "sitting at the kitchen table eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich" :)

And, learning to hula hoop :)

[niupartyangel]

A lot of knee bend and wiggling side to side (at least when starting out for me).

[londonicechamp]

Hi CoachPA

Yes, the one foot wall squats are great exercises. My coach said that my sit spins were not too bad this week. Just said that I have to try to not lean too backwards during my practice. Otherwise, I will almost always fall when I do them on the ice.

londonicechamp

[doubletoe]

Hi CoachPA

Yes, the one foot wall squats are great exercises. My coach said that my sit spins were not too bad this week. Just said that I have to try to not lean too backwards during my practice. Otherwise, I will almost always fall when I do them on the ice.

londonicechamp

To practice the balance and proper position off-ice, do your one-foot squat wearing a 2" to 3" heel. It will force you to balance on the ball of the foot and keep your weight forward as you go down into it and back up. It will feel exactly like that when you are in skates, with a heel and a rounded rocker.
Keep your back arched and chin up and push your free leg forward as you lower yourself into it. You'll know you are in the correct position (with skating thigh parallel to the ice/floor) when you can feel the calf of your skating/standing leg pressing against the inside of the thigh of the free leg.

[niupartyangel]

will the above exercise help with doing shoot the ducks?

[SkatEn]

To practice the balance and proper position off-ice, do your one-foot squat wearing a 2" to 3" heel. It will force you to balance on the ball of the foot and keep your weight forward as you go down into it and back up. It will feel exactly like that when you are in skates, with a heel and a rounded rocker.
Keep your back arched and chin up and push your free leg forward as you lower yourself into it. You'll know you are in the correct position (with skating thigh parallel to the ice/floor) when you can feel the calf of your skating/standing leg pressing against the inside of the thigh of the free leg.
I beg to differ on the part about wearing heels when doing wall squats. The shape and angle of the footbeds of heels and skates are not the same. I highly doubt my skates are like 3" heels. The angle of the footbed is a gradual linear decline while I shudder to wear 3" heels, moreover to put the entire weight of my body on the forefoot of one foot.

I'm not a professional, but going at it from a basic logic, mathematical and science perspective, it probably won't help because the feeling cannot be the same at all. When I do my sit spin, I don't have so much weight on the ball. In fact, if I don't think about it, the weight shifts are really subtle for me.

To help sit spin - falls. Just go for it. It's good one-footed wall squats are done, but keep in mind not to let the knee go over the line of your toes. It's bad for the knee. We all know that the feeling of skating on ice is always imitated, but never duplicated.:lol:

BTW, a good shoot the duck doesn't guarantee a good sit spin. But it does help. I can't do a very nice left shoot the duck (right free leg up), but my forward sit is all the way down. My right shoot the duck can lower gradually, quickly, anyway I like, and come up, all nicely. But save me for my backsit.

I digress.
will the above exercise help with doing shoot the ducks?
Wall squats help with shoot the ducks.
What I did was easier - when you're sitting on a chair, raise your leg, straighten your knee. Hold it there for 20 second. If you can do that, hold it for even longer. And when you think your strength is up, put a backpack or a hard cover novel on your lap while you do the same. It trains your quads like crazy. Best is you can do it in school, at work, watching TV, and you don't need to take too much effort in it.

Good luck!

[londonicechamp]

Hi SkatEn

That sounds great. I will try the exercise that you suggest. :lol:

I have only been skating once last week, coz I have not been feeling well for most of the week, for my right tummy ache. Currently the cause is still unknown. Will have ultrasound scan done tomorrow morning. Hopefully it won't be anything too serious.

I am going to Hong Kong for a week, if the test goes well tomorrow, from Tuesday (1 to 7 Sept), as my husband has annual leave this week.

So I shall see you again next week.

londonicechamp

[niupartyangel]

Thanks, I will try that at work since I...sit at the computer all day LoL

[doubletoe]

I beg to differ on the part about wearing heels when doing wall squats. The shape and angle of the footbeds of heels and skates are not the same. I highly doubt my skates are like 3" heels. The angle of the footbed is a gradual linear decline while I shudder to wear 3" heels, moreover to put the entire weight of my body on the forefoot of one foot.

I'm not a professional, but going at it from a basic logic, mathematical and science perspective, it probably won't help because the feeling cannot be the same at all. When I do my sit spin, I don't have so much weight on the ball. In fact, if I don't think about it, the weight shifts are really subtle for me.

To help sit spin - falls. Just go for it. It's good one-footed wall squats are done, but keep in mind not to let the knee go over the line of your toes. It's bad for the knee. We all know that the feeling of skating on ice is always imitated, but never duplicated.:lol:

BTW, a good shoot the duck doesn't guarantee a good sit spin. But it does help. I can't do a very nice left shoot the duck (right free leg up), but my forward sit is all the way down. My right shoot the duck can lower gradually, quickly, anyway I like, and come up, all nicely. But save me for my backsit.

I digress.

Wall squats help with shoot the ducks.
What I did was easier - when you're sitting on a chair, raise your leg, straighten your knee. Hold it there for 20 second. If you can do that, hold it for even longer. And when you think your strength is up, put a backpack or a hard cover novel on your lap while you do the same. It trains your quads like crazy. Best is you can do it in school, at work, watching TV, and you don't need to take too much effort in it.

Good luck!

I wasn't actually suggesting 2" - 3" heels for wall squats, I was suggesting the 2"-3" heel for one-legged deep knee bends that simulate the position and balance of a sitspin. In a sitspin, you must lift the heel off the ice and have all of your weight on the ball of the blade, right behind the toepick. Otherwise, you either can't get low enough or you fall backward when you finally do get low enough (or even worse, you catch the back of your blade in the ice).
For a forward shoot the duck, the weight is farther back on the blade, so I agree with you about not wearing the heel to practice the forward shoot-the-duck position (although for a backward shoot-the-duck your weight should be on the ball of the blade, so that's an excellent sitspin exercise).