Named as such here because Russian born coaches introduced it.

And for the longest time I had wondered about this mysterious "Russian stroking"! Of course my coach then is Russian and he would always say "stroking". Nothing special about that...

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Except I don't think what I'd call russian stroking would pass the bronze test because you don't hold the edge as long.

j

Granted, it's supposed to be quicker, J, but sessy was trying to visualize and it was the only thing quickly available!

I laugh at the names of things from one of the Russian coaches at our rink:

Jacksons (rocker-Choctaws from Novice moves, but quicker and flatter)
Hamiltons (quick Mohawks)
Rodninas (like the power threes on Prelim MIF but with Mohawks instead of 3 turns)

Many of the skaters here, including my husband, warm up by running round the outside of the rink - indoors, I mean, but round the outside of the barriers. I remember the day I saw Dame Kelly Holmes, when she was in Dancing on Ice doing that - she ran round the outside faster than most people skate round the inside!

You can do it in all sorts of ways - in our current Level 3 Moves you hold the edge for half the length of the rink (and it has to be an edge, not a flat, so there's a definite curve), but you can also hold the edge for much shorter times, which is hard in a different way!

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Mrs Redboots
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I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

off ice - i jog in place for a bit, then i jump up and land in my landing position a couple of times. then i stretch.

on ice - i usully take like 2 laps around and then i warm up with the MITF for whatever im getting ready to test.

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I agree with the warmup without skates. See what your physio therapist says. Hope that achilles feels better soon!!

I usually try to have 15-25 min for off-ice warmup and putting on skates. I do light light jogging in place to get my feet and ankle muscles warmed up, then jog around the rink or do gentle leg swings while holding onto a banister to get my heart rate up. Then I stretch my achilles tendons one by one on a stair step (holding for about 20-30 seconds), then lightly stretch quads. I stretch my piriformis by holding onto a banister and standing on one foot, with the ankle of the other foot resting on the thigh of my standing foot (think pancake spin). I try to warm up my shoulders and arms by doing shoulder rolls and arm swings. I don't do any deep groin stretches or hamstring stretches until after I skate--if I'm not warmed up for them, I feel like I'm pulling things I shouldn't be.

Lately, I've also started doing balance exercises. Jordan Miller came to a skating club meeting recently to discuss mental and physical off- and on-ice preparation, and one of the things he said worked well for him was to do balance exercises before even stepping on the ice. I stand on one foot with my eyes closed and with the free leg similar to backspin position (letter h), trying to hold my balance as long as possible. Then I do the other leg. Then I do the same with the leg in landing position.

Another thing I try to do throughout the day, to keep my piriformis and lower back happy is to do the child's pose from yoga. The rink floor is usually too gross to do that, though, but I do the pose when I wake up, at work, when I get home, and when I go to bed.

On ice, I usually do slaloms, then some forward stroking, then like Jazzpants:
Then I work on some other of the Silver moves, sometimes also work on crossover technique forwards and backwards, then spins and jumps.

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