Hi,
There's a thread for "encouragement" for skaters:
* having $$ for 1-3 coaches,
* practicing double & triple jumps
* rotating thru tests, shows & competitions, like cheerios lol
Great!

Yet what about an "encouragement" thread for skaters:
not likely to do the above. I know a dozen+ such.

Would you positively-encourage... us too?

Hi again,

One of our friends at the rink practiced her mohawks
over a year, and she finally learned them!

me? Spiral: since 1st. one, have learned a few things.
Spin:
on my very 1st. try, I actually managed 2&1/2-rotations.
now, I'm trying to replicate that again, & add more.
Jump:
my 1st. bunny-hops, coach:"hey, some are really good".
(as a former mini ski-jumper, I like experience of flying).
Please, I'd like my back-outside-edges, for jumps
power-pulls: let's skip for a long while.
---
current-challenges:
1. Why do our legs switch?? sometimes,
from the Left, to the Right, being the stronger, like on F-edges.

2. Self-starting my F-crossovers. Once
I *trust* myself to get going, I get nice compliments!

3. backskating: past 1/2-swizzle, & free-foot forward,
I can't figger out how to Balance on the skating leg.
Please don't post that is dumb; we all learn these, I'm sure.

Thanks! for positive-encouragement, and suggestions!

.

As a coach, I actually get more excited when my adult skaters reach goals because it's much harder work for them to get there than the kids. One of my adults did her first true crossovers yesterday and I was so thrilled I almost cried!! It's so hard for us adults to make the time to get to the rink and then go consistently, even if it's once a week, to keep practicing, to concentrate on something besides all the things you "should" be doing, that it's a major success just to actually continue skating! Three of my adult skaters quit at the beginning of this year because of various financial issues--not that this doesn't happen to kids, but I think when something has to go, it's more likely to be your own activities than your kids' activities.
As a skater, it took me something like four years to get a scratch spin I felt was acceptable. Then I got my sit spin almost right away. I got my camel before I got a backspin that didn't tip me over during the exit. And I'm still trying to get a consistent loop. Everyone goes at their own pace--as long as you're out there doing it, it's all good!

__________________
You miss 100% of the shots you never take.--Wayne Gretzky

sk8lady, I agree...my coach was super thrilled when I finally got around two revolutions on my 1 foot spin...it took me almost a year just to get around from a T-entrance...lol. she was like, "yes, yes that's it!" and of course it took another half a year for it to get to where it is now...I get 4-5 revolutions on average, but I get super thrilled when I reach 6 which has only happened maybe 3x...but she knows how hard i've been trying and i could have gotten discouraged and quit but I didn't. some days i still don't spin well where I would only get 3-4 revolutions but she tells me to look at the overall picture of how far I've come and that makes me feel better.

sk8joyful, i am jealous that you actually enjoy bunny hops...my worst falls (including hitting my head) have come from those nasty guys i still don't like them, and I only practice them when my coach makes me!

as for me, i am still working on the courage to actually take off for the loop...i have been practicing on the floor but on the ice i just freak out. Also my coach has got me working on waltz jump-toe-toe-waltz jump...my "toe-toes" are still really itty bitty, but I have graduated from doing them holding on to the rails...

particularly when we are injured, plus household expenses fall on us. -
Often, I can't even get to the rink for 2 months.
Imagine a baby only getting walking-practice, every 2 months it might take years!!

an untrue, from a true crossover, How do you differentiate?, please

Fortunately (coming back from the dead ),
I developed this Skating-passion, that just keeps growing...

Congratulations!!! on each of your achievements

Do you have any Encouraging-suggestions, for:
"backskating: past 1/2-swizzle, & free-foot forward,
I can't figger out how to Balance on the skating leg."
Please don't post that is dumb; we all learn these, I'm sure.

Thanks!

I'd say a true crossover actually crosses where as an untrue one has the crossing foot in front of the other skate, but never fully crossed. Also for a true crossover, the foot crossing over stays on the ice and an untrue one sort of steps

I was at Friday Coffee Club when I saw a woman my age doing respectable mohawks and 3 turns with the Adult LTS coach making suggestions. When I saw him later I asked if that was one of his students. "Oh, yes, "he said, "she has 3 turns and mohawks down after only 4 lessons. In another week or so I'm going to have to kick her out of LTS into private, she's so good."

I felt blackest skater despair. I've been skating for two years, slaved away at every element. Showed determination, stick-to-itiveness, etc. I know I don't have natural skating talent, but I realized I could have negative talent where you're so bad that no matter how much you practice everyone is passing you by and you're just pouring money down the drain. I was sitting there staring at my skates, thinking about Ebay, when one of the women ice-dancers came up. "So and so is so proud of how fast his student is learning. I just spoke to her, of course she skated as a child."

Hooray! If she skated as a child, I can't compare my skills to hers! She's got muscle memory from the sixties! I'm not giving up skating!

__________________
Great forum quotes:
On Falling: '...it doesn't matter, it's what you do AFTER you fall that's more important' ISK8NYC

I'm on the fence right now, between finances (full-time student) and health issues....I've been skating for 6 years and feel as though my skills are deteriorating, not improving.

I had skated a small bit as a teenager, maybe 20 times on a frozen cow pond (does that count for anything) but I didn't KNOW how to do anything...now I'm 47 and have trouble doing a decent crossover due to muscular/neuromuscular imbalances.

But, for the rest of you, keep it up and ENJOY it!!! It is a fun sport!!! I have enjoyed it immensely for what it's given me!

And yes, adults learn at a different pace....3 years for a decent (i.e. recognizable) scratch spin, 4+ for a loop (still struggling with that one) etc.

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

AgnesNitt, I have been there before...I got kicked out of my adults class because I "outgrew" it and the instructor told my privates coach (i was supplementing my group class with 15 min private lessons wtih her during the practice time) that I should really move to the Freestyle 1 class, never mind if i was with the kiddies. It was all well and good until I got to freestyle 2 and the dang spin was holding me back...one by one my classmates were passing me by and moving on to FS 3 (never mind that I was like 26 and they were like 8, the oldest being 14 years old)...it was very rough on the ego..

Well . . . I skated briefly as a middle schooler and again in college and could actually DO a few things, 29 years and around 50+ pounds ago. And now I am struggling mightily with three turns and mowhawks, and don't get me started on waltz jumps! Another skater at my rink - an adult in her early 40's who has skated on and off for years and is practicing silver moves but frustrated that she isn't farther along, swears that it is NOT like riding a bicycle - this stuff can be a lot mor challenging when one is older. Keep at it. If you love it then it's never money down the drain, it's money and time spent pursuing what you enjoy and investing in your own well-being. I've yet to meet an adult skater who is actually headed toward Olympic glory. On the other hand, I've met quite a few who struggle with their elements, feel a real sense of accomplishment when they do make gains, and get a little bit healthier and more fit with each practice session!

I'm muddling along in my quest to regain the skills I had 13+ years ago. Things that were so easy back then just don't seem to want to come back for me now. I've been feeling pretty frustrated lately as I feel like I'm regressing rather than progressing. I'm also in a group this session where I am the only adult and the instructor does not seem to know what to do with me. Her answer to all of my woes is to tell me to go do bubbles.

I have a feeling that at some point, things will just click again and I'll start feeling like I'm regaining things. But right now...ugh!

Hurrah! for you!! And you've been skating, only 2 years.
~
Well, I'm not giving up either, I don't care what some kids, & coaches, at our rink think.

I've overcome health challenges, the likes of which they (THANK God!) have no clue about.
Had they been saddled with them, I know 9/10 would never have laced-up in the 1st. place,
let alone continue tootling...-along. And besides, the few Skaters who do know, continue encouraging me.

Sure, I'd like to progress faster..., but I just remind myself how far I have already come, and I am well-pleased!
.

Hi Skate-delaware,

You have (due to 'neuromuscular imbalances') trouble with your crossovers? -
I'm asking, because when I first started, nothing in my body worked, well maybe 10% ), and so I forced-myself into skates,
in the hope that I would regain my health, via a FUN-passion. - And somehow, with lots of fits & starts,
(mostly fits like a major STROKE for lack of a better word), I have started to FEEL... what I'm doing on top of my blades.

Can you share about how you are dealing with your challenges, to help you progress, & maybe this would help me/others too, yes? Thanks!
.

Hi Sessy,
ok, thanks!! for these. - I only vaguely-recall, what it was like for me, to not "fully-cross, & stay there".
This part comes not only natural for me now, in addition I LIKE staying Crossed-over.

But I just recently discovered one reason why:
because I never got the fact that we are to TRANSFER weight, to the Crossed-over foot.
because I couldn't get the weight-Transfer...
that lack-of-skill was partly why I shy-away from 'Self-starting';

Funny-thing is: Once I get going... & STOP over-analyzing, and
allow my speed to advance (from the frozen-molasses stage) lol, ---- then,
it all seems to Come-together, like "what was my problem, THIS is almost EASY"

I'm sure other skaters have gone thru these Learning...stages.

Gee, when?? do I get to the point that my Crossovers are AUTOMATIC !!!
.

Basically, what amyvw said.

It does depend what kind of skating people did when they were kids. I did group classes once a week for a couple of years in my early teens. Was learning basic jumps when the rink shut down. So it was low level and infrequent, meaning that coming back as an adult, I have a point of reference, but other than that it basically hasn't helped me at all, and I'm still struggling with the three turns and mohawks that I could do perfectly well at 15.

Unfortunately, the one thing I need is the one thing that nobody can teach me, which is confidence. So skating and me are probably a bad match, all things considered!

I think you hit the nail on the head. For me, I think a huge part of this is confidence issues. I have moments where I seem to forget that I basically did not skate at all for more than 13 years and I catch myself doing something without thinking and then I startle myself back into reality. LOL.

I knew coming back after such a long hiatus would be hard, but I did not expect my progress back to where I was to be so slow. Everyone keeps insisting that "it will come back". I'm still waiting.

And on another note...I'm still not 100 percent sure I have my left blade set correctly (which exacerbates my confidence issues). I had it moved further inside (big pronation issues with my left foot) in December and am still thinking it may need to move a little more (though not sure how much more it can move). I still feel like it takes such major effort to get/hold that left outside edge. I'm not sure how much of my problem with that is just in my head or if it's still a matter of further correcting the blade position to help offset the pronation. I'm determined to solve this if it kills me.

Probably never... I take a perverse pleasure in hearing coaches telling their high-level (and very lovely, highly-skilled) competitive skaters (who have even passed all their Gold dances above the passing mark) "You need to smooth out your crossovers".. and spending 10-15 minutes per lesson working on crossovers. It's the one thing the kids and I can commiserate on.. how crossovers are never automatic.. we ALWAYS have to work on them.

Well, I am aware - I have seen the difference, even in Olympic-skaters, that still need work...
But I didn't quite mean it like that, I'm NOT equating "automatic = perfection".

I just meant, Skating my crossovers... with less conscious-attention, & more Relaxed...
In the same way
that you tieing your shoes is NOW "automatic", because you have mastered this skill; understand now better

haha once I was on the ice with our dutch champion and her coach was yelling at her "Bend your knees! Keep your back straight" and stuff like that. I thought - they pay HIM money for that? Isn't it just easier to put a recording on the speakers?

I came to like the crossovers at some point. That point was when I realised I could use both the inside and the outside edge of both skates to push off.

Wouldn't it be great if skates had little lift-off rockets that you could fire whenever you needed to start skating from a standstill? When I got my programme I, too, realised that yes my crossovers were pretty good (for my time skating) once I was finally doing them, but it took me forever to get started. I started practicing a couple of crossovers - then a backward stop - then another couple of crossovers - another stop. The same for forwards crossovers, except with a show stop. That way, both my stops and crossovers improved. But I think I could go on practicing just that for a few more years before I get any good at it.

Well, as it took me almost a year (!) to get really comfortable with "true" crossovers, I'd like to post a couple of comments--cause I did so much wrong that I've learned just about every thing wrong to fix

1. You really need to be on your outside edge AND you need to lean in the circle--I spent 5 mos, on the outside edge but leaning out of the circle or not leaning at all. I've seen a lot of other adult learners be either straight up or leaning out, so how did I fix it? See step 2.

2. A coach told me to work on crossing the foot over then HOLDING it in the crossed over position. This was scary for a few days, but I kept at it and it worked. I really got confidence in my edges and I got the right position. When I was still uncomfortable with my crossovers I'd do a couple of cross and holds both ways--and voila! it would reset my body memory-- line up my edges, body position, and lean then I could do crossovers for the rest of the session perfectly.

3. Then I had a coach make me do forward crossovers FACING OUTWARDS! Talk about really giving you good technique. (It also impresses the heck out of people).

My forward crossovers are crisp, nicely edged, and I can do them facing in or out of the circle.

My back crossovers are AWFUL!

__________________
Great forum quotes:
On Falling: '...it doesn't matter, it's what you do AFTER you fall that's more important' ISK8NYC

I would add: leaning into the circle doesn't mean to actually lean OVER into the circle--you don't want to drop the inside shoulder as that will throw you off balance. I went to a power skating clinic once where the instructor suggested thinking about dropping the OUTSIDE shoulder without actually doing it. For a lot of us that keeps the shoulders level and makes for a balanced crossover. Physically leaning into the circle, like an airplane banking for a landing, drop the weight into the circle and onto the inside foot too early.
The same instructor had us do the exercise you mentioned, crossing over and holding the foot up, while holding the inside edge for so long that you spiral around in a circle. (It was a hockey clinic so a bunch of the kids fell on their heads.)
The other drill I have students do is to do crossovers without picking either foot up. Then when they do the crossover it's often a lot smoother and loses the clunky feeling.
With back crossovers, the most important thing to remember is that it's not done like a forward crossover--if you try to do it the same way only backwards you get a weird little hoppy thing. The outside foot actually doesn't ever need to come up off the ice.

__________________
You miss 100% of the shots you never take.--Wayne Gretzky

Hi people,

Apparently my post above got lost in this shuffle; this one:
Would you please speak to this part: "get the weight-Transfer...
that lack-of-skill was partly why I shy-away from 'Self-starting' " <-- SELF...start is my main hang-up grrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Thanks!

Absolutely true! When learning the power circles for the Intermediate/Adult Gold moves in the field, my coach helped me fix all the problems on my CW forward crossovers by telling me to press down on my outside shoulder. Basically, you are leaning into the circle from the hips down, so you have to counter-balance that by pressing your outside shoulder down and leaning your head and shoulder a bit to the outside of the circle. This holds true whether you're doing forward or backward crossovers.

Another thing that holds true in both forward and backward crossovers is that your chest should always be facing the inside of the circle. In other words, if you're doing left-over right crossovers, the right shoulder is pulled back and the left shoulder is in front so your chest is rotated to the right and your chest faces inside the circle. For right-over-left crossovers, the left shoulder stays pulled back and the right shoulder is in front so your chest is rotated to the left and once again faces the inside of the circle.

Look at the front skater (a speed skater) in this picture doing a Crossover. Ignore the upper body position, which is not right for figure skating, but look at the legs. Can you see how the leg that crossed over is now deeply bent and the other leg is extended behind and to the side? By bending that crossed-over leg, the skater transfers his weight and balance onto that leg. Once he feels that he is now balanced over the crossed over leg (the right leg), he can just keep the other leg in its current position and lift it a few inches off the ice. He will hold that position and glide, then bring it back into position next to the right leg and push off onto it, then do another crossover.

So the weight transfer process is:
(1) You have your weight on your left leg, which is bent
(2) You cross the right leg over it so that now your weight is on both feet., then
(3) you bend your right knee deeply and wait until you feel that you are now balanced on the right thigh
(4) Now you can just lift up the left foot, which should be extended behind you (still crossed under the right leg), with the outside of the foot facing the ice.

Try it on the floor in regular shoes first, bending both knees, crossing right over left with a wide step-over, then lifting the left foot off the floor a few inches once you have your weight on the right foot.

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"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics

In late 2007 I injured my lower back (herniated a lumbar disc); had severe pain & numbness in my left leg after that. It was hard to stand or sit; I had to wear a leg brace because of foot-drop. In February of 2008 I had a surgical repair. I had to have intensive rehab before and after the surgery, which didn't really deal with imbalance. Fast forward to today, I'm back in rehab to deal with lingering lower back pain. I still have left leg weakness and imbalance from my right side overcompensating. I still have some residual numbness in my left foot which interferes with getting the "feel" of the ice at times.

So, through it all I still skated, but now I am dealing with this setback/relapse in my skills and tend to be more tentative when I do skate. I still jump and spin but have failed to progress any. I'm frustrated on many levels.

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

There is one! It's called "deeply bent knees"

In addition to what doubletoe said above, I have my students do crossovers while standing still. For example, stand with feet about shoulder distance apart. Bend L knee to get weight onto L foot. Raise R knee, crossing over the L and lower your body down onto the R foot without straightening out the R knee. This should result in a definitive shift of weight from L to R. Do four or five in a row, each time focussing on the shift of weight. Hold hands with someone and do it together if you need the security. Another weight shifting exercise that I bring in when a student sticks the crossing foot in front without lifting the knee, is to stand at the boards (hold on), and bend one knee deeply, letting the other foot slide back and straighten.

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