so excited! i signed up for a jump clinic ...

[TaBalie]

I am so excited! I signed up for a jump clinic taught by Elvis Stojko this Sat (in Sun Valley, ID), 8:30am-10:45am! It is for all levels (and I asked and reasked this question like ten times so it better be ;) )... I will post here and let everyone know how it goes!

[skippyjoy_207]

Ooh! Lucky... :) I'm almost certain I won't make it all the way to Sun Valley, but how'd you sign up for it anyway?

[TaBalie]

I live here, and was walking into the skate shop area and luckily I saw the flyer on the door! I knew he was skating in Saturday's ice show (I'm going to that as well yay!), but didn't know he would be offering this class.

If you are anywhere near the area, you can call the rink at 208-622-2194 and ask for Pam to sign up. It is $50 for two hours - an hour on the outdoor rink, and hour on the indoor.

[TashaKat]

Lucky you :)

Have a great time and we do expect a report AND piccies if you can get some :)

[TaBalie]

So this morning was the jump clinic with Elvis! ... I was worried it was going to be all little kids, but it was a fair mix. Mostly kids under 15, people working on singles to triples, and a few coaches as well. First thing I introduced myself to him and said "I am a previous skater *just* getting back into skating, but I am still excited to listen and learn." He was very friendly and enthusastic with everyone, regardless of their level.

He spent the first portion really emphasizing the physics and technical parts of all jumping, and what the core alignment is for all jumps. We worked on that with walt jumps, learning when to start the lift off to get the maxiumum lift, and really keeping in alignment. For about an hour we worked on this (waltz and axels), and I absorbed at a lot, and learned even more as he critiqued other skaters (I could see the difference made by keeping your shoulder behind your right hip, etc). He was coming to the clinic with the approach "As your are competeting, you need be an efficient jumper to be effective... If you don't have the correct technique, you end up working too hard to make the jumps work, and exhausting yourself before the end of your program." This was an excellent point, though it didn't apply to me directly (I don't plan on competing).

After an hour, we moved from the outdoor rink to the indoor rink, and went through all the jumps -- sal, loop, toe loop, flip, lutz, inside axel (SCARY). As an adult just getting back on the ice, I don't have all my singles back (toe loop and sal fine, loop and flip shaky, lutz and axel too frightened to attempt :oops: ). So he would dicuss the finer points, we would all practice, then come back, practice a few more, then move on to the next.

I made a massive and sudden improvement in my flip by altering the most simple thing, and landed every one, so that was exciting!

There were probably about 15-18 people in the class... I really had a great time absorbing information, and hope to put some of these techniques into practice. One thing I thought was too bad is that the girls that would have (should have) gotten the most of this clinic were the teens maybe 14-16 who were working on triples... But they spent the enitre class giggling under their breath, etc. Poor Elvis kept trying to make friends with them, but you know when you are that age you think adults are pretty dorky, and adults are even dorkier when they try and act cool (like Elvis was) LOL! These girls would just keep doing the jump the same way they always did it, not absorbing anything, which was too bad (but just human nature).

I am also going to the skating show tonight, and he will be performing... I look forward to see him jump, examining his technique, knowing that I know his approach and methods.

It was a great opportunity and if he is ever in your area and offers this clinic/class, I highly recommend it!

:)

[Kit kat]

I made a massive and sudden improvement in my flip by altering the most simple thing, and landed every one, so that was exciting!



:)


im glad you had fun~!!
what did you alter in your flip?
im having trouble with mine.. :??
thank you! :D

[TaBalie]

By really forcing and holding my right arm back and over my right hip (and my left should ahead and over my left) through the three turn until I put my pick down... My three turn was just too "loosey-goosey" before even though I was checking it hard. It is one of those things you hear your coach saying over and over but it just clicked for me finally! :)

[Skate@Delaware]

By really forcing and holding my right arm back and over my right hip (and my left should ahead and over my left) through the three turn until I put my pick down... My three turn was just too "loosey-goosey" before even though I was checking it hard. It is one of those things you hear your coach saying over and over but it just clicked for me finally!


Congrats on your flip! That's a hard one! We were taught to keep the 3-turn really flat by practicing on one of the hockey lines. It helps but it's still hard to do!

Any tips for the waltz you'd care to divulge? I'm just getting my body to remember to roll off the toe-pick while pushing up from my leg and really kicking through hard to get some height.

[TaBalie]

For the waltz/axel (he all had us do the same practice), he emphasized not only body position, but timing.

For body position, the core for every jump (providing you are a CCW spinner and jumper -- you are not, reverse what I am saying), the left shoulder should be locked ahead of the left hip (this should should also be the shoulder higher during lift off and in the air), and the right shoulder locked just behind the right hip. The arms are able to move, but the shoulders stay in place. This really comes into play when you are doing combo jumps, since you don't need to find your center and relignment between jumps.

We did excerises where we skated backwards on a circle, then stepped into the waltz/axel take off position (left should ahead, right shoulder back) and HELD IT held it held it!

Here comes the second part, timing... He had us visualize our jump circle, and as we skate approaching a jump, we must always initiate the jump at the quarter circle. If you jump too late (which is the tendency we have) we lose momentum and timing, and it can just all fall apart (especially on double & triple jumps). This is hard to explain! :) This is same as true for all the jumps... For example, on a salchow, you make the left outside three and at the 1/4 circle is when you initiate you jump. You get the most power from the point.

He also talked about how all jumps have places where you can increase power... On an axel, as you skate forward, (with your shoulders aligned as described above) you can bring yours arms furthur down and behind you, bend your knees, and increase the "flick" of your ankle on take off all to improve the power the of the jump. It is like pulling back a bow, to shoot an arrow. If you only pull back a little, the arrow doesn't go as far. The farther you pull the bow back, the more powerful the arrow flies. For each jump he talked about these "bow & arrow" points, sometimes it is switching an edge at the last minute, sometimes it is flicking the hip, etc. I took it all in, but I don't need more power in my jumps now, I need less power and less fear I think :P

Sorry I have made a mess out of explaining this!
:)

[Skate@Delaware]

Thanks! It's these little tips that go a long way--I didn't know about the push 'up' until 6 months of frustration (and a 12 year old explained it to me) :oops: I'm not smart enough to have figured it out on my own. Sometimes it's a challenge just to skate and breathe at the same time.

I'm always open to suggestions that improve my overall skating, as well as help my jumping (although I only have a decent waltz, I'm working on the loop). Sometimes instructors/coaches forget to mention these tips that might help us along.

I had an off-ice jump session as part of my fitness class-it was a real jewel! My biggest problem is lack of awareness of my body parts-been fighting that all my life, although it's much better than last year and she has been working with that! I have always been real klutzy and would have benefitted from dance/ballet when younger had it been available here in the sticks. Anyway, we did work on arm positioning and trying to get the free-leg into proper position which is an issue with me...(trying to do both at once-sheesh!). She did mention snapping the hip, so I do understand that (don't think there's much of me that I can snap on purpose, or quickly though), and I do understand the bow and arrow analogy. Our instructor also talked about bringing the arms up no higher than the shoulders because any higher and they don't do any good. I do my waltz jumps on the hockey circles so I can do the segment thing also.

[TaBalie]

Totally agree... So many things to think about at once! I am dropping my shoulder, my knee isn't bent enough, my timing is off, I am looking down, I am not checking my three-turn, etc etc etc. And I soon as I fix one thing, another part "breaks" LOL! :)

[Skate@Delaware]

Found another thing that is "broke" that is affecting my posture & my skating. When I went to my chiropractor I complained about a "new" pain in my shoulder, of course he asked if I had fallen while skating, which I hadn't. He felt around and said my supraspinatas or infraspinatus whatever (can't remember which one) was weak and trying to compensate for my poor posture (great).

So, yeah, I've been lazy with my posture exercises and now have to do them 3-4 times a day (even at the office-no problem they know I'm weird because I do leg lifts to strengthen my hip flexors and spin in my office chair :D )....

:giveup: I've had somewhat poor posture all my life and although it's gotten better, there's lots of room for improvement (even at the fogey age of 43). So, when your mom or coach says-stand up straight-you'd better listen!

So, with 20+ days until my home rink opens, I've got to get this fixed....I guess the pain should have clued me in. :oops:

[Mrs Redboots]

:giveup: I've had somewhat poor posture all my life and although it's gotten better, there's lots of room for improvement (even at the fogey age of 43). So, when your mom or coach says-stand up straight-you'd better listen!Trouble is, my coach tells me to relax my shoulders back. I keep trying to explain to him that if I relax, my shoulders go forwards, not back! It's a huge nuisance, as it always looks as though I'm looking down, even if I am not..... Grrr.... but my shoulders do not relax back! I can hold them back, if I have to (and then what happens to my knee-bend, or my extension, or even my edges????), but not relaxedly....

[Skate@Delaware]

Trouble is, my coach tells me to relax my shoulders back. I keep trying to explain to him that if I relax, my shoulders go forwards, not back! It's a huge nuisance, as it always looks as though I'm looking down, even if I am not..... Grrr.... but my shoulders do not relax back! I can hold them back, if I have to (and then what happens to my knee-bend, or my extension, or even my edges????), but not relaxedly....
I have a tendency to hunch my shoulders up when I skate; I actually have to concentrate hard to relax them down. When I relax, they hunch over and my shoulder blades stick out in back, causing me pain....it's a lose-lose situation. Even when taking riding lessons way back when, the instructor always yelled at me to un-hunch my shoulders and sit up straight.... :roll: