I signed up for an April 5th test of my juvenile moves since the February test session was already full. It seems far away now but I know it will come up more quickly than I think. The back power threes are the hardest move for me on the test and still need work. There are no easier levels for juvenile, so I’m testing at the standard level.
At my lesson last week Kim said that my counterclockwise power three circle looked ready. My response to that wavers between surprised and cautiously pleased to highly doubtful. Today, for example, I wasn’t able to get around the counterclockwise circle even once in several attempts. I kept losing control of the turns and having to put my foot down. Sometimes I’ll complete the circle but be too dizzy to continue successfully onto the second circle.
I’ll often have to stop after the first or second turn on the second side. I don’t know why it’s not the better side since I’m a clockwise skater. I need better control through the turns on that left foot.
I wonder whether it could still be an issue from my back injury, but Kim is thinking it’s lack of strength in the free right hip, lack of core strength, and not being comfortable leaning back a little after the turn. I let the free right leg get away from me during the turn and there’s a constant struggle not to lean forward. In this video you can see that most on the second turn on the second circle.
Kim has some good exercises for me to do. She says the first two turns are the hardest, if I can do those well I’ll be fine. So she has me practicing the turn combination one at a time on alternating half-circles down the rink. After I get better at that, she’ll want me to do them two at a time.
With my mom visiting and shortened freestyle hours through the holidays I only got in a half an hour skate the last couple of days. I spent the time all on this move, which was a bit too much time for me to work on it.
The back three turns often scrape because they are not on a good edge, and the pressure of scraping through the turn instead of gliding freely starts to hurt my knees and back. If I could get good power on the push and lean back into the turn consistently, the turns would be smooth. That would be better all around.
Related Posts:
Juvenile Moves: Testing on the Horizon? Picking a date to test my juvenile moves, notes on my eight-step mohawk sequence.- Six days to my Juvenile Moves test Final preparation for my juvenile moves test.
Placating the God of Skating Working on my juvenile moves and the backward power three-turn sequence.
Skating Brackets Practicing brackets for my adult gold moves in the field test (with video).
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
Mary, that’s great that you’ve signed up to test! I like the flow on these power threes. I’ve struggled with back outside threes as well, so I know how hard it to maintain speed on these. My coaches have diagnosed my problem in similar ways–I am trying to keep a consistent lean and edge into and through the three turn. What I usually do wrong is to either rise to a flat and then try to turn, or let my hips back out from under me rather than preserving a good edge. I have been working a lot on just the back outside edge part, making sure that I’m really secure on a good edge (with good back and hip posture and getting rid of so much anterior pelvic tilt) and then just practicing the ankle bend part. It seems to help (or at least make it less terrifying!)
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Thanks! Yes getting speed on those back outside threes is important but hard. More speed would improve the edge and therefore the turn. But I don’t have the control to handle that speed. Like you I have to keep working on my posture. I’m not sure what you mean by the ankle bend part. You must mean pressing down before and after the turn, or the little release through the turn.
Yes, bending the ankle is pressing and then releasing. But I tend to initiate the turn by using my upper body twist and/or letting my backside go out, which is not efficient or controlled.
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You got this, Mary! I noticed that you tend to stay down on your knees during the three. Can you try to rise up after the turn? I think it will help with your flow out of those and make the transition smoother.
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Hmm, I’m going to have to ask my coach about that. I was recently told to press down with my foot after the turn to get a better forward inside edge. Maybe you mean rise up during the turn, not after?
Sending good vibes for your preparation the next few months!
Thanks Brittany!
Mary, that’s great that you’re signed up to test Juvenile moves. I am in awe of you going back to the standard track to test. You inspired me to work on those back power-3’s. Ugh, nowhere near the quality of yours but I didn’t balk on my harder side so that’s improvement.
Thanks Melissa. I guess I just wanted to keep working on moves. It has been several years so far on this one, as you know. The back power threes can really get out of control. On the other hand they are a really good skill to work on. I’m glad you were feeling game for both sides. I hope you’ll enjoy the process of working on this crazy move.