Sk8 to Eliminate
The Sk8toEliminate show brought together skating friends from around the state and even the country. We had a fun time and I hope we raised a lot of money to help Seattle Children’s beat cancer. Thanks to one of my faithful readers for making a generous donation to the cause!
Our Ice Buds group performed two numbers to the music from LaLaLand and disco themes. The kids of one of our members joined us this time and looked super cute out there. Our group hadn’t practiced together much this summer, but we had fun and folks seemed to enjoy the numbers, especially the disco one.
In my own skating, I’ve been making progress on my ‘Believe’ program for the winter holiday shows and on my juvenile moves. Since my moves test almost four months ago I’ve improved my eight-step mohawk sequence and my cross-rolls. I got obsessive about trying to do the mohawks in the eight-step mohawk sequence without scraping. I literally made an Excel spreadsheet of my success rate on my cell phone, and I made some progress.
Ty had told me back in January that I wasn’t stepping on to a good outside edge on the third step (or even on the first step of the circle), which made it impossible to do a good mohawk. He showed me that I should do a “patch push” to get a good edge: starting with the free foot about halfway back against the skating foot (pressed to the instep), then bending, rotating the pushing foot out well and pushing it off at a diagonal. Basics, but so important and really does get me onto a good outside edge. Somehow I wasn’t able to implement his teaching before my test, but I think I have it now.
The next problem is maintaining that outside edge through the turn, which has been so hard for me to learn. As I asked a friend, “How can it be so hard to lean back?” But it is. It’s easy to let the weight of the extended free leg pull you forward, destroying both your edge and your posture. It really does help to actually start in the correct position by stroking off on a good edge. Besides that, I’ve been able to get the feeling of sort of sucking in my free leg to me instead of letting my body lean forward a bit to meet it.
I’m taking some time off the ice here in the heart of summer, enough that I’ll be rusty when I next skate. I look forward to having the ice almost to myself when the kids go back to school, and to sharing my continuing skating journey with you.
Related Posts:
Eight-Step Mohawk Sequence Notes on learning the outside mohawk and the eight-step mohawk sequence.- Juvenile Moves: Testing on the Horizon? Picking a date to test my juvenile moves, notes on my eight-step mohawk sequence.
- Sectionals and What I'm Working on Now My skate from Sectionals and what I'm working on now.
- Six days to my Juvenile Moves test Final preparation for my juvenile moves test.
{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }
That description of how to ruin a mohawk fits me to a T! Diagnosis is spot on! I am so impressed that you are putting your progress notes down in Excel; that is so ingenious and enviably organized. I hope the rest of the summer goes well and that we hear more about the program and the improving moves soon! Lean, baby, lean!
Summer’s been great I’m back now and I’m working on it. I actually am making progress now.
Mary recently posted..Sk8 to Eliminate and still working on moves
Way to go, Mary! Those skating journals (your Excel spreadsheet) are so helpful. And dang those outside Mohawks!! Enjoy your summer off!
Eva at Eva Bakes recently posted..Rainbow cookie ice cream
Thanks, Eva! It’s been great!