I got to do moves in the field today for the first part of my lesson, because I told my coach I was tired. :) I assume I was more tired today because I went to happy hour yesterday. (I desperately needed HH after a super stressful day at work). My coach knows adult skaters well. He told me he could see the alcohol floating inside of me. At the end of my private he told me, "No more happy hour the day before a lesson!" He said, alcohol makes you slower and tired. I agree, and I like going to the gym on Wednesdays anyway. Happy hour can wait until Fridays!
Anyway, I love doing MIF! I love doing jumps and spins too but, I don't get as tired doing MIF. I guess I'm just lazy. Ha! While doing moves, I noticed that my left inside three-turn didn't feel very natural. I feel like it's too quick. Maybe it's because I hardly ever do left inside threes. My coach said it looked fine...like a normal three turn, but I felt like a clumsy fool. Maybe I need to bend my skating knee more! That's usually the trick with those, right?
After moves, we moved on to jumps. I started with the waltz jump. I always have to tweak it a bit. This week I wasn't bending my knee enough (more knee bending!) on the take off. Last week, I wasn't holding my hip high enough on the take off. The week before that, my arms and leg weren't in sync for the take off. AND the week before that, I was jumping out instead of up. I'll get that waltz jump perfect one day. haha
I only had to do my loop jump once. Yay! I don't know why, but loop jumps scare me. Even my coach noticed that I get really tense with my arms during the loop jump. I like doing them 2nd in a combo though. Waltz/loop, flip/loop, lutz/loop...even loop/loop! The first loop in a loop/loop is still scary. ;) I wasn't always scared of loops. I fell pretty hard doing one about a year ago and ever since then I can't help but hold my breath. Awful habit, I know! Anyway, I then did a couple waltz/loops. My first one wasn't as big. I jumped out on my loop instead of up, because I threw my arms around to the left instead of just scooping my right arm. This is another really bad habit I have with a lot of my jumps. I really have to think about my right arm scooping or I'll swing my arms around before I even jump.
After that, I got to fly in the harness!! I know some people hate that thing, but I think it's super fun (once I get past the awkwardness of it)! Maybe I like the harness because it's still new to me. It's only my second time using it as an adult skater, at least. First, I did a few waltz jumps to get used to it. I felt a little overwhelmed doing those because my coach kept telling me to jump straight down the line of the harness, and I totally thought I was doing exactly that! I couldn't figure out how to fix it, but it eventually got better and all was good. :) I then got to do the axel!! I absolutely love doing this jump. Even when I'm doing the jump off ice, I feel like I'm flying. I hope my feelings don't change when I start attempting it without the harness (which I hope to try soon!!). I didn't want to try today, because I didn't have my hip and butt pads on. I bought
peace pads last week. They were pretty expensive ($99 for 2 hips and one tailbone), but
Jo Ann Schneider Farris from about.com wrote an
article about peace pads and gave them a good review. She also said they were less noticeable, so I figured I'd give them a try. I'll post more about them after I actually try them out.
Back to the harness...The main thing I need to fix on my axel (hehe even just typing, "my axel" makes me smile) is my posture. I tend to lean forward during the backspin position. When I stand up straight my jump is much higher and a lot easier to land. My coach said he was barely pulling on the harness. He was just stepping on the rope to keep my back straight on the landing. I'm pretty sure he's helping me a lot more...but it's fun to think I can almost land an axel. :) I think I need to pull in tighter with my leg too. I'll try that next time. Although it's easier said then done of course!
After my lesson, I did a few more waltz loops and then worked on some spins and alternating 3s with my left inside 3-turn. I feel like my waltz jumps are more powerful after using the harness. I guess I get a little more daring after flying in the harness.
My spins were alright. I seem to have my scratch spin back finally. My camel spin is much faster all of the sudden. Last week, my coach told me to push in to the spin with the same amount of force I have winding up...DUH! Why didn't I realize this a year ago? I'm STILL only averaging about 3 rotations though. haha My sit spin in my camel/sit was good. My sit spin is much better in that combo than on it's own. Maybe I have more control with whipping my leg around from the camel position into a sit.
Well that's it for now! I'm going to try really hard to write after each of my lessons. I realize I wrote a book tonight...hopefully, all the details will help me remember critiques and tips that my coach gives me.
