Mood:
coolI didn't write about my practice yesterday because, besides the fact that I got run over by a 6 year old kid who wasn't looking where he was going, it was quite uneventful. I worked on the usual things with no real improvement, at least any that I could see.
Today's lesson started with the usual warm-up of stroking followed by a transition into the new progressive slide chasse sequence we learned last week. After we were all nice and warmed up, Kelly introduced us to the waltz 3. Really simple to do! Foward outside three turn in the open position switch to back outside edge, push off onto another foward outside three turn in the open position. Repeat, repeat and repeat. This picks up speed just like the progressive slide chasse sequence so it was really fun to do and once I get my arms going in the right direction, it will look as nice as it feels.
Next up was our introduction to the toe loop. I really should not say introduction because both of us have done them before. My toe loops are more like toe-waltz jumps than anything so an introduction is just what I need at this point. I need to start fresh and learn this jump the right way. Kelly started by having us look at the "worst" part of the jump - the "pick, draw and takeoff". This is the part that most people (me) cheat on. From a stand still, she had us pick in with the freeleg in the proper spot, behind and slightly inside. From there, we drew in with our skating leg and passed the skating leg through for the takeoff portion of the jump. We did this for a few minutes and the she had us tie in the easier parts of the jump, namely the intro (FI3 turn) and the landing (BO edge). I still feel as though I am cheating the jump. Maybe because I have been cheating it for so long and old habits are hard to break. I will break this habit and learn it the right way. I have to - it's on the Pre-preliminary freestyle test! Then she had us tie in other jumps. So we did waltz jump - side toe hop - waltz jump - toe loop. What a workout!
Speaking of jumps, Kelly started talking about the correct air position which led us into, of course, the dreaded backspin. Kelly reminded us that to pass Freeskate 2 in a few weeks, we need at least two revolutions. I am still only getting 1 revolution on a good day. And it doesn't matter how I go about entering the darn thing, I still feel as though I am only ever going to get 1 revolution. But, I have another three weeks to gain another turn so maybe it will happen. If not, well....I'll be in Freeskate 2 AGAIN!
Better get to work on that :)
