the way you practice

Anyone have this problem?

I'm trying to get used to using the left side of my body which is much weaker than the right side on the ice. It doesn't seem like the left side of my body is weaker but I find out from time to time just how weak it is when I make a point of practicing the moves which require left -sided strength. Like when I practice my mohawk. I have it down perfectly going left to right , I'm using my right foot to guide with and the left foot follows. But when I'm practicing the mohawk the other way, I can't seem to guide with my left foot first, my right foot still wants to guide!

My left inside three turn is pretty pitiful too because I can't seem to feel perfectly balanced like I do with my right foot going into it, I have no speed with it and I can't "feel" what I need to do throughout the whole motion like I can with my right foot. It seems like when you're doing a move that you have down pat, you can sense any mistakes in balance, posture etc. and fix them while you're completing the move. But when you're practicing on your weak side , it's like all you do is go through the motion of what you're supposed to do but you can't "feel" your way through. This is what I'm struggling with right now and boy is it driving me nuts.

Skatingfantasy - I'm assuming that you are a counter-clockwise skater (which is the more popular direction, at least at our rink). Most skaters will find that the moves that they do in this direction are much stronger than those requiring them to go the other way. I picked up some tips from a couple of skating books, and they basically suggested that when learning elements like mohawks and 3-turns, or any of the Moves in the Field, that a CCW skater should do the CW moves at least 2-3 more times than the CCW direction, since you're more likely to get enough practice at the CCW ones just because that's the direction you go most often.

I consciously set time aside at my practice sessions each week to be sure I am getting in enough CW skating and moves. It has helped considerably in "balancing out." For example, on Wednesdays, I usually work on endurance. So for the last 20 minutes of my practice, I do all my power skating in the CW direction (backward and forward). When I was working on MIF in the CCW direction, I would practice each move twice, and then do them four times in the CW direction.

You will probably find that this will solve your problem.

Thanks Cinderella,
I usually do find that practicing what I'm not good at over and over and over helps me overcome the problem. Now I just need to make myself do it !No matter how frustrating it is!!