I have been skating almost 7 months now and am about halfway through Basic 6. I just joined a more advanced LTS group class and was introduced to jumps for the first time today (waltz and toe loop). And I ran into a bit of a problem.
I spin on my left foot and the coach today said that means that I need to land jumps on my right foot. But my right ankle, despite significant PT and the fact that I can dance on pointe just fine on it, is significantly weaker and less stable than the left and so I am not comfortable landing jumps on it. Coach said then I would need to relearn my spins so I do them on my right leg instead of my left. I currently am doing/learning single leg spins, scratch spins, backspins and inside twizzles. All are naturally way stronger on the left leg than the right. So I don't want to relearn them on the other leg.
Which I guess brings me to my first question - Do I truly need to either land jumps on my right foot or relearn all my spins on my right foot in order to land jumps on my left foot???
And a related question... I am considering going into solo ice dance instead of singles, in part to escape the jumps. But when I watch ice dancers skate, it seems like they do still do some small jumps, or at least hops. So I am curious. What jumps/hops do ice dancers have to learn?
And last question: How, erm, unusual is it for a student in an adult group LTS class to refuse to learn any jumps but the little ones used in ice dance? I want to cooperate with my coaches and keep learning and progressing, but I also want to avoid injury to this bad ankle and progress in the discipline I am considering choosing rather than in the default that seems to be the focus of the class.
I spin on my left foot and the coach today said that means that I need to land jumps on my right foot. But my right ankle, despite significant PT and the fact that I can dance on pointe just fine on it, is significantly weaker and less stable than the left and so I am not comfortable landing jumps on it. Coach said then I would need to relearn my spins so I do them on my right leg instead of my left. I currently am doing/learning single leg spins, scratch spins, backspins and inside twizzles. All are naturally way stronger on the left leg than the right. So I don't want to relearn them on the other leg.
Which I guess brings me to my first question - Do I truly need to either land jumps on my right foot or relearn all my spins on my right foot in order to land jumps on my left foot???
And a related question... I am considering going into solo ice dance instead of singles, in part to escape the jumps. But when I watch ice dancers skate, it seems like they do still do some small jumps, or at least hops. So I am curious. What jumps/hops do ice dancers have to learn?
And last question: How, erm, unusual is it for a student in an adult group LTS class to refuse to learn any jumps but the little ones used in ice dance? I want to cooperate with my coaches and keep learning and progressing, but I also want to avoid injury to this bad ankle and progress in the discipline I am considering choosing rather than in the default that seems to be the focus of the class.