Slinky / Stinky Lessons & Practices July 20-26 | Page 2 | Golden Skate

Slinky / Stinky Lessons & Practices July 20-26

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Cinderella On Ice

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Re: Slinky / Stinky Lessons & Practices July 20-26

SLINK-OSITY - GLORIOUS, GLORIOUS skating.

Oh, my, I have had the most PRODUTIVE practice session I've had in months. First of all, there were only five people on the ice at most. Second, I was able to wear my headset and MP3 player (usually forbidden), and go over my music again and again and again. I ran through various sections of my program, added arms and footwork, ran through it all again, then some more, until I was just one giant sweating ice skating MACHINE! Woo hoo! For the first time in a long time I felt like a "real" skater, with a personality on the ice and just breathing all the moves in and out.

After 75 fab-u-lous minutes and everyone else had left the ice, I played my music over the loudspeaker and skated as fast and hard as I could to it three times in a row (for endurance).

Ahhh ... blissful tiredness!
 
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rachelstarlet

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Re: Slinky / Stinky Lessons & Practices July 20-26

Stinky: There were three kids (well, teenagers I guess) doing hockey drills and races up one side of the rink and kept getting in my way - not horribly, though, and they were for the most part considerate, apologizing and such. But it was a distraction.

Slinky: Besides those three, there were two little girls, and me, and that's all! I definitely have to try Friday afternoons again. For about 20 minutes I had the rink to myself with the girls coming and going disinterestedly. I also didn't bug myself too much about what I had to practice today, and so I worked on crossovers (forward and backward, both directions), edges, turns, and waltz jumps -- I got a few really nice ones of those, was able to do them with a few crossovers preceding, and even did a couple "combinations" ie. waltz jump, step forward, waltz jump (the second was very scratchy and small, but I still felt cool). I tried working on backward edges (with varied success) because I think that will help control my three turns. I'm still only really able to do outside 3s, and even then, my free leg goes crazy trying to keep my balance and I start to go around in a circle on my inside edge rather than holding it out. I tried doing the thing that I think Yazmeen and icer were talking about - doing a 3 at the top of the little hockey goal half circle and holding the edges out both before and after - but it didn't work too well so I just practiced it on two feet. Anyhoo, it was kind of a boring practice, but I felt good afterward because I didn't concern myself too much with the things I didn't do very well.

And I'm obsessing over getting new skates. I could use some advice - I posted again in the thread that I started called "I need new skates..." Oh yeah - I'm planning to do a few private lessons before I leave for school, and then once I get to Spokane I'll scope out the rink/skaing club there and see what they have to offer. There aren't many good group adult programs here - it seems like you're pretty much on your own after Basic Skills. I dunno. We'll see.
 
C

Cinderella On Ice

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Re: Slinky / Stinky Lessons & Practices July 20-26

Rachelstarlet - congrats on making it through what sounded like quite a great practice, despite your low-pressure approach. I applaud your trying to do more than one in a row. And those 3-turns will definitely come, with stronger and deeper edges. Practice practice practice truly is the key, and you've got the fever, girl!
 
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2loop2002

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Re: Slinky / Stinky Lessons & Practices July 20-26

Slinky- I got to go skating! After six months off the ice; I went to a public skate session this afternoon. It was wonderful. Friday afternoons seem to be pretty empty times at the ice rink; even though it was about 100 degrees outside. I wouldn't exactly call it a practice, but it was great to see what I could still do. It's been almost a year since I quit skating regularly to go to college in a town with no ice. So, today was just for fun. I was amazed at the skills I have retained.

I could still do all the jumps up to and including the lutz. They're obviously not quite as fast or as big as they once were, but it was wonderful to get to experience that feeling of flying again.

There was no double loop, but I lost that within a couple months of ceasing regular practice. That didn't surprise me since it was the last and most difficult jump I ever "got".

All of my spins still worked, but WHOA did I get dizzy at first. After not spinning for many months I lost some of my tolerance for going round and round in little circles. It came back though. My sit spins were great; all the way down and up on one foot. My little sister was impressed! The camel spins were so-so. It's been a long time since I tried to hold a spiral position that long. My absolute favorite spin is the layback which I'm sure was no longer as pretty as it once was but is still lots of fun. I was amazed that I could still lean back far enough to see everything spinning around upside down. It's a whole different perspective on things!

So, even though my contributions to these threads about practicing are very few and far between. I really enjoy reading about how everyone else's skating is going. After skating 2-3 times a week for 7 years I found that I really missed it this past year, some days more than others. On the really bad days I would take my skate spinner into the laundry room of my dorm when no one else was around and spin to my heart's content. That helped, but there's just the sense of flying as you stroke around the rink that can never be replaced. Happy Skating!
 
C

Cinderella On Ice

Guest
Re: Slinky / Stinky Lessons & Practices July 20-26

Congrats, 2loop, on your return to the ice! I'm sorry that you don't have ice available on a regular basis, but if you can work these little trips to the rink into your school breaks once in awhile, you'll continue to be amazed at how much you DON'T lose. Sounds like you had a thoroughly enjoyable "practice" and worked pretty hard! I think everyone here would agree, there is nothing like that feeling of flying that you get when gliding effortlessly over the ice. But I get the giggles at the thought of someone walking into the laundry room where some maniac with a silly grin is spinning herself silly while the dryer tumbles!!! :eek: Keep lurking!
 
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