Adjusting to rocker | Golden Skate

Adjusting to rocker

skatingbeast

Rinkside
Joined
Nov 14, 2019
Country
United-States
Hi all, a bunch of you helped me out over the summer when I was asking about boots. I got Riedell silver stars and skated in them for the first time today. I’m happy to say they felt great and I feel like my knee/ankle bend is going to be so much better in a more traditional boot.

I stuck with MK pros for my blades but between going from edeas to Riedell and the fact that my old blades were crazy flat, it feels like I have so much rocker now. The toe pick feels light years away from the ice and some things I do that I assumed were bad habits I’m realizing may have been because of my flat blades. I did some forward outside 3-turns and couldn’t believe how smooth and quiet they were. Does anyone have suggestions on getting a feel for the rocker? My freestyle and moves coach wants me to wait for jumps, back spins, and backward 3-turns until my lesson, but even a simple scratch spin or waltz jump feels a bit terrifying right now.
 

Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 9, 2017
Country
Olympics
Hi all, a bunch of you helped me out over the summer when I was asking about boots. I got Riedell silver stars and skated in them for the first time today. I’m happy to say they felt great and I feel like my knee/ankle bend is going to be so much better in a more traditional boot.

I stuck with MK pros for my blades but between going from edeas to Riedell and the fact that my old blades were crazy flat, it feels like I have so much rocker now. The toe pick feels light years away from the ice and some things I do that I assumed were bad habits I’m realizing may have been because of my flat blades. I did some forward outside 3-turns and couldn’t believe how smooth and quiet they were. Does anyone have suggestions on getting a feel for the rocker? My freestyle and moves coach wants me to wait for jumps, back spins, and backward 3-turns until my lesson, but even a simple scratch spin or waltz jump feels a bit terrifying right now.
Simple one foot spins from T-push, just don't go crazy with the momentum and strength you put into the push. Also, know that your blade was more than likely shorter on the EDEA than on your new Riedell.
 

MCsAngel2

On the Ice
Joined
Apr 10, 2019
Out of curiosity, how long had you skated on the old blades that were so flat? (actually skated, don't include the covid lockdown period.) How many hours a week do/did you skate and how often do you get them sharpened? I looked up the post you made in August, and it sounded like you were on them in the Ice Flys for about a year? That sounds like a really short period for blades, unless you're skating more than 10 hours a week.
 

Ic3Rabbit

Former Elite, now Pro. ⛸️
Record Breaker
Joined
Jan 9, 2017
Country
Olympics
Out of curiosity, how long had you skated on the old blades that were so flat? (actually skated, don't include the covid lockdown period.) How many hours a week do/did you skate and how often do you get them sharpened? I looked up the post you made in August, and it sounded like you were on them in the Ice Flys for about a year? That sounds like a really short period for blades, unless you're skating more than 10 hours a week.
(y) Agreed. And if you aren't skating over 10 hours a week on those blades, then you need to look into who you've had sharpening the last pair and if they are ruining your blades by sharpening them improperly.
 

WednesdayMarch

Nicer When Fed
Medalist
Joined
Mar 24, 2019
Country
United-Kingdom
(y) Agreed. And if you aren't skating over 10 hours a week on those blades, then you need to look into who you've had sharpening the last pair and if they are ruining your blades by sharpening them improperly.
Absolutely! That's ringing massive warning bells for me, too!
 

skatingbeast

Rinkside
Joined
Nov 14, 2019
Country
United-States
Out of curiosity, how long had you skated on the old blades that were so flat? (actually skated, don't include the covid lockdown period.) How many hours a week do/did you skate and how often do you get them sharpened? I looked up the post you made in August, and it sounded like you were on them in the Ice Flys for about a year? That sounds like a really short period for blades, unless you're skating more than 10 hours a week.
Short answer: maybe 10 months and possibly longer skating ~5 hours a week. I was in the Ice Flys about 2 years.

Long answer: It took me awhile to realize they were so flat... Back in the summer of 2019 I complained to a coach that my spins felt awful and he waved me off and said I was skating well. It wasn't until December when I took them to a skate tech for a sharpening (and not my coach) that I was told they were really flat. I was going to replace them in March bc I knew I wanted new boots so was going to do it at same time but then covid happened and just got to it now.
 

skatingbeast

Rinkside
Joined
Nov 14, 2019
Country
United-States
(y) Agreed. And if you aren't skating over 10 hours a week on those blades, then you need to look into who you've had sharpening the last pair and if they are ruining your blades by sharpening them improperly.
Yup, it was my old coach... the same one who put me in the Ice Flys. There are a lot of reasons this person isn't my coach anymore.
 

WednesdayMarch

Nicer When Fed
Medalist
Joined
Mar 24, 2019
Country
United-Kingdom
Yup, it was my old coach... the same one who put me in the Ice Flys. There are a lot of reasons this person isn't my coach anymore.
Yikes!

So, now we can return to the original question of how to get used to the rocker...

How about skating more? :biggrin:

Seriously, though, I'd start with plain and simple gliding and edge practice. You can never, ever do too much of that.

One exercise I teach to help people find what I call the "hidden push" is designed specifically to make use of the rocker. You literally glide on one foot straight down the rink with the free leg stretched out behind you and the skating leg bent to start with. As you feel yourself losing speed, you start to straighten the skating knee whilst moving your weight almost imperceptibly towards the back of the skating blade. This gives you that lovely little extra "hidden push" which provides some momentum. Then bend the knee and rise up again, until you reach the end of the rink. Turn around and do it on the other leg. With practice, you should find that you can glide a lot longer than you ever thought possible. I love the look on the faces of people who have just discovered that hidden push. Something clicks and their faces light up.

You can also do this on curves.
 

sandraskates

Final Flight
Joined
Oct 31, 2006
Country
United-States
Seriously, though, I'd start with plain and simple gliding and edge practice. You can never, ever do too much of that.

One exercise I teach to help people find what I call the "hidden push" is designed specifically to make use of the rocker. You literally glide on one foot straight down the rink with the free leg stretched out behind you and the skating leg bent to start with. . .
This is a great exercise and I use it with my adult students.

If the session is not too busy you can challenge yourself with it, using the short barrier-to-barrier length.
Start your push off at one end of the barrier and see if you can hold the edge to get to the barrier directly across. It's not easy!
 

skatingbeast

Rinkside
Joined
Nov 14, 2019
Country
United-States
One exercise I teach to help people find what I call the "hidden push" is designed specifically to make use of the rocker. You literally glide on one foot straight down the rink with the free leg stretched out behind you and the skating leg bent to start with. As you feel yourself losing speed, you start to straighten the skating knee whilst moving your weight almost imperceptibly towards the back of the skating blade. This gives you that lovely little extra "hidden push" which provides some momentum. Then bend the knee and rise up again, until you reach the end of the rink. Turn around and do it on the other leg. With practice, you should find that you can glide a lot longer than you ever thought possible. I love the look on the faces of people who have just discovered that hidden push. Something clicks and their faces light up.

You can also do this on curves.
I will definitely try this! I love working on basic stroking and edges. My ice dance coach recently corrected me while I was working on edges to go to the back of the blade to maintain speed. I'm hoping to get to a rink on Saturday that will be less crowded. My usual weekday session is now filled with kids because of school schedules with remote learning.
 
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