jo skates

Skating in the key of life

Tag Archives: adult figure skating


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It’s the pits

So I was off the ice for a while in June, and couldn’t believe how ungainly I felt when I got back on. I’m thrilled that things are feeling better: getting back that hip alignment and some muscle tone (though I am one tired puppy when I get off the ice, even though I am not going great guns out there).

So this week I had a lesson that included double threes, and Ari suggested that I “slice” my arms (bring them through close to my body rather than move them around). This keeps me from pitching forward or “reaching” for turns, and helps me stay over the middle of my blade.

Today I was on a nice quiet practice session (it’s so hot out that all the kids are at the pool!) and decided to try this on other moves as well. I’m sure this looked a little goofy, moving my arms up and down as if my shoulder sockets worked like a Barbie doll’s. But it worked like a charm in terms of stabilizing my edges, which is about all I care about these days.

Plus in my new “slicing” technique, I discovered a new body part to use for skating: the armpit!

If I think about where my armpit is on my skating side, I am much more aware of my alignment. This makes it easier to control my edges and to keep my shoulders from lifting (which I know will make Laurie happy).

So everything’s coming up roses! And peonies! And irises! And that topiary that looks like a tired puppy!

Lesson notes:

  • back inside (right): engage glute muscles (easy fix)
  • forward outside-outside mohawk: work on proper edge and turning out skating hip against the other
  • outside forward three: bring feet more parallel, then turn skating leg in socket so that you wind up in T-position after turn
  • back outside cross rolls: push is in opposition to upper body position
  • back power pulls: rise and bend
  • inside mohawk, back outside three, inside pull to outside, cross, repeat on other side: don’t touch down! hips forward after back three and really concentrate on establishing your edges
  • double threes: don’t rush into the turn, establish strong edge first


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More about leaning in

So I have been trying to get myself to lean more into my skating circles.

Throughout my years of imperfect alignment, I have been trying to deepen my edges by pressing down on the blade through my foot, scrunching down on my skating side, or counter-leaning. In case you’re wondering, none of these work!!!

I was trying to find some images that could convey the degree to which I’ve been fooling myself, but I couldn’t find any, even of myself in past skating sessions. That might be because I’ve learned to compensate so well that it actually looking like I’m doing something right.

Nor could I find pictures of other skaters who look like they have the same problems. Perhaps that’s because those compensations are so anti-intuitive that nobody else has this problem; or because no one wants to leave hard evidence of having done this.

I did find some nifty diagrams from this page on the physics of circular motion:

What I’ve been missing is that “inward component of force.” I am so fixated on the up and down that I totally forget about the inward feeling. You can’t achieve the needed degree of “tilt” without allowing your body to move inwards toward the center of the circle.  It just doesn’t work.

While leaning into the circle is definitely the way to go, I’ve had a hard time allowing my body to go there. But I’ve found that one way for me to get myself to do this is imagine that someone is pulling me towards the center of the circle.

Yup, you got it!

b1333e-20160113-deathspiral02

Of course, if anyone actually suggested that I learn to do a death spiral, I would probably laugh in their face (or run screaming off the rink, ’cause they’re crazy!)

So don’t expect any actual pictures of me doing that anytime soon. For now, I’ll only post pictures of (a) my happy skating friends, and (b) skaters who are leaning happily into the circle on their own (maybe someday that will be me!)

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(a) Marianne and Sonja, a.k.a. Happy Skating Friends

 

GANGNEUNG, SOUTH KOREA – FEBRUARY 19: Madison Hubbell and Zachary Donohue of the United States compete during the Figure Skating Ice Dance Short Dance on day 10 of the PyeongChang 2018 Winter Olympic Games at Gangneung Ice Arena on February 19, 2018 in Pyeongchang-gun, South Korea. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Speaking of “how do they do that?” here’s a favorite piece of mine: Astor Piazzolla’s Four Seasons of Buenos Aires. Be sure to listen for the cello solo at 8:30. So good!

Lesson notes:

  • back eights: outside and inside (these have improved!) Really hold yourself accountable to be on a real edge.
  • threes on half circle. Think about how to get the turn in the right place (where is that foot pointing before it turns?)
  • inside mohawk. Think about where your new foot goes.
  • back inside edges. Hips forward. What does that actually mean?
  • Outside threes in circle. Legs straight and together before the turn. Don’t open up on the back outside edge before stepping forward.

 


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Bend down! Straighten up!

I have a lot of skills and abilities. I know where most commas go. I know not to clap in between the movements of a symphony (Mozart! Haydn! Bring it on!). I know enough to dig up all the dandelions in my yard before they send their tiny aerial seeds aloft into the world. (Dandelion lovers, don’t worry! There are several fields of them nearby.) And I make a mean oatmeal cookie.

But one thing I don’t do particularly well is bend my knees and ankles. I had a physical therapist once ask me why it was I wanted to learn how to squat in the first place. (I stopped working with her after that.)

Achieving more ankle/knee bend has become my next set of physical goals both on and off the ice. On the ice both coaches have asked me to work on a variation of a two-foot side lunge in which I touch the ice. (Just imagine Jason here going around a curve, keeping his right blade on the ice, and touching the ice with his left hand. It’s sort of like that, only much less aesthetically pleasing.)

JasonBrown

I’m supposed to do these forwards and backwards on both sides, up and down the ice. There are several impediments to my doing this. First and foremost is that I have trouble bending down that far. On my clockwise side it seems to be my stiff right ankle, but on the counter-clockwise side it’s the left hip. I can’t win!

The second problem is that I get a little dizzy when I come up. This used to happen to me as a graduate student when I spent time squatting down looking for books on the bottom shelves of the university library. I would stand up and before you could say “orthostatic hypotension,” I would get so dizzy that I’d have to sit down on the floor (which sort of defeats the purpose of standing up, I guess). I don’t think this will be a serious problem on the ice, since I’m not going down that far and not coming up particularly fast.

It’s humbling to find that not only don’t I bend well, I also don’t fully straighten my knees on moves. I’ve been put back on the “swing roll regime”: outside and inside, forward and back, making sure my skating leg and free leg fully extend and that I stay on a good curve, with speed. Will it ever end?

Meryl&Charlie

Oh well, at least those don’t make me dizzy. Maybe if I fully extend, though, I’ll be so tall that I’ll get vertigo (haha!)

Jo and Asad
Jan and Kari
Greg and Lisa
Jeremy knows where home is!
Minneapolis skyline

Lesson notes:

  • outside-outside closed mohawk exercise (figure out where your head needs to be).
  • side lunges, touching ice with hand inside circle (lean in, not forwards).
  • swing rolls, fully extended (you heard the man, fully extended knees and hips forward).
  • swing roll, change to inside edge, mohawk, outside edge, step forward into the same sequence in the opposite direction.
  • inside mohawk, push back, back outside three


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Skate loose, skate happy

What a difference a couple of weeks make!

Laurie has regularly pointed out that my shoulders go up whenever I’m doing something I don’t feel good about (like back crossovers clockwise). And when this happens, I can’t really feel my edges. It’s like I’m carrying a tray of teacups way high over my head. As soon as I get my shoulders down, my weight goes back down into my blades.

These past two weeks I realized that I’ve been carrying all kinds of tension in other parts of my body. In particular, I have been hiking up my right hip most of the time, in a sometimes unconscious and usually unsuccessful effort to get my weight over my left side. 

I’ve been working hard to let my right hip sink down to where it feels below my left. The first time I tried this, I could feel all kinds of muscles (hip flexors, for instance) stretching out in unfamiliar ways. It became way easier to stand on my left leg and lift my right leg. While this actually helped just walking around, it also made a big difference in skating. I could feel how my basic balance and edges changed for the better.

Best of all, this didn’t take any additional physical effort. The only effort it took was mental, since I had to think about relaxing the right side down (or just not holding it up).

A lot of yoga websites talk about how emotional tension is stored up in the hips and that stretching those joints helps you let go of fear, anxiety, and anger. I can certainly see how this might be true of me in this case, since it’s clear all kinds of balance issues have been created by this hip tension. Letting go of it means that my legs aren’t working at cross purposes.

This frees me up to concentrate on other basic aspects of my skating. Like making sure my upper body and head are lifted. Or that my pushes run outside the circle (more on this later). Or that I am properly lined up rising up on my back outside edges. Or that my back inside edges are not just a figment of my imagination.

It also makes me think that I’ve been spending a lot of energy (physical and emotional) trying to force my body into impossible positions on the ice. Sometimes it’s better to just trust that my body will just hold itself together if I don’t try too hard.

So last week my son’s string quartet did the junior division of a chamber music competition. There were lots of wonderfully talented players playing all kinds of complicated and impressively technical pieces. In the midst of the angst-filled music, one senior group played this slow movement of a Haydn quartet. It was like a long, cool drink of water after an exhausting marathon.

While this is not the video of that particular competition, and the sound quality is not the best, I wanted to remember this as the group that moved me to tears. Next to the terrific performances of my son’s wonderful Odyssey Quartet, this was my favorite piece of the entire competition.

Back on the ice again!


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It’s alive!

Alice never could quite make out, in thinking it over afterwards, how it was that they began: all she remembers is, that they were running hand in hand, and the Queen went so fast that it was all she could do to keep up with her: and still the Queen kept crying ‘Faster! Faster!’ but Alice felt she could not go faster, though she had not breath left to say so.

The most curious part of the thing was, that the trees and the other things round them never changed their places at all: however fast they went, they never seemed to pass anything. ‘I wonder if all the things move along with us?’ thought poor puzzled Alice. And the Queen seemed to guess her thoughts, for she cried, ‘Faster! Don’t try to talk!’

When she falls through the looking glass, Alice goes running with the Red Queen, who keeps telling her to go faster and faster. But Alice realizes that she is not moving. After a while, they stop to rest, and Alice is surprised to find that they have been under the same this tree the entire time. She tells the Queen that “in our country” if you ran very fast for a long time, “you’d generally get to somewhere else.” To which the Queen replies, “A slow sort of country!”

Now, here, you see, it takes all the running you can do, to keep in the same place. If you want to get somewhere else, you must run at least twice as fast as that!’

This past week, I realized yet again that I skate in ways that make me seem lazy, even though I feel like I am running as fast as I can.

In an ideal skating world, all my edges would be very much alive. What this means is that instead of just hanging out and “riding on top” of the edge, I would be actively pressing into the ice (using my lower leg, ankle, and foot) to control depth and generate power.

The other day, I did a little double-checking of each of my edges to see where I was at. What I found is that most of them were only (gulp!) half alive.

  • right forward outside: alive most of the time, but I have to think about this on the swing roll.
  • left forward outside: alive most of the time
  • right forward inside: alive if I think about proper alignment
  • left forward inside: alive if I can get a good push off the right
  • right back outside: alive and kicking
  • left back outside: I think I can, I think I can. . .
  • right back inside: comatose
  • left back inside: uh. . . .

The good news is that I can fix this fairly consistently (and when I do, the added edge control feels great) by getting over my skate (proper alignment) and using my foot. This feels completely different from what I was doing before. Aside from my ankles, I feel like my body is moving way less than it was. At the same time, I know I am moving faster than I was.

The bad news is that I have to keep poking myself (mentally) . This involves some work to slide my “ankle mortise” forward rather than just dropping my upper body forward and my butt back. And this has to happen immediately. I’ve gotten into the habit of just sitting on the back of the blade. It’s probably a lot like my sitting in a chair all day.

While these wake-up calls are not easy to face, at least I’m making progress. I caught a glimpse of myself in the plexiglass doing a back outside swing roll, and honestly, it didn’t look half bad. So I’m not entirely a skating zombie!

My new goal (at least for the next few weeks) is to make my edges (hey, at least they are half-alive!) consistently dynamic, vital, bursting-with-life force goodness. Wish me luck!

Everyone’s getting their spring look in gear!

Love the highlights, Asal!
Love the coat, Jan!

 

Lesson notes:

  • Inside three, change to inside, to push onto inside roll (this is to develop the needed outside-inside transition after the outside edge).
  • Back inside edges (make sure body is shifted over).
  • Back chassès clockwise (don’t lift shoulders, settle into the left outside edge).  Alignment is looking pretty good–hooray!
  • Quick, continuous pushes on progressives (like the “run” in the Viennese)
  • Inside three, back outside three, work on push.
  • Outside cross in front to outside edge (this looks like it’s some kind of evil clown trick).
  • Outside three, push back, back outside three, push through to repeat on other side.
  • Outer edge, inner edge, change edge and repeat on other side (make this deep).


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From this moment on

So at the end of my lesson this week Ari and I were talking about my left inside edge. Well, actually, it started out being about my left inside edge and then progressed to some words of wisdom about other things in skating, and then became a conversation about life in general.

Usually on my lessons there’s not much time for philosophy. But this week I had a lesson later on the session, which meant that I had already been skating hard for close to an hour beforehand. By the time my lesson got going, I was already feeling a bit tired, and by the last ten minutes of the lesson I was ready to get into conversation mode.

Okay, I admit that talking while doing some leisurely laps is not a good use of my limited time on the ice. But it actually was a very helpful conversation.

I am still working really hard these days is (no surprise to you regular readers!) on consistently maintaining strong edges on my left side. I’ve gotten to the point where I can actually figure out how to make this happen much of the time on outside edges (especially if I shift my ribcage towards the left rather than scrunch my left side and don’t over-rotate the edge). And I am beginning to feel it on inside edges as well, especially if I think about engaging those inner thigh and glute muscles so that I hit the edge immediately.

But perhaps an even greater challenge is letting go of old habits that feel right just because I’ve done them so many times. These include trying to balance over my skates rather than actually doing an edge, and letting my hips go out. Oh, and not actually pushing onto an edge, just because in the past there hasn’t really been an edge to push onto. (Chicken or egg? Chicken or egg?)

So here are some words of wisdom, paraphrased from Ari.

In skating, you have to let yourself try to do things you haven’t done before (like skating faster, or really leaning, or really using edges). You can’t let the fear of doing it wrong stop you from doing it at all. Don’t get stuck on getting the perfect position. You just have to keep moving. Don’t worry about “hitting the right edge”–just push and make it happen.

There are no records of what you did before; no one is watching and judging and video recording each moment. So don’t worry about what you did in the past; just think about what’s happening now.

Okay, too much talking! From this moment on, only hoop-de-doo songs and classic Bob Fosse choreography.

 

Almost rid of the old snow–only to get another foot!
But Asal and I made it through another busy public session!

 

Lesson notes:

  • outside edges using the ribcage shift to help create lean (rather than “scrunching”).
  • outside-outside mohawk exercises: practice just placing new foot down (like a T-stop) in the correct position.
  • three turns: maintain curve on entry and really refine the twist.
  • inside mohawk: think about the curve in and out being equal, and move core underneath your body; don’t turn your entire body into the turn.
  • back inside edges: think about keeping your push in front of your new foot (pushing directly back rather than sideways).
  • changes of edge: learn how to move your skate underneath your body with those edge pulls.
  • Alternating directions: inside mohawk, push back, back outside three, inside edge change to outside, tuck behind, repeat on other side. Work on getting that edge pull
  • Alternating directions: inside mohawk, step forward, outside three, step forward, outside three in the other direction, step forward, repeat. Make sure your feet are together after the mohawk.
  • Inside mohawk, change of edge (want to hear it!), cross front, change of edge the other way, cross front, step forward and repeat.

 

 


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Bigfoot

So one of the changes that I’ve noticed with my new skates is that my feet feel longer. Some of this has to do with the fact that the skates themselves are a half size longer (and a good deal narrower). I got this different size because my old skates kept pushing against one of my toes. I realized that I needed a tighter-fitting heel as well.

Also, as my feet have gotten stronger, they seem to be lengthening. Some of this probably has to do with having a better arch, but it is also that the alignment of my foot-bones has changed. While I still have some issues with the left foot, I think that overall my feet both feel much better than they have in a long time. Thank you, foot exercises! Hurray for happy feet!

While I know that they haven’t actually gotten that much longer, if at all, it reminds me of the feeling of longer skis. I didn’t learn to ski as a child, but went a number of times in my twenties, so I remember well the feeling of switching to a longer, faster pair. Gangway! Aaaahhhh!

I think that since I am trying to get more speed in my skating, having the feeling of “longer” skates can make a difference. In particular, I am trying to keep my weight moving constantly forward as I rise and press down on edges, rather than the down/up/hiccup/try to balance feeling that I have been been struggling with.

In other words, my big feet can help me make sure my body keeps moving forward as they create “bigger” and faster edges.  And the rise and fall of the knee/ankle bend should be smooth, no sudden drops or popping up.

Which of these waves best describes my skating knee action this week? Stay tuned!

waves_diagram

Okay, I need an aspirational song here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Whgn_iE5uc

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Asal and I make it through another crazy public session!

Lesson notes:

  • two foot slalom, work on immediate edges and knee action after turn
  • double threes: set up on axis, BIG circles
  • perimeter stroking: work on backwards especially

 

 


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My missing step (b)

So I had another lesson on outside-outside mohawks this past week, and Laurie pointed out that the turn is much easier if you:

(a) establish a good outside edge first,
(b) bend your ankle and use the foot to press into the edge without deepening the curve, and then
(c) just do the turn.

Where mine went awry was step (b). I would either slide my old foot out instead of pressing into the edge, or hook the edge inwards in a frantic attempt to maintain the outside edge. Either way, this was a tortured mess.

Once I figured out step (b), I realized how much easier this whole skating deal could be. Laurie  used the metaphor of the loaded gun, which will go off instantly with when you touch the trigger. Once you take the safety off and the edge is “loaded” properly, the turn just happens.

A violent metaphor, but here’s my realization of the week: either I skate like a human pretzel, or I do things the easy way.

The easy way is if I make sure that I’m doing step (b), not just on mohawks, but on oh-so-many things. Before three-turns, brackets, rockers, choctaws, and heck, yeah, on cross rolls and stroking and pushes. . . oh my.

I’m sure that at some point I’ll overdo this latest find, but for now, it’s really made a difference in achieving my better body position.

That’s the exciting news. The less-happy news is that I seem to have injured my left foot again. Same area (mid foot, towards inner arch). Last week I was running across the street after a yummy dinner with friends at our regular Chinese restaurant (such is the bittersweet nature of these unfortunate events) and felt a sharp pain. After a few days of rest it was much better but then I had to walk my bike home after a flat tire, which seemed to re-aggravate it.

Am doing light stretching and trying to take it easy. Luckily skating doesn’t seem to bother it too much, so hopefully this too will pass.

In the meantime, I’ll press on (haha!) It’s trigger-happy Jo!

How about a little tap dancing by Paula Abdul?

Lesson notes:

  • perimeter stroking, forwards and backward: make sure your inside edges are “real” and cover a quarter circle; check posture; make sure you push (especially on the underpass).
  • Alternating double threes (starting with back outside), back crossover: think about where your axis is, push onto a good edge (don’t rotate three too early–step b will help here)
  • Alternating double threes (starting with back inside), back crossover: better back inside edge position is crucial here.
  • back inside edge basics: get on an edge with good lean immediately (not “over” your skate). Let it go!
  • forward inside edge basics: head and upper body position so that weight is in the circle
  • outside-outside mohawks and bracket: think of how to press the edge (without changing the circle) so that you “load” the turn.

 


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Putting my “best” hip forwards

So at my lesson on brackets this past week Laurie noticed that I couldn’t shift my left hip  forward of my right without changing the level of my hips or the position of the rest of my body. We spent quite a bit of time just trying to get the right hip forward while skating on a forward outside edge.

Once again, I realized that the actual turn isn’t my problem: it’s the edge into the turn. If I can maintain a good edge, the turn is a piece of cake. I also realized that I still do a lot of skating (and other things in life) with my left hip slightly forward of my right, which benefits certain edges but screws up others.

If I try to force my right hip to move forward, all kinds of things go awry. I immediately start changing the rest of my body. Mostly I compensate for this by twisting slightly towards the left, so that I have the illusion of being neutral.

Once I tried to “encourage” my left hip to move forward, it seemed to help a lot. And this was not just true of brackets, but of many of the things I’m doing.

The lesson really made me think about how far I’ve come in understanding how my body works. I will continue to focus on getting my hips to move more “organically” as well as using more ankle bend for a better position over my skate. I also am trying to push down into the ice more to get more flow. I feel super-positive about these and other improvements that I hope to make. The new skates are working out great, and I have really been enjoying my regular time on the ice and having a chance to work at this.

The weather here has turned much warmer and the snow is melting! Spring is hopefully on the way.

Here’s my son’s suggestion for some super “chill” music to enjoy while I contemplate this new turn in my hips and hopefully the rest of my skating:

Lesson notes:

  • Brackets: hip position; remember that both entry and exit are “forced” edges so they need more attention to correct position.
  • Power pulls:  “sewing machine” action, with equal pressure into both the inside and outside edges. Also, think about keeping body on the axis, and making the edges equal on each side by pushing “outside” and away from the body.
  • New lunge exercise: forward three, push back lunge, push back lunge on the other side, turn into forward lunge, push forward lunge on the other side; repeat. Really push (don’t just two-foot); make sure you can hear those pushes.
  • Variation one: forward three, change edge, push back (really push and bend free leg in; make sure you are looking in the right direction), back three, toe through, repeat.
  • Variation two: forward three, change edge, push back , choctaw, toe through , repeat
  • In circle: inside mohawk, push back, back outside three. Don’t extend after the inside mohawk!
  • Inside three, toe push, inside edge, repeat on other side.


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Put up more speed!

So when I was little, we lived at the top of a really steep hill. It’s hard to imagine now that I live in the flatlands, but this must have been at least 2-3 blocks of a really steep grade.

I’m not making this up. Wikipedia says that North Bergen, NJ, is the US city with the second-most hills per square mile–and second only to San Francisco.

Anyway, my sister and I would be in the backseat of our family car, our ’66 (?) Plymouth Valiant. As the car would make its way laboriously up the hill towards home, we would pretend to step on our imaginary gas pedals and yell “Put up more speed!” We thought this was hilarious.

Anyway, you’d think that growing up on those hills I’d have the strongest legs in the world. Wrong! Skating demonstrates that I indeed have retained my imaginary sense of putting on the gas. I am doing much better in terms of lining myself up over my blades, but I am going putt-putt-putt-gasp rather than cruising along at warp factor one.

Ari told me that I had to try to go at least 5 mph. I’m not quite sure what that means, so I’ve been looking at the speedometer when I’m driving through town. That doesn’t seem to help.

No magic needed here. I think what I need to do is just, well, go faster. Bend my ankles and try to push into the ice whenever possible. Resist the temptation to just hang out over my skates.

Luckily, rinks are not built on hills! So here I go–5 mph or bust! Good thing I have plenty of fuel (a.k.a. pies) and friends to share the hilarity with.

Boston cream.
Fruit and cream with coconut/chocolate meringue crust.
Apple tart with almond flour crust.
Jo and Lisa.
Jo and Kari.

Okay, and music! I seem to be on a “Broadway productions I’ll never see” kick. Here’s Kelli O’Hara in a revival of a Cole Porter classic. I love her voice, but it seems a touch slow. Dare I say it? Put up more speed!

Lesson notes:

  • ankle bend and shin action. Progressives are good!
  • back crossovers–emphasize push on outside edge
  • three turns–free leg pushes out to side.
  • inside mohawks–turn out on forward inside hip so that new edge can be set onto same circle
  • outside mohawks–remember “J” curve and be careful about the placement of the new foot (not outside circle)
  • alternating forward inside change to outside, cross stroke–remember to bend and rise (push into ice to get more power)
  • back inside change to outside, cross in front, step forward, inside mohawk, repeat on other side–turn free leg in on inside edge (to really get over that edge), bend and rise (more power!)
  • forward mohawk, back outside three, toe through to repeat on other side–SPEED, PUSH!
  • forward inside bracket, back inside, step forward outside, repeat on other side–think about the axis of the bracket turn, use core twist and heel to turn (not flinging), watch posture.