Backchatting the Tammasaurus
From my lesson today...
Tammasaurus: Backwards outside 3 turns.
Me: Sure.
I've never taken the time to detail in my blog what these are, but, essentially, they're your bog standard 3 turns done backwards instead of forwards - the post I linked to mentions them towards the end as there was a time when I thought of backwards 3 turns in horror... In truth, I'm still mostly terrified of them.
The key difference to the backwards version is that instead of using the front part of the blade (the rocker) to do the turn then you have to use the considerably spicier heel section of the blade. Much like the rocker, the heel part of the blade minimises the amount of blade contact with the ice so that rotating your foot is easier. The spicy part comes in that you have to sort of lean back into the turn, put all your weight in your heel (with its deliciously minuscule amount of blade contact) and just hope you don't go over backwards onto all manner of delicate body parts.
I would conclude all this with an upbeat line like "so it's fairly straightforward really", but, like every new move, getting to grips with backwards 3s feels like monstrous hell. Some of the pain of this post is taken out by the fact that I've actually been doing backward 3s for a while now. My outside version works pretty decently anticlockwise, but I don't do the clockwise version that often at the moment so it's a bit of a mess. Comparably, my inside anticlockwise is coming together okayish and it's not utterly abysmal going clockwise either.
Back to the exercise... I start a crossover to pick up a bit of speed for my back outside 3 and find myself resting on the inside edge of my left foot, the position I would use for a back inside 3. I decide to run with it because I'm in the position now and we're only going to do these after the outside ones anyway. I go ahead and inside 3.
Tammasaurus: That was good, but not an outside 3.
Now, I've been learning the back inside 3 as the turn immediately followed by a forward outside 3 so that I can get back into the position to do the pattern again. With this embedded in my mind, I go right ahead and do another inside 3 anyway now that I'm in the spirit of it.
Tammasaurus: ... Still not an outside 3.
I start setting up for a third one.
Me: Well I just felt I was on a roll so we might as well do the inside ones now I'm going.
Which I neatly follow with another inside 3.
Tammasaurus: ... Who's in charge of this lesson?!
For the record, I love you Tammasaurus and I am not wilfully misbehaving. Furthermore, I need a structured lesson plan as provided by you because I am incapable of structuring a lesson by myself as I have no idea what I'm doing in skating. Therefore, I am very appreciative of everything that you do in teaching me... However... We were gonna do the inside ones after the outside ones anyway, so does it really matter which order we do them in? PLEASE ACCEPT THIS APOLOGY! I WAS ON SUCH A GOOD ROLL WITH THOSE INSIDE 3 TURNS!
On a lighter note, we rounded out the end of the lesson with a discussion about the relative attractiveness of various male celebrities so I'm going to assume there were no hard feelings.
Tammasaurus: Backwards outside 3 turns.
Me: Sure.
I've never taken the time to detail in my blog what these are, but, essentially, they're your bog standard 3 turns done backwards instead of forwards - the post I linked to mentions them towards the end as there was a time when I thought of backwards 3 turns in horror... In truth, I'm still mostly terrified of them.
The key difference to the backwards version is that instead of using the front part of the blade (the rocker) to do the turn then you have to use the considerably spicier heel section of the blade. Much like the rocker, the heel part of the blade minimises the amount of blade contact with the ice so that rotating your foot is easier. The spicy part comes in that you have to sort of lean back into the turn, put all your weight in your heel (with its deliciously minuscule amount of blade contact) and just hope you don't go over backwards onto all manner of delicate body parts.
 |
| The spicy section...(Chilli not necessarily accurately placed) |
I would conclude all this with an upbeat line like "so it's fairly straightforward really", but, like every new move, getting to grips with backwards 3s feels like monstrous hell. Some of the pain of this post is taken out by the fact that I've actually been doing backward 3s for a while now. My outside version works pretty decently anticlockwise, but I don't do the clockwise version that often at the moment so it's a bit of a mess. Comparably, my inside anticlockwise is coming together okayish and it's not utterly abysmal going clockwise either.
Back to the exercise... I start a crossover to pick up a bit of speed for my back outside 3 and find myself resting on the inside edge of my left foot, the position I would use for a back inside 3. I decide to run with it because I'm in the position now and we're only going to do these after the outside ones anyway. I go ahead and inside 3.
Tammasaurus: That was good, but not an outside 3.
Now, I've been learning the back inside 3 as the turn immediately followed by a forward outside 3 so that I can get back into the position to do the pattern again. With this embedded in my mind, I go right ahead and do another inside 3 anyway now that I'm in the spirit of it.
Tammasaurus: ... Still not an outside 3.
I start setting up for a third one.
Me: Well I just felt I was on a roll so we might as well do the inside ones now I'm going.
Which I neatly follow with another inside 3.
Tammasaurus: ... Who's in charge of this lesson?!
 |
| How I imagine the Tammasaurus' internal despair at my rebellious ways |
For the record, I love you Tammasaurus and I am not wilfully misbehaving. Furthermore, I need a structured lesson plan as provided by you because I am incapable of structuring a lesson by myself as I have no idea what I'm doing in skating. Therefore, I am very appreciative of everything that you do in teaching me... However... We were gonna do the inside ones after the outside ones anyway, so does it really matter which order we do them in? PLEASE ACCEPT THIS APOLOGY! I WAS ON SUCH A GOOD ROLL WITH THOSE INSIDE 3 TURNS!
 |
| I have no idea if the Tammasaurus likes flowers, but I could make some appear if I receive an anonymous tip off confirming either way... |
On a lighter note, we rounded out the end of the lesson with a discussion about the relative attractiveness of various male celebrities so I'm going to assume there were no hard feelings.
Comments
Post a Comment