We Don't Just Excel, We Axel

Usual disclaimer applies: this is an old event I'm recounting. See  my first HP post  for the full notes on these. Background:  Ashley has now departed from the adult group lessons  so we're all unsure as to who's going to be taking the classes from here on... ------------------------- For about a month, the coaching of the adult classes sat in a holding pattern as the rink struggled to nail down a consistent coach for us. The upshot of this period meant that we had coaches Sue, Jane, David and Jason in weekly succession and each change meant they had to wind us back to the beginning of the skills to get a feel for where we were in our learning. That's not to say that this time wasn't without merit though, we did enjoy experiencing the different approaches each coach used and we all learned something different from each one that improved an aspect of our skating. For me, Jason's week had him demonstrate his method of 3 turns and it just instantly made ev...

Usual disclaimer applies: this is an old event I'm recounting. See  my first HP post  for the full notes on these. Background:  This was around mid-October 2016, I'd been learning to skate for about two and a half months and our group had already passed the criteria for levels 1-4 of the Skate UK course . ------------------------- Ashley announced that he wouldn't be working on Tuesdays anymore so another coach would be taking over both the Tuesday adult classes, he didn't know who and his facial impression implied the rink management had no idea either. We'd all really enjoyed being taught by him and we'd always felt he believed in us as adult learners (who can sometimes feel overlooked by rinks) so this news was met with some trepidation. An unprecedented meeting was called between the level 1-4 and level 5-8 group members. Hurried talks of arranging a group lesson with Ashley on a different day were discussed, but nothing was agreed and the groups eve...

Usual disclaimer applies: this is an old event I'm recounting. See  my first HP post  for the full notes on these. ------------------------- There was some stuff I didn't seem to be learning in my skating lessons. Some really fundamental stuff. Like, how to stop. In fact, I'd become notorious in my class for having plenty of speed and a decent handling of most of the skills we were learning, but my kryptonite was a complete lack of stopping ability. I actually felt kinda embarrassed about the whole thing in lessons. Any time we finished up an exercise with any speed involved (e.g. crossovers) then I was just left spiralling round and around Ashley as my momentum slowly died out while he explained the next exercise. How tragic I must've looked to him: poor Owen can't stop. But, thinking about it, Ashley honestly never really seemed that bothered about it, in fact he simply accepted my poor snowplow attempts without comment at our progression ticking-off session...

I'm a self-professed falling zealot. At my rink, you'll know if I'm falling as it's almost always accompanied by a shrill cry as I topple to the floor and slide across the ice. A sudden "WOOOAAAHH!" has everyone's heads snapping round at the outburst and they go "Oh god, Owen's at it again!" I think I give more people heart attacks from my screeches than any damage I do to myself from falling. The thing is though, I've definitely come to believe that falling is learning. Ice skating is a lot about balance (of course!), understanding where the balance ends and the falling starts really helps guide our body's internal gyros as to what you can and can't get away with when you're trying things on the ice. You can train yourself to push those limits as you get more confident as a skater and you'll become stronger at holding your edges or positions longer. It's pretty much the definition of practice that you do things wr...

Usual disclaimer applies: this is an old event I'm recounting. See  my first HP post  for the full notes on these. Background:  This snapshot of the past follows pretty soon after my historical perspective post about learning to do crossovers. ------------------------- Ashley reported that our group had essentially covered the Skate UK 1-4 stuff by this point. We weren't doing it all gracefully or with great skill, but we were good enough to move up to the 5-8 class. We hadn't had anyone new join the 1-4 class for a while and, as Ashley also ran the 5-8 class, he told us that, in the interests of keeping the groups' experience levels at a similar place relative to each other, he was going to continue teaching us the 5-8 material but not actually move us up, so the other class wouldn't have to backtrack to our level. He'd reassess the situation when some new people joined our group as it wouldn't be practical for them or us at that point, so we all agr...

Usual disclaimer applies: this is an old event I'm recounting. See  my first HP post  for the full notes on these. ------------------------- Now and then, my family brave the ice rink with me. Their preferred physical activity is horse riding (predominantly dressage) and they've been doing that since 2008, so, relative to my ice skating ability, within their own sport, they're advanced riders and thus no strangers to a strong core, good balance and well-directed leg and arm movements. Every time we go skating, it's always the same story: "... how do we go backwards?" I took some friends from one of my board game clubs: "... how do we go backwards?" Strangers I overhear on public sessions: "... how do we go backwards?" What is it with the backwards skating, you crazies? Backwards skating is, charitably, a bit more dangerous than forwards (at least while you're learning it), and, uncharitably, WAY more dangerous. Particularly...

Note: this post probably won't display well on mobile, apologies if you're reading via that medium! Edges! I'm talking about them, other skaters talk about them, they're insanely important to most disciplines of ice skating and you want to know more! Or you don't and are just reading every entry on my blog because you love me, thank you! Experienced skaters can simply skip this post, move right on by, it's nothing new, but there is a nifty little picture or two. This post is mainly for anytime I reference edges elsewhere on the blog and need an explanation link back for those less familiar with this sport. Most forms of ice skating are basically all about them edges. In fact, the technical criteria that differentiates two similar seeming jumps (the Flip and the Lutz) is based entirely on which edge of the blade you're on for takeoff. So let's begin. Non-skaters tend to imagine that the flat of an ice skating blade (the bit that goes on the ice)...