THIS week I'm a little suspicious of my coach's motives!
Anyone who knows my coach knows that he DOES NOT sign off levels if they're not up to his high standards - not even on SkateUK. Many a child has cried after a SkateUK test week with Coach A, when they leave without a signature on their book.
But this week, it seems he's in the mood to give out autographs - and he autographed my Bronze passport - cue happy, happy times.
Delighted isn't even the word, considering that in October when I badly broke my wrist, I was working on SkUK level 8.
For anyone reading who isn't a skater - SkateUK is the most basic testing system and consists of levels one to 10 - then you move onto SkateUK Star, also often called by its old name, Passport, which has bronze, silver and gold levels in different disciplines including singles skating (which I'm working on), ice dance, synchro and speed skating.
My aim for 2013 was to at least pass up to silver, but it's barely February and I'm already working on it, so doesn't that mean it's a fair bet I'll manage it by December 31st?
I think the Salchow's going to be the biggest challenge. I currently have zero clue what
it consists of - I've watched other people do them a million times and can't even work out what's going on.
The teapot I'm almost there with - just need a bit of leg strength, which I'm working on. Backward spiral I've never tried, but when I said I thought I was going to find that impossible, Coach A said he'd never come across anyone who picked up the forward spiral as easily as I did who couldn't do a backward one too, so that gives me hope. As for the one-foot spin - if I can get an actual entry, I'm just about there. I'm only just learning that, having only done spins from a hockey glide before now. You only need two revolutions technically for silver, which I can do most of the time.
But back to the original point - I can't help but wonder if Coach A is just trying a sneaky method of confidence-boosting. Like "Here's a piece of paper that says you can do these things, therefore you must be able to do them". Because I feel a bit of a fraud, passing bronze, if I'm honest. Yes I can do a baby three jump, but it is only a baby one, because I haven't yet built up the confidence to make it any higher or bigger.
And yes, I can do a two-foot spin, but it's appalling a lot of the time, and only just starting to get a consistent three rotations (which is what's required). In fact, I suspect my one-foot spin is better!
But I guess, if that IS his motive, it's going to work, because I'm already determined to make those elements better based on the fact that I don't like feeling like a fraud. Sneaky coach.
My coach can be sneaky, too. She knows I went into lessons with her, not knowing how to do 3-turns or backwards crossovers. So during the first lesson on a toe loop jump, we went through the basic moves a few times, and I realized the move just before digging the toe pick in, is an inside 3-turn! I said to coach...isn't this an inside 3-turn? She said YES, good job!!! And then learning the Salchow, that needs an outside 3-turn to start...again...same sneaky way of getting me to do one without saying the name of it! Of course I do these at the barrier, but that's OK. I'm getting the hang of it. Just this week, we started learning back crossovers but coach never said the name of them until I said "I know where you're going with these practice moves...this will become a back crossover!" She was proud of me. LOL She never said so, but I imagine her strategy is not to tell me she's going to teach me "3-turns" because I'll get some kind of mental block going, since I know I can't do them. I love her sneaky approach!! :)
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