We all have those weeks, those bad skates.
But I don't think my tough Russian coach believes in such nonsense as "a bad skate". I distinctly remember saying to Coach A recently that I was "having a bad skate today" and was met with the simple, ever-so-serious response: "Why?"
It's a fair question when you think about it. Why? The ice is still ice, your boots and feet haven't been altered overnight, so it must all be in the head, right? So although it's definitely not as simple as "Well, don't have a bad skate then" (which was the next thing Coach A said to me, haha!) - it's surely worth a word with yourself about whether you can get your head out of that mindset.
Think I've needed a few of those words myself this past week.
So with that in mind, I'm sharing this video of my program practice from about a month ago. It's not great - pretty poor show, in fact, but even this is better than I've been coming anywhere close to this week, so I'm trying to remind myself of what I was capable of just a few weeks ago, and kick my own butt into gear ready for my next lesson!!
We all have bad skate days - some of us more often than others! When you hit a rut like that, take the time to work on other things that normally don't get as much attention. :)
ReplyDeleteI have had a terrible week or so of skating. I just don't feel as "bouncy" in the knees as normal and I've fallen quite a lot lately. Wonder what causes it to fall to pieces like that every now and then. But you're right, just got to carry on and work on other things maybe.
DeleteHi Lindsey, it's nice to get to see you out there in a video! You have really good control of your posture and your arms, I'm sure it helps there to have that Russian skating coach of yours.
ReplyDeleteAw thanks Mary! Funnily enough, my arms are my coach's absolute bugbear! I seem to bend at the elbows all the time when I shouldn't, especially when bringing them in for spins. Trying hard to fix that though.
DeleteThis program run-through wasn't really the right "pattern" in all honesty - I was too aware of not getting in the way of the three-person lesson going on in the bottom corner for one thing, but it's one of the better versions I've had lately. The Salchow's appalling though :-/ Videoing is good in that way, I guess - makes you realise how things look and you make an effort to fix them I think.