Saturday Skate

Coach and I were both yawning our way to the rink yesterday. Woke up a little when we hit the ice and still got a good session in. I have finally gotten the hang of stopping on my right skate! It was amazing how it just clicked finally. I'm not stopping on a dime just yet but I'm doing it right and it's not scary like it used to be.

It was really a matter of teaching the right leg (and moreso, the hip) to turn perpendicular to my left foot, which isn't something hips naturally like to do (try it! put all your weight on your left foot, knee bent, and stick your right leg out in front of you, still on the floor and your toes pointing directly left...)

So, that figured out, we started working on teaching dumb leg to do the same thing. That's going to come more slowly but at least I know what it's supposed to feel like and I'll spend the week jutting my left leg out and pointing my toes right so that my hip and muscles learn to do that without such a fight.

The backwards work is getting better and more comfortable, too. Well, less uncomfortable. :) I almost started to get a feel for the hip swivel that goes with it. It uses very different muscles in the lower leg though, so my feet and calves get tired and angry very quickly. I need to take a walk around the neighborhood backwards, I think.

Did a few good crossovers but the ice at Willowbrook was quite crowded due to a big group of kids that showed up. Even the other instructor and student who were working were having trouble finding the space to do drills.

Since I'm gone this weekend, I'm going to try and get a good skate in on Wednesday. If Coach can't go Tuesday or Wednesday night, I'll try to go at lunch on Wednesday to Willowbrook so I can skate on nice ice.

Today we're going to the driving range for a bit. Sure is hot and humid out though. Blech.