Perimeter Power Stroking

I met with my coach again today. We started off with basic stroking around the ice. Her feedback was to increase pressure on the foot on the ice at the end of the stroke so that the push off for the next foot was more powerful. She demonstrated that the lines on the ice start off as a light trace but end as a deeper groove in the ice. That ensures that you’re building pressure getting ready for the next foot to push off against. As well, she suggested that I bend my knee in deeper for the skating foot as I build that pressure, so my body should really be doing an up and down motion. Bend down, push off, rise up in the middle of the stroke, bend down to build pressure again, push off, continue…

We then moved on to discussing bringing a notebook to practice – I’d forgotten that I used to bring a notebook to the rink myself and fill it in after each lesson. But she’s happy to note down the important points for me even, so this is even better! So I need to buy a notebook desginated for lessons!

Then we moved on to Moves In the Field – Perimeter Power Stroking. So, I used to be really good at this pattern, but not skating for two years really does a number on you! I even forgot the entrance to this move! First – start off with your left foot! Do four strokes to get to the start of the circle. Do two crossovers on the thirds of the circle and push off onto a Left Forward Inside. Keep this up to the top of the circle. Step onto Right Foot Outisde, cross to Left Foot Inside to transition to Right Foot Inside. You know how it goes! Here is the diagram. We did the forwards, now I have to do the backwards. The backwards really have to demonstrate shift in weight so that the you would ideally even be able to pick up the non-skating foot off the ground!

A third thing that we talked about was progressives which are crossovers where the crossing foot stays on the ground, similar to backward crossovers. This makes the crossover look far prettier!

Lastly, I asked for feedback on my spin entry. Her feedback was that I wasn’t transitioning the right foot from outter edge to inner edge after the 3 turn - that’s what the point/pivot does. So I have to focus on that.

Lots to practice for my next practice session before my next lesson: 1) Perimeter Power Strokes - I used to do these quite well so I should be able to get back to it quickly 2) Practice Progressives - these are new for me as I keep wanting to take the foot off the ice. Have to be mindful about keeping the foot on the ice. 3) Practice the spin entry - remember to change edge on the 3 turn and practice finding the right spot on the rocker to give you the best freedom on your skate. 4) Practice stroking properly 5) Refresh yourself on the rest of the Pre-Preliminary Moves for the Moves on the field Test. This will make the lessons go faster if Coach doesn’t have to reteach me everything from scratch!

See you next time!