I finally have some feedback from Asha directly when she looked at a couple of short videos of my training. Seems like what I am feeling in terms of improvement is confirmed by Asha. She said I have no inside edge pronation on either of my skates when pushing or gliding AND I have ZERO V in the regroup of my skating. Asha says these two problems affect almost all skaters and yet most are not even conscious of them or whether they are happening. So I’m doubly pleased with this feedback.
It was a stunning sunny Sunday to continue working on my technique today. I just did Lesson 3 of the Intermediate Level Fitness Online course, because it is a bit more complex – the different exercises are strung together in a single move – lunge with regroup in short toe-roll, all in one movement. Asha suggests you practice this move a lot, and really get it right, as a foundation for the future, so I just worked on it for about 45 minutes straight.
I loved it. You have to concentrate on keeping the weight on the ball of your foot to stay straight and stop the back toe wheel from wobbling around, as you bring it back from the lunge. I also needed to really use my inner thigh and knee for the retraction, particularly with the left (weaker) leg. I found the breakdown of the lesson key focus points very helpful in working through each piece of the exercise and knowing where the problems were coming from.
I felt I had it pretty strongly by the end of the session, and was pleased when I saw the video. Generally, I think my control of the skate on both sides is coming on.
Meanwhile, in my off-skate training, I am working on improving suppleness in my hips and thighs, so I can get lower on the skates. I’m also mobilising my upper back and shoulders, which get very tight, so I can stay straighter and turn more easily.
Here’s a little video of me training in the gym. I think this is important to help my body to achieve the exercises on skates correctly.
Having a lot of fun and can feel my technique improving.
Next I need to get a bit of distance skating happening.