Skills/Elements

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Staying Fit Amid Coronavirus Pandemic

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It was so disappointing to learn that the World Figure Skating Championships in Montreal next week had been canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic. Unfortunately, this means we won’t be able to watch the highly anticipated Nathan Chen (US) and Yuzuru Hanyu (Japan) compete for the gold.  What’s even more disappointing is that my favorite ice dance team, Madison Chock and Evan Bates, will not be able to challenge the French ice dancers, Gabriella Papadakis and Guillaume Cizeron, for the title this year. Chock and Bates reclaimed their US National title this year with their amazing Egyptian snake freedance program. Hopefully, Worlds will be postponed to the fall?

As the health and well-being of my students are my highest priority, I will not be scheduling any lessons for the next several weeks. Group classes at Middletown Ice World have also been cancelled effective March 16 until further notice and the rink will offer refunds to those registered in the current 7-week session. The rink is following U.S. Figure Skating’s recommendation that all club events and programs be canceled or postponed through at least May 11. 

In the meantime, I will be scheduling weekly virtual off-ice sessions for my students so we can not only stay active but also connected and engaged. I will use Learn to Skate USA’s off-ice challenges which combine cardio, strength, stretching, and balance exercises. If you can not attend virtually, then you can go online via the Learn to Skate USA mobile app (free) and do the workouts at your convenient. If you complete these challenges in the app, you can earn badges for your digital trophy case. See you soon!

Thank you all for your patience and understanding. 
Stay safe and healthy and I look forward to seeing you all soon!

What is Ice Dancing?

The other night I was at a family dinner, and we were discussing the US Figure Skating Championships which was currently taking place. We all commented on the spectacular skating performances, but we were especially amazed by Alysa Liu and Nathan Chen. My aunt then casually remarked how technical freestyle skating is, and how it is “way more difficult than ice dancing” because of the jumps.

There has always been a big misconception that ice dancing is “easier” than freestyle. Having competed in both disciplines, I can attest to the fact that freestyle and ice dancing focus on different skills and elements, making them both EQUALLY difficult. As it is my mission to educate my readers, I would like to explain how figure skating and ice dancing each have its own distinct challenges in order to finally put an end to the maligned perception of ice dancing.

Ice dancing is extremely technical because skaters are judged on the precision of their footwork, placement of the dance steps, accuracy of timing, and deepness of edges. Not only are ice dancers required to complete intricate footwork sequences to the exact beat of the music, they also have to master specific pattern (compulsory) dances which have standardized steps skated to a specific music genre. There are eight levels of dances- preliminary, pre-bronze, bronze, pre-silver, silver, pre-gold, gold, international- a total of 33 dances!!!

Chock & Bates’ Egyptian Snake Free Dance Source: https://www.usfigureskating.org

Chock & Bates’ Egyptian Snake Free Dance
Source: https://www.usfigureskating.org

Ice dancing is similar to ballroom dancing, but on ice. While freestyle skaters need to land clean triple and quadruple jumps, ice dancers must execute difficult steps and turns with extreme precision and timing. Instead of simply doing crossovers and connecting steps, ice dancers are judged on their speed, power, and flow through every turn and footwork. Skills such as rhythm, expression, musical interpretation, and gracefulness must also be mastered. Lastly, having good carriage and performing with grace are all critical to ice dancing. Before I learned to ice dance, I never worried so much about posture and extensions. Maintaining body alignment through extensions is essential in showing long lines and fluid grace. Many of these movements can be easily hidden in freestyle since jumps and spins receive all the attention. 

Among all the required elements, one of the most difficult for ice dancers to master is the twizzle sequence. Twizzles are multi-rotational turns on one foot moving continuously across the ice- unlike a spin which is performed in one place. The blade has a rocker which rocks back and forth, and during a twizzle, a skater needs to stay centered on the ball of the foot to maintain balance while spinning. Twizzles also have different levels of difficulty depending on their entries, arm positions, edge positions, number of turns, and change of rotational directions. 

Virtue & Moir’s Moulin Rouge Free Dance Source: https://nationalpost.com/sports/olympics/simmons-its-not-easy-to-say-goodbye-to-tessa-virtue-and-scott-moir-for-them-or-for-us

Virtue & Moir’s Moulin Rouge Free Dance
Source: https://nationalpost.com/sports/olympics/simmons-its-not-easy-to-say-goodbye-to-tessa-virtue-and-scott-moir-for-them-or-for-us

I’ve always enjoyed watching both freestyle and ice dancing, but as I watch the US Nationals this week, I find ice dancing to be much more captivating. Of course, it’s great to see skaters land all their jumps from one end of the rink to the other. But I’ve grown to enjoy the more artistic aspect of skating, especially in ice dancing where skaters interpret their music and exhibit their character. I feel that ice dancing allows skaters to be more creative and show off their artistic expressions to reveal their unique personalities.

If you’re interested in watching an ice dance competition, you’re in luck because there a couple of local competitions you can attend in the coming weeks. On March 6-7, the Southern Connecticut Skating Club will be hosting its 1st annual Solo Dance Series Competition at the Terry Conors rink in Stamford, CT.  On March 27-29, the Morris Open will have its Dance Series competition at the Mennen Sports Arena in Morristown, NJ. Please check out the “Events” tab for more details.

One should choose a skating discipline not because one is easier/harder over the other, but because the skater genuinely enjoys it more. 


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Happy New Decade!...Learn New Skills & Enjoy a Lifetime of Skating!

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What better way to start off a brand new decade than learning to skate?! 

Embrace winter and learn new skills that will last a lifetime while simultaneously enjoying the fun and fitness of skating. For those who already skate, the new year is the best time to set short and long-term goals and challenge yourself to new experiences. Please see my Sept 9, 2019 post “Setting S.M.A.R.T. Goals” on how to make clear and defined goals to better keep you on track (https://www.figureskatingetc.com/new-blog/2019/9/16/setting-smart-goals).

US Figure Skating National Skating Month

US Figure Skating National Skating Month

As January is National Skating Month, this is the perfect time to get on the ice as many of your local rinks will host open houses and offer free lessons and exhibitions. I will once again lead my club’s National Skating Month event in Howell, NJ on Sat, Jan 25 (please see the “Events” page for more details). Also, in honor of Martin Luther King’s legacy of service, I will be giving free lessons alongside my colleagues at another local rink in Middletown and would love to have you all come out with your friends and family for a fun winter workout.  For more info, check out https://www.figureskatingetc.com/my-events/2019/12/31/5bc0o7o2jo5oe0rc37jp9dmbthuezw

Source: US Figure Skating FanZone

Source: US Figure Skating FanZone

Also, January is a big month for figure skating as the US Figure Skating Championships are held every year to crown the national champions in ladies’ (girls’) singles, men’s (boy’s) singles, pair skating, and ice dancing for the senior, junior, novice, intermediate, and juvenile levels. For information on, or to get tickets for, the 2020 U.S. Figure Skating Championships, go to ncskate2020.com. For those who can't travel and watch live, there will be full coverage of the event on the U.S. Figure Skating Fan Zone, https://usfigureskatingfanzone.com/sports/2020/1/19/2020-toyota-us-figure-skating-championships-competition-central.aspx .

I look forward to sharing the joys of skating and making special memories on the ice with all of you.  Happy New Year!

Setting S.M.A.R.T. Goals

Welcome New and Returning Students! I hope you’re all ready for a great new skating season because we will be learning lots of cool new and challenging moves and elements.

It’s Motivation Monday- a day of beginnings and new starts- and as we kickoff our new season in the coming weeks, please take a moment to think about your goals and what you want to learn and master at the end of your 7-week session/season. Whether you’re a novice, intermediate, advanced or an elite skater, all athletes set goals. Setting short-term and long-term goals will help you with direction, feedback, and support. I particularly find that when skaters clearly define their goals, they are more motivated to work hard and stay committed at their tasks. Having clear and well-defined goals also allow you to obtain the necessary support in keeping you on track and not giving up easily. Once I learn about your goals then I can provide effective feedback and advice to help you achieve them.

In helping you set your goals, you can follow the 5 simple S.M.A.R.T goals which stand for -

Source: https://www.kazoohr.com/resources/library/how-to-set-smart-goals

Source: https://www.kazoohr.com/resources/library/how-to-set-smart-goals

You can also use this helpful guide to set your goals for school or anything else you want to do well and achieve in life. Please use the US Figure Skating goal-setting worksheet to help you get started, https://www.usfsa.org/content/Goal-setting%20and%20Self-confidence%20Worksheets.pdf

I’m excited for the new season and I look forward to helping each of you achieve your skating goals!

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How to Spin & Not Get Dizzy

This past Sunday, I was teaching my smart and diligent 12 yr-old long-time student, Courtney, how to do a scratch spin which is an upright spin- one of the first spins that figure skaters learn. I demonstrated the spin so she can see how a proper scatch spin is done and told her that once she masters this basic spin, she can then learn variations including a camel spin, sit spin, and layback spin. As I demonstrated all these different spins to her, Courtney asked a real simple but smart question- ‘How do you spin without getting so dizzy?” I stood dumbfounded by my young student’s question. I paused and thought about it for a couple of minutes but had no idea why I never get dizzy and simply replied ‘I’m use to it’. Well, it was clear that my student did not like my answer because she looked confused and persistently asked, ‘How do you get use to it without crashing to the ground from spinning so fast?’

I knew there was a scientific answer to this question and it had to deal with the principle of inertia. But I’m not a science person and will not take physics until my senior year next year.

I knew my student will ask me next week when I review our spin lesson and it’s a question I feel I should know so I came home and immediately googled this baffling question. This is what I learned…

When you spin, you get dizzy because there are fluids which get sloshed around. There are three tubes that are filled with fluids in your inner ear and each tube is aligned with a different motion- up and down, left and right, and side to side. The sensory nerve cells in the hair lining of the ear canal carries signals to your brain which gets interpreted as movement. When you stop spinning, the fluids continue to slosh around in your ear and so your brain still thinks you’re spinning but you’re really not and that’s why you get dizzy.

Figure skaters and ice dancers have the same tubes and fluids in their ears like all of us and their fluids also get whipped around. So then how come they don’t get dizzy and disoriented when they spin or twizzle?! Even if you’re not an elite skater, there’s no way to avoid not getting dizzy- you can’t even disguise your dizziness. The answer is PRACTICE, PRACTICE, and more PRACTICE! If you practice spinning over and over many times then your body is trained to get use to it and gradually overcomes the dizziness. Aha!, so I was actually 100% correct when I told Courtney that I just got use to spinning and don’t get dizzy! It’s because I’ve trained intensely for so many years that I can recover from a spin with grace without feeling at all dizzy. There was no scientific reason after all.

Skaters train hard to make their moves look so effortless!

What Is An Edge?

Learning how to use and control your edges is important in helping you become an efficient and confident skater- in fact, proper use of edges is paramount to being a great skater. You all hear me many times tell you to use your edge to push harder or to use your edge to skate a curve or make basic turns, ie. forward/backward, or more advanced turns, i.e.. three turns or mohawks. Let me take the time to explain what a skating edge is and its importance.