So this past Wednesday I started my private lessons with Tabitha. Sooooooooo much FUN!!! I knew it would be! It's back at Oceanside skating rink, where I started almost a year ago, with Tabitha being the adult group class coach. Interesting how it's working out, with her being available for private lessons at Oceanside now (for which I'm extremely grateful!).
We met at 6:45 a.m. (gasp!!), and skated until 7:30 a.m. We have to meet that early because Oceanside only offers figure skating freestyle time from 5:00 am to 10:00 am, Monday through Friday. And since I work from 8:00 am to 5:00 pm Monday through Friday, the only time was before my workday starts. Fortunately, I only work about 10 minutes from the rink, so finishing up at 7:30 gives me time to get to work, change, and have some breakfast.
So Tabitha coaches me for 1/2 hour and then I have 15 minutes to practice on my own. After this past Wednesday, we decided that I should give myself 10 minutes on my own on the ice first, to warm up, then have 30 minutes of class, then 5 minutes to do my own things at the end. Class is more productive when I'm already warmed up and used to the ice. Each session is 45 minutes long, but we can divide it up any way we want, and make it any time that we want. So it's a pretty flexible arrangement overall.
I had to buy a punch card to use for the ice time. It was $40 for 5 sessions. Each time I come, I write my name on a list and then punch the card. After 5 punches, I buy a new card. You can buy cards with longer validity, and saves a bit of money, but for now 5 was enough. I also paid Tabitha for 5 lessons up front, so I'm all set now for the next 5 weeks!
Tabitha and I are going to meet once a week. I chose Wed this week because Monday was already a very long day for me, with working, Turkish class, and a goodbye party for a friend of mine. But next week we'll meet on Monday, as Tabitha says it's less crowded at the rink. I didn't think it was very crowded Wednesday, but she says there are even fewer people there on Monday.
Our lesson was fabulous!!! Tabitha is such an inspiration to me. She's just got this way of coaching and teaching that's gentle yet strong. She's very good at showing what should be done, then explaining how it feels physically, and it's very easy to follow what she's doing. She's VERY patient! She's very constructive with any criticism, she's quick to praise when you're doing it right, and very encouraging when it's a struggle. Maybe we knew each other in another life, because I feel very comfortable around her, I instantly felt like I knew her forever.
During the lesson, we sort of just got to know what I can do on the ice again, since she hadn't seen me skate in several months. We practiced forward stroking, forward crossovers, backwards pumps on the circle, one foot glides, and 2-foot spins. She says my 2-foot spins are still just as good as ever, yay! In fact she said I've improved overall since she saw me skate last. I have been practicing on my own, and haven't stopped skating, so I'm sure that helped a lot. We also practiced outside edge c-cuts, which I had forgotten to practice on my own! It was hard to get started doing them again, but after a few tries, I managed to do them all the way down the short length of the rink with no problem. I'm sure my posture wasn't perfect, but at least my feet were doing the right thing!
Next time we meet, we'll practice those again, plus inside-edge c-cuts. We also will practice transitioning from forward to backward skating, via a 2-foot 3-turn. I've been practicing this a lot on my own, so hopefully I'll do well. This is in preparation for a 1-foot 3-turn...something I reallllly want to learn! Tabitha also mentioned doing something new with my 2-foot spin...something about spinning with my weight on one foot (but both feet on the ice), then shifting my weight to the other foot (still keeping both feet on the ice). It looks like fun, so I'm looking forward to learning more about that!
On the overall long term agenda, we want to work more on doing things on 1 foot...1-foot 3-turns, 1-foot spins, 1 foot backwards gliding. I want to work on transitions, so I can go from one move to another without stopping. I'd like to work on doing something nicer with my arms rather than holding them out straight...I feel so much more comfortable on stroking and gliding, that I feel I can now do something more graceful with my arms. Eventually I'd like to be able to skate to some kind of slow music, with timing and rhythm. That's a lot on my plate, eh? But soooooo much fun!
Happy Skating!