Forward, forward – Fast Forward…
More open course today so much higher speed – the key to staying in the course being “get forward”.
It took until after the lunch break for Alex to adapt to the speed – realizing more and more the need to stay forward. There were three components to focus on – the two we had already worked on – Double Skate and Skating Transition – then adding an increased forward tilt of the upper body from the hip joints, keeping the lower back straight.
Alex had no reference sensations to call upon to base this new goal – so each run it was a case of me calling for MORE – steering him into new territory. Eventually Alex was keeping the upper body well enough forward for things to work. He still hasn’t reached the limits of this exploration and adaptation – when he does – he will know!!!
We tried to add other components – such as a wider stance – to improve the line and efficiency of the Double Skate – but this just caused a distraction. The goal for today was to achieve speed, stability and consistency with a good technical base and a clear understanding of those technical elements.
We saw how the “Emergency Stivot” to recover from a late turn actually caused Alex to end up in the back seat. In other words such a stivot is a poor solution – the good solution is to avoid that lateness by being forward enough to exit and enter turns efficiently.
