New coach . . .

. . . and on to the last half term of lessons of this academic year.

I was a little bit sad not to get D again after her tuition over the last six months, but I think it will be good to get a different view of things, especially when it comes to those damn crossovers! I am also the only Level 7 person, in with Level 6's, and it has been nice to go a little bit more back to basics.

So what did we do today?
Forward Slaloming: Had to demonstrate these. Found out they are quite hard going up a slope!
Backward Slaloming: Yes, in the same vein as D, I was made to slalom backwards. However, I was little more co-ordinated this time and did actually move backwards, rather than just standing there wiggling my hips!
3-turns: FO3's weren't brilliant, but they weren't too awful either. FI3's are rubbish. But as I haven't skated for a fortnight, what do I expect? I need to get back into a routine.
Backward Skating in a circle: It was SO nice just to concentrate briefly on backward stroking, as I hardly ever do it. And it wasn't too bad - got some level of speed up and what felt like a nice push backwards.
Backward Chasses: Again, not feeling too bad. I am so much more confident with these than I was a few months ago. The "chasse" part is lifting higher, and getting quite a nice 'kick' back (coach's description).
Backward Crossovers:. . . sigh . . . once again, went pretty well - with a helping hand. I was even told that they are beautiful! But I can't do them on my own! It really is so frustrating - however, Clare_O posted in the Skating Forums about this recently and got some really helpful hints posted back, so will have to practice these on Monday.
Continuous Curves: As always, loved these. However, the area of the rink we were on today seemed to be on a ridge, so made a little more difficult!

So a varied lesson today which was nice, and as I said, very helpful to go back to more basic things.

I now also have to start thinking seriously about coaches. It may be that I have lessons with D. during the summer months, as there are no group lessons to take her time up on Wednesday evenings. Unfortunately Wednesday's are the only day she is at Ally Pally, so it would only be for the summer, but I think it would be nice to start with someone I know. However, I have another six weeks to think about it.