I feel like this is one of those complex situations to gauge out without proper examination so i'm going to try my best to explain it in words and if anyone would like to see any videos for more isolated responses, I can respond with my skating instagram handle! So i'm not necessarily a beginner adult skater, I skated for quite a while as a kid (more seriously than recreational skating but enough to be competitive) to return later as an adult. Before I quit, I was learning (well, more like struggling) on axel, double sal and toe at the same time. Returning as an adult, its hard and complex because a lot of the bigger movements, like jumping, spins, etc, are not that scary or unnormal to me, but God the basics... I was taught the basics a while ago..like a long time. I first took lessons at 7, quit at 14 and im 24 now but they feel like such a struggle to fix.
So here are a few of the basics that I am trying to fix:
1) Checking -- the concept of this is so basic and yet... I can't figure out why I struggle so much on staying over/checking back to my right side. I know you use the upper body (i.e. shoulders and/or hips facing the circle or left shoulder staying in front and exaggeratedly over the right side but what do you tell yourself or feel to make sure you checked properly? Like for example my coach will tell me I need to check back after my three turn entry into a spin more or faster, but when i focus on doing that it feels like it's much harder to execute the spin at all. No control, like im rushing it. or trying too hard to stay over the right side
2) This is kinda isolated to axels but i'm sure it's probably shown up in other elements if I paid attention to it more. But the on-ice weight transfer to the right side? I can do off ice axels like butter, but i get on the ice and it feels like a completely different jump. Is this common? I never expected to land it on the ice first try but it only took me 3 weeks to get a fully rotated with nice snap and height on off-ice (granted, I did do them before at a point in life so that's def an advantage) so I thought I would get it just as quickly on ice. I know it's close and it's only been not even a full two weeks of attempting them, but still. I have watched videos from both my off ice attempts and on ice and it feels like after the take off on-ice, i'm not properly over my right side so
3) lastly this is kinda dumb, but it has to do with off-ice rotations. I can do 2S and 2T off ice. not consistently but usually I can get a few good ones during an off-ice session. But so far I have only ever been able to get to a close 2 rotations from two feet. Recently I did off ice with my coach and he told me I need to stop letting my left should lead me into the rotation but like WTH?! I tried to be more mindful of it and it feels like i do it EVEN MORE now. So I've just stopped doing them so I don't practice bad technique. And it really only happens with doubles. Sometimes if it's really bad, it shows up on singles but like not really. but what the heck? i have no idea how to fix that. What is the proper way for jumping off ice?
Is it a strength issue? Do I need to work out more? Core? like whatttt. My coach says I'm really strong, as I kinda really like doing off-ice -- its just easier for me. But then I get on the ice and it all goes to sh#t. He thinks I just need to practice them more and learn how to control the speed and power in my skating (he thinks thats really the issue) but these issues, mostly checking and the shoulder, show up in almost everything (i.e. jumps and spins mostly) and needing to either do it more or faster, so idk how much "practice" will fix it. It's not that I can't do jumps and spins either, I just feel like maybe I don't know or have the awareness to do these minuscule technique things more to make improvements in my skating. Granted I know these habits get better the more you do them, but I can't distinguish between what feels like i'm doing them right and making changes but it just feels uncomfortable or if it's just flat out wrong. I'm pretty sure all of this is a technique issue instead of equipment but I'm going to include that option there as a last resort, especially on spins. I know there is no one fix for skating but I feel like all of these issues kind of go hand in hand honestly, so I feel like there is something specific that I should be doing that i'm either not doing enough of or doing at all.
So here are a few of the basics that I am trying to fix:
1) Checking -- the concept of this is so basic and yet... I can't figure out why I struggle so much on staying over/checking back to my right side. I know you use the upper body (i.e. shoulders and/or hips facing the circle or left shoulder staying in front and exaggeratedly over the right side but what do you tell yourself or feel to make sure you checked properly? Like for example my coach will tell me I need to check back after my three turn entry into a spin more or faster, but when i focus on doing that it feels like it's much harder to execute the spin at all. No control, like im rushing it. or trying too hard to stay over the right side
2) This is kinda isolated to axels but i'm sure it's probably shown up in other elements if I paid attention to it more. But the on-ice weight transfer to the right side? I can do off ice axels like butter, but i get on the ice and it feels like a completely different jump. Is this common? I never expected to land it on the ice first try but it only took me 3 weeks to get a fully rotated with nice snap and height on off-ice (granted, I did do them before at a point in life so that's def an advantage) so I thought I would get it just as quickly on ice. I know it's close and it's only been not even a full two weeks of attempting them, but still. I have watched videos from both my off ice attempts and on ice and it feels like after the take off on-ice, i'm not properly over my right side so
3) lastly this is kinda dumb, but it has to do with off-ice rotations. I can do 2S and 2T off ice. not consistently but usually I can get a few good ones during an off-ice session. But so far I have only ever been able to get to a close 2 rotations from two feet. Recently I did off ice with my coach and he told me I need to stop letting my left should lead me into the rotation but like WTH?! I tried to be more mindful of it and it feels like i do it EVEN MORE now. So I've just stopped doing them so I don't practice bad technique. And it really only happens with doubles. Sometimes if it's really bad, it shows up on singles but like not really. but what the heck? i have no idea how to fix that. What is the proper way for jumping off ice?
Is it a strength issue? Do I need to work out more? Core? like whatttt. My coach says I'm really strong, as I kinda really like doing off-ice -- its just easier for me. But then I get on the ice and it all goes to sh#t. He thinks I just need to practice them more and learn how to control the speed and power in my skating (he thinks thats really the issue) but these issues, mostly checking and the shoulder, show up in almost everything (i.e. jumps and spins mostly) and needing to either do it more or faster, so idk how much "practice" will fix it. It's not that I can't do jumps and spins either, I just feel like maybe I don't know or have the awareness to do these minuscule technique things more to make improvements in my skating. Granted I know these habits get better the more you do them, but I can't distinguish between what feels like i'm doing them right and making changes but it just feels uncomfortable or if it's just flat out wrong. I'm pretty sure all of this is a technique issue instead of equipment but I'm going to include that option there as a last resort, especially on spins. I know there is no one fix for skating but I feel like all of these issues kind of go hand in hand honestly, so I feel like there is something specific that I should be doing that i'm either not doing enough of or doing at all.