Skating Fridays

New Element – Press Lift

After reading the feedback from the judges on our Adult Silver Pairs test, we came to the realization that we needed to add more variety to our elements. We had two lift elements in our program – a waltz lift and a loop lift. The waltz lift has given us some trouble, as we have challenges getting aligned before I jump into the air. We can do it on the ground, but once we add some speed on the ice, our alignment gets off.

As a result, we wanted to try a new lift – the press lift. It looked hard, based on our YouTube and Instagram research (remember, we don’t have a coach at the moment). We tried it on land, and lo and behold, it worked pretty well.

The next time we saw each other was during a not-too-crowded public session. We thought, what the heck, so we tried the press lift on the ice for the first time. Surprisingly, it actually went pretty well! Nobody got injured, so we’ll take that as a win!

Obviously, this lift still needs a lot of work, but it does look promising.

8 Comments

  1. Cathy Abdun-Nur Durrett
    October 8, 2021 / 2:21 pm

    So proud of you and a big fan!

    • evabakes
      Author
      October 9, 2021 / 6:36 am

      I’m a big of yours too, Cathy! ❤️❤️

  2. Melissa
    October 8, 2021 / 5:08 pm

    That’s really good! It looks really smooth for just trying it for the first time. And you’re pretty high up in the air! Most pairs things terrify me (no one is going to throw me!) but that press lift actually looks like fun.

    • evabakes
      Author
      October 9, 2021 / 6:37 am

      The press lift is actually easier for us because we are already aligned before jumping. The other ones require us to move into the right spot or to jump into alignment, which is much harder. It’s so weird!

  3. October 9, 2021 / 5:02 pm

    Hooray for you two! The lift looks great, even on its first day–you’ll have to post updates so we can see it develop!

    • evabakes
      Author
      October 9, 2021 / 5:14 pm

      Of course, Jo! Glad the lift looks good!

  4. Steph
    October 10, 2021 / 11:27 am

    Looks nice! It’s a great start! I’ve loved lurking on your blog and following your skating. And drooling over your goodies, but a baker I am not.

    FYI, from a fellow Silver Pairs skater, the press lift isn’t legal under USFS rules until Gold. It’s a Group 4 lift and Silver is limited to Groups 1 & 2. But it’s good you’re working on the other lifts now. 🙂

    • evabakes
      Author
      October 10, 2021 / 12:06 pm

      Yes – we looked it up in the rule book last week. I had no idea a press lift wasn’t legal in Silver. But yes, it is good to work on new elements. Hope to skate with you soon! ❤️

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