Grassroots to Champions – Part 2
Day 2 of the seminar started very, very early. Freestyle began at 6:00am and I had a 6:20am lesson. The Zamboni was 10 minutes late so everything got pushed back.
During my lesson, we talked about the new Russian style of teaching jumps so I got to hear some first-hand experience on what is up and coming for our sport. I also tried some of the new techniques.
That morning, we learned about the history of ice skating, our equipment (boots and blades) and also had some on-ice exercises for jumps and spins. I was also fortunate enough to take a semi-private lesson with Jason, and he helped me with my split falling leaf jump and my grab camel spin. He had some great tips to share.
I was ecstatic to learn that I unofficially won the spin revolution contest. We each got to pick a spin and try to spin as many revolutions as we could. Jason was the official winner and got about 32 in a back camel spin (I heard the world record is 40+). I executed a plain sit spin and achieved about 21 revolutions. The camp director and one of the coaches commended me for this, and that gave me a sudden boost of confidence.
Before he left, Jason demonstrated a Russian split jump for us. Here it is!
And I also got to meet former World and National Champion, Kimmie Meissner!
Thank you to the coaches, volunteers and organizers of the Grassroots to Champions seminar. It was a wonderful learning experience, and I can’t wait to apply what I learned.
