I've been picking over Scott Hamilton's autobiography/self-help book released earlier this year. It's a good little read. It can be a bit corny at times, but I've really enjoyed a few sections about his career decisions and learning to "fall, get up and land your first jumps" as the 1st chapter is named.
The intro is a great metaphor about learning fundamentals and how to focus and practice to attain goals through learning figure eights. Every time I read this section, I have come away with a renewed focus in my personal and professional life. To be good at figures takes repetition and practice. It takes clearing your mind of distractions while finding a rhythm to the repetition and focus on each step to create and then trace the figure in the ice.
Figures could be frustrating and even boring at times, going over and over the same spot trying to cut clean edges into the ice without flats, wobbles or skids. I spent an hour on figures in my patch of ice starting with a basic eight on outside edges a progressing through serpentines, double threes, brackets and loops. It was all a great warm up for the freestyle session that would come next. Over time that daily hour of figures build greater strength, posture and speed in my skating. Figures allows skaters to practice the body positions needed for jump entry and footwork at a slow and methodical pace. By doing serpentines and rockers, I was perfecting take off for a double lutz over and over again without even realizing it. I was forced to spend an hour each day practicing fundamental positions in the sport.
Life can bring its own frustrations and sometimes boring tasks, but success comes from thoughtful and dedicated practice of fundamentals.
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