Week 7: Backwards Skating and Crossovers, Endurance, Agility, Cone Weaving

Hey Freshies! Challenging practice today! Make sure to keep drinking water.

Today we started out with an off-skates warmup that kicked a lot of asses and got heart rates up, led by White Dynamite. We geared up and got on the track...started in on a dynamic warmup on skates of high knees, butt kicks, opening up our hips and working on our balance on one skate down the straightaways. Then we moved into backwards skating, a continuation of last Saturday. We did "watermelons" and "half-circles" skating backwards, then attempted backwards crossovers. We buddied up again to help give a little support as we picked up the speed. We broke it down even further by splitting into four groups on each of the painted circles of the rink, and worked with a vet to figure out the mechanics of skating backwards. After a water break, we then moved to the mechanics of a FORWARD crossover, and two of the circle groups got to use my swiffer pole over their shoulders (to work on getting shoulders squared to the inside of the circle as they worked their crossover). Eyes were UP and on the person in the middle, and if you didn't have the pole, your hands were on your hips to remind you to square your shoulders to the inside.

After another water break, we did space invaders to practice putting that right leg BEHIND the left leg, in the same way it naturally occurs when we're skating backwards. It was hard! We took more water, then did the 60/100/squat drill to get our heart rates up. It was a hot day and a few had to drop to catch their breath, but for the most part everyone persevered! Shout out to Freshie Nicole for puking and then getting right back into the practice, and to all of you that stuck it out despite the heat! 

We finished up the day with some cone work to increase our agility and concentrate on track boundaries and where to cut to the inside at the end of the straightaway. We moved into a weaving drill where one foot would "lead" the rest of our body around the cone while we pointed at our next upcoming cone target. The last two drills were hopping over a line of cones on the track, then a gentle weave through a line on the track.
Thanks for working hard today! It will pay off in the long run. Please skate at least 2x this week to increase your speed and endurance. Work on backwards skating and backwards crossovers, all of you! 

Xox