This season, Skate Canada changed the requirements for recreational freestyle figure skating test levels.? This was good news for me; my freestyle program time was reduced from three and a half minutes to three minutes.? The number of jump passes was also reduced from seven to six.? I?m not entirely certain of the reasoning behind this, but it was certainly good news to an old lady skater such as me.? Maybe ?
Despite the fact that I was able to do a 3:30 program last year, I really struggled to get through the shorter version this year.? Perhaps the introduction of three double jumps in the choreography may have had some bearing on this.? Whatever the case, it took about six months before I could actually get through the program without having to leave out elements.? Or maybe I?m just getting old(er). ??Patrick Chan skates four and a half minutes at the world championships and at the end of it, looks like he has just returned from a brisk walk through the park.? I, on the other hand, after? three minutes am huffing and puffing like the big bad wolf.
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Patrick Chan?.out for his stroll in the park (metaphorically speaking)
Even if one?s ability to complete their solo does improve to the point where they are still standing at the end, it may not be good enough on test day. ?This is because in a test or competitive situation, the associated stress and anxiety seems to eat away at your endurance.
Endurance is a term often used in sport, but unfortunately can mean different things to different people.? Last week, I explained some of the basics about aerobic (or cardiovascular) endurance that you can work on to improve your figure skating performance.? This week, I will try to explain another type of endurance, which is crucial to a skater?s performance.
This type of endurance is muscular endurance.? In figure skating, you need to be able to continue at a moderate to intense level of activity for 2, 3, or 4 minutes, interspersed by several bouts of explosive movements such as jumps spins, or lifts.
This type of muscular endurance is called power endurance.? In order to maintain the same amount of power with each effort (not dying in the last 30 seconds of your program), a certain level of power endurance is required. ?That?s why at the elite Senior and Junior levels, bonus marks are given for jumps? done in the last half of the program.
Athletes like baseball pitchers, wrestlers, hurdlers and fencers must also produce these kinds of powerful movements and repeat them several times with little or no rest.? Muscular endurance training helps athletes to cope with fatigue and to tolerate high levels of lactic acid.? This is unlike the kind of muscular endurance required by middle distance runners, who maintain the same steady pace throughout the race.
This might be the toughest part of performing a new figure skating program.? Do you think this is an aspect of the sport that has gotten tougher for you or has given you an advantage over the sweet young things?
Next week, I?ll share some ways you can improve your endurance for your program, both on and off the ice.
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