December 2023 Practice Schedule
Hello, everyone! Happy December.
2023 is coming to an end and we have so many exciting things happening. I just launched my Roller Skating Foundations Course and I am so excited that this is out into the world now. I have been going through this in my brain and on paper for over a decade and it truly means a lot to me that people are using it and really loving it. Watching everyone progress is the best feeling in the world. So, if you have already purchased the course, thank you so much! And if you haven’t yet, please check it out ♥️ Make sure to put it on your wish list 🎅🏻
Within the memberships, we have two new skills: International Runs and a Cluster Sequence. More on that further down. But first, I know that the end of the year is really great for people and really difficult for others. I, personally, had a really rough time last December. It was our first December without my father and it really hit me during the holidays. So, if you are going through anything that is difficult right now, I am very sorry. You are not alone. Hopefully 2024 will be off to a really good start very soon. And to get us ready for that, we can do a few things to help ourselves! Within the Roll With Me (On-Demand) Membership (available on ThatNicoleFiore.com or on YouTube), you can get access to the mind | body | soul membership as well as early access to the podcast and exclusives. We are also offering the mind | body | soul membership and the podcast early access separately. So, even if you are not a skater (or simply not skating at the moment) and you want to give yourself mindful moments throughout the day, we have mindfulness videos and workouts that are 10 minutes or less. You can clump a few workouts together and get a really good long workout or enjoy a few minutes to connect with your body throughout the day. I find that those small moments within the day can be so very helpful for just about everything, especially my mindset. If you have any questions, please let me know!
Below is my recommended practice schedule for December 2023 and you can find links to each video at the bottom of each section. Everything that I suggest practicing is lined up with the skills we are working on. Weave those into your regular practice throughout the month.
To gain access to all of these videos and so much more, check out my Memberships here or on YouTube!
Please don’t hesitate to reach out and let me know if you would like further guidance. You can book private lessons right here!
Week 1:
Drills 7
International Runs
PRACTICE:
Push & Stretch
Strong Outer Forward Edges
Inner Forward Edges
Drills 7 & International Runs: In week one, we are doing Drills 7, labeled strut training, and International Runs. Let’s talk about the international runs first!
Story time: all of my World Championship wins/medals were in International Solo Dance. In International Dance you do international runs. Growing up in America, we also have American dance. In American dance, you do American runs, which is a push, stroke, push. That only gives you two pushes within those three steps. In international runs, you do three consecutive pushes. You also use your body a little bit more to help you with the edge and accentuate it. The international runs are very fun to learn and very challenging. It took me quite a long time to fully understand them. This is something that I really want to explain in skating. There are so many videos that go around and so many people that say, "I learned this thing in 30 days" or “I learned this thing in an hour." Sure, you can, but the real progress and the real accomplishments come with time. It takes time and patience to truly get comfortable with a skill. So, be patient with yourself.
Drills 7 is labeled strut training and really focuses on transferring weight from one foot to the other while also building up strength around your hamstrings. You don't need to be on skates to do these drills; however, skates are weights. If you want a little bit of extra weight training, put your skates on and try these drills. I encourage you to do this at least twice this week.
Push & Stretch, Strong Outer Forward Edges, Inner Forward Edges: Now into our practice for this week! We have the push and stretch video, our outer forward edges or strong outer forward edges, and our inner forward edges. All of these skills are top-tier skills. We use them within our international runs and within all general skating. I always say to come back to your edges! I feel a little silly putting it in so many weeks of practice, but it is truly THAT important. Please practice your edges: outer forward edges and inner forward edges.
The push and stretch video is a really good reminder of where to angle your foot when you are pushing and how to stretch it out properly. I really want you to check out all of these videos this week as they all go together nicely. Use them toward your international runs progress and toward everything else we are working on this month.
Where to find these videos:
Drills 7: Drills & Workouts page [Link: Website, YouTube]
International Runs: Skills page (forward skating section) [Link: Website, YouTube]
Push & Stretch: Skills page (forward skating section) [Link: Website, YouTube]
Strong Outer Forward Edges: Skills page (edges section) [Link: Website, YouTube]
Inner Forward Edges: Skills page (edges section) [Link: Website, YouTube]
Week 2:
Beginner/Intermediate Choreography — L-O-V-E by Nat “King” Cole
PRACTICE:
Dribble
Forward Cross Pulls
Strut Walk
Beginner/Intermediate Choreography: Onto week two! We are doing our Beginner/Intermediate Choreography to "L-O-V-E" by Nat “King” Cole. This is one of my favorite songs to skate to and it's kind of a different type of song than I usually choreograph to. It is sweet and flowy, but there are sharp movements as well. I really love when a piece of choreography can do that: hold longer strides as well as hit sharp beats. You can slow the steps and movements down, you can speed them up, and make them your own.
Dribble, Forward Cross Pulls, Strut Walk: For practice this week, I would like you to practice the dribble, the strut walk, and your forward cross pulls. The forward cross pulls go hand in hand with the international runs that we did in week one while the dribble and the strut walk will help you with the choreography.
There's something really cool about the strut and the dribble! Even if you're not using it in choreography, the transfer of weight learned in those skills will really help you in so many different things. Sure, we walk in regular life, but we typically don't have wheels under our feet. Transferring your weight like you're walking or strutting on skates will open the door to feeling comfortable when you're bending your knees, going into turns, transitioning quickly, etc. Similar to edges, the dribble and the strut walk are top-tier skills. While they are very fun and showy skills, they also teach technique needed to move onto more advanced things in the future.
Where to find these videos:
L-O-V-E Choreography (Beginner/Intermediate) - Choreography page [Link: Website, YouTube]
Dribble: Skills page (Dance section) [Link: Website, YouTube]
Forward Cross Pulls: Skills page (forward skating section) [Link: Website, YouTube]
Strut Walk: Skills page (Dance section) [Link: Website, YouTube]
Week 3:
Drills 6
Cluster Sequence
PRACTICE:
Turns
Turns
Turns
Drills 6 & Cluster Sequence: This week we are working on Drills 6, which focuses on hip strength, and we are working on our cluster sequence. For anyone who doesn’t know what a cluster sequence is, you are not alone. A cluster sequence is a series of turns that we use in artistic skating and on the world skate level. It is simply a series of three consecutive turns. There are a lot of complex details of how you need to go about doing this to get credit for world-skate, but for the most part it is three one foot turns executed without changing edge in between. So, the turn itself changes your edge. Hopefully this will all make sense after watching the skills video! Like I said, a cluster sequence is a requirement in a lot of world skate events, but it can also be really fun in general recreational skating. It will absolutely help you with your one foot turns.
Drills 6 focuses on hip strength and it is kind of a doozy. Like most drills, you don't need to do it on skates. Add the weight of a skate if you want to get some extra work. Hip strength is something that we don't use too much in regular life, but we absolutely use it in the cluster sequence. Holding the free leg up and doing turns one after the other…oof! Skates are heavy! If you have a hard time lifting your free leg up, these drills will help with that a lot.
All of the Turns: Turns! Turns! Turns! We have a lot of turns that we can practice: 3 turns, brackets, counters, and rockers. And if you don't know what the differences are between them, we have videos on each of them to help you out with that. If you are working on your turns and you're confused as to what turn you're actually doing, take a video, and send it my way. I am happy to look at it! The good and bad thing about turns is that if you do a three turn but you turn the opposite way, you will be doing a bracket and vice versa. Same thing with rockers and counters. It can get a little confusing! When you really dive into the specifics of each turn, it will make more sense. It simply takes some studying and practice to fully understand which turn is which. So, practice your turns this week! Within the membership, there is an entire section on turns. Lots to look at and lots to practice. Try to feel exactly where you need to put pressure in your skate. Turns are not about whipping your body around. They’re about feeling the pressure within your foot, within your skate, and controlling your skate by changing the pressure. It is important to get to know your body and get to know your skates. Turns help with that!
Where to find these videos:
Drills 6: Drills & Workouts page [Link: Website, YouTube]
Cluster Sequence: Skills page (turns section) [Link: Website, YouTube]
Held Open 3 Turn: Skills page (turns section) [Link: Website, YouTube]
Bracket Turns: Skills page (turns section) [Link: Website, YouTube]
Outer Back Rocker: Skills page (turns section) [Link: Website, YouTube]
Outer Forward Counter: Skills page (turns section) [Link: Website, YouTube]
Week 4:
Advanced Choreography — L-O-V-E by Nat “King” Cole
PRACTICE:
Drills 6
Back Crossed Pivot
Toe Stop Spins
Advanced Choreography: Our last week, Week 4. We are going to do our advanced choreography to “L-O-V-E" by Nat “King” Cole if you’re feeling up to it. If not, stick to the Beginner/Intermediate. The advanced choreography is flowy, beautiful, and snappy all at the same time. Take your time with it and make it your own. I always say this, but what I mean by making it your own is that you don't have to copy exactly what I'm doing if you don't want to. If you want to switch a few things here and there, no one's going to be mad at that. So yes, of course, you can do exactly what I'm doing, not a problem. But if you want to change an arm here or there, do it. If you want to add a step or take a step out, that is totally okay. I wanted to put this as our last piece of choreography in December because I want it to bring everyone a little bit of joy!
Drills 6, Back Crossed Pivot, Toe Stop Spins: We are going to practice a few things within our choreography, but first, I want you to start with Drills 6 again. Yes, again.
Drills 6 is very important for mobility and strength within our hips that we don't really get in general life. I want you to spend some time on that. If it's difficult, do it without your skates. When you're ready, add the weight of the skates, and really focus.
Then I want you to work on the back crossed pivot and toe stop spins. These skills are done within our Advanced Choreography. Of course, you can change these to be something else in the choreography as you practice. Instead of doing the back cross pivot, you could do a regular pivot. You also don't need to do a toe stop spin like I do. You could do a one foot spin or a two foot spin.
When I do a toe stop spin, I have three points of contact with the ground (my two front wheels and my toe stop). I'm not spinning solely on my toe stop. I talk about this within the regular toe stop spin as well as the outer back toe stop spin and I would love for you to check out both of those. You may have to lower or raise your toe stop to your liking. Keep your knees slightly bent in the pivots and in the toe stop spins.
Where to find these videos:
L-O-V-E Choreography (Advanced): Choreography page [Link: Website, YouTube]
Drills 6: Drills & Workouts page [Link: Website, YouTube]
Back Crossed Pivot: Skills page (toe stops section) [Link: Website, YouTube]
Toe Stop Spin: Skills page (toe stops section) [Link: Website, YouTube
Outer Back Toe Stop Spin: Skills page (toe stops section) [Link: Website, YouTube]
That is what I recommend practicing in December! I hope you check it all out. All of the skating skills I talk about are included in the Roll With Me (On-Demand) Membership. We also have the mind | body | soul membership and the podcast exclusives. With the Roll With Me (On-Demand) Membership you get it all!
The Roller Skating Foundations Course is also now available and different from the memberships. I highly recommend using the course as well as the memberships. Some insight on that: the course is fully its own thing. It’s a guided course (all new videos) that starts with the very beginning of tying skates all the way through everything that I think a skater should know. It also includes a workbook! The course is literally everything, your solid foundation, to do whatever you want to do on skates. And then the membership has everything else. SO many drills, skills, and choreography videos and growing all the time. Please check it out and let me know if you have any questions.
At the end of each month, I want you to take a moment to look back and see how far you’ve come. Did you learn something new? Did you progress? Did you surprise yourself? Do you have new goals for next month? Take a moment, breathe, roll your shoulders back, lift your head high, and tell yourself you’re doing a great job. Because you are.
If you would like to submit your progress for our Community Progress Video, submit your vertical video here. Submissions are due on the last day of each month.
Keep in touch about how you’re feeling. Know that I am right here, practicing all of these things alongside you. It doesn’t matter how new or experienced you are in skating, it is very important for all of us to stay consistent with our drills and practice. I am here to help with technique, movement, and most importantly with motivation.
What was your favorite part of this month? What was the hardest for you? What kept you going? Leave a comment! If you are practicing on instagram, please tag me and #quadsociety! I love to see and share your progress! Lastly, don’t forget about the wonderful community on the Discord. Everything is better with friends!
I hope you have a wonderful December and I hope that 2024 is even better for all of us!!!!
