What to Practice - August 2024
Hello everyone and happy August! Let's talk about what we are going to work on this month within the membership (available on my website ThatNicoleFiore.com or on my YouTube channel. There are hundreds of skills, drills, and choreography videos to choose from or you can follow this Practice Schedule throughout the month! So much to learn in the membership and I really hope you check it out. I am forever grateful to be able to teach people all over the world how to skate. It is literally my dream come true. So, thank you. So much.
I also want to emphasize that you do not need any previous skills to join us. All levels, all ages, everyone is welcome and you can start anywhere you want! If you want a more structured course to focus on all of your foundational skills, I highly recommend my Foundations Course. The Course is an A-Z roadmap of what I want every skater to know. Please let me know if you have any questions. I am here to help!
Week 1:
Drills 1(strength and balance)
Push & Stretch
PRACTICE:
Back Cross
Drills & Skills:
We are going to start with Drills 1, focusing on our balance. Balance is obviously very important when you are skating. I mean…we are on wheels! We are going to be working on squats as well as holding one foot up for our one foot balance. Helpful Tip: Stand on a rug, a patch of grass, something that will prevent your wheels from rolling out from under you. That way you can strictly focus on your balance and understanding the weight of your skate.
Next up we will be working on pushing and stretching. When skating you can simply roll, but if you want to gain speed you have to learn how to push. You can push from a standstill in a T position or you can push while you are already rolling. We will work on all of that as well as stretching. When you get a nice push you want to stretch in order to carry out that speed. There are different ways of stretching as well. In artistic skating we stretch at a nice diagonal. You can stretch as far as you want but you have to make sure that your weight is over the skating leg. So, we will cover all of that and then we will go into our back cross for practice.
Practice:
There is a lot to think about in a cross. We will take everything we have worked on this week within the Drills 1 and the Push and Stretch videos to help with this. We have to make sure our body is in the correct position, our hips are back, and our core is nice and tight to ensure that our feet don’t go out from under us. Very important!
Where to find these videos:
Drills 1: Drills & Workouts page [Link: Website, YouTube]
Push & Stretch: Skills page (forward skating section) [Link: Website, YouTube]
Back Cross: Skills page (cross overs section) [Link: Website, YouTube]
Week 2:
Footwork Sequence
PRACTICE:
Spread Eagle/ Ina Bauer
Footwork Sequence:
Instead of dance choreography, we are going to be doing a Footwork Sequence this month! I built this sequence in a skating rink and demonstrate it there on a huge surface. However, I teach it in my small studio. No matter where you are or how large or small of a surface you have access to, you can do this footwork. You may need to get creative with your edges - draw them out for a larger surface or deepen them for a smaller surface. You can do the sequence slow. You can do it fast. There are so many different skills within it that can be adjusted to your skill level. Break the footwork into small pieces. You don't have to do the whole thing right away. Take your time working on the individual skills. A lot of them are in this month's practice schedule!
Practice:
I love the Ina Bauer! The difference between a spread eagle and an Ina Bauer is a bent knee. The spread eagle is both legs straight on inside edges and the Ina Bauer is a bent leading leg. I think it is one of the prettiest skills you can do. I put it in the footwork so we'll get plenty of practice on it. I love doing it from a back cross and that's what I did in the footwork. So, you can combine both things that we're gonna practice in week one and in week two to do the back cross into that Ina Bauer. You can make it as big as you want it to be or as little as you want it to be.
Where to find these videos:
Footwork Sequence - Skills page (footwork section) [Link: Website, YouTube]
Spread Eagle/ Ina Bauer: Skills page (edge section) [Link: Website, YouTube]
Week 3:
Drills 14 (freeleg extension and edge)
Rolling Pivot (two-foot turn)
PRACTICE:
Outer Back Heel-Heel Transition
Drills & Skills:
Drills 14 is about stretching that free leg. We will be pointing, stretching, and moving that free leg in different positions, making sure the core is stable enough to hold you steady. I love drills. I love drilling things over and over again until I really feel confident to start rolling with it. I am not someone who is comfortable with just going out there without thinking about technique prior to attempting a skill and I also hate falling with a passion. I do not believe that you have to fall in order to learn. It happens, sure, but there are ways to keep it to a minimum. I want us all to be able to skate well into our later years. Drills help with this a lot! I want you to really focus on your body position and on your weight into the ground. Most of the drills can be done stationary or without skates. I suggest doing drills about two to three times a week. Within the membership you also have access to the mind|body|soul section and those workouts are completely off skates to keep you moving all day long. Please check those out and let me know if you have any questions at all.
Our skill for this week is our Rolling Pivot (two-foot transition). I also like to call it an assisted turn. This was a new skill on the site and on YouTube last month and I want you to check it out again because it is very important and extremely useful. When I am skating, especially outside, and I see something that I have to maneuver around, this skill is my go-to. You can do this flat or you can press on different edges to move around obstacles and then turn around with ease.
Practice:
For practice we will be doing our outer back heel to heel transition. This skill starts on an outer back edge and ends on an outer forward edge. This is a simple transition but I wouldn't say it's an easy transition. Our bodies don't always love to rotate all the way around so it can be a little bit tricky for some of us (including myself). However, there’s a bit of a cheat code if you use your edges. Pressing to the outside edge before and after rotating can help you to get around and not have to work so hard. Try to hold your lean into the rotation and hold your lean when you step forward. Think about skating around a corner.
Where to find these videos:
Drills 14: Drills & Workouts page [Link: Website, YouTube]
Rolling Pivot (two-foot turn): Skills page (transitions section) [Link: Website, YouTube]
Outer Back Heel-Heel Transition: Skills page (transitions section) [Link: Website, YouTube]
Week 4:
Footwork Sequence
PRACTICE:
Marching Turns
Advanced Choreography:
Let’s work on our footwork sequence some more! Use this week to add your style or maybe add some different elements. Just like choreography, you can add or take away anything you want in this sequence. You don't have to do the footwork exactly how I do it. This footwork has a lot of different skills. The second half of the footwork uses cross pulls, marching turns (that's an outer forward 3-turn and an outer back 3-turn back to back which is going to be our practice this week), a backwards spiral, and then a step forward that can be done as an outer back heel to heel transition. Everything that we worked on this month builds into this beautiful sequence. That is why I build these practice schedules the way I do.
Practice:
Back to the marching turns! Like I said above: marching turns are an outer forward 3-turn and an outer back 3-turn, one after the other. You can do them slowly, taking your time and pausing in between turns. Or you can do the turns one after the other really quickly. There are many different ways to do it and there is no correct or wrong way. It's all supposed to be fun. I want you to remember that as you practice.
Where to find these videos:
Footwork Sequence - Skills page (footwork section) [Link: Website, YouTube]
Marching Turns: Skills page (turns section) [Link: Website, YouTube]
Alright, that’s it for this month! I am so proud of you. We are learning skills, challenging our bodies, and challenging our minds. Skating is a full-body sport: it's cardio and it's strength-training combined. We literally have weights at the ends of our feet! There is so much happening and we are using so much of our bodies that we don't typically use in daily life. There is a lot of extra balance that goes into this and I am so proud of you for doing it. I am so proud of you for taking time for yourself and really challenging yourself. I want you to know that I am right here with you. I hope you join me this month and check out the membership. All of these videos are included in the Roll With Me (On-Demand) Membership.
Please don’t hesitate to reach out and let me know if you would like further guidance. You can book in-person private lessons or online private lessons!
Progress:
Lastly, 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.
What was your favorite part of this month? What was the hardest for you? What kept you going? Leave a comment and/or send me a message! 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!
