Top Moments from the London 2012 Summer Olympics

Olympic rings

Every two years, the Olympics is a positive motivation for athletes all over the world. The Olympic images give athletes something exciting to work toward. During the Summer Olympics, seeing the triumphs and challenges of the events gives even the winter athletes hope.

In case you missed them, here are NBC’s videos of the top moments from the London 2012 Summer Olympic Games: Top NBC Moments of the London Games.

Here are some highlights from Yahoo Sports: Unforgettable Moments from the London Olympics.

Photo Credit: Photo by Foreign and Commonwealth Office at Flickr Creative Commons.

August 25, 2012

Ice Rink Maintenance

Newport, NS

Newport, NS by Avard Woolaver, on Flickr

I’ve talked about ice rinks before, but ice rink maintenance is a topic many skaters have questions about. Kroc Center Ice is closing for annual maintenance from July 1st to July 22nd this year. You may wonder what they do that takes that much time.

While the rink does some maintenance every year, this year’s maintenance is a bigger project because they are going to melt down the ice and check the pipes underneath. Also, they are going to replace the yellow kick boards around the rink. They have to take apart the bleachers to access the kick boards on one side of the rink, which takes extra time as well.

This article explains how the ice surface is made and maintained: How Ice Rinks Work.

Have a good July break and happy 4th! 🙂
June 27, 2012

Build on Love and Skill at the Beginning of the Season

Today, I’d like to share a post my mom, Deb Chitwood, published at Raising Figure Skaters. It tells about the work skaters can do at the beginning of the season and the benefits for skaters attending summer skating school. It also has a motivational word-art freebie.

Here are the first two paragraphs:

Each sport has its pre-season time to build. And I think we can look at almost anything as pre-season whenever we’re starting a new project or new time of our lives.

This is the beginning of the season for many in competitive figure skating. I always enjoyed watching how skaters go through the process of finding the right music, choreographing programs, and designing costumes. At the same time, extra emphasis is placed on developing and refining skating skills at the beginning of the new season.

Read the entire article.

April 27, 2012

How Ice Resurfacers Work

I Wanna Drive a Zamboni Photo by Eric KilbyI’m often asked questions about the ice resurfacer at the rink and how it works.  Ice resurfacers are typically called Zambonis after the creator, Frank Zamboni, but there are other brands, such as Olympia. Every official rink has an ice resurfacer. Here are two good articles on how they work:

How Ice Rinks Work: Maintaining the Rink

Ice Resurfacer from Wikipedia

Photo Credit: Photo by Eric Kilby at Flickr Creative Commons.

February 27, 2012

Crash Pads Help Skaters Learning New Jumps

This week I want to talk about crash pads for skaters. Pads can be very beneficial for skaters learning new jumps that require many repetitions and falls to master. I usually have my skaters get pads when they are learning their axel. If they’re falling a lot on another single jump, I might recommend crash pads earlier.

Since the axel jump is 1½ rotations in the air, it takes more time and practice to master than the previous jumps. Also, the longer the rotation, the more height and rotation speed required. This causes falls on jumps like the axel and above to have more force with the skater possibly getting a bruise or another injury.

Even if the falls aren’t that hard, just falling many times in a row can cause muscle soreness or bruising. Another advantage of pads is that they usually give the skater an extra boost of confidence that makes the jump easier because the skater isn’t as afraid of falling.

There are various crash pads for skaters, including pants you can buy with pads sewn in already. My favorite individual pads are made by Waxel Pad. They’re a foam material that’s available in ½-inch, ¾-inch or 1-inch thickness. Waxel Pads have small, medium, and large sizes available, but the medium size in a ½-inch or ¾-inch thickness works best for most skaters. You can buy the hip or butt pads separately, although I recommend just getting the set of three with both hip pads and the butt pad.

Happy skating! 🙂

January 22, 2012