New Boots

I got my new boots mounted the day before I left for the USA.

In New Jersey, I went to Ice House to skate - yes, in brand new boots! The first session, I was a bit cautious, but did go through all my single jumps. It felt like I tended to lean back too much, and this messed up my Axel timing. However, by the second session, I was landing my double Sals consistently (though the Axel was still off).

The one week in New Jersey was quite interesting. Going for the 8:15am session meant there were very few skaters on the ice. One session, I was the only one! I spoke to Vladimir Kaprov, but didn't take any lessons this time round as I was always uncertain what we were doing each day.

The following week, we went to Berkeley, and I skated at the Yerba Buena rink. I only did public sessions there, and it was rather crazy, as the SF public schools were on spring break! I'd wanted to do a freestyle session, but missed it as it took longer than I'd expected to get ready in the morning *and* drive there from Berkeley.

In any case, public session or no, I was surprised to find that I was finally landing double Sals and double toes consistently! All in the first 2 weeks' of using my new boots! WOOHOO!!

I initially thought, maybe it is the ice. When I returned to Singapore, I had lesson (my first lesson in 3 weeks), and guess what? I actually landed double Sals and double toes. Even the Axel is feeling better. Hmm... It must be the boots...

Conclusion: I must have used my previous pair of boots way past its time. I had been using them for over 2 years! Now I wonder if I would have been landing my doubles much sooner if I had gotten new boots earlier!