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Essay / My Ice Skating Experience: A Personal Story
Table of ContentsIce Skating Experience: Introduction to EssaySkating in My LifeConclusionWorks CitedIce Skating Experience: Introduction to EssayI often wonder what people are passionate about people. And I mean incredibly in love and enthusiastically passionate about a sport, a music, a subject, a class, a person, anything! A kind of passion that lights a fire in them that really shows when they do it. This idea of passion is something to be proud of. If a person can learn to love something so much that it becomes a passion, they should be proud of it! Especially because it's not easy. When it comes to falling in love with someone or something, difficulties, struggles, and disappointments inevitably accompany the process. People can be knocked down so easily that it is sometimes difficult to get back up. This is exactly what I learned through figure skating. And I will say upfront that it was a long and difficult journey, but ultimately, being on the ice became my passion and I am immensely proud to be able to say that in my ice skating experience essay. Say no to plagiarism. Get a Custom Essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”?Get an Original EssaySkating in My LifeSkating is a very demanding sport to say the least. Skaters are expected to be perfect in every way. Every movement, every pirouette, every jump must be perfect, strong, soft and well presented at the same time. Skaters train day after day for hours with private coaches, off-ice instructors, choreographers and coaches to build the endurance needed to complete a long program and look great while doing it. I've been skating for fourteen years, and just two years ago my love for the sport was truly tested. As a skater, falling is an occupational hazard, it's part of the territory of skating. In addition to being physically difficult, skating is a huge mental game. The fear of falling can stop even the best skaters from trying to land their jumps, because being injured simply means time off the ice, and that's something most of us can't even imagine. Being the risky skater that I am, I was never afraid to fall or take a chance and try something new on the ice. Whether it was a new footwork sequence, a spin, or an advanced jump, no matter what my coach told me to try, I went for it and did it. I tried. Life likes to throw obstacles in your way; For me, life decided to get in the way with my double salchow. It sounds like a funny jump and yes, it’s pronounced “sow-cow.” This is a jump that takes off as the skater faces backwards and rotates twice in the air to land on her right side again in a perfect landing position. This requires practice and above all repetition. I've always picked up on things pretty quickly, so when it took me longer than usual to get my double, I started to get frustrated with myself. Was I not as good as I thought I was? What was I doing wrong that I couldn't take that leap? After attempting the jump several times in a row and failing to land, my self-esteem dropped significantly. One day while training I had what is still the worst fall I have ever had. I had decent speed before the jump, I took off in what seemed like the right way, but while I was in the right direction, the air, my body wasn't rotating correctly.Instead of being vertical and slightly to the right, I leaned way too far to the right and, in trying to fix it, ended up leaning too far to the left. My lower body was in the right position and since I had plenty of height to jump, I was able to fully pivot. When my feet hit the ice, my right leg went to the left and my left leg to the right, and my upper body rotated and my shoulder hit the ice head-on. It was definitely the worst fall I've ever had. It's also the scariest moment of my life. The speed at which everything is happening is the worst thing of all. Skaters are never in the air for more than a second and a half. One moment we're flying through the air, then the next we're sprawled on the ice, feeling our bodies shudder from the force of impact. The fall had taken my breath away. It felt like there wasn't enough air to completely fill my lungs and my hands tingled like a billion needles were poking me. I managed to roll over onto my back, but by then my trainer had rushed over to me and told me not to try to get up just yet. Everyone at the rink knows that if I spend more than a few seconds on the ice without getting up or laughing for any reason, something is wrong. Other skaters and coaches who were on the ice at the time came over to make sure I was okay. In times of distress, people often try to show how tough they are and pretend everything is okay. I just couldn't hold on; I burst into tears. The sheer pain, the frustration of not being able to land it, and the fear of being put on sick leave had me crying my eyes out on the ice. I was helped up and into a chair so they could push me back to the door. My parents were called and I had to be taken to the doctor to check my shoulder. Long story short, I was about an inch and a half away from dislocating my shoulder and being forced to spend at least a month off the ice. I couldn't believe how lucky I was that I didn't get seriously injured. I would need to take about a week off to let my body take a break and heal itself, but a week isn't as bad as a month! The obligatory week I spent off the ice really made me reflect on my love for the sport. I thought about why I started skating and why I continued to train so much and spend so much time on the ice. I fell in love with ice when my mother took me to my first skating lesson when I was four years old. All I wanted to do was be like the older girls on the ice, spinning and jumping like it was no big deal. I continued to enjoy being in the artificial cold of an ice rink when I was going through all the basic levels of skating because I picked up on things very quickly. Once I was far enough along in the sport, it was time to find a private trainer. Carmen Allen ended up being the coach I chose and she became my skating mom, my best friend, my biggest supporter and my therapist. She was there for all my big milestones on the ice. When I landed my axel for the first time, she screamed with joy and hugged me so tightly that I knew exactly why I kept skating. Not only was I doing something that made me happy, but the people around me would be happy to watch me on the ice. Frustration comes with sport. I thought about it carefully and the fact that physically we have to be so precise but mentally we have to be completely focused on so many things at once was so exciting that I didn't.