Axel Madness

There are milestones on a journey that sometime feel like the journey itself.

In the figure skating world, landing a clean axel is one such milestone. It's an accomplishment that comes after much hard work, exhausting patience and sheer determination.

For Justin, that milestone came on Wednesday, February 9, 2011.

I've yet to capture Justin landing his axel on video. When I do, I'll post it. Meanwhile, the video below shows Michael Weiss, a two-time Olympian, demonstrating the axel jump.

For Justin, landing an axel with good form happened after a lesson with Coach Diana. She spent most of the 30 minutes helping him with the jump.

Named after the Norwegian skater Axel Paulsen, who first performed it in 1882, the axel can take years to master. It's attempted only after a skater first learns several other jumps: the Waltz jump, the Salchow, the Toe Loop, the Loop, the Flip, and the Lutz.

Of all the jumps, the axel is the only rotating jump to take off from a forward edge, which is what makes it one of the most difficult jumps to learn. After jumping forward from the left, forward outside edge, the skater makes 1 1/2 rotations in the air and lands on the other foot on a back, right outside edge.

On that Wednesday, all that fell into place for Justin.

"He did it!" the mom sitting next to me at the ice rink in Oldsmar said. The achievement is acknowledged even among other skating parents, who know what a skater goes through to land an axel correctly.

Justin's face lit up. He smiled and raised his hands over his head in victory.

"I knew I only had a couple of minutes left in the session," Justin explained later. "When I went to go into it I saw the Zamboni. I knew this was the last time I would get to try today. I told myself, 'I'm going to do it.'"

Earlier in the week, after being so frustrated because he couldn't land it, he challenged himself.

"If I don't land my axel by Friday, I'm quitting."

I've noticed in the four years Justin has skated it seems to liberate him to say "I'm quitting." It takes the pressure off so he can focus on what he really wants to achieve. And it seems to open him up to more possibilities. I've noticed this phenomenon throughout my role as a parent, actually. I seem to help him the most when I just offer him an empathetic ear. He expresses the negative emotions that build up from trying so hard to reach each new skating goal. I listen. The next thing I know he's back on the ice trying again.

His journey with the axel is no exception. After trying so hard to land it, vowing to quit several times, and then finally landing it, the floodgates seemed to open.

The next day at practice Justin landed several clean axels in a row. Two of his skating buddies, Madi and Shayla, were there to see it.

"Madi said it was awesome. Shayla clapped," Justin said.

Madi, 13, and Shayla, 14, know how frustrating and hard it is to land the axel. They both remember the date they did so.

"January 21, 2009," Shayla said. "It was exhilarating. I cried. I was so happy because I had fallen on my knees three months straight."

Tears of joy are an appropriate response to finally landing this jump.

Justin, at right, with Shayla, Madi & Mike

Sept. 30, 2008 was when Madi landed hers. "I was shocked and I cried," she said. "It's such a hard entrance and not natural at all."        
And last month, Madi's brother, Mike, landed his first clean axel. The 12-year-old started skating about 1 1/2 years ago.

"I was excited," he said. "It's my favorite jump now."                                  
Once skaters land the axel the goal then becomes to land it consistently. Often that means more trials and tribulations - for both the skaters and the parents.

"It's the most frustrating jump ever," said Tami, mom to Madi and Mike. "The overwhelming feelings of frustration. The 'I quits.' You want to cry right along with them."

Clearly, this journey will contain a lot of new milestones with all the double and triple jumps ahead. But landing that first clean axel is one milestone Justin - and many skaters - never forget.

Results Are In: It's A Perfect Start

Justin, Sarah, Joe and Kathy share laughs before the competition.

In about three hours, Justin and Sarah will take two first places in their first ice dance competition. But right now Pink's song, "You Are Perfect," is playing on the radio. I ask them if they're nervous.

I'm pretty sure I won't get an answer right away because they're both grooving to the melody, moving their shoulders in unison to the right, then the left, in the back seat of the car. It's Friday evening. We've just pulled into Chili's parking lot to get something to eat. The chorus hits its crescendo and the two join in.

"Pretty, pretty please, don't you ever, ever feel like you're less than, less than perfect. Pretty, pretty please, if you ever, ever feel like you're nothing, you're perfect to me!"

Clearly, they're in the zone, that heightened state of consciousness where artists and athletes ignore all pressures, intensely focus on the task at hand and deliver their best performance. It's often referred to as a "perfect moment" or "being in the flow" or "just jammin."

The two finally break from their jam session long enough to answer my question. While still grooving and in unison, they shake their heads no: they're not nervous.

"I think we're going to be amazing," Justin says, after they finish the chorus.

According to the judges, they were amazing enough to capture first place in both dances - the Canasta and the Rhythm Blues. Because no other ice dancers entered the Ice Skating Institute (ISI) District 18 competition, they "competed against the book," which is the standard set in the ISI rulebook.

Winning first place against the book means they did well. When skaters place second to the book that means there are some areas that need improvement.

"Your Blues was as good as your Canasta," Coach Jim tells the two after they skated both dances. Earlier, during their lesson that day, Justin and Sarah were worried about skating well the Rhythm Blues dance.

Coach Jim said it paid off that he followed them around the rink during their lesson, reminding them in all the areas where they weren't in harmony to keep in concert with each other.

"They were in unison in all those spots," he said.

A video of their Rhythm Blues performance is coming. I will post it on this blog when it's ready. 

Meanwhile, you'll have to take my word for it: They were "perfect to me!"

Justin and Sarah

Off To A Great Start

It's Saturday, March 5th. Tampa Bay Skating Academy's Spring Recital.

This day marks Justin and Sarah's first performance together in front of an audience as ice dance partners.

As they take the ice to perform the Canasta Tango, one of the first dances beginning ice dancers learn to master, I raise my camera and wait for the music.

Invented by James B. Francis, the dance is skated in the Reverse Kilian position to 4/4 time Tango music at 104 beats per minute. What this means is it may look simple but it's not.

Camera in hand, I look for the two to appear on the screen. But all I see are white letters against a black background: Battery Empty.

My heart sinks. I just became another example in the parent-camera mishap file.

Within minutes - in fact, the time it takes to skate twice around the rink - my distress turns to joy.

"You guys skated really well," a fellow skater says as they finish and exit the ice. Jim, their ice dance coach, and others echo similar sentiments.

Justin and Sarah said they weren't that nervous when they went out on the ice.

"This was the first time we skated together with all those people watching. It didn't feel like the first time," Justin said. "I was shocked at how 'not nervous' I was about it. I was just so happy.

"I feel so comfortable being out there with Sarah, so when it comes to competition time I don't think we'll be as nervous."

Their first competition as ice dance partners is next weekend at TBSA in Oldsmar. They will skate two dances, the Canasta Tango and the Rhythm Blues. Justin also will skate a solo performance to Pirates of the Carribean. Sarah also will compete solo in several other events.

I'll be sure to pack lots of extra batteries.