It was a great surprise to find that my next lesson was Ursula from Skate Nation’s Roller Rockets. I thought she was very brave to venture outdoors in her artistic skates. Rough concrete and roads with cambers are a far cry from the smooth indoor surfaces she has always skated on. Her brother was also in the lesson as he is also an artistic figure skater. We did a bit of jumping work on the grass, as I felt that their jumps looked a bit rushed and they both needed more downward knee bend before a take-off. I always remember my coach telling me “the more you go down, the more you will go up” in the jump. Most skaters have a favourite discipline, either jumps or spins and Ursula is definitely a spinner, she has great skill and dexterity with spins.

We also worked on some footwork and I asked them to show me a section of their routines which had just foot work. I then helped to make them more polished and smoother, as step sequences can look like hard work or can look like a breeze. Often the upper body isn’t helping what the feet want to do and making small adjustments there can have a surprising effect on the footwork.

I thoroughly enjoyed my first experience of teaching inline artistic skating. It felt very natural and normal as of course this was my past and it really made me itch to have a toe stop so I could also do some toe loops. I still have dreams where I am an artistic skater doing a perfect routine. These used to be very frequent when I first gave up skating when I was 18. In all the dreams I am perfect, everything landed spot on and I awake with a fully pleasant and satisfied feeling.

Ursula will be representing Great Britain in Luso, Portugal between the 6th and 10th October, in the Minis (under-10) Ladies Free Event in the Cup of Europe. She’s the youngest member of the Roller Rocket team, but already has 4 years of skating experience. To read more about her and the rest of the team check out their website www.rollerrockets.co.uk