I went out to FAAD today and practiced some of what we did in class since I didn’t feel like we were terribly successful Wednesday night. It was a good practice and I got some great stuff out of it. Today’s practice was a really tough weave entry and for the most part Vega just doesn’t collect enough to get the entry. She’s pretty much full out as fast as possible. We’ll be practicing this a lot at home.
Katrina stopped in to say Hi. She showed me how she would do it with Ice and then did it with Vega. There’s some of me trying the sequence as well.
The main reason I put up the video (besides horrifying myself with it) is that it is such perfect evidence of how bad my form is when I’m running. It’s especially obvious since Katrina runs exactly the same sequence. When I first watched it I was immediately struck by how smooth her handling is. It definitely emphasizes how rough mine is.
I never bend my directing arm. I always have it straight out and as stiff as a board (almost like I’m working huge distance). The trailing arm is swinging around out to the side of me (I’m sure for balance). I don’t pump with that off arm, I swing! It’s such a weird and awkward way to run. I clearly have something to work on that’s just me. With the video I have a much better idea of what I’m doing wrong and what it should look like. More work…
On a positive note check out how nice Ice’s and Vega’s weaves are. The have completely different form but are both so fast. They are both such great dogs.
