Bullseye or Bull Cookies, Lessons and/or Practices 12/14-12/20

[Black Sheep]

Bullseye: Ordered a new pair of Phantom K-Pick Blades yesterday, and they'll be shipped to my office where there's always someone to sign for them!

Bull Cookies: Don't know when they'll get there.....8-)

[Debbie S]

Bullseye: Skated my new competitive Pre-Bronze FS program at the holiday show at flo's rink yesterday. Landed all my jumps, and my coach (who also skated in the show) was pleased. I thought it was great, too, considering we only finished putting the program together on Wednesday, and made some minor changes to it on Thursday. It was actually a bare-bones version - we still have to add some footwork and a loop jump, but hey, I made it through w/o stumbling. And flo did an awesome job with her new interpretive program.

Bull Cookies: I was skating to a new version - before I had only practiced with a rough edit. This new version is a little faster and is also 3 seconds longer. I kept thinking I was behind the music, so I sped up and ended up finishing my final spin early. I took a page from a little girl at my rink (who finished a Basic Skills program early at a recent comp and improvised with a spin) and added another 1-foot spin until the music stopped.

More bullseye: I finished my b-school exams, so I can spend the next 6 weeks of my semester break trying to regain skills that fell by the wayside this semester.

[mousey]

bullseye: finally didnt chicken out in synchro! lol

bull cookies: had an awful skate of my solo. i just couldnt feel my feet underneath me.

[CanAmSk8ter]

Bull cookies: test session cancelled due to snowstorm. I see another five weeks of the Tango in my future.

Bullseye: nothing. Test session was turned into a freestyle session, which I couldn't get to b/c of the stupid snow, so I didn't test OR practice today. Grrr. :evil:

[Terri C]

Debbie S: Glad you had a good run through of your program yesterday!

Bull Cookies: Had our holiday show today, where I skated my Pre- Bronze program. Missed the loop ( coach just moved it to the beginning of the program), and sal- toe loop combo, as well as my always reliable backscratch spin, and totally rushed the sitspin at the end! :oops:

Hopefully, I'll have a Bull's Eye to post later in the week!

[jazzpants]

Bulleyes: Finally started getting the hang of FO3 after a long struggle... YIPPEE!!! (Well, I'll have to show it to my coaches to prove it though...) Scratch and sit spin FAST and centered!!! Landed loops and flips again today!!! http://www.gamers-forums.com/smilies/kao/chika/chirolp_hello2.gif
Bull cookies: Camel spins!
BACKSPIN!!!! :evil: (What else???)
FO3 at beginning of ice session SUCKED big time!!!
Crossovers still sucks too... especially the backwards ones...

[TashaKat]

Are 'Bull Cookies' what I think they are or am I just being gross?

MONDAY MORNING .... very early ...... :cry:

Lesson :D went well. I, though, feel like I'm getting worse every time I get on (can that be Bull Pooh?)

Did a bit of stroking and slaloms (power pulls), 3-turns etc :frus:

Then went onto BACKSPIN which is actually working, I don't know where it's come from but I DO hope that it stays :D I'm even able to pull out of it and then back in again (sort of) which is a major step forward.

Sit wasn't as low and backsit still resembled a dog having a pee but it's getting there ..... I guess

Camel was crappy today but even so is an improvement to my previous offerings

Also attempted change sit, change camel, camel-change sit-backspin and back camel .... to think that I used to avoid spinning like the plague ... and also waltz-backspin

Jumps still haven't got the spring, the lift of the lightness but I guess it takes time (and less whaleage) I did everything up to flip and didn't manage to stack it today but there's still a lot to work on.

She's told me that I've got to start 'owning' the ice and stop giving way all the time (it's really weird to be back on patch and not knowing everyone's programmes and habits). I used to do that when I first did patch and I've obviously regressed.

All in all I suppose that I'm not doing too badly but it's frustrating knowing what I used to be able to do as to what I'm doing now .....

Am in to practise Wednesday and Thursday and then off until the New Year

xxxx

[sk8pics]

DebbieS: Congrats! You put that program together fast, that's great! I'm much slower at learning new programs.

Bull Cookies Went to my "Sunday" rink yesterday and the zamboni was broken and the ice so horrible they weren't even charging anyone to skate on it. I took one look at it and called my coach, who kindly suggested that we skate at another rink on club ice that evening, which we did. Whew! Can't afford to lose any practice or lesson time right now.

Bullseye Although the ice wasn't great in the evening either, I still had a pretty good practice and lesson. Salchow is getting better and so is the toe loop. I now love doing my waltz jump, and my coach says it is very strong.8-) I also have hope that a good one foot spin is close... Gotta practice, practice. Deadline for the Chelsea Piers competition is January 6, so I have a few more weeks to get things in order.

Big Bullseye I've now lost 36 pounds! :D Only about 11 more to go!

Happy skating everyone,
Pat

[Black Sheep]

Originally posted by TashaKat
Are 'Bull Cookies' what I think they are or am I just being gross?

It's a term I got from Col. Sherman T. Potter on M*A*S*H (I adore that show!).


She's told me that I've got to start 'owning' the ice and stop giving way all the time (it's really weird to be back on patch and not knowing everyone's programmes and habits). I used to do that when I first did patch and I've obviously regressed.

My coach has recently told me I've got to "hold my own", which means essentially the smae thing. 8-)

[quarkiki2]

Well, I tested (HA!) ISI Freestyle 1 on Saturday morning. It went pretty much as I expected: Pass on pivot, spiral, 2-foot spin, and BI edges (they ripped again, woo-hoo! And I was the first to go and they were remarkable even -- a complete surprise to me!!); no pass on BO edges, waltz jump and 1/2 flip.

I think the BO edge issue is just a practice issue -- I can only skate in the evenings/weekends and public ice on a rink in a mall during Christmas season is... well... REALLY public. The ice is crowded by all of those kids whose parents drop them off while they shop. Not that it's a bad thing, just a crowded thing. As in waaaay too crowded to attempt practicing BO edges.

And the jumps... if I weren't a chicken they'd be fine. My walk-throughs of the jumps are A-OK. My entrances and exits are spot on. But ask me to put air between blade and ice, uh-uh! No way! Not gonna happen!! GRrr! I need to spend an entire session bunny-hopping around and jumping from one foot to another or something.

Any hints on overcoming Adult Air Fear??

[mikawendy]

Originally posted by quarkiki2
Any hints on overcoming Adult Air Fear??

quarkiki2, you've named it exactly! I have that same problem on toe loops.

For waltz jumps, to get over the fear, you could try them by the barrier--have your entrance edge foot closest to the wall, skate the outside edge while holding on, then use both hands on the barrier to assist during the jump. Do a few of those to get the feeling, then move away from the wall to do it, to get the feeling of doing it without anything else.

For me, concentrating on the timing helps me know I'm going to do the jump. If I really hold that forward edge (instead of immediately jumping after stepping onto the edge), and concentrate on using my arms, it helps me not freak out about the jump. You could do a BO edge to the count of three, then step to the FO edge and count to three before you jump. (Make sure you are not leaning out of the circle.) Sometimes I do a few in a row (BO-FO, waltz jump, BO-FO, waltz jump, etc.) and they improve as I go along.

You could also ask your instructor to hold your hands as you skate the forward edge (he/she would be facing you, slightly inside the circle, and skating backwards on the circle while you skate forwards on the circle). Then he/she can assist while you jump--you're doing the jump, but holding on to someone else's hands helps get that up and over feeling that can be scary on your own.

Another option would be to try it in the harness, if your coach is trained to do that. It's usually used for higher-level jumps, but I've seen some coaches use it even for the waltz jump if the person just doesn't isn't getting the path of the jump right.

Good luck!

[sk8pics]

Originally posted by quarkiki2

Any hints on overcoming Adult Air Fear??
I had this problem too for a long time. My advice is to learn to love your toepicks. One of my friends told me her coach held her hands and had her jump up and down on her toepicks multiple times, and after that, she was fine. For me, it has just been a matter of repetition. And then once I started really jumping my waltz jump (instead of stepping over), and experienced that feeling of hanging onto my toepicks or even landing occasionally on two feet, I saw that I can have a less than perfect landing and still be okay. Mind you, it took a looonnggg time for me to get to that point. But now, I love jumping, at least my waltz jump! But I still do a couple near the wall to warm it up before I try them out in the middle of the ice.

Good luck!
Pat

[flo]

Bullseye - The show went well and Debbie had a wonderful skate! I had lots of fun - and thanks Debbie - the program felt pretty good. I was a bit concerned, as my right foot was frozen! Now - to get the applications filled out for the competitions!

[Keely]

Originally posted by quarkiki2
Any hints on overcoming Adult Air Fear??
Obviously a popular topic! :D

For me it was a big anti-climax. I thought, "What, that's IT?" after spending an hour trying to work up my nerve last week :D I just thought, what the heck, and jumped. It was the smallest, slowest jump in history, but I couldn't believe I had made such a big deal of it in my head. A very tiny waltz jump is much easier for me than a good two foot turn, hockey stop, or an inside mohawk, much easier.

Hey, if you get one millimetre of air, you're jumping. I jump small, and work on getting the feel and looking smoother each time. Your first waltz jump doesn't need to look like Scott Hamilton's, y'know ;)

Obligatory link to beautiful waltz jump:
http://oasis.dit.upm.es/~jantonio/personal/patinaje/images/swaltz1.avi

[dbny]

Bullseye
Finally! I've been skating for myself so little, and having so few lessons, that I've gotten more and more discouraged. My FO threes had completely disappeared in a cloud of irrational fear. So, today hubby & I went to a freestyle session just for an hour. I warmed up with stroking & crossovers, and found myself out of breath very quickly, so switched to FO threes. Hubby had suggested a technique that I had tried in the past with limited success, and today I found a way to make it really work for me. He said to pick a spot to do the turn on. Instead of starting and ending on a line, I started at the boards, with the line being the apex of my arc, and therefor the turn spot. It worked so well for me that I tried it with FI threes, but still chickened out on them. I also decided to do three sets of spiral stretches at the boards, spaced throughout the session, and not attempt the spirals otherwise at all. The last set of stretches did not hurt, so I think I am on the right track at last to improving my flexibility. There was a lot of Christmas music for various programs, and one song in particular had a very good beat which got me going on the best F power pulls I've managed yet. B power pulls were also my very best, and except for speed, I think they were actually passing quality. I came out of the session feeling renewed hope and energy. I really needed this!

Bull Cookies
Well, as I said above, I'm still chicken on the FI threes, even though they are quite good with just a feather of a spot.

[batikat]

Bullseye
rink back to normal after the panto last week. I was in two numbers and it went pretty well I think but it's nice to have our ice back.

Rink was cold but ice freshly cut which is unusual at the time I have my lesson.

Ran through level 1 elements - all fine except that darned toe-loop. Really not sure why I have such trouble with it - Guess it was a bull cookie today.

At the end my coach danced the British Waltz with me. Now I have done this solo (slowly and badly) and I have done this slowly and gently with a partner, which is fun, but my coach is a former Olympic Ice dancer and took it to a whole different league which was really fun - a question of hanging on to very deep edges and being whisked around at very high speed - fantastic.:D Can't wait to try that again!

[plinko]

Bullseye: Got to skate for 5 hours yesterday

Bull Cookies: 3 of those hours were helping on learn to skate sessions, not so good for the back.

I'm having the worst time with doing crossovers, I cannot get the push under and honestly I think I need to go and have liposuction on my thighs and get those skinny stick legs because I can't think of any other way to fit my legs across each other. I don't really have big legs either. The upside of practicing bad crossovers for two hours is that I got a very good workout.

[Isk8NYC]

Bullseye:

Spent many hours on Saturday doing "Skate Maintenance". Started with "Breakfast at Klingbeils" at 8am for boot adjustments, taught a few groups at my home rink, then headed West to New Jersey for blade adjustments/sharpening.

Many hours and miles later, my skates are in great shape. My feet don't slip and slide, and I can control my edges once again. Have to practice tomorrow.


Bull Cookies:

I was so wiped out by my busy day that I lazed around on Sunday, watching Skating on TV after church. Also, my blades are so sharp that I couldn't stop quickly. It's okay -- I only wiped out two kids at lessons yesterday.

[dbny]

Originally posted by plinko
I'm having the worst time with doing crossovers, I cannot get the push under and honestly I think I need to go and have liposuction on my thighs and get those skinny stick legs because I can't think of any other way to fit my legs across each other. I don't really have big legs either.

Been there, done that. It really doesn't have that much to do with your thighs. The critical spot for the under push is your ankle. Try standing at the boards and holding your foot in the right position on the ice, now lift it off the ice just an inch and bend your ankle up (sideways), keeping the blade parallel to the ice by lifting the toe at the same time.

[vesperholly]

Bullseye: Nailed a really great camel-sit-change for my coach in my lesson, plus did some pretty good deathdrop-back sit and got some good tips on my layback. Excellent spin lesson, whee!

Bull cookies: Still no axel.

[plinko]

dbny, you sound just like my coach. He picked up the toe of my underfoot (now lift it up) and I promptly fell over. It's all about practice, isn't it!

[garyc254]

A long weekend at rinks.

Saturday morning group lesson was fun. Front & back lunges, Ina Bauers, spread eagles, spirals, brackets, and one foot spins. I can't do any of them, but it was fun trying. :oops: :lol:

Saturday afternoon to a different rink to watch my girlfriend's synchro team compete (against the book), then off to another rink to watch the team skate the Christmas show. Sunday evening to an entirely different rink to video their Christmas show (my girlfriend's the club prez).

Monday skate was a Christmas celebration as it is the last adult session until after the new year begins. I brought two 3 foot long Blimpie sandwiches for the staff and coaches. Other adults brought homemade fudge and nuts. A local newspaper photographer was taking pictures for a future news article on adult skating. We gave candy canes to all of the kids in the learn-to-skate program.

I worked on my spin entrance and FINALLY got some speed into the rotations. So much power that I chickened out after three revs and stuck my toepicks in the ice to stop. :oops:

My lunges are actually getting a little better since I've started stretching before practice.

One skater said my lack of leg elevation on spirals could be that my jeans are too tight. I told her that my jeans were looser than my muscles. 8O :lol: How did I ever get soooooo out of shape.

All in all, a fun time at the rinks!!! :D

[dooobedooo]

Originally posted by dbny
Been there, done that. It really doesn't have that much to do with your thighs. The critical spot for the under push is your ankle. Try standing at the boards and holding your foot in the right position on the ice, now lift it off the ice just an inch and bend your ankle up (sideways), keeping the blade parallel to the ice by lifting the toe at the same time.

You also need to drop your inside hip in order to get the pushed under leg really far under.

[Terri C]

Originally posted by Terri C
[B

Hopefully, I'll have a Bull's Eye to post later in the week! [/B]


I finally got my bull's eye for the week:
Skated my program on lesson with Coach and nailed my loop and sal- toe combo!Coach says it's a muscle memory issue - at least I have a month to get it taken care of!

[dbny]

Originally posted by plinko
dbny, you sound just like my coach. He picked up the toe of my underfoot (now lift it up) and I promptly fell over. It's all about practice, isn't it!

:D You just made my day, thank you! You can practice this at home in front of the mirror. You don't even need to have your skates on. I did that and also watched my shoulders, arms and head, and knee bend in the mirror at home when first learning.

[luna_skater]

Bullseye: Harris Tango is awesome! We're just working on adding a bit of difficulty with the hold on one step. Have to keep it looking good until Feburary! Made lots of improvements on the Kilian. Had a choctaw epiphany! However, I can either do the step slow with deep edges, or quickly on flats. :D So my challenge at the moment is getting the speed and the deep edges together. Blues is coming along pretty well. Still a bit tentative on the choctaw, but I am picking up speed and the lobes are getting bigger and stronger the more I practice the dance.

Also learned prelim and jr. bronze skills, and will be testing those in Jan. or Feb.! I am getting really comfortable with back three-turns, which I've really never had any practice at before. However...

Bull cookies: Who in their right mind thought it would be a good idea to put a left forward t-stop at the end of the jr. bronze exercise!!! AARRRGGGHHH!!! Am going home for two weeks for Christmas holidays, so I won't have a regular lesson now until Jan. 5. I should be able to get on the ice at least once while I'm home, but I'm hoping to find more sessions than just that!

[Mrs Redboots]

Back on the ice for the first time in ten days.

Bullseye! The ice was fantastic - we think the staff who cut it must have known the general manager would be in! Because, my coach said, I was relaxed and un-tired, everything worked better than usual. Did a good figure-8 of forwards crossovers, and my outside-to-inside changes of edge worked well. Mohawk okay, as good as it ever is. Working on inside 3s, and realising I am a bit stiffer on that side so rotating is more difficult.

Bull cookies: Backwards crossovers were awful - didn't cover any ice, toe-rakes, nodding donkey, you name it..... actually, to be fair, my coach said I didn't look too much like a pigeon. He worked with me to try to correct what was wrong - mostly not having my weight in the right place.

Arm really began to hurt half-way through the lesson, which surprised and dismayed me - it doesn't hurt most of the time, I suppose it is using different muscles. coach agreed I should only skate sporadically between now and the New Year - come in for lessons, and not much else. He says the rest will do me good - but it felt good to be out there skating

[Isk8NYC]

Bullseye: I actually have edges, and now that I've dulled down the sharpening, I can stop again! Nailed my MITF practice, and managed to eke out a camel-sit-change sit spin.

Bull Cookies: My landing knee really hurts when I do lunges or jumps. Have to get that checked out soon. Back spins are wobbly, I'm not used to the new blade adjustments yet.

[Jess-ka]

Bulleye!~~> Had a really good lesson, finished learning the Silver dances (American Waltz, Tango, and the Rocker) i can actually do all of the dances fairly well with out flipping over!! iwas so excited, also i got some cool new warm up footwork to do. My practice was good each time i did the dances i got closer and close to the beat, and my MIF were good too...i really really really need to test them. Off ice went well too we were in the pool today and yeah omg my legs hurt!

Bull Cookies~~>Even though i can do the dances, i have become rhythme impared and it seems that i have none!!lol it's especially bad on the american waltz omg, but the others are okay. My new warm up foot work has lots of twizzles...on the foot that i don't like blah, but oh well, i got told today that i looked retarded when i do my twizzles on that foot b/c i don't bring my arms in all the way (oops). My coach also tripped himself on my lesson, but i swear i had NOTHING to do with it. even though he claims that i should have caught him:roll:

Over all today was a very good day8-)

[TashaKat]

BULLCOOKIES for Thursday and Friday!

Thursday I didn't (couldn't) get up in time and Friday I left home at 6am, got half way to the rink (a 45-60 minute drive) and realised that I'd left my skates at home ..... by the time I got back on the road the rush hour traffic had started and it was pointless skating!!!! :roll:

[Magz]

Bullseye- Started landing my axel on one foot! yay go me

Bull Cookies - Failed my Ten-fox...some questionable judging there though...oh well I shall test it again!

[Black Sheep]

Bull Cookies: Yesterday, I had a tough FS session, trying to keep up with (or rather, away from ) "Crazy Lady" on what I felt was "inferior equipment". By that, I mean my skates felt really, really off, and both my right heel and my maneuvers were slipping all over the place.

Bullseye: Today I took my skates to Rainbo (the big famous skate shop you may have seen at competitions and such) to have my new Phantom K-Pick Blades mounted! :) While I was there, I also pointed out the problems I'd been having with heel slippage to Steve who happens to be not only a former coach of mine, but also a boot expert. He warmed my boots on the heat molder and showed me a different way to lace and tie my skates. When I was all laced up, he had me sit in my skates until they cooled off. When that was done, I was convinced I had a perfect fit again at last, and left them in the shop to have the K-Pick blades mounted. 8-)

[plinko]

Luna_skater, I swear that t-stop is the hardest thing in the entire junior bronze test, not that I could do it, but from watching skaters finish the circles and then with the deadliest look of panic and fear on their face, try to get that t-stop before they end up at the other end of the rink. OK, I laugh a little. Once they learn it, it's like it was never a problem at all.

Today's lesson: Spirals. Ugh. It's not enough that my leg is high enough, I must streeeetttccchhh, and while I'm at it, hold my head up high and smile like it's easy. oh, and then do it on the other leg please!

[Jess-ka]

Bulls eyes: had a good lesson worked on the Rocker, twas fun, i am glad my coaches are back^_^ i gave them their x-mas gift wich got changed at the last minute but oh well they still liek it so that is good, my practice was good too although i was a tad bit twizzle retarded this morining=/ had a good off ice sessions ran 11 laps aroudn the rink in sets of 3(twice i made it in 2:40sec the rest were in 3 minutes)my new blades came in today wheeee

Bull Cookies: left my tights at home, but my friend had a spare pair in her bag....was twizzle retarded this morning and way tired and there was alot of people at 8 AM, blah