Soaking/Sunny (2 May - 8 May)

[jenlyon60]

Soaking because it is raining in the DC area this morning, on and off.

Soaking: Still can't consistently get left over right Paso cross-roll the way coach wants it. It's still more of a cross-step or dangerously bad cheat.

Still not consistently getting in the right place on the last LBO (counter-rotated) of the Blues, before the RFI-LFO3 into the repeat.

Shiny: Did 3 consecutive patterns of Blues with coach today in my lesson... to the music. Wasn't pretty but I survived. And I have a laundry list of things to work on besides the choctaw (which was a "chop-taw" 2/3 of the time).

Did lots of power and stamina work in lesson, and coach says that I get a repeat on Wednesday... started with having to skate around the rink non-stop for 2 or 2 1/2 minutes. At first I just did your basic ovals with crossovers at the end, then I changed so I did CCW crossovers around 1 end, stroke diagonally down the rink, CW crossovers around the other end. Then coach had me do CCW back crossovers around the hockey circle ad nauseum with a nice skate-out. Then CW back crossovers around the center hockey circle. Then forward crossovers in each direction around the hockey circles at one end of the rink (like the Pre-Bronze/Preliminary MIF pattern), stroke out, do forward crossovers in one direction around the center hockey circle, then stroke out, and do the Pre-Bronze/Prelim MIF pattern around the hockey circles at the other end of the rink, then back to the center circle and forward crossovers in the direction not used previously, around the center circle. Then back to the end of the rink.

So I was a whupped puppy by the time all this was done.

But I had nice new sharpened blades, so things felt much more comfy and in control..

[sk8pics]

Good thread title! It's pouring here, too. Anyway...

Shiny Had a good lesson yesterday and the second runthrough of my program made my coach very happy, and he said it was about the best he'd seen it. 8-) Also, I asked if I could do a LFI-RBI mohawk to turn backwards for the various moves tests, and he said that was fine. :) So we worked on the backward perimeter crossover stroking with that entrance. It's still veeerrrrryyyyy slow getting started, but I have some hopes it will get better.

Soaking Sort of, anyway. It's taking 3 sets of back crossovers instead of two to get down the rink, but that's better than it used to be... Now I have to get used to doing the CCW back crossovers around the entire end of the rink....

Happy skating everyone,
Pat

[slusher]

I have lesson today which is the sunny part of my day.. The soaking part is that it's going to be all about stroking and crosscuts/crossovers - which is what I need - but I'm feeling tired already. One of my goals was to get rid of my toepushing, so I took another lesson slot but I don't know why I scheduled it for Mondays!

[quarkiki2]

Sunny: Well, I don't know WHO was wearing my skated at my lesson on Saturday, but it couldn't have been me. The person on the ice was skating with WAY more speed and power than I feel comfortable. So much more that her group lesson istructor actually complimented the person in my boots for her speed and power on back edges (of all things). Who on earth knows what has happened??? I swear it usually taked me six lobes to go across the ice and after four I was about to hit the boards. And the speed coming out of my 1/2 flip -- I think somebody slipped a bit of Alexander Abt into my coffee!! I was constantly putting on the brakes to avoid not only the skaters in my lesson, but the slaters in all the rest of the lessons on that side of the rink. NOt sure how, but all of my pushes were really, really strong (for me).

I think this was because I was discussing with a friend that I want to stop taking group lessons and start taking private lessons because I'm darn tired of skating slow and tentatively and really want to up my power. I think that all of my elements in ISI Freetyle 1 are passing except the waltz jump (which looks like a sick 3-turn). Most of them have been passing since, well, last year. I'm tired of being held to a curriculum. I want to work on more footwork and spins -- I'm never going to be a great jumper and I'm fine with that, but I want to start learning some new stuff!!!

Soaking: The waltz jump. Of course. SOoooooo close... Must just get into the darn air!

Make-up lesson this Tuesday, maybe I'll be gutsy then???

[dbny]

jenlyon60 I'm jealous that you are working on the Paso! How on earth are the cross rolls supposed to be done? In roller dance we practically hopped them. At one beat per stroke in march tempo, I can't imagine doing them any other way.

Soaking:
Everything, because the phone co (supposedly while installing new cables) managed to cut my line (and damage my garage roof) today and run off without fixing it, so I had to stick around until a repair guy arrived to undo the damage, and did not get to the rink for my usual Monday afternoon freestyle. Oh well, I hate that drive in the rain anyway, and it is raining here too.

[CanAmSk8ter]

Another person checking in from the pouring rain. And it was SO nice Friday and Saturday...

Sunny: Two more weeks till testing! I want to be done with the Tango already. It's getting boring. Last week coach said we wouldn't work on it much that day because it was getting to be "overkill". The partnering feels really good. If I can just straighten out the LFO edge in the solo I should be all set (knocking on TV table...)

Soaking: Owwwww! I'm so sore! My abs hurt- I had to yell at my best friend to stop messing up today because it hurt my stomach to laugh at him. The only good news is that the soreness in my abs is helping take my mind of the soreness in my legs and lower back from working on the American.

[singerskates]

Sunny, US Bronze program is getting more speed and I now can finish it in time to do the kiss on clue. I've got my sitspin back, nah better than before. I'm lower, my foot crosses properly to the left of my left skating foot and I'm getting 4 to 6 good fast centered revs on it. Now I want to get out of it with my free foot remaining to the left of my skating foot and then do a corkscrew (another 4 to six revs). Later I want to do sit change sit again. It's getting easier to do my attitude (almost layback) spin, including in my program. I fixed my spiral to lung to sitspin and now the sitspin is at the other hockey circle instead of the one where I use to be doing my lung. I fixed it by going into my spiral with more speed and having it start on a straight line and then curve to the left by moving my right arm up and the left arm and shoulder down.

Soaking:Frustration with my two footing my loops and flips on the landings. They ARE rotated though. Just need some coaching if my coach ever makes it to the rink again. It takes me forever before this old body of mine lets me bend my knees low enough to get my sitspins.

Brigitte

[Debbie S]

But I had nice new sharpened blades, so things felt much more comfy and in control..

Yes, I had newly-sharpened blades today, too. What a pleasure to not be sliding around on my crossovers! The only problem was that I couldn't stop. :)

Sunny: Practiced the Pre-Bronze MIF and FS tests today. The edges were easier to do post-sharpening, as were the crossovers. The alt 3s were a little scary at first, but it's easier to push from an edge now and not scrape the toe pick. After I finished the test run-throughs, I worked on BO 3s and the loop, and they were better, too!

I also think I may have solved the problem with my back crossovers. They tend to be very scratchy, and I keep scraping my toes. I think the problem was that I tried to do too many around each circle, rather than holding the edges after pushing through. I tried the pattern with fewer crossovers and it seemed to work better. I was doing about 6 or 7, and now I'm trying it with 5.

Soaking: Well, other than the weather and frigid temperatures here today, I couldn't practice all weekend b/c of this blasted mandatory case competition at my business school. I'm testing in 2 weeks, and with exams coming up and papers being due, practice time is at a premium. And I need a lot of practice time with those alt 3s!

[jazzpants]

Sunny: Everything on the Bronze Moves test including the Forward Power 3's were holding quite well all the way thru Sunday afternoon and Monday night until...

Soaking: I told my primary coach I want to take the test in July. Then "test anxiety" sets in and I could hold my LFO3's again... :frus: WAAAAH!!!

[plinko]

Soaking: 6:30 am ice.
can I say that again? 6:30 am ice this morning. Then I pummelled my dance partner into the boards because I wasn't awake yet and started doing some other dance than the one we were supposed to be doing. Profuse apologies on my part ! I'm holding my breath for when I get the coaching bill, there's going to be a surcharge for hazard pay. Actually I should call later today and still see if I have a dance coach :P or if I've been dropped :lol:

Despite all that, I'm also testing, probably the beginning of June. I also asked about putting together an interpretive program and got the okay, I need to find music, "music that you can stand to hear over and over again". Gotcha.

[Mrs Redboots]

Is it raining all over the world, do you suppose? It certainly is here, and soaking well describes how I arrived at the ice rink this morning.

Had a sunny practice, though, although I felt cold. Almost everything worked well, with the exception of my LFO edge - couldn't control my shoulders, for some reason - and then I came to run-through my programme, and for some reason my 3-jump (waltz jump) has utterly vanished!

So I spent part of my practice just doing continuous 3-jumps, and then they felt better, but still horribly slow and stepped. sigh...... Lesson tomorrow.....

[skatingatty]

Soaking: Tried working on some moves-in-the-field yesterday, but they are so shaky- e.g., double 3-turns. My goal is to test Adult Gold MIFs by the end of the year, or at least before having a kid!!

Shiny: I'm getting less scared to attempt axels at some speed. It's been a while since I had a bad splat on one. Getting more used to my new Klingbeils. Going to skate after work on a public session. Change edge spiral's improving, tho' it'll be a while before I can challenge Michelle Kwan. :lol: Now that the weather's getting warm, there are fewer people on public sessions!

[kisscid]

Soaking: Back spin...doesn't actually spin, it just sort of falls over (Or I should say I do). I still get dizzy when I do a scratch spin, can't do too many in a row yet. I can't focus once I'm done rotating, that is if I can find my center and get going fairly fast...most of the time I can't find my center.

Sunny Just got my tax refund (Whoo Hoo) and I am going out shopping today for new ice skates!!!! Oh I also did a sit spin. It wasn't very deep but I was able to hold it for 3 revolutions.

P.S. I wish it were raining here. We're in the middle of a heat wave :x

[triple twist]

SOAKING---I hate skating at the moment!! Lets just say theres someone i'm wanting to KILL right now.

[jp1andOnly]

Sunny: Camel spin actually spun. My sit-change-sit is "almost there" according to my coach. I have to work on getting lower in the back sit. Lutz is motoring along. I'm finally getting the hang of it the right way and boy does it feel better rather than my squeaked out version

Trying my first ever axels tomorrow!!!! Bought me the knee pads to save my poor bruised knees from more pain

Soaked: Camel spin still needs to be better. Salchow is becoming an issue. I've basically been doing it wrong and we're trying to fix up the timing because it is my intent to start doubles come fall.

My left skate is bothering me again. My feet keep getting narrower making my skates bigger. I have 3 insoles in my left skate and am probably adding another tomorrow. Can't afford new skates until the fall. These are practically brand new as I got them in Dec. Grrrrrrrr

[dbny]

Trying my first ever axels tomorrow!!!! Bought me the knee pads to save my poor bruised knees from more pain


Congratulations! Let us know how it goes. BTW, my daughter wore crash pads when learning the Axel, as most of her falls were to the hips. I guess you'll know tomorrow if you will need them or not.

[TashaKat]

Is it raining all over the world, do you suppose? It certainly is here, and soaking well describes how I arrived at the ice rink this morning

Erm, not where I am! I actually got a SUN TAN at the weekend! Drove over the Pennines

http://news.bbc.co.uk/media/images/39423000/jpg/_39423074_gall-peak.jpg on Monday and, although it was dull where we were, in the distance there was this circle of light where there weren't any clouds ..... I couldn't stop to take a piccy but it was beautiful :D


Right ..... SUNNY .... I think!

There is another adult course starting in June, I am ringing up today to try and get on it so HOPEFULLY I will be starting skating ...... AGAIN!

X

[Mrs Redboots]

Hmph, is all I can say to Tashakat..... who is, after all, living up North somewhere, near Scotland, isn't it? ;) It is raining again in this hemisphere!

Briefly, 'cos I'm at work, my lesson this morning was well frustrating! Somehow I could not get my weight in the right place to do decent back crossovers, especially clockwise, and so my back outsides and inside edges, especially my LBO and RBI, were not as good as they ought to be. Plus my 3-jump has still disappeared, so I had to work on that at the end of the lesson - got it better, but I simply can't swing my leg through as I should.

Earlier, in my practice, I'd been doing forward runs (progressives) round the circle well outside my comfort zone, and then when it came to doing Russian Stroking in my lesson, I wimped out and didn't go quite as fast as I could have done..... stayed just within my comfort zone. Not pleased with myself! Ah well... didn't do anything else too badly, and good run-through of my programme. Getting horribly near now!

[jenlyon60]

Today... lots of power & Stamina work + Paso Cross-rolls without and with coach.

Soaking not much... it was a pretty good practice and lesson. Legs were tired from gym time yesterday, but got un-tired real quick when coach made me skate around the rink fast for 2 1/2 minutes. I did huge figure-8 patterns to balance out the work between left and right legs.

Sunny: Coach said my Paso cross rolls are finally getting better. I was still, solo, a bit rocky in the shoulders, and on the first pass with coach, I leaned on him too much. Then I remembered to lead more with the left hip and pull the right shoulder/upper pack down and back, and it worked much better.

Also the REally Sunny find... Monday, coach made a comment that I should lead more with the left hip when doing CCW progressives. Tried it and it really helped my posture (kept me from collapsing on myself and helped me get my hips more underneath me). Tried it today on the chasses in Paso also, and consciously thought about bringing the left hip through more on Paso cross-rolls. Helped there too.

DBNY... re your question on Paso cross-rolls on ice. They're very definitely NOT almost hopped on ice (and any other better than me Paso skaters... please chime in). They're still quick 1-count cross-rolls...and instead of nicely extending the "becoming free" leg like in normal slower cadence cross-rolls, one powers quickly off the edge and picks it up. If you try to do "extension" with the under-push, you won't have time with the cadence of the music. At least I don't. I still need to stay Down in the knees a LOT MORE, though.

[quarkiki2]

Hello, all!

Had a mostly sunny make-up lesson last night. The sudden power I had Saturday followed me to last night and my back edges were booking (at least for me, LOL, to the naked eye I'm probably just not *crawling* across the ice). It was a test session and I was with a different instructor and I think I passed everything but my waltz jump (big suprise). Oh, well, I have my regular test on next Saturday (no ice this one), and we'll see what happens then. The director of the skating school was testing us and she was complimenting my (relative) lack of fear on the approach to the 1/2 flip. And my spiral position and control (not a surprise -- I always say that what I lack in technique, I more than make up in style!).

I did have to laugh, though, as the instructor for this class is the only one I've never had before and she was thoroughly amazed that I could do 5 centered revolutions in my two-foot spin with turned out feet, LOL! The skating instructor simply said "Former ballerina" and she understood. I said that dancers never go around more than once on two feet, so the skating director suggested I go ahead and pick up my right foot and see what happens. Three revolutions on my left foot is what happens, yay! Much more fun than spinning on two feet. It has been my suspicion that I will be a much better spinner than jumper, and the skating director (a synchro teammate) agrees.

The sudden power is sort of a surprise to me, but then it's been something I've been wanting to work on and is really the main reason that I'm switching to private lessons from group lessons. I spoke with the coach from whom I wish to take lessons and she's on board and ready to start, so that's good. I feel that this is the right time for me to step out of group lessons. I've become so tunnel-visioned that I'm not really practicing anything but what I'm testing and since I've been in this level for, oh, three sessions now, I've sorely neglected other aspects of my skating. I really want to start working with more power and speed and that's just really hard to do when there's six group lessons on at once. They're finally taking a suggestion I made about a year ago regarding scheduling the freestyle classes at a different time than the learn to skate, but now I feel like I'm ready to stop changing instructors every eight weeks. I've had lessons from all of them and work well with all of them, but they each teach everything just a touch differently from the other and I think I'm getting somewhat confused.

I think that the subconscious desire to skate with more power is seeping into my lessons. I'm just taking up more space on the ice than I used to do.

I'm really looking forward to establishing some goals, too -- beyond passing out of classes. Something more satisfying than getting pity passes out of levels because I can do some of the stuff really, really well and some so-so and always one element not so well (three turns and waltz jumps come to mind). I'd like to practice different things, too. My stoking is abysmal, though I will admit I stay off my toepicks on back crossovers (one must always find something good!). I think I have the ability to be a more powerful skater, even now I can get a fair amount of speed from a few pushes and I know that my stroking is more effective than the other adults at my level because I nearly always lap them during warm ups and I'm not really trying for speed then.

This fall, when they switch the schedule I may look at who is teaching the ISI Freestyle 2 class and see if I would be comfortable meshing his/her technique with my coach's -- there are two coaches that teach things entirely different than everyone else and their students often get confused in group lessons. I do enjoy group lessons for the social aspect and I know that in my normal Saturday morning class I'll be skating with two or three other adults, but I guess we'll see what happens when we get there.

[flo]

Tashacat - beautiful!
Soaking - looks like more rain, and I didn't take the umbrella.

Sunny - skated last night and worked on double sals. I want to start on throw doubles now. They went pretty well, so we started to work on the new interpretive program.

[NickB]

Sunny:

JUMPS! I'd never really tried any jumps before except for bunny hops, but on Monday I listened/joined in on the more advanced half of the class and they were working on half flips (both types) and toe loops, which I tried myself and was successful very quickly. I couldn't believe it! I even started putting toe loops together in combinations and tried up to 3 in a row. After that I thought "hmm, I've never even really done a waltz jump" and I just tried one and it worked and wasn't scary at all! I started putting those together in combinations and sequences as well. I was ecstatic that I could do these new jumps decently. :D Also, my confidence and power with stroking and crossovers continues to improve. I skate again today!

Soaking:

The weather. It just started raining as I was typing this post! Also, today is my last skating class until the end of June when a new set of classes starts up, and 2 of the 3 local rinks are closing for a while for maintenance in the next week (the 2 I usually go to). I think I should still be able to skate on public ice at the other rink but it will probably be crowded and it would be good to have lessons.

[CaraSkates]

Today was homeschool skate, not my regular group lesson but I take two of the homeschool skate lessons (yes I am homeschooled).

Soaking - Couldn't land a loop jump. It was the first time we tried and I just couldn't get it! I finally managed to almost land one while holding the wall so that was a success. Still can't manage a shoot-the-duck. I can do a duck slide but somehow the shoot-the-duck manages to escape me.
Inside threes disappeared. I was doing them on Sunday and couldn't get them today.

Sunny - 3-turn-back edge-waltz jumps are perfect - AND I can land them with speed!
Scratch spin has really improved, I'm now spinning on the ball of my foot on one foot. I've also gotten over my fear of bunny hops and landed them all correctly today. The week we first learned them I messed up and fell - HARD. Now I can do them! Also practiced my toe loop and landed one while at the wall but without holding on.

I have a group lesson on Friday, hopefully that will be good!

[NCSkater02]

This is for Tuesday since my daughter had the computer last evening.

Soaking: My rink changed FreeStyle time from 4:30 to 3:45. I found out at 3:38 when I checked voice mail on my cell and there was my coach telling me. Since it takes me at least 15 minutes to get there, then change and warm up, we decided to skip it. The closer rink doesn't do FS on Tuesday, and I was unable to look up the other two since I was already outside the building. Oh well, I guess I have to skate harder Thursday.

Sunny: The sun came out Tuesday. Since I didn't skate, I went to Dairy Queen and got a Cheesecake Oreo Blizzard. :yum: Now, I really have to skate harder on Thursday. :)

[Terri C]

Sunny,
Can actually do back crossovers in my new boots now, along with a backscratch spin!

Rainy:
The heel hugger in my left boot hugs my heel so hard it hurts after 10 minutes on the ice. Have to get off, untie skate, take skate off, put it back on and relace. Still trying to get the forward scratch spiin back to it's consistent form! No jumping, yet, blades are still temp mounted!

[jp1andOnly]

Sunny: Awesome lutz many times over. Even coach number two said it was quite nice. Flip had great height but I was starting to overrotate it which let me fall out of it a few times

Worked on the AXEL. We did LOTS of prep for it and I scared myself silly doing that. We only tried a couple of axels and they weren't much to write home about. I just cant get the rotation faster. Coach says lots of prep work, over and over and over

Soaking: Wore dress shoes to work today and the poor feet hurt so bad. Couldn't spin because said feet were killing. Bad move!!!!

[jazzpants]

Sunny:
Told secondary coach of my intentions to test in July. That coach seems pleased with my decision. The forms are filled out. My primary coach will put me out for the session. My secondary coach will watch very closely though.

Soaking:
The first two moves!!! I couldn't concentrate b/c of the lack of sleep I got last night and I couldn't get it the way that she wanted. Plus I reverted back to a bad habit of not looking behind me when I do back crossovers. (:evil: me!!!) And I almost had a major collision full speed with a skating buddy of mine too!!! EEEEK!!! 8O :oops:

Alt. Forward Crossovers: She wants me to do closer to forward progressives, but she would "compromise" and let me do it by keeping the foot low.

Alt. Back Crossovers: She wants more curve doing the BI edges to the next set of back crossovers... AND she wants me to hold that BI edge LONGER. Couldn't do it with her putting cones as an obstacle course! :roll: (Guess I'm not doing it so well, huh?) :oops:

[flo]

Soaking - Thought yesterday was Thursday for most of the day, and almost forgot about our private adult ice.
Sunny - worked on jumping the double sal like it's a three turn then axel, so when I start working on the axel again it will feel somewhat familiar. I was working on it in the harness last year, and throw double axels...next try it on my own. If I do freestyle again, it would be nice to have an axel, as I can't put the doubles in the program at silver.
Any news from the governing council?

[jenlyon60]

I heard from elsewhere that the proposal for splitting the senior test into "senior" and "elite senior" did not pass the Board of Directors and will not get presented to the entire Governing Council.

[icenut84]

I skated today. I don't want to put the "soaking" things, because I want to cheer myself up, so here's what was sunny:

Jumps! :mrgreen: I practiced waltz jumps, toe loops and salchows. All three were consistent - after the first few, I was landing pretty much every single one. All three felt BIGGER and HIGHER. I started playing around with combinations and sequences - I did waltz-toe, salchow-toe, toe-toe, toe-salchow (stepping from landing into entry for salchow), waltz-toe-salchow-toe, waltz-waltz-salchow-toe, toe-salchow-toe, etc! They all came off too. It was so much fun. (If you'd told me a couple of weeks ago that I'd describe doing long jump sequences as fun, I'd have thought you were mad.) The rotation was easier to control than it had been when I tried some sequences AGES ago, too. I just couldnt' believe how consistent they seem to be now, after recently they've been so dodgy and inconsistent, really. :) Maybe I've really got the hang of it now. If this keeps up, I can't wait to show my freestyle coach when she gets back.

My stroking also felt very nice indeed for the most part (especially crossovers and runs, which were looooovely), I could still do the three turn field move sequence I practiced last time, and I did a few very nice LFO spirals. :)

There were obviously a few not-so-great bits too, but... I don't care.

[NCSkater02]

Sunny: I skated 2 full hours, the last 25 minutes as the only skater on the ice. I think I made up for the Blizzard I had on Tuesday.
We spent a lot of time on spins today. My coach had me bring one of my husband's hockey sticks to keep my arms level and to work on keeping them apart and the right following the left on spin entry. It felt weird, but seemed to help me get the right idea. I even did a one foot that had 3+ rotations, speed, and it was centered! She was most pleased--so was I. After she left, I worked on jumps and both my programs, since I have 2 more competetions coming up in June.

Soaking: Today--absolutely nothing...well, all that time spent on spins. I can think of much more fun things to do on the ice.

[Mrs Redboots]

Wednesday night I went up to Tashakat's former rink, as we tend to on the first Wednesday of each month. There was a group lesson, which was either the Blues or the Rhythm Blues - under normal circumstances Robert and I would have chosen to work on the Blues, but as we have the Mountain Cup LOOMING, we decided to do the Rhythm Blues class in the hopes of getting some tips. This may have been a mistake, as the class was very much aimed at beginners; however, we were called upon to demonstrate, which was fun. And the coach did help me with the trouble I have with the transition between the end of the promenade and the two inside swing rolls - I find it really hard to maintain full extension and not bend forward. She said to keep my right elbow forward, which will bring my right shoulder forward and help me stay on the line - which it does!

There were a few minutes at the end of the lesson so she started teaching the class the Riverside Rhumba - again, a dance I know well, but she did clarify exactly what one is supposed to do on those ruddy rondés.

The class was followed by social dancing, which is always good fun: an opportunity to practice competitive dances with one's spouse, and play with other dances with other partners, or solo, or even with one's long-suffering spouse.... His "other woman" was also there, plus several other women he seriously enjoys dancing with, so he was in the seventh heaven! :roll: Well, why not.....

Last night was Dance Club night at our normal rink, ditto and likewise, except that we have a learn-to-dance class during club ice, and until it finished, there were 3 women and 3 men, and only one of them women (not me) was capable of anything much more difficult than a Swing Dance. So she was much in demand!

I am not sure whether this comes under the heading of sunny or soaking, or just possibly both, but I have come off the ice these past two days really stiff, feeling the exercise I've taken in the tendons in my inner thighs, and at the back of my knees. I think it's good, because it means I'm pushing harder and making that much more effort (on the other hand, I need longer recovery, so I could live without it!). I suppose in an ideal world one should always feel a bit stiff after a practice.....

[jenlyon60]

Sunny: Coach very happy with Paso cross-rolls in lesson today... we weren't doing them to music, but probably pretty dang close to the correct tempo. Worked on the swing mohawk... I DID It. Early. Twice. But I did it. And then we did almost a whole pattern (I chickened on the mohawk the 2nd time).

Blues... worked on the flare into the choctaw through to the repeat. Choctaw is getting better. Squeaked out the LFO3 into the intro twice. Once was really easy, the second time was a bit wonky but I was bound and determined to do it.

A new discovery last week or Monday... can't remember which. Coach was having me do CCW forward progressives, and he made the correction for me to Lead strongly with the left hip. Boy what a difference. Just leading strongly with the left hip through the CCW forward progressives made them SO much easier and made my posture so much better. So I've been applying that principle to other things... Like my cross-rolls and my Blues choctaw... and my LFO3s.

Soaking: Too many kids of too many levels on the ice. All the way from "can't stop, don't know where to go" to Junior Dance and Junior FS.

[CaraSkates]

Sunny - Toe loop! I landed several of them OFF the wall for the first time. All the off ice practicing paid off. Scratch spin was also very good, along with back crossovers. Felt like I was flying along the ice.

Soaking - Loop jumps and salchows. Could NOT land either of them. I'm going to practice off ice tonight and see if that helps. Also sit spins. It looks so easy when the little kids do it. Why can't I???

I'm going to the figure skating club tomorrow morning, to see if I want to join. We'll see how that goes, I think part of it is ice dance.

[Mrs Redboots]

Cara, Salchows etc, are not as easy as they look! Although I have a feeling sit-spins are easier than you might think, but wait until your coach shows you how to do them properly. And if part of your club ice time is dance - go for it. At your level, you really need both disciplines, as you will learn far faster if you do both, and become a more fully-rounded skater, than if you just do free skating. Time enough to specialise when you are approaching the elite levels of skating!

[jp1andOnly]

Sunny: Flips are poppin all over the place. One of the coaches in our club even commented that I did a really nice one. I feel more secure in my landings and am even pointing my toes and keeping my head up.

Am pushing a lot more than before. I used to almost walk through a lot of things but now I am concentrating on pushing through my cross cuts and getting down in the ice.

Am learning not to be in a rush so much. Everything is so much better when you hold and count and don't rush it. It's still tough but I'm trying not to be in such a hurry.

Had a really fun time at the rink joking with my coaches and the others.

Soaking: Reworking the salchow is hard work. We basically worked on that my entire lesson. I can't seem to get it right. I learned it wrong when I was a kid and never fixed it. After coming back 10 years later I have the old way engrained in my head. But as my coach says its better I struggle with it now and can't do it rather than go back to my old way and never be able to do a double.

[NCSkater02]

No group lesson today. The rink had something planned, then it didn't go as scheduled, but the gap was already scheduled in. Oh well, I went at the ususal time and had plenty of space on the ice for about 45 minutes, then was invaded by a half dozen Wayne Gretzkey wannabes. Not much fun.

Sunny: Nearly 45 minutes of public ice with only a few kids that stayed pretty much together, so I was able to avoid them. I went through my entire warm up with out problem, then started working on my programs. This is the only time I had problems with kids getting in my way. I was able to run through my compulsary a couple of times, clean except for the spin at the end. I worked on scratch spin after that, and am getting the hang of it, but it will be a while before I actually do one. Jumps went well, once I found them--I didn't spend much time on them today.

Soaking: WG wannabes. And the scratch spin. And spins in general. Even though I feel like they are getting better, until I learn to not drop my leading arm, I will continue to struggle and not succeed.

On to Tuesday--Free style ice--no hockey players!

[CaraSkates]

Sunny - Coach said there was a good chance we could get a homeschool number together for the show in June. It would be me (Basic 4/5), my cousin (Basic 4/5), a friend (Basic 6/7), my other cousin (Basic 2/3), and my sister (Basic 2/3). Now I just have to talk to my cousins and the other coach to see if we can do it.

Soaking - I was at the Figure Skating Club today to try it out. We did ice dance, figure 8s and a routine for the show. I had no clue what most of the other skaters were doing so I just followed as best as I could. Coach said I did great, but I felt like I had no idea what to do. I understood the figure 8s but that was about it.
Also found out from my coach that one of my skating friends fractured her ankle playing outside! :cry: I wondered why she wasn't at skating Wednesday or Friday, now I know. I can't find her phone number or I would call her. This means she won't be able to be in the show or skate for a month or more.

[johnfisher]

Is it raining all over the world, do you suppose? It certainly is here, and soaking well describes how I arrived at the ice rink this morning.

Not where I was either. I've just got back from Moscow of all places and having gone prepared for the worst, the weather was just gorgeous, blue skies and temperatures in the twenties the whole time!

What is soaking though is that I now havent been on the ice for 10 days and the mountain cup is only two weeks away. I also have yet to explain to my boss that I'm about to disappear off on another foreign jaunt!

[Mrs Redboots]

What is soaking though is that I now havent been on the ice for 10 days and the mountain cup is only two weeks away. I also have yet to explain to my boss that I'm about to disappear off on another foreign jaunt!Are you going to Tallinn, too? Or just the MC, like we are? This time next week I shall only have one more day at work to go..... can't WAIT!

[johnfisher]

Are you going to Tallinn, too? Or just the MC, like we are? This time next week I shall only have one more day at work to go..... can't WAIT!

Just the MC, I'm not doing the camp though, I fly into Lyon on the Wednesday, but I don't actually skate until Saturday and Sunday. I found out yesterday on my return from Russia that my class has been combined with the age group above which means I am going to be skating against a certain Lithuanian who is rather good!

John