Important - Adult Nationals Questions - Bronze I Ladies

[skateday2002]

Hi everyone! I am really interested in getting some specific information on Adult Nationals. What I want to know is - what elements are the Bronze I ladies doing in their programs? I apologize if this topic has been discussed but I really would be intersted in hearing from people who have friends who have gone there, or who themselves have competed there, or have heard comments on it. I had been checking some other message boards for information but I have not found any really good details. Like what types of spins and jumps combos are the Bronze I ladies doing? I am really interested in the top ladies, like final round for example – and it’s OK if you want to include detailed information on last year’s Bronze I ladies too. I just want to know what to expect before I go into that kind of competition. Thank you everyone so much. :)

[morgan]

I have a list somewhere and I have very detailed notes on Bronze II from Nationals, but let me try and do this from memory. You will typically see the following elements in programs that place highly in Bronze I:

- 2 lutzes, one single and one in combination, generally lutz/loop;
- flip, sometimes in combination;
- loop or loop/loop;
- salchow/loop. You almost never see single salchow;
- combo camel/sit/scratch spin, usually 1-2 revs on the camel;
- combo sit/scratch ;
- ina bauer or spread eagle;
- outside spiral;
- sometimes some type of jump combo (e.g., flip/toe/loop or waltz/1/2 loop/salchow/loop).

Things you rarely see:

- toe loop;
- single scratch spin (you do see these sometimes, but mostly spins are combo spins);
- waltz jump, unless it's in combination;
- backspin (funnily enough, they're rarely included).
- once in awhile, layback spin.

Bronze I Ladies have alot of speed (at least they did at Nationals). As someone said on another thread, at Nationals, it's Silver become without an axel and that appears to be true in major competitions. In the vast majority of instances, to place well at Bronze I you need a lutz combo and speed.

[phillyskater]

Having competed in Bronze I at Nationals this year, I would totally agree with Morgan's assessment. The one thing I would add is footwoork. I was surprised at the level of footwork in the top competitors' programs. It was both fast and complicated - lots of changes of edge and direction, some twizzles, back 3s, choctaws, I think I even saw some brackets. It was straightline sometimes, circular sometimes, but it was there (and good). I didn't have very much complicated footwork, which is definitely something I plan to add for next year. I want to add a change-foot spin too (probably camel - change - camel). Several of the top competitors had good change foot spins. One skater had a very strong camel-sit-back sit-back scratch.

Hope that helps.
Phillyskater