Fantabulous/Flopsydoodle Lessons+Practices 28July-3August

[icenut84]

This is for yesterday (I can't find my notebook so this is from memory!)

[b:77d401540b]Fantabulous:[/b:77d401540b]

[color=red:77d401540b]Finally bought new blades!!! :D Coronation Ace. Didn't even have to order them, as they had my size in stock. My coach is gonna mount them for me before next Saturday. (Now I can't blame bad blades for stuff though! 8O )

Jumps! I didn't practice any of them before my lesson, but in my lesson, coach asked to see a waltz jump and it felt huge and very light! And salchow was ACE, and toe loop too! :mrgreen: Woohoo, I love good jump days. I still need to work on height on salchow and toe loop, but it is definitely improving, and when I did a salchow in my lesson, I found the tracing and from the point of takeoff to the point of landing, I'd travelled nearly a metre in the air!! 8) Yay!

Did edge and turn stuff in group class, like crossovers (which I love! I can get quite a lot of power and speed out of them - I'm actually about twice as fast as the others in my class :mrgreen: ). Also ok at the alternating FI3s. And back cross cuts.
[/color:77d401540b]

[b:77d401540b]Flopsydoodle:[/b:77d401540b]

[color=blue:77d401540b]I not only overslept half an hour and had to finish getting ready in the car, but some of my muscles were aching. I asked my sister (who does GCSE PE) what they are, and apparently they're called gluteals or something. It's kind of in your bum cheek, both sides. It hurts most when I go into a spiral position, so that ruled out working on them. :(

My mohawk at speed! Good gawd. First I was practicing it, at speed and trying to concentrate on different tips like pointing my toe, but took a hard fall! Hurt my left leg and left wrist. One man I know there came over to me after I got up and said "I heard that from over there!" (gesturing to the other side of the rink). Oh well, it was about time I had a fall, I haven't fallen for ages. The stupid thing is, my mohawks are fine normally, but try to do them in a dance (especially in the Swing Dance) and they go to pieces. I always do it too soon, to scratchily, and with my upper body too far forward. It was a little better in my lesson when I was concentrating on standing upright and trying to keep my feet more together (which is required in the Fiesta Tango). Hmm.

Alternating FO3s and FI pivots.
[/color:77d401540b]

[b:77d401540b]Fantydoodle:[/b:77d401540b] (somewhere in between)

[color=indigo:77d401540b]Loop. Hmm. We worked a lot on it in my private lesson, doing it first on ot's own then after a waltz jump, and coach concludes I can't do it because of my mind. Fear. We did it where he would hold my hand (some of the times when he was holding my hand, I could do it), then on my own, then with him, etc etc. He promises me I'll get it anyway, and I do feel I'm committing to the left side more, but I just can't get the hang of taking off and landing on the same foot. Anyone got any pearls of wisdom?

Spin. We're working on it in three ways - from standstill, straight into the forward curve, and from back crossovers. My spin from standstill was pants. The other two were ok... the hardest part for me is getting it to curve properly, with the radius decreasing enough to stop and let me spin. I managed one or two sort of there ones, but mostly I was working on getting the entry right. It's hard.
[/color:77d401540b]

[nutty-ducky]

Fantabulos:
My backwards Crossovers and Forward Crossovers are being improved. I am now trying to do power stroking when you do forward crossovers and then lean on your hip and go on an inside edge.
Forward Straight Line Spiral - it is ok, i have to do it with lots of speed then put my toe-pick in the ice (for an extra push) and then extend leg. I also have to remember to keep my chin up and not drop my right shoulder, but other form that, the spiral was good! :D
Left Forward Outside 3-turn - I have to do them around a circle and i think that they are very good. they are coming along! yippee! but when i do them continously (like 3-turn then step forward in a circle without stopping) i get very dizzy! :roll: oh well!

Flopsydoodle:
Right Forward Outside 3-turn - Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't and today it was not working. i have to remember to keep my feet parallel with each other!

[Yazmeen]

Technically it was yesterday, but what the heck!

Flopsydoodle: Power Pulls when I first tried them, but a little more speed and using TashaKats "draw the wave" technique with my free foot helped a lot (Thanks, Lynne!!! :D ) I still need a to work with coach on what I'm doing with my SKATING foot, however--I don't have the bend at the knee and ankle quite right IMO.

Fantabulous: Crossovers, especially backwards have much better speed. Backwards left are actually starting to look good. And back inside edges seem to be getting better!!! Whoo hoo!

A good day at Wintersport, I practically had the ice to myself, and was treated to seeing a beautiful young African American skater do her long program, including (I think) a triple toe-double toe. LOVELY!!

Happy skating,

Beth

[Mrs Redboots]

Interesting, all of us who had had the week off were feeling as though we hadn't skated for months and had forgotten how. "It's like riding a bicycle," said one of the champions, but he sounded rather dubious.....

But it [i:aa7da8a57e]was[/i:aa7da8a57e] more like riding a bicycle than I had expected and after a couple of laps I remembered what I was doing. Or failing to do.... :roll:

[color=darkblue:aa7da8a57e][b:aa7da8a57e]Fantabulous:[/b:aa7da8a57e] Not a very great deal, I suppose. It was nice being back on the ice, and our coach being back from holiday, and the bathroom being finished (if you [i:aa7da8a57e]really[/i:aa7da8a57e] want to see the promised photos, click here (http://www.amsmyth.demon.co.uk/Bathroom.html), and that the coaches had enough space to allow the ice to be made. And Robert is officially working for his Level 3 Compulsories, and his coach and I between us worked out what was wrong with his partnering skills - he is too tense. He holds one nice and tight - I do hate a man who flops about - but he needs to relax while doing it. When he can do that, it's much better. [b:aa7da8a57e]BUT...[/b:aa7da8a57e][/color:aa7da8a57e]

[color=olive:aa7da8a57e][b:aa7da8a57e]Flopsydoodle:[/b:aa7da8a57e] Wouldn't you think that after nearly 8 years' skating, we would not still be having trouble with a level 2 dance? :oops: But our Canasta is dreadful - I really don't enjoy doing it - and we have to compete it in five weeks. So we spent the entire 30-minute lesson
working on it. And at one stage Robert caught my blade and swept my feet from underneath me. He saved me from a bad fall, but I measured my length on the ice, and everybody laughed. :evil: Including me, although I did have an ice-burn on my left arm (serves me right for skating in bare arms, but it was far too hot to do otherwise). And of course I am so used to Robert holding my arm in the wrong position, and to skating with a bent left arm, that I was having trouble keeping it straight, and it almost felt as though Robert were trying to break it.... Oh well, it wasn't as bad as it might have been, and I think we will get there in the end.....[/color:aa7da8a57e]

[MissIndigo]

Fantabulous:

Camels. For some reason I *get* this spin. I'm getting more revs now with more speed, and better centering. You really have to hook the entry to get it going, and straighten the spinning knee and tuck your abs in all at the same time. Scratch spins also keep getting better and better. I'm still looking for my 20 rev spin again, but every attempt has been at least 12-15 fast revs, with feet totally crossed and arms overhead. Heh, when I'm good at something I tend to want to get creative with it, hence I've been trying catch-foot camels for the past few sessions. If only I could catch my foot! :lol: Well, I have no doubt that I'll be able to do this in the future if I keep working at it and keep working on my flexibility.

I just want a fantabulous sit spin to go with my fantabulous camel spin now!

Jumps were just ok. Did feel some air time with the few waltz and salchows I tried last night. Boyfriend said I needed more height on the sal that I showed him; not surprised, since I didn't feel any air time, but I felt kinda embarassed the jump wasn't better. :oops:

Ina Bauer into back spiral is coming along too. I'm getting a better position with the back spiral with no irritation in my hamstring! Yay! (Just wish that was true for the forward spiral though :( ...oh well, guess I'll have to work the left leg for that.) Hopefully at camp next week I can learn some flexibility exercises that will help me safely gain some more range of motion with the right hamstring. Boyfriend also said the back spiral looked pretty good, so I must be getting my leg up at least head height.


Flopsydoodle:

Darned toe loop. I didn't put a heck of a lot of effort into them last night so no wonder they didn't feel good. :roll: Also wish I wasn't so wonky in my backspin position. I've crossed my feet with them before, but not lately and I don't know why. Seems now the only way I can tease one out of myself is to tuck my free leg behind my spinning leg. If I can get more knee bend in the spinning leg, I'd have an awesome move I could put in my Bronze program. Just have to keep working.

[MissIndigo]

[quote:20c3b3dd6c="icenut84"]This is for yesterday (I can't find my notebook so this is from memory!)

[b:20c3b3dd6c]Fantydoodle:[/b:20c3b3dd6c] (somewhere in between)

[color=indigo:20c3b3dd6c]Loop. Hmm. We worked a lot on it in my private lesson, doing it first on ot's own then after a waltz jump, and coach concludes I can't do it because of my mind. Fear. We did it where he would hold my hand (some of the times when he was holding my hand, I could do it), then on my own, then with him, etc etc. He promises me I'll get it anyway, and I do feel I'm committing to the left side more, but I just can't get the hang of taking off and landing on the same foot. Anyone got any pearls of wisdom?

[/color:20c3b3dd6c][/quote:20c3b3dd6c]

I totally understand what you're going through with the loop. I can land one after a waltz jump or a salchow jump, but on its own, nah. Well, I can do one from a FI 3, but those are difficult to check at speed. I've has some more luck getting off the ground from a mohawk entry since I've had a deeper radius of hollow ground into my blades. Anyway...you really do have to keep your weight over your jumping leg and your hip under you in preparation for this jump, and it has to stay that way while you're in the air if the jump is to be successful. I chicken out so much and let my opposite hip pop up, which kills the loop attempt and turns it into a half-loop (but as a result I have a very nice half-loop! :wink: ). One drill I have done to get used to keeping the weight over my skating leg is to simply glide backwards on the outside edge in the takeoff position, bent jumping leg, free leg in front, arms and shoulders checked, for as long as I possibly could and let the radius of my tracing get smaller. All the while I was conscious of my edge, trying not to rise up on the toepick too soon. This got me used to the proper takeoff position and used to traveling on a deep back outside edge.

Another fun drill is a double three. Do a FI3, pull in immediately and you will do a BO3 to another FI3, and check out immediately after the last three turn. This gives a feeling for the jump mechanics safely on the ice at first, and gives you a chance to check your arm and leg positions. Be sure to keep your free leg in front the whole time, where it would be in the jump.

I have to repeatedly do these things as I am so afraid of this jump. I have all the technique I need to do it correctly. I'm just a chicken. :frus: Good luck. It'll happen when you're not thinking about it, believe me.

[TashaKat]

Hi :)

For those of you who are interested I've put a copy of the promotional leaflet for the Royal Gala up on Yahoo Rinksiders (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Rinksiders) and on Yahoo UKskaters (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/UKskaters/) in both the pics and files section :) IF I manage to get anything else (programme etc) from the Gala I'll put them up there too :)

[img:33627bfe0b]http://us.f1.yahoofs.com/groups/g_6179530/International+Ice+Skating+Gala/__tn_Royal+Ice+Skating+Gala.jpg?bcowiR9AnLK4Q2XG[/img:33627bfe0b] [img:33627bfe0b]http://us.f1.yahoofs.com/groups/g_6179530/International+Ice+Skating+Gala/__tn_Royal++Ice+Skating+Gala.jpg?bcowiR9A_m0ryHfH[/img:33627bfe0b]

L x

Sorry! First the pics are here then they're not ......... dunno what's happening but you can see them in full if you follow the links!

[icenut84]

Thanks for the loop tips, MissIndigo. :) Much appreciated. I'll print them off to try it on Saturday (the next time I skate!). Thanks again :)

[JDC1]

Fantabulous - just may "get" the scratch spin this year!! I don't quite have the "hook" yet but someone offered a tip (that actually my coach had shown me but I think I was just really tired and didn't remember it) where when I do the LFO I take the right foot and let it kind of skim the ice and assist me into the hook where I can then "get up" and spin for a couple of rotations. That helped but still lots of work to do.
Did a "flat" spiral half the length of the rink and at SPEED, you couldn't tell me I wasn't something after that. :-) When I first taught myself a spiral I was lucky if I could hold it and goe slowly for 5 feet so this felt really good to see some progress.

Flopsydoodle - Spiral's on an inside edge, my free leg goes all crazy.
I still have a tendency when trying to spin to lean back and that caused a few really close calls but I caught myself in time.

[melanieuk]

[b:69a25d729e]Fantabulous & Flopsydoodle [/b:69a25d729e]

The first day on the ice for 12 days. I was looking forward to it, so I had a positive attitude which must have helped! ;)
I only did the forwards field moves (level 3) as I didn't trust myself/people not to collide.
Those field moves aren't too bad, but still a bit dodgy on the RBO3s with mohawks. :roll:
The jumps: loop, flip, loop-loop went ok.
The spins: parallel and sit were passable most of the time.

[b:69a25d729e]Lesson[/b:69a25d729e]
My 1st in about 5 weeks. 8O
I did the jumps above, then onto the nemesis flip-cherry (it's quicker to type "cherry" rather than toe loop(!?)).
But that's in the [b:69a25d729e]Flopsydoodle[/b:69a25d729e] category. The cherry is pathetic, although Coach says I do a proper one, not a 3turn-waltz jump, so there IS hope! My picking leg does not extend and the whole thing stinks! :evil:
On to a few lutzes, all of which were "not bad", but I still had to do 4 so obviously the 1st, 2nd and 3rd weren't great! :?
Then it was sequences. I tried flip-halfloop-salchow and loop-halfloop- salchow. In both cases the half loop slowed me nearly to standstill so it had no flow whatsoever. Not pretty.
Next came the spins: I got away with one sitspin.
Then the parallels: Coach said she'd seen me doing better ones earlier on. I tried several but couldn't get them fast or they'd be wobbly or something.
:evil: [b:69a25d729e]Backspin[/b:69a25d729e]
[color=red:69a25d729e]Evil evil things. :evil: [/color:69a25d729e]
Mine has gone. Out of a possible 30 I got 3. Same old, same old problems: when I [i:69a25d729e]do[/i:69a25d729e] get it on the LBO edge, I go too far back on blade. I'm not leaning forwards enough. When I get the weight balance right, I go on my toepick and have near death experiences getting stuck.

I didn't try any change foot spins, which I'm annoyed about now, because of [b:69a25d729e]My Dream[/b:69a25d729e]...
A few nights ago, I dreamt I did a change foot parallel, and when I awoke, I was convinced I knew how to do it, I could [i:69a25d729e]feel[/i:69a25d729e] it, and that I had to try it. :wink:
I don't think I can feel it anymore, but it's one spin I'd love to do. :roll:

[garyc254]

FANT:
For the first time in months, nothing on my body hurt!! 8O
Passed my Alpha and Beta tests with 7's & 8's. (Told my coach they would have been 9's & 10's if I were 30 to 35 years younger.) :lol:
Working on perfecting my FO3's for gamma.

FLOP:
Nothing for a change.
I tried an Entertainment Stop/Show Stop for the first time. Thought I was going to rip my lower leg off when my edge jammed into the ice. :o

[jenlyon60]

[b:1464113df0]Fant:[/b:1464113df0]
* Coach pronounced my "alternating back crossovers to back outside edge" to be very good and we can move them into maintenance mode. He liked my flow and ice coverage, and that I'm incorporating a bit of style into them.

* Right side of my forward power 3's. I didn't toe-tap any today. I finally figured out what works for me to do an almost presentable LBI-RFO choctaw (there's still some toe push, but no toe tap before I step forward).

[b:1464113df0]Flop:[/b:1464113df0]
* Left side of my forward power 3's (which is usually my better side). The first 3-turn didn't want to work today, especially when my coach planted himself right in front of where I do the 1st 3-turn. Then I got wobbly upper body and the set-up for a couple other of the turns didn't work well. Finally I got disgusted at myself, and did the whole sequence starting on the right side instead of the left side, and did a creative transition at the end of the ice so I could start the left side. And did the left side. It wasn't pretty but it was complete...

* 14Step. The flow was there. The edges were okay. But I managed to do almost a closed outside mohawk on 1 pattern instead of an open outside mohawk. Plus on one set of sequences I had the incredible shrinking pattern.

* European Waltz: I thought it was a total flop. My coach said there were problems but overall it wasn't half bad. I did a bad bobble after the first RFO3 on the 2nd pattern and was shaky, but coach held me up and we kept going and finished the 2nd pattern. The intro-3 was truly pathetic and rushed.

* My blades need sharpening but I won't be able to get them done until Wednesday.

Oh well... another lesson tomorrow. This time, Foxtrot torture and more forward power 3's.

--jsl

[quarkiki2]

Fant
I practised on Sunday at a very crowded public session, but still managed to work on my forward crossovers (both sides) and backward stroking and backward pumps (as a preparation for back cross-overs). I'd been off the ice for over a week (vacation), so I was just glad that I didn't lose too much ground. Can do T-Stops on both sides if I'm not moving too fast.

No FLOPs. Although, I did teeter a bit trying to glide backwards on one foot. I am also finding that it's really darn easy to over-rotate going backwards and turn myself around to forwards. But I make nifty bracket-looking tracings when I do that, LOL!

Saw a beautiful young woman working on a 2 lutz-2 toe-2 loop combo. Pretty nifty! I've never seen anyone else jump like that at my rink before -- mostly singles and doubles, hardly any combos and nothing like that! She was pretty close to landing it the first time she tried, but each successive attempt was more underrotated than the last. Still, it was exciting to see!!!

I think I'll be signing up for the summer camp our rink is doing. The third session is adults only. M-F for 1.5 hours a night in two weeks. Then the fall session starts two weeks after camp ends. Hubby and I are both Beta right now, but he's not taking camp due to work conflicts. I think that's OK, though, as he won't want to do 7.5 hours of back crossovers in a week, LOL!

[Anita18]

[b:fc360f0dab]Fantabulous[/b:fc360f0dab]:
[list:fc360f0dab][*:fc360f0dab]I can spin! I can spin! Yay! Perhaps the ballet class I've been taking the past couple of weeks has been paying off cause I could stay vertical during the scratch spin! My entrance is still iffy, but I'd straighten myself out and pull the freeleg in (the passe position is engrained in my muscle memory now, LOL... :P ) and everything would be hunky dory! And the last one I did was so centered, I couldn't believe it! It's finally coming along! Woohoo! I'm so excited! :D :D :D
[*:fc360f0dab]Backspin! Well, they still have a ways to go, but I found the sweet spot more times in this session than in the past month. :P It's all in the entrance - if it's good, it lasts forever, but if I miss that magic moment, it's as good as gone. :roll:
[*:fc360f0dab]Sitspin! Well, my first ones weren't too hot (and I was doing something funny to my hamstring..) but once I made myself turn out the leg as I was bringing it around, it was fine! I got some good ones in there! :)
[*:fc360f0dab]Loop is okay, I guess....I cross my feet a lot on the entrance, but I take off only from one foot. Is that okay? It's practically the only way I can have my legs crossed in midair, sooo.....and I'm actually checking out of it more!
[*:fc360f0dab]Lutz. Tried it twice, and got all the way around the first time. I'm so scared of it, LOL....I pick in and then I [i:fc360f0dab]wait [/i:fc360f0dab]until I'm good and ready to jump. :roll: I gotta learn how to pop that thing..
[*:fc360f0dab]I saw my skating instructor at Target. I thought it was funny, cause I guess you don't expect coaches to exist outside of the rink.... :lol:
[*:fc360f0dab]Looking at the first photos of myself skating! (http://www.angelfire.com/ca5/littleolme/skating/me.html)I was quite pleased at the fact that I actually bend my knees, LOL - most people say that when you think you're bending your knees, you aren't, but I'm happy that I really am! :lol: [/list:u:fc360f0dab]

[b:fc360f0dab]Flopsydoodle[/b:fc360f0dab]
[list:fc360f0dab][*:fc360f0dab]I hate salchows. I think I've said that before....
[*:fc360f0dab]I used to really like the toe loop too, but that was before I started to doubt my entrance. Still fiddling with it. Sigh....
[*:fc360f0dab]Flip. Or rather, the LFO3 before the flip. :x [/list:u:fc360f0dab]

Well, it's obvious today was not a jumping day, LOL..

Anita

[jazzpants]

Boy, I'm really having a Flopsydoodle day... :(

My coach and I worked on three of the Bronze Moves elements. He wants me to do the alternating crossovers (both backwards and forwards) along with the hockey skaters. This time he had a valid point...there were at most about 14 skaters in the entire rink... about as much or even less than a couple of the freestyle sessions I've been in. Too bad most of them had to hover around the ends of the rink...just where I had to practice my crappy toe-scratchy back crossovers! Evil! EVIL things!! :twisted:

The forward crossovers were better...but even here, my forward crossovers need work. He was particulary pick today with the extension of the inside edge glide and the crossovers around the ends of the rink. (Of course half the time I was dodging other people, never mind, the cones to block off the center of the ice, which I ended up running over. Oui vei!!!) :cry:

I think now my coach is beating me up on the Bronze Moves... I think he figured that he better start beating me up on Adult Bronze Moves NOW if I were to have any chance of passing it by the end of this year. (Not that I play on testing Adult Bronze FS *ANYWAY* but...) Of course, the other reason is that he thinks I'm at the point "skill-wise" where I need to be pushed harder... and trust me!!! He was in drill sargeant mode today!!! 8O

And on top of that... I still have a major deadline at work!!! I'll be showering and then doing a bit of work for another hour!!! I'm lucky to get a break tonight to skate!!! (My boss says "At the end of the month... I hope...") And my HAMSTRING has been giving me trouble again... Life is definitely NOT FAIR!!! :(

Cheers,
jazzpants

[jenlyon60]

[b:a42857f5ef]Fant:[/b:a42857f5ef]
* Happy Happy Happy :D :D :D I did 2 1/2 patterns consecutive of Foxtrot, first w/o music, then later w/ music, twice. They were small patterns, but they were on time AND I did my cross-roll LFO3.

* EW was much better today. A bit scratch but with dull blades... I had head up the whole time (2 patterns to music), and coach & I had good partnering. I was more relaxed skating it today.

* Alternating back crossovers to back outside edge. Nice and big. I need to start practicing this on the smaller rink because I would have run out of rink, had today's pattern been overlaid on the smaller (85') rink.

* Power 3's: Better than yesterday.

[b:a42857f5ef]Flop[/b:a42857f5ef]:
* Power 3's: Could be better but only 1 toe tap. I need to make sure I'm not "launching" into the choctaws. Keep head and back up.

* Intro 3 in EW. Way rushed and scrapey.

No extra ice time tonight so I'll have to get up early to skate tomorrow morning. But the ice should be almost empty since the competitive dance teams are off to Lake Placid.

[JDC1]

Fant - I actually ROTATED almost totally around in the air!!! We were learning flips (well most of the class can already do it on one foot, but I am still at the 2 foot phase, but this was my first time working on flips) and I got the LFO 3 turn and check fine, picked in the pulled back and UP and around 3/4 of the way!! Woo hoo. One of my coaches said that I actually rotated enough to complete the jump when I eventually try it on one foot. Cool. WOrked on 1/2 lutzes and I don't really mind them, still the most "feared" jump is the waltz jump, I do it and it's actually a jump but my stomach is in a knot, for some reason I don't like the forward edge take off.

FLOP - My boots are from he**. Finally am giving up and trying to trade these babies back into the shop. My ankles have been covered in bruises for weeks now and 2 of my veins on my right ankle bone are freakishly and scarily swollen now after I skate. I've been noticing things have been getting progressively worse since I have been jumping and trying to spin on one foot. So my coaches suggested I get the boots that have split widths. ANYONE ELSE HAVE SPLIT WITH BOOTS? Just Curious.

OH and a skating "FLOP" my back cross overs need attention, they haven't been really "crossing" so that's what I am working on Wednesday night, that and getting my cross overs to be "power" cross overs.

[garyc254]

FANT: Good lesson. My girlfriend was able to come down to the session, so we shared the lesson time.

Worked on front and back edges in continuous semi-circle patterns. After some minor shoulder/arm adjustments from my coach, the FO's & FI's were flowing.

I finally figured out the explosive launching stroke for BO's. :o Coach had been teaching me to do it to the right and I couldn't get it. I tried it to the left and it was there.

My girlfriend had never tried continuous BI edges. I started laughing when Coach started showing her. I kept telling her that "these defy the laws of physics. Equal and opposite reaction does not apply to BI edges." :lol: (She has a Masters in Industrial Engineering, so she knew what I was talking about). She fuddled, muddled, flopped, and flapped, then finally agreed with me. They are against the laws of physics. :lol:

FLOP: Nothing really. Everything we worked on needed work, but was progressing. That alone smells like victory. :lol:

[Yazmeen]

Gary: That is the BEST darn explanation I've ever heard for back inside edges. They DO defy the laws of physics.

Of course, my husband the ENGINEER does them better than any of his other edges...go figure...

[garyc254]

[quote:99317a4fb9="Yazmeen"]

Of course, my husband the ENGINEER does them better than any of his other edges...go figure...[/quote:99317a4fb9]


Maybe he's pidgeon-toed. :lol: That's supposed to help. :lol:

My coach finally got my girlfriend to kind of do them by telling her to "go pidgeon-toed".

[MissIndigo]

[b:17cb4daf2a]Fantabulous[/b:17cb4daf2a]:

TerriC and I are at camp this week in Hillsborough and it's a great time! Both of us are getting compliments from coaches who don't know us, so we must be doing something right! The power class isn't even that bad. We are concentrating more on how to generate power than just go, go, go, and we are reviewing moves in the field. Excellent.

Hehe--even pulled the old "leave guards on while stepping onto the ice" trick yesterday. My body is paying for it today. I took quite the flop and managed to cut myself. :oops: Was down for a few minutes but not out.


[b:17cb4daf2a][color=red:17cb4daf2a]Worse than Flopsydoodle:[/color:17cb4daf2a][/b:17cb4daf2a]

Actually, it's serious.

Had a follow-up yesterday with my sports med doc concerning a repetitive motion injury I sustained in lab. Since my improvement is moving along at an inchworm's pace, he decided to cast my right hand for at least a week, maybe two. This [i:17cb4daf2a]needs[/i:17cb4daf2a] to be done however; hopefully now my research advisor will get the point. We will assess next week what to do. I am hoping that I will not have to have surgery since that will put me out of the school game and the skating game for a few months. I need my skating to stay sane!

On the brighter side, I can still skate since I am not in any pain. Had a good lesson with my coach last night and I fully intend to participate in camp for the rest of the week. I will just take care to not overdo.

[garyc254]

[quote:d261e388c3="MissIndigo"]
Hehe--even pulled the old "leave guards on while stepping onto the ice" trick yesterday. [/quote:d261e388c3]

I haven't done this yet, but I know the time will come. OUCH!!! :oops:

[quote:d261e388c3="MissIndigo"]
Had a follow-up yesterday with my sports med doc concerning a repetitive motion injury I sustained in lab. ...................... I am hoping that I will not have to have surgery since that will put me out of the school game and the skating game for a few months. [/quote:d261e388c3]

This does sound serious. I've skated with a cast, so I know that's not much of a problem, but off of the ice for several months? That's not good. Let's hope the immobilization and some PT will fix it.

[Mrs Redboots]

We went to Slough's dance club yesterday, which was nice, and then stayed on until after the first dance interval.

[color=Blue:b9bf212f16][b:b9bf212f16]Fant:[/b:b9bf212f16] We are really working now on our partnering; Robert concentrates on keeping his arms and upper body relaxed, and his hands level, and I try to keep mine level and my whichever arm goes in front of him straight. It does make a huge difference; I feel confident enough to bend my knees more than ever, and at least one dance we were really motoring!

We did a Fiesta Tango for the first time for ages, and as usual, the back steps were dire, but I didn't bottle out of them! In fact, I think we were faster than sometimes, and at least once I managed not to widestep when stepping to forwards.

We also did a Swing Dance that felt reasonable. During the free practice time, we worked and worked on chasses in kilian hold - not easy as Slough is a hockey-sized rink and the end of it was coned off for a lesson, so you only got about two in before you had to come round, and if there were people in your way.... It took us forever to work out how we did them solo (both acceptably!) and to get them working together, but I think it is coming now. We also did a lot of stroking round in kilian, reverse kilian and waltz hold - I am not looking forward to working on our chasses in waltz hold, but it has to be done!

In my private practice, my changes of edge felt good.[/color:b9bf212f16]

[color=olive:b9bf212f16][b:b9bf212f16]Flop:[/b:b9bf212f16] We were the only couple doing a Canadian Cha-cha, which doesn't seem to be much danced at Slough, and made a horrendous mess of it, so embarrassing! :oops:

Robert tried to dance the Foxtrot with his other partner, and they didn't even manage to get round once!

On the Usenet group, a judge described two errors in one's edges: they should be semi-circles, neither hairpins, nor lemon sections. Now, Robert's are always hairpins and mine are lemon sections - wouldn't you have thought they would cancel each other out?[/color:b9bf212f16]

[color=darkred:b9bf212f16][b:b9bf212f16]GRRRRRRR[/b:b9bf212f16]: Worked on my FI Mohawks, with rather lack of success, although in the Swing Dance I did manage to do a proper, if rushed, Mohawk, rather than my usual fudge. But it then occurred to me to work them at the barrier. Not touching the barrier, just facing it. And they were perfect! It's as though being lined up with the barrier keeps my body in the right place; when I turned round so my back was to the barrier, they didn't happen. Oh, frustration!!!!! :? [/color:b9bf212f16]

MissIndigo, I second Gary's good wishes; you can skate in a cast with no problems, though. People do.....

[Mrs Redboots]

We went to Slough's dance club yesterday, which was nice, and then stayed on until after the first dance interval.

[color=Blue:9b4ae4324a][b:9b4ae4324a]Fant:[/b:9b4ae4324a] We are really working now on our partnering; Robert concentrates on keeping his arms and upper body relaxed, and his hands level, and I try to keep mine level and my whichever arm goes in front of him straight. It does make a huge difference; I feel confident enough to bend my knees more than ever, and at least one dance we were really motoring!

We did a Fiesta Tango for the first time for ages, and as usual, the back steps were dire, but I didn't bottle out of them! In fact, I think we were faster than sometimes, and at least once I managed not to widestep when stepping to forwards.

We also did a Swing Dance that felt reasonable. During the free practice time, we worked and worked on chasses in kilian hold - not easy as Slough is a hockey-sized rink and the end of it was coned off for a lesson, so you only got about two in before you had to come round, and if there were people in your way.... It took us forever to work out how we did them solo (both acceptably!) and to get them working together, but I think it is coming now. We also did a lot of stroking round in kilian, reverse kilian and waltz hold - I am not looking forward to working on our chasses in waltz hold, but it has to be done!

In my private practice, my changes of edge felt good.[/color:9b4ae4324a]

[color=olive:9b4ae4324a][b:9b4ae4324a]Flop:[/b:9b4ae4324a] We were the only couple doing a Canadian Cha-cha, which doesn't seem to be much danced at Slough, and made a horrendous mess of it, so embarrassing! :oops:

Robert tried to dance the Foxtrot with his other partner, and they didn't even manage to get round once!

On the Usenet group, a judge described two errors in one's edges: they should be semi-circles, neither hairpins, nor lemon sections. Now, Robert's are always hairpins and mine are lemon sections - wouldn't you have thought they would cancel each other out?[/color:9b4ae4324a]

[color=darkred:9b4ae4324a][b:9b4ae4324a]GRRRRRRR[/b:9b4ae4324a]: Worked on my FI Mohawks, with rather lack of success, although in the Swing Dance I did manage to do a proper, if rushed, Mohawk, rather than my usual fudge. But it then occurred to me to work them at the barrier. Not touching the barrier, just facing it. And they were perfect! It's as though being lined up with the barrier keeps my body in the right place; when I turned round so my back was to the barrier, they didn't happen. Oh, frustration!!!!! :? [/color:9b4ae4324a]

MissIndigo, I second Gary's good wishes; you can skate in a cast with no problems, though. People do.....

[Figureskates]

First time on the ice since the fever decided to subside last Wednesday..

Definitely a little weak and about 7 pounds lighter, but hopefully that will remedy itself now that my appetite is coming back with a vengence. The only bad news is that the Lyme Disease has realy given my arthritis a good kick, but that should also subside as I continue on the antibiotics for another two weeks...enough of the medical poop.

Started out on all the edge drills plus the cross-overs. Good news is that my muscle memory is still there, though I obviously don't have the power I had two weeks ago. Then we worked on the Sal, toeloop and waltz jumps. The waltz is still okay except for the weakness thing and the Sal and toeloop I was definitely getting messed up on the timing. No problem with either 3 turn entry, after that the timing was just messed up in getting my free leg around and my shoulder. I must of fried that circuit during the fever....

Obviously I am going to need to practice a lot at Lake Placid next month. I think once I get some of the wonkiness out of my legs I will feel I have a little more control. I was going to start inline skating today but it is 93 with the humidity to boot and I don't think it would be a good idea.....so I opted for a nap instead...how's that for a training routine??

The real reward...It felt so good to get out on the ice again!!!!

[icenut84]

Just a question: what exactly do people mean when they say "power 3's" and "power crossovers" etc? :?

[jenlyon60]

In the USFSA Moves in the Field sequences, there is a sequence called Forward Power 3's. It's part of our Preliminary MITF test/Adult Bronze MITF test.

Basically (using left side as example), it goes LFO3, push onto RBI, CW back crossover (so you end on an RBI), stroke forward on LFO and do another 3-turn. Repeat down one side of the rink (3-6 repeats total, depending on size of skater...). Do some back crossovers or whatever to get around the end of the rink, and repeat on right side (i.e. RFO3, LBI, CCW back crossover, stroke forward onto RFO) repeat.

There's also a Back Power 3 MITF, but it's at a higher level test.

Hope this helps.

[mikawendy]

[quote:21fbadf35b="nutty-ducky"]
Flopsydoodle:
Right Forward Outside 3-turn - Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't and today it was not working. i have to remember to keep my feet parallel with each other![/quote:21fbadf35b]

Hi, nutty-ducky--
I'm working on my RFO 3s as well. (I have trouble "checking" the turn--I keep overrotating CCW at the end of the turn.) What do you mean by keeping the feet parallel? I haven't been thinking about that, but maybe if I was I wouldn't have the trouble.

My LFO 3s are scratchy--at the turn part, I'm almost standing up on the toe pick and pivoting to change direction. Have you had trouble with that? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I've tried standing at the boards and bending my knees to get used to the position, but it hasn't (GRRR) been working!

Thanks! :D

[Anita18]

[quote:fc71e56c37="Yazmeen"]Gary: That is the BEST darn explanation I've ever heard for back inside edges. They DO defy the laws of physics.
[/quote:fc71e56c37]

LOL I agree! Well, they've been getting a lot better for me....Make sure you're on the middle of the blade (not too far forward or back) and that your free foot/hip is straight behind you, over the circle you will trace with your skating foot. The upper body is facing outward, but don't get too twisted up, LOL. Find what's comfortable. :) Not surprisingly my RBI edge is much better than my LBI edge, from practicing spins all the time on a crowded rink. LOL I'll wait and wait and wait on that RBI until there's finally room, and then I step out... :lol: Doing them from a standstill is still an issue: the first lobe's slow as a snail, and then the others get progressively faster.... :roll:

[Mrs Redboots]

My apologies for posting twice yesterday; it must have worked the first time, after all!

First "proper" Wednesday for three weeks! Delightful to be back having my private lesson at its proper time of 9.30 am (actually, we started at 9.15, but it's always a moveable feast) on a Wednesday.

[color=red:74102787f6][b:74102787f6]Fanta:[/b:74102787f6] Worked on the Riverside Rhumba with my coach; I don't actually have to test this, but since Robert is working for his level 3 compulsories, I might as well work on them, too, until I get them to test-passing standard. I was quite pleased with the result - when your coach starts focussing on tidy feet, you know you've come a long way! Even managed to get the pattern absolutely right, which is not easy in that dance! Practised lap after lap of rondés, which is very good for edges.

Ran through my free dance to see what needs doing to it. Agreed with coach to skate middle sequence diagonally, but we may yet change the steps. But I did a [b:74102787f6]super[/b:74102787f6] twizzle - it was supposed to be a double 3, but it turned into a twizzle, and I'm not about to argue with it!

In my private practice, I worked a lot on the Swing Dance Mohawk, and found you can do a very nice little exercise round the hockey circle: RFO, LFI, RFO, LFI-RBI open Mohawk, LBO, step to RFO and then repeat! The Mohawk is getting much better as long as I remember to look over my left shoulder.[/color:74102787f6]

[color=green:74102787f6][b:74102787f6]Flopsy:[/b:74102787f6] Backwards stroking! Deep, deep sigh. :( I simply [i:74102787f6]cannot[/i:74102787f6] get the speed and power I want, not solo. The coach takes my hand lightly, and I am zooming off into the middle distance. Deep sigh again. :cry:

Which means that the middle section of my free dance (that which is now to go diagonally across the rink) is dreadful. I don't want to dumb it down if I can help it; I'd far rather do it [b:74102787f6]right[/b:74102787f6], but how possible that is going to be, I don't know.

And, would you believe, in my list of things-I-need-to-work-on-during-the-next-two-months, I quite forgot my Interpretive routine, which gets its last outing at the World Challenge. I did run through it in practice, but got the pattern wrong, as I am used to the longer version. Oh well. It won't take much to get it right.[/color:74102787f6]

All in all, though, a good morning. Although my back cross-rolls and cross-cuts were still not all they could be - but I think if I bend my knees a bit more, the cross-cuts are going to start to happen.....

[sk8pics]

Fantabulous:
First lesson with my regular coach since I passed my pre-bronze test on Friday and we had so much fun! He was full of ideas of things he wants to teach me or wants me to really work on and improve. He taught me a toe loop yesterday, and although right now it's more of a toe-waltz, he was very happy and surprised at how well I did. Coach #2 taught me a salchow on Monday, and my main coach was surprised at how well that's working already, too! We also worked on backward spirals, did a few FO3's, and NOTHING that was on the pre-bronze test! :D

Ah, skating is good.

Pat

[Yazmeen]

Flopsydoodle: After having good ones earlier in the week, at a practice last night (Adult Skate at another rink), my back inside edges went back to Anchorage. Oh well, another day they'll probably be better.

Fabulous: Got a salchow rotated all the way around, landing pretty much really, really backwards!!! The rest were kind of sideways, but my buddy Diane made me feel great when she said, "at least you are really JUMPING, not walking through it." Waltz jump was sheer heaven last night--showed it to skate buds and got kudos for it, so I was floating.

Hubby was on ice for the first time in almost 3 months. He was nervous as all heck--he has gout, and after more than 2 years of no problems, had his two most miserable attacks (first right and then left great toe joint)one almost right after the other. His foot bothered him a bit a first with the tight skate boot, and he almost cancelled his lesson, but his coach and I suggested he just try skating a little. The result? He skated like he had last been on the ice yesterday, he took his lesson (he's at Beta level ISI and back crossovers looked very nice for all that time off the ice), and he did just great, also getting MAJOR kudos from all the skate buddies present. As he put it softly: "They are good friends, aren't they?" Yes dear, and you skated very well, Boitano!!! :lol: :lol: He iced the foot after skating, and this morning? The gouty area was fine and looked better than it has in a while. Hey, maybe ice skating is a treatment for gout!! Think I could write a paper on this? :P

One really AGGRAVATING point: A coach on the ice with her 10 year old prodigy, speeding around and getting in everyone's way, and a mommy who decided to bring her little princess out with her. I haven't attended this session until last night, and I was told this has been a constant problem. Hello, rink managers, this is ADULT SKATE---let's keep it that way!!!!!

sk8pics: Your post made me laugh--I personally intend to develop total amnesia regarding left forward outside 3 turns as soon as I pass Pre-Bronze MITF!!!! Good for you on the toe and salchow!!!

Grrrrrr,

Beth

[sk8pics]

[quote:df170c9a6f="Yazmeen"]
sk8pics: Your post made me laugh--I personally intend to develop total amnesia regarding left forward outside 3 turns as soon as I pass Pre-Bronze MITF!!!! Good for you on the toe and salchow!!![/quote:df170c9a6f]

Thanks, Beth. But won't you need that LFO3 for your half flip or flip (being a CCW jumper)? Unless you're doing the mohawk entry... Personally, I'm lucky my RFO3 has always been kind of flat, since it didn't need to change much. OTOH, it's a good thing I won't ever have to test those forward alternating 3's, since my LFO3 curves a lot, and the RFO3 doesn't!

Pat

[jenlyon60]

Today's practice:

* Forward power 3's were better, not great but better than the other day. I need to work on having consistent tempo throughout the whole pattern, I think.

* 14Step: I did my 3 patterns to the music today, and a couple times I did 1 or 2 patterns to music. The other skater who was on the ice said that parts of the dance looked tentative. So I need to get rid of the chicken factor. (Probably the end pattern... I know I'm not powering thru it like I should.) I also played around a bit with trying to make a snazzy intro.

* Foxtrot: Did a bit of foxtrot by itself, no music. And did Foxtrot to the Blues music because the other skater was working on her Blues. Then I ran out of time. (work calleth....)

It was a great session. All the competitive teams who skate on this session are up at Lake Placid for the rest of the week. So there were only 2 of us on the ice. (And yes, 2 people can still get in each other's way.) I was joking with the other skater that we were the 6am gang (the session starts at 6:20 am but we're each usually at the rink by 6:10 or so.)

[Yazmeen]

Oops, Pat, I meant Left Forward INSIDE 3--my outside three turns are actually quite nice right now, and I use the left one a lot for salchow and half flip, etc.

Thanks for catching my error!!!

Beth

[sk8pics]

Beth,
Oooohhhh I hate forward inside 3's (they really ought to be banned), and can't do them very well (although my coach insists I'm progressing with them faster than I did with the FO3's at the beginning). But anyway I hate them so much, I actually do a RFO3 into my toeloop and then change feet, instead of a LFI3 (being a CW skater). Of course, that means I'm going to have to remember what jump I'm doing, since my entry for my half flip, salchow, and now toe loop is the same!! :lol: The first couple of times I tried the toe loop, I had to concentrate to put my left foot down on an outside edge rather than pick and jump! :roll:

Pat

[garyc254]

[quote:a347aa83c8="Yazmeen"]..........my back inside edges went back to Anchorage. [/quote:a347aa83c8]

No, not to Anchorage. Since they defy the laws of physics in our universe, they went through a black hole to a parallel universe where physical properties are different, a place where they are possible to do. :lol:

[Yazmeen]

Good one, Gary!!

I should explain, a couple of years ago, one of our regular FSW Rinkside posters was having a miserable time with some of her skills. IIRC, she went to Anchorage, Alaska for a visit, took her skates, and was able to do those skills there. This started a general train of thought that when you lose a skill, its takes a vacation to Anchorage until it decides to come back, which can often mean it takes its own sweet time.

Even though my husband had a great skate last night, as he started his left backward crossovers he muttered "And they've gone back to Anchorage..." as he skated by me!!!! :lol: :lol:

So, in a nutshell, the ones that don't defy the laws of Physics go to Anchorage. My LFI3 resides there permanently, only popping up once in a great while. Hopefully it will visit when I test Pre-Bronze MITF :P

Beth

[garyc254]

[quote:275e3e3984="Yazmeen"]So, in a nutshell, the ones that don't defy the laws of Physics go to Anchorage. My LFI3 resides there permanently, only popping up once in a great while.[/quote:275e3e3984]

LOL :lol: :lol:

With the way I skate, I guess I'd better move to Anchorage immediately!!

Or maybe Anchorage is a portal to a parallel universe. :lol:

Thanks for passing along the "Anchorage" story.

[MissIndigo]

[color=red:4f4bd82eb1]Still fantabulous:[/color:4f4bd82eb1]

Things still going ok with me in the cast. I just don't have as much control on my right side as I do my left. I really miss that range of motion in my wrist! Took it easy at camp today, though was still able to keep up with everyone. I didn't jump or try any sit spins, but my forward scratch spin and camel were still with me. I also got a chance to skate with my parasol that I'll use as a prop for a program later this year and got lots of compliments. I tell you, it's not easy spinning with one of those! 8)

Nothing flospy since I think I gave it a pretty good effort today.

[tidesong]

Fantabulous:

Ok, I got my toe-loop in better shape! I can pick with a straight leg without falling over!!! Now the only problem is I'm so surprised that I haven't landed yet that I look at the ice to see whats going on and then I kill the landing.... arrgh... had to continuosly remind myself not to look at the ice....
now on to trying the double toe... hadn't got the guts to do it yet :)

My axel is still there... (fingers crossed)

Layback is getting better
I had one good back sit spin today :) I was going in circles rather than my usual loop the loop...

Flopsydoodle:
My double salchow is still in the two-footing mode, hardly any falling but still very irritating

Still not spinning as well as I wish I could... still working very hard on my back sit...

Half loop ?!?!? I just can't do the half loop well after my axel... I land with zero speed after the half loop after the axel so my flip is done nearly on the spot.... arrgh

I can do forward spirals with a straight skating leg now... I just can't repeat the feat on my backwards edge: my skating leg will just bend that little bit... anyone has that problem too?

How do you specifically work on power? I feel like I'm going just as fast/slow per stroke as a month ago...

[Debbie S]

Fantabulous:

I actually rotate in the air on my toe loop now - it's not very high, but it's getting there!

I can now do a (small) waltz-toe loop combo. We practiced them last night.

Did not fall doing a spin. Yay!!

Got about 1/2 rev on a salchow. I am so terrified of this jump - not even sure why -probably the edge takeoff going backwards. But my instructor showed me last night how to check the LFO and I actually jumped up and did about a 1/2 turn in the air. Yippee! Maybe at my Sunday practice, I'll actually get a complete rev.!

We worked more on layback spins. We spun in the attitude position with upper body straight and arms out, then we spun on 2 feet leaning back. Instructor told us we'll work up to the full spin.


Flopsydoodle (love this word!):

I don't think I'm ever going to be a spinner. My scratch spin has all but disappeared, my sit spin is non-existent, and even after I rounded my back and leaned a little forward, like my instructor suggested (she said I was being pulled off balance b/c my shoulders wer leaning back), I still couldn't maintain revs. Arrgghhh! It's so frustrating, b/c I once could do it, and now it's gone. Come back, come back! :) (Oddly enough, I could do the pre-layback spin OK)

My consecutive edges are getting better, but I'm still off-kilter w/ the arms and legs - I always feel like I'm twisting. Got to work on that.

End-of-series test is supposed to be in 2 weeks, and we haven't even learned the BO turns. I know it's hard for the instructor, b/c all the freestyle levels are taught together in the summer, and I guess she'd rather teach us new jumps and spins, which has been fun, but I want to be able to at least get all the skills at my level (1). Of course, since my scratch spin is on vacation (maybe [i:c8dd2fca38]I[/i:c8dd2fca38] should go to Anchorage!), I probably wouldn't be able to pass, but I'd like to be able to just give it a shot.

Boots are driving me crazy. Maybe I laced them too tight across the foot, but I started to get foot cramps as my lesson started (we get 1/2 hour practice before our lesson time). I had to loosen the laces and relace, then my laces came unhooked as I skated away, so I had to lace them again - I was having Tonya H. flashbacks!

Off to practice Sunday.

[JDC1]

I practiced last night but not until after I met with another boot person (this time at a local rink) and after much talking found out I am in the total wrong boot. My feet have often felt kinda "floaty" so I lace up extra tight and well ...now I am cutting off the circulation to my feet and getting these big swollen veins over my ankle bone. So it turns out (we're pretty sure) I need a dual width boot, AA and AAA, special order SP Terri. I am so jealous of people without boot problems!! I know people who just walked into the rink's pro shop bought boots and out they went!!! Anyway, I did finally practice.

Flant - I really am able to go into a spin on one foot, I am still cheating (my coach says that's fine for now) by assisting my LFO with the my right foot just grazing the ice and then helping get the "hook" and push up but I am spinning sometimes 3-4 times at once!! Woo hoo!!! This has taken lots of work.

My waltz's felt really big (remember they use to barely leave the ice)and I think I scared some people by doing them too close to them. :-) Didn't mean to I just haven't realized how much ice they cover.

Flutza- Laced my boots up relatively loosely and couldn't buy bunga pads to help out the ankles so my spirals were in Anchorage. My guess is they'll come back after I buy some pads and can lace my skates tight again!!


I forget who asked but on the back spiral the HARDEST part for me is straightening the skating leg. Try changing you arm positions and using your abdominals and back muscles to hold you up and that might "pull" the leg straight. Whenver I get a good one it's usally because I am not too tired and I am really focused on my abs and back musles.

[Yazmeen]

Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail: Lack of sleep last night. Bad ending to the work day yesterday, bad mood, bad sleep...grrr... :x

Fantabuloso: Worked on power pulls today again in my lesson--ALL 4!!! Forwards and backwards, both legs, and much to my surprise, progess in all areas. I only tried the backwards ones for the first time today. My coach heartily agreed with TashaKat's "draw the wave" with the free foot analysis (again, thanks a bunch, Lynne!!! :D ), and worked with me on what the skating foot is doing. She reassured me that this is a skill that will ABSOLUTELY improve with practice.

Worked on finessing crossovers, then a little bit of time on spins. Two foot is improving, one foot, well, I think I'm at least getting the feel of actually rotating a bit better--that's a victory in itself.

A good day!! And now I'm awake, at least!!! :P

Beth

[icenut84]

[quote:663f0c3869="jenlyon60"]In the USFSA Moves in the Field sequences, there is a sequence called Forward Power 3's. It's part of our Preliminary MITF test/Adult Bronze MITF test.

Basically (using left side as example), it goes LFO3, push onto RBI, CW back crossover (so you end on an RBI), stroke forward on LFO and do another 3-turn. Repeat down one side of the rink (3-6 repeats total, depending on size of skater...). Do some back crossovers or whatever to get around the end of the rink, and repeat on right side (i.e. RFO3, LBI, CCW back crossover, stroke forward onto RFO) repeat.

There's also a Back Power 3 MITF, but it's at a higher level test.

Hope this helps.[/quote:663f0c3869]

Thanks. :) I wondered what everyone meant! I'll try that on Saturday if I remember! :)

[Mrs Redboots]

My last skate of the week was 24 hours earlier than usual, as I have swapped my "days" this week, at my boss' request. Robert came down with me, and we practiced together for about 30 minutes, and then he went to work and I stayed on for what turned into another 2 hours (overdid it rather!).

[color=indigo:770919dd4e][b:770919dd4e]Flopsy Bunnies[/b:770919dd4e]:We ended up having a major row yet again, this time over the pattern of the Swing Dance. I think we know what we were doing wrong, but whether we can correct it or not is another matter! Both of our back cross-rolls and back cross-cuts were horrible. Neither of us can really skate backwards at all, oh it is such a nuisance! Luckily we are getting better when in waltz hold, but it's a long and slow process.

Meanwhile my forward 2-footed slaloms are better than his, which is not a nice thing to boast about, but it does make for problems in the Canadian Cha-cha....

I ran through the middle section of my Free Dance and it is still awful.[/color:770919dd4e]

[color=blue:770919dd4e][b:770919dd4e]Fanta Icy Lemon[/b:770919dd4e]: We really [i:770919dd4e]are[/i:770919dd4e] getting better at skating together. This morning we were just stroking around, focussing on staying down in the knee, lots of knee-bend and lots of extension, and it felt so much more comfortable! And we were going faster. Then our forwards chasses weren't too bad at all, although I have a feeling Robert would disagree with me on that.

Actually managed to [b:770919dd4e]move[/b:770919dd4e] when doing back cross-rolls. They are still horrible, but they are no longer totally impossible! Showed a friend the steps of the Canadian Cha-cha, which was fun. Worked on the Riverside Rhumba and even solo it isn't too ghastly. Well, I don't think it is! Mohawks are slowly improving, still pretty ghastly, though. I am sure there was something else great, but can't remember what it was....

Yes I can! I actually managed to do one-footed slaloms on my right foot! Didn't dare do many because of making my knee hurt (it doesn't, so far!), but they were actually happening and I could feel I was changing edge as well as direction. Wha-hey!
[/color:770919dd4e]

[dani]

Flopsy - Pretty much my entire lesson this morning. We were trying to make up my program. I can't believe that I don't have a program yet and the Peach Classic is less than a month away!

Fantabulous - Tonight! I was landing everything! I landed loop-loop, loop-loop-loop, and flip-loop! I even landed a salchow-half loop-flip! This was the first time my coach saw me land my flip or loop! I did it on command for her! I am incredibly excited!

Hugs!!
Danielle

[Anita18]

[b:82ab7a7786]Fantabulous[/b:82ab7a7786]:
[list:82ab7a7786][*:82ab7a7786]Backspin! It's coming along pretty nicely now! Yay! The only problem is, I'd have to do about 2 or 3 bad ones before I get it going, LOL.. :P
[*:82ab7a7786]Loops on occasion. When I land them, they're getting more runout! :D
[*:82ab7a7786]The 3turn before the salchow is getting straighter! Yay!
[/list:u:82ab7a7786]

[b:82ab7a7786]Flopsydoodle[/b:82ab7a7786]:
[list:82ab7a7786][*:82ab7a7786]Every other spin other than the backspin. LOL that's so insane, but I suppose they've all gone to Anchorage...Well yesterday my forward scratch was better, and they were all pretty much centered even though I'd feel off-balance. (Once my spinning foot actually left the ice and came down a few inches away! Yikes... 8O ) I'm doing something wrong with the sitspin entrance but if I manage to get into the position, I'm okay. :roll:
[*:82ab7a7786]The FO spin entrance. This is a separate gripe by itself. Sometimes, I forget to stay upright, or I lean out too much, or my freeleg goes out too early, [i:82ab7a7786][b:82ab7a7786]FOOM[/b:82ab7a7786][/i:82ab7a7786]! And I haven't even [i:82ab7a7786]begun [/i:82ab7a7786]to spin yet... :roll:
[*:82ab7a7786]My laces kept on getting loose! Argh! :x
[*:82ab7a7786]Salchow. What's new.... :x
[*:82ab7a7786]Toe loop. Still trying to figure out where I should pick in. One day I'll get it...
[*:82ab7a7786]Loop on occasion. Sometimes when I'm leaning too far into the circle on the entrance...[i:82ab7a7786][b:82ab7a7786]FOOM[/b:82ab7a7786][/i:82ab7a7786]!....Sigh....
[*:82ab7a7786]Lutz. Landed a couple, but all were short of rotation. Still scared of this jump, and I don't pop up with the pick-in. Well, once I can get all the way around, I suppose I'll feel more comfortable with it....[/list:u:82ab7a7786]

Anita

[tidesong]

Fantabulous:
I am getting new skates!!! (Actually going to the skateshop tomorrow... doesn't mean I'll get it straight away but still happy :D ) yay!! the muscles around my ankle and lower leg (right landing leg) has been aching because I have to strain to land my jumps when the boots don't support so well.

My spins are getting better, I am working on the camel-sit change sit and camel-layback change sit and sit-change-sit-change-sit, all combination spins... I will see which one works out best to put in my programs


JDC1: I asked about the back spiral... thanks... I will try that the next time i go to the rink... And I do get them straightest only on my right back inside edge... its prob my best backwards edge... strange isn't it?

Flopsydoodle:
Still not having the guts to try the double toe yet... The single does get more height since I got my picking leg straight but I am not landing very well all the time...

Double salchow is still in the works... waiting for my left foot to cross over my right instead of banging straight into my right boots half the time

Still on my half loop... forgot to ask my coach about it today... was too preoccupied with spins :)

[flo]

Last night was pairs, and lots of fun. My coach was not on the ice yet, so I warmed up with one of the kids (she's about 14) who is also testing soon. It was a good warm up, she's my size and we skated well together. Then, my coach and I ran through the program a couple of times and finalized some details. After my lesson, and his lesson with the kids, we took turns in the harness doing throw double axels. What fun. The other pair tried them off the harness,and they were pretty good. The male partner (about 16) wanted to do them with me off the harness. I told him we'd try after the test session. Looking forward to it, and getting out the padding!

[Hannahclear]

I skated last Sunday (no ice for a week....sniff) and it went pretty well. My blades are incredibly dull, still haven't gotten around the sharpening, but now I'm used to them so I'm not sure what to do......advice???

Flopsy: camel spin, it was hopeless when I skated five days per week, and it's even more hopeless now. I can get around once with a low free leg.
salchow: how the he** are you supposed to get into the right rotational position?

Fab: loop and flip: I really get right into the position, and am able to land with nice flow, according to another skater there. Why can I do these but now sal?
worked on lutz, still gettiing my nerve up, but I've been practicing picking in and just jumping up, no rotation. It didn't scare me when I was 16, but it does now, six years later.
sit spin: not there yet, but I've been doing squats every session and this is helping.
scratch: like all my spins, pretty slow, but that's partially due to the blades, but hey it's sorta centered and looks like a spin.
Back OE spiral: for some reason, this is really easy for me. Can't do any others to save my life.
Stroking: a little slow and tentative, but I'm standing up straight, which was an old bad habit that I didn't want to get back into when I started again.

***Another plus! Starting to look more toned and dropping some weight. Yay~

[melanieuk]

I took my kids with me as I had no babysitter.
They got to skate for a little while.

I'm happy to say that the parallel spin was on form today, and the flips were ok too.
Everything (apart from the flip-cherry) seemed to work well.
Unfortunately only got 4 backspins out of 15 or so...

[Mrs Redboots]

[quote:5033438153="Hannahclear"]I skated last Sunday (no ice for a week....sniff) and it went pretty well. My blades are incredibly dull, still haven't gotten around the sharpening, but now I'm used to them so I'm not sure what to do......advice???[/quote:5033438153]
If you haven't got a test or competition coming up, I should get them sharpened fairly soon, or you'll suddenly find you're on the ice and can do nothing at all! If you have a good reason not to get them sharpened in the immediate future, buy an oilstone from a hardware shop and use it to put the tiniest edge on whenever you need to. But get them sharpened fairly soon, as it only takes about an hour's hard work to readjust and then you wonder why you hadn't had it done for a week.

Melanie, if you are getting four backspins out of 15 attempts, that is very nearly once every three tries. I call that progress! In another month you'll be getting them half the time, and by Christmas they'll be more often than not! You [i:5033438153]know[/i:5033438153] that's how skating works!

[garyc254]

Not a particularly good night for skating last night.

Power Stroking class - The regular instructor was on vacation and her substitute didn't show up. After 10 minutes of everyone just skating around the rink, we convinced one of the other coaches to take over. Power pulls up and down the ice for 20 minutes. Some class. Ouch, my aching legs!!! :lol:

Free-style session following class - Practiced F & B edges, mohawks, and 3-turns. Tried a hockey stop at speed, caught a wrong edge, and jarred my lower back (Yep, I'm hurt again). Got off the ice, went home, and spent the rest of the evening with an ice pack. :(

I didn't stick around to watch my girlfriend's synchro team practice. Wouldn't you know it, most of the team went out for ice cream after practice and I missed it. :evil: :lol:

I'd like to try Thursday all over again, but this time with different results.

I need a vacation!!!!!!!!!

[Terri C]

Since I was at camp at Hillsbourough, NC all week, this is for the week:
Fab: Suprised myself at my attempts with doing patch for the first time. All I did was apply what I've learned with MIF and use that. Also did well with dance, considering my lack of exposure.
Had two private lessons with the skating director there, improved sit and made progress on flip.

Ugh: It was EXTEREMLY HOT in NC all week. They had been predicting thunderstorms the last three days. When would it rain? Yes, the very time I started back for Virginia Beach. Also had female emergency during camp- made me miss the off ice portion on Tuesday! :evil:


Yes, guys, Miss Indigo and I had a great time and she has a awesome camel spin! Now let's hope she gets her cast off in time- she's braver than I am for skating with it!

[MissIndigo]

Aw Terri, you're makin' me blush. :D Thanks for the compliment. The camel spin is my favorite spin (so it gets practiced the most--heehee).

Today was just an ok day skating. The drive down I-40 was really unnerving this morning and the rink was [b:c57fed85b3][color=blue:c57fed85b3]cold[/color:c57fed85b3][/b:c57fed85b3]. It was colder than I remember it being, and with only one hand gloved (for obvious reasons) my cast hand froze. I still got compliments on my 5-step mohawk sequence and my edging, so I feel good about that. It took me a while to find my spin center since I was so cold...I finally got about a 15-rev scratch going that was decently-centered. If I could just get my leg up higher before I pull in...wheeeee!

I hope this cast comes off Monday. It was finally starting to get to me a bit today; I was off balance for some of the mohawk steps. I really miss having my right wrist "rudder" to aid with motion and balance and sure did miss it during our creative moves sessions at camp! It was hard for me to get into some of the slinky moves without my normal range of motion on my right, but did enjoy the sessions overall and now I'm more open-minded about choreography.

Profitable week all-around despite the cast right hand.

[jenlyon60]

I had fun this morning once I got warmed up... club dance session.

Worked on Moves, Foxtrot & 14Step and played on other stuff.

Fell once on Foxtrot, got up and did more. Did Foxtrot to just about everything at Foxtrot tempo or slower 4/4 time. Ended up doing 4 consecutive Foxtrot patterns to Foxtrot music. Not the biggest patterns I've ever done, but the most in a row. Did several sets of 14Step patterns to the music.

Also, did EW to music (small but fairly well controlled), American Waltz to music (small, whippy, but I settled down near the end... I actually made it thru like 3 continuous patterns... the most I've ever done solo at one playing of the music..). Played with bits and pieces of Argentine Tango and Starlight Waltz (not to music).

--jsl

[TashaKat]

This is for last week!

I woke up on Tuesday with my throat closed up and VERY sore, I hadn't got any lessons scheduled but texted them anyway as they would have been expecting me in for practise ...... got a very curt text back saying that they wanted to teach me that day anyway!! 8O

I went in on Wednesday anyway with a VERY heavy heart, I've been on a real downer skating wise and was seriously contemplating packing it all in ..... the only thing that stopped me was the expensive new boots and blades!

Madame was in a foul mood, the kids have got the Solo Dance Championships and nerves are fraying, at one point she locked herself in the music box because she was getting so wound up with one after the other making 'silly' mistakes! When my lesson time came I told her that it was probably best to stay locked in there! With this in mind she decided NOT to do my crappy step sequence and I had a lesson concentrating on a 'new' spin entrance instead. They had been to a seminar at the weekend and were trying things out. Essentially, for the forward spins you go into them (for CCW) on a LFO3 and immediately plonk the RIGHT foot in front of the left, both legs fairly straight, the arms are rotated CCW so that the left arm is PUSHED behind, the right arm in front, you are looking over your left shoulder. Then you wind in by increasing the RBI edge and rotating the arms CW BUT keep the head looking over the left ..... then push into the spin (without my usual lunge/whack the left arm back) and VOILA!!! LOTS AND LOTS OF SPEED ....... which, of course, threw me off to start with but DOES get a real WHIP to the spin :D It seriously threw off the sit and camel but I'm getting used to it now! It was quite good fun and I came out actually enjoying skating again.

On Wednesday evening I went to the Royal Gala but the actual getting there was a comedy of errors (though it wasn't so much of a comedy by the time I eventually got back home :evil: ). It started at 9.30am when the coach company said that they could pick me up near to where I live (which is on the way to the venue and 35 miles NORTH of the initial picking up point). At 1.30 pm that had all changed and they didn't want to do that BUT by this time it was too late for me to get organised to get down there so the agreement had to stand. The coach driver a) took a couple of 'wrong' rountes and b) drove at 10-20 mph under the legal limit!! A (less than) 2 hour drive took 3.5 hours and we were LATE!!!! We eventually got off the bus and legged it for the last 15 minutes!!! We arrived 5 minutes after the doors were 'officially' closed but THANKFULLY we were let in! Just before we got on the coach to head back I was told that they WOULDN'T be stopping at the point where we had got on and that we would go to the end point and someone would drive us back (ie 70 miles that we didn't need to do!). The journey took another 3 hours plus a stop for refreshments! I eventually got home at 2.30am (I shouldn't have been home any later than midnight) and had to get up at 5am to skate! I wasn't a very happy bunny :cry: Anyway ...... ran through my Field Moves (not bad, back3's are crappy but my blades are still screwy) and then the DREADED step sequence!!! Usual pooh, I'm afraid :( Dance lesson on European was okay but the firnal 22 step was awful (now the boots have softened up a bit I'm feeling SERIOUSLY unstable on the blades - I can't get a decent inside edge and I fall right over on the outside).

I had to go in on Friday to make up for missing Tuesday! Spins were ok, camel is still a bit hit and miss but the backspin is getting better :D Did my bestest one EVER :) it just kept going around :D First run through of programme left a LOT to be desired :roll: Madame commented to one of the kids "Lynne has brought her mum ALL the way here to see her ....... clean the ice with her a**e" ....... I fell on the flip! The next run through was slightly better but I still feel like I'm skidding all over the place :( Dance lesson was 'ok', 22 step slightly better, European seems to be working! Anyway ..... I had a word with both of them and they've agreed to let me get the blades moved HOORAY!!!!!

Nothing now until Tuesday but at least I like skating again :)

L x