Stiff or flexible: lessons/practices 11-17 October

[Mrs Redboots]

Flexible: Husband worked at home yesterday, so I didn't have to fight my way through hordes of commuters on the train to get to Other Woman's rink. We got there remarkably fast, having allowed 1.5 hours, it only took just over an hour. I was as glad, as I needed a good off-ice warm-up, being stiff.

Other Woman and Husband had their lesson while I amused myself watching them and doing my exercises - I really think my BO edges are beginning to have more flow and speed in them at long last! That's twice I've been aware of some real flow in them - can't wait to show my coach tomorrow, although probably, sods' law, they will have abandoned me by then. Oh well, they took nearly ten years to come, I expect they will take as long again to perfect.....

Then in the public session Other Woman helped Husband and me with our presentation, since that is what mainly lets us down in competition with her and her husband. She reckons it's mainly a matter of my keeping my chin up, as much as anything - she said "We all see you present quite beautifully to the judges as you go past, but then they notice your head drops as soon as you are past!" Oops....:oops: She's quite right! (She also said she'd had some really great feedback about her, them and us at the last competition! Apparently people had been really positive about our free dance, which is nice!).

Stiff: After that, though, the evening went downhill. Normally that rink has a dance interval at 20.45, but nothing happened. Turned out they'd lost the CD - wouldn't you have thought, with CDs costing pennies these days, they'd have had a few copies? Anyway, someone had a suitable one in his car, so went out to get it, but when he came back it was 20.55, and one of the coaches felt unable to postpone the 21.05 group lesson to 21.10 to let us have our 15 minutes' dancing. I didn't mind too much, as I was already tired, but Husband and Other Woman were desperate for a last run-through of their Foxtrot and Fiesta Tango, as it was probably their last chance before the competition next week. Sigh....

Also stiff is my back today! I think the bruise is beginning to come out now - oh dear, a long car-journey on Saturday is going to be so good for it - not!

[Mrs Redboots]

Am I the only one skating this week again? This is for last night and this morning.

Quiet Choreography in the Corner: The ice was totally horrible last night, we didn't get on until well into the session and it had been well used, so we felt slow and useless. We did run through our compulsory dances, though, and then it was time for Figure Club. We managed one run-through - an extraordinarily bad one - of our free dance to music, and then spent the rest of the time avoiding centre ice, where the Show Number and other group numbers were being rehearsed. Some of the time we spent rechoreographing our "Waltzing Cat" routine, and, as skaters are starting to get into small groups and twos for the Winter Festival competitions, there was a lot of quiet choreography going on in other corners of the rink, I noticed! One group is doing a routine from "The King and I", featuring said King's many children. Another trio is doing "The Time-Warp" from the Rocky Horror Show - everybody else sings along and dances to it at the same time. One group of adults is doing an extremely funny "Love-god" type of number; a married couple is doing something to "Delilah", we have our Waltzing Cat.... it should be fun.

Tee-hee - evil, wicked, twisted..... :twisted: :twisted: All that work on the Foxtrot has shown Husband all the deficiencies in his basic skating - he spent hours and hours just working on back edges last night! And we spent a long time doing cross-rolls, too. Tee-hee..... he'll have to work on his basics when we get back!

And so to this morning, stiffer than ever (sigh!) :( We are both very tired, and looking forward to training at lower intensity once we get back from Scotland. But we managed a very good run-through of everything this morning, before Husband left for work, and then I had a good lesson. Still can't do back cross-cuts, though, but my back cross-rolls are improving. Stamina work went well - 4 laps of the hockey circle today, but I have been doing 5 in practice, so that was easy enough. Back edges much improved, which was very pleasing! Tried to do the exercise where you skate back to the blue line, then do 3 back slaloms and a little jump until you get to the next blue line, then skate backwards and crossovers round the end. Sort-of managed it, but the jumps didn't exactly leave the ice! But it was fun.

Forward twizzles working well now, but my 3-turn exercise still isn't very good. But on balance, a good session. But oh, how stiff I am! I am stiffer now than I was when I first fell on Sunday..... it's fine on the ice, so no problem there, what is a problem is sitting down, standing up, and getting my boots on!

Oh well, only two more days, and then we are off on holiday! And competition - have to try to find some practice-ice for the Tuesday.

[dbny]

Stiff
F power pulls just not there at any kind of speed. R were better than L, but I seemed to lack to guts to really work on them today. Forced myself to practice the dreaded prelim power three pattern and could not get even one LFO three! I kept dragging my free leg, hip dropped and could not get my weight over the skating foot to make the turn. Went through it anyway two footing them just to work the head, shoulders and step forward from crossover.

Flexible
Gave up on the L side of the power threes and did stuff I could actually do and enjoy. Then I went back to them and was able to do them :D Got a very nice run through of the juv cross stroke pattern, as there were only three other people on the ice (public session, no cones) and they were moving like snails. B power pulls are coming back. Got the length of the rink this time with not too much shoulder swinging and my quads didn't give out on me like last week. I decided that the simple BO Mohawk (step forward) after the prelim B crossover pattern needs to be cleaned up. Of course my coach has told me to turn my head first, but it took the Campbell's on Sunday to make me see it and remember it. I had to go back to pre-prelim BO edge pattern, though, to get free leg right and work up my courage for the speed needed. Worked two foot spin with the goal of getting my one foot spin back, and did make some progress. I've been so off spins that I get dizzy again from just one or two, but my two footed are centered and I was able to lift a foot for at least two revs today.

[KatieC]

I haven't posted here in ages, but thankfully was able to get back to skating in the last few weeks.

Stiff: Well, my spins aren't back to normal, they're travelling everywhere, except for the two foot sit, which can't really go anywhere! And I'm just learning the BI3, which is really neat, especially when I remember to check and it actually moves forward after I make the turn :)

Flexible: I finally overcame my nerves and did a decent spiral today, months after falling on a left outside edge. I wanted witnesses, so I yelled to two friends just so they'd see it - not an exhibitionist at all! And, today I skated in a skirt, for the very first time. It was fun in a way - now I'm terribly conscious of my knees.

[quarkiki2]

Hello, all! It’s been ages since I posted here!

Stiff: Still working on getting a one-foot spin from an entrance. Like everything, I chicken out and two-foot for a split second before adjusting into the upright spin – it’s like a little extra push. Grrr!!! Same with 3 turns – I have them and actually GO OUT OF MY WAY to two foot them. What kind of dork am I???

Flexible: My power skating class!! I am having so much fun in this class! I’m not particularly god at jumping or spinning yet, but I really enjoy the edgework and stroking we do in the power skating class. I LOVE forward and backward perimeter power stroking. I’m working on making my lobes bigger – I get about five down the long axis going forward, two going across. Backwards is getting stronger, too. We’ve started power threes and power pulls, too. Those still need MUCH work, but I understand and like practicing them.

Have also started swing rolls and cross rolls. Swing rolls are OK, but I’d like them to be more assertive – I need to work on a better check, I think. I haven’t quite got the timing of the cross rolls yet, but will keep at it until I do.

Hey, I managed the world’s smallest waltz jump from the T-position. Now I’m working on jumping from a glide. It’s great on the boards and my fingers barely brush the plexi, so why can’t I get it away from the wall???

I’m starting to get anxious about Synchro – I really want to jump into our program soon. We’re planning some really fun stuff and I’m so excited to get moving on it!!! We know the basic layout and I can’t wait to get going on putting it together!!!!

[luna_skater]

Stiff: Nothin! Maybe just the fact that the ice was a bit busy so I didn't get to do as many complete patterns as I would have liked.

Flexible: Sr. silver skills are ready to go! We're trying to find a test day, and next week my coach is going to start teaching me the gold skills! I can't wait. I'm really comfortable with the sr. silver skills, and worked out a problem I was having on two rockers today, so those are fine now. Wohoo!

[Terri C]

Today on lesson, my coach me had me do a 5 minute competition warm up ( i had started that on my own this week) and then ran me through my program. With the exception of my forward scratch and back scratch spins- the program was perfect! She was so excited about my speed and told me that my jumps were higher because of it! She really was proud of the fact that I've worked very hard on this program and the stamina required for it ( the music starts slow, but then picks up)!

So, I was very happy with my week. We'll see what happens as the Halloween Classic gets closer!

[Mrs Redboots]

Stiff: I still am! Horrendously! I'm sure it's getting worse, not better.... oh well, at least we've finished the intensive training, six-seven days a week, for now!

Last night, Husband got held up and was on a very slow train when he did catch one, so only arrived just barely in time to run through our Free Dance before Dance Club. And I had a Preachers' Meeting, which meant I could only stay for the first 20 minutes of Dance Club. Nevertheless, we ran through our free dance, and our two compulsory dances, and skated it all well.

Husband is still having serious trouble with his BO edges, and I was trying to help him this morning. In the Foxtrot, too, when he does the cross-roll 3, he comes out of it all hunched over, which can't help his partner! I hope he really will take heed and work on his basic skills for a while. On the other hand, he'd then be an infinitely better skater than me, and probably out of my league.... sigh.... still, worth it, for him to be a great skater. If anybody of 54-next-birthday and still at Elementary level can be said to be great.

Flexible: Well, everything is going as well as we can make it; if we can skate like this on Wednesday I'll be pleased. We are hoping to find practice ice somewhere in Scotland on Tuesday afternoon, and then we will be competing on Wednesday, and then a rest! When we come back, we'll probably only skate 3-4 times a week for a few weeks, to give ourselves a breather.

The ice has been lovely and quiet these last two days. We have two new skaters at our rink, students who have moved from their home rinks, and are making friends with them. My back edges are coming along nicely, and my stamina-training is increasing gradually. Remembered to practice all my exercises, even the ones I hate (evil 3-turn exercise! Yuck! Mohawk exercise - even more yuck!). And my daughter and her partner are coming to lunch in a few minutes - and then I must PACK!!!!

See you all soon.

[blue111moon]

Flexible: In Moves, I managed to complete the RBI threes for the very first time! I have to do a strange swing thing of the free foot to do them but I'll take whatever I can get at this point. And we worked figure loops for a while; I've progressed to the point of attemptng them on one foot instead of gliding around on two. So a good moves session, even if I still hate the blasted things.

Flexible #2: Sit-change-sit spin - I hit one that was as close to perfect as I can ever dream of getting. Even stayed in the back sit position for 4 full revs. Yippee!

Stiff: Just about everything else. Flip - nope. Lutz - not happening. Axel - goes up but doesn't rotate. Same old same old. Still nothing was worse than usual so I'll focus on the good stuff. I take progress wherever I can find it.

[batikat]

stiff: didnt' post last week as I lacked motivation to do much after the recent competition.
Loop jump and Flip still elude me.

Flexible: level 1 variation dance is nearly 'ready - to -test'
coach thinks Free dance (solo) could pass level 4 so may test that soon too.

Returned to practising my free programme after concentrating on dance for weeks and coach was pleased with the way it looked (once i'd got over the shock of how fast the music was that is)

Taught myself a back hydroblade this week. I always thought this move must be terribly difficult but actually had very little problem. Started from back crossovers then sat right down on my heels and extended my free foot. Was able to hold this comfortably for a considerable distance. Now I just need to work on the muscles that would enable me to get up on the one leg instead of having to put my free foot down to get up again.

Am getting very close to being able to do a proper scratch spin with the foot crossed.

[mikawendy]

Hello, all! It’s been ages since I posted here!

Flexible: My power skating class!! I am having so much fun in this class! I’m not particularly god at jumping or spinning yet, but I really enjoy the edgework and stroking we do in the power skating class. I LOVE forward and backward perimeter power stroking.

Hi, quarkiki! Long time no see! I haven't posted much lately either because I've been so busy.

I'm jealous of your power skating class. I love to take stroking and edge classes and haven't been able to find one lately. I also LOVE forward and backward perimeter stroking--it makes me feel so confident, even if I'm a chicken when I do other things, such as some of my jumps! :D

Stiff--haven't been able to get much off-ice cardio in, so when I stroke around the rink, I feel my lack of stamina. Also, waltz loop is all wonky for me. When I land from the waltz, I skid on the BO edge, which tells me (I think) my weight is in the wrong place. It usually means I'm not secure to take off for the loop, so I bail.

Flexible--had an okay lesson on Tuesday and a great practice on Thursday. I feel like I made a lot of progress on my camel, which I hadn't been working on much. I still have a LOOONG way to go, and haven't successfully hooked it yet, but I get the idea.

I was also fooling around with brackets and rockers a little and have been having more success with the FI brackets. I think I should have my coach look at them soon before I develop too many bad habits on them! Also I was fooling around with BI3s and was having better luck with them. They've always been my weakest and nearly nonexistent, but I have a better idea of how to make the turn happen.

[Magz]

Flexible - After over a year I finally have an axel! And I'm pretty sure it's here to stay! My double sal is also coming along really well. Last time I'd tried it, it was 2-footed. But when I tried it again a few days ago it hit on one foot but then I fell and that's been the problem lately. My spins seem too be getting better now too especially my flying camel.

Stiff - Layback spins. They're SCARY! That and my flexible leg is aslo my spinnig leg so I have to do the layback with my unflexible side. Blah.

[slusher]

Flexible:

I had all good things today, did spirals for the first time this year and although I moaned and groaned, I could see in the glass that my leg was at hip level, so pretty good for the first ones. My toe loop is smoother and I did a few half flips because I was having a contest with a little 7 year old, (how many different combinations can we do) and then said what the heck and put some leg into it and pulled out a full flip. Of course coach was not looking, it's not a lesson day for me anyway, but my young skater friend will vouch for me I hope, we share the same coach.

Stiff:

Can't remember dance steps for the life of me so dance session was a sort of waltz-tango mess.

[alhrayth]

Posting quite late, but I haven't been at home for the weekend, so...

I went skating of Friday night even if I was feeling VERY tired, but I didn't want to miss the class because I have only this one per week, and I knew that I wouldn't have been able to skate during the weekend (I had way too many errands planned for Saturday, and on Sunday I was going to be in Turin to volunteer at the selection of the flower sweeper for Euros 05 and Olys 06 - a fab day, we had lots of fun and the girls and boys were sooooo cute!).

As I arrived I discovered that this guy I had been skating with the last two times had brought another girl (the one he skates with on Monday, at another rink) and he politely asked me if I minded if he skated with her for the night... I was actually so tired that I was happy for once to skate alone, and take my own rhythm. I have learnt the hard way that when I'm too tired I end up tripping on my toepicks a bit more than usual, and if I fall by myself I normally tend to hurt myself a lot less than if I fall in some forced position, blocked by someone else's body... My back was already hurting a bit, so I preferred to be extra careful. In the end I skated quietly for whole night, working on mohawks and 3s sequences for the technical part of the lesson, and trying to memorize the rest of the sequence & pattern for the Silver Samba which we had started the week before... I think I have it all clear, I just need to try to work on the second half with a partner!
The good thing was that at the end of the lesson another guy asked me to try to skate with him next time, since he was partnerless and things were not working out fine with the girl he had tried skating with that night. I have seen him skate and I have to admit he skates much better than the guy I had skated with the other nights (I don't know how to describe it, but he has some posture problems, he seems quite "wobbly" or "floppy" most of the times... hm, I know, it's a bad description, but he gives me this scary insecure feeling I'm not really liking... skating is difficult enough, skating as a pair een more so, without the men reminding me of a jelly bear...) and since we have not decided yet if we're skating together or not, I don't think it is bad to try out with this other guy too.
I am quite flattered actually for having been asked, since he must have watched me skate that night before thinking of asking me, and I must have been not that terrible as I felt...
Plus one of the female coaches (the one whose skating style I absolutely ADORE, she's so unbelievably light and elegant... :bow: if only she had had a good partner :cry: ...) was sitting next to him while we were talking, and she turned around saying joyously "Oh, yes, do try with her, she's good!"...
I feel supremely crappy most of the time, having never done dance before (let me count.. this must have been my lesson n°7 ever!) - there are some brilliant skaters in this group. I know I have tons to learn, but hearing that she's noticing my (usually) hard work and the things I'm managing to do, well... that really made my day!