Love or Loathe :Lessons/ Practices 14-20 February

[Terri C]

Love:
A very nicely centered scratch spin , the loop is still in existence a week after New Years Invitational, and just getting back to a regular practice schedule.

Loathe:
My sit and backscratch spins are still awful!!! Trying to do a complete pattern of MIF on a 4:30 freestyle is, well, ugh!

[NoVa Sk8r]

Love:
Am getting back my joie de vivre that used to exist everytime I skated. And in tonight's public session, I did 4 program runthroughs. The weird part is that about 40 high school kids showed up, and I was upset because I really needed to work on some basic skating and on program components (I have a club competition this Saturday). I asked God to please remove these locusts from my rink. :P Anyway, 30 minutes before the session ended, they all left, leaving about 5 people on the ice. I shut off the Pearl Jam CD I had been playing, slid in my program music, and hit the <Repeat> button. No one cared or minded.

Loathe:
No pair skating for about 2 weeks (as Loops is temporarily abandoning me). Oh, wait; this should go in the above category! :P
I had made a laundry list of things that we changed/fixed/altered in our program, and we really need to practice them. Oh, well. At least I get to concentrate on my singles skating for a while. And I'm hoping to maybe take a few spin lessons with an awesome coach in Maryland. <crosses fingers>>

My camel spin seems to have disappeared, but I'm sure it'll be back for this weekend. :?? My updated program is still kind of a mess, but I'm hoping to skate on some early-morning freestyles this week and iron out the remaining wrinkles.

[Terri C]

[QUOTE=NoVa Sk8r] And I'm hoping to maybe take
a few spin lessons with an awesome coach in Maryland. <crosses fingers>>[QUOTE]

Don't tell me that it's Bobbe Shire ?!

[NoVa Sk8r]

[QUOTE=NoVa Sk8r]Don't tell me that it's Bobbe Shire ?!Yes yes yes ... isn't she awesome? If anyone can give me those much sought after Lambiel-, Buttle-, or Jahnke-like spins, it would be her! I'm hoping to snag her for this Monday?

[iskatealot]

Love: My Double loop is actually getting closer to me landing it!! Also got my showcase for fun club ready finally

Loathe: My axel.....gone again.... had it 2 weeks ago actually landed....now gone again. My pairs routine for fun club........we dont even have music

[Debbie S]

Glad to hear your loop has *continued* its existence, Terri. Mine decided to cease existence at the competition and has resumed its existence beginning, oh, last Thursday. :frus: Actually, I'm really focusing on pushing my foot under and bending to get a strong edge for takeoff. It has been quite a revelation (oh, that's what a BO edge feels like! ) - lol!

You'll have to keep us posted about your lesson with Bobbe Shire, NoVa. She is going to be one of the coaches at my club's skater's workshop in June. Actually, we're opening registration to non-members starting on March 1 - I'll keep everyone here posted on that.

Let's see...

Love: Well, my loop has returned, but still needs improvement. Sit spin has returned, too. I was working on trying to get it lower today. Is it a good sign that my free leg kept hitting the ice? :?? My coach has me starting work on a layback spin and an inside spread eagle. I think it's going to be a while for those. We also worked on forward and back crossovers (at high speed!) to try to resolve my stepping-over problem once and for all.

Loathe: Backspin, and power 3's - can't decide which is more frustrating right now.

At practice today, one of the skaters was playing the Eva Cassidy CD w/ "Fields of Gold" on it. As she said, it was good music to play during practice - mellow, to counteract frustration. :)

Good luck to everyone competing at Easterns/Winter Classic this weekend!

Edited to add that I forgot about the Wash FSC club comp this weekend! Good luck to NoVa and anyone else competing there!

[fadedstardust]

Debbie- if your free leg is hitting the ice in a sit spin it means you are leaning forward from your shoulders and probably hunching over in your back to get that "feeling" of being lower, rather than lowering from the spinning knee itself. I used to do that ALL the time. It's quite a different feeling once you really start using your leg. It should feel like your leg is about to give, and you just have to hold it. And then get to the next lowest point when you feel your leg is going to give (it won't, most of the time). Also, turn your foot out, if you keep it with your toe pointing at the ceiling, the only way it won't hit the ice is if you are spinning completely parallel to it a la Jenny Kirk/Tara Lipinski. Turning it out will prevent it from hitting the ice (even if you hunch over).

I know you didn't ask for advice but sit spins are my favorite so I wanted to try and help anyways, hopefully it isn't unwelcomed advice. Good luck working on it. :D

[falling_rain]

Love: Flips, most definitely.

Loathe: Camel-one foot spin-backsit-backspin. i *always* fall on the backsit or backspin. sigh.

[sue123]

Loathe: i drove all the way to the rink this morning, got up 2 hours earlier than i would have otherwise needed, only to find out my first private lesson was cancelled. i never got a call about it, but one of her other students said she's been sick. oh well.

love: since i got back to campus so early, i got an awesome parking spot, and i'm hoping to be able to drag my friend to the outdoor rink tonight.

[Terri C]

[QUOTE=Terri C]Yes yes yes ... isn't she awesome? If anyone can give me those much sought after Lambiel-, Buttle-, or Jahnke-like spins, it would be her! I'm hoping to snag her for this Monday?


WAHHHH!! WAHHH!!! :cry: :cry: One of the disadvantages of living in the sticks (skating wise).
Actually, I had a seminar with her once and she told me that I was a wimp when it came to the camel.
You DO NOT need a spin lesson with her- I do!!!

[Mrs Redboots]

Loved: Think we've got our free dance sorted - we worked very hard on the bit that's giving us trouble today. But I think we'd better go on working on it, all the same..... Husband actually lifted me, off the ice - what a weird feeling!

Loathed: Half-term! Place was packed out... might go down tonight, we'll see. Forgot to practice our couples spins. Did work on solo spin and nearly fell over, but did manage one good one, I think.

[LoopLoop]

Neither, really: Skated last night but piddled around a lot of the time. On the other hand, my new improved flying sit takeoff is starting to come together.

Loved: Looking forward to a lesson with a different coach tomorrow morning. Sometimes a change of pace/new perspective is just what I need.

Loathed: Going away tomorrow afternoon and will be off the ice for almost a week. No pairs for almost two weeks :cry: ! The first time back after that break should be ...interesting.

[NoVa Sk8r]

My new improved flying sit takeoff is starting to come together.Hmmm ... I need to work on mine. How cool would side-by-side flying sit spins be?

No pairs for almost two weeks :cry: ! The first time back after that break should be ...interesting.You bring the crash pads; I'll bring the ibuprofen. :P

[coskater64]

Love: the nice bite of my brand new blades, fabulous run of the blade and just that rip.

Loathe: Relearning everything on those blades 3 weeks before mids. But--I did get the axel solid, the double sow and most of my spins are centered but only @ 1/2 speed.

Also love: learned 14 step today, did it w/ pro he said it was good, promptly taught the the Foxtrot to keep me in check.

such is life.

la

[Debbie S]

Debbie- if your free leg is hitting the ice in a sit spin it means you are leaning forward from your shoulders and probably hunching over in your back to get that "feeling" of being lower, rather than lowering from the spinning knee itself.

Thanks for the tips, fadedstardust. Yep, I tend to lean forward a lot so I'm sure it's the same with the sit spin. I also think my free leg doesn't have enough strength to stay up - at least it feels that way - it always seems to want to drop - essentially I'm fighting with my leg and the leg is winning. :lol:

Oh well, practice, practice, practice, I guess.

[skatingatty]

Love: I am going to get love handles if I don't get to skate! Managed a few little axels on a public session at Cary Ice House Sat. Then it got too crowded to practice much else other than the easier spins.

Loathe: This morning I drove all the way to Raleigh and realized I'd left my skates at home. Relatives visited this past weekend and I'd taken the skating suitcase out to make room in my car. Paid my coach and got to work early, though traffic on 440 and I-40 wasn't too good. Didn't get to skate Sun. or Monday either due to relatives visiting. Maybe I'll get up early enough tomorrow to skate at Hillsborough!

[Skate@Delaware]

Love: my new 5/8 ROH on my blades! The difference is very subtle, but nice-after getting them back and skating for 2 hours stopping was no problem and I could spin and do 3-turns and stuff.

Loathe: the flu! We have been passing it around at our house and though I haven't had it real bad, I've been so daggone tired! Haven't even done any public skating these past 2 weeks--only done enough to get by with rehearsals and such... :cry:

[Petlover]

Loathe: I had an asthma attack 10 minutes before I was due to leave for skating this morning, and it's my last lesson for a week (Coach is going to Dallas ISI Winter Classic). Made it in time for my lesson, but my lungs were kind of sore from the attack, so I didn't run through any programs.

Love: Coach is a genius! We have been working very hard on edges, both forward and backward, so she made up some neat edge moves and footwork for me to work on without having my lungs work too hard. One was kind of a rocker jump from forward right over left crossovers - you just hop from a left forward outside edge to a right backward inside edge. At first I said "Are you CRAZY!!!!!", and then after about 10 minutes I was able to do it. Coach knows me, I will call her crazy, and then go ahead and do it - if she thinks I can, then I can.

(edited to fix a typo)

[Terri C]

Love:

The jumps were awesome today- including the loop! Got good feedback from Coach as she watched my New Years Invitational video last night- but forgot to bring it back to the rink to give to me today- oh well!

Loathe


Still, my scratch and backscratch spins. I have a bad habit of snapping my free leg too soon on the sit, so I'll have to retime it, which is a frustrating pain! Backscratch, well, I'm too late snapping the upper body. UGH! :frus:
Oh and the ice was it's usual chewed up self at 4:30 when I got on today!

[fadedstardust]

Loathe: i drove all the way to the rink this morning, got up 2 hours earlier than i would have otherwise needed, only to find out my first private lesson was cancelled. i never got a call about it, but one of her other students said she's been sick. oh well.

love: since i got back to campus so early, i got an awesome parking spot, and i'm hoping to be able to drag my friend to the outdoor rink tonight.

It's totally your call but I used to have a coach who did this to me periodically and I know how frustrating it is. It's NOT hard to call someone to let them know, especially if they let others know about it, and especially if this was your first lesson. If she keeps doing this to you, it might get harder to respect her and rely on her/trust her judgement (I know it was for me, eventually I ended up not showing up or showing up late just to get back at her for doing it to me so often), so maybe you'd be better off finding someone more reliable. Not calling and standing you up on your FIRST lesson is absolutely unexcusable unless she was rushed to the E.R. which she obviously wasn't since other students knew she wasn't coming. It's not a great sign of things to come, especially for you and your hectic schedule.

[sue123]

It's totally your call but I used to have a coach who did this to me periodically and I know how frustrating it is. It's NOT hard to call someone to let them know, especially if they let others know about it, and especially if this was your first lesson. If she keeps doing this to you, it might get harder to respect her and rely on her/trust her judgement (I know it was for me, eventually I ended up not showing up or showing up late just to get back at her for doing it to me so often), so maybe you'd be better off finding someone more reliable. Not calling and standing you up on your FIRST lesson is absolutely unexcusable unless she was rushed to the E.R. which she obviously wasn't since other students knew she wasn't coming. It's not a great sign of things to come, especially for you and your hectic schedule.

well, i talked to her later and she sounded so upset. i felt bad actually. she kept apologizing and apologizing. the other girl's mother who takes lessons from her said she's usually very reliable. if it gets to be a habit, then yea, i'll find somebody. but i things happen to everyone, no? it may have just been coincidence that it was going to be my first lesson. but she normally teaches during the freestyle session immediatly before the public when i'd take my lessons, so she should be there already.

[jazzpants]

Love: The beginning of the session!!! LOTS of free space!!! And I could actually practice stroking around the rink... Both my power 3's are at least consistent...not ready for testing, but consistent. I had one skating judge look (who's also a fellow skater buddy of mine.) He said "You just need to fix the FI mohawk on the 5 step mohawk and you're just fine..." YIPPEEE!!! Step 4 is FINALLY fixed!!!

Loathe: The end of the session. They put more cones around and there were more kids that showed up to warm up prior to the afternoon FS session... And my FI mohawks are still pathetic!!! :frus: Ball of my forward spin foot is hurting again after skating... Time to practice those backspins!!! :P

Well, folks!!! We'll see when this year I'll be taking that Bronze Moves test again. I hope it's soon though.

[Mrs Redboots]

Loathe: The step after the Fiesta Mohawk! I am off-balance, very slightly, and when I am in hold I simply can't control the foot, so it goes down far too early and I get no push into the next step. This was also happening in my waltz 3s in my lesson. Not that my foot was going down too early, but early enough that I wasn't getting a decent push. Coach wanted me to focus on speed, which is fine, don't mind that, but then he wanted pushes & checks as well..... I said he could have one or the other, but not both!

Also loathe: Husband's posture - wish he'd do something about it. Having a backache. Being so cold.....

Love: Well, tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Ashkelon, but I think I may have had a breakthrough on my back cross-cuts. Coach told me to focus on pressing down the heel of the foot I was on, and I was actually getting some flow out of it. Coudn't quite keep it up, but I think this may just be it at long last. Coach said back cross-rolls much improved, but I still can't really do them by myself.

When I got on the ice, it was really smooth & fast, and I did the fastest lap of back outside edges (well, sort-of edges) I've ever done, and was able to hold an edge longer than ever before. Back inside edges are even faster - it's so lovely to be able to go backwards fast at long last! When I was doing the Swing Dance with my husband before he had to go, I really pulled in my middle going into the intro-3, and was off at warp speed, with him running down the ice after me going "Where are you going?" :twisted:

Coach says my skating is improving very fast now. "You were on a plateau for a long time, but you're off it now!" :D

[kittie067]

Love: I can do a beautiful centered scratch spin, and am working on my sit spin.

Loathe: my toes always seem to be in the ice, especially on cross-overs, my coach is having me do a waltz jump over and over, and threatening to pull me out of competition if they dont straighten up!!!! 8O help!

~kittie

[skatemex]

I had a lesson today,
Love: I arrived like half hour early and did come practising that was ok, some camels and lutzes were not so bad.
Loathe: My eville coach had me doing some strange exercise were you go back wards and jump from one foot to another and then you have to do a double three, I had a very scary fall on my hands, I was really scared, I think I'm still a little scared right now, :cry:

[SK8RX]

Love - back on the ice for the first time since returning home very ill from the Washington New Years Competition. I woke up with a horrible cold and raging fever on the morning of my event, and unfortunately didn't so so well. It was really a very surreal experience - I forgot the entire program, and just short of ran around the ice, with the music cutting in and out. The plane ride home was quite miserable :(. But it was such a nicely run event, and I met some exceptionally nice people, and got to see some excellent skating, not the least of which was some very impressive pair skating by Marna and Steve, and some really ingenuous interpretive programs! All in all, I am very happy to have participated. Now, I am working on the program (which is brand new) with coaches, and trying to get the run throughs I need before my next competition, without coughing too much, and trying to get an interpretive program together for Nationals.

Loathe - trying to get the stamina back, - and working on those pesky Gold Moves.

Best of luck to everyone preparing for their next competition.

[Michigansk8er]

Love: Camels were on!!!

Loathe: Blasted left twizzle in my footwork. It's fine on it's own..........but put it in footwork and it has some very scary moments.

[jazzpants]

Love:

My sit spins!!! They were faster and lower.
My scratch spins after the first few duds. I think I'm warmed up to the ice.
Backspin made an appearance tonight
Flips and loops did make an appearance tonight, not a consistent one but it did make an appearance.
Waltz, toe loops and salchows were still there... Check!!!
My intro 3's are still there, though I would love for it to be even faster still. My primary coach was happier about them though last week. :D
Being "Auntie Jazzpants" again to a bunch of young teen figure skating kids tonight!!! I'm honored!!! :mrgreen:
Loathe:

My sit spins... they were faster and lower... just not BOTH at the same time!!! :twisted:
My first few scratch spins... total duds... :(
Backspin made several SCARY appearances too!!! 8O But I have to face up to those fears to get them on the correct edge.
Camel spins... what camel spins!?!?! :frus:
Practiced FI mohawks 'til the cows come home... Nope! Ain't mooing yet... :frus: But at least my secondary coach sees me practicing it. :twisted: (Alright!!! I also have intentive for working on it. My primary coach and this one skating judge saw my 5 step recently and BOTH said if I fix the FI mohawk that I'll probably pass that move easily...)
Can't practice power 3's w/o threat of decapitating someone... namely ME!!! 8O (There was a huge crowd of what looks like sorority girls. All you single young guys who are into pretty sorority girls... you would have LOVED tonight's public session at my rink...)
Also WAAAAY too crowded to try to set new speed skating records.

[flo]

Love: Just got back from the Westminster show. I'm with petlover - a great time for me is skating or being with the dogs! There were dogs everywhere! It was also interesting to see how another large event is run. The Westminster Kennel Club could take a couple lessons from the Adult Nationals and Standard Nationals LOC's!

My favorite part was playing with all the dogs in the hotel lobby. My pup also had a great time shopping and prancing around the city. Now - back to skating!

[Mrs Redboots]

Just went to the social dance session tonight. Did go down so I could have half an hour on the teaching ice beforehand, but didn't, in the end, as I was tired. Of course, I got my second wind towards the end of dance club!

Loved: Dancing the Prelim waltz with a partner who's a better skater than Husband, and who knew where he needed to be for me to do the 3-turns! We were a bit flat, but it wasn't bad. Did some really good dances with Husband, and some awful ones. We did a reasonably good couple of Fiesta Tangos, for once.. The third man there is lovely and fast, but anticipated his curves quite dreadfully, which I told him off about....

Loathed: We did an appallingly bad Willow Waltz - don't know what went wrong, but Husband was in the wrong place every time it got to the 3-turn, I kept on losing concentration (it was the last dance of the session), and really, it was pathetic! Ah well....

[dbny]

Love:
I've actually gotten in a bit of practice this week. Hang in there, Jazzpants, all the work on my FI Mohawks is finally paying off. The LFI Mohawk is no longer my nemesis on the 5 step, it's now the LBO edge. I actually did one RFI Mohawk so smoothly, that it seemed completely natural, and although I haven't quite done another so good, they appear that way to the unpracticed eye, or so I've been told.

RFO threes have returned on the power threes. By the time I tried it, I was too tired to continue with the other side of the pattern, so I don't know if the LFO's are there again.

Next week the public schools are all closed, so there will be no classes to teach. Hooray! OTOH, the public sessions will all be overcrowded and no freestyles available.

Loathe:
Still having L foot/boot problems. Was in pain again this afternoon after teaching for an hour and doing a little practice. I also taught and skated this morning, and it wasn't so bad, so maybe it has to do with getting tired.

[Petlover]

Love: My morning skating buddies are all in Dallas, and I had private ice this morning for 45 minutes! I did 2 good run-thrus of my artistic program and 2 almost as good run-thrus of my footwork program. Change foot spin worked well 3 out of 4 times!

Loathe: Missed my morning skating buddies - those kids are wonderful! Tried my Dutch Waltz to the music, what a disaster! It seems I can get wonderful edges without the music, terrible edges, but good timing with! Canasta tango went a lot better, I actually got good deep edges with the music. Haven't tried the cha cha with the music yet..........

[slusher]

The step after the Fiesta Mohawk! I am off-balance, very slightly, and when I am in hold I simply can't control the foot, so it goes down far too early and I get no push into the next step.

I can't remember if I posted about this before, I had the same problem myself and the solution was to do the mohawk on more of a curve, ie, after doing the swing change, when stepping to left foot, step that left foot towards the hockey goal, not the end of the rink and the the mohawk will also be on this big curve around the end. When doing this, I actually aim for stepping the left foot on the hockey face off dot, but not all rinks are hockey-icized. Therefore as the mohawk is already curvaceous, your body is in the proper place for the right foot and you're not falling over onto it. If you square off the pattern, which is what I was doing, then your body is fighting too much rotation and will fall over to save itself.

I just had to educate my coach. In that dance, I did the leading (aim for the goal) and the counting, he was along for his good looks, so I said!

Other than that:

Love:

I did 4 revolutions on a backspin, I've never really tried them before but seem to be a quick study.

I also followed a girl around and figured out the European waltz. I rather enjoy doing the LFO 3 turns around the ends. The RFO, well the whole trick is getting into the right position ha ha ha!

Loathe:

3 turns. Inside 3 turns. What a stupid thing they are and that's all I say. I'll pass the European before I ever pass those idiotic preliminary waltzing 3's.

[Casey]

Love

The skater girl at the rink (sssh, don't tell her). Okay, so maybe it's not love, but a secret admiree anyways.
My first lesson today!
My new coach asked what I wanted to learn and I said I wanted to go over the stuff I knew already and work out the problems. We worked up from forward stroking, everything required for Freestyle 1, and the waltz jump and touched on spinning. I have a few things to work on, but overall I had very few issues, which I'm happy about. Learned the 5-step mohawk. Going to practice hard over the next week, and hopefully will master all of the suggested improvements by next week. Then maybe I can get spinning figured out better (got some helpful tips on it too).
Stops - I spent a good hour the day before yesterday doing nothing but going between the 6 small circles on the rink (4 of them in the centers of the hockey circles, I don't know what they're called), stroking from one and stopping so that I'd complete the stop centered on the next. I did this for both feet, snowplow stops and T-stops. Also did some charges for the opposite end of the rink and a longer stop before hitting the wall. This really paid off - my stops are much more controlled and easy now. I'll definitely have to make this part of my regular practice routine.
Shoot-the-ducks - I can now do them on either foot, and stand back up from them most of the time, and as of today using the hands to hold the extended foot is optional. :D :D :D
Backwards outside edge thingies with the free leg held high (is there a name for this?). Judging by the reflection in the boards, I can hold my free leg higher doing this backwards than doing a forwards spiral. I like high leg thingies because they feel challenging and I think they look great to watch too. I like going around the end of the rink on a forward outside edge holding the free leg as high as I can pointing towards the barrier and end it with a crossover.


Loathe

No spin progress...haven't really tried much though.
No jump progress...hopefully both of these will change soon now that I have a coach, but at least for the jumps I'm not in any hurry (want to perfect the basics first). The spins I'm more ancy about.
Still nothing to compare to the great skate last week. It would have been better if I never had it, I think, because I wouldn't have such a great session to compare to. Oh well - I just hope it comes out to play again if I ever perform someday. Today I was skating around kinda slow and unenergetic in the rink by myself for an hour, then a group of about 10 kids showed up and suddenly I went into "show off" mode. :P I'm not sure if I am worse on an empty rink (which would be worse for performances) or better with people watching (which would be better for performances). Oh well, time will tell :).

[mikawendy]

Woo-hoo cshobe! Congratulations on starting lessons! Are you excited? You'll have to keep us posted on how your lessons go (if you want to).

Loathe--
TRAFFIC on the ice! Yoiks, on Tuesday, I was constantly bailing to keep from running into people or because I found myself potentially in the way of a lesson. It was kee-rowded. Today was less so, but still a bit traffic-y.

Worked on moves and jumping and backspin so much that I forgot to do a single scratch spin or camel spin during the sessions.

Love--
Found the sweet spot on my backspin today. Felt smoothness under my foot, with no pick or edge/tail dragging. (Loathe: it was on the "wrong" foot. My "correct" foot backspin is much weaker and is a hindrance for change foot spins and jumping, etc. Grrrr.)

[Mrs Redboots]

I can't remember if I posted about this before, I had the same problem myself and the solution was to do the mohawk on more of a curve, ie, after doing the swing change, when stepping to left foot, step that left foot towards the hockey goal, not the end of the rink and the the mohawk will also be on this big curve around the end. When doing this, I actually aim for stepping the left foot on the hockey face off dot, but not all rinks are hockey-icized. Therefore as the mohawk is already curvaceous, your body is in the proper place for the right foot and you're not falling over onto it. If you square off the pattern, which is what I was doing, then your body is fighting too much rotation and will fall over to save itself. Thanks. This is more or less what my coach said, but Husband and his Other Woman both tell me I come too far across the rink on the Mohawk, turning more than 180.... I don't think I do, but.....

Interestingly, last night Husband said he was trying to hold me closer during the Mohawk, but if he did, he couldn't hold the edge after it and put his foot down too early. So it may be a partnering issue, as I can do it by myself - and I didn't have much trouble with it last night, or not more so than usual.

Are you going to the social dance session after Adult Nationals? If so, we can have a quiet play in a corner, no doubt, with some of these things....

[jazzpants]

Love

The skater girl at the rink (sssh, don't tell her). Okay, so maybe it's not love, but a secret admiree anyways.
My first lesson today!
...

Skater girl and cshobe, sitting in a tree... :P :twisted: (Just kidding)

Glad to see that you started lessons with a coach. I think you'll be much happier with the results when you have worked with the coach for a while.

[Hann]

Love
i have nearly managed to land my double loop... with some extra coaching from my coach, i think i have nearly got the hang of it. hopefully in academy tomorrow, we will be working on jumps and i can get some more help with my landing... and for once, i think i was doing some good spins. Also i think im getting the hang of doing the lutz to.

Loathe
i missed the first 10 mins of my private lesson because my sister was late picking me up, as my neice was ill. now i think im coming down with her bug, and at this rate im not going to be able to skate tomorrow.
Also, my sits spins where so rubbish, i didnt get very low and just ended up sitting on the ice nearly each time i tried.

[Mrs Redboots]

Love: I actually managed to do a whole width of back cross-cuts! I'd done a couple of runs from blue line to blue line, which I'd actually thought was the same length as a width of the rink (26 metres), but it wasn't. Alas.... Our rink is weird, because it's 60 m by 26 m - most national-size rinks are 56 x 24, and Olympic rinks are 60 x 30, so ours is neither fish nor fowl. Anyway, I got the bit right between my teeth, and decided that I was going do to a width of if I had to stay there until midnight! And I spent 20 solid minutes going to one side of the rink, pushing off with slaloms and a couple of crossovers, and then getting going. And usually grinding to a halt about 1 metre away from the edge of the rink.... And I found it really, really hard to keep my tummy braced, my shoulders back, my knees bent and pressure on my heels.... but on the couple of occasions I managed it, I got all the way across! :)

I also love the fact that I'm suddenly seeing the animation of the smilies on this group - I didn't even know they were until I used Windows XP in that job I had that didn't work out! Even changing from IE to Mozilla Firefox didn't help - until just there now this evening!

Anyway, sorry for that digression.

Loathe: Having backache and being too stiff when I got home to do my off-ice exercises. I did some token arm work, but that was all.....

[jazzpants]

Love:

All of my moves are still there pretty much.
Power 3's are better. Not quite right yet, but better.
5 step: Looks like I'm getting more curve on step 4 and 5's edge... so my little mental trick is working...
Loathe:

5 step:... Primary coach is nitpicking on the last of my problems with this move. Gotta keep practicing those FI mohawks. :frus: (Apparently, a local skating judge also commented that "except for those FI mohawk, you look pretty good on that move.")
Have to also practice those nasty back crossovers at both ends of the rink.
Alt. back crossovers, he wants to see more inside edge on the outer leg where you step out. (Did do it on the second runthru though, so it was better.)
Back crossovers to BO edge: One side is not extended enough compared to the other side. Other than that, refer to second "loathe" point. :frus:
STAMINA!!! I don't have much of it after about the 2nd/3rd move. So I'm working on that now...

[Figureskates]

I haven't been saying much here the fast few months but I have been taking lessons and practicing my butt off. The problem has been my back outside edge on the left side. I have never been able to get a solid edge...due the fact that I have a rebuilt left knee. That in itself is not a problem, the problem is that the surgery left me with no feeling from just above my knee to half way down my left calf. So it feels like my left foot is floating free of my body. The result is it is hard to dig into the outside edge, especially the outside, since I can't feel in up and down my leg. Well after months, literally, I actually started to get a true back outside edge during today's lesson, and not by bending my ankle either. As crazy as this sounds, my coordinating the feel in my left hip with an exaggerated press on the outside of my left boot, I can get an edge. If the two feeling points are coordinated, I get a flat edge or end up on the inside edge. It has taken months of trial and error to accomplish this but today, it just happened...consistently too. This is why we have been working on figures as well. Figure 1 emphases the back outside edge.

While this might not sound like a big deal to many of you, it sure is going to go a long way in solving a lot of my skating elements. problems (insert clockwise back crossovers here)

I give my coach a lot of credit in trying to work this problem out. I am really two figure skaters in one body. Anything dealing with the right skate has to be done totally different on the left skate. I just never realized how much of a problem the "dead zone" in my left leg was going to be. It will take another month or so to get consistent and ingrain this thing into my head, but hey, I have been patient this long....what's another month or two?

[Casey]

Woo-hoo cshobe! Congratulations on starting lessons! Are you excited? You'll have to keep us posted on how your lessons go (if you want to).
Yep yep. And yep. Thanks.

Figureskates, I think it's totally awesome that you are able to do all that stuff even with your leg injury. There's a great example of not letting anything keep your skating down. :D

Love
Today I skated SLOOOOW. When I first went out on the ice my blades felt resistant and sluggish, so after a few warm-up laps I went with it and just did everything in slow motion. Instead of focusing on speed and power like usual, I focused on form and gracefulness. I would balance on one foot, cross the other tight in front, and glide in a straight line most of the way across the rink at a snail's pace until I would completely lose momentum and would have to step out of it when I finally came to a stop. I practiced this over and over, until I could hold a slow glide for a looong distance, and come to a complete stop before stepping down with the other foot, in as perfectly straight a line as possible. I did this backwards and though it wasn't as good, I made a fair bit of improvement. I then tried these along a hockey circle atttempting to stay right on the line on one foot with the other crossed tightly and no real movement...that was a fair bit harder and I wasn't as good, but again made some improvement. I did crossovers and cross rolls, put the free leg in all sorts of non-moving positions (I realized I have a tendency to shift it and/or my upper body to balance, which I doubt looks as good as if I can keep the body very still by keeping everything under tighter control). Worked on backwards crossovers and cross rolls a lot, a few 3-turns (I think I need to spend a long part of the next emptyish session working on 3-turns alone - they feel less controlled than other stuff), a few stops, a few waltz jumps (these were interesting to do slowly).

I then decided to work on spinning...and wow, what results! Well, small results, but they feel like a lot to me. I tried a few CCW spins, but kept dragging the stupid toepick so I decided to switch to CW for a while. I progressed from being able to do 2 revolutions, 3 when I'm lucky on the CW spin to regularly hitting 4 revolutions, one of them was especially nicely centered, the tracing looked like a little clover leaf, but all four rotations were within a 10-inch diameter area (the 3-turn was a couple feet away though). WOW!! (yes, for me 4 revolutions and mostly-centering is a BIG deal...I know it's not really that grand but small steps, right?)

I don't understand this...even though it feels more uncertain going in, I seem to be able to find the right balance and spin much more controlled CW, but the entry to CCW feels more certain, and I can pull in and spin faster, however it's much more rare that I find the proper balance point and do it with any amount of control. I wonder if I'm actually a CW spinner though I formerly thought CCW was my natural direction. CCW waltz jumps are easier, and I can get a deeper LFO edge (CCW) than RFO (I can turn an LFO hard enough to make ripping sounds, can't quite get there with RFO). I also have a lot of trouble doing CW spread eagles. I think I heard somewhere that some people jump and spin in opposite directions...might this be the case?? Or is it just that perhaps I'm naturally CW, but I'm better at CCW simply because of more practice in that direction? So confusing...I think I'll stick with both. :)

Loathe
That stupid hockey stop. I can do a one foot stop, but the hockey stop is right out. I also had a wonderful fall right on my bum trying it. I also came home after today's public session and fell asleep all the way through the evening session. *sigh*. I'm really enjoying skating during the days, but I miss the more crowded and social sessions on the weekend.

[fadedstardust]

cshobe- you don't want to spin in one direction and jump in the other. See, to do jumps well, you need a good backspin. A backspin in the same direction as the jumps. This is double jumps I'm talking about, but the theory holds true for single jumps too, such as the loop jump. So it would be self-defeating to do each in a different direction, you'd confuse your muscles. I think the reason you are getting more revolutions out of the opposite direction is that as you said, the entry is much more tentative- you are much more careful. In the CCW position, you are probably thinking about it less, you are less careful, and thus it's more likely that you are dropping your shoulder or riding up on the toepick or an assorted number of other wrong things. The more comfortable something is, the more likely it is you'll start doing something wrong with it, unless you have regular check ups on it by a coach to tell you if you are. I've been spinning since I was 7 and I still sometimes lose my centering- it just happens when you're not paying attention. I think that you will find it more beneficial to stick to the CCW side and to work out the spin issues than to start spinning CW and confusing your body when it's not really gonna do you all that much good to spin CW at this point. If you're on the toepick, press on the ball of your foot. If you drop your shoulder, keep your arms out and straighten them out. Work the issues out, don't find an alternative/loophole everytime you hit a setback.

Goodluck!

PS: Which side are you more comfortable with on your crossovers? That's usually the side in which you should be turning, so if it's right, you're CCW, if it's left, you're CW. Not foolproof but a good measuring point.

[Casey]

PS: Which side are you more comfortable with on your crossovers? That's usually the side in which you should be turning, so if it's right, you're CCW, if it's left, you're CW. Not foolproof but a good measuring point.
Pretty close to equal, but CCW is a bit better.

[Shinn-Reika]

Love: Well I think I'm on the road to getting a good centered spin down pat.
My jumps are getting high. If I do them right, I can get almost a foot in height.

loathe: Landings are very inconsistent. What good is having a high jump if you buckle 1/2 the time. I think my problem is that I'm not timing it right. Even when I do land, it feels stumpy and I can't catch and edge. I also need to keep it tighter in the air, but I'm a little afraid of overotating.

- my last time skating, one of my lace clips broke off, my fault for buying cheap beginners skates (like I have a choice).
- worse off, I accidentally tied my shoelace underneath my blade. The last time I first entered the ice, I couldn't walk two steps without falling right on my chest. This time I didn't anticipate it like I normally do, and it knocked the wind right out of my. Couldn't talk for half a minute. Combine that with all of the unexpected falls due to edge failure (which can't be sharpened over the weekend), and I've been pretty beat up as of late.

And don't get me started on how depressed I was on valentine's (or valentione's) day. Though I did get a cookie from a little kid. I'm not sure why, but it was the only nice thing that happened to me. Better than what I normally get (which is a poke in the eye)

[Casey]

my last time skating, one of my lace clips broke off, my fault for buying cheap beginners skates (like I have a choice).
That happened to my first pair that I bought too, I just started skipping that lace holder on both sides and double-lacing over that area. But then the next one started working lose... I think you can get them replaced though - ask the guy who sharpens your skates when you get them done next.

worse off, I accidentally tied my shoelace underneath my blade.
Oh my! How did that happen?

And don't get me started on how depressed I was on valentine's (or valentione's) day. Though I did get a cookie from a little kid. I'm not sure why, but it was the only nice thing that happened to me. Better than what I normally get (which is a poke in the eye)
Well you're certainly not the only one. I didn't even get a cookie. *sigh* I just prefer to pretend the holiday doesn't exist. :)

Good luck in your recovery - both boot and body.

[Skate@Delaware]

Love: Spins! We worked on crossing our leg across last night for the scratch spin-wow was that scary. Talk about throwing the whole balance thing off. But I had done it once a long time ago (before I knew what I was doing actually but hadn't been able to re-create it again since) so it is just a matter of time...

Loathe: fell on back progressives during dance lesson... Luckily, landed just above the tailbone, and the heel of my left hand broke my fall and my head was tucked! I had just stopped seeing the chiropractor (who told me to stop skating because falling was 'damaging my spinal alignment'). I am sore this morning :cry: but ready to skate again tomorrow!

Terry

[Melzorina]

Love:
I did it! I went to an early morning session!
I, Mel, actually got up at 4.45am, caught a train at 5.48am, and was on the ice at 6.30am this morning. It was absolutley fantastic. I practised allsorts but I must admit that jumping at 7am is very difficult.
I'm going again next week, at the same time. Oh it's well cool, but I'll be staying longer. I'm starting to hate the public session. I really am, when the ice is bad and there are lunatics throwing themselves in your path. Even if it's just to skate round with friends it's really upsetting. (You understand... don't you...when it's really packed and you're used to quiet ice...and the ice is all cut up and full of holes...). I really wound up today so I got off the ice quite early, and sat in the cafe and then went to get my train, as I had no lesson planned. Ohhh I loooove early morning session apart from the whole pitch black thing. I was so scared at the train station, I could hear pigeons and someone vacuuming (Why, I don't know) and I was convinced that I was going to die, but I still stood there, waiting. I found it amusing that even though I was scared, and thought I was knocking on death's door, I didn't move or change my mind, I just looked around nervously at every sound.

Then I got on the train and felt safe.
I also realised that the train missed a lot of stops out.

Then I got off the train, and got scared again. The rink is around about a 5 minute walk from the station. I saw two people waiting for a bus, and they scared me. I changed my usual route down a sidestreet for the main road, even though the town was still asleep. Every shadow I saw, my mind turned it into a person. Scary times. I saw the rink and the lights and breathed a sigh of relief. I went in, and nobody was at the desk, I didn't know what to do, so I just walked in and asked one of the coaches, and she asked someones mum to show me what to do, and I told her about my crazy "Lets get a train at 5.48am" idea. She then said that if I was every crazy and stupid enough to get a train at that time in the morning to go ice skating, I knew what to do.

Ohhh the joys of ice skating. I'm hoping this will show my mum some dedication!

Also in the learn to skate classes that I help out in, I really hurt my back. Nothing permenant, it just really hurt for a while. The little boy I was helping was doing me no favours whatsoever! I love doing it anyway! :)

[dbny]

I'm starting to hate the public session. I really am, when the ice is bad and there are lunatics throwing themselves in your path. Even if it's just to skate round with friends it's really upsetting. (You understand... don't you...when it's really packed and you're used to quiet ice...and the ice is all cut up and full of holes...).

Yes, believe me, we all understand! Congrats to you for getting up early, braving the empty station, train, and streets, and skating when the ice is good.

Love:
While looking up some things in the Basic Skills coaching manual, I noticed the Fiesta Tango and memorized the steps. Even though the public session I went to was extremely crowded (see Loathe), I was able to do them in bits and pieces. Hubby and an adult skater friend both said the XF, XB slide CH and SR with CE looked very smooth and flowing. When I got home later, I checked the book again and noticed that it said that both Kilian and reverse Kilian holds are used, but it never showed where the hold changes! Calling Mrs. Redboots to the rescue here. I'm almost certain I used to do this dance on roller skates, but that the men's and lady's steps were different, and don't remember anything about reversing a Kilian hold, so maybe it was a different dance. Well, that was over 40 years ago, so I guess I can be excused for not recalling all the details.

Loathe:
My beautiful, empty Friday afternoon public session fell victim to "teacher appreciation day", meaning that the kids only had a half day of school and flooded the rink. To their credit, they were not a wild group, but there were just way too many of them.

[Casey]

Yes, believe me, we all understand! Congrats to you for getting up early, braving the empty station, train, and streets, and skating when the ice is good.

...but I thought we all liked jumping over the little kids who appear directly in front of you with the metal ice walker contraptions and having a nice hard fall as a result, and then having the little kid laugh at you for it.

...and what could be more fun than having the ice so roughened up that it feels like you're driving on a brick road without shock absorbers in your car?

...and oh! The anticipation that builds up as you wait and wait and wait for a bit of space to open up so you can try a spin or jump without decapitating somebody...what can replace that?

...and you have to love that feeling you get when you DO accidentally collide with somebody while going backwards or something, even though you were being careful, and even though the don't fall and you apologize profusely, they scowl at you and tell you to f*** off and assume you're pure evil.

...oh! I can't forget the nice b****y people who come up and tell you that you aren't allowed to skate the direction you're skating when you're practicing clockwise crossovers wherever there's a bit of open ice.

...and the groups of evil little kids in their dirty little hockey skates who gang up with their friends and follow you around making fun of you for figure skating, repeatedly insisting that you perform a Triple Twirly, or accuse you of being unable to skate.

It's all so much fun!! What would I do with a more pleasant skating environment? :P :P :P

Seriously though, I have to admit I like seeing some friends that only show up in the busy public sessions, or playing "skate around fast dodging people". I do love the emptier sessions though, though I don't really like to have the ice to myself. I skate best when there are 5-10 other people on the ice.

[Mrs Redboots]

Love:
While looking up some things in the Basic Skills coaching manual, I noticed the Fiesta Tango and memorized the steps. Even though the public session I went to was extremely crowded (see Loathe), I was able to do them in bits and pieces. Hubby and an adult skater friend both said the XF, XB slide CH and SR with CE looked very smooth and flowing. When I got home later, I checked the book again and noticed that it said that both Kilian and reverse Kilian holds are used, but it never showed where the hold changes! Calling Mrs. Redboots to the rescue here. I'm almost certain I used to do this dance on roller skates, but that the men's and lady's steps were different, and don't remember anything about reversing a Kilian hold, so maybe it was a different dance. Well, that was over 40 years ago, so I guess I can be excused for not recalling all the details.It's an awful dance, you don't want to go there. You do the forward steps in reverse Kilian hold, then, when you do the Mohawk, you change to Kilian hold, so that you and the man don't have to change sides - he is always on your outside.

Loved: Nothing

Loathed: Being so cr*p at skating. Dont' know why we bother. Don't think I will bother any more.

[coskater64]

Help,
I have just learned the foxtrot and I am having trouble w/ the mohawk at the end before the 2 inner, inner steps that start the pattern. Exactly how high does my leg need to go? My coach is saying waist high but my leg is so long it takes 4 beats to get it up and then I'm late.... :giveup:

[phoenix]

It's a bit up to your coach, as it's very important your legs match as you come around that corner. BUT, it's also a bit of an illusion--your skating knee rises as you raise the leg--so you aren't actually raising the leg as high as it looks like, because your knee straightening will raise it for you. Does that make any sense? I loved the Foxtrot! :P

[Mrs Redboots]

I've only seen kids get it so high - adults just lift it as for a swing roll! But whatever you do, if you are dancing with a partner, match! The judges won't like it if one of you lifts your leg really high and the other doesn't!

Not that I do it very well anyway..... don't yet dance it socially, even, never mind competitively. Husband does, but with Other Woman - she's better than him, and can help him a bit, but not so much so that he doesn't have to work very hard at it! I find dancing it with Husband hard, as he doesn't know how to help me on those bits I need help on. I do, occasionally, dance it with a really good partner, but opportunities to do so are few & far between!

Maybe one of our judges or trial judges could answer your question better? Jen????

As for me, I think I'm quite, quite mad - at our coach's suggestion, we've just signed up for a course in ballroom dancing lessons. My husband, on a wooden dance floor? I think the end of the world must be here.....

Anybody know what one should wear?

[dbny]

It's an awful dance, you don't want to go there. You do the forward steps in reverse Kilian hold, then, when you do the Mohawk, you change to Kilian hold, so that you and the man don't have to change sides - he is always on your outside.

Rats! This morning when we had a break from lessons, I asked one of the other coaches, who is a young woman that I know had been a dancer. She didn't remember, but got the book and decided that the change of hold must be at the BI Mohawk before beginning the second side, so that one skates the first side in Kilian and the second in reverse. It made sense to me, but now you've told me we were all wrong :frus:. Maybe I'm ready for a dance lesson?


Loathed: Being so cr*p at skating. Dont' know why we bother. Don't think I will bother any more.
8O I have never seen you so negative about yourself. It is totally undeserved! You are not allowed to quit. I've been looking forward to the day when I can skate with you and Robert, having missed out in 2001 because of my wrist. Now you are slimming down, and your skating is steadily progressing, as you yourself have been telling us. Besides, I will need you and Robert to demo some dances for me, as the diagrams do not tell all :D

[jenlyon60]

Most people don't raise the free leg in the Foxtrot nearly as high as they do nowadays in the blues. What's more important than how HIGH you raise the free leg is getting a nice stable BO edge with good soft knee bend, and for style, using about half of the 2 beats of the RBO edge to raise the free leg, then roughly the last half of the 2 beats to draw the free leg back down to prep to stroke onto a true LFI followed by a true RFI (it's very easy to flatten out the 2 FI edges or even make the RFI edge into an RFO... plus at test/comp those edges are often right in front of the judges, so it's also very obvious, and will get you marked down)

I've only seen kids get it so high - adults just lift it as for a swing roll! But whatever you do, if you are dancing with a partner, match! The judges won't like it if one of you lifts your leg really high and the other doesn't!

Not that I do it very well anyway..... don't yet dance it socially, even, never mind competitively. Husband does, but with Other Woman - she's better than him, and can help him a bit, but not so much so that he doesn't have to work very hard at it! I find dancing it with Husband hard, as he doesn't know how to help me on those bits I need help on. I do, occasionally, dance it with a really good partner, but opportunities to do so are few & far between!

Maybe one of our judges or trial judges could answer your question better? Jen????

As for me, I think I'm quite, quite mad - at our coach's suggestion, we've just signed up for a course in ballroom dancing lessons. My husband, on a wooden dance floor? I think the end of the world must be here.....

Anybody know what one should wear?

[Melzorina]

Loathed: Being so cr*p at skating. Dont' know why we bother. Don't think I will bother any more.

That is the biggest peice of bullsh*t I've heard all week, especially from you of all people. You've accomplished loads and you aren't crap at all. Look at all the wonderful interpretive pieces you've done, and competitions You LOVE it, you don't need me to tell you that. If you quit, you shall face the consequences. We'll all gang up on you, and troop down south and drag you back on the ice. Kapish?! :)

[phoenix]

Congrats! You'll love it!

Just wear comfy clothes to start out--I usually wore jazz pants & a cami top or something similar. Later when I got more serious I'd also often wear a leotard & wrap skirt--same as on the ice. Principle is the same--fitted clothing that will move with you & let your instructor see your body line.

Shoes: if you own any "dance" shoes with something other than a street sole, wear those. Otherwise, for you, a comfortable shoe with a bit of a heel. For hubby, something like an oxford or something w/ a leather sole. Definitely no sneakers (unless you have dance sneakers)!

If in doubt, call the studio & ask what they recommend.

[jazzpants]

Loathed: Being so cr*p at skating. Dont' know why we bother. Don't think I will bother any more.Annabel, if you quit skating, I will have Patsy from the Parlor send Guigi and Luigi after you, physically scrap skates on your feet and put you out on the ice!!! KAPISH??? ;) :twisted: :lol: Besides, you've worked hard on losing ALL that weight from last year! Doncha wanna at least take the time to show off your new figure in a lovely skating dress??? :D

Ballroom dance is fun!!! I wish I could go back to it, but hubby has two left feet and I just don't have the motivation to go if I have to go dancing on my own. Wear comfortable shoes and layers (like you would if you were going to the gym.) You will be quite warm by the end of the lesson if I recall the last time I did ballroom right.

[slusher]

Fiesta Tango, I'll post since I've passed the test so therefore I am supposed to know how it goes ;)

Lady starts on Man's left and stuck together hip to hip. When entering the RFI mohawk, both partners lift their joined hands out and to the side, do the mohawk and hands come back down to the hips but you're going backwards together. Oh this is hard to describe in words. Then after the backwards steps, both of you do a nasty crossstep L over R, and again lift arms up and out as you step forward and then come back down on the hips after changing direction.

You never let go of your partner's hands, although you might shift fingers around a bit to adjust to the holds, and the man gets slightly forward of the girl to be in place after the change from front to back and back to front.


Mrs. Redboots I've had crap days too. Don't give up, I like doing dance via internet and across countries (Canada to UK ) with you. I skated this Saturday morning and felt so old and creaky that I joined the adult learn to skate group for a change because doing swing rolls was a challenge. However, I felt better just because I made the effort to get out there and am hoping for a better next week. Hope you have one too.

[dbny]

Fiesta Tango, I'll post since I've passed the test so therefore I am supposed to know how it goes ;)

Lady starts on Man's left and stuck together hip to hip. When entering the RFI mohawk, both partners lift their joined hands out and to the side, do the mohawk and hands come back down to the hips but you're going backwards together. Oh this is hard to describe in words. Then after the backwards steps, both of you do a nasty crossstep L over R, and again lift arms up and out as you step forward and then come back down on the hips after changing direction.

So you are in reverse Kilian down the long axis while skating forward, and in Kilian on the ends for the backwards part. That makes more sense to me. BTW, I love that XF before the BI Mohawk, but only because it is so common in dance that it brings back my old roller dance days. It is also in the 10 step Mohawk pattern in Juv moves, and gives me fits on the CW circle!

[alhrayth]

I finally got back on the ice last Friday after a couple of months of absence - early december I started a job in another city, and I had time to join my dance club just a couple of time before Xmas (rushing out of the office, catchig a train for my city, retrieving my skates and rushing to the rink... yes, I'm crazy, I know...). I had no chances at all to skate here, because I was just too busy working - I worked for the OC of the European Championships, you can imagine what stress that was!
Anyway, I finally managed to catch again that famous train and last week I actually skated!!!

I did better than I expected. After a couple of warmup laps I had some muscles screaming for mercy, but it passed quickly. I had a lot of fun, we did so many different exercises... at one point I even found myself doing a particular silly sequence easily while most of the others were struggling (with my coach saying "I can't understand why you don't get it! You can do much more difficult things... it's all in your head!" and she was right - it WAS a really easy thing) and I realized it was beacuse I had dne it in my last synchro number! (BTW I also bumped in my former synchro coach while getting into the rink, I had not seen her since I left the team and did't really know what to say... she was all happy and nice, while I couldn't stop thinking about the awful things she had written me in one of her last e-mails... grrrr... what a double faced girl...).
I managed a quite decend rocker a couple of times, but at half speed - the only time I had gotten a bit of confidence and tried going faster, I got the weight wrong, fell on the tail and had a quite spectacular fall on my backside, feeling very clearly that sensation of being in the air, hopelessly falling with legs and arms flying everywhere...aaaargh! Thankfully the fall was only spectacular and not serious at all - I got up laughing and went back to the rockers - even if back at my previous slow pace!
The other exercises we had, working on mohawks and choctaws were fine - I still can't come back to the first foot/edge after I do a choctaw (as in RBO/LFI.....aaaaaarghhhRBO... it has surely something to do with my poor control of my shoulders and possibly I'm not keeping the hip open enough...) to make them in series, but I think I was improving a bit, and if I manage to get back skating regularly, I am positive things will improve...
I struggled a bit trying to remember any of the dances I had been learning, and ended up working mostly on the american and european waltz - getting a couple of nice pointers about my posture from my coach.
Apart from my fall, the only bad thing I did was getting a cut on my finger while wiping off some snow from my blade :oops: but overall I had a lot of fun, did better than I expected and enjoyed immensely being back on the ice and with my friends!

[Mrs Redboots]

Thanks, guys. :) Yesterday was a really bad day, I was in a vile mood for most of it! :cry: Thankfully Husband isn't the type that lets my moods affect his.

But anybody would be upset if, after nearly 10 years of trying to skate, they get told they are still not good enough to pass a LEVEL 1 BRONZE test (that's about pre-pre-pre-pre-preliminary) with their Free Dance. :frus: Sigh.... and I do want to pass it before we have to build it back up for competition.

Must rush - off to Slough tonight to skate with Other Woman. Tee-hee - they haven't been able to organise a lesson, so I get to do the coaching! :twisted:

[dbny]

Thanks, guys. :) Yesterday was a really bad day, I was in a vile mood for most of it! :cry: Thankfully Husband isn't the type that lets my moods affect his.

But anybody would be upset if, after nearly 10 years of trying to skate, they get told they are still not good enough to pass a LEVEL 1 BRONZE test (that's about pre-pre-pre-pre-preliminary) with their Free Dance. :frus: Sigh.... and I do want to pass it before we have to build it back up for competition.

Must rush - off to Slough tonight to skate with Other Woman. Tee-hee - they haven't been able to organise a lesson, so I get to do the coaching! :twisted:

Take heart. You still may not be able to do what you want, but you obviously know a lot and can teach it! I'm in the same situation. I can teach things I can't do :roll:. You will get there!