Easter eggs: chocolate or cracked 21-28 [Archive]

flo

03-21-2005, 09:44 AM

Skate@Delaware

03-21-2005, 10:29 AM

Cracked: Still recovering from pneumonia-first day back on the ice (Sunday) was for one hour of show rehearsal spent freezing and waiting our turn for a quick three times run-through of the worst part of our 'hobo' routine (don't ask). Went back hours later for adults-only skate, which brings me to...

Chocolate: Yes, after a frozen hour in the morning, the afternoon was very pleasant! Ran through the basics, which was about all I know anyway (mostly), and had a wonderful time! Felt like fluid on the ice, even did some very nice spirals and one attemped back spiral. Even got hubby to try some one-foot spins (evil grin) without him falling. Even funnier, went into my spin and almost fell over because I went over on my edge too far, but was in too good a mood to do anything but laugh about it! I plan on working on my loop on Thursday, if I have enough energy (and padding). Didn't get very breathless (sucked on the inhaler before venturing out) and tried to pace myself. Also realized my skates need to be sharpened now (before the show).

starskate6.0

03-21-2005, 10:41 AM

starskate6.0

03-21-2005, 10:51 AM

In honor of bunny day.

Cracked: major crack - Jackson called my fitter (5 weeks after the order) and said they can not make the needed modification to the boot I ordered. They can however make it to the boot 1 step lower. I said that's fine, and now I have to wait and wait for the boots again. Nationals is going to be a complete wash. I'm still in my slipper skates and no new ones in sight. I'll be amazed if I get throught the initial round, let alone the final! I'm making returnable reservations!

Chocolate: Took a club group lesson with the kids. Figured I may as well try a couple of doubles as I would be in these skates for a while (haven't done them in a few months). Almost landed the second one - I think I could with good boots.

Flo
Sorrry to hear about your skates, But if you managed before in your current skates Im sure you can do it again. ( unless there as soft as a pair of skates from the 1930's ). I would be willing to bet you where working on the double Sal again. from a personal experience ( and a painfull one at that). I learned that in boots that are close to the end of there life the double Sal is one of the more difficult jumps because the boots have lost some of the support and that makes it even more critiical to get over the inside edge and ride that edge into the air for the jump. If its an effortless feeling to you, ( You got it already ") and the boots will be a minor handy cap. Your a strong skater Flo , Im sure you will make it all happen on the day. LET ME KNOW WHAT DAY YOUR SKATING, Ill make a note, and make sure Im there to cheer you on. :bow: :D

flo

03-21-2005, 10:59 AM

Mrs Redboots

03-21-2005, 11:02 AM

In that case, Flo, don't you DARE go home before Friday night and the skatingforums.com party at Jack Stacks. I shan't be there until Thursday, and really want to meet you!

My Overland Park friends say Jack Stacks is a wonderful place to eat, by the way.

starskate6.0

03-21-2005, 11:35 AM

Thanks Ross,
It is the double sal! I'm skating on Wednesday for initial rounds. The problem I'm having is getting in practice. I can only skate for so long before my feet hurt. I think I am developing strong feet from hanging onto the boots!
Thanks,

Ill be there Flo. If you need a practice buddy to drive you along one day Id be happy to get on the ice with you somewhere and do those jumps. It alway's helps when I have a practice buddy to watch over me and give advice now and then , You never know what might help . I take all comments and use what works and throw out what doesn't. But its a lot more fun to practice with a friend. It drives me to try things. The ice at Ice Works is quite open during the day if you can get there. Last week I had it to myself for 2 sessions. :D Ill be there evey Wednesday, Thursday and Friday for the next 4 weeks leading up to Nationals 8-) or maybe if you do want a practice buddy to drive you along maybe I can come down to see you one day if you like. :D Mr Redboots, come say hello at Nationals Id like to meet you too.
Ross. :mrgreen:

starskate6.0

03-21-2005, 11:38 AM

Thanks Ross,
It is the double sal! I'm skating on Wednesday for initial rounds. The problem I'm having is getting in practice. I can only skate for so long before my feet hurt. I think I am developing strong feet from hanging onto the boots!
Thanks,

Hey flo
I found that if its just my feet that hurt in this jump I can get over it. But if its my ankles that pain me on this jump Im doing it all wrong. The best and highest jumps iv ever done have been effortless and painless on the ankles because Im over the blade on the take off. I hope this helps :D

MissIndigo

03-21-2005, 12:31 PM

Cracked: The ice, literally. The rink had hockey tournaments all weekend and the ice was a mess. My coach and I mutually agreed to cut my lesson short today because I was stumbling in ruts and my spins were stopping dead in the ruts as well. We talked to the person responsible for the ice and he gave us a rather flippant answer, saying that the conditions would be rough for the rest of the season (rink is open for another 2 1/2 weeks). I think this is a case of where the rink management just doesn't want to take the time to improve conditions. :evil:

Also right foot is cramping in my boots, bad. I'm seriously thinking that when my paycheck increases that I will get a lighter, more flexible boot since most of what I am doing now is moves.

Chocolate: Going into school late today. That's about it. Hope tomorrow at the rink is better. :evil:

flo

03-21-2005, 01:25 PM

starskate6.0

03-21-2005, 01:30 PM

Thanks all. It would be good to get out of town for even a short bit of time. The problem with the skates is they are so soft that I have to tie them tight to get some stability, and then my feet fall asleep. They're just not reliable on landings. I keep thinking I skated in them before, so I can skate in them now! Thanks Ross, I'll take you up on that!
Grr.

Hey flo
Just PM me if you decide to come up on those day's I mentioned, Ill change my practice sessions around to meet you so we can do some jumps, that would be fun :D I have a current ice schedual for Ice works practice if you like Ill send it to you e-mail. :D

Skate@Delaware

03-21-2005, 02:07 PM

As they say in my country ( " goodonya mate ") :D happy to here you had a good time on the ice that afternoon it alway's makes you want to go back and do even better the next time. What rink are you skating at , Im doing the Wilmington show in late April after Nationals.. :D

I skate at The Centre in Harrington. It's set to close for the summer after our ice show April 16 & 17th. What rink are you at-U of D, The Pond or Fred Rust? Let me know-we'd love to come up and see your show!

[We are all set to skate about once a week over the summer at The Pond. Tried U of D but the ice guards won't let people spin on public ice :cry: (husband and boy can't skate well enough for drop in figure time)]

starskate6.0

03-21-2005, 02:17 PM

I skate at The Centre in Harrington. It's set to close for the summer after our ice show April 16 & 17th. What rink are you at-U of D, The Pond or Fred Rust? Let me know-we'd love to come up and see your show!

[We are all set to skate about once a week over the summer at The Pond. Tried U of D but the ice guards won't let people spin on public ice :cry: (husband and boy can't skate well enough for drop in figure time)]

Im doing the show at Wilmington as a guest skater but I skate at Ice Works in PA about 20 minutes from the PHL Airport. We have 4 sheets of ice all year round. Look for a shcedule on the ice time posting I made if you need practice. There is often not many on the ice during the day, Obviousley after school gets out it will be a little busy, but in most cases we welcome walk ons, even if your not at a high level, some of the sessions say High levels but often they will let you on during the day because of the lack of skaters. If you come, let me know Ill say Hello and welcome you to the rink. :D Ill be there Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of this week and for the next 4 weeks to Nationals. Adult skaters are alway's welcome . If you need more info you can contact Elizabeth Hollett on the web page I provided on the Ice Time posting. :mrgreen:
Say Hello to Diana Lapierre at the pond for me , we skated together in Ice shows for a couple of years.

Debbie S

03-21-2005, 08:51 PM

Good luck with the boots, flo (whichever ones you end up using at AN). Have confidence in those strong feet! I hope Jackson is not resistant to modifications - I'm going to see a skate guy tomorrow about whether I need new boots (I think I already know the answer) and I will probably end up in Jacksons but will likely need several modifications. If that won't work, I'll have no choice but to go for customs, and I can barely afford new stock boots right now, much less designer ones. :evil:

Chocolate: Skated 2 sessions today and ran through the Bronze moves a couple of times. After the third time, the power 3's started to look OK. :frus: I landed most of the loops that I attempted, and landed a few flips, albeit with a weird skid on the landing. Probably not good, but at least they were landed on 1 foot. In my lesson, my coach noted that my sit spin is getting lower.

Cracked: Almost (literally) my knee. I had a fall doing forward crossovers on a circle at the beginning of my lesson. Why is it that all my falls seem to come on crossovers (which means that I fall forward, on my knee)? I put ice on it when I got home and it looks like it's just going to be a couple of bumps/bruises for a while, but it's so frustrating b/c this week is my spring break and I was looking forward to getting a lot of skating done.

Congrats to sk8pics on her great skate at the Princeton Open this past weekend! :bow:

Rob Dean

03-21-2005, 09:00 PM

Tried U of D but the ice guards won't let people spin on public ice

They aren't very consistent about that; I've been skating their Friday night public sessions for a few months and I've seen some spinners. Finding ice clear enough could be a problem, though...

As for my own practice:

Cracked: Left knee hurts and I don't know why; it started about two weeks ago and is intermittant. Scheduling this week is going to make practice difficult, and I've got lots of things to be working on.

Chocolate: Alternating back edge patterns are improving, so testing APBM is looking plausible someday. Got to try skating through the Dutch Waltz with my coach yesterday; first sustained skating in a hold and no one got hurt. :) Not too bad for someone keeping the real skater in the family company. :)

Rob

MannyisHOT

03-22-2005, 06:48 AM

I will start with the good stuff:

Chocolate: Got closer to landing my axel and double sows yesterday. My camel spin actually is centered and rotating faster and my position is way better!

Now for the bad stuff:

Cracked: I was doing my program and I fell on my double toe...it hurt very much.... then for some odd reason I fell on my flip at the end... don't know why because the flip is my easiest jump. Was doing a double toe for my coach and I fell right in front of the hockey players because they come on after out session and I fell and they were laughing at me so when I got back into the changeroom my friends and I gathered up ice and chucked it at them and so they told their coach so my one friend and I hid in the changeroom until they were on the ice!

russiet

03-22-2005, 09:35 AM

....I gathered up ice and chucked it at them...

Don't drop to their level. Be bigger & better than them! I know that's easy to say & hard or impossible to do at times. Try, anyway.

My Chocolate....spinning. After 3 months of off & on trying, as of yesterday I was doing what I would officially call a spin. It's a 2-footer, but I can get it to go & go & go and I stayed on center. Finally! Now I can start improving it. Let's hope I have it again today (I have a lesson tonight).

This means I have made both self defined goals - and just under the wire! I wanted to be able to do a decent Waltz Jump and spin before I turned 50 next Saturday.

Cracked: Backwards cross overs still just don't make it. I can cheat them all day, but they aren't right. Grrrrr.

Scarlett

03-22-2005, 11:45 AM

Well I still haven't had my official lesson of the week but since I am on break I had some extra time to practice.

Chocolate: Had (for me) very nice centered forward scratch spins. My back spin is also starting to come along. My sal finally remade an appearance. The cursed outside mohawk in my footwork is getting better. I have problems doing it at speed.

Cracked: Busted my behind (actually my hip) working on a flip. That is a hard jump. Still have no concept how to do a loop. I can't even wrap my brain around it much less force my body to do it.

Hopefully saturday will be better :)

Figureskates

03-22-2005, 01:19 PM

Turned 59 today and I think my body doesn't know it yet because today I had a great lesson and for some unexplained reason, I did some pretty respectable power 3s and my outside alternating 3s were decent as well. Of course there is no guarantee that the little suckers won't go on vacation next week!

Also, shifting the left skate blade has made a world of difference....I can now get a decent outside edge on that skate, both forwards and backwards, though not as strong as the right skate.

Though I have not done one in a few weeks...still got the Salchow. It may not be the prettiest thing, but it is a Salchow. I have one year exactly for my goal of getting a toeloop...I can see a fun year working on that!!

sue123

03-22-2005, 04:45 PM

Chocolate: I had a good lesson today for the most part. Did nice back crossovers, a few waltz jumps, you can actually start to see some space between where i take off and land.

Cracked: The volume setting on my alarm clock is no longer working for some reason, so it didn't go off. I wake up because I actually see the sun, and it's 7 am. I have to leave at 7:15 if I am to make it to the rink in time to get my skates on and warm up for my 8 am lesson. Oh well.

majorly cracked: No ice time for 2 weeks!! There's some major hockey tournament going on, and so they're cancelling all the public sessions, which are the only things I can afford at the moment. Which means no lessons for 2 weeks, which means I'm going to have to find some other rink that will be open.

sk8pics

03-22-2005, 06:05 PM

Cracked: Almost (literally) my knee. I had a fall doing forward crossovers on a circle at the beginning of my lesson.

Congrats to sk8pics on her great skate at the Princeton Open this past weekend! :bow:

Thanks, Debbie! I even watched the video and didn't cringe too much. Plenty of things to be worked on, though!

Sorry to hear about your knee! Have you tried the skating safe kneepads? I've actually had more falls doing crossovers than anything else! Usually when I'm going backwards, though; only once did I fall doing forward crossovers and the way I landed was fine. I hope you will feel better soon!

Pat

batikat

03-22-2005, 06:20 PM

Cracked: Still have no concept how to do a loop. I can't even wrap my brain around it much less force my body to do it.

:)

I know just what you mean - I would do the back crossover and end up sitting back on my blades wondering how on earth it was possible to move in any direction from that position. Well it's only taken me about 18 months to figure it out. :) I've finally begun to understand what's required and be able to make a reasonable attempt. I actually landed the first one I tried this morning and even very nearly got a bit of run out :P

so:- chocolate has to be the Loop - even though there is still along way to go on it. Also the back spin where again the first one I tried I actually got a couple of revs.

cracked: back crossrolls - why is it so hard to put one's foot down on an outside edge???

sit spin: just can't bring my free leg in close to skating leg. I keep trying but it's like the force you get when two magnets are repelling each other - I just can't break through.

extra chocolate: Daughter won a silver medal in a club comp. I thought she'd blown it when she had a nasty fall near the beginning on her axel take-off and did an imitation of a flying chicken, landing on her knee. No idea why she fell - her axel is usually lovely. Luckily the rest of her programme was still good (I'd have still been lying on the ice now but she's tough!) and some of the others had cheated jumps so I guess they didnt get much credit for them. It was a nice surprise though (except now I'll have to buy her the Yu-gi-Oh DVD I promised for a good performance! Can't understand what she sees in that myself!)

cracked: no lessons for me for ages now due to holidays and cancelled patches :cry:

Scarlett

03-22-2005, 09:19 PM

[QUOTE=batikat]I know just what you mean - I would do the back crossover and end up sitting back on my blades wondering how on earth it was possible to move in any direction from that position. Well it's only taken me about 18 months to figure it out. :) I've finally begun to understand what's required and be able to make a reasonable attempt. I actually landed the first one I tried this morning and even very nearly got a bit of run out :P

Congratulations on your loop attempt. I'm glad I'm not the only one whose body and brain don't communicate with that loop. 18 months huh? I'm okay with that. It's taken me some serious time to figure out how to spin. So how do you get your body to jump? I also get stuck at the cross overs and then am at an utter loss.

dbny

03-22-2005, 10:36 PM

Mrs Redboots

03-23-2005, 06:47 AM

Many happy returns of yesterday FigureSkates!

Batikat, congratulations to your daughter. AND on getting the loop jump on-ice. I can now do one off, but have no idea of even thinking about trying one on!

My coach is on holiday so no lesson today, but had a good practice. Well, like the curate's egg - good in parts!

Chocolate: Ran through our free dance and our three harder compulsory dances with Husband - no music, just steps. I expect we could have had the music, but didn't ask. Free dance was fine, except I felt that Husband wasn't pushing hard enough in the first step after the spin - he reckons this was because he wasn't sure of the timing, so I think I'll have to say "now!" or something. Swing dance was fine except for my Mohawk, which was awful, my arm all bent, leaning on husband, BUT, in my solo practice afterwards I ran through it and realised that the reason why is that when I do it solo, I can get my right shoulder right round so I'm in the right place, but Husband really does block me. Which is what I thought was happening, so glad to have proved it to myself! ;) Fiesta fine - we did the thing of one pattern very steady, to get it right, and then a fast pattern - only I think we both slowed down going into the Mohawk! Sigh.....

The Juniors are working on their Westminster Waltz, which is very convenient as one of our dances is the Golden Skaters' waltz, which uses the same music. We had a quick run-through to music, and were most gratified to realise that we are getting really good edges on the end pattern now, much better than we used!

Finished (for now) choreographing my Interp.

Cracked: Willow waltz.... oh dear.... STILL awful. Does anybody else find that it feels like they need to step 270° to forward while the man does his Mohawk, or is that just the way my Husband does it?

And when we were warming up, we decided to do 3-turns round each other - our LFO3s are fine now, really fast, steady, solid - but the RFO3s are awful, and I'm sure it's partly because himself doesn't feel nearly as steady on his LBO edge as he does on his RBO one.

My Interp ought to be great, nice easy steps, but oh dear, it's so slow! Plus I'm waving a Theraband a lot of the time, pretending to stretch (actually stretching, judging by the way my arms feel now!), and it's a lot harder to do a really nice change of edge into a 3-turn, or even a plain vanilla change of edge, when you are stretching with a Theraband than when you aren't! Plus I don't like the spiral sequence, either - far too slow (again, that's with the Theraband). Plus, there's one part where I touch my toes, and every time I did, my earphones fell off.... But the ending is fantastic, I'm really pleased with it! And the start is great, too - it's just the bit in the middle.

Couldn't skate yesterday as had a sore stomach, and it's not quite right today, and ended up being so tired I couldn't do my programme for love nor money.... oh well, I can and probably will sleep this afternoon!

NickiT

03-23-2005, 08:00 AM

Cracked
Having been gradually improving my field moves of late, they were not so good today. I don't have a clue why, but my legs just didn't want to do as they were told!

Also the frustration of doing my camel-sit in my programme. I generally have very little problem doing this in isolation, but stick it at the end of my programme and it just never goes right. Some days I can scrape a reasonable one but today I just couldn't get it to happen. Of course after my lesson I was able to do them without too many problems. If anyone can throw some light as to why I can do this element well on it's own but not so well in my programme, I'd love to know. My theory is a combination of two things - one is that by the time I reach that point in my programme my legs are starting to turn to jelly, and the second is that I don't get the timing quite right. Whatever, it's very frustrating.

Chocolate
Apart from a not so good camel-sit, I skated my programme twice and both times went well. Also landed my lutz-loop both times....yay!!!

Nicki

starskate6.0

03-23-2005, 08:30 AM

LoopLoop

03-23-2005, 08:42 AM

Cracked
Also the frustration of doing my camel-sit in my programme. I generally have very little problem doing this in isolation, but stick it at the end of my programme and it just never goes right. Some days I can scrape a reasonable one but today I just couldn't get it to happen. Of course after my lesson I was able to do them without too many problems. If anyone can throw some light as to why I can do this element well on it's own but not so well in my programme, I'd love to know. My theory is a combination of two things - one is that by the time I reach that point in my programme my legs are starting to turn to jelly, and the second is that I don't get the timing quite right. Whatever, it's very frustrating.
Nicki, I had that problem all last year. The camel-sit was the last element in my program and I missed it in competition more often than not. For me, the problem was that I couldn't concentrate quite that long. I'd just let go mentally and lose the timing on the spin entrance. So this year I have the camel much earlier in my program. Can you try changing the order of things to see if doing the camel-sit sooner helps?

flo

03-23-2005, 09:10 AM

Figureskates - Happy birthday!

NickiT - I also had more success when I moved my figure loop. It was after a spin, when I was far too dizzy for the control needed, so now it's at the beegining of the program.

Debbie, hope your knee is ok.

Cracked: major crack, I'm not going to be able to do Germany and France. Too many problems with an out of touch PI and then there's the matter of no skates. Grrr. Major, major crack - went to our favorite local bar last night to lament and found out it will be sold. :cry: Those of us in the over 25 crowd are in mourning. It's one of the few local spots with a good mix of people and only 1 tv at the bar (and the sound is usually off!).

batikat

03-23-2005, 09:23 AM

Congratulations on your loop attempt. I'm glad I'm not the only one whose body and brain don't communicate with that loop. 18 months huh? I'm okay with that. It's taken me some serious time to figure out how to spin. So how do you get your body to jump? I also get stuck at the cross overs and then am at an utter loss.

Thanks!

For me it was a question of getting up enough confidence to sit right back on the RBO edge and get my weight over it and let it take me round - when you get to the point you can't beleive you are not going to fall over - you wait a little longer and then bend the knees and spring up. Oh it sounds so easy!!!!!!

I am RBO edge challenged, :cry: so it has been incredibly difficult for me to get this.

The coach from the jumps class has me go into it very, very slowly, start to lean into the RBO edge and hold it til I had turned almost 180 degrees on the ice before letting go bringing the right arm across to meet the left one. Of course springing up at the same time. it's all in the timing and it's very hard for me! learning to get the weight over the right hip and keeping it there while jumping is hard too!

Hope success come to you faster than it has to me :) - but have you tried the Lutz yet :?: - now that was invented by a very evil and twisted mind!!!!

MissIndigo

03-23-2005, 09:42 AM

Chocolate: Had a great lesson yesterday--sit spin is getting lower and my backspin is finally getting more consistent like it should. I just need to get some more courage to spin faster, but the good news is that I finally know where that sweet spot is on my back outside edge. I had been spinning on a very tight forward inside edge for so long, and relearning this was a bear. Something enlightening I did notice though was that this came easier after a year of focusing nearly solely on moves. Everything is coming easier now, even those elements that I thought I wouldn't remember how to do. But they are at least as good, if not better, than where I left them.

Also had a great time with my freestyle coach--my moves coach was out of town so I'll see her later this week for that lesson. Anyhow, my fs coach was teaching a young girl and both of them were getting a little frustrated. My coach called me over to help with the lesson and we made it sort of like a game for the little girl where she and I took turns doing different simple freestyle elements. I showed her spreadeagles and Ina Bauers and this little girl is now totally enamored with the Bauer--she told me at the end of her lesson, "You taught me how to do my Bauer!!!" and she was so excited about it. That is one of the reasons I love this sport so much.

To wax philosophical for a moment, I was reflecting on yesterday and reading my journal this morning and one of my friends posted thoughts on the Ice Princess movie. IMO, the movie's silly, but it got me out of the house and away from my dissertation writing for a while. As I wrote a reply to my friend's journal entry, it made me wish for some sort of medium to show off skating as a healthy lifetime activity. That's a side of our sport that the public doesn't often see and it makes me want to do something about it--if only I had the time to write about it!!! I so would if I knew where to start... 8O

Cracked: Ok, I feel very very stupid for admitting this, but I have forgotten how to do a half flip. :roll: I can try full flips just fine, but half flips...nope. :giveup:

jazzpants

03-23-2005, 12:06 PM

Cracked: Ok, I feel very very stupid for admitting this, but I have forgotten how to do a half flip. :roll: I can try full flips just fine, but half flips...nope. :giveup: LFO3 entry, pick, up in the air and turn around, land on RI edge!!! :P

Then again, my body "forgot" how to do a FI mohawk either... :giveup: :roll:

jazzpants

03-23-2005, 12:33 PM

Cracked: FI mohawks!!! One side is okay. Other side's hip is totally screwed. GRRRRR!!! :frus: And I still need more extension on the rest of the 5 step mohawk sequence too!!! (My body doesn't want to do them this morning. It's too cold.)

Chocolate: Got to pick music for the artistic program for this year. I will have my secondary coach do the choreography for the artistic this year (and my primary will do the technical.)

But anyway... secondary coach picked out of six songs the one I expected her to pick... (Had a variety of pieces and I KNEW she would pick the most ethereal and floaty one... BORING!!! But it's okay! I like the piece too and I wouldn't have put it on there if I didn't like it.) :roll: Without giving away my pieces (okay maybe one), I'll mentioned the ones that I had on the CD...

1. From the same realm as the one she picked but not as floaty. Not enough stuff going on... and too quiet.
2. Jazz piano music... she liked it for technical... and I might reconsider doing a new technical piece anyway since I'm getting bored of the Yanni piece now.
3. Jazz male singer... too slow blues soul for her.
4. Classic Rock piece... now this one everyone else liked to do. It's one that you can REALLY rock out too. Secondary coach goes "I like listening to this song, but not for skating an artistic program!!!" :twisted:
5. Fallen - Sarah McLachlan (Like the piece but everyone's doing this piece and it's well overplayed on the radio...)
6. The piece she picked... Very ethereal and floaty...

I had hoped she'd pick 4, but *sigh* maybe when I'm really fast on my skating...maybe my primary coach would be a better candidate for that piece.

jenlyon60

03-23-2005, 12:43 PM

Well, we are now working on Starlight on Wednesdays. Mondays are Tango days and Fridays are Paso days.... lesson-wise.

So this is for Starlight... today was the first full serious lesson on it. I knew the steps (mentally) so we were able to start with working from the closed mohawk down through the re-start.

Cracked: End pattern (the bit that starts with the lady's step-forward into the pull-through). On top of needing lots more kneebend and push, I have to remember to lead with the correct shoulders all though the beginning of this stretch, until the transition into Killian hold (and not yank on coach's left arm while doing the cross-roll swing before the waltz-3). Otherwise I think I can fairly say that rather than merely being CRACKED eggs, it will be a full example of Humpty-Dumpty for me (aka the "had a great fall" part).

Chocolate: I was able to do the alternating mohawk stretch (the 2nd side of the dance) by myself with reasonable power and at my coach's tempo/power with him. I was also able to do the 2 LFO3s into the closed mohawk in hold with coach, and do 1 LFO3 into the closed mohawk solo with some flow. Learned a couple of tricks to make that part a bit easier (the setup into the closed mohawk).

coskater64

03-23-2005, 12:49 PM

Cracked-extensions on all bronze dances need working according to the critique I got, not terribly unexpected.

Chocolate-landed several sequence jumps w/ a beautiful clean 2toe. So happy, changed combo spin to add layover for multipositon camel. Field moves only need work on present, choctaws are actually on edges.

Had a nice day, played w/ the Sr moves double 3 quick rockers kept good speed and fit 3 onto full ice, also getting the sustained edge step down, but as w/ the JR still need the fit and finish.

Working on loops, slightly cracked.
la :D

tidesong

03-24-2005, 05:53 AM

Chocolate:

I landed so many jumps today I cant believe it, in the whole skating session, I landed at least one of every double jump except for the double lutz and double axel. I was just so ON it was crazy, I was doing the jumps in all the combinations I've been working on. ( I didnt land all of them, still was like 33% but i haven't had even 33% on my harder jump combos in a looong time )
If I am not wrong my first double toe loop came today, unfortunately I was doing underotated ones during lesson so I cant really tell. I landed one after lesson that felt clean, but it was over so fast that I dont trust my own senses sometimes... so I dunno if thats a land or what but its crazy I'm happy!
My camel spin was surprising today, it just was not working before lesson, and during lesson it went ZOOM, I never had such a fast camel in months I think. I was just thinking i'm spinning i'm spinning lol.
Flying sit was wierdish but fine, I somehow got into the exactly 90deg knee position that burnt the thigh muscles like crazy each time I tried it and I was glad when my coach had enough of that :oops:
I also remembered to keep my back straight through out most of the skating, I think I was more consious of it entering jumps and during the start of the session, have to keep track of that, because my skating seems to have gotten alot better since I been consiously keeping it straight.
Another thing is since last week I've been skating without my ankle guards. I've been feeling alot more stronger about my ankles and I think after nearly one year in them I might be ready for them to be permanently off. I had no signs of ankle weakness or pain at all today so that encourages me more. Have to take this slowly though.
Also, after my coach told me to do ankle excersies, situps and push ups every day last week, I've been doing them randomly , might have missed some days. I dont know if such little effort really payed off, or its just a good day, or some combination of everything. I just want this to last forever and never get injured again.

Cracked:
Layback is still same old same old (back flexibility takes forever just to increase a little bit) Lol... I was half expecting it to do the same after my good camel decided to visit me, but well, cant expect so much in one session.
Flying camel wasnt spinning, although my take off was correct today, no more three turn on the ice before jumping.

Mrs Redboots

03-24-2005, 06:33 AM

Dunno about cracked, think today's eggs were totally addled! Really awful practice, somehow - everything we tried went wrong, couldn't correct, and will somebody strangle the gentleman whose bright idea it was to put a Willow Waltz at pre-bronze (just wait until I see him, he's going to get such an earful.....). I just can't seem to get into the right place to do my Swing Dance Mohawk, and I'm not sure if it's him or me - a bit of both, I think. And he's started keeping his arm where it makes it very difficult for me to do the intro-3 (hello Jen!), but at least I can do it now, wherever his wretched arm is. But how, please, do you do that step to forward in the Willow while the man is doing his Mohawk? I just don't have room, my coach says "push", but where? There just isn't anywhere.....

Didn't even try the Fiesta.... that's for tomorrow.

Then in my solo practice, my Interp is so slo-o-o-w, it's disastrous. Barely moves an inch.... I just hope to goodness it'll speed up in time for the Mountain Cup, right now it looks like an arthritic snail, not a snappy, perky keep-fit routine!

Chocolate: However, I think I might be able to do the costume I've been thinking of, that's something. And I think the walk through our free dance went well, except Husband made a nonsense of the end of the first section.

jenlyon60

03-24-2005, 07:26 AM

But how, please, do you do that step to forward in the Willow while the man is doing his Mohawk? I just don't have room, my coach says "push", but where? There just isn't anywhere.....

Annabel -- I PM'd you with some ideas re Willow Waltz "Will-you Waltz" :)

which still beats the "Fiasco Tangle" or the "Pass-Out Double" or the "Bruise"

falling_rain

03-24-2005, 08:19 AM

Chocolate: i landed an axel just an eighth of a rotation short. sooo close!!!!!
some of the other attempts were the full one and a half turns but i didn't cross my legs and two footed them. hmm sit spins were okay today...they're finally becoming spins i can rely on. :) backspins too, i'm starting to really love backscratch spins!

cracked: camel spin has officially gone on a long long vacation. they started disappearing on sunday and they still aren't back. :( that makes it impossible to work on the camelsit combination which was going SO well! sigh.

also had some really bad falls on the axel which hurt tons. i wish falling were less painful...heh. think my ankle is slightly screwed up by all those falls but i can still walk, so i don't think anything's really wrong. :)

jazzpants

03-24-2005, 10:44 AM

Easter Eggs
Do my "dog and pony" show and practiced FI mohawks in front of secondary coach. I did have one case where I had to practice and get around her student and I had to do them with a lot more speed than I did this morning. I managed it and she yelled out "That was much better, jazzpants!!! That FI mohawk was much better!"

Cracked
Unfortunately, that was my better side. I now have to really work on my weaker side, which happens to be my RFI mohawk -- and the side you start off at least 3 of the 5 Bronze moves pattern!!! :frus:

Easter Egg again
Included in the "dog and pony" show is me stretching along side one of the kids who refer to me as "Auntie Jazzpants." Ahhhhh..... :) And I managed to land a couple of flips and loops. Not bad for Auntie, huh??? :mrgreen:

Cracked Again
But this session is "weekday date night" and is WAAAAY too crowded for me to practice. Plus I couldn't spin worth a dime... AUGH!!! :frus:

Terri C

03-24-2005, 10:47 AM

Chocolate:
Started working on Bronze moves on Tuesday with new secondary coach! Mom is coming home from the hospital today!!!

Cracked:
Will not skate today and had to cancel lesson because of Mom's discharge.
Also, the pathology report came back and there was cancer found in the gallbladder specimen. There is hope though, that the surgeon got it all!

Will not see primary coach for two weeks, as she is taking next week off. I'm getting to be like some other folks on the board who can barely get lessons with their coach! Thank God I'll have a lesson with Coach #2 next week!

Debbie S

03-24-2005, 05:06 PM

Also, the pathology report came back and there was cancer found in the gallbladder specimen. There is hope though, that the surgeon got it all!

Oh no! I hope everything turns out to be OK for your mom.

I skated last night for 1 session. Practiced mostly moves, a few spins, no jumps. I think my knee is OK, it's just a little swollen and bruised in the area where I fell. Fortunately, this time, my knee did not swell to 3 times its original size like it did about a year and a half ago when I had a really bad fall. That required all sorts of medical intervention (I'll spare everyone the details) that luckily, was not necessary this time.

Unfortunately, I was a few steps slower than usual and the back perimeter stroking wasn't too stellar. I did 3 full power 3 patterns, and did an extra length of right turns (my knee cooperated) to get them up to the level of the left ones. One of these years.... :frus: And what happened to my 5-step? Now I've got these weird skidding/scraping noises on the 4th step.

Of course, my problems could be b/c of my skates. Tuesday, I went to see my coach's skate guy and learned that not only are the boots way too stiff for me (not a surprise), they're too narrow in the ball and too wide in the heel. When did my feet get so weird? :?? Anyway, he got on the phone with Jackson (I'm currently in SP-Teris) and ordered me the prescribed pair of skates. They should be in by early next week. When I explained my recent problems - shin splints, rubbing/blisters, toe scraping - he and the Jackson woman both agreed that it was b/c the stiff (not broken in) ankle area and bent tongue are pushing me forward. The good news is that aside from being (supposedly) easier to break in, the new skates will be lighter than my current skates, so maybe my spirals done on-ice will approach the quality of the spirals I do in shoes. :)

flo, I hope your skates arrive soon!

Mrs Redboots

03-25-2005, 06:41 AM

<<<Terri>>> I do hope they got it all and she'll be fine. A cancer specialist once told me that he reckons we all have some cancerous cells once we get to a certain age - but if we are lucky, our body's natural defences overcome them.

Anyway, this morning was another disaster. Not total, though, I don't think.....

Cracked, addled, and generally NASTY: Ended up storming off the ice in a huff with husband, who was thoroughly rude about my Interp, which I don't think he realises is a work in progress. Given that coach will probably also be thoroughly rude about it too, I'm just feeling like giving up in despair again. I'll never be able to skate, and I don't know why I go on trying. Coach reckons I can't, and doesn't even really bother trying to teach me any more, just goes through same old exercises, lesson after lesson, and whenever there's anything wrong with our dances it's always my fault not Husband'ss, even when it is his fault.... I just feel like I'm throwing good money after bad here..... and I do think my Interp has every chance of being funny and fun, I'm still trying to work it out (notice coach doesn't bother to choreograph it for me, I have to do that myself; wouldn't bother showing it to him if I didn't want to do it to music sometimes).

Sorry for the rant, I'm just TPO, and husband doesn't really want to change coaches.....

But there were some nice things about this morning, too, let's be fair:

Chocolate (Yes, there was some of that on offer, too, but I didn't have any as it is Good Friday): For the first 30 minutes of this morning, the only skaters on the ice were in their 50s and 60s! A younger skater and her daughter did come in later on, but for the first 30 minutes, I think I was the youngest skater on the ice!

And we did one of the best run-throughs ever of our free dance. And we did some superb waltz RFO3s round each other, much better than earlier in the week - we did so many we both got dizzy! Husband did a spin that he was so proud of he wanted to take a rubbing of the tracing (I was made to go and inspect it - then he tried again, but it travelled so far he needed a visa for it!).

batikat

03-25-2005, 07:07 AM

.

Cracked, addled, and generally NASTY: Ended up storming off the ice in a huff with husband, who was thoroughly rude about my Interp, which I don't think he realises is a work in progress. Given that coach will probably also be thoroughly rude about it too, I'm just feeling like giving up in despair again. I'll never be able to skate, and I don't know why I go on trying. Coach reckons I can't, and doesn't even really bother trying to teach me any more, just goes through same old exercises, lesson after lesson, and whenever there's anything wrong with our dances it's always my fault not Husband'ss, even when it is his fault.... I just feel like I'm throwing good money after bad here..... and I do think my Interp has every chance of being funny and fun, I'm still trying to work it out (notice coach doesn't bother to choreograph it for me, I have to do that myself; wouldn't bother showing it to him if I didn't want to do it to music sometimes).

Don't give up Annabel - we all thoroughly enjoy your interpretives/artistics and you do well with them. You can skate - maybe not as well as you'd like to be able to but then who can. You're still way better than the people who just come and skate round in circles on public skates, and you've got medals to prove it. I know the feeling though - sometimes I wonder what on earth I am doing out there but keep going and you'll have a better day soon I hope.

Chocolate Husband did a spin that he was so proud of he wanted to take a rubbing of the tracing

That's what digital cameras are for!! :lol: I do actually have some pictures of my spin tracings - my excuse is that it was for an art project!

as for me
cracked
didn't skate today as I had to help son with bonding names and numbers to a T shirt for a friendly football match - but now I won't get to skate again til next thursday :cry:

jenlyon60

03-25-2005, 08:24 AM

Today was PASO day....

Cracked: Back progressives. Not the right type of push on the first stroke for the higher level dances, and not getting enough REAL push on the 2nd stroke for the Paso. But.... it will come. I just have to do a few million repeats of back progressive, back chasse, back chasse. Repeat ad nauseum.

And having problems consistently keeping my right hip open enough after the beginning of the back break-out (after the slip steps).

Chocolate: Despite all my issues above, Paso is still better than last June when I competed it. And... I am more consistently getting my right shoulder open on the back breakout and getting more knee bend through that stretch. In fact, I can get all the way through the back break-out through to the step-forward with decent flow more often than not when doing the dance solo. So there is hope....

Mind you, we haven't worked on getting me to do the swing mohawk at the end of the dance solo, yet. That's liable to be a painful experience....

Scarlett

03-25-2005, 08:47 AM

is his fault.... I just feel like I'm throwing good money after bad here..... and I do think my Interp has every chance of being funny and fun, I'm still trying to work it out (notice coach doesn't bother to choreograph it for me, I have to do that myself; wouldn't bother showing it to him if I didn't want to do it to music sometimes).

Mrs. Redboots,
Yes you can skate and I would not tolerate that behavior from my coach. Skating is supposed to be fun and if you are constantly being berated then your coach is taking that from you. You should not pay money for someone to make you feel inferior. If your husband does not want to switch coaches that is something you need to work on but at the very least maybe you could find a coach that will work WITH you and not AGAINST you.

Good luck and never give up!

kittie067

03-25-2005, 10:43 AM

Still have no concept how to do a loop. I can't even wrap my brain around it much less force my body to do it.

chocolate:actually did a halfway decent sit spin! my edges are getting a bit better and my coach didnt yell at me!

cracked: fell on a waltz jump at the end of my session, and killed my hip! i felt so retarded! luckily my coach wasnt there to see it! :lol:

my right over left cross overs are still hopeless! any tips? :roll:

loops im trying not to give up on! :frus:

~kittie 8-)

NickiT

03-25-2005, 11:20 AM

Nicki, I had that problem all last year. The camel-sit was the last element in my program and I missed it in competition more often than not. For me, the problem was that I couldn't concentrate quite that long. I'd just let go mentally and lose the timing on the spin entrance. So this year I have the camel much earlier in my program. Can you try changing the order of things to see if doing the camel-sit sooner helps?

Thanks Loops! I was all set to ask my coach to let me switch my spins so that the camel-sit is where the sit is near the beginning of the programme, but then I ran through two clean programmes in my lesson today and both times nailed the camel-sit. I still may well play around with switching the spins just to see how it goes, but as my coach pointed out, there are pros and cons for whichever way I do them. As she said, I wouldn't be as warmed up at the start and that could be detrimental too. I'll just have to see how it goes. I'm ever hopeful I was just having a blip with this element and that I'm now getting it back again!

Nicki

aussieskater

03-25-2005, 08:36 PM

my right over left cross overs are still hopeless! any tips? originally posted by kitty067

As a CW skater, I can tell you that according to my coach, the difference between my CW (good) forward crossovers and my (less good) CCW crossovers is that in the CW ones my torso is turned further into the circle from the waist (without altering the pelvis), and my right shoulder is therefore pulled further back. Also, I tend to break less at the waist, but lean into the circle more from the blade/ankle/knee/hip. (In the CCW ones, I have a tendency to break at the waist and collapse the whole left side down towards the ice, rather than genuinely leaning and turning the torso into the circle...Any hints here??)

kitty067, sorry I couldn't work out how to select your bit and have it inserted into this reply - can anyone tell me how to do this? Also, how to insert smilies? I tried the suggestion posted by someone a few weeks back and could not make it work - I'm a bit of a Luddite I suspect!

Mrs Redboots

03-26-2005, 08:01 AM

Chocolate: Finally a better skate day (about time too!). Bill P & his European partner are visiting, which may or may not have helped.... they came & skated and had a lesson with my coach. Meanwhile we discovered that our free dance spin has suddenly miraculously grown an extra 1/2 revolution! If it's reliable, we'll have to turn our starting position round, or we'll not be able to do the rest of the dance!

We also managed the fastest-ever Fiesta Tango, although we did do one rather slow pattern as Husband muddled his steps (yeah, right....), & a really fast Swing Dance, too, filling all the rink! Long may that last.... Plus I think mostly my Interp is going to work.... I hope.

Cracked: Had a run-in with another coach who barged in front of me with the music. Sigh.... Plus when she finally got off the ice I played my music again and of course the steps went wrong again. But I think that was because I was tired.

slusher

03-26-2005, 12:44 PM

But how, please, do you do that step to forward in the Willow while the man is doing his Mohawk? I just don't have room, my coach says "push", but where? There just isn't anywhere.....

I put my coach into the boards. That's true, there isn't anywhere. I have to remember to hold the LFO for the 3 beats (sometimes it's only 2), and really be leaning into the circle. That gives him enough room to get around on the mohawk and in front of me before I step to the RFI chasse, and to make sure I hold that for 3 beats also. If I do the LFO 2 beats, I don't lean enough and then head into the boards, and that leaves him no room especially if the timing is off on the mohawk. The Willow is probably the closest dance to hockey that I can think of because of it's potential for bodychecking into the boards.

The same thing happens on the LFO after the second set of progressive/chasse. I have to remember to step to the LFO and head towards the centre of the rink, otherwise he can't get his three turn done. Good things we're friends off the ice because I test his patience. A lot!

Oh, I'm not testing this dance, probably not until the fall if ever because it's one of the ones that the judges get picky about, and I need to work on those two areas,the two LFO's as described above as well as my mohawk. It's supposed to be a 3 +3, and I'm doing a 2 + 2+wild armswinging balance thing.

kittie067

03-26-2005, 05:17 PM

kitty067, sorry I couldn't work out how to select your bit and have it inserted into this reply - can anyone tell me how to do this? Also, how to insert smilies? I tried the suggestion posted by someone a few weeks back and could not make it work - I'm a bit of a Luddite I suspect!

the way you "quote" someone is, at the end of their message there is a button that says "quote". click on this, and then their message will pop up in the "reply to thread" box. so you delete whichever part you DONT want to quote. also make sure you leave the (QUOTE= person) and the (/QUOTE),(these are in these [] by the way) and not delete these as well!

hope this helps!

as for the smilies, you merely click on them, but you may have clicked on the "disable smilies in text"at the bottom of the reply box.

~kittie

thanx for the tips! ;)

FrankR

03-26-2005, 05:40 PM

Hello everyone,

Cracked:
All in all this has been a pretty good week. One sore spot, literally, is that I've been feeling achy and sore in the lower back and left hip-flexor. It's not blinding, searing pain. It's just a dull ache in both areas. I've been careful to be thorough when I stretch and to just approach each session with care and warm up slowly and that's been helping. I had my moves lesson Tuesday and my moves coach told me, "You're the skater with the loudest, scrapiest turns I've ever taught." 8O I had to agree. He told me that I should focus more on feeling the edges, sinking into the knees and really knowing the sensation of creating and changing curves. I've been thinking about what he said all week and I think it's beem making a difference in how I skate. Within my program, I have a tendency to rush about in a panic. I had a lesson today with a guest coach as my regular coach was tied up with our on-going Basic Skills competition today. She emphasized that it's important to get my feet underneath me during my program. She even suggested that I do some run-throughs of my program with no spins and no jumps just to make sure I get every step down exactly right. I'm looking forward to trying that next week.

Chocolate:
My coach and I have made some minor changes to my spins in my program. I feel much more comfortable with the way things are now. In addition, I was very happy to see that my spins showed some improvement as the week progressed. Every day, in isolation and within the program each spin seemed to get a little better and today I'd say I had the best spins in my run-through that I've had so far. :D (Yay!) I don't think they're quite at the level I would like to see them but it's a step in the right direction. The jumps also got stronger throughout the week as well. 8-) Now I just hope all this good stuff sticks around. Does anybody know the appropriate prayer to the Skating Gods for retention of elements? ;)

Take care,

Frank

jazzpants

03-26-2005, 11:40 PM

Chocolate:

Primary coach continued going over FI mohawks with me. He thinks he finally got it better today. Well, we'll see if it last, won't we??? :twisted:
There were some parts of my 5 step mohawks that he liked. The weird thing is the parts that I thought I did crappy is where he pointed out I did REALLY well in. Okaaaay... I'm not gonna argue! :P
Primary coach loved the alt. forward crossovers...well, at least the second time around...after I was totally PO for getting cut off by a bunch of high school kids!!! :evil: He liked the nice smooth flow and speed. This is one case where getting me PO'ed will actually make me skate better. :lol:
He is still working on my power 3's. It's becoming more "a work in progress" now rather than a hopeless case, so I'm happier. (Note: happier...still not happy!) :twisted: :P
Cracked:

Alt back crossovers is now the bigger pain in the tush! :frus:
Back crossovers to BO edge... well, if those pesky teenager who got me on the alt. forward crossovers also got me here. Can you say "two minute penalty???" :evil: (Okay, maybe not that bad. Just that they were all over the place, they were loud and they didn't know what they were doing...) :frus:

jazzpants

03-26-2005, 11:52 PM

Chocolate:

Got plenty of compliments on my skating. Then again, those purple boots seems to give people the impression that I'm a much better skater, even though they really haven't seen me skate much...
Cracked:

TWO MINUTE PENALTY (well almost...) when I was doing forward cross steps. That kid was racing forward and did NOT see me in front of him!!! :frus:
Rink too crowded to do ANY of the moves entirely. I had to do them in parts and sometimes I have to slow down or else risk crashing into some hockey kid!!! :frus:
After my secondary coach picked out my artistic piece, I found another piece of music I heard on the radio that I wanted to skate to. It's okay though... my secondary coach would still rather have me do something a bit more ethereal and ballerina-ish this year as a start and then go "edgier" once I get more speed/power in me. (Maybe daisies would be a better candidate for this piece... it's "What Happens Tomorrow" by Duran Duran.) :P ;)

NoVa Sk8r

03-26-2005, 11:52 PM

I had my moves lesson Tuesday and my moves coach told me, "You're the skater with the loudest, scrapiest turns I've ever taught." 8O I had to agree. Oh, dear, I'm glad I don't have that coach as he would have left the ice in disgust. Really. :)

My coach and I have made some minor changes to my spins in my program. I feel much more comfortable with the way things are now. In addition, I was very happy to see that my spins showed some improvement as the week progressed. Every day, in isolation and within the program each spin seemed to get a little better and today I'd say I had the best spins in my run-through that I've had so far.NOOO!!! How will I have a chance at nationals if your spins are getting better?! :lol:

Does anybody know the appropriate prayer to the Skating Gods for retention of elements? Say a prayer to St. Lydwina (http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintl12.htm), the patron saint of ice skating. 8-)

aussieskater

03-27-2005, 12:02 AM

the way you "quote" someone is, at the end of their message there is a button that says "quote". click on this, and then their message will pop up in the "reply to thread" box. so you delete whichever part you DONT want to quote. also make sure you leave the (QUOTE= person) and the (/QUOTE),(these are in these [] by the way) and not delete these as well!

hope this helps!

as for the smilies, you merely click on them, but you may have clicked on the "disable smilies in text"at the bottom of the reply box.

~kittie

thanx for the tips! ;)

(Watch one Luddite being dragged kicking and screaming into the 20th - oops, 21st - century)

Well, let's see if this worked...I have checked that the "disable smilies" button is *not* ticked.

:) Hooray! It worked!! Thank you!!!

falling_rain

03-27-2005, 05:39 AM

i landed a few axels today! it's at that point where the jump is either a made-it or a fall. we just recently had a seminar with this russian coach from australia (go figure..) and i landed a clean one during today's two hour session. guess the new perspective along with the obssessive practicing i've been doing on this jump has helped. :)

then later, just before my lesson i landed a few more clean ones. during my lesson i completely forgot how to jump (panicking cos...well...my coach brings out the panic in me like no other..) but managed to sorta get my act together and landed a few more. :) these were shaky though. :(

so chocolate: those precious axels and the seminar (it was awesome...can't wait to go for the next seminar-ish thing that comes along)

and cracked: some bad falls, getting cramps in my toes towards the end of my lesson and just a general achy feeling in my body...hmm couldn't be the 3 hours of straight skating under a coach yesterday and the two and a half hours today, could it? :P

aussieskater

03-27-2005, 06:14 AM

we just recently had a seminar with this russian coach from australia (go figure..) Was the coach male, named Slav? If so, he's a lot of fun (he's from Sydney) :) . I'm not aware of too many male Russian coaches down here, but I do know there are some female Russian coaches at other rinks around, including Galina Something who coaches our Worlds ladies skater (sorry I don't know her surname).

kittie067

03-27-2005, 10:27 AM

(Watch one Luddite being dragged kicking and screaming into the 20th - oops, 21st - century)

Well, let's see if this worked...I have checked that the "disable smilies" button is *not* ticked.

:) Hooray! It worked!! Thank you!!!

well im glad!

if i may say so ive been called a very good teacher, even in stuff i dont understand my self! go figure :roll:

but i wanted to ask you what IS a "Luddite"? :??

~a very confused kittie

kittie067

03-27-2005, 10:31 AM

choclate: no school till wednesday so i can skate tommorow!

cracked: my little sis is sick, and i cant skate today cuz htey are not open :cry:
no one to have fun with!!!!! :frus: :cry:

~kittie

if eveyone could please pray for my sisters health and hope she doesnt have some really bad virus!

thank you! ;)

tidesong

03-27-2005, 10:59 AM

Was the coach male, named Slav? If so, he's a lot of fun (he's from Sydney) :) . I'm not aware of too many male Russian coaches down here, but I do know there are some female Russian coaches at other rinks around, including Galina Something who coaches our Worlds ladies skater (sorry I don't know her surname).
Yup its Slav... I chose to skip the seminar but I saw the announcement about it.

Congrats on landing your axel falling rain! I'm excited for you :)

dbny

03-27-2005, 12:51 PM

Cracked:
I had out of town guests all week, and so only skated when I had obligations to, which meant Monday and Wednesday. Still struggling with Prelim power threes. Coach wants me to rotate shoulders on the B crossover, but when I do, it makes the step forward impossible. I watched other skaters in their lessons on power threes, and did not see such a sharp distinction in the rotation. In my lesson on Wed, I discussed it with coach, and she said that as long as the shoulder/arm movements were smooth and continuous, it was OK. That worked fine on the L, but the R were still too "bumpy".

Chocolate:

Had a big surprise on Wed, when I did a LFI Mohawk almost without thinking. Smooth as a knife through butter and much better than my "always better" RFI's. Jazzpants - there is hope for us!

In last week's lesson, coach wanted me to place my transitions between circles on F and B Prelim crossover patterns more precisely. They were better this week.

I guess if that's all my coach has to complain about with my F and B crossovers, then they are pretty good (at least at the Prelim level). I do still get the occasional "head up" on them.

FO threes are sooo close to being properly checked, and are getting smoother.

FrankR

03-27-2005, 02:57 PM

Oh, dear, I'm glad I don't have that coach as he would have left the ice in disgust. Really. :)

NOOO!!! How will I have a chance at nationals if your spins are getting better?! :lol:

Say a prayer to St. Lydwina (http://www.catholic-forum.com/saints/saintl12.htm), the patron saint of ice skating. 8-)

Hey Steve,

If my moves coach can tolerate me I'm sure you'd be fine with him. I couldn't help but poke fun at his frustration at times. We were working the left back double 3's from the gold test and I almost caught an edge on one and he immediately gave me one of these 8O . To which I responded "You're really pissed off at me right now aren't you?" He didn't answer the question but I think the answer was a most definite "YES!" :lol: Mind you this coach has also said to me "Ok. You're an adult so I can say this to you. Get off your f----ing toe-picks!" 8O lol

As for my spins improving, you have to understand that comparative statements about things getting better must be considered with the appropriate point of comparison. My flying camels a few weeks ago were not spinning at all on impact but just kind of sticking and then I had to put forth Herculean effort to just make it spin let alone stretch out in the camel position. The camel-sit was more of an amoeba-slouch and the final scratch spin was travelling so badly that I was tempted to just call them twizzles. :P Things are better now but based on what I just told you I think it's pretty clear that they couldn't have gotten much worse. I think you'll be just fine.

Thanks for telling me about Saint Lydwina! I'll begin building a shrine immediately. :halo:

Take care,

Frank

NoVa Sk8r

03-27-2005, 03:02 PM

If my moves coach can tolerate me I'm sure you'd be fine with him. I couldn't help but poke fun at his frustration at times. We were working the left back double 3's from the gold test and I almost caught an edge on one and he immediately gave me one of these 8O . Haha. Well, my ex-pairs coach told me I should just give up on singles because my basic skating and transitions are so bad. <sigh>

As for my spins improving, you have to understand that comparative statements about things getting better must be considered with the appropriate point of comparison. <snip> Things are better now but based on what I just told you I think it's pretty clear that they couldn't have gotten much worse. I think you'll be just fine.Thanks for the clarification. 8-) My spins have gotten better as of today. My flying camel is becoming less of a flying salchow and I can get maybe 3 good revs from the landing. I'm sure by Tuesday, it will have disappeared again. :roll:

Thanks for telling me about Saint Lydwina! I'll begin building a shrine immediately.Make sure the shrine is huge--she's quite busy this time of year! :D

Terri C

03-27-2005, 03:05 PM

Make sure the shrine is huge--she's quite busy this time of year! :D

I'm not going to AN, but am working on Bronze tests for Dallas next year!
Shall I start a novena for KC???

NoVa Sk8r

03-27-2005, 03:14 PM

Cracked:
Loops and I skated in a deserted noon freestyle. Early on, our spins--pairs and side by side--were freakishly good. Then we decided to do a program runthrough. :frus: :roll: :frus:
It was by far the worst runthrough we've had. But in our defense, we had good speed and the split twist had good vertical displacement and hang time. Luckily, I was just able to catch Loops. There could have been a serious "ouchie" on that attempt! :oops:
Practically everything in the program felt out of whack. Don't know why that was. (Maybe my Catholic sensibilities were punishing me for skating on Easter! :P )

Chocolate:
Made some progress on the pair sit in the public session following the freestyle and fixed some pesky transitions. Also, Loops helped me to return to working on the flying sit. It was by far unsuccessful, but it was fun to revisit that element after a 2-year hiatus.

After Loops left, I pulled out all the stops and skated for another hour. I felt like I was on crack. I worked on silver moves (for old times' sake!) and played some "skating" music, which I used to work on impromptu choreography and interpretation. It was good to have skating feel like fun again. The mood was spoiled, in part, when a skate guard came up to me and said, "You know, your forward crossovers are looking a little scratchy." :frus: :P I then did what I do in my singles program: I proceeded to only skate backward! :D

NoVa Sk8r

03-27-2005, 03:15 PM

I'm not going to AN, but am working on Bronze tests for Dallas next year!
Shall I start a novena for KC???YES ... Get your 'votive' on! 8-)

icecatepairs

03-27-2005, 09:54 PM

NoVa Sk8r

03-27-2005, 10:11 PM

HEY NOVA,
Frank and I have the same moves coach...I have heard that your an adult so I can say this...followed by the f word...several times...but he is the bomb...if he got me to pass gold moves , then he's woth the trip....novice 3 turns and brackets werre my nightmare...only to be revisited in standard track to get ready to test pairs...No, REALLY, I am incredibly bad at moves. Really. Ask Loops. And what was your story today, Loops, about that choreographer saying "Finally, you recognize what an INSIDE edge is!!! :D
My coach deserves a silver star for working with me on gold moves--many months ago. And back brackets? :roll: The only bracket I'm interested in is my tax bracket! :P

As much as I would love to pass gold moves, I'm realistic in accepting that that is probably never going to happen. I'm not exactly the most graceful person on the ice. And precision in moves? HA!

I'm content to be in silver--as long as I get to spin to my heart's content. The mere thought of competing in gold level is scary. Pardon me while I get a drink. Oh, wait, I don't drink. ;)

skatemex

03-27-2005, 10:51 PM

Chocolate:I could go to skate 5 times this week, I usually only go 2 or 3 times per week.
I'm very happy because I have become more consistent with the lutz loop toe and flip loop toe.
The camel is also going better.
Cracked: I have a lot of problems with my left back croos overs, as I don't use them to enter spinsor do the lutz I don't practice them as much and they have deteriorated.
I'm not very happy with my spins positions , I can do the spis but the positions are not very good.
Happy easter to everyone :)

aussieskater

03-27-2005, 11:17 PM

well im glad!

but i wanted to ask you what IS a "Luddite"? :??

~a very confused kittie

kitty067 - from the Oxford English dictionary your word of the day (now take it to work and impress your friends):

Luddite (noun) : (1) a member of any of the bands of English workers who opposed mechanization and destroyed machinery in the early 19th century. (2) a person opposed to industrialization or new technology.

(No, I'm not a walking dictionary - my interactions with technology have meant that this was *one* word I have to know!!! :lol: )

Thin-Ice

03-28-2005, 02:20 AM

HEY NOVA,

We had no chocolate today...we skated an hour and 1/2 freestyle that ended up being really an hour so after my singles lesson we had time for like 2 death spirals and a few spins and then the public session mad house hit...don't these people have church?
;)

Wow... you're soooo lucky! All the ice rinks where I am (we have about a dozen) are closed on Easter.

Maryeb44

03-28-2005, 08:21 AM

HAHA...funny thread name!

Chocolate:
Am back skating again, even if it is only on public sessions. Thank goodness for Arenamaps. com.

Cracked: the traveling for the job doesn't permit me to get anything formal going (yet) in terms of lessons, but hopefully that will change in a few months.

falling_rain

03-28-2005, 08:30 AM

Yup its Slav... I chose to skip the seminar but I saw the announcement about it.

Congrats on landing your axel falling rain! I'm excited for you :)

thanks tidesong! i'm so excited too lol. my coach actually said 'good' for the first time in forever...the last time he said that was...hmm...can't remember!

and aussieskater, yeah, slav was tons of fun. all of us loved the seminar and can't wait for another chance to meet him again. :)

LoopLoop

03-28-2005, 08:44 AM

Haha. Well, my ex-pairs coach told me I should just give up on singles because my basic skating and transitions are so bad. <sigh>
Let me clarify... the exact comment was that you look much better skating with me than by yourself! :lol:

LoopLoop

03-28-2005, 08:47 AM

And what was your story today, Loops, about that choreographer saying "Finally, you recognize what an INSIDE edge is!!! "
Friday morning I was skating and there was a fairly high-level choreographer on the ice working with an intermediate lady (OK, she's 10, with all her doubles). He was teaching her a footwork sequence and she was getting her edges mixed up so he was calling out to her as she skated "INSIDE-OUTSIDE-OUTSIDE..." After about 15 minutes he said, for everyone to hear, "Hurray, XXX finally knows where her edges are!"

NoVa Sk8r

03-28-2005, 09:09 AM

Let me clarify... the exact comment was that you look much better skating with me than by yourself! :lol:Hmm, I don't recall that, but in doing our pairs forward cross-overs exercise, I rely way too heavily on you. And I have to remember not to squeeze your hand so tightly! (Why are forward crossovers so hard to master??!!)

kittie067

03-28-2005, 11:51 AM

kitty067 - from the Oxford English dictionary your word of the day (now take it to work and impress your friends):

Luddite (noun) : (1) a member of any of the bands of English workers who opposed mechanization and destroyed machinery in the early 19th century. (2) a person opposed to industrialization or new technology.

(No, I'm not a walking dictionary - my interactions with technology have meant that this was *one* word I have to know!!! :lol: )

thanx! cool word now i can annoy my friends at school even more than usual :twisted: :) :lol:

by the way, i noticed you dont like my spelling of "kittie" either that or you chose to ignore it. but it doesnt bother me :D

~a very interested kittie

Mrs Redboots

03-29-2005, 05:20 AM

I put my coach into the boards. That's true, there isn't anywhere. I have to remember to hold the LFO for the 3 beats (sometimes it's only 2),My trouble is that I can't seem to find the place to push on to the LFO, and it often gets very "steppy", as I am having to come round 270 before getting there. Coach & husband are working on flattening his Mohawk, and it is getting easier, but not yet reliably! AT least that part is him-not-me!

as well as my mohawk. It's supposed to be a 3 +3, and I'm doing a 2 + 2+wild armswinging balance thing.Oh good, I'm glad I'm not the only one! And when I do try to hold the entry edge for 3 beats, I can't get my exit foot down at the right angle, and the result is - not nice!

We worked on it a bit on Sunday morning, as well as on our free dance. Quite a good lesson on the whole, given my hangover..... (we had had a party the night before, and my mother's blackberry brandy is lethal!). Plus our clocks went forward, and although our lesson was put back 15 minutes so we actually only had to get up 45 minutes earlier than usual, not an hour, after not getting to bed until about 1.00 am, so not nearly enough sleep, when we got to the rink, our coach wasn't there yet - nor was anybody, and it was locked! So we had to sit in the car for 20 minutes..... Grrrrr..... oh well, at least it meant we could change in the pros' room as it wasn't crowded!

jazzpants

03-29-2005, 10:44 AM

Cracked: I hate Spring Break!!! Now I remembered why I do NOT take my lessons on the Monday nights sessions now!!! WAAAAAY too many people on the ice!!! It would take a miracle for me to complete that whole entire pattern w/o crashing into someone. But I had to take my lesson this week b/c of a time conflict with my secondary coach, who switched my usual lesson time for Thursday on me. Oh, well! I think I became my primary coach's "skating advertisement" tonight. :lol:

My coach in the last 5 minutes of my lesson (and the public session) wanted to see my 3 WORST freestyle party tricks. Yeap! You guessed it! The backspin, the loop and the camel!!! Landed loops during practice but no dice on the lesson. After 1.5 hours of skating, I was too tired and the ice was too slushy to get a good edge going. No camels either! I tried to redeem myself with a flip at the very end but it was a no-go. (At least he knows I'm working on the flip too!) :frus:

Chocolate: The backspin DID make an appearance...at least a good enough one that my primary coach was cheering about it!!! :mrgreen:

But the highlight of my lesson is fixing this really bad habit I had with the forward power 3's where I step on the FI edge and then turn the foot to a FO edge. I'm still figuring out the move but when I concentrate, I'm managing to step straight into a FO edge now. Whew!!!

Must be deja-vu time: Skating coach comes out as he's leaving the rink hold his nose and cringing REALLY badly. A hockey player followed close behind. (AHA!!!) I said "One word: FEBREEZE!!!" His face lit up and he was on the verge of cracking up!!! (This exact moment happened a few years back too. End of Monday night session, hockey skater, my saying "Febreeze.")

If someone can figure out a way of effectively cleaning the sweaty smells off those hockey uniforms, please let me know. I've been told that it's near impossible to do that b/c of the fabric of the uniform. It HOLDS in the smell, in fact!!! And I most certainly don't want to go around with a bottle of Febreeze to spray at unsuspecting hockey skaters either. :lol: :twisted:

jenlyon60

03-29-2005, 11:00 AM

Have you tried getting around a bit more on the previous edge (i.e. the RBO before the slide chasse)? My recollection from when I skated the dance years ago is that I was supposed to get a reasonable curve on that edge (to get me partially around the corner) then continue the lobe with the LFO and the slide chasse RFI).

Of course my memory could be faulty...

My trouble is that I can't seem to find the place to push on to the LFO, and it often gets very "steppy", as I am having to come round 270 before getting there. Coach & husband are working on flattening his Mohawk, and it is getting easier, but not yet reliably! AT least that part is him-not-me!

Oh good, I'm glad I'm not the only one! And when I do try to hold the entry edge for 3 beats, I can't get my exit foot down at the right angle, and the result is - not nice!

We worked on it a bit on Sunday morning, as well as on our free dance. Quite a good lesson on the whole, given my hangover..... (we had had a party the night before, and my mother's blackberry brandy is lethal!). Plus our clocks went forward, and although our lesson was put back 15 minutes so we actually only had to get up 45 minutes earlier than usual, not an hour, after not getting to bed until about 1.00 am, so not nearly enough sleep, when we got to the rink, our coach wasn't there yet - nor was anybody, and it was locked! So we had to sit in the car for 20 minutes..... Grrrrr..... oh well, at least it meant we could change in the pros' room as it wasn't crowded!