Dying Duck or Graceful Swan: 8-14 May 2005 [Archive]

Mrs Redboots

05-08-2005, 06:35 AM

Today was the first day of our post-test training programme, where we both have 45 minutes' lessons on the trot, 15 minutes with my coach's wife on our free dance, then 30 minutes with him on compulsories.

Graceful Swan: Coach's wife (who normally takes Husband for Dance Moves & anything else he wants to work on in this time) had some things she'd obviously been dying to say about our free dance, which helped. But she's very much leaving us to do the choreography ourselves, and then she'll look & critique. But she helped us with our first lift/assisted jump. In our compulsories lesson, I finally realised that it is an outside edge push on the LBI after the Mohawk; I'm sure he must have told me that ten times, but I don't think I heard it until today! Our Fiesta got a bit small, but he said he was really working on our presentation, and only to be expected while we are thinking of presentation, not steps! Willow got worse, too, for similar reasons.....

Dying Duck: Nothing much; we still haven't got our choreography sorted out. Our twizzles aren't quite there yet - we think we'll stay with a 3-turn sequence instead for Bracknell, and maybe get the twizzles up and running for the British Adults. There's no "well-balance dance" requirements mentioning twizzles - all we have to have is a spin, mid-line step sequence & up to 2 lifts (okay, so those are voluntary, but the others have them!).

We have another very busy week ahead of us, and yet we really must practice every day if we can - only Husband will go and work with Other Woman on Mondays, fair enough, but that means he won't get a rest day, and he really ought to have one, or he'll be exhausted. Well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it - I expect he'll take Friday off, I can skate teatime (I like Friday teatime, it's quiet), and then we can skate Saturday morning again. Works for me.....

kittie067

05-08-2005, 01:33 PM

Dying duck: have a competition in two weeks and there is practicaly NO public ice to skate on! :evil: and I live in Michigan!!

any advise for off-ice?

thanks!

~kittie

Terri C

05-08-2005, 07:31 PM

Went to Reston today for a "day getaway" to skate, and had a great time with NoVa and Loops! :D

Graceful Swan:
I really felt as if everything was on! Had a nice, long, and centered forward scratch spin, my back spin was on the outside edge and felt very secure and the sit, I did okay, but still had to fight for!
Jumps were good too, considering that I had been slacking on them in lieu of moves.

Dying Duck:
Moves were really not that bad, but since I was in a different rink that I had never skated on before, I only did segments!

I will say though, that it was great to share ice with other adults- it brought out the best of my skating!

TimDavidSkate

05-08-2005, 10:24 PM

None of the above, I am just a sitting duck.

jazzpants

05-08-2005, 10:36 PM

Graceful Swan:
I'm BACK on the ice at my weekend rink after fighting the "Roto Rooter" bug!!! :mrgreen:

And my MOVES are pretty much still intact!!! I'm now concentrating on doing the moves right as opposed to doing them fast (to demonstrate power...) until I can do them like it's second nature in my half sleep state during the morning FS sessions! Getting there...

Dying Duck:
But I felt like a dying duck when I tried to do spins later on... I felt queasy around the stomach. Decided not to continue working on spins and tried a loop jump. That didn't work either... so I called it a day and gone home... :giveup: (Still feeling kinda queasy now...) http://instagiber.net/smiliesdotcom/kao/chika/chirolp_gurug.gif

NoVa Sk8r

05-08-2005, 10:50 PM

Went to Reston today for a "day getaway" to skate, and had a great time with NoVa and Loops! :D We had a great time with you, too. Wish we could have skated more together, but Loops was being a task master on the ice again, and she insisted that we do some, like, pairs spins and lifts. :P Ahh!

Did you happen to see our secret, new lift?

Terri C

05-09-2005, 09:26 AM

We had a great time with you, too. Wish we could have skated more together.

Did you happen to see our secret, new lift?

Maybe another time, I can make another road trip! ;)
I think I saw the lift, but can you guys do it in competition?

NoVa Sk8r

05-09-2005, 09:28 AM

I think I saw the lift, but can you guys do it in competition?We're currently checking out the "legality" of it ...

jenlyon60

05-09-2005, 09:46 AM

Dying Duck: Testing Tango again this coming weekend, so working on tightening up things, like making sure all my cross-back chasses are neat and on the correct edge with good flow. Posture in 1 section of the dance was really challenging today, so was working on pulling up in the body from hip flexors through diaphram. The 2nd pattern of the 2-pattern run-through we did to the music was totally trashed. I didn't come around enough on the 4-beat LFO in the corner, so I muffed the cross-roll RFO3 and plopped down the LBO with no power. Then had to fight like Hades to pick up enough flow on the promenade (even with coach) to finish the pattern.

Graceful Swan: The first pattern of the 2-pattern runthrough we did to the music was good.

Melzorina

05-09-2005, 12:18 PM

http://instagiber.net/smiliesdotcom/kao/chika/chirolp_gurug.gif

Jazzpants, where do you get these funky smileys from?

jazzpants

05-09-2005, 12:55 PM

Jazzpants, where do you get these funky smileys from?http://mysmilies.com (http://mysmilies.com/)

Melzorina

05-09-2005, 03:11 PM

http://instagiber.net/smiliesdotcom/otn/blobs/pinkie.gif

Thanks!

mikawendy

05-09-2005, 03:34 PM

Dying Duck--
How my body feels after skating at the Aston, PA, workshop (see the other thread). Yesterday was alternating bouts of grimaces and groans as I went down/up stairs and laughter (me laughing at myself because of the grimaces and groans).

Graceful Swan--
Finally I am beginning to understand how to hook the camel spin and bring my outside shoulder along on the spin entry before the hook. Yesterday in practice, it was like a lightbulb going on in my head when I finally started to feel it. (Thanks again for the videos, vesperholly--they have been helpful!) Now I just have to work on not dropping anything on my free side, which pulls me onto a deep inside edge and kills the spin.

Also I started to feel my arms during the flip. They still flail around :D, but at least I am more aware of where they are, meaning that I can work at getting them to do the correct action!

Terri C

05-09-2005, 04:08 PM

Isk8NYC

05-09-2005, 09:46 PM

Dying Duck:

Not a bad practice today, although we spent a lot of time standing in line. I was hoping for an ice cream cone, we waited so long. The program's coming together, but I feel really rushed since I'm at the tail end of the "duckline." I was pleased to see someone else get "faced" by my favorite hockey boy. (He's a wonderful guy, but he and I have a close call every practice.) I finally figured out why: he waits until I start the move, then skates in front of me while my back is turned. When I turn around -- SURPRISE! -- he's right in my way. Since it happened to someone else this week, I feel validated.

Graceful Swan:
Skates hurt less, only had to tie them twice. Did some great "barrel rolls" and footwork, which surprised me enormously.

jazzpants

05-10-2005, 12:56 AM

Had my makeup lesson from last Thursday, since I was too busy with the plumber in the stomach... :P

Graceful Swan:

Did a decent enough sit spin
Had a couple of good tries on camels.
Had one decent enough try at the ISI 3 change foot spin... almost had it too, except the last spin didn't get enough momentum b/c I was unstable after the backspin part.
Power 3's became faster towards the end. My primary coach mentioned a particular (now ex-) student of his who took the Bronze Moves test and passed with even slow moves than me, so he thinks my power 3's are in better than I thought. (Of course, it's never good enough for the secondary coach, even though she does acknowledge that it IS much better now!) :P
Back crossovers to BO edge were great... when I wasn't worried about crashing into another skater or the cones! :P I had one round where my primary was facing me and skating very close to me. When I asked "Why are you skating so close to me?" he says "Well, I'm ice dancing with you! All I have to do now is hold your hand and we'll be ice dancing!!!" :P :roll: (See, Annabel!?!?! You just might eventually turn me over to the :twisted: dark side :twisted: and become an ice dancer too!!!) :P
Dying Duck:

Backspins... actually they were that bad now. I'm still trying to push onto the outside edge, but my arms and torsos don't want to stay where it should b/c it doesn't feel stable. Really, REALLY have to concentrating on pushing on this one spot on the BO edge! GRRRR!!! :frus:
Power 3's... or at least I felt like a dying duck after working on it. Tonight I was supposed to PUSH into the FO edge for the FO3 now... I really REALLY have to concentrate on where my body position is before this. Now I have to do that AND push into the edge as well!
Second half of 5 step mohawk became a disaster again!!! Why can't I do what I did on the first half of the 5 step mohawk on the second half as well! They're the same freakin' pattern, for heaven's sake... :frus:
Still had a couple of cases where my spins caused me to feel queasy to my stomach, though not as bad at yesterday.

MusicSkateFan

05-10-2005, 07:30 AM

Swan: At lesson last night all Bronze moves done pretty well. Coach was pleased with progress. He also had me do plain crossovers in all directions and was very pleased with those. Jumps were fine last night...a few bobbles on waltz,loop,toe combo. I did do a couple flip,loop,toe combos that were spiffy!

Dead Duck: Coach had me do some spins.....arrrrggggh.......getting my body too invovled in spins! Oh well .....someday!

Mrs Redboots

05-10-2005, 07:56 AM

Graceful swan: Did some serious work this morning - were in the rink at 7.40, and husband didn't leave until 8.50, so we had a long session together, rechoreographing most of our free dance. I think it is finally coming together! Now tomorrow we need to dance it to the music, and we can see what we are looking at. Today I had on headphones and just counted at Husband.

After he'd gone, I had a break and a cup of tea in the pros' room, and then went back on the ice and worked on my Interp fairly solidly for half an hour. I think it is coming nicely now, but it's never the same twice running!

Dying Duck: I don't think my Interp is funny enough.... never mind, it's fun, and that's the main thing. My LFI edge is most peculiar - half the time it's fine, and then it skids. I think my blades probably need sharpened - they've only got the factory grind on. Coach says he'll take them soon - he took some skates last weekend, but Husband told me I didn't need sharpened..... don't know why I listened to him? Just because he didn't - he likes his blades so blunt they won't cut butter - doesn't mean I didn't!

Did Jen's "Dreaded 8s" - anti-clockwise was fine, but I kept bottling out of the quick clockwise ones..... also skidded when I did runs round the circle with Husband. Think I must work on doing some change-time ones with him, it should be interesting! We do 2 figure 8s at the moment, clockwise and anti-clockwise, once in Kilian hold, once in Reverse Kilian.

Still not covering enough ice in our Free Dance, although the new choreography helps - we did make the length of the rink in our step sequence! Hope we can fit the lift in tomorrow....

Scarlett

05-10-2005, 09:42 AM

Dying duck: First day breaking in new skates. Feet weren't pleased. I did not even attempt to jump. Spins were UGLY!!!!! I was also getting used to new blades.

Graceful swan: Um... Having boots that are the proper length and width make a world of difference. I was a lot more comfortable on my edges and there were no toe scraping noises.

Uncategorized: The new boots are a step down from what I had so I am starting to get creases where they belong. The ultimate goal is that I keep these until I lose the extra weight I put on and then get fitted for Klingbeils. Happy Skating everyone.

NoVa Sk8r

05-10-2005, 10:12 AM

Graceful Swan:
Had a good lesson this morning, and I was wearing a new practice outfit that my coach thinks would look nice in a singles program. She and I discussed a new singles program and we played around with some choreography. I stopped doing this when I injured my finger/hand on a Sasha-like spiral move! :oops:

Worked on getting a better lutz jump; I tend to go on an outside edge, then curve inside, then curve back outside before jumping. Needless to say, this is not an efficient way of doing the jump. Then coach had me do RBO spirals into lutz. That was kinda cool, and it fixed the edging.

Moving on, we worked on brackets and then on choctaw sequence patterns into a flip jump. She and I even did a pairs choctaw pattern; that was scary. While I like the choctaw (I mean, how cool do those turns look?! 8-) ), I'm not ready to put them in a program or to really work on them. The brackets come first.

Then (yikes, how long was this lesson?) we worked on some new spins: back camel/back sit/jump to forward sit/funky mushroom-like spin with right arm extended out and above the head. I also tried to do a camel/jump back sit, but that was a no-go.

I also managed a few decent flying camels, but that move needs serious tuning; it's my favorite skating move, but currently, it's looking and feeling pretty mediocre!

Dying Duck:
I miss skating on my Monday night adult-only public session!

And I told myself that I would return to the 'death jump,' er, the axel. But I'm not mentally ready to tackle that jump.

batikat

05-10-2005, 10:54 AM

Dying Duck:

Felt really tired in my lesson this morning - probably due to the 5 hours of standing around on ice with occasional bursts of forward skating that I did yesterday when along with fellow club members I was a skating 'extra' for a TV drama. Not sure I'd volunteer for that again! Knees would not bend and when I did my program my legs went to jelly half way through.

Loop was not good - I'm not using my arm enough to get the rotation and still have trouble hanging onto the RBO edge long enough before I jump.

Graceful Swan
did one of my best ever scratch spins (OK it is somewhat of a cross between your basic upright and a proper scratch spin ) with around 12 pretty fast and centred revs. The problem when I do a good one in my program is that I enjoy doing the spin so much I don't want to stop and then am late coming out of it and spend the rest of the program trying to catch up with the music :lol:

Only 6 weeks or so til the Adult Open so I need to keep working on this program and hope my new dress I ordered arrives in time.

Mrs Redboots

05-10-2005, 11:02 AM

Only 6 weeks or so til the Adult Open so I need to keep working on this program and hope my new dress I ordered arrives in time.Oh, don't... I have a dress in the post from the USA, which hasn't yet arrived - I hope it isn't languishing around the sorting-office, which has been known to happen! It was posted last Monday, so should arrive any minute now.

At least you aren't going to the European competitions - they are getting horrendously near, especially as we'll need to have our stuff for Bracknell ready before we go, and since NISA and the USFSA don't seem to know about each other (and the ISU doesn't yet lay down regulations for adult skaters), the requirements are totally different..... sheesh.... plus various interesting side-trips like a RIDL match, our own local Lambeth Festival, and Team Challenge..... and Oberstdorf, of course, but at least I'm not skating there....

NickiT

05-10-2005, 12:02 PM

Oh, don't... I have a dress in the post from the USA, which hasn't yet arrived - I hope it isn't languishing around the sorting-office, which has been known to happen! It was posted last Monday, so should arrive any minute now.

I've ordered a new dress from the USA too. I hope it arrives in good time for the Opens. Not that I don't love my "sparkly" dress, but I wanted a plainer one and I think it's nice to have a change!

Nicki

LoopLoop

05-10-2005, 01:30 PM

(yikes, how long was this lesson?)
I think I'm glad that my singles lessons are only 20 minutes long!

And how did she like the new outfit? ;) (Terri, you know what this refers to.)

NoVa Sk8r

05-10-2005, 01:36 PM

And how did she like the new outfit? ;)She liked it. And she said I looked like Randy Gardner! (So I'll call you Tai from now on. 8-) )

jazzpants

05-10-2005, 02:28 PM

Graceful Swan:
Had a good lesson this morning, and I was wearing a new practice outfit that my coach thinks would look nice in a singles program. She and I discussed a new singles program and we played around with some choreography.Ummm... correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought you're NOT doing singles this year??? ;) :twisted:

NoVa Sk8r

05-10-2005, 02:41 PM

Ummm... correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought you're NOT doing singles this year??? ;) :twisted:Hence the "discussion." ;)

jazzpants

05-10-2005, 02:49 PM

Hence the "discussion." ;)You didn't TELL her 'til now that you're not competing in singles this year??? 8O Man! I'd love to hear what she has to say about THAT!!! :twisted: :lol:

NoVa Sk8r

05-10-2005, 03:09 PM

You didn't TELL her 'til now that you're not competing in singles this year??? 8O Man! I'd love to hear what she has to say about THAT!!! :twisted: :lol:I've learned that the less I say (in general), the better the world is. Of course, I don't always follow this advice! :P
I don't think my coach really cares if I compete; I have gold moves to keep me occupied. And I seem to be obsessed with footwork (gasp!) all of a sudden. (But if I start to take an interest in ice dance, please call a doctor.)

mikawendy

05-10-2005, 03:25 PM

Today was all Dying Duck:
For almost my entire lesson today, Coach and I spent on the 5 step mohawk sequence. Then for 3 minutes, it was spins that I apparently left behind at Reston yesterday!

Ugh, the dreaded 5 step! I've discovered, while working on this, that my upper body has *no* concept of where it is, with my free hip often dropped (incorrectly) on an outside edge and my shoulders nowhere near being along the print. This is also killing my BO-FO setups to waltz jump and the FO-BO-FO3 setups to salchow....

jazzpants

05-10-2005, 04:06 PM

I don't think my coach really cares if I compete; I have gold moves to keep me occupied. And I seem to be obsessed with footwork (gasp!) all of a sudden.I have two words for you: POWER CIRCLES!!! :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: (BMUHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!)

(But if I start taking an interest ice dance, please call a doctor.)And an ice dance coach at your local rink too!!! :twisted: :lol:

jazzpants

05-10-2005, 04:09 PM

Today was all Dying Duck:
For almost my entire lesson today, Coach and I spent on the 5 step mohawk sequence. Then for 3 minutes, it was spins that I apparently left behind at Reston yesterday!

I also left my jumps and power threes there too!

Really, it was the female hormonal issue that I think contributed to my day as a Dying Duck! :evil: :roll:5 steps mohawks and Power 3's are EVIL, I tell 'ya!!! EVIL!!! :evil: :frus: :evil:

Wait 'til your "female hormonal issue" subsides, then try again. I'll bet you'll be happier then. :D

FrankR

05-10-2005, 05:30 PM

I have two words for you: POWER CIRCLES!!! :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: (BMUHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!)

Amen, jazzpants! :P I think I'm getting the hang of the forward counter-clockwise power circle. The bad news is there are three other power circles to worry about. :roll:

And an ice dance coach at your local rink too!!! :twisted: :lol:

I've actually considered learning dance on the side. It should help my edges. (If not that, then what can possibly help my edges?!?!) :lol:

Frank

jazzpants

05-10-2005, 06:42 PM

Amen, jazzpants! :P I think I'm getting the hang of the forward counter-clockwise power circle. The bad news is there are three other power circles to worry about. :roll: Amen, Frank! My evil primary coach had me try power circles a few times during the years. Let's just say... "No, no! Scary, scary!" 8O But he's gonna make me do them again someday JUST b/c he wants to see me fall like the VERY first time I've tried this move! :twisted:

Terri C

05-10-2005, 06:57 PM

(If not that, then what can possibly help my edges?!?!) :lol:

Frank, NoVa, Jazzpants and anyone else that has the problem with trusting/improving edges, I have two words of advice for you:

SCHOOL FIGURES!!!!
I've actually started to play with them to get more comfortable to do as my primary coach says "trusting your edges!"
Our coaches had to go through hours and hours of doing these, and this is what skaters did before moves. In fact, my coach told me that if she had to teach figures to some of her students today, she would not be coaching!

Terri C

05-10-2005, 07:10 PM

Dying Duck:
Moves will still not cooperate- especially my RFO power threes!
Also had sinus issues due to pollen! The sluggishness assiociated with the female hormonal issue is still hanging around!

Graceful swan:
Spins showed up on lesson with secondary coach today, as well as jumps.

I also noticed that I might have gotten a little spoiled with the visit to Reston on Sunday - the rink had heat, whereas my home rink is a meatlocker! Even the lobby is cold!

Terri C

05-10-2005, 08:03 PM

Hence the "discussion." ;)

Sounds like negotiation talks to me. Actually, that outfit does go well with the music you picked- just need to dress it up a little!

NoVa Sk8r

05-11-2005, 12:06 AM

Sounds like negotiation talks to me. Actually, that outfit does go well with the music you picked- just need to dress it up a little!Well, it's not really negotiations. It's my life; what does she care if I compete or not? The power of being an adult (agewise, at least ;)) ...

The getup is nice, but egads, do not encourage me, lest I get caught up in a rhinestone storm again!

Mrs Redboots

05-11-2005, 05:57 AM

Someone tell me what "power circles" are, please? I'm sure it's an Evil Exercise.... I told my coach about Jen's coach's Evil Eights - he laughed. But agreed with me that Husband and I should do variable-speed progressive runs round the circle when we have a long practice and time to do exercises as well as run-throughs.

Dying Duck: Husband was anxious to get to work in good time so we only had 10-15 minutes' practice together. Enough time to decide to change our chassés from inside to outside, spend about 6 or 7 minutes working out how to do inside chassés (why doesn't husband know this already?), and one run-through of the whole dance. But that's okay.

I can't do forward twizzles! Nor can I do inside 3s, nor can I do back 3s. I wish someone had a drill for rocking one's weight back and forward on one's blades, which is the part I find very difficult!

My coach was doing a footwork lesson with one of his pupils, and he was called to the side of the rink to speak to Big Boss, so she and I chatted for a couple of minutes, as she was doing a very nice circular sequence of inside twizzles, which I should have loved to be able to do. So we played about with 3-turns and swizzles, and then she made the exact same comment my coach always makes about me needing to push into the back outside edge when doing waltz 3s. Coach, who returned at that moment, roared with laughter....

Right back outside edge working nicely now, left one still dire.

When I got off the ice (this happened yesterday, too) my right big toe was cold & dead, and really quite painful coming back to life again! I'm hoping it's just this cold spell....

Graceful Swan: We nearly managed the lift at the end of the free dance, but not quite! We get the lift, but we are standing still while we do it! We'll get there... Gradually getting my Interp ready, and began to work on the 2-minute version for UK competitions. Of course have recorded it far too far into the tape, so will have to re-record it! And maybe need to re-record the CD, as the levels are a bit funny. So it goes....

Coach put another screw into my blades and also ran his stone over them. Not sure which bit made the difference, but my left blade was far less skiddy afterwards. I hope there will be an opportunity to get them sharpened before the Mountain Cup! I am still too tentative on them, but he said at the end of my lesson that he can already see a big improvement in my skating. I love them!

blue111moon

05-11-2005, 07:03 AM

Semi-graceful Swan (nothing on earth can make me truly graceful): Interp run-through went well. I had a blast with the first performance at the club show on Saturday night, costume and props worked out, so all is well for that program.

Dying duck: Free skate program. I have the first twenty-two seconds down pat but from then on it's horrible. I know what has to be done, but I can't get there in time and do it. Not fun.

Figures also sucked. It doesn't help that we're now into spring/summer ice and I've lost my little strip of patch ice now that group lessons have ended. So I'm trying to work figures in the middle of an open moves/FS/dance session with bodies flying around me and a coach who insisted on teaching a spin lesson right on top of me although I was nowhere near the designated spin area. Why do some people think that rules don't apply to them? :evil:

FrankR

05-11-2005, 07:18 AM

FrankR

05-11-2005, 07:20 AM

Frank, NoVa, Jazzpants and anyone else that has the problem with trusting/improving edges, I have two words of advice for you:

SCHOOL FIGURES!!!!
I've actually started to play with them to get more comfortable to do as my primary coach says "trusting your edges!"
Our coaches had to go through hours and hours of doing these, and this is what skaters did before moves. In fact, my coach told me that if she had to teach figures to some of her students today, she would not be coaching!

Hi Terri,

Actually I had discussed trying figures with my moves coach. He said that if I wanted to seriously consider doing figures and testing them that I would need special boots and blades but I thought it would be a good training exercise. I think I'll bring this topic up to him again and see what he thinks.

Thanks for the reminder! :)

Frank

blue111moon

05-11-2005, 09:10 AM

Frank, for the lower levels and beginning figures, you don't need special boots and blades. I took my first test in my freeskate boots and Phantoms and passed. Then I put a figures blade (MK Silver Test) on an old broken down pair of free skate boots, since figures don't require the support that jumps and spins do.

The basic figures - circle eights and serpentines are excellent training for edges.

jenlyon60

05-11-2005, 10:34 AM

They also show up at a higher standard in Junior MIF with a slightly different exit (more extension).

In standard track MIF, the skater is supposed to show not only a clean generation of power and acceleration, but equal on both sides (CCW and CW) and directions (forward/backward). A major difference between the dominant side (CCW for most people) and the non-dominant side will generally get the skater marked below passing average. Also, it is a ding if the acceleration isn't relatively even, i.e. the skater should demonstrate more than 2 speeds (it's very common to see 3 or 4 slow crossovers/progressives, then a sudden acceleration to fast for the remaining crossovers/progressives).

Re the "evil eights" my coach nicknames them the "dreaded eights" but I like "evil eights" better.... Think I'll use that in the future. I tried them CW forward this morning before coach arrived and it was NOT FUN, especially the single count runs. I clearly demonstrated to myself the lack of power and upper body control I have in that direction.... definitely not well developed bilaterally.

Otherwise, Tango was working pretty good today. We even took the last few minutes of my lesson to finish working out the intros/endings for Pro-Am and maybe the test on Sunday.

Hi Annabel,

Power circles are the first pattern on the USFS Adult Gold moves test and also one of the patterns on the USFS Intermediate test. Essentially, you start out at the center of the rink. You do a set of no more than fifteen crossovers. The crossovers should start very small and gradually increase in foot speed and power until you hit fully accelerated crossovers. This has the effect of making the skater spiral out towards the boards. At the end of the last crossover, the skater extends and holds a glide across the ice. You have to do them clockwise and counter-clockwise both forwards and backwards. So when you test you have to skate four power circles. I'm finding that the forward counter-clockwise and backward clockwise are easier for me than the other two sides. The backward counter-clockwise circle is giving me fits. Grr. :evil:

Frank

Mrs Redboots

05-11-2005, 11:10 AM

Thanks, Frank & Jen - yes, I can see how those would be challenging, especially backwards! My clockwise back crossovers are dire..... and my anti-clockwise ones cheated!

All the same, crossover/runs/progressives exercises are very good for one's edges, I find.

jazzpants

05-11-2005, 12:41 PM

Dying Duck:
Secondary coach is sick today. Front desk guys told me that she's been sick since Tuesday. (She got the flu that's been going around the rink... but not MY "Roto Rooter" bug, thankfully!) :(

Graceful Swan:
Hard to tell when you're half-asleep on the ice. I usually know what's going on when my secondary coach tells me... :lol: :P

I vaguely remember in my sleep that my LFO power 3's being slow again (well, slower than passing, but not sluggish) but very VERY steady. The RFO power 3's still need some work in correctly stepping into the RFO edge but I can go faster once I get it. And maybe somewhere in the fog, my 5 step mohawk was fitting into the pattern much better today (still wide-stepping the FI mohawk though... Back to the drawing board on those FI mohawks...) :frus:

The rest of the session was a blur... http://instagiber.net/smiliesdotcom/kao/otn/pmoonsleep.gif

NCSkater02

05-12-2005, 07:08 PM

I did 30 minutes only, on a moves session. I figured it was easier than trying to avoid the senior-level skater and her triples.

Graceful Swan: I did the pre-bronze stroking. It seemed to go ok, as long as I remembered to do an even number of pushes on each side. If I didn't, I couldn't figure out how to go into the end-zone crossovers. I then tried the figure of eight crossover pattern. It went ok, even with the near collision with one of the other skaters (I expected her to continue in her pattern, and she changed it--she hit me in the chest, and didn't even acknowlege me. I apologized to her.)

Dying Duck: The back part of the figure eight crossovers. To say the least, they were very noisy. They were never very quiet, but they were way worse today. But hey....at least I tried it. I'm going to try to add in edges Saturday, depending on what secondary coach wants to do with me.

cutiesk8r43

05-12-2005, 08:58 PM

Dying duck: bad luck with axels today :giveup: . Coach decided to go to Las Vegas when I have a competition next weekend :frus:

Graceful Swan: hmmmmmmmm? I did my program OK :(

dbny

05-12-2005, 11:25 PM

Dying Duck:
My coach chose the time immediately before my lesson to confront me very agressively about a problem that she thought I caused at the Monday group lessons we both teach. I couldn't do the lesson. I paid her and left. Made it home safely, and realized that our relationship was toast. It had been going downhill for a while anyway, but I was in denial. She's great technically, but there were personality issues that had begun to drag me down. It's really pretty sad.

Graceful Swan:
Left coach a very nice message tonight, that I am taking a break from lessons until the fall. I feel like a ton of bricks has been lifted. There is really no one else I would want to have lessons with right now, but I may go with someone at a rink where my ex-coach no longer skates or works. To anyone here who may know my ex-coach, I have nothing negative to say about her coaching. This was purely a personal matter, and my husband may even continue having lessons with her when he has the time.

jazzpants

05-13-2005, 02:07 AM

dbny: Sad to read about your now ex-coach... but I think it's for the best.

Dying Duck:

Me at the end of the lesson. WHOA!!! I'm tired...

Second and subsequent backspins went down from the first one... EWWWW! :evil:

Graceful Swan:

Made it thru one round of the Bronze Moves test... not much work needed to be done except for perimeter forward crossovers (minor adjustments... the second go around was PERFECT!!!) and power 3's!!! :evil:

First backspin was GREAT!!!

Primary coach said that if I wanted to, I can test in Sept. after the Adult moves stuff goes into effect and the kids are done testing for regionals for the year. So that's my new test date!

sk8pics

05-13-2005, 06:01 AM

Figureskates

05-13-2005, 06:13 AM

Worked on requirements for pre-figures. All the elements are pretty much okay except I could be a little steadier on the left skate (that's the rebuilt left knee side).

Also the waltz 8 needs a tad more control. I passed PPM a year ago but the waltz 8 was on a larger circle. For the pre-figures test, the waltz 8 is on the same size circle I do my figure 8s on. It is much smaller and that 3 turn sure comes fast!!

blue111moon

05-13-2005, 08:13 AM

Swan: Backspins!!! I did the first two I tried - 8 rotations on the right part of the blade and one-foot exits! Yippee!

Duck: Backspins!!! - Could not do the third one to save my life, nor could I show my coach later on, and she missed seeing the two that I did first thing.

Swan: I managed to put down two decent figures (double 3 and change 3) even though the ice was rock hard, somewhat chewed up and there were freeskaters whizzing around and through my layouts.

Duck: figure loops. Coach says they're getting better but I don't see it.

Swan: program run-throughs were okay.

Duck: obnoxious coach from another club persisted in skating across my path whenever she could and in directing her students to spin and jump right on my layout. My coach finally went over to remind her of the location of the spin circle; she pretended she didn't know about it, even though it's been in that location since she was a skater herself here.

Swan: Club meeting afterward was well-attended and people are stepping forward to fill positions that have been vacant for way too long. Issues that we thought would upset people didn't seem to.

Duck: the people that have been complaining the loudest about the way things have been run didn't bother to show up.

Isk8NYC

05-13-2005, 09:01 AM

Dying Duck:

We've had four (count 'em) fire-alarm evacuations in the past week and a half. That means I stomped down the 8 flights of stairs to stand, sneezing and wheezing, on the lawn while the landscapers blow freshly-cut grass into the air. So, I'm getting over an allergy-induced sinus infection and a sore knee. I really can't complain because we have a staff member who's recovering from a broken ankle. She also did the 8-flight-stomp several times very slowly. Madness, I tell you!

At practice last night, I did 1-2 good sit spins, but we spent a lot of time on the later parts of the program, redoing choreography to keep it moving. I'll try to get to a freestyle and practice some jumps.

Graceful Swan:
I'm finally getting the program together in my head and on my feet! I just have to figure out how to go around obstacles (ie. the hockey players) and stay with my group.

Show's next week and the costume actually fits! The factory left off a belt or something, so we had to give back the pants. After they're returned, we have to get them hemmed. One of the other coaches remarked that she had to make sure she had enough staples in the staplegun! LOL!

Isk8NYC

05-13-2005, 09:04 AM

Duck: the people that have been complaining the loudest about the way things have been run didn't bother to show up.

Those people never will show up. Complaining is their life, they wouldn't volunteer to fix anything. What would they have to talk about if the problems were resolved?

When I was Parent Group President, people would tell me they were going to tell the Principal this or that. They never even called the office. It got to the point where I stopped forewarning the Principal because the conflict never occurred. At one point, I wanted to tell the whiners that they should homeschool their daughters -- they obviously knew so much more than any of the educators! Never said it, but having the comeback ready was priceless.

flo

05-13-2005, 10:11 AM

Duck - just getting time to skate!
Swan - skates are getting better. I tried a couple of doubles at the PA clinic.

LoopLoop

05-13-2005, 10:14 AM

Duck: or chicken, whatever. Tried throw double salchow this morning, and even WITH pads on and WITH the pole I wasn't able to pull in. Grrr. And my right ankle's been swollen all week and I don't know why.

Swan: New lift is coming along. I did well with jumps this week too.

flo

05-13-2005, 10:21 AM

Loops - I loved the throw double sals! Go for it. The hardest part is that it feels the boy is always in the way - and he usually is! Remember to "face" the jump, then pull in. This will make sure you go out away from him before you pull in. It's like a throw axel, if you pull in too soon without getting away from the boy you'll smack him in the face! 8O

LoopLoop

05-13-2005, 10:30 AM

Flo, I was plenty far away from him... that might have been part of the problem. I was traveling so far in the air that it was hard to stop that momentum and transfer my weight over to my right side. Maybe we'll try throw double loop next time; that might be easier.

NoVa Sk8r

05-13-2005, 11:15 AM

Maybe we'll try throw double loop next time; that might be easier.For reals?
And hopefully next time, coach won't clock me in the head with the pole/harness! 8O

flo

05-13-2005, 12:29 PM

Nova and Loops - Go for it! When my coach started us on them he said "go up first then rotate" and was then shocked when I listened to him and it worked.

Mrs Redboots

05-13-2005, 02:34 PM

I thought this evening was going to be all Dying Duck, as I could barely skate.... don't know what was wrong. And my boots were uncomfortable - my toes were having pins-and-needles from being cramped, but my heels were slipping. In the end, I took them off and started again, and this time things were much better!

So I ended up having a couple of run-throughs of the long version of my programme (2 minutes), choreographing the inserted section.... I've only been and gone and put in one of my coach's Evil Exercises! I must be totally and utterly crazy! :roll: But it fits with the music.

And what was very nice was a huge noticeboard in the entry to our rink from the local council detailing the plans for the future, with the assurance that the ice rink will remain open until the new rink is available. They hope to start work in the autumn of next year, and the new sports centre finished by 2008! Some people have worked very hard indeed to ensure continuity of skating, and I, for one, am most grateful to them.

flo

05-13-2005, 03:16 PM

By the way, the Ice Club of Baltimore's show is May 21st!
All are welcome!
Also, I got to give a pair lesson the other day - lots of fun!

dbny

05-13-2005, 03:59 PM

dbny-- Sorry to hear about your problems with your now ex-coach! That really was very courteous of you to pay her for your lesson even though SHE was the cause of you not being able to take it that night. I hope you enjoy your break and can find a coach who is a better fit for you!

Pat

Jazzpants & Sk8pics, thanks for the support. She actually tried to give me back the money, but there was no way I was going to owe her anything.

mikawendy

05-13-2005, 04:06 PM

By the way, the Ice Club of Baltimore's show is May 21st!
All are welcome!
Also, I got to give a pair lesson the other day - lots of fun!

Starskate, will we be seeing you as a guest skater again (with or sans stilts)? :)

coskater64

05-13-2005, 04:35 PM

This week has been more swan than duck:

Duck: My double loop finallly fast finally big and oh so cheated. Just a 1/3 to a 1/4 but so annoying. Where's the snap?

Swan: My loops (figure) look loopy unfortunately only the left but hey I can trace them. Consistently, landing the double sow all week, over rotating the double toe by about 1/2 rev or landing beautifully w/ a quarter cheat, timing rats. Spins good, footwork good, gonna take that Jr moves soon.

Overall not bad, dances are better especially fox and euro along w/ rocker fox. :D

doubletoe

05-14-2005, 12:46 AM

Dying duck? Nah, I shot it and ate it with hoisin sauce. It was good. :P

Graceful swan - Well, upright swan, anyway! Today I finally focused through my irrational fear of the double toeloop and landed 5 of them! I landed my first double toe ever back in October, but after landing 5 in 2 days, I back-burnered it to work on my program for Nationals. After 7 months of avoiding them completely, this was a real mental battle, but I did it! Yay!

Melzorina

05-14-2005, 08:39 AM

Arrrgh I'm so annoyed!

There is a competition at Deeside today (Solo Ice Dance I think) and knowing that there'd be no coaches, I rang up the rink to check if the early morning patch session was on. To my delight I was informed that yes, it was. SO i got up at 4.30 in the morning, got my train, I was in Blackburn at 6, with a closed ice rink. I had to wait an hour to get back home.

Mrs Redboots

05-14-2005, 09:56 AM

Oh Melzorina, that is annoying - bad luck! Can you go tomorrow instead, or rather, as well?

We had a good practice today. Almost all swan-like. Even ended up with being lifted on the ice while we were still moving!!!! Only about 1/2" off the ice, mind you, and I don't think we actually moved more than the same amount.... but still! First time we've done that. Also had really good run-throughs of our compulsory dances for the Mountain Cup, and of one of the ones we need for this country.

Duck: Still can't quite get the placement of the end of our free dance on the ice - want to finish in front of the judges, but this hasn't, so far, worked. Also getting some of the footwork muddled - and I choreographed it myself, so I shouldn't! We show it to a coach tomorrow, and hope to get some ideas.

Inside edges still skiddy in Golden Skaters' Waltz, alas, and stepping from back to forwards in the Swing Dance isn't quite what it should be. And, as always, my Mohawks need to be held for a lot longer than is in fact happening.

All the same, although there is masses of room for improvement in our Willow Waltz, if we skate it in competition as we did today, I shan't be too upset!

singerskates

05-14-2005, 09:59 AM

Tuesday and Wednesday this past week.
Dying Duck:
Back spin even after fixing the boot still needs work. I need to spend mega time with my new coach working on this. For some reason, I keep falling out after 1 and 1/2 rotations probably because I'm rushing or something. I'm not sure.
Camel spin hooked this week and I got one and half rotations but I was just to sore and sick to keep it up. At least I understood how to get into it this week. I still have to fix my left boot and blade so that I don't tip onto my inside edge so much. It was partially fixed but still needs more tweeking.
Forward corkscrew (scratch) My coach was noticing that when I did them I was actually going into them with two feet. I had no idea I was doing this. Once she got me out of that habit, I really cranked the forward corkscrews and had to ask her where she was because I couldn't tell the difference between the ice and her to exit. LOL

Sitspin worked on getting lower even with sore left knee (partial injury and partially from infection that has entered my blood stream. I'm on antibiotics now.) She got me to get my knee way past my foot so that I couldn't see it. She's still trying to get me to get that free leg over to the skating leg while spinning. It's getting closer but not there yet. Even so, my sitspin is getting some speed and better centering.

Jump landings were fixed but I still need to practice doing them so I can do them in my sleep without thinking about them. The positioning on the landings made my jumps look like jumps instead of hops.

Loop is a sorry site but maybe that's to do with the fact that I've not had so much time with my right boot being fixed and I haven't adjusted to them.

Flip rotated but landed on the wrong foot first.
Lutz same as flip.

Graceful Swan:
Got a new coach that likes Tara Lipenski(sp) who somehow could tell from my skating that I like Michelle Kwan. Just think of it. Michelle Kwan is finally going to get some technical skating to go with her artistry. LOL yeah right.
Anyway, now that my landings have been fixed, my waltz jumps are huge and flowy with my free leg extended high like Michelle but with proper technic like Tara.
My toe loop is much stronger too and actually flows out with speed.
I'm going in and out of my jumps now at the same speed. No more going in quick and dying on the exit.

It's great to have someone look at your skating and fix it because one can not see for themselves as they're doing it.

Brigitte

Melzorina

05-14-2005, 10:35 AM

Annabel, that's a damn good idea...I might just do that, thought not an early morning skate as the trains don't run so early on a Sunday (unfortunately!).

I might persuade a friend to go with me and just have a laugh on a public session, last time he skated with me (about 6 months ago) we had a great time playing tig (tag?) going at the speed of light. Great fun!

samba

05-14-2005, 11:14 AM

Poor Mel, you sure are dedicated to get up at that time of the morning and travel alone on a train, the sooner you can get some driving lessons the better and safer it will be, do take care now.
Cheers
Grace

slusher

05-14-2005, 08:14 PM

Mrs. Redboots I had the most interesting lesson on the Willow last week. On the ladies 3, I was instructed to aim right at the man, to try to do the 3 turn right through him. I was reassured that the man would get out of the way (I assume if he knew what was good for him), and to my shock, it actually worked, I'm not scraping the three quite as much and am on balance for the progessive after.

I did apologize to my partner beforehand for any potential injury because I thought that this was just the dumbest idea, but coach was right (again) and I was happy it worked.

We spent a lot of time working on the forward steps into the ladies mohawk, getting the lobe and the lean right. Sometimes the easiest steps are the hardest.

Graceful Swan:

must have been all the work on the RO 3. My RI 3 has improved greatly and I've got my alternating inside 3's to a point where coach smiles, sort of.

Dying duck:

spinning. I can either have centred or speedy. Not both. sigh.

jazzpants

05-15-2005, 01:37 AM

Dying Duck:
Went to weekend rink late, only to find that it closed early b/c they're having their annual summer skating show. Lucky for me there was a rink about 10 minutes nearby, but it's the rink that I don't usually like to go to b/c of the neighborhood and the crowds on the weekend. And I only got an hour out of it. Nothing too productive since one of the ends was coned off for "lessons." (That is...when it wasn't coned off for the paramedics to get a girl with a broken arm/shoulder off the ice...)

The only reason I even went to that rink is b/c our next Adult Sectionals is at that rink! :P And I skated on the Olympic side and I have no clue whether the Olympic sized rink is the side that I'll be competing in, nor do I know whether the Olympic side is warmer than the NHL side.

Graceful Swan:
After getting frustrated with dodging the kids while practicing moves, :frus: I ended up doing spins and jumps just to see if the ice feels right enough for me to skate on. It didn't feel hard like the time I went there for coffee club. But there were a lot more people there (i.e. more heat => softer ice.)

Went to summer skating show to cheer on my friends. Finally got to meet Thin-Ice in person! 8-) Showed her my purple skates, but not my skating since I intended to meet her at my weekend rink in the late afternoon before the show, only to find that it was CLOSED to prep for the show. (So Thin-Ice... do I look like anything like what you thought I might look like? For some reason I remembered you with lighter hair. Of course, this was going on at least 2-3 years ago and my memory can be awfully faulty.) :P :lol:

Mrs Redboots

05-15-2005, 07:47 AM

Mrs. Redboots I had the most interesting lesson on the Willow last week. On the ladies 3, I was instructed to aim right at the man, to try to do the 3 turn right through him. I was reassured that the man would get out of the way (I assume if he knew what was good for him), and to my shock, it actually worked, I'm not scraping the three quite as much and am on balance for the progessive after. Yes, that's the way it's done! The Willow is a long way up our food chain, and there are other dances requiring 3-turns that come first, so I've known that one (knowing it and doing it are 2 different things, mind!) for many years. The step I have trouble with is the run afterwards - we tend to "cut the corner" a bit.

There's still masses of room for improvement in our Willow, but if we skate it the way we did yesterday, I'll not feel I've made an **** of myself on the ice!

sk8pics

05-15-2005, 03:48 PM

Graceful Swan (I think, anyway!) Got the schedule for Oberstdorf today! 8O Makes it all feel that much more real. My event is Saturday morning so that's nice. The draw party is Thursday evening and we have to wear our skates to skate out onto the ice and over to the referee to draw our start number! 8O 8O I've never done anything like this before, so it is all very exciting!

And today did a good runthrough of my program. Coach said the jumps were "awesome!" which just means that I did everything as planned and on cue. It was cool! Yesterday I was like 5 seconds behind my music, so today was much better.

Dying duck I've seen two collisions in the past week on the ice, at two different rinks. The second one I saw was scary because the blades of the skater who stayed on her feet were coming very close to the head of the kid who fell, as she tried to stop without falling over the kid. Scary, scary, but everything was okay!

Happy skating everyone,
Pat

doubletoe

05-15-2005, 08:59 PM

Loop-Loop, I am very impressed that you are even going for the throw double sal! I am in awe! :bow:

Thin-Ice

05-16-2005, 03:36 AM

Finally got to meet Thin-Ice in person! 8-) Showed her my purple skates, but not my skating since I intended to meet her at my weekend rink in the late afternoon before the show, only to find that it was CLOSED to prep for the show. (So Thin-Ice... do I look like anything like what you thought I might look like? For some reason I remembered you with lighter hair. Of course, this was going on at least 2-3 years ago and my memory can be awfully faulty.) :P :lol:

You are taller and your hair is a bit longer than I pictured, but other than that, very similar to what I had thought... and actually my hair is a little redder/lighter now than it has been in a couple of years. Hope you enjoyed the show.. and LOVED seeing the legendary purple boots in person. Hope to see them in action very soon. :)