Survey: What are you practicing every session?

[Casey]

I was just writing up a list of things to practice on a daily basis, and thought this would make a great discussion.

Please reply with a list of the things you are working on (either things you are good at, things that need work, or things that you are still trying to accomplish) on a frequent basis. Here's mine:

Footwork (L+R):

3-Turns (have all, back inside are the weakest)
Twizzles (can do 4 full revolutions, CW only)
Power Pulls (F+B) (1 full lap+ on either leg)
Slaloms (length of rink on either leg)
Mowhawks (+Sequence) (very solid at these)
Power 3's (good after several attempts, not at first)
Crossovers (F+B) (solid)
Barrel Rolls (comfortable, increasing speed)

Moves (L+R):

Spirals (F+B) (leg parellel to ice, working on more height)
Shoot-the-duck (F+B) (very good, hands-free, backwards are weakest)
Spread eagles (I+O) (can do both inside and out, but not with straightened knees yet)
Ina Bauer (can't hold for more than a couple seconds yet)
Lunges (okay, but nothing special)

Stops (L+R):

T-Stop (strongest stop. Solid)
Snowplow (1+2, F+B) (weakest stopping with left foot)
Show Stop (still working on it, primarily using the heel of the blade to stop right now)

Spins:

Upright (4-5 revolutions, medium comfortability)
Scratch (4-6 revolutions, better comfortability)
Corkscrew (5-6 revolutions, most comfortability)
Camel (maybe half a decent revolution sometimes :( )
Sit (a good way to fall on my bum)
Backspin (meh. Not yet)

Jumps:

Bunny Hop (solid either direction)
Waltz (strong CW, can do CCW)
Salchow (medium-strong CW, can do CCW after a few tries)
Toe Loop (very comfortable)
Half Flip (strongest jump)
Flip (can't usually do it without cheating it)
Loop (can't do at all without cheating)
Half Lutz (wobbly, but there)
Lutz (haven't managed, but I suspect it may end up more comfortable than the half lutz)

Combinations/Sequences:

Salchow+Toe Loop (solid)
Salchow+Toe Loop+Toe Loop (good when I maintain enough speed)
Toe Loop+Salchow (okay)
Flip+Toe Loop (pretty solid)
Half Flip+Waltz (this one comes easy)
Waltz+Loop (not yet)

[jenlyon60]

compulsory dances

[sue123]

My list isn't quite so varied, but lets see.....

Footwork and moves:
stroking
skiing
power pulls
3-turns
mohawks
crossovers
transition crossovers
swing rolls
shoot the duck
lunges
spirals if it's not crowded
cross steps

spins:
really small, I only have a one foot upright spin, but I'm learning scratch next week when I go back, and then the sit

jumps:
also still really small, I seem to be having a mental block in that I know what I'm supposed to do, I just can't make myself do it. So I"m attempting the waltz. I had it before I had to stop because they cancelled my session, and the past couple of times I went, I just can't do it anymore. Maybe next week.

[*JennaD*]

I practice some really random things! lol ok so here it goes:

Spirals
lunges(sometimes)
Mohawks (for prelim skills)
3-turns (for prelim skills)
crossovers(my coach is trying to increase my speed! lol)

Spins:
Scratch
Backspin
Layback (sometimes...I just learned it)
Sit
Change sit
Camel
Camel sit
Change camel

Jumps:
Waltz jump
Toe loop
Salchow
Loop
Flip
Lutz
Axel

Combinations:
waltz loop
toe loop loop
loop loop
flip loop
lutz loop
and the evil lutz(or flip...)- loop -toe loop- loop ( that's when my coach wants to drive me crazy!)

I also am practicing sr bronze dances and preliminary skills!

[Terri C]

Let's see:
Basic figures- yup my coach made me go back to them in a effort to get me to trust my edges on :
BRONZE MOVES!!!

Foward, backscratch and sit spins
BRONZE MOVES
All jumps through loop.
BRONZE MOVES
All segments of my freeskate and interpretive programs
BRONZE MOVES

Get the picture???

[icedancer2]

Figures:
Forward Outside Eight
Forward Inside Eight
Back Outside Eight
Back Inside Eight
Front Serpentine
Back Serpentine
RFI-LBO 3s

Basics:
Stroking
Swing Rolls (front and back, inside and outside)
Cross rolls
Mohawks
Chocktaws
3s (waltz and drop)
Cross-overs

Moves:
BRONZE Moves
Silver Moves

Dance:
All Dances -- no Internationals except for the Chocktaw on the Rhumba!

[singerskates]

Things I'm currently practicing on sessions (Only have two left before club breaks for summer. Won't be back on until late August.)

Footwork (L+R): Includes 3's, mohawks, hip twists and more.
Crossovers (F+B)
Moves (L+R):
Spirals (F+B, change edge RFO to RFI mohawk to LBI into salchow, RFO to RFI curly foot spiral)
Ina Bauer (can't hold for more than a couple seconds yet)
Lunges ( different varieties)
Show Stop (on inside edge good, outside edge needs work)

Spins:
Upright (7-8 revolutions, medium comfortability)
Scratch (4-10 revolutions, better comfortability)
Corkscrew (Canadian term for US scratch)
Camel (close to 2 revs just need more speed and more practice)
Sit (6 to 7 revs)
Sit to Broken leg sit (3 to 4 revs in sit and 3 to 4 revs in broken leg sit, working on more speed and cleaner exit.)
Backspin (1 and half revs. still have to play with blade more and much more practice)
Catch Foot spin (workig towards Beillman)
sit/catch foot spin/upright

Jumps:
Bunny Hop (do them during CanSkate and at the beginning of footwork sequence)
Waltz (CCW powerful high and distant, after I get my backspin and loop under control, hello axel)
Salchow (getting higher off of the ice and good form, can do from both 3 turn, mohawk and LBI spiral)
Toe Loop (getting the free leg to stay infront of skating leg as landing, getting ready for double.)
Half Flip (jump I do when I wimp out of my flip)
Flip (totally rotated but trouble keeping free leg wrapped in front in air. result two foot landing)
Loop (totally rotated but trouble keeping free leg wrapped in front in air. result two foot landing, once in a while I get a clean one.)
Half Lutz (what happens when I wimp out on the lutz without enough rotation)
Lutz (almost full rotation, sometimes I get full rotation but always two footed)
Split jump
Falling Leaf
Half Loop (this is what happens sometimes when I'm doing loops. LOL)

Combinations/Sequences:
Salchow+Toe Loop
Toe Loop + Toe Loop
Salchow+Toe Loop+Toe Loop (good when I maintain enough speed)
Toe Loop RBO 3 step onto LBI execute Salchow (okay)
Waltz+Loop (Loop is two footed)
Split+toe Loop+ toe Loop
Split+salchow+ toe Loop

[*IceDancer1419*]

Footwork:
Edge pulls. Mine suck. :D lol
Three turns (for MITF)- ok sometimes
Power threes; pretty solid
Twizzles: not great... only usually do 1 rev.. (lame, I know lol)
crossovers: very solid
power perimeter cross: pretty solid
cross rolls: mostly good, a little tentative sometimes

Moves:
Spirals: need to work on INSIDE edge ones; outside pretty good, straight-solid
Spread Eagle: I can't do these for the life of me. SOMETIMES I can do a tiny little inside one, but they're pretty lame...
Tango stop: can od it one way pretty solid, not the other way

Spins:
Two foot: mostly solid both ways
1 foot: errrr... not consistent on either side. I can't seem to get these spins.

Jumps:
bunny hop: completely 10000% solid
waltz jump: solid
toe loop: pretty solid (could use more height and grace, though!)
salchow: practicing off the ice and hoping to try on the ice soon.

Dances:
Dutch Waltz: I know it but somehow I have trouble w/ it now! Oh well... I start adding steps form the Rhythm BLues lol
Canasta Tango: dead solid. I think I could do this in my sleep... done it wayyy too many times. Though there are little presentation things to remember (ie head up, back straight, knees bent, the cross roll needs some work, etc)
Rhythm Blues: Trouble with our beginning part, which involves me leaning back and Cody (parnter) essentially holding me up... it's great fun but not totally "there" yet (only learned it a week ago though). The dance itself is pretty good!

I'm hoping to buy one of those rulebooks so i can learn some thingson my own as well.

[Casey]

Corkscrew (Canadian term for US scratch)
I meant the one that's like a scratch spin (with the leg crossed) but with the left hand behind the back but the right in front as normal (assuming CCW spinning).

[slusher]

Things I always work on:

crosscuts, always
3 turns, sometimes as figure style, sometimes as waltzing 3's and then the dance 3's, held and dropped.
jump combinations - to make sure the second jump is of quality and flow
spinning. I have a bad spin head so I spin until I fall over, it's getting better.

Things I should do every day and don't:

Spirals. meh. I can do them at hip height and that's enough
sit spins. Only if coach gets on a rant.

[jazzpants]

Except for the rare occasion when I'm working on a program, I'm usually working on moves!!! I think the last three years I've been doing nothing but stuff related to Bronze Moves. (Okay! Once in a blue moon, I'm working on something related to the Prelim Moves test...)

Moves:
BRONZE MOVES! Nuf said!!!

And when that's not enough...

forward alt 3's (from the prelim test... yes, I'm a masochist...)
Power pulls (getting a jump start on the Silver Moves)
Prelim spirals (Oh, dear! This one is NASTY!!!) :twisted:
Last but not least... CROSSOVERS!!! (The prelim moves test again...)
(And yes, if you're wondering... no plans or word spoken, but my gut tells me my secondary coach wants me to do prelim and pre-Juv moves after Bronze Moves... IF that's the case, those forward power 3's won't be gone from my life anytime soon. NOOOOO SIRREE!!! They are gonna have to get BETTER still, if anything...)

Spins:
Forward spins/Scratch spins
Sit spins
Backspins
Forward spin step to backspin (ISI 3...)
Camels
Camel-sit (if my camel behaves that day...)

Jumps:
(What jumps!?!?!? I haven't done much of them until I started my program as of late...)

But seriously....

Waltz
Waltz-Toe Loop
Toe Loop
Toe Loop-Loop (on a good day)
Salchow
Loop
Flip
Lutz (on a VERY good day)
Half Lutz (determining factor whether or not I'm having above said good day...) :P

[CanAmSk8ter]

American Waltz
Blues
Paso Doble
Starlight (occasionally just so I don't forget it; way too many more important things to work on now)
Westminster
Quickstep
Viennese
Occasionally Novice MITF but I think that's going to have to wait until fall

[techskater]

Intermediate moves (hoping to test next month)

Spins: all solo forward spins, back spin, flying camel, flying camel with the new interesting second position from the evil coach, new combo spin going into this year's Gold FS program from the evil coach
Warm up all jumps through double loop, variant entries to some jumps, and the combos or sequences that are likely to go into the program this year
Work on double flip until frustrated
Work on double lutz until frustrated

Do a couple edgy moves such as bauers and spread eagles and spirals

Saturdays we patch before moves class and I work on the figures that relate to the intermediate and novice moves tests.

[vesperholly]

Well, for the past few weeks I've been starting each session off with a run-through of Novice moves, but now that I passed them (! this morning... I keep looking at the papers to make sure it's true) I don't need to do that anymore!!! :D

Then I do:

Running RFI-LBO 3-turns that speed up to simulate backspin
Backspin (2 or 3)
Scratch (1 unless I screw it up)
Camel (3 or 4)
if camels are good, then camel-back camel (1 or 2)
Layback (2 or 3)
Flying camel (1 or 2)

Been really lazy about sit spins. Should really do those more.

Onto jumps:

3 waltz jumps/salchow/toe loop in a row
loop (1)
flip (1)
lutz (1)
lutz-loop (1)
axels (as many as I can before I get fed up)
double sals (usually 3 or 4, my right knee has been hurting on these for some reason)

And that's about it, usually by then my hour-long session is over. If I'm skating longer, I'll go back and work on stuff that I didn't like previously. Occasionally I'll do double toes or double loops. Sometimes I'll do dances but since I'm not doing lessons/testing anymore not very often. Or if I remembered my video camera, I'll tape stuff. But that's sometimes a bust, like yesterday when I landed four good axels then went to tape them and they sucked. Whatever!

[Debbie S]

Congratulations, vesperholly! Now you can run through Junior Moves at the start of each practice. :)

I start off running through Bronze Moves, b/c I'm sort of on autopilot to do that. I wonder what I'll do when/if I ever pass that test.

Since I'm just getting back to skating after some time off, I'm mostly doing moves and other basic skating maneuvers, like crossovers, 3-turns, mohawks, etc. Then I work on jumps, and then spins, mostly backspins since they are the most frustrating. And then, it's more Bronze Moves.

[NickiT]

Bronze Field Moves
1) Consecutive forward double three turns - outsides and insides
2) Consecutive back outside double three turns
3) Consecutive back inside double three turns
4) Mohawk / back inside three step sequence
5) Choctaw sequence - one side on each foot
6) Brackets

Jumps
Three Jump
Salchow
Cherry Flip
Loop
Flip
Lutz
Salchow-Cherry
Loop-Loop
Flip-Loop
Lutz-Loop

Spins
Upright Spin
Cross Toe Spin
Back Spin
Sit spin
Camel Spin
Camel-Sit Spin
Change Foot Sit Spin
Change Foot Camel Spin - can't do this one yet!
Change Foot Upright Spin

Programme
I run through my programme two or three times and spend a lot of time working on sections of it.

Nicki

[Skate@Delaware]

"Hack! Hack" I'm choking in everyone's ice dust as I plod along at my own pace....When I'm able to get up to the rink:

stroking and swizzles as a warm-up to get my "ice legs"
edges-FI, FO, BI, FO (luv those edges!!!)
crossovers-forwards CW & CCW, then backwards CW & CCW (aiming for that push under on every stroke)

then:
3-turns-anything on my left is ok, my right is still messed up (blade is not mounted correctly... really, it isn't, I'm seeing the man next week about it!!)
scratch spins-do a few of these, maybe more if the force is with me that day...
waltz jumps-and I've noticed the off-ice training is paying off-been able to actually jump higher than 1/2-inch off the ice!! Wow was that scary! (and exhilarating!!)
spirals-save these for the end, when I'm kind of pooped out, but my muscles are really warm! My foot is higher than my head on the right, almost there on the left...
But please--no more bunny hops!!

[kittie067]

after I've finally gotten my skates on comfortably, I work on...

Stroking: 3 times forward, 3x backwards

Spins:
1 foot spin (hopefully centered)
sit spin ( might work if im lucky ;) )

Jumps:

waltz jump
Salchow ( ugh!!)
Toe loop
Half flip
Half lutz

Combination:
Waltz-side step- waltz jump
Salchow- toe loop

Moves:
preliminary moves
(usually work on my alternate 3's)
Power 3's ( Help me!! :cry: )
Spirals ( not bad, my leg is usually above hip level)

For fun:
Backward spirals
Back ward shoot the ducks
and chase my sister around the ice :D :lol: :lol:

then get off either exhasted or happy!!!

~kittie

[jenlyon60]

Let me be more specific, as it was quite early in the morning...

Dances:
Tango
Starlight Waltz
Paso Doble
occasionally American Waltz

Basics:
Cross-rolls (quick tempo like in the Paso)
Back cross-rolls
Forward Progressives (specifically "evil eights")
Back Crossovers ("evil eights" pattern)

Bits and pieces of my dances...

[Figuresk8_katie]

Dance:
Working on Silver Samba and Quickstep (Gold dances)

Freeskate:
Jumps:
Double toe
Double flip
Double lutz
Double loop
Double Sal

Combos:
Flip, double toe
Loop, double loop
Double sal, loop/toe

Spins:
Layback
Flying sit

Combos:
Camel, layback, back sit
Camel, change, camel
many variations

Interpretives:
Currently working on Silver and Gold level interpretives

[sk8joyful]

Slaloms
Stroking
Snowplow-stops
Lunges
Spiral
Edges
bunny-hops

cross-overs (still not :cry: self-starting)

waltz-jump (oh for want :) of a back- :frus: edge)
spin, sorta

[Shinn-Reika]

footwork:
-Choctaws? I think those little onefooted half-turns
-twizzles in all directions 3+ revs

moves:
-backwards spirals- all edges
-shoot the duck both directions/edges on right foot
-backward hydroblades in both directions
-lunges
-bent leg lunges
-reverse bent leg lunges
-bielman spiral ( gotta be careful otherwise I'll fall forward and chip my tooth, yes I knw me? careful?)

stops:
-all single footed stops on all edges (including outside ones)

spins:
-1 footed stationary
-scratch
-sitspin (just begining this one)
-cannonball (and this one which I have no idea how to do)

combos/things I made up:
-lunge-bentleg lunge - reverse bentleg lunge - shoot the duck
-RFI three - backwards RBO spiral - scratch entry
-a wide two footed reversal (I don't know if this has a name) - one footed three ( I call it the snapback)
-a backwards 1 foot outside edge stop to toepicked induced sprint ( the touch and go)

Jumps/ jump comboes:
waltz (100% landing confidence)
toe(100%)
flip(75%)
loop(80% even though I've practiced it less)
Salchow (10%)
waltz-toe
continuous waltzes(3+ min)
toe-toe
toe-flip
flip-toe
toe-loop (soon)
I'm also working on purposly canceling jumps mid flight for two reasons:
- I don't want to be afraid of falling when I'm really high
- 540's and 900's count in every other sport but this one and that's not right
Jumps I wish I had:
Axel (still try it anyway, but I have no Ideah what I'm doing)
Salchow(honestly can't remember how to do it)
Lutz(thought this was easy then found out it's an outside edge flip (as opposed to a toe)

Spins I wish I had:
Camel
bielman

Other things I wish a had:
death drop
doubles ( someday...soon)
a flip that is disguised as a spiral
good footwork
a girlfriend

[batikat]

I'm also working on purposly canceling jumps mid flight for two reasons:
- I don't want to be afraid of falling when I'm really high
- 540's and 900's count in every other sport but this one and that's not right
Jumps I wish I had:
Axel (still try it anyway, but I have no Ideah what I'm doing)




and exactly what is an axel then ? - (1 +1/2 revs = 540 )

double axel (= 2.5 revs = 900)

triple axel (=3.5 revs = 1280)

the only difference is that it takes off forwards as landing forwards after all that, in toepicks, is likely to kill you!!! :lol:

Purposely aborting jumps is most likely to end in injury surely! 8O

so 540's and 900's DO count in skating.


a girlfriend



Ahh! sweet! :) - at least you are in the right place to find one at the rink;)


As for what I practice:
Not in this order though.......

Loop
sit-spin
programme
moves
crossovers -(figure of 8 )
all singles up to Loop
scratch spin
lunges (forward/backward)
twizzles (how do you get more than one rev??????)
back spin
back outside and inside 3's

chatting to friends

used to practice dance but have temporarily given it up to concentrate on freeskating.

[Casey]

I'm a happy Baby-skater yet; and Casey can tell you most of the skills I play around with during practice.
Hey Annie,

It was good skating with you today! It doesn't matter what skill level you're at, you're just as much of a skater as anyone (and moreso than some). Be proud of the things you have accomplished, and more skills will follow with more practice!

And btw in my humble opinion, he skates very well
Thanks for the compliment. :oops:

[Shinn-Reika]

and exactly what is an axel then ? - (1 +1/2 revs = 540 )

double axel (= 2.5 revs = 900)

triple axel (=3.5 revs = 1280)

the only difference is that it takes off forwards as landing forwards after all that, in toepicks, is likely to kill you!!! :lol:

Purposely aborting jumps is most likely to end in injury surely! 8O

so 540's and 900's DO count in skating.


I almost forgot the axel. I was going to come back and say the axel, but I didn't. Of course in that case for it still increases an interger number of times. As for the whole aborting thing, it started because when I learn a new jump I don't always have the strength to do a full revolution (and later get a full revolution AND get a lot of height). So I just did half jumps. And this technique seems to add a middle step in between the big one to fully master a new jump.

[TreSk8sAZ]

Footwork:
*All done in both/all directions

Mohawks
counters
rockers
brackets
serpentine footwork in my program
straight line footwork in my program
Swing rolls
slaloms
power pulls
edges
russian stroking
Chasses


Moves:

Juvenile Moves
Intermediate Moves
Novice Moves: Quick brackets, spiral sequence, and back inside/forward inside 3-turns


Spins:

Forward scratch to back scratch
Sit change Sit
Camel change Camel
Back camel/sit/forward sit
Layback (all variations)
Back scratch by itself
Back scratch into loop or double loop


Jumps:

Warm-up: Waltz, Waltz-toe, Waltz-loop, Axel
All singles
Double Sal
Double loop
Double Flip
Double Lutz (alone and out of footwork)


Jump Combos:

Everything followed by a loop
Everything followed by a toe loop
Axel-half loop-double sal


Dances:
Willow Waltz
Fourteenstep
Foxtrot
European Waltz
And just for fun, with my coach, Starlight Waltz, Killian, and Quickstep


While I don't hit ALL of these everytime, I get pretty darn close. Only thing that I may let lapse is some of the dance.

[NCSkater02]

At this point, since my doc has limited me to no small circles on my left (formerly broken) ankle--spins--and no jumps, I mostly focus on moves and basic skills--as well as getting my strength and stamina back.

Right now:
-mohawks
-all forward 3turns
-pre-bronze edges
-stroking
-forward and backward crossovers
-transitions
-lunges and spirals (no height yet)
-that new 3turn pattern for pre-bronze testing


I go back to the doc Jun 16. I hope he'll let me do more.

[LoopLoop]

I meant the one that's like a scratch spin (with the leg crossed) but with the left hand behind the back but the right in front as normal (assuming CCW spinning).

If you change the arm position in a spin, it's just a variation of the same spin, it doesn't change the name. So no matter what you do with your arms in a scratch spin, it's still a scratch spin.

My coach defines a corkscrew spin as an upright spin with the free leg crossed *behind* the spinning leg.

[AuroraBorealis]

Following my decision to test later this summer, I'm now practicing whatever moves there are on the first test... Skate Canada, preliminary elements or however it's called. :)

Stroking: my coach seems to be finding new things that are wrong with it every time... I need to practice more, but the problem is space: I feel I need a lot of space to do my stroking properly, and especially to hold the edges as long as I should.
Spirals: looking quite good, must work more on the "left" one, as it doesn't feel comfortable enough
Jumps: have to learn the bunny hop jump, which terrifies me after I fell very hard and bruised myself on my second attempt; other jumps are going well, with the exception of my flip, which has been on vacation recently
Spins: sit and forward spins have improved immensly, back spin still needs a lot of work, and I have to work on locking my free leg when doing camel

Other than practicing for my test I am doing...
- mohawks: I absolutely hate them, but I started practicing them religiously each session - I tell myself to go so many times down the line; only forward inside mohawks for now, and my left one needs a lot of work
- backward 3-turns (never mastered those...)
- (trying to learn) loop from backward crossovers
- lutz (again, all kinds of problems with it... when I fix one, another appears...)
- starting to work on axel, just waltz-loop and waltz-spin for now
- working on flying camel and flying back sit spins

Generally, I have a pattern to my session. First I do stroking, forward and backward in both directions if only possible at the session I'm skating at. Then start with a waltz jump and a forward spin, then do some more stroking and then I go through all my elements, one at a time, working from the easiest to most difficult ones. I repeat my better moves about 3 times, and my worse ones about 5 to 7 times and I alternate jumps and spins. Once that is out of the way, I start working on combinations.
At some point my coach calls me for a lesson. After that I practice some of the things she tells me to, and do some mohawk and backward 3-turns exercises (line or circle). And then I work on various elements again, but this time I'll do all jumps, or one jump for a few minutes, before moving on to spins. I spend a quite a bit of time working on my lutz and loop from backward crossovers, but I stop those when I get too tired to achieve anything.

Right now I'm happy to be skating 3 times per week, about 3 h 20 min total. :)

[Skate@Delaware]

We haven't learned back 3-turns yet. At what point does a person learn those? We kind of jumped around the USFSA book but most of my class got signed off on Adult 4 in April. We have learned some advanced elements from the freestyle sections (loops, flips, rockers) but not the back 3's.

And she did try to teach us backspins.....and sitspins (mine is more of a hunchback squatspin......ugh!

I will say that adult classes are---interesting!

I only get on the ice about 2 times a month now but that's fine. Last summer I didn't go at all and it took all of September to get back up to speed.

[mikawendy]

In this order....
One lap of stroking in each direction, to warm up

Bronze moves, to warm up and practice (the crowdedness of the session determines the number of moves that I can get in)

Jumps (and related exercises at the boards and on a line):
Waltz
Sal
Flip
Loop (my flip is more secure than my loop, so practicing it first helps get my weight on my skating side)
Backspin (because it's easier when I'm used to having my weight over the skating side)
Half-lutz and lutz entry
Toe loop
Falling leaf-toe and other sequences and combos

Spins (and related exercises on a line):
Scratch
Sit
Camel
and experimentation with sit-change sit (not much success on this yet)

Interspersed with this, especially if there's traffic, I usually do isolated turns and footwork:
Back power pulls
Back cross thingies (skating leg becomes free leg and crosses in front--I don't know what these are called)
Crossrolls, forward and backward (not very pretty :D )
Swing rolls, forward and backward
BO3s
Pitiful attempts at BI3s and double threes
and sometimes I'll throw in a Waltz-8 (I don't know any other figure-like exercises)

[slusher]

Following my decision to test later this summer, I'm now practicing whatever moves there are on the first test... Skate Canada, preliminary elements or however it's called. :)


I'm envious that you're going to test Preliminary Elements. Eventually I'll test Preliminary Elements & Freeskate, I can do all the elements, sort of, if we don't talk about sit spins, but coach has told me that I have to pass preliminary skills and have most of Jr.Bronze skills down before I'll be allowed to test any freeskates. Says that the ability learned through the skills will give me a better prelim test. I'm on senior bronze dance as it is, which I point out every time we have this conversation doesn't that prove that I have speed and flow??? , but what goes for my coach's kid students also applies to adult students. So I'm stuck on stupid stupid waltzing whatevers. That's part of my problem, I don't really take them seriously and practice the timing.

[figure_skater]

all the stuff i usually practice....

Footwork:
*All done in both/all directions
footwork in my program
edges
normal stroking (forward and backward)
back 3s

Spins:
Forward scratch to back scratch
Sit change Sit (ahhhhh... *thud*)
sit (lower!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)
Back scratch by itself
camel
layback (sometimes)
camel-sit

Jumps:
waltz
salchow
toeloop
loop
flip (im a cheater! ahhhhh...)
split
1/2 lutz

Jump Combos:
toe-toe-toe (if i wanna)
salchow-toe
waltz-toe
waltz-loop
back 3-mowhawk-salchow
flip-toe
loop-toe

at least its all gettin better! :giveup: :D

[skateflo]

Have returned to more edge work and improving posture. Am trying PPMIF elements again - still having trouble with those darn back outside edges!! Also work on forward spin, 5-step mohawk, power 3's especially my bad side. inside 3 turns with more distance and bigger lobes. Then when properly warmed up I try sections of my program and isolated jumps.

Am still rehabing my right shoulder from surgery 9 weeks ago so can't really check hard with right arm back, but it is slowly improving.

[Andie]

I always work on the following things or most of these... it depends on whether I'm feeling more motivated or reserved and how many people are there.

Scratch spins (need work)
Backward & forward stroking (pretty good)
Mohawks / mohawk sequence (good)
Waltz 3-turns (good)
3-turns, inside & out. Insides need improvement.
Backward spirals (need work)
Forward spirals (spiral with my right leg extended is good; the other needs work)
Crossovers, F&B. My left-over-rights need improvement; my right-over-lefts are good.
Waltz jump (ok)
Half Flip (needs work; I'd like to achieve a full flip soon :lol: )
Bunny hops (ok)
Ballet jump (needs more work)
Camel spin ( :frus: )
Power pulls (ok, need more speed)
Lunges (good with right leg trailing, but needs work w/ left leg trailing)
Shoot-the-ducks *sigh*
Edges, F&B (pretty good, except BO's need work)
Pivots (ok on LO, but RO/RI and LI need work)

[phoenix]

After warmup stroking & edges......

Free dance only for one more week until the competition's over! I usually start with the last 3rd of the program, which is the weakest. Then the straight line footwork, then the spins, then the very beginning, when I tend to scrape my toes a lot.....then the whole thing.

Then I'll do twizzles a few times around the rink (back cross rolls to BO twizzles on each foot which is how it's set in the dance). Then go through the footwork pass that ends in the twizzles. Then the whole thing a few more times.

Once the comp is over I'll go back to my normal existance, which is killer exercises for about 1/2 hour, then pieces of my dance, then full patterns. Blues will be the first pre-gold, I think (**did I mention I passed my last silver??!), so will be lots of backward edges & big FI swoopy edges with variations on arm positions & knee bend. Or possibly Starlight, will probably find out tonight in my lesson.

Then when I get too tired or bored w/ all that, I'll run through my moves (intermediate). Which explains why they aren't ready to test yet! Half hearted practicing when too tired to work on anything else.......yeah, that'll get them done. :roll: