4 leaf clover or weed, March 13 - 19

[flo]

4 leaf clover: Had another great weekend skating with Rob in Atlanta.
Weed: I'm pooped!

[rlichtefeld]

4 leaf clover: Flo and I are finally getting the program together. (Good thing, we only have a few weeks left). We skated Thursday, Friday and Saturday. And, I am back in Baltimore next weekend.

Transitions are finally starting to fall into place. I'm not forgetting the footwork sequence any more. And, we are getting good death spirals.

Weed: My right arm gives out after a few death spirals! Not sure what to try to build my arms up for that particular element.

And, we were both so tired at dinner on Friday night, it was almost like the scene in Cutting Edge where she falls face first in her plate!

[fmh]

clover- Omg i had so much speed today, my jumps were good..i was doing them with lots of speed...my spins were pretty good too :) double axel was only cheated by less than a half turn (thats good for me:P)

weed I wish i was doing this last week, before my competition...i dont like flying sits!

[Terri C]

Clover:
Coach has given me the go ahead to take Bronze moves on March 29!!!
I got to skate on clean ice today, since the ice was not cut before the freestyle sessions for the afternoon started and when our skating director walked in and saw...... she raised Cain with the PTB.

Weed:
Bronze moves test is borderline passing, so we'll see what happens.
The friggin hockey players from this past weekend's tournament blew out speakers out, so no music today! Especially sucks when you've just started on a new program!
With the late ice cut, our skating director did all she could to keep us on the ice then extra nine minutes, but we were ran off! I'd have loved to be a hole in the wall when she talks to the rink owner on that one!!

[SkatingOnClouds]

Clover:
I had the luxury of being able to skate 3 days in a row over a long weekend. Bliss! By last night I was rockin'.
My 1 foot backspin is starting to happen. Way things are going I'll have my backspin back before my forward one foot spin.
everything else fair to middling.

Weed:
Having to go back to work today.:cry: when all I want to do is skate. Ah well, tomorrow night isn't that far away.

[mintypoppet]

Actually, I'm named after a weed, so this is probably the wrong way around for me.

Clover:
BO3s are becoming fairly consistent.
Lunges are fine on my right knee.
I keep doing LFO3s because they feel so nice now! This may be counter-productive for getting the FI3s and RFO3s as smooth though.

Weed:
Left knee doesn't like bending enough to do lunges just yet.
Was asked "Have you just started skating?" after spending too long in one spot working on 3-turns. Great confidence-booster! :??
I think I need to get my blades sharpened, as holding an edge is starting to become a scary experience.

[sceptique]

Clover

Worked from home on Monday so sneaked out to the rink. Monday morning practice is a bliss. Preliminary field moves are coming along, and so are other hings. Coach said we can now put a loop into my programme - it's getting consistent, just needs some polishing around take-off. Flip is back, still tentative, but at least I can now land it. Got at least 3-4 revs on all backspins. I feel like I've built some foundation I can now start progressing from.

Weed

As my upright spins improved I discovered a new problem: if I hold it longer than 6-7 revs or spin faster than I used to, I get dizzy and loose orientation - the rink keeps spinning in my head while I'm already gliding out of the spin, very confusing and unpleasant sensation. I wonder if it goes away with more practice.

[cassarilda]

Weed

As my upright spins improved I discovered a new problem: if I hold it longer than 6-7 revs or spin faster than I used to, I get dizzy and loose orientation - the rink keeps spinning in my head while I'm already gliding out of the spin, very confusing and unpleasant sensation. I wonder if it goes away with more practice.

Have you tried focussing on your hands or something on you? this way its moving the same timing you are.... something I found useful in dance before I did head turns/checking (ballet)... otherwise, train your brain to not focus whilst spinning...

I think its just practise... Im sure other people here can give you better advice... I can only say from my limited experience :D

[LoopLoop]

I don't post on these too often because I'm just working away on stuff but I can't resist this time...

Clover: I finally finally finally landed my double sal last night! :) I think it was three clean ones altogether. Which means I have now achieved my goal in skating.

Weed: Still finishing behind the music in my new program, and messing up the footwork about half the time.

[batikat]

weed: had my lesson on morning patch 9.30 - 10.30am which is normally great. Today however was the second day of a hockey tournament and my lesson was til 10.30am, so I had the entire hockey crowd (6 teams from Canada and UK) watching me. Wouldn't have been so bad if there were other skaters there but for most of the session there were 3 of us having lessons and for the last 10 minutes there was just me and my coach and a rink full of impatient hockey players. To make matters worse the hockey players mistakenly thought they had the ice from 10am and the rink clock was slow so we didnt' finish til about 10.35! Ever felt like you are NOT the most popular person in the place!:lol:

To give them their due I did get compliments from them on my fast backward skating:D And I was asked if I belonged to a club and did competitions, so they were actually all very polite even when I teased them about being wimps for needing all that padding to skate!!!!!!!!

One of them was in the boot room icing a hurt ankle. I asked him how he hurt it given they'd not been on the ice yet and he said he'd tripped getting off the coach:lol: :lol: :lol: Poor lad!

clover:Managed loop and flip despite embarrassment at being lone figure skater and did a lovely lap of alternating waltz 3 turns followed by alternating waltz jumps and even made a pretty good effort at the alternating salchows (evil coach's idea of a good skating exercise!)

[Debbie S]

I finally finally finally landed my double sal last night! :) I think it was three clean ones altogether. Which means I have now achieved my goal in skating.Congrats, Loops! :D :bow:

Clover: Had a pretty good moves practice last night. The session wasn't too crowded, so I was able to get a lot of patterns in.

Weed: Had blades sharpened on Sunday and had problems stopping - I had to use the wall a couple of times. :oops: I don't remember having problems like this the last time I got blades sharpened at this place - hmmm. By the end of the session, I think things were back to normal.

Managed to run through some patterns without scraping on the back crossovers. Unfortunately, that was only about half the time. I've got to get my percentage up! :frus:

[Skittl1321]

Clover: I've actually got to go skating this week! I am skating well (my skills are about Basic 2) and started practicing 2 footed turns CCW- I'm a righty, but somehow my most natural turning direction is CW. I figured I needed to change that before I started learning spins. It's really hard to do though, whenever I turn CW I just flip right around and keep skating, whenever I try CCW I do a wide circle.

Weed: The woman from the rink won't get in contact with me about being able to take Basic 3, and just testing past Basic 1/2 instead of taking the class. I'm sure I'd learn SOMETHING from Basic 1/2 but if everyone else is a complete beginner, it's going to be tough to pull something from it. I can already do everything at those levels.

EDIT: Well I just heard back from the woman at the rink and I have a lesson scheduled for Friday. Now I'm just really really nervous about it. What if I'm really awful? So now I don't have a weed- just anxiety over my first private lesson. And fear that the Basic 3-4 class will be pulled for low enrollment and I'll have to take Basic 1-2 anyway.

[rlichtefeld]

I finally finally finally landed my double sal last night! :) I think it was three clean ones altogether. Which means I have now achieved my goal in skating.


Way to go!!!! What a great achievement.

Rob

[Mrs Redboots]

Loops - congratulations!

There were tests at our rink this morning, so 4-leaf clovers were in abundance. The judge was practically the most senior International judge this country has, so it must have felt really great to have been passed by her! I didn't see all the tests, but almost all I saw passed, just the last one didn't.

Then I got on the ice for the first of two sessions today, and had my lesson.

4-leaf clover: Interp now finally choreographed. It just needs work, work and more work. Level 3 dance moves coming along, as are back crossovers, but the same problem applies to all of them - I'm simply not getting properly on to an outside edge and staying there. Sigh. I can read the tracings as well as my coach can, and know exactly what's happening, but correcting it is another matter. I'm told I don't stay down long enough in the knee, and I can feel that I don't, but I am having problems fixing it.

But they are better than they were, that's for sure!

Weeds: So we started the "3s in the field" exercise that I shall have to do if I don't pass this test within the next year. Hmmmm. I can't do BI 3s. I can't do very good FI3s (well, one foot's okay, the other is less so). I can't even do very good B03s. But I can do at least one double 3, no problem.... go figure! But this exercise is going to separate an awful lot of sheep from a very great many goats! And I'm afraid I shall number among the goats. Right now, we are practising across the red line at the end of the rink, coach says he's going to teach all his pupils there; it will be a mighty long time before I can do a lap of them, as required!

Having said that, he did compliment me on the FO 3 part of the exercise, saying it was "very nice".

[LoopLoop]

Coach has given me the go ahead to take Bronze moves on March 29!!!
Way to go, Terri! You'll have to keep us posted.

[Isk8NYC]

Clover: I finally finally finally landed my double sal last night! :) I think it was three clean ones altogether. Which means I have now achieved my goal in skating.

Now it's time to set a new goal! Congrats.

[racytracy]

clover: my new skates came in!!!! we're working on swing rolls and they seem to be going well. changefoot spin is now my fave thing ever!

weeds: still putting the free foot down on my loop and flip. i think my coach is getting frustrated.

[jazzpants]

Clover:
Coach has given me the go ahead to take Bronze moves on March 29!!!GO TERRI GO!!! You can can do this! Remember... "UP YOURS!!!" :twisted:

Clover: I finally finally finally landed my double sal last night! :) I think it was three clean ones altogether. Which means I have now achieved my goal in skating.YAAAAAY!!! Congrats on those double sals!!! :D

Clover:

Managed a couple of nice (for me anyway) camels and camel-sit!
Got back my flips and my loops! :D
Backspin is good and I haven't killed myself on that exercise that Jay gave me last Thursday.Weed:

I wished I had the flip at SECTIONALS!!! :evil: :roll:
Loops are still inconsistent.
No room to work on the Bronze Moves pattern! WAAAAY too crowded! Tried to do the patterns and I keep running into someone!!! I ended up going off to a corner to fight for a good LFI mohawk and even THAT was a challenge b/c of the crowds. :frus:
Played around with BO3's. LBO3's are wimpy. RBO3's are non-existent!!! :frus:

[Mrs Redboots]

Went to figure club tonight to practice with the Husband, as we couldn't this morning because of tests.

Four-leaf clover: We actually got through our dance to the music. It was a very horrid thing, but we did it! So now we have to show it to the coach tomorrow.

Weeds: Bashed the back of the car while trying to park it this evening; not bad, but a nasty little dent. Luckily Husband isn't furious with me....

He had a dire run-through of his programme to music, mostly because his skate needed tightening! He says he can do absolutely everything in isolation, but not in context - how well I know that feeling! But he can when it's in our dance, so I'm not sure why he can't in his programme. Which is at the stage of being a Huge Mess, but then, programmes so often are as they come together. I know mine is - it's finished, and just needs work, but boy, does it need work!

Not the right sort of ice for my dance moves, although I did do some relatively good back cross-rolls, I thought. Worked on back crossovers, too, concentrating on staying down in the knee - not sure if I succeeded or not.

[Skate@Delaware]

Weed: Went skating today, legs were sore from hitting the gym yesterday (squats-evil trainer!) It took a while to warm up. Spins were crappy to begin with. There was no way I could work on the sit spin or shoot-the-ducks!!! And to think I get to hit the gym again tomorrow! I'll have to have him lighten up on me a bit so I'm not wrecked for my lesson.

Still having trouble "scooping" or pointing out the toe on the salchow. I know when I don't do it correctly (which is all the time).:cry:

4-Leaf Clover: Once I got going-in my new skates-it was good. Worked on a bit of everything, even the wicked mohawks for the show and the horrible back cross-rolls which are ok if I take them at a snail's pace. My waltz jump is NOT scratchy anymore!!!

Worked on the waltz-loop........which I'm finally getting, although it's 2-footed! AND when I did some scratch spins toward the end of the session (when I was really beat) I lifted my free leg up higher than I normally do and did some wicked fast spins!!!8O One of the mom's complemented me!

I like my new skates!!!! My coach said I can use "new skates" as an excuse for 1 week;) then nothing is forgiven.

Had a nice conversation with a man who was "acting up" in hockey skates...I went over to ask him what his problem was but I'm glad I didn't (I need to watch my mouth :frus: ). He was cross-training for a marathon and today was his "interval" day from his 18-mile run! He was actually very nice! He did apologize for getting too close to me while I was spinning! He said he got carried away and his skates were really sharp (3/8" roh).

AND, last item, they posted notices that this weekend, all the public skates were CANCELLED due to a hockey tournament! There goes my Friday night date night with hubby (we usually skate at the 4-6 pm session).

[mikawendy]

LoopLoop--congratluations on your double sal! Woo hoo!

Skate@Delaware--I'm confused--if the guy was in hockey skates, how did he have a 3/8 inch radius of hollow? I thought hockey skates didn't have two edges and so didn't have a hollow. Or am I hopelessly clueless? I've actually never physically touched a hockey blade.

[Skate@Delaware]

LoopLoop--congratluations on your double sal! Woo hoo!

Skate@Delaware--I'm confused--if the guy was in hockey skates, how did he have a 3/8 inch radius of hollow? I thought hockey skates didn't have two edges and so didn't have a hollow. Or am I hopelessly clueless? I've actually never physically touched a hockey blade.
Actually, they do have a hollow-they just don't have a toepick! You can have them sharpened to any roh you want (assuming the boys know what they are doing ;) ).

They have edges just like ours, and a rocker (mostly, unless you are in real goalie skates which are pretty flat). I'm just not sure what kind of rocker they have-perhaps they get a choice? I don't know.

From what I know-most go with 1/2" roh. Some go deeper, some shallower. Pays to talk to everyone at the rink!

[sue123]

Clover: I'm getting new skates!

Weed: I found out they're cancelling the session I take my lesson's on for 3 weeks because of hockey. My coach was really mad about it, as is another coach who has a really high level skater (doing doubles and a few triples), since it's normally 2 weeks for the tournament, and is later in the year. And my coach is forbidding me from doing a sit spin without her watching, so no working on it for me.

[cassarilda]

Just went to practise on a few things ... The rink was packed... the ice was crap... BUT there was ice, and I had time...

4 Leaf Clover:
My 3-turns are getting better... Im trying to make them neater... and Ive had some comments on how neat they look... which is nice :D

I also seem to be getting the hang of doing them at speed... and I have to stop my toe pick hitting the ice when I do it.

My forward crossovers are getting much better!!! Not skating in jeans helps SO much!! :D

My speed/power is increasing... and I think Im getting my balance and posture correct during this..

I tried some "shovels" - or slip chasses!! we'll see...

My backwards is improving...

I did some lunges, and they are getting better.

Weed:

I practised a mohawk sequence that hubby told me about, but of course when I got home, I realised I was doing the easier version silly me!! oh well.. it was a good start anyway... :roll:

There were many people there, and they didnt seem to get the idea that all I wanted was a very little circle at one end.. they could have the rest of the rink...

My back crossovers are awfully scratchy and not proper... I think I have to bend more and lean in more. but Im practising... thats all that matters :D

So, we'll see how we go... Hubby might come along on Friday, which will be very nice :D

[blisspix]

4 leaf clover - First double jump in about 7 years, double loop! Woo that felt good. I had a Emily Hughes style grin after that one. Most everything else is going sort of ok at the moment.

Weed - Axel has disappeared entirely, I'm not too worried about it though.

[aussieskater]

Major weeds (need some weedkiller here) - missed Monday's practice because of a yuck cold. Missed Tuesday's synchro training because it wasn't on and no-one remembered to tell us... :roll:

So come today (Wednesday), I get the kids off to school, hop in the car and head for the rink (I normally manage a double session on a Wednesday - first session group class and lunchtime session dance practice with DH). Not 5 minutes from home, I have a tyre blowout. On a blind corner. A real proper "bang" blowout. (Quite scary really.) And it's pouring rain. 8O

I sprinted in the downpour to the local service station (in my *short* skating skirt and tights...but sadly my legs aren't that good! :) ), & they came and changed the tyre (I would have done it, how-to manual in hand, but I already knew I wasn't strong enough to get the spare out - those tyres are heavy suckers!). The servo then kindly informed me that I need 4 (count 'em, 4) new 4x4 tyres. Owie. $$$. I mean, I knew they were getting a bit worn down and that no way would they make the next government safety check, but like skates, I figured they were merely nicely worn in! :P

Because of all that, I only made last hour of the first session. So I figured I'd do the second (lunch) session really hard to make up for it. Lo and behold, straight after I stepped on the ice for the lunch session (having paid), I got a message from my daughter's preschool - "She's running a really high temperature and sick - please come and get her." That obviously killed the lunch time session and the dance practice with DH. And because she'll be home tomorrow, it kills Pilates tomorrow too. :cry:

4-leaf clover (keep the weedkiller away!)

Daughter's OK - I took her to the doctor's immediately, and it transpires she has the latest and greatest virus doing the rounds. Nothing more sinister as far as the doc could tell. :)

(More relevant to the skating topic) Coach in the group class had us doing these exercises (xo then 3-turn or mohawk, then back xo, then step fwd, then repeat) plus graceful arms. I sorta kinda managed one of the arms. Hey, for someone who still thinks that I'm more stable keeping my arms glued to my thighs because that way I'm a rectangle rather than an upside-down triangle, this was a breakthrough. :D

[Mrs Redboots]

Mega kudzu infestation: Have somehow or another stressed my back, which was sore enough this morning to impact my skating quite badly. So only an hour on the ice, and trying to practice our spin with Husband (which is what I think may have done my back in) turned out to be not a great idea. Had to come home and stretch, and apply Radian B and ibuprofen gel.

I forgot to take our shiny new VCR to the rink, which I'd meant to do to video husband's programme (I've promised not to post it!). Nor our free dance, either, but then, we didn't run through it completely because of my back.

4-leafed clover: However, we got some useful work done. Husband had his lesson today as we were away on Sunday, and has almost got his choreography sorted, which means all our programmes are getting there, slowly. His programme is beginning to look as though it will work.

As is our free dance. We didn't do a complete run-through, but did do bits. I do think the coach is seriously trying to kill us, with what he wants us to do on that lift! I didn't actually say "You're having a laugh!" but I did think it!

We also worked on our Cha-cha, which is coming, and because of my back, we decided to work on the Rhythm Blues, as least stressful. It was good, because he pointed out a fault I hadn't known I was doing, so was easy to correct, and then almost transformed my closed chasses with a very simple correction! So that was all good stuff. At which point, Husband decided he'd make the early train if he rushed off, and I didn't stay much longer as my back really was tired.

I just hope it feels well enough for dance club tomorrow, as I'm down a whole hour's exercise so far this week!

[sk8pics]

4 Leaf Clover: Back on the ice yesterday for the first time since my stupid off-ice clutzy fall and it was nice. I'm just glad I didn't fall again! Can't say as I made any progress but at least I didn't really regress too much.

Congrats to Loops on her double sal! :bow:

Go Terri and Go Debbie on your bronze moves tests!:bow:

I get back to my lessons today and I'm looking forward to it!

Happy skating everyone,
Pat

[badaxel]

Four Leaf Clover: I passed my Silver Freeskate test today! So, now I can go to Chicago next year! (After what you all are going through with Dallas, though, I might be the only one!)

Weeds: I really hate the axel! :frus: After over a year, I still have not landed a single one cleanly! The unclean ones are 50/50- 50% with a 1/4 cheat and 50% human zamboni.

[Isk8NYC]

Gee, I thought your name was a tough-guy/chick statement, like "bad-***". I didn't think you meant your axel-bility! Hang in there and keep working on the axel, it'll come with time. Congrats on passing Silver.

[Rusty Blades]

Weeds: The season is rapidly coming to an end, there are special events, competitions, and testing all over the place so my schedule is so screwed up I need to carry my PDA with me to keep track of which club at what time and for how long.

4-Leaf Clovers: After fighting with my RF edges for a week (gimme a break, I'm just a beginner!) I finally figured out what was wrong (insufficient weight transfer) and they started coming together last night. Wonderful - now I have 4 of my 8 edges back - only 4 more to go and I can start DOING something!

[jazzpants]

4 Leaf Clover:

Alt Back crossovers wasn't too bad!!! At least my secondary coach didn't kill me over them. Still have to remember to keep my knees bent throughout the move though. But otherwise, it's good enough to move onto the...

BIG STINKIN' WEED!!! (Screw Weed Killer! Need ATOMIC BOMB!!!) :evil:

Forward Power 3's. Oh, dear!! I'm not sure I wanna go into it. Let's just say it's bad enough that I'm not considering taking that Bronze Moves test until this move is fixed... and that could be a long time since it's got MAJOR problems with the pushoff (and therefore with power.)

I got stuff to work on WRT this particular move this week. :frus: (Gawd! I hate this move!!! HATE IT! HATE IT! HATE IT!!!) :x :evil:

I'll add my "GOOOOOO Terri and Debbie!!!" here!!! You two remember... "UP YOURS!!!" :twisted: And congrats to badaxel on your Silver FS test!!! :mrgreen:

[coskater64]

Congrats badaxel on passing the Silver FS!

4 leaf clover: Jumps are coming back slowly, landed in excess of 10 2sows, even in the program, landed the 2toe but had to use hand to save it. Hip seems to be working much better thanks to cortisone shot. 2loop seems hopeful and spinning was freakishly good. Tomorrow will be horrible, coach will actual be there and expect to see it all.

weed: partnering for dances, he wants me to be so close it is difficult. I blush through the entire dance...luckily coach is cute, but not my type. :??

[Isk8NYC]

I actually skated today and I met a very nice adult skater who lurks here from time to time.

Clover:
The MITF are coming along fine; this lady recommended testing the regular track for these, Adult track for freestyle. (Since the test structure changed after I stopped skating, I have very few USFSA tests on file now. It's going to be a summer project.)

Crossovers are wonderful and coming much easier now that my knee's stopped aching.

Weeds:
I really struggle to center my spins at this rink. Never have a problem at my home rink; guess I need to get more practice on this ice. (Yes, I'm still very loud since it's a sand-based rink.)

Not ready to start jumping; need to protect my knee for a while until my weight starts to drop.

[dbny]

Weeds
I need a coach! The Monday freestyle session is a bit crazy. Full of kids skating programs and Novice moves. I don't feel comfy there anymore.

Clover
While yet again contemplating my big problem in Prelim power threes, which is getting free leg out from behind after BXO and pushing to FO edge, I suddenly realized that an exercise I had given a student for BXO's might help me here. I did a BXO and held the BI edge with free leg in tucked position. Let the edge deepen, feel all my weight on that skate....and bingo, push onto FO edge! Why has it taken me sooo long to realize that that is where the problem lies? Of course any degree of turn out would help, but the real issue is being firmly on the BI edge. I have no problem with that at all; was demo-ing it and asking adult students to do it to get more power on their BXO's. I just hadn't applied it to this move :roll:.

Read the rssir FAQ re three turns and gave it a try: FO edge, rotate shoulders, bend knee, rise up and turn should happen by itself. Works fine for RFO, but not for LFO because of mutant pronation :x. I also read their info on Mohawks, which said turnout is not needed. Only 90' turnout will do the job. Guess what? I have less than 90'. I suppose that is hard for those with great turnout to imagine. My ex-coach never really got how hard it made certain things. Anyway, in spite of the serious lack of turnout, I tried some of the pointers in the FAQ, and they did seem to help somewhat.

[sunshinepointe]

I needed to skate today - thank goodness I was able to sneak out of the office on lunch for a while to get some much needed aggression out. I didn’t skate with a particular agenda today, just tried to hit on a little of everything during warm up so that I could attack todays lesson. Beth came in with a pair of used Phantoms that she’ll sell to me for 100 bucks, but the rocker and toe pick are slightly messed up so I need to see if they can be fixed. She needs to see my Graf skates on me to determine if they’ll work or not so I’ll bring them in tomorrow. I’m a little hesitant about them still, but we’ll see what she says.

So since I was warmed up we jumped into the Waltz 8. It’s not there yet - I asked how far it was from passing and she says close, but it’s just too inconsistent. But, by the same token she remarks how much it’s improved from when I first started and that I should be proud of what it looks like now, but not satisfied. Fair enough. We then moved onto the 3 turn pattern - tons of notes on this, but the most remarkable thing is my “other” (left) side. It’s not the 3 turns that are causing the problem, its the stupid transition. So, I need to spend a considerable amount of time working on that sides transition to get it to where the right side is…which isn’t great in itself but improving, I hope. After that we had about 10 minutes left so we ran through some jumps. She wanted a waltz jump, I gave her a waltz jump! She said it got good height, nice extension…I had to ask if she was watching me at the time but she rolled her eyes and said 3 in a row. And ew. I’m not good at stringing waltz jumps together - other combos I’m okay with, but the 3 waltz jumps in a row are evil as far as I’m concerned and I don’t see the point in doing them. Okay, I DO see the point in doing them I just hate doing them. We moved on to salchows and she fixed a few things and then I did a couple of good ones. Then, onto the toe loop where she commented about my flow, or lack thereof, and I commented about my picking anxiety and she again rolled her eyes and told me to just do it. So, I did and it was better. Then she wanted to see loops. I did a loop from a RFI3 and she just said, “Great, now this time make it look like you’ve left the ice”. DOH. I did another one, had a not-so-good landing but she didn’t care and wanted to see from back crossovers. These weren’t bad, but my arms were a little funky so we took care of that and then I had a semi-decent loop.

After we were chatting about testing and such and somehow we got onto the topic of apparel and I said “Thank goodness they changed the rules for women to wear pants” and then SHE said “Well it’s nice for other people but you’re wearing a dress”. The heck?! I told her that the test session better be in July because I need a whole lot of weight to lose if I’m going to stuff myself into a tiny skating dress. I’m just SO not a dress person, why does she want to torture me? Plus its SO cold on testing/competition days. I might need to get a practice dress so I can start mentally preparing for public humiliation.

I also showed Beth my not-quite-outside spread eagle and she told me that she knew I had the hips for it. She tried showing me how to get into it from back crossovers but for some reason I’m not capable of doing it this way - I need to start from an inside spread eagle and go to an outside. She swears doing it this way is a zillion times harder but for me its not. Don’t know why. Then we worked on Ina Bauers and she gave me homework - do a Bauer and then step into a salchow. I told her she was crazy but I would work on it. My Ina Bauer isn’t that good to begin with, but I’ll keep working. Then I had to rush back to work so no extra practice time, but I have another lesson tomorrow so I’ll work on stuff then. Yay skating!

[Terri C]

I'll add my "GOOOOOO Terri and Debbie!!!" here!!! You two remember... "UP YOURS!!!" :twisted: And congrats to badaxel on your Silver FS test!!! :mrgreen:
Way to go badaxel!
Add my moves from todays lesson to the weed pile please!
The fix sounds simple- to bend my knees, but I feel as if I'm bending them enough! Never mind the fact that there are too many kids out there with varied levels of ability, so I'm watching both ways!!

Still no sound system!@

Four leaf clover:
Skating director told me today that I'll get a half hour free since we were gipped a 1/2 hour on Monday!!

[sk8guy71]

4 Leaf Clover ---
My forward swizzles are coming along beautifully! I'm actually up to swizzling with some speed. lol My half-swizzles aren't half-bad, either (in between dodging other skaters cutting across my circle). I just need to work on starting them from a complete stop. Right now, I have to give myself a little starting push to get going, but then I'm fine. I also got my two-foot turn today! I was having a helluva time getting it (I'd either not get my feet all the way around or I'd get around and then lose my balance and go into the windmills of death), but then I was like "why can't I get this? it should go like *this*" and then just did it. And then did it again. Woohoo! I think I've actually caught up to everyone else in my class who started 2 weeks before I did.

Weed ---
I can't backward swizzle to save my life. Hell, I can't even skate backwards, yet. I tried to swizzle backwards (thinking, logically, that it would be the same as forward, but in reverse) and couldn't get any movement at all. I tried to glide on one foot, but that was a hideous mess and ended up falling (not hard, though). I think my problem was I was leaning to far on the back of the blade, lost balance and tried to over-correct, and flung myself forward. Of course, my other fall was when I was heading off the ice to go home. :lol: Snagged a toepick and down I went.

And I *still* can't stop worth a crap.

[dbny]

No ice today, but I did stand in front of a full length mirror and practice the Prelim power-3 BI Choctaw :lol:.

4 Leaf Clover ---
Woohoo! I think I've actually caught up to everyone else in my class who started 2 weeks before I did.

Weed ---
I can't backward swizzle to save my life. Hell, I can't even skate backwards, yet. I tried to swizzle backwards (thinking, logically, that it would be the same as forward, but in reverse) and couldn't get any movement at all. I tried to glide on one foot, but that was a hideous mess and ended up falling (not hard, though). I think my problem was I was leaning to far on the back of the blade, lost balance and tried to over-correct, and flung myself forward. Of course, my other fall was when I was heading off the ice to go home. :lol: Snagged a toepick and down I went.


Way to go!

Backward swizzles - You are right, they are the reverse of F swizzles. You are also right about your weight. For B, it should be on the balls of your feet.
If you are able to get your toes together, try touching your knees together also. Then, press down into the ice with the part of your feet that is just behind your big toes. Push your knees apart at the same time. Keep your knees bent and keep your arms and hands at waist height in front of you. As your feet move back and apart, relax your knees upwards just a bit. Don't let them go completely straight, and don't bend at the waist. Pick something to look at so you don't look down at your feet, as that will have you bending over.

toepick - OUCH!

[Skate@Delaware]

Weed: I've agreed to skate at the Bronze level for our in-house competition. I'm not happy about this-not because I can't skate up to Bronze, but because pre-bronze isn't offered and there are 8 other people who could skate pre-bronze who now are knocked completely out! ERGH!!! And I need a sit-spin by April 8th! And I don't have one AT ALL!!!! And for the footwork segment, she put in some drunken sailors (the footwork, not the real ones) and, yes, more mohawks!

4 leaf clover: Ok, she saw me tap down on the salchow and I re-did it just to show her I could do one without being lazy (so there!) and she commented on how high my salchow was. So she added the toe-loop to the end and there's my combination jump! And she had me do several more salchows and she just watched.....thinking....and I didn't like the look in her eyes.....8O (why are coaches scarier when they think?) then we started working on my routine again and the spiral sequence which is cool. This routine will be kick-a** if I can get all that crap put in it and my music is only 1:30 not 1:40 (I forgot to ask if I should add the 10 seconds).

My homework: mohawks, drunken sailors, sit-spins! (bring on the butt pads-I gotta get lower!!!!!)

[auntlala3]

4 Leaf Clover - Got back skates after being sharpened and mastered, I think, Backward Swizzles.

Weed - Am now having a problem stopping with the newly sharpened blades. Can not snowplow for some reason, toes will just not turn in. IS this typical? Also trying to do pumps with left foot feels impossible, am a champ on the right but the left is another story. Also still working on edges.

I just started lessons about almost 6 weeks ago. 7 weeks ago I skated on the wall and didn't know how to stop, compared to then I feel like I could skate in the Olympics - LOL :lol:

[Mercedeslove]

I have no idea what to call this weeks lesson.

Coach Kim is setting me up so I can test, because that is my goal. So we worked with that. She said to start with the delta moves, so thats what we did. Well that's what I practiced.

She had me do moves from pre-Alpha - Gamma and said we should start with delta. I figure i will still have to test and pass the lower levels to test and pass delta and such. But i guess she didn't want to be stuck on stuff I knew and could do without a problem, and focus on the stuff I could work on. I fell a few times and hated myself for it.

She said I was doing good though and that everyone falls. We're gunna set up a date to test for everything and move from there. I'm kind of nervous though. i hope I don't make an ### out of myself.

We also go information on our spring ice show...I will probably be doing it with at the most three other people. It might end up being just me and this one girl. If she backs out I may. I don't think i should do a solo yet. People are paying to see this stuff.

Meh, hopefully next week will be with less falls and all. Hope you all have a great week and Happy St. Patricks day!

[quarkiki2]

Synchro practice last night. I did end up switching spots with someone, but not the person whom I'd expected. Seemed to go OK, though I've got to get used to turning the opposite directions of the way I usually turn. My freshly sharpened blades did not cause an issue, though I am having to adjust my speed in the opening of our long program or I'll completely outskate my line. I must be pushing harder in a chasse than the others.

I think my new placement will help out straight line footwork as I'm now in the middle and hit the footwork every time and the woman I'm switching with didn't always get all of it, so the line would bow a bit because the people on either side of her were slowing to grab her. The people on either side of me in my original spot always hit the footwork and skate faster, so if they can grab my switchee, they should pull her along a bit faster and the line should be straighter. We skate on slow ice, so for us to go from red line to red line on our ice usually puts us hitting the wall on faster ice.

The biggest difference in my new spot is that I'd fly through our last intersection and now I'm on the end of a line and I come to nearly a complete stop. D'oh!

Here's the best bonus: We've got a couple new members on the team and did some switching around with our dresses. I had an XXL and another teammate had an XL. We've both lost weight, so I'm wearing her XL and she's wearing someone else's L and I sold my XXL to a new teammate! Woo-hoo!! Down a size!!

[Skate@Delaware]

Here's the best bonus: We've got a couple new members on the team and did some switching around with our dresses. I had an XXL and another teammate had an XL. We've both lost weight, so I'm wearing her XL and she's wearing someone else's L and I sold my XXL to a new teammate! Woo-hoo!! Down a size!!
CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!

We switch costumes a lot for our ice shows-usually when it's kids changing parts because they've grown. It's great to switch to a smaller costume because you've lost weight!!! (we have to keep our costumes even though we've bought them :?? One girl got rid of hers on Ebay and the director got mad at her???) Whatever...

[phoenix]

Weeds: Was off the ice for 2 weeks sick as a dog, & was travelling before that, and will be travelling again next week, so this whole month is pretty much a write-off. Went in for a lesson yesterday, first time back, & lasted only about 10 minutes & ended up on the bench in the hockey box praying desparately not to pass out....once my heart rate got up, I just couldn't handle the exertion yet & couldn't breathe. Had to resist the strong urge to curl up right there on the bench & hang my head over the side! :roll: Coach scolded me for coming back too soon, but really, I had felt fine just standing/sitting around--didn't know how I'd feel once I started moving again.

Clovers: Well, ignoring coach's admonition I went back in this morning (though I also am feeling much brighter today). I just took it easy & worked on small things, twizzles, choctaws, edges. And stopped frequently to breathe. Choctaws are improving, it's been a very long haul working on them. Started last summer, couldn't do them at all, now pretty consistently decent.

And my new objective during practice is to do everything "prettily", even if I'm grinding to a halt, I'm still trying to keep my head up, really extend/stretch my free leg & point my toes, and have a pleasant look on my face. :lol:

[Isk8NYC]

4 Leaf Clover - Got back skates after being sharpened and mastered, I think, Backward Swizzles.

Weed - Am now having a problem stopping with the newly sharpened blades. Can not snowplow for some reason, toes will just not turn in. IS this typical? Also trying to do pumps with left foot feels impossible, am a champ on the right but the left is another story. Also still working on edges.

I just started lessons about almost 6 weeks ago. 7 weeks ago I skated on the wall and didn't know how to stop, compared to then I feel like I could skate in the Olympics - LOL :lol:

You're doing great! Keep up the hard work.
Yes, it is normal to feel unable to stop after a fresh sharpening, especially when they were very dull before the sharpening. You come to expect it after a while.

[Mercedeslove]

Weed - Am now having a problem stopping with the newly sharpened blades. Can not snowplow for some reason, toes will just not turn in. IS this typical? Also trying to do pumps with left foot feels impossible, am a champ on the right but the left is another story. Also still working on edges.


I have that problem too right after I get mine sharpened. It goes away after a few days of skating.

[NickiT]

Clover
I made it back on the ice for the first time in two weeks after being laid up with the flu. I have new blades so it was a chance to have a gentle skate to check they are OK which they are. My spins are still there and everything I tried worked fine so I'm happy with them.

Weed
I didn't have a great deal of energy, probably from being ill, so I took it carefully today. Also it was in my head that I had new blades so I was a bit tentative. The ice wasn't great today either.

Nicki

[sk8pics]

If your sharpener pays attention to you, and you tell him, he can wipe your blades down after the sharpening to remove some of the burrs, and you will not have so many issues with stopping after a sharpening. Unless you let them get really really dull before you get them sharpened! It takes me only about 5 minutes to adjust to a sharpening because my sharpener is careful, good (only takes off the minimum amount) and he wipes them down after. So I never lose my stop or my turns or my spins but suddenly I have so much more grip on my edges and I can skate faster!

[Skate@Delaware]

Weeds: sit spin is NOT happening! I just can not seem to get low enough, or get my free leg to the front, or get centered...... I had 2 that were close, but no cookie; had 20+++ that were not.:frus:

4 leaf clover: Ok, gym time is paying off, because now on my scratch spin, I can finally LIFT my free leg higher! Although it throws my balance off a bit and I need a Visa and Passport for the amount of traveling I do. Worked on my combination jump and it wasn't pretty, but I've got time.

AND, worked on the LOOP jump from back crossovers and am finally getting it!!!! Although I'm landing it 2-footed (barely a tap-down), I'm going to concentrate on landing it 1-footed!!!! Yay!!

Now, if I could only get that stupid sit spin :twisted:

ps-mohawks and drunken sailors are stupid

[sunshinepointe]

Today was another semi private lesson with coach and skate buddy. Before we even started I showed her my Grafs and she thinks that they're really not that big on me and with a pair of thin socks or tights I'll be just fine. Sweet! Now I'll get the Phantoms mounted on them and I'll have a pair of brand spanking new Graf Richmond Specials with barely used Phantom blades, for 200 bucks. 200 BUCKS! I REALLY lucked out - the Grafs feel so comfortable too, I can't wait to put them to use. I'll bring my new blades and skates to be mounted this weekend and hopefully I'll be in them by next week. Sweet!

So we started the lesson with waltz jumps - I did one and felt that something was just not right, so I checked my blade and it was SO loose. I had to get off the ice and tighten the screws so I didn't kill myself. When I came back Beth asked to see a salchow but I told her I didn't even do a waltz jump so she said okay, do it! I did one and she and Kerri were both like, that was great! I wasn't really sure it was but they insisted it was definitely one of my better ones. Hmmm, maybe I'm on to something.

I did a salchow and got burned by the check. I fixed it, then was told not to look down. I fixed that, then I needed more rotation. Sheesh. Later on working on the salchow I FINALLY figured out good timing for the free leg scooping action. I actually was getting good height on it and it looked like a jump. Now I just need to get better flow throughout the jump and I'll be set.

We moved on to toe loops and I was so worried about where I was picking and staying down in my knee that I had no flow whatsoever and my arms were really stiff. Once Beth got me to relax a little the jump flowed perfectly.

Then on to loops - I did two of my best loops ever and naturally Beth wasn't looking at me. Then I did another couple of average ones and she seemed satisfied, although did comment that she wants the legs crossed tighter. She had me move onto loop-loop combos and for some reason they were working for me today. The takeoff for the second one is kind of shaky - she believes this is because my legs aren't right in the first one, again referring to the crossing. I have no problem doing the crossing from the RFI3, but on back crossovers it doesn't seem to work. Sigh. It needs work. At least I was able to do a loop-loop combo. Later on I did a string of jumps - loop, half loop, salchow, loop - but purely by accident and boy were they ugly...I was simply trying to stay upright lol.

Then, I couldn't believe my ears, but she wanted to move onto the flip. Eeek! I hadn't practiced the flip in ages, but I went and did a pretty clean one. Beth looked thoughtful for a moment and then gave me a laundry list of things to work on. Again, I'm not crossing my feet in the air at all, and she doesn't think I'm getting my weight over my right side nearly enough. Shen gave me a couple of exercises to work on getting over that side after the pick but I can tell that it's going to take me a LONG time to fix my bad habits because I had been practicing the jump wrong this whole time. In my defense, my past coach is the one that told me my flip was fine so I never bothered to question if it was right or not. Sigh.

We ran out of time, but Beth said that we're going to start with loops next week. She'll give us a few minutes to warm up on our own, but doesn't see the need to do waltz jumps, then salchows, then toe loops every week when we pretty much already know what we need to work on. Fair enough. She also wants to hit on spins next week, which I'd love to do since I haven't had much spin technique in a good while.

On my own I worked on scratch, back, camel and sit spins. I also did a couple lunges and shoot the ducks for laughs, and I also did some outside spread eagle work and Ina Bauers. I know that I can do them, I just need to get enough speed and confidence to lean back on the spread eagle and arch more on the Bauer. It'll get there one day I suppose.

Later on I realized something about the waltz jump position in the air. Difficult to describe here, but I'm curious to see if doing on land translates to on the ice - it might just help with body position and flow if nothing else.

I hope everything works out fine with my skates - I got them for such a steal...the break in process will be interesting to say the least though, I hated breaking in my Jacksons and they were super comfy too. It's frustrating not being able to skate the same way that you're used to though because of new skates - AND new blades. It'll all be worth it in the long run though.

[sk8guy71]

Went and practiced today and I'm happy to report that my two-footed turn is about 80% consistant -- as long as I'm not thinking about it when I do it. :lol: As soon as I mentally focus on it and think *hard* about doing it, I can't do it (and stay solidly upright) to save my life. In fact, when I just go "okay, 2turn" and do it without thought, it's so easy it's almost like I'm an idiot for ever worrying about it. I can also forward swizzle (with, what seems to me at least, a decent amount of speed) from one side of the rink to the other -- zip, zip, zip. My 1/2-swizzle was...um...okay today. It still feels a little scratchy to me. When I'm going slowly around the circle with steady, deliberate motions, I have the most problems. If I'm going fast, it seems much easier to achieve proper push. I actually think I like going fast on the ice --- at least until I realize and think about how fast (or seemingly fast to me) I'm going, I start getting apprehensive in my movements and position and start faltering with my balance. I also attempted to work on backwards swizzles today and, while not the greatest in the world, I did manage to at least get *some* movement backwards and squeeked at a couple of backwards swizzles. I think it helped me to start my work on them with a push-off from the boards to get that initial backwards momentum going and *then* working on the actual footwork involved so that my body could get the feel of position before moving on to doing them from a standstill. That'll definitely be a new focus for me in the coming week and I'm determined to have those backwards swizzles down pat by next Saturday's goup lesson. I was so pumped about that 2-foot turn that I considered attempting a one foot glide --- then I reconsidered, realizing that I'm not all *that* steady on *two* feet yet. Baby steps, boy, baby steps. :lol:

[cassarilda]

I also attempted to work on backwards swizzles today and, while not the greatest in the world, I did manage to at least get *some* movement backwards and squeeked at a couple of backwards swizzles. I think it helped me to start my work on them with a push-off from the boards to get that initial backwards momentum going and *then* working on the actual footwork involved so that my body could get the feel of position before moving on to doing them from a standstill. That'll definitely be a new focus for me in the coming week and I'm determined to have those backwards swizzles down pat by next Saturday's goup lesson.

My backwards swizzles were AWFUL about 2 or so weeks ago... now they are no problem... keep practising, and you'll just 'click' with it one day :D What really helped me was the imagine tracing a curvy woman ;) and to SIT, bending your knees, not bend forward from the waist... the power comes from your knees... youre doing well!!


OK... today... yes, in case you havent guessed yet, my skating frequency has increased (probably to the detriment of my uni work :roll: )...

Also, just wanted to make sure that you all dont mind if I do my reports as I do my sessions... if you would prefer a weekly summary instead, just let me know

Friday 17th March 06.
My husband and I went down for the hour prior to the public... its for 'regular' and advanced figure skaters (which is me now!! the regular.. not advanced ;) )... it was nice, the ice wasnt really awful and snow laden... yet... and there werent too many people there...

4-leaf Clover:

I have my coach... my HUSBAND!!! Yes, we're trying it again... at least this time I can basic skate... and he has changed tactics (cos I mentioned to him that I need more encouragement than scolding), so it went well...
I was very proud of hubby, because whilst he thought he was crap and slipping off his edges (lack of practise, ice quality and blades that need sharpening)... he mentioned it to someone else, who promptly laughed at him and told him how good he was :D I think he needs to hear it from someone else other than me sometimes.. he is very good, and has amazingly deep edges, and is so smooth, everyone was watching him (apparently he makes it look so easy, he looks lazy... according to a lady there )... now just imagine what he will be like on good ice, with sharp blades, and more practise! oh and a full size rink
Forward Crossovers - someone mentioned here about how hard it is to do 'pretty' and 'precise' crossovers .. ie. NOT the hockey step overs... well, guess what? thats right, hubby is getting me started on the smooth ones already :roll: its only a good thing.... means I wont get into major bad habits... it is nice not having to STEP over... which was freaking me out.. sliding and gliding is a lot nicer... it wasnt all good, but thats below under weeds
One foot inside edge glides... getting better!!
My boots are getting more comfy, and Im actually lacing them less tightly now, and I hit the edges easier!!
3-turns... were nice and smooth... and Im getting there with the step out afterwards
Backwards Crossovers - I had the wrong idea when it came to which leg the weight should be on.... hubby soon fixed that... so Ive decided that should be a good thing still lots of work to do, but again.. will get there... I think that needs to be my new motto :D
One of the 'older' (read: more experienced) figure skaters, who is always very focussed on her skating, and never really paid me much attention, actually saw me, came over when she got off the ice, and started chatting to me!! 8O We were comparing notes as to why we were at the rink that day.. I will put this new breakthrough down to the fact that neither of us were skating, Ive always smiled at her, and she's seen me around a lot :)


Weeds:
ok... here we go...

Publics... did I mention how much I hate crowded publics? I know I have to share the ice... I dont think anyone told the rest of the people there!! All I want is my little circle!!! I had one person say "Oi! careful!" :x when I fell down near them... I fell cos they were in my way!!! :evil: how hard is it to see that I am going in a constant circle in the middle, and just to stay out of the way!! I apparently scored about a 8/10 for my Fusser-Poli Death Stare - I lost points because I didnt maintain it for long enough :halo: I understand some people cant help it, and Im nice to them, but the ones who are frequent offenders really annoy the hell out of me!! ahh well... thats publics for you.... the thing is of course, that if I wasnt so desperate for ice time, I wouldnt care cos I wouldnt be there to practise!!
Foward Crossovers - neat, smooth, glides... not really happening... Im not pushing from the back foot.. and Im pointing my back toe, instead of turning it in and lifting it... I was called at from an older lady there to lift my toes, so even she noticed!! :oops: Oh well... I'll get there..
Backwards... hubby was teaching me backwards stroking... Im having trouble keeping my free leg up high enough (he is teaching me dance strokes, so free leg in front, not back)... and when I bring feet together to push, I am doing a round push and not staying on the edge properly until the foot change (does that make any sense?)... and my front foot is pushing AROUND (like a half swizzle, which is what Ive been doing up until now), instead of forward.. again, will get there eventually.
I fell over... not on my sore knee (yes, its STILL sore)... went to get up.. and guess what knee I knelt on??? thats right... my SORE one!!! OUCHY! Im an idiot :roll:
My arms are killing me.. mainly my forearms, when I go to pinch or grab something... hubby said its cos I was over-checking...
My blister on my foot (inner heel of my foot) is very sore and still raw and burst.. doesnt help that Im not giving it time to heal... but it will have 2 whole days next week (Mon and Tuesday) before I skate again on wednesday :roll: I bought some blister pack for it, and it seems to be working, so I will keep perserviering...

So yes... thats today....

Watch out for tomorrows report, and Sundays as well <insert smiley here> (I ran out of my allocated 15)

[Mrs Redboots]

Weeds: It's St Patrick's day, and I forgot until we were half-way to the rink; too late to wear my green bootcovers and my shamrock earrings! And Husband forgot, too - that's worse, he's Irish! No, he doesn't have pierced ears, but he might have worn a green shirt, and I could have lent him my spare pair of green bootcovers!

Left inside edge still skiddy when I'm dancing with him, which did our Rhythm Blues no good at all. And I discovered I didn't have any spare batteries for my MP3 player, and it died on me. Plus we have none at home - I'd put them on the shopping-list, but they weren't bought, and not put back on the shopping list, either. Grrrrrr. :roll: :roll: :x :frus:

Am I ever going to master those [expletive deleted] level 3 Dance Moves? The cross-cuts were relatively okay today (I think my edges were a lot better), but I couldn't manage quite a length of them before having to stop, and the cross-rolls were all scratchy and toe-picky.... grrrr..... :x :x :x :roll: :frus:

Four-leaved clover, or, since it's St Patrick's day, shamrocks: Our run-through of our free dance went okay, except we didn't finish the lift in the right place, and there is so very little time between the dismount and the step sequence that if we don't get it in the right place, it messes the whole thing up. As we weren't doing it to music today, that didn't matter. The rest of it went well, except we need to sort out what the Husband is doing at the very end of the dance, right now he's standing there like a lemon while I do a final pirouette under his arm, but we'll get there! I hope.

His programme went well, although his triple 3-turn on his left foot was a bit iffy, and then his double 3 on his right foot was wobbly. But apart from that.... don't you hate people who can do that sort of thing, even a bit iffily?!

My Interp went well, I think I've worked out how to get the first twizzle big and fast, which means the 2nd twizzle (where I have my hands in an unconventional place) works, too. Debating doing a salchow instead of a 3-jump, but my 3-jump has got just a tad bigger (it actually leaves the ice now, only a couple of millimetres, but it does), and my sal hasn't, so perhaps not. See what Coach says.

And at the very end I started working on the 3s in the field exercise - and to my incredulous joy, I actually did a LBO3 that flowed! Not a lot, but definitely more than usual. What's more, I did it twice. Then I tried it on the other foot, and that was very nearly flowy, too! :) :)

My BI3s are still totally not happening, though. I'm beginning to get the turn, but I can't rock my weight far enough back on my skates to get any flow out, so have to do a discreet push to get back to the line, which is so not what's required! Ah well, if I pass my Level 3 Dance Moves, I won't have to test these, although I do plan to go on working on them.

[batikat]

For yesterday since I didn't make it to the rink today.

clover: am beginning to enjoy doing alternating jumps in both directions. I can now do lengths of alternating 3 jumps (waltz jumps) (by the end of the length I sometimes forget which is my 'good' way!), alternating salchows (these blew my mind the first time I tried them the 'wrong' way but I'm beginning to get it now but not very big) and alternating toe-loops (these actually seem the hardest to master in the wrong direction). Can't use them in a programme of course but it's excellent for practising control and a mental workout.

Did a couple of good loops and a couple of decent Flips - I still tend to forget to turn my head in the direction I'm jumping but when I do it is so much better.

Have found a piece of music I really like and if I can cut it to right length coudl actually start work on a new programme soon. I'll miss my Pirates of the Caribbean music though. I loved that film so much that I really enjoy skating to the music.

weeds:spins have gone awol. Can still get the rotations mostly but Iusedto be able to centre them pretty well and lately they've travelled everywhere.

Alternating outside 3's - still think these are evil; stepping directly from BI to FO is so hard. Much prefer doing the waltz 3'a exercise where you get to change foot between so the step forward is from a BO to FO but sadly these are not on the test!

[Skate@Delaware]

Debating doing a salchow instead of a 3-jump, but my 3-jump has got just a tad bigger (it actually leaves the ice now, only a couple of millimetres, but it does), and my sal hasn't, so perhaps not. See what Coach says.

Try hitting the gym, or at least working your quad with some squats! That will strengthen your muscles and give you more "ooomph!" on your sal, as well as help your spins. Trust me on this! You don't even need to us weight if you don't want....Just use good form, keep your feet about shoulder width apart and sit down until your thighs are parallel to the floor (don't push your knees past your feet). Hold for a second then go back up.

Batikat: My daughter selected the Prologue piece from Pirates for her program!! Love that music!!! Her choreography really is cool! In the beginning, she does some sword-fighting moves!

[Mrs Redboots]

Try hitting the gym, or at least working your quad with some squats! That will strengthen your muscles and give you more "ooomph!" on your sal, as well as help your spins.Er - that's what I'm afraid of.... I'm not sure I actually want any more "oomph" on my jumps, they're quite scary enough as they are! Don't really like jumping. :oops: But I'm doing squats anyway, for other reasons. Some of the time....

[cassarilda]

I didnt go skating today... :x

Hopped in the car nice and early (7.45am)... ready to get there early, with a few necessary stops on the way..... like an atm for money ;)

the car wouldnt start 8O ... the immobiliser wouldnt start!!! GRRRAAA!!! but it was only the battery of the car, so easily fixed.

Called the RACV... they came around (about 40mins) and jump started us... we thought, we'd get to skating, and then call the battery van to change the batteries...

Got half way to the rink, when the car battery decides to cark it, on the onramp to the freeway!!!!! :frus: We didnt even have enough power for the hazards!!! 8O

Had to get a tow from there (for about 200m) (another 20min wait) - for "safety" reasons - and then wait for the battery van to get there... (about 20mins wait again) changed the battery... bye bye $137 :cry: .... and FINALLY got to the rink at about 10.45/11am... COMPLETELY missed my lesson.... it took us 3 hours to get to the rink... not good!! :frus:

Hubby got to skate (final dance club for about 6months - getting kicked off for hockey) , but he was SO tired because he pushed the car off the road onto the curb so we werent blocking the onramp... :( poor baby... Ive given him a neck rub as a thankyou (even though he was driving when the car stalled ;) :) )



SO... no skating today, but its probably a good thing.. gives my blister and knee some time to heal... ;) My chemist had a go at me, cos I wasnt having 'time off' to let it heal... the other girl who works there understood... some people just dont get it... I cant stay off the ice... its too much fun!! ;) and some of the other skaters dont understand why I wont wear knee pads... its my choice... I just dont want to have a security blanket which may lead to me being petrified when I dont wear the knee pads... my security blanket should be good technique!! and how am I going to know something isnt right, unless it hurts (however slightly) when I do it wrong? ;)

So... lesson tomorrow... I saw my group lesson teacher there yesterday, and I assured him I was coming to class today, so I will have to explain when I see him tomorrow ;)

[Skate@Delaware]

Er - that's what I'm afraid of.... I'm not sure I actually want any more "oomph" on my jumps, they're quite scary enough as they are! Don't really like jumping. :oops: But I'm doing squats anyway, for other reasons. Some of the time....
Even if you don't get more "oomph" if you don't want any, you will end up with the ability to CONTROL everything in the jump better!!!! AND you will have even sexier legs! Trust me on this! And, while you are there, you can add some upper-body stuff, just to stay even.....:D AND while you are building a bit more muscle (high reps, lower weights) you will speed up your metabolism a bit more, which women above 40 need to do. Especially us, because we sure as heck don't want that weight creeping back on!!!!!

[sk8guy71]

Had my group lesson this morning and Ben (my instructor) told me that my 2-foot turn was (and I quote) perfect! He specifically commented on the fact that I did the turn without making a single sound on the ice and used me as an example. My backward swizzles are coming along slowly but surely -- I'm definitely getting movement now, but they're no where near as smooth as I'd like. We started working on backwards wiggles today. The less said about those the better :frus: I'm also happy to report that I can do a one foot glide now! Granted, it's not the prettiest glide in the world, but I can do it. :lol: So, before the next class next week, I'm determined to work and have my backwards swizzles, wiggles, and 1-foot glide down pat.

[Tessa]

Weeds: Had one of those skating weeks a week and a half ago when you wonder why you even bother. Then had a business trip so was off ice for a week. Came back today and

Clovers! Had a great practice. Copied one of the kids I saw skating and put my hands on my knee during the sit spin instead of holding them out. Man oh Maneshevitz! did I spin faster. It was so fun! Did a few lovely backspins with hands over the head. One of my adult friends and her coach caught it and applauded. Man did I need this practice today.

Congrats to all the double jump landers! WOW. And good luck to all on upcoming tests.

More weeds -- yet another business trip coming up so I'll miss more skating and then one of my rinks closes for the season before I get back.

Oh and congrats on the going down a size. Isn't that the BEST?

[mikawendy]

I didnt go skating today... :x

Hopped in the car nice and early (7.45am)... ready to get there early, with a few necessary stops on the way..... like an atm for money ;)

the car wouldnt start 8O ... the immobiliser wouldnt start!!! GRRRAAA!!! but it was only the battery of the car, so easily fixed.

Called the RACV... they came around (about 40mins) and jump started us... we thought, we'd get to skating, and then call the battery van to change the batteries...

Got half way to the rink, when the car battery decides to cark it, on the onramp to the freeway!!!!! :frus: We didnt even have enough power for the hazards!!! 8O

Had to get a tow from there (for about 200m) (another 20min wait) - for "safety" reasons - and then wait for the battery van to get there... (about 20mins wait again) changed the battery... bye bye $137 :cry: .... and FINALLY got to the rink at about 10.45/11am... COMPLETELY missed my lesson.... it took us 3 hours to get to the rink... not good!! :frus:


Cassarilda, sorry to hear of your car woes! I'm glad you were safe despite the fact that the car decided to stall on near the freeway. When I had my old car (16 yrs old, 169k miles or so), I was stopped at a stoplight when my alternator and battery both conked out. I had been driving on the way to the mechanic to get a routine oil change and was about 5 minutes away. Then the replacement alternator that the parts company sent to my mechanic turned out to be bad, so I had to take my car back in (luckily I noticed the problem before the car died!). The first time the car died though, I was very lucky that it conked out where it did and not about 10-15 minutes earlier, as I was driving through a neighborhood that I feel perfectly safe driving through, but not necessarily (when alone) walking around in.

I hope your knee is feeling better and that you get to skate again soon with no car adventures preventing that!

[Hannahclear]

4 Leaf Clover:

Two weeks until next competition, so it's time to get my game face on. I tried to stay focused throughout practice and think about feeling the ice and feeling the motions of the body.

I landed at least five gorgeous, clean lutz/loop combinations. That was very satisfying. Most of my other jumps were pretty on point.

My footwork is still improving, much better than the old sequence, but I still tend to get a bit clunky. Oh well.

My favorite part of my program is the FO spiral into right mohawk, back three, loop, sit/change sit. It's getting very smooth. I'm happy with the height of my spiral leg, but I want to lock the leg a bit more, it could be straighter.

The runthrough went pretty well. I missed the second lutz and of course I two footed the lutz/loop with the music, so that's my only weed.

I did a few axel attempts today. Not bad. I'm getting there. Must be patient. Plus, I am getting new boots, and I'm watching it. My current pair are quite broken down.

[Rusty Blades]

Weeds: Today was the last session at my home club, a GREAT bunch of adult skaters who have become like family in the last 2 months. I wont see some of them again until fall. (I will see others at "spring skating school" in April).

4-Leaf Clovers: The work on my RF edges was noticable and I got an "atta girl" from the coach :D

Weeds: Since I wont see my coach again until 3 April, she loaded me up with exercises to work on :roll:

4-Leaf Clovers: I have 3 more sessions at "my other club" to work on them :??

Weeds: My Jackson Competitors STILL do not fit right and they've been punched out more than a prize fighter! 8O

4-Leaf Clovers: The wonderful man at my pro shop talked to Jackson and Jackson is going to make a new set of boots to match my duck feet :P

[cassarilda]

Mikawendy,

Thankyou for your concern :D

Dont you love cars when they work? and HATE them when they dont?! :roll: :lol:


Happy to say that the car worked perfectly today.. :D Much better than I did. ;)

Clovers:
- I got to skating without mishap ;)
- My 3-turns are good :D

Weeds:
- my back crossovers SUCK! I cant get my change of weight thing happening... although I did do a few decent crossovers, and then had someone come too close, so I had to pull up.
- Forward crossovers... need to put my front foot over more, whilst maintaining the nice glide action (rather than the step).
- a boy tripped over on the ice, heel of his blade went THROUGH the ice, and pierced a pipe under the ice (YES, the ice is that thin :frus: )... so we had corrosive liquid spurting around the rink, and they had to close about 1/3 of the rink off... so I got very active then and tried to do as much as I could... my theory was that they'd have to melt the rink, patch the pipe, and then reflood it... I was dreaming obviously, becuase all they did was hack at the ice some more, patch the hole, and then started to shovel snow back into the hole that was created.. 8O 8O the ice was CRACKED, and TOO THIN, and all they do is patch it?? Ive been told the rink will be open tomorrow, so they obviously arent concerned that the rink/ice needs maintanence... especially if its that brittle and thin that a little boy falling and digging his blade into the ice punctures something...

Someone save me from this crappola ice!!!! :halo:

So today was mostly crap.... I dont know why... BUT I met a few nice people! :D so I suppose thats good :)

ahh well... i had to have a crap day soon!! :lol:

[AW1]

Erinna bummer about your car :frus:

Clovers for me :
- am slowly improving on my backward crossovers in CCW direction - what is it with CCW anything?! :roll:
- got some practice with the adult team at synchro today instead of with the novice team
- ordered my new skates this week finally!

Weeds for me :
- almost got killed at synchro practice when the seniors were training at the same time as the adults and I got stuck in between 2 lines of speeding seniors!!! There were puddles on the ice - I just hope I didn't make one 8O
- one of the girls in the senior team fell really badly and either dislocated her shoulder or broke her collar bone - it was horrible to watch and reminded me that sometimes when things go a bit too fast I need to take a little more care :?? especially after my close encounter with the senior team today.
- I've worked out why I'm so bad at doing CCW crossovers !! My left hip is so dodgy from childbirth - I just tried standing still and I can't actually cross that leg over in front !! :(

[Mrs Redboots]

Weeds: It really was one of those mornings that I wish I'd obeyed my first instincts and stayed in bed! Simply couldn't skate, it felt like I'd never been on the ice before. Some slow and steady stroking on all four edges - okay, all eight edges, but you know what I mean - helped a bit. But it really was one of those mornings!


I tried to video the Husband doing is free programme, only to find I hadn't pressed "Record"! And he didn't have another run-through.
Every time we tried to do a compulsory dance, I forgot the steps.
My MP3 player kept saying "Unknown Album" instead of the name of the dance we were trying to listen to.
I forgot the steps in the step sequence in our free dance.
When we tried to run through our free dance to the music, I accidentally pressed "Pause" instead of "Stop" after doing a volume-check, so it started in the middle - and by then it was the end of the session, so we couldn't do it again. Which was probably just as well, the way things were going!Four-leafed Clover: Husband landed his loop jump, twice! Badly, because he had his weight too far forward, but definitely one-footed. Of course, when he tried to keep his weight over his skate he two-footed it once and fell over once, but he definitely landed it. He used to have rather a good one, but never used it, and then stopped practising it because it stressed his knee, and he is only just getting it back.

Some of the other adult skaters waxed lyrical about our lift, but I can't think why as I know I looked like a sack of potatoes, and I hadn't been able to let go with my free hand.

We did a pretty good cha-cha and actually filled the rink. Then lost it on the second sequence..... sigh.....

Definitely not the best skating day ever!

[Skate@Delaware]

Weeds: Had show rehearsal today.....was in a bad mood which rapidly progressed as the hour went on because some of the skaters REFUSED to look behind them when they skated backwards :twisted: ....then we worked on our Pink Poppies routine and worked out some kinks.

4-leaf: Nothing...at all.

[Rusty Blades]

4 Leaf Clover!

After (almost exactly) 2 months on ice and with my forward edges getting stronger, my coach gave me an excercise to do yesterday getting ready for cross-overs. To heck with that! Today my left cross-overs came back - WAHOO! (Still have to work on cross-overs to the right - not comfortable getting my left foot that far forward yet.)

{Ok all you accomplished young skaters out there, cut an old woman some slack! It's been 36 years since I last skated and forward cross-overs are a BIG deal to me at this point :roll: }

[Skate@Delaware]

4 Leaf Clover!

After (almost exactly) 2 months on ice and with my forward edges getting stronger, my coach gave me an excercise to do yesterday getting ready for cross-overs. To heck with that! Today my left cross-overs came back - WAHOO! (Still have to work on cross-overs to the right - not comfortable getting my left foot that far forward yet.)

{Ok all you accomplished young skaters out there, cut an old woman some slack! It's been 36 years since I last skated and forward cross-overs are a BIG deal to me at this point :roll: }

GO DIANNE!!!!

Maybe you aren't quite so RUSTY after all!!!

[Mrs Redboots]

Whoo-hoooo! You go, Dianne, that's great news. The body doesn't forget, it just takes a long time to remember!

[auntlala3]

3/17 - Completed offically the Adult 1 class and received badge proving it - LOL. Since I was tested last week because the coach was not going to be there this week our sub coach started us on Adult 2. I can already see that crossovers and I are going to have a very bumpy relationship. LOL

Gliding on one foot getting better on right side but left side is another story. Also still working on those edges and am really getting frustrated. I am seeing circles in my sleep from just going around and around at the rink.

3/19 - Went to open skate to keep breaking in new boots and blades. I tried wearing a different sock with them. My feet tend to get cold so I had a thicker sock on but they didn't seem right. Yesterday I tried more of a trouser sock and felt much better. Am still having trouble stopping due to the sharpening. I can not wait till stopping is back in my skating vocabulary. Right now I just tend to swizzle myself to a slow speed, then try to snowplow. it is getting there though.

Worked on crossovers as best I could during the open skate, dodging kids etc. Could not really get into the center of the ice. There were some teens there practicing spins and jumps and I was just getting in there way. Plus there were also kids cutting through on their hockey skates, fun fun fun.

Also worked on pivots those are a little more difficult to work on during open skate. Almost as hard as working on backward skating. But did a few and they felt pretty good. The problem I have to work on is letting my pivoting leg get to far out. But that will come with time.

Question - What are mohawks, I keep seeing them being referred to but i am not sure what they are -

Thanks
Laurie

[Isk8NYC]

A mohawk is a turn where you "turn around" by changing feet and direction, but stay on the same edge. For example, you're skating on a back outside edge and you turn to step onto a forward outside edge. Reference (http://www.sk8stuff.com/f_recog/recog_turns_2_foot.htm)

[quarkiki2]

Hi, Laurie,

A mohawk is a turn from one direction to another (forward to back or back to forward), from one foot to another (more of a step than a turn, per se), from like edge to like edge (inside to inside or outside to outside).

The first ones you learn will probably be Forward Inside (FI) mohawks. A Rifht Forward Inside mohawk (RFI) starts on the right foot, skating forward on the inside edge. You bring your left foot to the front of your right with your heel of the left foot even with the middle of your right foot. Then you step onto your left foot going backwards on an inside edge.

There are eight mohawks: RFI, RFO, LFI, FLO, RBI, RBO, LFI, LBO. They can be open (stepping with your foot to the front of your skating leg) or closed (stepping with your foot to the back of your skating leg).

Hope that makes sense!

[Skittl1321]

3/17 - Completed offically the Adult 1 class and received badge proving it - LOL.

I think having a badge to prove it is a lovely thing! Nothing about a little meaningless external motivation.

We were at the rink Saturday and I pointed to the Basic Skills poster telling my husband "I passed that one (BS-1), and that one (2), and that one once I can do a two footed turn (3)" and he asked me "so what does that get you?" And I told him "The chance to take Basic 4 and 3 little patches"

He just laughed at me. Some people just don't understand :(

[flo]

Rusty - any time spent on crossovers at any level is time well spent!
Good job!

[Rusty Blades]

Gliding on one foot getting better on right side but left side is another story. Also still working on those edges ... seeing circles in my sleep

LOL! You and I need to get together! It was my left foot that had the edges first and my right foot that was brain dead for almost 2 weeks! I was getting SO sick of skating circles and 8's :evil: and my right leg was getting SOO tired - I swear I was spending 80% of my time on my right foot :roll:

I can not wait till stopping is back in my skating vocabulary

For some reason the only stop I could remember is a kind-of half turn into a backward one-footed stop - it looks good but DUH! Since my forward edges have come back I have actually been able to do a good one-footed (forward stop) - I think you will find the same.

[Rusty Blades]

Rusty - any time spent on crossovers at any level is time well spent!

Thanks Flo (and others)! Cross-overs used to be my "power move" when I skated 36 years ago and I used them as the lead in to my good jumps. When I started hitting my stride yesterday with the cross-overs, I SCARED MYSELF - I am not nearly skilled enough yet to be moving THIS fast! 8O I GOTTA slow them down before I kill myself :roll:

[jazzpants]

"Rusty no more" Blades - congrats on the crossovers! And trust me, I'm forever doing crossovers practices at each skate session. It's a necessary evil... :roll:

4 leaf clover

Sunny and warmer for once! Which means... less people on the ice at the public session!!! :twisted:
Got some really good practice on the Bronze moves to pattern!!! YIPPEE!!! :DWeed

Well, ice is still very hard and it took quite a while for me to get some give to the ice.
Didn't try any jumps.
Power 3's still slow. Technically correct, but slow. :frus: (Must fix technical problem by practicing exercises that secondary coach gave me.)
Still need to get blades sharpened. I forgot to do it yesterday. :(

[beachbabe]

Finally started to land my double sal consistently, yess. On to double flip...o how excited i am...better prepare my booty for more crashes. I may end up trying the harness for that and the axel. I've only used it twice before for the axel and it didnt help much so keeping fingers crossed it will help this time around.

[doubletoe]

I don't post on these too often because I'm just working away on stuff but I can't resist this time...

Clover: I finally finally finally landed my double sal last night! :) I think it was three clean ones altogether. Which means I have now achieved my goal in skating.

Weed: Still finishing behind the music in my new program, and messing up the footwork about half the time.

Wow, congratulations on your double sal!! I remember the day I landed my first double sal, I was driving home from the rink and suddenly didn't know what to do with myself because landing a double someday was my ultimate skating goal and I'd just done it, LOL! But remember, those quads and throw triple axels done by the top skaters never counted until they landed them in competition, so you still have that goal to conquer! :D

[doubletoe]

Er - that's what I'm afraid of.... I'm not sure I actually want any more "oomph" on my jumps, they're quite scary enough as they are! Don't really like jumping. :oops: But I'm doing squats anyway, for other reasons. Some of the time....

Just remember, the higher you jump, the more time you have to get all the way around and make sure you are in a safe landing position! ;)

[Skate@Delaware]

Just remember, the higher you jump, the more time you have to get all the way around and make sure you are in a safe landing position! ;)
I guess that's why they keep beating into our head "up not out" over, and over, and over.....and why my coach got excited when my salchow was higher....8O

[Thin-Ice]

I think having a badge to prove it is a lovely thing! Nothing about a little meaningless external motivation.

We were at the rink Saturday and I pointed to the Basic Skills poster telling my husband "I passed that one (BS-1), and that one (2), and that one once I can do a two footed turn (3)" and he asked me "so what does that get you?" And I told him "The chance to take Basic 4 and 3 little patches"

He just laughed at me. Some people just don't understand :(


My husband laughs at me too. I have a jacket that has all my test patches and competition pins on it. I never wear it -- it's too heavy and I'm afraid I'll lose one of the valuable (to me) pins. But I figure they train puppies and kids by using small rewards.. why shouldn't it work for Adult Skaters too?