polished or cracked 18-24

[flo]

In keeping with the glass fusing jewelry class I took this weekend.

Polished: My foot is feeling better from being tortured by my evil skates. The inflammation is less and I'm ready to skate again.

Cracked: Planned to skate Sat. am before class, and the pooch tore her dew claw (anyone know why it's called that?). Sooooo, another trip to the vet and one sad pup with a bright green bandage on her paw. Perhaps skating tomorrow night!

Hope all is well with everyone!

[phoenix]

Well, in a moment of insanity, I decided that maybe I'll try to put together a bronze FS program to sneak off & test somewhere. I haven't done jumps or spins in about 5 years........yeah. So the jumps are okay, not great, but probably good enough. The sit spin is marginally recognizable, needs to be hugely lower, & the backspin is, in fact, a series of twizzles (wonder where that comes from?? :halo: ) So it will be fun to play with anyway. It will also give me something completely different to do besides my dance stuff, & will help keep up some of the freeskating skills I worked on so hard this summer for the OD.

So I did my choreography today! It's fun....but our boom box was MIA, so I couldn't do it to the music, so I have no idea if it's too long or too short...I have a feeling it's too long. I kept the first half of my footwork from my tango, & have other footwork elsewhere, & probably I'll need to cut down on that to get in all the *sigh* jumps & spins. I kept thinking, what a shame I have to waste all this time jumping and spinning when I could be *skating*!! :lol:

I also borrowed some Gus Lussi spin technique tapes this weekend from a friend, & found some very useful info. My spins were much better centered than before. And when you're 6 feet tall & in dance blades, those spins just ain't gonna be real centered....:giveup:

[e-skater]

Hmmm, let's see.

"Cracked completely": ongoing, pathetic, work on the loop loop, and flip loop. It oughta be on a blooper reel! :roll: :lol:

"Cracked with hope": mini-improvements in "sit spin". Figures this comes AFTER passing my Bronze FS test....:oops:

"Cracked but glossy": and on the way to being "polished"? I finally, finally, got back to the point where I was when I quit working on my remaining two PB ice dances, the Fiesta Tango and the Swing Dance. I'm starting to get the angle on the end pattern mohawk again, making it easier to bring the free foot to the skating heel, and remaining checked and "up" over the right hip.

Precluding life interrupting,which is entirely possible, given things coming up outside of skating in the next two months, I could actually be on track to test these two dances in November after all.

"Polished": I can't come up with anything!

[Sonic]

Polished

Skated as well as I did on the session on Thursday - which was a good one.
Had my free lesson today and started a programme!!! I'm SO excited, honestly I'm 32 and worse than a little kid on Christmas Eve lol!

Coach has picked a really nice piece of music, slow enough to keep up with but not agonisingly slow. Only did the first ten seconds but I love it already. Maybe, just maybe if I work really hard I'll be able to skate it well enough to test/compete in the new year.....only hope I can do it justice.

Cracked
Well, overall I'm feeling postitive, but the negative aspects of my skating is, if you like, the consistency - or, lack of it.

I mean, overall my spins aren't too bad - I'm definitely more of a spinner than a jumper, but I would feel a lot happier if they centered more of the time, for example.

My jumps do not have a great deal of height, but that's partly down to fear of landing, as my right foot is still not completely better. I can do loop and flip, but not consistently - for example this evening I landed about 4 loops and 6 flips - both fully rotated, legs in right position etc - but by the end of the evening I couldn't do either.

S xxx

[kateskate]

Polished

Never thought I'd say this but my free skating programme feels ok-ish for the British Adult. I will still struggle against some of the other girls but I want to skate well and do all my elements. We switched spins around - camel sit is now a change foot sit and layback is now camel sit.

Axel was good. Coach only made me do it twice. And then progressed to flip-loop-axel combinations. Still doesn't look like an axel but its rotated and its on its way to being axelyfied as coach said.

Dance coach was positive about spin, steps and compulsories. I looked confused as this is a rare occurence. Not that he's negative but he always wants more - pushes me for more. I like that but its even better when he says good!

Coach gave me test papers for bronze field moves. Argh. Lots of work needed on double back threes on right foot and the brackets sequence. But I'm happy she thinks I can do it. I really want to get it before the system changes. (A while back there were whisperings at trying intersilver too but I think thats craziness. I cannot do the choctaws down the rink. )


Cracked

Fell over twice straight on my backside doing firstly the mohawk in the willow and then the back chasses. The second fall - my feet just went up in the air and I slid into the barrier. Very funny. But a bit painful.

Back outside twizzles have decelerated to half speed. Worrying

Crossroll on fiesta still drives me crazy.

Only 2 weeks til competition. Argh

Btw other dance coach thought I was 21. Or thereabouts. Wahey!

[LilJen]

Cracked

Last week's work on salchow entry (yes, this is a WEEK ago!) did something funky to my sartorius (outermost quadricep) on my right leg, and my glute & hip aren't happy either. If I move the wrong way, OUCH!! Don't think I'll be making it to the rink or the gym this week unless RICE makes a huge difference (hasn't so far). Grr! And I was so excited to be starting work on my first full-rotation jump! :cry:

[Terri C]

Polished:
Had a awesome lesson with Secondary Coach today. Ran through the Bronze moves (geez, I'm going to have to get through Halloween and Thanksgiving before I take this test :roll: ) and will be ready to put this puppy to bed in December. :D :D :D
Freestyle was good too on lesson- had two sitspins that sat, according to coach and two, yes two HUGE salchows!! Toe loop and forward and backscratch spins were good too! :D :D :D

Cracked ( and bumpy to boot):
Remember last spring when we had consdensation problems at the rink soo bad that there were huge ice craters all over the place? Well, that problem is back.:x :roll:
It did get a little better when more skaters got on the ice, but then you have a crowd to weave through, which I had on the moves portion of my lesson today.

[Rusty Blades]

[This forum has gone STRANGE! If I edit a post, it has a habit of throwing away all the text that WAS there and only keeping the NEW text!]

Cracked:

ME! (As usual!)

My left knee was still feeling weak today - don’t know what I did to it but that’s three sessions in a row now. :cry: RBO was ok but LBO was pretty sad! Still not getting enough turn-out of the hips to bring the forward Mohawks together - guess I am going to have to get quick enough that nobody will notice if I cheat on them a little 8O

Polished:

Ok, at my level of skating "polished" might be a bit of an exageration - how about "dull sheene"?

Finally started hitting some 3-Turns so-so (without two-footing them!), back Mohawks were both working half-a@@ed (which for me is good)

In solo practice after the lessons I started playing with stringing turns together. The Back Mohawk into a forward 3-Turn works into a back Mohawk and 3-Turn on the other side works realy nice! I think I am going to have fun with these (while making myself dizzy)! I can start to see how much of this will work into my choreography.

Despite starting with a weak knee, the session was VERY encouraging! Of course it helped that the coach and I were getting silly - it was the end of a LONG day and a Monday to boot! :roll: With sessions like this, I am optomistic that I might actually make Nationals with a program I am proud of!

[doubletoe]

Polished
Axel was good. Coach only made me do it twice. And then progressed to flip-loop-axel combinations. Still doesn't look like an axel but its rotated and its on its way to being axelyfied as coach said.

Do you mean your coach has you doing a flip-loop into an axel, or a flip-axel and loop-axel? I actually do a loop-axel in my program (I like the way the loop landing gets me over my right side before I step out for the axel), but I can't imagine having enough outflow if I had to do the axel out of a flip-loop!

[jazzpants]

Polished:
The ice at YB!!! Oh, it's really smooth and glossy skating on the ice today.

Cracked:
Can't do jumps or "drilling" scratch spins on it... and no wonder! It was also very "concrete ice." You can barely get an edge on it, never mind push on an edge on it. The ice has absolutely NO GIVE to it!! Then again, they're still doing work on filling up the ice, so maybe it's intentionally hard for a reason. I'll wait and see what happens after the first few days...

I did nothing but edge work: Loop entry, FI3 backspin entry, alt 3's on a line (ala prelim move... and formerly Pre-Bronze Moves.) and BO3's. Very relaxing work except for the BO3's...which probably means I did them ALL wrong! :twisted:

[aussieskater]

Finally started hitting some 3-Turns so-so (without two-footing them!), back Mohawks were both working half-a@@ed (which for me is good)

Rusty Blades, sorry your knee is giving you curry, and hope it feels better soon.

What is a "back mohawk"? I understand FI and FO mohawks (not that you'd know it looking at mine :P ), but I can't picture a "back mohawk"?

[Rusty Blades]

What is a "back mohawk"? I understand FI and FO mohawks (not that you'd know it looking at mine :P ), but I can't picture a "back mohawk"?

Back Mohawk starts from a BO or BI, similar step to a front Mohawk, and comes out forward on the opposite foot, opposite edge. For some reason they are easier than a forward Mohawk, probably because you step onto a forward edge.

[kateskate]

Do you mean your coach has you doing a flip-loop into an axel, or a flip-axel and loop-axel? I actually do a loop-axel in my program (I like the way the loop landing gets me over my right side before I step out for the axel), but I can't imagine having enough outflow if I had to do the axel out of a flip-loop!

Yep - flip-loop combination into an axel. Its tough. I really need to ensure I'm in the correct position after the loop. Flow isn't too much of a problem - its more the weak check and tendancy to swing my shoulders.

Her other one is axel-axel-axel combinations. I'm sort of dead by the 3rd axel.

[aussieskater]

Back Mohawk starts from a BO or BI, similar step to a front Mohawk, and comes out forward on the opposite foot, opposite edge. For some reason they are easier than a forward Mohawk, probably because you step onto a forward edge.

Ah-hah, just a difference in terminology across the water. I think what you're describing is what my coach calls a step to forwards. I agree with you; I also think they're easier than the fwd ones.

[Rusty Blades]

That's it exactly Aussie - the same thing!

(I also have the problem of having been in this sport many years ago and coming back after 36 years away. There are many terms used today that I never heard of "back in the old days".)

[aussieskater]

(I also have the problem of having been in this sport many years ago and coming back after 36 years away. There are many terms used today that I never heard of "back in the old days".)

That would be "the olden days", right?? :P (As in, "Mummy, when you were at school back in the olden days..." :lol: Excuse me while I park my walker-frame - complete with blades on its feet - at the door of the rink!)

[Mrs Redboots]

Well, Aussieskater, one of the competitions in this country has a trophy specifically for couples whose combined age is over 100. This is known as the Zimmer trophy, and the trophy itself is a miniature Zimmer frame on a stand! And yes, I have competed for it, and last year Husband competed with another partner and came third, to his surprise.

Anyway, back to the present, and today I had two lessons because the coach isn't in tomorrow because his wife is taking him on the London Eye which was closed last week because of the anniversary of the "9-11" horrors (why is it called that when it happened on 11-09??? but that is another story).

Polished: we continue to refine and rechoreograph our free dance - the Coach was horrified, but realised that we had to! Only one tiny bit, luckily, but it was just too obvious the way it was. Now it just needs polished and practiced.

Cracked: Our compulsories aren't much cop, of course - we did a Fiesta that wasn't just so great. The end pattern is as good as we're going to get it, I think, but the side pattern could be better. One of the coaches was standing in exactly the right place on one run-through, which made the pattern curve much more! We can do better edges than we did.

In my solo lesson I was, as usual, working on the level 3 dance moves. Which didn't work as well as they did last week - the ice has been very bumpy lately, and I haven't practised them as much as I could have. And paid the price, alas.... still, the ice was glorious this morning. But the rink was very crowded when we arrived! The crowds thinned out as school-time neared, though.

[Skate@Delaware]

Polished:
The ice at YB!!! Oh, it's really smooth and glossy skating on the ice today.

Cracked:
Can't do jumps or "drilling" scratch spins on it... and no wonder! It was also very "concrete ice." You can barely get an edge on it, never mind push on an edge on it. The ice has absolutely NO GIVE to it!! Then again, they're still doing work on filling up the ice, so maybe it's intentionally hard for a reason. I'll wait and see what happens after the first few days...

I did nothing but edge work: Loop entry, FI3 backspin entry, alt 3's on a line (ala prelim move... and formerly Pre-Bronze Moves.) and BO3's. Very relaxing work except for the BO3's...which probably means I did them ALL wrong! :twisted:

From talking with our rink and skating directors (and getting a very good understanding of rink operations) the first few weeks of new ice is intentionally hard...they want a good base for the top coat (which probably isn't down yet if you ask). You know that ice is made up of layers instead of one giant flood....so to get a great surface that will stand up to tons of abuse, they crank the compressors up (the temperature goes way down, our ice surface was down to 14 degrees). Makes for ice that is hard to grab onto but also holds up to abuse.

They should turn the compressors down once the top layer is on. Usually after two weeks or so. Ours is already getting softer, I believe he said the temperature was up to 28 degrees!!!!!

I'll shut up now...

[phoenix]

which was closed last week because of the anniversary of the "9-11" horrors (why is it called that when it happened on 11-09???).

--because in the U.S. when we say or write a date by numbers, we put the month first, then the day, then the year....so in the U.S. you'd say 9-11-06. And since the attacks happened here everyone just refers to it by saying "9-11".

[BatikatII]

polished: first lesson in weeks since popping a disc in my back. Chiropracters magic worked again and back felt fine.

crac'd: coach didn't turn up!!!!

polished: He arrived late having completely forgotten I'd said I would have lessons again from this week. Luckily I still got a lesson since his next pupil agreed to move her lesson later and the session wasn't busy.

Crac'd; having already been on for 45 mins of patch my boots which were not fully broken in when I stopped, were killing me!

polished: Most of the moves etc seemed to be right where I left them and one or two had actually improved without my doing anything. Couldn't even remember my programme so am very glad that i decided not to do British Adult champs thsi year. Even managed a loop or two and a flip

crac'd: loop and flip were rather poor.

At least I'm back and while my feet didn't thank me for it I was happy to be out there again.

[doubletoe]

Yep - flip-loop combination into an axel. Its tough. I really need to ensure I'm in the correct position after the loop. Flow isn't too much of a problem - its more the weak check and tendancy to swing my shoulders.

Her other one is axel-axel-axel combinations. I'm sort of dead by the 3rd axel.

I am such a wimp. . . Even though I do the loop-axel in my program, I've never even tried an axel-axel (and I've had this jump for 3 years). I hear you about being in the correct position on the loop landing! If I mess up my axel, it's almost always because of the loop landing position or the transition from the landing edge to the takeoff edge of the axel. In order to land the axel out of the loop, I find that I need to make the loop rather small and controlled, then I need to check that my shoulders are level and squared on the landing edge, then check again that they are level and squared as I push off onto the takeoff edge. I just think, "Shoulders" on the landing, then "shoulders" on the step-out, or "Out" on the step-out to get my to push out of my circle. I suppose it's about time I try an axel-axel, but since it's not in my program, that's been my excuse not to, LOL!

[Mrs Redboots]

I think we've finally cracked it! In the good sense of the term - our free dance. We worked and worked on the new section this morning, and I think it's finally going to work. We did two full runthroughs of the dance, and the only bit that really needs attention now is the end, as we tend to finish fractionally late.

Okay, so bring on the Championships, we're ready! At least, I hope so....

Skates being sharpened tonight, probably quite mad but one of our rivals is doing them. Hope he doesn't decide to nobble the opposition, but I don't think he will!

[quarkiki2]

Cracked? Is that bad? I'm always cracked in the sense of "Mwah-ha-ha-ha!!!"

Had a make-up lesson last night: Worked on tango stop used in Syncho program -- which I can do if I'm barely moving. Of course, I'm not barely moving in the program... Also on bracket from footwork sequnce -- I'm barely two-footing this and anticipate that I will be more confident in line as the skaters I'm next to are very secure and I am tremendously comfortable skating next to them.

Worked on the scratch spin that is oh-so-close to being a scratch spin -- entrance is almost always good, spin is usually good, I can occasionally get my foot crossed or step correctly into the spin. Never all of these things at once. Coach actually said to SLOW down getting into the spin -- that I can work up to entering with the power I'm generating on the crossover. I laughed -- when have I EVER wanted to skate faster than I need to??? On the other hand, the crossover has a niiiiice rip on both pushes and the RBI edge before the dreaded step.

Coach has been watching the video of the adult MIF and started me working on the back crossover to BO edge -- which actually went very well considering I'd never done that particular exercise before. Again she suggested that I not skate with so much power until I had the pattern down a little better. Again me: "I'm skating with too much power?" Not intentionally...

On to jumps -- salchow. Good three turn, good check, good rotation, no jump. I'm actually forcing myself NOT to jump. D'oh!!! At the end of the lesson we discovered that I MIGHT get off the ground if I try sal from over-rotated 1/2 loop. Will give that a shot next time I practice. Coach says I'm a dork and weird for learning jump combinations before individual jumps. Still laughs at me every lesson for having 1/2 loop and no waltz, sal or toe.

Miscellaneous: Another adult pupil of my coach was working on choctaws while recovering from an injury. Asked me if I'd done them and I said yes, but generally not more than one at a time -- more of an edge exercise than a '"grapevine". So I tried and did about six RFO/LBI choctaws in a row -- surprised both me and other skater. She said "Wow!" showed her the little bit of footwork in the beginning of my program, again "Wow!" I said "Well, I'm a chicken weenie when it comes to jumps and spins, so I work a lot on edges and footwork."

Finally, I HATE LESSONS ON PUBLIC SESSIONS!!!!! Grrr!!!!. It wasn't even crowded. Four lessons happening, but the people in lessons were all spread out and working well to not be in each other's way. There were a couple of LTS kids practicing EVERYWHERE on the rink -- one ducked under my arm while I was setting up a spin (center ice where I was supposed to be). A dad had his three or four year old girl and was teaching her to skate by playing "Follow me." Apparently he thought it was safest to have her weaving in between the skaters in lessons on center ice. And through everyone's jump and spin set-ups. Because sticking closer to the boards where there wasn't a lot of people would be, what? too safe???

[Debbie S]

Polished:
Worked on moves mostly in last night's lesson (first in 2 weeks due to rink maintenance delays) and coach was pleased with most of them. She said my power pulls are getting better. They're nowhere near passing, but at least she didn't have a horrified expression on her face like she did when she first saw me trying them. :oops: Cross rolls are better, and coach says my spirals (Pre-Prelim/Silver) will pass - hey, at least something's passable!

Sit spins felt pretty good and backspins were OK - if only I could put the 2 together for a change-sit.


Cracked:
No flips to be found. Camel still nonexistent. And the sessions were insanely crowded, due to my regular weeknight rink still being closed. They actually were turning people away b/c the sessions had reached capacity, but they did allow the people who had lessons.

[jenlyon60]

Haven't posted for awhile, mostly because have been working on minutiae like forwards/backwards power pulls. My goal is to be able to do a full length of the rink each direction, each foot (e.g. Left forwards, right forwards, left backwards, right backwards).

Today BEFORE my lesson (always BEFORE the lesson) I managed the feat.

I did a full side each of the power pulls.

The last quarter of each side didn't necessarily have A LOT of power but they were change of edge pulls. Now to work on improving the timing of the knee action and to get more growl.

Next goal after that is to do them consecutively w/o stopping with just perimeter skating around the end.

Then go for the gusto and work towards doing a full lap of each.

Many thanks to Phoenix for telling me about her power pull exercises ....

[phoenix]

Many thanks to Phoenix for telling me about her power pull exercises ....

:??
Thank my eville coach, the creator of all things cruel & unusual...... I have 2 power pull exercises, the first: a full lap on one foot, starting from standstill--you get a single push to start. And do both feet, fwd & bkwd. I've actually accomplished this *once*.

The other, also from a standstill, just a single line on each foot, doing small fast power pulls, trying to accelerate throughout. For those he lets me keep the free foot tucked in & just wants very very fast small pulls. Those aren't so bad.

My sad reality now is that my FI edges (the way *he* wants them, fast & deep) are really terrible. I'll be in that jail for awhile.

Choctaw exercises are improving, more on one side (Kilian side) than the other, but better than they were 6 months ago. I actually like doing all those (I feel like a real skater! :) ), so I do practice them quite a bit.

[jazzpants]

Polished:
The ice at my home rink is MUCH MUCH better than this past Monday. Seems Monday night was closed to add on at least 12 more layers of ice. The temp of the ice now has turned up SLIGHTLY to 20F and it's back to its old beautiful smooth glory again!!! YAAAAAY!!!! :bow: :bow: :bow:

Totally cracked:
I drove poor secondary coach crazy! 8O When I asked her to go onto something else, she said "NO, you are gonna land this jump and I won't let up on you until you land this thing!!! You are too close to landing it for me to let up on you!!! 8O (Uh huh... I will thank her for this one of these days... but NOT NOW!!!) :frus:

[Rusty Blades]

I asked her to go onto something else, she said "NO, you are gonna land this jump and I won't let up on you until you land this thing!!! You are too close to landing it for me to let up on you!!! 8O (Uh huh... I will thank her for this one of these days... but NOT NOW!!!)

ROFLMAO! Ain't that the case!

I struggled to get my coach on-side with my desire to compete in the spring - she thought I was putting WAY too much pressure on myself. Finally she changed her mind and decided to support my plans. When I said something about "If I am ready..." She said "You WILL be ready!!!" OMG! I have created a MONSTER! Whatever happened to "too much pressure"? Quick, somebody, hide her WHIP!

[doubletoe]

Polished:
This morning was my third time skating on my brand new blades, and I can now say I have fully adjusted to them! The only remaining problem had been spins on my right foot, but this morning I completed my change foot combination spin and my flying camel in my program without even warming them up first. Yay!

Cracked:
Too tired to land the double sal or either of the axels in my program this morning. Doing anything that requires energy before 7:30am is just wrong. :roll:

[jazzpants]

Quick, somebody, hide her WHIP!Wouldn't work for me... there are at least two coaches at the box and if I hide hers, she'll borrow from another coach!!! :twisted: :lol:

Doing anything that requires energy before 7:30am is just wrong. :roll:For me, waking up anytime before 7:30am is just wrong!!! http://www.cosgan.de/images/smilie/muede/d035.gif

[Isk8NYC]

I took a long lunch for an unplanned "mental-health" workout. I'm in a much better mood now. Of course, I only skated for 20 minutes, but it was on a cheap public session with two other people and no cones.

Polished:
My foot didn't hurt at all while skating today. I was short on time, so I ran through the Pre-Bronze MITF - I can pretty much handle the new three-turn pattern, although I'm struggling to make "pretty" transitions from the back crossover to the forward edge before the pattern repeat.

Took a printout of the Forward Power Threes pattern and drew in the hockey dots and lines for a student. It's hard to picture the layout in my head, so I know it will really help her. Poor kid, I was asked to teach her Pre-Prel MITF, which I did. She reported for her Stroking and Moves group class and the instructor had a mixed group of students. I thought the girl was going to lose it when the coach kept having them do new (to her) patterns every three minutes. The power threes almost brought her to tears. She told me later that she felt "so stupid." :cry:

Cracked:
Not enough time to do much of anything else, but it was nice to get away from the office and not spend my time on the ice teaching.

[Skate@Delaware]

Someone needs to invent a projector that will put the patterns for the moves (and dances) onto the ice.......

[phoenix]

Someone needs to invent a projector that will put the patterns for the moves (and dances) onto the ice.......

THAT is a fabulous idea!!! More than once I've threatened to take a marker & draw my dance pattern on the ice so people will know how to be out of my way if I'm skating w/ music. Or the times they don't move even when I've come by them & had to bail out over and over and over again...... :frus:

[Skate@Delaware]

Can't tell you how many times I've gotten faint over the smell of marker fumes....so, if someone invents one, I get a free one, ok???? (cause it was my idea).

[doubletoe]

Someone needs to invent a projector that will put the patterns for the moves (and dances) onto the ice.......

Yes, my husband came up with the same idea when I was watching that MIF video from PSA. I would love to see a MIF projector replace the disco ball hanging in the center of my rink; I just can't imagine any rink wanting to pay for it (since everyone will still come practice their MIF and pay the session fees regardless, KWIM?).

[Rusty Blades]

Sounds like an excellent application for a CNC-controlled Laser mounted high over centre ice - project any pattern you want onto the ice, complete with text.

8O Oops! Sorry. My "designer" side is showing! :roll:

[Terri C]

Polished:
Primary Coach started me on forward to back scratch today. The transition is not a problem, it's getting the backscratch position and staying in it that is!
Salchow was not bad today, given it's recent ugly moments.

Cracked:
Geez, where do I start?
Coach still wants the sitspin lower and I've pushed and pressed myself to no tomorrow on this "you know that the judges want the skating thigh to be parallel to the ice". Maybe next time I will just fall on my butt and declare it "low enough."
And that wasn't all. She wants my waltz jump higher, and started me on flip by having me do half flips. Not enough height for a fully rotated one.

Now imagine doing this lesson on a crowded freestyle with crappy ice, having to dodge everyone from a Novice dance team doing the Paso to tots!
By the end of the session, we were not skating on ice but snow!!:roll: :x

[doubletoe]

Polished:
Primary Coach started me on forward to back scratch today. The transition is not a problem, it's getting the backscratch position and staying in it that is!
Salchow was not bad today, given it's recent ugly moments.


Hey, I still have trouble on that sometimes, too, LOL! What helps me a lot is to focus on really pressing the ball of my right foot into the ice when I switch feet, and slighting opening and rounding my arms like I'm holding a big beach ball (make sure your shoulders are level as you switch feet). The free leg should be a little open, with the knee lifted and bent. If you don't start the backspin in a slightly open position, there's nothing to center you and nothing to pull in from, so the spin is over pretty fast. :(

[Skate@Delaware]

Polished: Well, I have to admit that the off-ice and on-ice warm up is really working!!! I did run into my coach at the end of club ice tonight and told her so. It gives me a plan to stick to and by the time I've finished with it, I'm ready to roll.

Ran through the mohawks, tonight they were a bit better on the right, not so great on the left. 3-turns rocked. Tried the 3-turn pattern but I'm not sure if I'm doing it right but I think so. I got confused on the step forward part (after the crossover) so I stopped.

Back spiral is getting better. Didn't have as many people to dodge towards the end of the session so I was able to do a few without even looking behind (a rarity). I'd like to get my leg really high and get less curve to it. I'm not sure what the standard is.

Waltz jump was ok, my arms are better at least. I'm not powering it like I should, though (just lazy). Salchow was really good and I did some good ones, but my free leg was bent.

Cracked: My spins are a bit off. Can't backspin. Tried some loops and on a few only tapped the left toe down. I'm going to video tomorrow so I can get my coach to look and see what I'm doing/not doing. I'm so close on this!!!

[DallasSkater]

Polished: Although it took me over 45 minutes to warm up to my spins being decent, I finally got several centered from a backward crossover. They were better this weekend..weird that you have something and then you sooooo don't!

Cracked: Attended bridge program tonight. They always have you do two different things per night. This time it was my turn for jumps with two coaches and the second part was my worst fear with taking this class .... It was synchronized skating with my classmates ranging in age from 7-11. I was able to emotionally distance myself enough to get through most of it but when the coach had us do a little routine to music ....I lost it to a giggle attack! (giggle). Some sneaky thoughts about what this must look like just got to me. I had to be the middle of the line as the tallest (and tallest by far) Since the line just could not stay straight my mind wondered to images of bird flying patterns in the classic "V" pattern....then I thought I looked like a big ole bird...and thought it was appropriate that BIG BIRD was out with all the kiddies...then thought it was good that I did not accidentally wear anything yellow...and then thought....ahhhhh anyway ..you get the picture..giggle.

Ballet class followed. I will spare you my thoughts...but it did not involve birds...(or piglets!) I left attempting to grab what threads of dignity I had left. I will recover by next week since the class stuff changes. At least next week it will be something else. Synchronized will come up again...but next time I will be emotionally prepared!

[Sk8pdx]

DallasSkater: ...To come prepared, why not bring your yellow fleece with you to the next synchro lesson? :lol: :lol: :lol:

Cracked:
backspins, sit spins as usual. oooohh jumps, *sigh* what can I say. glad to have a lesson tomorrow at least.

Polished:
Camel spin rocks
more confidence with Bronze MIF

In my frustrations over some elements that take longer to conquer, I just need to remind myself of the big picture. I am glad to have found a hobby that has helped my physique and overall health and fitness. I was looking for an activity that wasn't boring and did not *feel* like exercise. Even though there are challenges in this sport, I love to skate! :D

[tidesong]

cracked:
Ice was wet and soft, jumps were often underrotated

polished:
tried back layback spin... not as scary as before, but still have yet to "get" the spin
Tried some split falling leafs into double salchow. Somehow its working a bit better now.
Did some slow little axels out of footwork... (need to try them fast some time :frus: )
Whole bunch of skaters I knew from a long while back were there, was nice to see them again, had fun watching each other do moves.

[quarkiki2]

Cracked: Me, of course!!! Mwah-ha-ha-ha!!

Wiped out during circle footwork in Synchro program last night -- no injury, bu I slid a LOOOOONG way because we were moving fast. When I felt myself going down, I dove out of the circle so that the rest of the team didn't skate over me. Aikido to the rescue!!! Those running diving rolls have paid off at last!! I didn't roll, but was able to control the fall so that I slid out on my well-padded tushie/hip. Lots of snow on my bum and a little stiffness this morning, but otherwise OK.

Coach has choreographed the program so we have to skate fast in order to get to our positions -- doesn't want us to be a pokey adult team. I'm keeping up with all of it, but I think what happened is that the circle shifted and I stepped as if it hadn't and, as we all know, blades don't skate sideways! One poor teammate fell on her tailbone in the "partnering" section -- youch!

Said partnering section is going pretty well -- I'd like to have my threes more strongly on one foot, but the touchdown is slight and last night was the first night we put it on the ice, so I can only assume they'll get better. Even with that, my partner and I had nice extension throughout the move. We're the tallest pair on the ice, so our legs are longest -- they'd better be pretty, LOL! Fortunately, this is where my ballet training comes in handy -- it's second nature for me to point my toes and turn my feet out, so I do not have to work on that AND the threes, just the threes. We were also covering more distance with less effort than some pairs (we slowed waaay down and still got into place six counts early). OK by me (like I want to go fast????), but I think we might get moved farther away from the end point as a result of this -- which is sort of funny because our end point is already on the far end of the line.

This brings me to my final point, which is that I must apparently be skating faster than I ever have before. Finally! the power skating/edge/MIF classes that I've taken the last two years are finally impacting my skating. I've been working HARD at this and it's really showing up, woo-hoo! Now I just need to work on being comfortable skating at this speed... I wonder if that will take another two years???

[Mrs Redboots]

Someone needs to invent a projector that will put the patterns for the moves (and dances) onto the ice.......

I suggested that once, years ago. And my then coach commented that it would be a great idea, especially if you could alter the focus so that the pattern shrunk or grew according to the ability of the skater!

But I don't think anybody has ever made one, alas.

[sk8_4fun]

polished: skates feel much better, no blisters or wounds of any kind. canasta tango steps starting to sink in.

cracked: went to the rink today and my legs felt like lead. I felt so unsteady that after 40 minutes on the ice, I packed in and went home. I hate it when I feel unsafe like that- I just wasn't in the frame of mind top skate through it either. I think I must be coming down with something:frus: I feel annoyed that I've achieved nothing today, but relieved i didn't stay and hurt myself.

[Isk8NYC]

I would love to see a MIF projector replace the disco ball hanging in the center of my rink; I just can't imagine any rink wanting to pay for it (since everyone will still come practice their MIF and pay the session fees regardless, KWIM?).Can't we use both and have an evening DJ/Disco/MITF skating party? How cool would that be?

Whenever we go to a nearby movie theater, my little ones spend at least fifteen minutes chasing the laser light projections around the lobby. I think it would be great - think about a patch layout pattern!

There was a booth at a coaches' trade show recently where they were demonstrating a device for measuring spin RPM's. I wonder if they have a similar product for the laser displays? I'll have to dig out that backpack - I'm sure I took their number. (Guess I didn't win a free spin-o-meter since they haven't called me yet.)

[phoenix]

Cracked: brought in the video camera today to see what's going on w/ some stuff......so I knew that the things I'm working on wouldn't be pretty, so that's fine. Then at the end I did a couple exercises that are good & solid, that I'm comfortable with, thinking those at least would look good & make me feel better about my progress.....NOT! *sigh*

Polished: Well.........I do think it's very kind of my coach not to laugh while I'm skating.......:giveup:

[doubletoe]

There was a booth at a coaches' trade show recently where they were demonstrating a device for measuring spin RPM's. I wonder if they have a similar product for the laser displays? I'll have to dig out that backpack - I'm sure I took their number. (Guess I didn't win a free spin-o-meter since they haven't called me yet.)

All you would really need is a regular slide or transparency projector with a remote control. The length of the pattern on the long axis could be kept constant at 200' since the difference between an NHL size rink and an Olympic size rink is just in the width (or, if you want to bring your pattern out to the sides if the Olympic rink, you could always just make a slide with the pattern placed out farther to the sides).

[kateskate]

Polished

Its certainly a good thing that at competitions you only get one shot at the programme since my run throughs seem to get progressively worse! I put that down to tiredness. But having said that, my first free skating run through today was good :) Teacher even said good double salchow :D and step sequences is a lot more flowing. And i just realised that I don't even register that I now have a change foot sit in my programme so it mustn't be bothering me.

And willow waltz was much better. Notoriously hard to please dance teacher had only 3 comments - usually its 5, 6 or so. Yay

Cracked

Bits of my free dance step sequence just felt funny today. And still my right back outside double twizzles are too slow. I was way behind the music

Lutzes are a little weird again. My left arm likes to do odd wavey things!

And I'm having lesson scheduling fun. I keep getting shifted around as my dance teacher is having to fit in the other dance teacher's pupils for next week as other teacher is away and he asked my teacher to cover for him and he has 4 people in the British Adult who need lessons. Luckily I got in my lesson requests - but I've still had to move some of my lessons!!!!!

And work has gone manic this week - what timing -so its tougher to skate. I was supposed to be in before 8am today and Tuesday (my skating mornings) and I had to decline for skating. Is it bad that I put skating first? Well I'm not going to miss my limited practice time so near to the competition. I just hope I don't exhaust myself before next weekend.

[Skate@Delaware]

Cracked: My waltz jump was good, after the first few tries, but for some weird reason I kept bailing out and stopping. Then after I did a few good jumps I tried to speed up a bit and then I stopped again. Weird. I tried to hit the loop again and it was 50/50 for touching down or landing on my other foot :frus: ....I'm thinking I'd like to try the harness or maybe I should try my trampoline a few times. Also tried the sitspin but that was totally chicken crap...(I was chicken, the spin was crap). I'm nowhere low enough.

Polished: my program run-through is going well, I'm only about 3-5 seconds behind the music. I did 3 run-throughs. Not bad!!! I need to speed up a few spots, bail out of my spin earlier (I hate to ditch a good spin but I must, I keep hanging on past my music mark) and get my footwork finessed from the drunken sailor to the 3-turn.

Salchows were ok. I tend to get lazy and rush through the 3-turn, and bend my free leg. I did concentrate so it helped a bit.

Spins were somewhat better today. Temp in the rink was warmer, ice was a bit softer (time to sharpen skates again also). So, I'm able to hold an edge better.

Back spirals were really good too. Better on one side than the other (isn't that always the case???). It was nice not having to dodge people (there were only 5 people on today's public session).

[Sk8pdx]

...Also tried the sitspin but that was totally chicken crap...(I was chicken, the spin was crap). I'm nowhere low enough.

:lol: :lol: :lol: I am right there with you, Girlfriend. :P

Cracked:
Bronze MIF were horrible today!. Scratchy and scrape-ey 3 turns, I couldn't even get myself to cooperate with basics like keeping the right patterns on the axis for forward power perimeter stroking even! Geez! 5 step mohawk even sucked! Wimpy waltz jumps, Salchow was iffy, I was just plain lazy with toe loops. This mornings session seemed so labored. It is just as well. 5:30 am is just not my best skating time.

Polished:
Even though I felt like giving up on the last 1/2 hour of the session, I didn't quit and kept going. I had to pull out the "skater mom" self talk and I went through a list of things I still needed to practice. At the very end, I was practicing my new footwork for my program and was getting the hang of it. ...and camel spins went very well too.

[jazzpants]

Polished:

Sit Spins and One foot were pretty decent.
Backspin was better after the first one...
Camels are coming along. I'm spinning, but not quite in position.
Waltz jump and salchow was okay.
Not exactly related to skating (though certainly helps me to skate better) but... my fitness club had a raffle for prizes yesterday. I won a one month's dues waived!!! :mrgreen: :bow:Cracked:

Coach is still not happy with the toe-waltzing... but it's not as bad today, he said...
No loop! :cry: I am trying to get used to this new tweak that my secondary coach suggested yesterday. I am pretty much turning into the circle now. The bad part is I really now have no excuse not to land it clean other than I'm being a chicken. I also nearly did kill myself on one of the attempts too. I was twisted up trying to land clean. But no guts, no glory...

[Skate@Delaware]

OMG!!! I forgot (how could I???) to add that I actually did a backspin today and got 2 revs out of it!!!!! I must be losing my mind to have forgotten this part!

I was sooooooooooo happy!!!!!!

Hmmmm, maybe I should start working on my camel again.....:roll: maybe my luck has finally turned!!!

[Rusty Blades]

Way to go S.D.!

Cracked: Really screwed-up schedule today with some medical tests (fasting) that took all morning- didn’t get anything to eat or even my morning coffee until lunch time and even then a charity fund-raiser lunch was pathetic quality. By the time I got to skating at 6 p.m. both the body and mind were totally out of sync! Depriving a “morning person” of their morning is a terrible thing to do!

Everything was weak, especially backwards, and 3-Turns had disappeared again. In the first lesson, we worked on backward edges (poor) and in the second lesson we did forward cross-overs (also poor). Oh joy . . . It’s a good thing Monday’s session was an “upper” - made tonight easier to take. And just to top off a trashed day, I did something to my right ankle just before second lesson so it was sore enough that I left the ice early.

Polished: Saturday will be another chance to redeem myself? :roll:

[Mrs Redboots]

Cracked: Skating was a bit disastrous; didn't skate for long, but got quite a lot done. Worked on my dance moves while Husband was working on his free programme - he ran through it to the music, which finished rather a long time before he did! It looked a bit random, too. Oh well. Then we ran through our Dutch Waltz, which was okay, and our Fiesta, which could be better. For neither could we manage two patterns since the rink was a bit full.

Then we started work on our free dance, and the combination of very sharp blades and very fast ice meant I had awful trouble with my 3-turn/choctaw/whatever it is I'm supposed to be doing, and I usually ended up with my bum stuck out, going nowhere. Sigh. I could do it when my blades were blunt! I could also do it on rather slow ice last night, before dance club.

Polished: Dance club was fun, as it always is when I make the effort to get there. Very few men, though, which was a problem as I am lazy about solo dance. Did do a Riverside Rhumba solo, though. Husband and I did a great Prelim Waltz, and even essayed a 10-step, only I couldn't remember the steps! And a Foxtrot, only the first time I waited too long before my Mohawk, and the second time I did it to time but stepped down on to an inside edge and ground swiftly to a halt!

E has done a great job on our blades, though - I'm sure they'll be fine by next week.

[tidesong]

cracked: just got news that rink is revising lesson fees to about double of the current fees!!! This is going to break my bank. I dont know what to do :(

polished: flying camel decent, flying sit still working on consistency but I understand it alot more now for sure. I can get such a nice back sit in practise... i really hope to do at least one in competition one day...
double salchow is decent, the ones from split falling leaf tend to be underrotated, double salchow solo is generally fine but I need to improve my concentration! double toe is jumping up and still nice and stable (in terms of the take off... I havent gotten the rest of the jump down pat yet , still falling over but its improving... again), hopefully the days of toe slippage is gone :D

[doubletoe]

Hey, Tidesong, sounds like we're in the same place as far as what we're practicing right now! So sorry about your rink's rates going up, though! What do you think you will do?

This morning I had a good practice. I managed to figure out what jump to do after my spiral sequence and how best to get into it. My coach had me try it with the music and it looks like it's going to work great.

After that, there were just five minutes left on the session, so I mustered up some courage and suggested we try some double toeloops. After two nice singles, I went for a double and actually landed it on the first try, instead of freezing on the takeoff ten times like I usually do! It was admittedly a little cheated, but I tend to have such a mental block on the takeoff that it was a huge deal just to have gone for it without hesitation and completed it. Then, before the 5 minutes was up, I landed a fully rotated one. I forgot to straighten my landing leg in the air so I broke at the waist and landed pitched forward, but I held on without 2-footing it). I am going to keep doing a single-toe before each double toe attempt so that I don't lose the smooth takeoff I have worked so hard to develop. I'm now getting the correct pulling back motion after the pick, and I can't afford to mess that up. :roll:

[dbny]

Polished:
I finally got to skate today and was fairly well rested. I felt my feet were under me much, much better than last week, so I think the problem then was lack of rest. I don't think I really accomplished much, except that I stayed on the ice and managed to keep moving most of the time without any pain. F cross strokes felt OK, B power pulls were OK. B power crossovers felt pretty good and had good enough speed, but I never tried the F without throwing in a chasse before the XO. I did one F stroking exercise from Charles Butler's first video, and it wasn't too bad. FI Mohawks were actually not so bad also. I ran through the new Pre-Bronze three turn pattern on the line. I had to two-foot most of the three turns, but the pattern was no problem.

Cracked:
I am sooo out of shape! FI and FO threes were both pathetic. I think I just don't have the strength to feel secure on them. Haven't done enough of the B cross strokes to keep my courage up, and so found it hard to do today. Had to keep reminding myself to bend knees deeply and lean back. It would have been easier with someone to look out for me, but even though there were only about 5 of us on the ice, I wasn't comfortable doing these on my own. I can't get rid of the image of my daughter hitting the ice like a ton of bricks when some idiot stepped right into her path, and she was looking back every 3 strokes. I left about 10 minutes early, and was tempted to stay because some dancey music came on, but I didn't want to push my luck.

[samba]

Cracked: Skating was a bit disastrous; didn't skate for long, but got quite a lot done. Worked on my dance moves while Husband was working on his free programme - he ran through it to the music, which finished rather a long time before he did! It looked a bit random, too. Oh well. Then we ran through our Dutch Waltz, which was okay, and our Fiesta, which could be better. For neither could we manage two patterns since the rink was a bit full.

Had to smile at this one, this is R all over, but a very good sign, you can slow down but speeding up is so much harder, I had a disasterous time at Chelmsford when I fell behind on my music and had to start my step sequence half way down the rink, I just wanted a hole to appear for me to jump into to.


Polished: Dance club was fun, as it always is when I make the effort to get there. Very few men, though, which was a problem as I am lazy about solo dance. Did do a Riverside Rhumba solo, though.

well done, not an easy one to do.


E has done a great job on our blades, though - I'm sure they'll be fine by next week.

They certainly will, you have probably chosen the right time for the blades but the wrong time for your state of mind, in that they are probably making you panic a little which makes matters worse. You have a whole week to get them down and I'm sure they will feel better after the next skate.

Cheers
G

[DallasSkater]

Jazz: Congrats on winning the months due waived! My gym has contests too. They give free months, dinner and sport event tickets, trips and even one time had a huge harley davidson motor bike. I had visions of winning it to sell it for big bucks! giggle. My partner wanted to win and take it as a sign from the heavens that we needed a motorcycle in our lives..eeek! It is a source of severe disagreement for us. lol. Alas, neither of us won.

Skate@Delaware: Congrats on the backspin!

Polished: Had my private lesson and two LTS classes yesterday. Spent the entire 45 minute lesson on jumps which was helpful. Still trying to get a full rotation on a salchow. Able to land one footed but am only making 3/4 the of the revolution. Still I am pleased as I really have the idea of this one now. I bought new crash pads (Sk8pdx...which means I also purchased tights to make you happy! lol). Hoping that will give me confidence to practice with gusto! I now have all my half jumps most of the time! Not real fond of the walz jump but really like the 1/2 lutz and 1/2 flip and hoping because of that I will not have as difficult a time learning them as a full jump

Power stroking class is always a blast. The instructor really makes it fun and it is a great way to get the heart rate up! We laugh a lot with these little exercises!

My coach said I am ready for the next ISI test level and that I can start concentrating on Pre Bronze stuff soon.

Cracked: FS class was disorganized and non productive. We are at too many different levels and I was mostly frustruated with the amount of standing around we did during this class. Had to reframe that it was just additional ice time.

[mikawendy]

Polished--
Dragged myself out of bed this morning to go to an early freestyle session. It was nice and empty and quiet. (No one had any music going, so practicing felt a little meditative.) I had space to work and I landed my lutz for the first time!! I landed it several times on one session, then had to work on it some more the next session before I got it to cooperate.

Cracked--
The ice schedule on Saturdays is strange, with a 2-hour gap between the first and second freestyle sessions. I had forgotten to bring anything with me to do, and had been planning on helping the ice club out with a few things, but that didn't pan out, so me and a few other skaters and coaches had lots of time to kill this morning.

[Skate@Delaware]

I ran through the new Pre-Bronze three turn pattern on the line. I had to two-foot most of the three turns, but the pattern was no problem.
I "copied" Philip's arm movements from the video and it helped me on my 3-turns....cause my arms still go crazy...:frus:

DallasSkater: If you really embrace the waltz jump, you will end up with a beautiful salchow!!! because, really, the salchow is just a backwards waltz jump!!! And be sure you are bending in the knee before you jump up! You can't jump UP if you are on straight legs!

Congrats on being ready for the next level!! Did your coach look like this::twisted: ???

Cracked: I WAS going to skate today, but ended up being "overbooked" with mom stuff: hockey first, then scout stuff. So, skating took a back-burner. Oh well, skating tomorrow. It just irked me because it meant I lost a session of club time this week. We don't use punch cards or anything. They somehow keep track so I'm sort-of "owed" for one session (I'm contracted for twice a week but only did once this week). Something like that....

[Rusty Blades]

Cracked: Everything was in a “fall funk” today - body, mind, and all. It took awhile to even start getting back edges again. An hour and a half into the session, while working on back outside edges, my right ankle started to bother me again so I left the ice a little early (again!). I don’t know what’s wrong but it started with a "pop" at summer school and seems to have come back now, some 3 weeks later. I guess it’s time to find out what's wrong.

Polished: Back Mohawks were ok, backward edges and 3-Turns were poor but happening and I actually turned a couple of forward Mohawks without cheating! That's a first! :roll:

[doubletoe]

Polished--
I had space to work and I landed my lutz for the first time!! I landed it several times on one session, then had to work on it some more the next session before I got it to cooperate.

Hey, congratulations!! I remember the lutz confounded me for awhile and it was a big deal when I had my big breakthrough and landed it. I remember my breakthrough was getting up more speed and just attacking it. What was it that finally got it working for you?

[singerskates]

Didn't really do my own skating today as it was Saturday and I was program assisting. But I did demo a few things on the preprelim ice which is called StarSkate at my rink for some reason.

I demoed a few waltz jumps using the technique my coach Paul Tatton showed me recently so that my waltz jumps pop up higher so that I can get the Axel at a later date. The thing that Paul showed me and that I demoed for the kids was to not rush the take-off, to wait longer on my back right edge (CCW) and to point my free leg stretched out and up before stepping forward for the LFO edge and to wait 3 seconds before taking off. It really makes for a much stronger jump.

Then I demoed two foot spins using both methods. One from just having your legs wide and bent deeply curving the right foot towards the left and pulling yourself up and the pivot method that one of the coaches at my rink teaches.
I tried to show them as slowly as possible the spin so that they could see how it worked. Some of them noticed how it worked and then got it.

Lastly I demoed forward upright spins. The thing that my coach pointed out to me recently is that you have to make sure to push your right arm (CCW) around at the same time as your right leg to create the pressure to gain speed and to help center the spin. While I was doing this, I did a corkscrew for the kids which they later counted my centered revolutions to be 13. For the most part most of the kids were just trying to get 2 revs. A few were trying to get 3 or 4 revs.

It was also bring a friend day at Club Tecumseh and there were some kids who never skated before on the StarSkate session there with there friends. I worked with one of those visitors and got her from hanging on to the boards and falling off of the boards to forward duck walking with a forward glide and backward walking with a glide. She, at the end of the time I had her, could even do forward snowmen (scalling).

I also came to the realization that I won't be able to have my old coach coach me anymore because of something that is between him and my club. So this senior competitive skater (Bianca Ziriada) who will be making a run for the Reg. Skate Canada Figure Skating Championships will now be coaching me on the General Session Wednesdays and Paul Tatton coaches me on Thursdays. On Fridays is a practice day for me and Saturday is just a program assisting day. I also skate on the public adult ice on Tuesdays at my rink for now but may switch to Forest Glade arena in October as the rink where Tecumseh has the Public Adult ice is very powdery and chips away easily and doesn't let you grip the ice. The other pad where Club Tecumseh runs sessions is fine.

So now I don't have two men coaches but one female and one male, one young (18) and one old (just turned 72, Happy Belated Birthday Paul!)

[Mrs Redboots]

Polished: I was still having trouble and having trouble with the wretched turn that we put in last week (which I could do when we put it in!), to the point that I was in tears and snapped at a harmless child who got in our way.

But then we ran through it to the music - I'd only been humming the music twice as fast as it actually went, hadn't I?! I've hours of time to do the turn, which has now been christened My Choctaw (although in fact it's an LFI3/step down fast, but I'm hoping it looks like a choctaw from a distance!). At least, I have the extra beat I need to enable me to do it, and the problem was because I was trying to do it too fast.

Huge relief.

Cracked: Ice crowded and bumpy this morning. Oh well....

[DallasSkater]

Milkawendy: A huge congrats for landing the lutz! WTG!

Skate@Delaware: I know you are right. I need to embrace the waltz jump but it has not been embracing me! lol. I did feel inspired when I saw a coach do one that was absolutely huge. She looked like a gazelle...seriously!

Rusty Blades: Hope your ankle recovers soon. Sorry about the funk. I have a session or two like that and then it seems to turn. I hope you will find your "groove" again soon.

Singerskates: Hmmm...I will try the waltz jump today as you describe and see if it will make mine any better! Thanks for sharing that!

Mrs. Redboots: I love when I finally figure out something that has frustrated me. Congrats for getting your steps!

[DallasSkater]

Cracked:
On Saturdays we have two sessions of public and only one of freestyle. Typically I just go to one or both of the public sessions as my favorite gym step class conflicts with the schedule. I ended up going to early step class and racing to the rink for the freestyle session as I wanted to really practice the salchow on ice that was not busy. The session was only an hour long and there were only about 5 other skaters. Perfect! Unfortunately I could not even come close to what I nearly had just a day before. I had some really interesting attempts to recover falls that just left me feeling out of sorts, twisted and frustrated. I left feeling pretty defeated and wondered if I would ever get a true fully rotated jump of any sort at this age!

Polished: The only good thing about that freestyle was that I noticed a new adult skater that was on the session. She appeared to have wonderful skill and was working hard on her much more advanced jumps and spins. After most of the session expired, I could tell she was pooping out from her hard work. I went and introduced myself. Turns out that she is training at another rink, is returning to skating after several years out for family reasons and the best part is that she is a Silver that has competed in adult nationals and aspires to return to that level of competition! (I bet there are people on this board that know her!). She was delightful and offered to help me with my skating as she will be practicing mostly at my rink! It was too late in the session for any help with the salchow. It was just awesome to watch her work her magic and made me more determined to progress!

I went back to afternoon session. My coach was there with another student. I asked for an additional lesson and explained my morning traumas. We worked on the salchow...and behold..I finally landed a decent one! I was so thrilled and felt like I finally had the feel of the whole fully rotated jump! I am landing flat footed (I could literally hear the thump of my blade but could not get the toe landing...YET!) Other than that it was a salchow that actually looked and felt like one! giggle. It goes down as one of my most thrilling moments in skating thus far!

One more polished thing....I LOVE MY TIGHTS! Who knew how warm and comfortable these things could be. I LOVE that they actually make my legs look pretty good! I guess because they are thick they hide all flaws? Maybe a dress thingy when I finally test and (gulp) compete won't be so bad! I think they are really going to help with winter chill of my rink....my rink is definitely the coldest one in our area. Not bad on a 100 degree day but a bit of a nightmare in the winter. I prefer these over my cuddle duds! giggle. Getting some more and trying the full footed ones. May try two pair at once since I read some of you guys do that for warmth!

[Skate@Delaware]

Dallas: try hopping (in your skates) off-ice, rolling off your toes and landing onto your toes and rolling back down to your heels. They don't have to be big...just little pops. Be sure to bend your knees. This is a warm-up to get you used to taking off and landing on your toes. Then, if you like, go on the ice and do the same thing but hold onto the wall. When i get sloppy and flat-land my jumps....it's back to the wall. You can also do this one-footed.

What kind of tights did you get? I've heard good things about the mondor evolution tights. I wear 2 pair for warmth-mondor footed microfiber.

[DallasSkater]

Skate@Delaware: Thanks for the tip...I will do that on ice today. I did have to learn the ballet jump (I really do not think of this as a jump..giggle) and the toe walley that is about jumping on the pic. I seem to land the waltz, 1/2 flip and 1/2 Lutz on the toe too. I think the salchow pull of the right leg around seems to be why I am not on the pic. (Or it might be just that I am sooooo concentrated on making the revolution that I am not able to concentrate where the right foot toe is during the jump. I am willing to try anything though so really appreciate your input!

I did get the evolution Mondor brand. It says 92% micro fiber Meryl skinlife nylon with 8% spandex. Unfortunately my rink carries very little in adult sizes so I only had one choice in style which was over the boot kind. It has little snap buckles that go under the boot. I would have preferred the full footed kind but it is interesting to have something to cover the boot! I am hoping it might offer a tiny bit of protection to the boot as I have nicks and a few blade marks already. I bought the hip pads and they did not budge in all my practice yesterday under those! (I think I look a bit of a spectacle reaching between layers to appropriately place these things just before skating.....one mom during public removed her child from by me while getting ready...giggle) I swear I have no vanity in trade for comfort!

Did see that I can order over the Internet and also bet if I talk to the owner of the little figure skating shop about having them available it would likely be done. I am warming to the idea of a practice dress as a result so may talk to her about that. I am 5' 10 and 15 lbs over my goal weight. I am an amazon in bone structure anyway. Everything will have to be x-large (of good German stock!..giggle) It just seems like skating clothes are really tiny. I am sure the market for amazons is not good!

I know people say they like their boots to look like they have worked hard...but I like mine to look brand new and not beat up! It was therefore ok to have the over the boot kind. I also have the option to just not put it over the boot as it stays just fine at the boot lace level un snapped too. I think I would like to wear two pair...one footed and second layer with the boot cover!

[IceAge]

Polished:Axel is nice and consistent now, as well as new spins;) .My double sal and toe soon will be clean too.Starting to work on 2 Loop and 2 Flip8O
Cracked:nothing in skating especially, but I hate my sunday practise sessions, because there are always people who discourage and tell very harsh words to you(like today:"I don't think, you skate that well" from a person who has never had skates on ). Thank God I don't listen to these people, I just wish to live in the US or UK where adult skaters are respected.:roll:

[mikawendy]

Hey, congratulations!! I remember the lutz confounded me for awhile and it was a big deal when I had my big breakthrough and landed it. I remember my breakthrough was getting up more speed and just attacking it. What was it that finally got it working for you?

Thanks, doubletoe (and DallasSkater)!!

What worked for me was actually slowing down a little and instead of trying to force the revolutions with my picking foot and my arms, focusing instead on really pulling back to the picking foot and transferring the weight. That was the major stumbling point for me, with the jump only coming from my skating foot or from both feet. My coach gave me an exercise where I skate backward in setup position, pick, jump up but don't rotate, and land on my landing foot. That helped enormously, then it just took a while of working on that, then I worked on doing that with some rotation and then finally understood it. Now I have to work on my arms in the jump (i.e., not flailing them around :lol: ) and getting height.

[Skate@Delaware]

Polished: my routine!!!!! Well, almost. A dull sheen is forming. We tweaked it a bit and changed it to conform to the new standards (we removed a jump and changed the footwork a bit but still left the drunken sailor in :frus: ). Now, I finish on time with a 2-foot spin!!!! Paperwork has been signed by my club so I can send it off this week. Now all I have to do is finesse!!! (She also gave me tips on when and how to exit my scratch spin so I'm lined up correctly.) I'm psyched!!! The old guy at my rink said he liked the new changes.

When my coach asked to see my backspin (I told her it's starting to come back) my backspin was happy to appear!!!! Yay! I made it 4 times around! She showed me a pivot exercise to do: pivot forwards once (on left foot) then pivot backwards once (on the other foot). It gets you to switch your weight. I can only do that so many times before I feel sick...

Cracked: I landed wrong on my salchow and somehow it jarred my knee. It aches a bit but doesn't really hurt. I was lazy on my form and I have only myself to blame.

Also started an on- off-ice dance/moves class today (today was the off-ice portion). We talked about edges and how to line up the shoulders and legs. I learned a lot. I have a lot more to learn. I'm also the oldest one in the class 8O (by about 35 years!!!). Monday nights is the on-ice portion where they take it to the ice. I can't wait!!! But, all hubby could say was "how much is this costing us?????" Um, not much in terms of money, and it's worth every dime!!! What better person to learn moves and edges from than a master level ice dancer?

[DallasSkater]

My polished for today's practice is due to singerskates!
Singerskates...I tried the waltz jump by waiting 3 seconds on the back right edge...What a huge difference this made! I can't say I jumped like a gazelle but can say it was so much better in form and height than I previously had! Just re read your post and now wonder if you mean to wait 3 seconds AFTER stepping forward to the LFO edge? If so I will try that next time but can't wait to show my coach as it was definitely a way improved jump for me! I don't know that she would like me to wait 3 seconds on the LFO as she wants it from back cross overs. Thanks for posting that tip in any case as it sure did help today! Seriously the best waltz jumps I have ever done!

Skate@Delaware: That was my attempt to better embrace the waltz! giggle. WTG on getting your routine. Are you going to compete soon? Ouch on the knee! LOL that you are also taking a class with munchkins! I thought I was the only one!

IceAge: Wow that you have a consistent Axle and doubles! I can't even imagine! Sorry to learn that there are people so rude at your rink. Sad when jealousy plays such a mean streak in people. I am surprised that people have the nerve to say what they say some times! As if it makes them feel better about themselves? I mentioned before one woman who said "show off" to me as I was practicing on public ice....I am not good enough to '"show off" anything but was truly amazed at her abrasive attitude and her need to share her thoughts with a perfect stranger! Ick!

Cracked: Ok, not quite cracked but never really got a good salchow today. I was pleased that the motion was still there and the feel. This is going to take some time. Spins are now complicated as my coach wants me to start holding the free leg a few revolutions on the one footed to begin to better prepare for the scratch. I can do it but sure makes it harder to find my 'sweet spot' that I had just consistently managed. But I always would pretty immediately get my foot up. <sigh...always something!> It is making it very toe picky again most of the time. More work on this is definitely needed!

All and all a fun practice though!

[icedancer2]

Polished: Quite literally -- the ice!!

Today the "Synchro Class" that is scheduled before the dance sessions was cancelled and it was a freestyle -- but nobody knew about it, and all of the freestyle kids got off the ice and I was out there by myself. The ice was pretty crappy, and so the rink manager (or assistant manager) asked me if I wanted her to zamboni the ice and then I could do figures and warm up for dance.

Wow -- so nice to have such great service at our rink! Was all warmed up for the dance session and had what I thought was a pretty darn good lesson (probably because I was properly warmed up).

Cracked: WEll, not cracked but sore: my body from having such a great dance lesson! Coach is starting to get into trying to get more out of me (which is great) but now my hips/thighs/knees are sore -- but feeling good, standing up straighter and looking forward to tomorrow's practice.

That what it's all about, after all, isn't it??????????????:halo:

[Skate@Delaware]

Skate@Delaware: That was my attempt to better embrace the waltz! giggle. WTG on getting your routine. Are you going to compete soon? Ouch on the knee! LOL that you are also taking a class with munchkins! I thought I was the only one!
For the waltz jump, my coach has me hold the back edge AND the front edge then jump. It makes for a nicer setup.

I am competing at the Halloween Classic (USFSA) in Aston, PA; as well as some local ISI competitions. Last year was my first year competing (ISI) and it was a blast!!! I'm set for about 3-4 comps this year.

My knee will be ok. I didn't feel the need to ice it but if it hurts or aches tomorrow I will.

I like taking the classes with the munchkins sometimes...they whine and complain and I tell them to suck it up :twisted: !!!!

[singerskates]

My polished for today's practice is due to singerskates!
Singerskates...I tried the waltz jump by waiting 3 seconds on the back right edge...What a huge difference this made! I can't say I jumped like a gazelle but can say it was so much better in form and height than I previously had! Just re read your post and now wonder if you mean to wait 3 seconds AFTER stepping forward to the LFO edge? If so I will try that next time but can't wait to show my coach as it was definitely a way improved jump for me! I don't know that she would like me to wait 3 seconds on the LFO as she wants it from back cross overs. Thanks for posting that tip in any case as it sure did help today! Seriously the best waltz jumps I have ever done!


Great to hear that you have improved your waltz jump! Yes, you have to hold your back edge before stepping forward 3 seconds while your free foot is extending in the direction you are travelling. And then once you step onto your forward edge with your new skating leg deeply bent(Be sure not to step directly behind your back edge before going to your new skating edge. Step from just behind your back skating legs arch to push onto a new circle.), you wait another 3 seconds before bringing both your freeleg and arms forward and up and as your arms and freeleg pass your skating leg make sure to roll to your skating legs toe pick while you straingten your skating leg. Once you pass your skating leg, try to leg your freeleg swing to hip height. If you can't do that right away, just work on increasing the swing of the freeleg little by little.