Axel or Waxel (Practice Thread 1/7-1/14/2007)

[doubletoe]

This seemed to be the theme of my 3-hour practice today, so I'm taking the liberty of naming the new thread for this week! :roll:

AXEL
(Um, I WISH! I landed a few of them, but out of. . . HOW many attempts???)
I seem to be making a little progress on the transition between forward and backspin, which is crucial to the change foot combo spin at the start of my program. I attribute today's progress to the fact that I've started forcing myself to practice backspins out of an LBI pivot (right toe in ice). I have found these quite cumbersome, as back inside pivots are the one type of pivot I've never practiced before. But I can see them helping already.
Also, I came up with a solution to the problem of never ending up facing the right direction on my flying camel exit: A RBO pivot! This is the pivot I'm very comfortable with, and once I've come to a stop, I can step out in any direction I like. :)
Having shelved my Intermediate MIF for two weeks, I tried the back power 3's on a whim. Hmm. . . Not terrible! Maybe I should do that with my axel, too, LOL!

WAXEL
About 90% of my axels today! :frus: How can something I've been doing for 3-1/2 years--and used to be pretty consistent at--be messing with my head like this?! Anything over 1 revolution just seems to be cursed these days. :cry:

[froggy]

axel

my sit spin! my sit spin! is finally emerging, wow after a whole year of working on it ..my endless practice is finally paying off!!!!!!!!!!! i actually had fun trying to do all difft variations on the sit like putting my hands in difft positions. i'm not sure what it was but s/t just clicked..i think a bit of it is from just starting to get somewhat of a scratch spin that helped ..but in any case its seriously a miracle!! :D

waxel

my poor salchow went on vacation again :frus: :giveup: still working on that backspin and BO3s.

[jazzpants]

Waxel:
Too crowded and the ice was cruddy with tons of little potholes!!! The session was supposed to be freshly resurfaced at a certain time so I timed my visit to my weekend rink to that. They decided to go with the "too lazy to resurface" schedule and do ONE resurface at the midway point of the long 5.5 hr session. So by the time I got there, it was over an hour since the last resurfaces and the kids demolished the smooth ice. GRRRRR!!! :x :frus:

Axel:

Just for my coaches... I practiced falling today!!! Well, more like rolling than falling. I was practicing lowering myself on the back sit and instead of trying to get right back up, I lowered myself and allowed myself to go down to the butt. I have a very wet pair of pants going into the wash as we speak... ;) (Disclaimer: since I was practicing falling on my butt a lot, I DID wear butt and tailbone pads today to cushion the falls.)
Camels attempts are actually pretty decent after about the first 4 attempts!!! I got about 3 rev. around, but the camel position could be a LOT better. But all in all, it's progress! :)

[Petlover]

Axel: Pretty much everything - spin, salchow, loop, wouldn't you know, last day skating with the old Coronation Comet blades

Waxel: What my skating will be tomorrow while getting used to my new MK Professional blades, being mounted as we speak!

[Emberchyld]

Axel: My waltz jump is feeling better and better each time-- I'm actaully pausing, bending my knee, etc, my arms are getting where they need to be, I'm actually landing (and taking off) on the proper edge and bending my knee on the landing, and I'm starting to really get a bit of air. I even got a tiny bit of applause when I showed the results of my 2 weeks of practice in my LTS class the other day:D

We did tons of mohawks and they're starting to feel comfortable on both sides. I'm still working on remembering that knee bend.

And we had a nice, PACKED adult class start up in this new year-- quite a few very green beginners with their first skates, a few others who've skated now and then, and us "old" regulars. It's a nice feeling to see people literally falling for skating!

Waxel: :frus: Actually getting height and really stretching that lead leg on the jump. It doesn't help that I practice most of the time on crowded public sessions, when I have to stop on practically every one because a little kid magically appears right into the big empty space that was there a moment ago, so that most of my jumps then are sad and hesitant.

:frus: :frus: Spins. I had to change my spin direction and I just can't get more than 3 revolutions on that side(CCW).. and shaky revolutions at that. There are days when I want to say "To HECK with it! I'm jumping and spinning in different directions!" I don't think I load share very well with my left leg, and that's supposed to take more of my weight, I think, right? Not less!

And insane public sessions. My sister came with me the other night (she hasn't seen me skate since I first started learning crossovers!) and was amazed at how I managed to make it around the rink in the mess of people. (And, she was amazed that I didn't go down, because she was convinced that there were these two or three little goons who were trying to trip me the entire time). Our rink has a great guard on Sundays, but on other days we have these teenagers who just don't care.... so the SLEDS OF DEATH go every which way, hockey kids slam little kids into the boards (I saw them do it to a little girl half their size once and the guard didn't do anything more than make sure that the kid wasn't broken!), and the ice is turned into grooved slushy within minutes.

Waking up for freestyles: I want to try and go to an early morning freestyle at least once a week at the Ice House (BTW, can any regulars let me know how they are? Would a newbie adult like me get killed, even if I followed the freestyle guidelines?)before work, but I can't seem to get my butt out of bed in time!

*sigh* This was long... sorry!

[Mrs Redboots]

Waxel: Only managed to skate for about 45 minutes, which isn't really long enough, and didn't practice my dance moves at all.

Test chair hasn't got our names on her list - but then, we aren't the only ones, so I'm not too worried. I expect NISA is snowed under with last-minute test applications from skaters who have as little hope of passing as I do, but who want to have a go before the deadline. At least the coach knew that the deadline had been changed (for any British skaters with Moves tests pending who don't already know, they have to be done by 28 February).

Axel: Good joint lesson with Husband. We worked on our change-of-edge - I need to get it steeper, Husband needs to get it shallower, but it's not as bad as we thought, Coach says. We did a Fiesta Tango and he said the end pattern was the best he's ever seen us do it! I got into the right place for the step to forward, and very nearly couldn't do it as I'm so used to being in the wrong place!

We spent the rest of the lesson on swing rolls in waltz hold and in reverse Kilian hold - very dull, but has to be done.

He wants to rechoreograph Amarillo for us; we are to let him have a copy of the music tomorrow so he can have another listen and work something out. We are to redo it from scratch - which I'm not sorry about, as I know we can do so much more with it than we did last season. What I can't decide is whether to cut a slightly longer version for the Mountain Cup (Barbara wants all couples with a free dance to do it in the Couples Interpretive class, and it can be up to 3'10" long - ours is presently 1'30"), or just get it up and running as we hope to perform it in UK competitions.

[Petlover]

Axel: Everything! My new MK Professional blades are fantastic! I skated 2 sessions this morning, first time in the new blades. I was able to do 3-turns, mohawks, spins, a few jumps, and a couple of dances. They have much better edging and turning, but are also faster. I think 2007 will be a good year, the new blades help that much!

Waxel: no waxels today.

[Debbie S]

I want to try and go to an early morning freestyle at least once a week at the Ice House (BTW, can any regulars let me know how they are? Would a newbie adult like me get killed, even if I followed the freestyle guidelines?)before work, but I can't seem to get my butt out of bed in time! You might want to PM FrankR - he is a "regular" there. :)

Axel:
Am starting to be able to get through the FI-BO 3-turn pattern without putting my free foot down. Good news, since the Silver MIF event at NYI is less than a month away. 8O I'm landing the flip OK, except that I still have a bad habit of double-tapping with my toe pick before taking off, plus I get no distance in the air. Loop is pretty consistent. RBI 3 turns are improving (can't say the same about LBI) and I think I'm actually getting power on my power pulls.

Waxel:
Back cross strokes still need a lot of work - I get a lot of speed on the forward ones and the end pattern, and then I start crawling. :oops: 8-step mohawk is still somewhat flat, and I'm not covering a full half-circle on each pattern. LBI 3-s are still skidding and I think all my back 3's are too early on the lobe. Did a run-through last night which didn't go well - why can't I do the flip (or loop, or change-sit) with the music on? :frus:

[jazzpants]

Waxel:
Took longer to warm up last night! Muscles still stiff along the right butt cheek until about 30 minutes into the session. (No, it's NOT from the falls for my back sit! It's definitely a sciatic nerve type of thing.) I'll probably go in for chiro on Wed.

Axel:
Towards like the last 10 minutes of the session, had some successes with the little loops near the wall and at least a couple of mini-ones on the blue line. I did noticed that when I took off that my legs were CROSSED and close to one another. (Sadly that's not the case with my backspin. Even though it's crossed, it's not squeezed together. :roll: )

Waxel again:
Even though I did the two little loops RIGHT IN FRONT OF PRIMARY COACH, he didn't see it. He had another lesson going on... :roll:

Axel again:
He did, however, see the back sit attempts I did. The first couple of them I ended up right smack in the middle of both butt cheeks, which is NOT what I want. Towards the end of the evening, it did end up on the left butt cheek, which is what he DID want! :D

Well, if this is progress, on the flip I am landing first on the landing foot. Too bad for me the landing was funky enough where I just couldn't save it and had to put the foot down. :frus: But it's certainly better than tapping on the free foot first.

[Skate@Delaware]

Axel: Went to the public skate today and worked on my program elements (it's crunch time so I didn't have time for anything else). Per my coach's instructions, I broke everything down into chunks and hit it from that. Did fairly well with everything.

Waxel: I am still struggling to breath, although I did hit my albuterol. I looked at my gums and they are pale....anemia did cross my mind. My stamina sucked although I have been eating every 2 hours. And drinking lots of water.

I'm breaking everything down:

1/2 Jumps: the ballet jump...for some reason I'm not extending my free-leg when I'm on the toe-pick. Other than that, it's ok; 1/2 lutz was better and I actually had some air time (ok, it felt like a lot); 1/2 toe-walley...YAY! this one was the best because I finally got the "outside-inside edge" thing!!!

Lunges: duh...haven't done them in forever so.....

Spiral Sequence: was fine, I spin, then spiral on LFO, drunken sailor (which is much better), spiral on RFO, LFO 3-turn...leading into my jump sequence.

Footwork: I am doing ISI Dance something or other when I come out of the lunge (at the center) and its ok as long as I remember to "sway" i.e. edge pull (oops, keep forgetting that)...

In the middle of all this, I got called into hubby's dance lesson (I really didn't want to go but hey, he's paying not me)....we went back to the compulsory music because it's s-l-o-w-e-r for him, the other music makes me want to go really fast!!!

I was planning on going back to the 4 pm session, but I don't think I can...I am really tired!!! Plus, it's my day off and I have a zillion things left to do!!!!

[jazzpants]

Waxels:
Trying to land loops! Couldn't even do the ones at the wall now! GRRRR!!!! :x :frus: Secondary coach then suggested I try doing a BO edge to a backspin. But, instead of a nice little backspin, I do a bunch of double 3's instead. :roll: So now I'm at the wall trying to do backspins on the CORRECT edge and making nice little tea dish plate size circles instead of little spaghetti curlies! Made some progress holding onto the wall, but too bad I can't seem to get them away from the wall.

Axel:
I guess I got enough of those backspins at the wall correct, b/c coming off the ice, my left foot along the left side (mostly around the ball of the foot just below the pinky toe) was THROBBING coming off the ice. OWWWW!!! 8O

[BatikatII]

Waxel: At least the coach knew that the deadline had been changed (for any British skaters with Moves tests pending who don't already know, they have to be done by 28 February).



Where did you find that piece of info Annabel? It does make me mad that not only does NISA change such things apparently on a whim but it doesnt' bother to let anyone know. It is a bit hard on those of us who can't test til end of January and then may not be able to fit in another session before 28th Feb and still have the mandatory 4 weeks between tests. I think they are just being extremely mean. They've said all year that we had til the end of March to pass these tests and they must know that everyone has waited til the end of the year to give themselves the best chance and now anyone who fails the first time may not get another chance and all that time and effort will be wasted (well not entirely wasted as practising them has certainly improved my basic skating but it should have been entirely possible to pass by the old deadline - possibly not by this new one as we now may only get the one opportunity - NOT FAIR!)

[LilJen]

Petlover: What is it that you didn't like about the Comets? That's what I'm on--it's just what was mounted on my boots (I bought barely used boots/blades)--but I haven't tried enough different blades to know how each might feel. Would love to hear your thoughts.

Axel: I did get to practice last Wed, Fri, and yesterday. Wed of course still featured the vacationing kids and--until I told them, "uh, not on a public session, kiddos"--kids playing with a hockey puck. Got to spend some fairly concentrated time on 3s yesterday, but they still need work, which is what I hope to do in lesson tomorrow.

Waxel: I think there might not be much of a distinction between my swing rolls and slide chasses, appearance-wise, and there ought to be. I've never felt that great about my slide chasses, so maybe I'll ask coach about it tomorrow.

VERY tired from a new puppy that we adopted on Saturday. Caring for that newbie, plus work, plus getting dd acclimated to a new daycare, are all wearing me out. Hope I have the energy for 1.5 hrs tomorrow; I was really dragging after an hour yesterday.

Oh, must add another WAXEL: Yoga pants BAD when doing dance!! Managed one of my "I can save it, I can save it, I can save it, no I can't I'm going down" maneuvers with dance buddy last week and chewed a hole at the bottom of one leg (honestly, I'm not sure whose toepick did it--it probably looked really funny to everyone else in the rink!). I kept thinking, after I got these pants, "gee, i should really peg them." Well, I'm doing so now!! (holes are luckily near the inseam)

[kateskate]

Axel

Started a new programme for the Mountain Cup!

Managed a few axel-half loop-salchow combinations that didn't feel too bad - have no idea what they looked like though. Probably nothing like an axel.

I think I know what is wrong with my lutz - teacher said I wasn't letting my left side come through and my hip was getting stuck. I think she fixed it.

Learnt some new jump drills and exercises which were fun to practise. 3-jumps of an inside 3, salchows from back three-mohawks, new lutz and flip set up

14 step felt more march like!

Waxel

Free dance run through was awful. Managed to slide onto my side and graze my arm on the half loop drag turn.

Still can't get the 14 step Mohawk decent enough. Its still outside-flat which is an improvement on outside-inside. My left shoulder does not like to behave.

Camel spins were very scratchy.

I need to practise jump sequences/combinations with more than 2 jumps in them. Tried flip-loop-cherry and lutz-loop-cherry and they all died by the end. And my arms got wilder and wilder.

Field moves were impossible to practise as session was so busy. And I still haven't 100% sorted out the date. And I need to take them by the end of Feb.

[vesperholly]

Axel: Did some double sals today and WOW! 8O They were so good, felt really easy and high. Of course, none landed cleanly, but considering I could barely do a semblance of a double the last time I worked on them, this is much better. They popped really well and most attempts were fully rotated.

Waxel: Fall, fall, fall. I got several very good axel attempts in (good takeoff, full rotation, one foot) and I just kept falling. :frus: I must have taken half the rink with me, my tights were so soaked. Camel spin was very meh today. Got in a decent one to do a few combination spins but nowhere near steady enough to try camel-back camel, which really needs some work.

I still can't decide if I want to enter freestyle for Eastern Sectionals. I don't have a program put together, and won't have a chance to work on one until after Jan. 30th because I'm testing moves then. I feel like if I don't enter, I'm completely missing the "marquee" events at Sectionals (plus I haven't done much dance practice), but I also really don't want to be unprepared. I could cut the music and choreograph myself, but I don't want to go behind my coach's back - I would want her input but it is so costly to get her to cut a program and spend the lesson time choreographing. I am so torn! :giveup:

[Rusty Blades]

Axle? BAW HAW HA HA! Not bloody likely! Only in my dreams! Ok, ok, I'll try to behave . . . .

Waxel: Still don't have full strength back after a NASTY cold at Christmas and seem to be fighting muscle cramps constantly when I push too hard.

Axel: After skating for a year and having lots of power, speed, and deep edges but with the 3-Turns eluding me, I thought I would try something different - slow it right down and "play" with anything one-footed near the boards to work on my balance - change of edge/direction/foot - anything/everything. Hum, seems to help a lot! Going to have to do more of that next session.

[Petlover]

Liljen,

Congratulations on your new puppy! Trust me, they do eventually calm down and let you sleep at least part of the night, and the love they give you makes it all worth it.

I skated in Coronation Comets for the last 8 years and liked them, but my new MK Professionals feel lighter, and are very much easier to do edges and turns in. I have also always had problems doing a one foot spin off of one foot, the edge into the spin was almost impossible for me. This morning, the second day on my new blades, I did 2 multi-revolution, fairly centered 1 foot spins off of one foot with ease. I have seen many discussions about the 7 inch radius that the MK Profs have vs the 8 inch radius that the Comets have and how the 7 inch radius makes spinning much easier, that is why I went ahead and bought the MK Profs. In my case, it has proven to be true! Since edges and spinning are my favorite elements in skating, I am very pleased with the blade change I made.

I will say that the Comets have many good points. My first pair of Comets lasted 6 years (I skate about 4 hours per week), and my second pair were still in very good shape at 2 years old. They always felt solid on the edges, sharpened up well, and felt really good on jump landings. If you are happy with them, I would not change blades at this time.

Anyway, I hope this helps!

[sunjoy]

Axel. This is somewhat silly but... thanks to ISK8NY, I learned about Sasha's Bryant Park appearance, and resolved that since she was about 20% of my motivation to start figure skating last year (30% Johnny, and 50% what the ice actually communicated to my mind and body once I started :) ) -- that I'd learn a toe-loop before meeting her. So I had my coach teach it to me on Sunday, and swore I wouldn't leave the ice till I landed it. Two and a half-hours and lots of falls later, I left the ice feeling very discouraged.

Some wise corner of my mind told me to go back on and do something *easy* to finish on a good note, as a way of providing positive re-enforcement, so I did two-foot spins and spirals, and walked off the ice feeling much better. I'd put one skate guard on, when one of the lessons ended, and a space opened up in the center of the ice. Almost without thinking, I dropped my guards, skated out, and landed three toes in a row (in a row... definitely *NOT* in sequence or cobmination!!). (Ugly, hand down, blah blah blah, but without falling or toe-waltzing). Very good note to end on!

Waxel. Two-foot spin is in the process of changing -- trying to do it slowly and center, but meh. Will take more practice practice practice. Back inside 3-turns (actually all my 3s) have gotten messed-up during the last few months without lessons. Waltz jump is completely messed-up in ways that I guess only my coach can help unravel. Why was I better at it before all the practice I've given?? (Answer -- too much practice, not enough coaching).

Anyway, given the circumstances, the "axel" aspect of this week still gives me a little glow, and the "waxel" parts will just have to wait for the next lesson. Didn't have time when I met her (http://www.sashafans.com/forum/showpost.php?p=271820&postcount=18) to tell Sasha I landed a toe, but *heh* the thought of doing so motivated me through more falls than I thought possible. Now I know to keep plugging, and that I'm capable of that kind of determination. :)

[Mrs Redboots]

Where did you find that piece of info Annabel? It does make me mad that not only does NISA change such things apparently on a whim but it doesnt' bother to let anyone know. It is a bit hard on those of us who can't test til end of January and then may not be able to fit in another session before 28th Feb and still have the mandatory 4 weeks between tests. I think they are just being extremely mean. They've said all year that we had til the end of March to pass these tests and they must know that everyone has waited til the end of the year to give themselves the best chance and now anyone who fails the first time may not get another chance and all that time and effort will be wasted (well not entirely wasted as practising them has certainly improved my basic skating but it should have been entirely possible to pass by the old deadline - possibly not by this new one as we now may only get the one opportunity - NOT FAIR!)

But we will only get one opportunity - the deadline for test papers was 31 December, and any papers submitted after that must be for the new tests.

So even if we had had until 31 March, we'd have still only had one opportunity.

I think it was Kateskate who found out, and David Wood has confirmed it by e-mail.

[Mrs Redboots]

Waxel: We were late. My fault. And it rained. And we aren't going to Nottingham to watch the British, but Husband discovered yesterday he has a week's holiday more than he thought he had so we could have gone, after all. :frus: Ah well.

Axel: We saw our skaters off to the British, and after that the rink was pretty empty. Husband was going to the dentist so we had a good half-hour workout together, mostly working on swing rolls and our backwards skating in hold, which wasn't just so good today. We also did lots of chassé swings in time to the Golden Waltz!

In my lesson, it was, naturally, mostly dance moves, but also back crossovers to landing position around the rink (one of the American Field Moves, I believe). Hard work to do it how he wants - I can open my hip and bring my free leg right back (this is the idea!), but I find it really hard to open my shoulders at the same time. Doing that really makes the edge steep, which is nice, but I then find it hard to change feet and weight. I think after this test is over, I really do want to work even harder on transitions than I do now.

[doubletoe]

Waxel:
Took longer to warm up last night! Muscles still stiff along the right butt cheek until about 30 minutes into the session. (No, it's NOT from the falls for my back sit! It's definitely a sciatic nerve type of thing.) I'll probably go in for chiro on Wed.

Jazzpants, this sounds exactly like what I had going on in my left butt cheek for the past year or so. Since you and I jump and spin in opposite directions, you would get yours in the right butt cheek. The worst thing for me to do before my muscles were warmed up was a camel spin entrance. It would just kill me! Any spiral where I was standing on that leg was awful, too! If you have what I had, then it is a tight upper hamstring (possibly the result of pulling that muscle at some point) which is also exerting pressure on your piriformis muscle, which presses on your sciatic nerve. Going to the chiropractor did nothing for this, in my case, but going to physical therapy and doing the hamstring and piriformis stretches she taught me has completely cured it in a few months! Even though I always stretched religiously, the specific hamstring stretch she gave me was what gave me the big breakthrough:

Sit on the floor, legs outstretched in front of you. Bend the left leg and open it out so that bent leg is resting on its side on the floor and the bottom of your left foot is touching the inside of your right thigh. Now lock your right knee out straight and slowly bring your upper body down toward your outstretched right leg so that your belly button gets close to your thigh (with the eventual goal of getting your chest flat on your thigh without bending your knee). The most important thing is to arch your lower back and get your belly button close to the thigh, even if you can't get your chest all the way down. Do not round your back. Breathe and hold for 30 seconds before taking the stretch deeper.

[BatikatII]

But we will only get one opportunity - the deadline for test papers was 31 December, and any papers submitted after that must be for the new tests.

So even if we had had until 31 March, we'd have still only had one opportunity.

I think it was Kateskate who found out, and David Wood has confirmed it by e-mail.


But the original info on the website - now removed I see - did say that you would be able to have a retry up to March 31st and I was not the only person who saw it and understood it to be so. I can understand they want to move on to the new tests as soon as possible but it is unfair on adults who take very much longer to achieve the standards, especially when like me they have bad backs and things which mean they regularly lose out on several months of possible practice time. Ah well - if I dont' pass and that seems a likely outcome unless I can get away with a Major error in that I can't do number 4 on the right foot except very small I shan't bother with the new ones as I'm not going to need level 3 for many years if ever but I would have liked to be able to take these level 4 ones, as the other 5 are of decent passing standard.

as for Axel or waxel - well waxel is still no 4 's on right foot.

Axel is most of the others - my changes of edge even drew a 'very nice' from dance coach who is far more picky than free coach so that was pleasing. She would like a lot more curve on the back cross rolls but they are fast and even and should be OK for free moves test. She's made my inside 3's bigger and stronger and given some pointers for the continuous outside 3's to improve them more - my main fault is a tendency to lean forward after a turn.

Ah well - still a few weeks to go before test time and if I improve at the rate I have over the past few weeks then there is still a chance I could make a good enough go at this test but I'm not banking on it.

[kateskate]

So even if we had had until 31 March, we'd have still only had one opportunity.

I think it was Kateskate who found out, and David Wood has confirmed it by e-mail.

Yep I saw something by chance on a NISA bulletin and I emailed NISA to confirm. I can forward the email to anyone if you PM me your address.

Our tests weren't until mid March and I'm having to reschedule.

[kateskate]

But we will only get one opportunity - the deadline for test papers was 31 December, and any papers submitted after that must be for the new tests.



Indeed. They may have changed the deadline but it was never the case that you could have more than one go between Jan and March as papers had to be in by Dec 31st as you say.

[coskater64]

Skated for 2nd time in 3 weeks, snow, snow, snow Oi! Managed a whooping 2 hour 15 minutes, a new record for me in this post hip (ph) era. All jumps getting back to normal size but landings are still difficult...gee I wonder why? Made it through entire program with all jumps and spins done relatively well and at 3.30 that wasn't as easy as it should have been. It's times like these I wonder why did I pass my intermediate FS????..oh well.

Made through 45 minutes of weights and aerobic/cardio afterward planning on dying of exhaustion in the next few minutes.

Remember me well....:roll:

[doubletoe]

Coskater, all I have to say is: :bow: :bow: :bow:

[Mrs Redboots]

I can understand they want to move on to the new tests as soon as possible but it is unfair on adults who take very much longer to achieve the standards, especially when like me they have bad backs and things which mean they regularly lose out on several months of possible practice time. Ah well - if I dont' pass and that seems a likely outcome unless I can get away with a Major error in that I can't do number 4 on the right foot except very small I shan't bother with the new ones as I'm not going to need level 3 for many years if ever but I would have liked to be able to take these level 4 ones, as the other 5 are of decent passing standard.I'm unlikely to pass level 3 Dance Moves, and even Husband is quite liable to fail his Level 4s. But I'm sure the judges are going to be seeing an awful lot of long shots over the next few weeks.

If I fail, or even if by some miracle I don't, I'm going to spend time on the moves that I can't do on the new levels 1-3, although possibly not the spirals, we'll see what my back wants. Am unlikely to need the moves as don't plan to compete above Elementary for a long time, if ever - by which time I expect they'll have changed all the rules again. And even if I did decide to, I don't need to test above Level 4 compulsory dances!

Decided I do want to get the new level 5 compulsory dances (Willow Waltz and 14-step) as polished as possible, though. I like both dances and am pretty much able for them now.

[Team Arthritis]

AXEL:
MAJOR personal accomplishment - I did my first Flips since I messed up my knee doing them last summer. OK they were little POGOFLIPS/ CHICKENFLIPS but they weren't cheated and scared as I was I didn't work too hard on form or flow, whew a relief actually!

WAXEL:
I've been working hard on holding uncomfortable/ scarrieeeee edges with good posture because this seems to be helping lots of stuff , eg LBI3. So gliding along on LFO edge with body rotated as far open as possible, hands over my head, feet together, leaning back ... and my dull blades start to slide (sharpener is STILL away on vacation!). So I try to jam my R foot in for an outside MO and wedge the heel of the right skate up behind the stanchion of the L skate and WHOOMP! HArdest darned fall I've had in 6 months. Luckily fell well and hit flat out on back so nothing hurt except my brain was "sloshed". :giveup: Surprisingly, lesson went well.
Lyle

[Rusty Blades]

Careful with those sloshed brains Lyle - at our age we have to hang on to what little we got! LOL!

[Scarlett]

Axel - Managed to land a beautiful loop in a lesson. The first one my coach has seen and my second one ever.

Waxel- Couldn't repeat the feat. Flip attempts were comical and I still can't manage a decent spin on the new blades. Am planning on taking them to my sharpener and hoping that will fix the problem.

[dbny]

I have seen many discussions about the 7 inch radius that the MK Profs have vs the 8 inch radius that the Comets have and how the 7 inch radius makes spinning much easier, that is why I went ahead and bought the MK Profs.

Sorry, but I'm having a very compulsive "Monk" moment - blade rocker is measured in feet, not inches. It's the hollow that is measured in inches (fractions of inches, actually). Also, Coronation Comets have a rocker of 8.5 feet (not 8), which is a whole 1.5 feet larger than Aces. I've been on Aces forever, but wanted to try Comets and had the chance to. I got on the ice, and got off fifteen minutes later. The Comets felt like skis on my skates. I almost couldn't get an edge at all.

Axel:
I am definitely making progress on my one foot spin. Yesteray and today, I could feel when I was leaning to the right, and correct it. I think I got 6 revs today. I'm also starting to rise up automatically. Don't know what my coach will say about that, because she told me to keep my knee bent, but if it works, I doubt she'll object. FI Mohawks are getting smoother, but not all the time.

Waxel:
Why am I sooo scared of FI threes? I can do them on both feet, but very slowly, and once in a while I freak on the LFI and lean out of the edge just as I'm turning 8O. On the RFI, I frequently need to touch my free foot lightly to the ice right before the turn.

Double Axel:
NYC had its first snow of the entire winter today while I was on the ice. We got about 10 minutes of very light flurries. It was beautiful, but too fleeting.

[LilJen]

Petlover: Thanks for your thoughts on the Comets. My coach is still convinced that the Comets are best for me. Less room for error (and yes, I really tend to wobble). Interesting how many people dislike them!! I am liking the glide with them.

Waxel: Why am I sooo scared of FI threes?
dbny: Because that's the move on which I pitched forward several years ago, giving myself a lovely golf-ball sized bump on my forehead. . . .

Axel: Good lesson today. Two aha! moments: (1) coach helped me understand I'm dropping my free hip on the back half of 3-turns. amazing what a difference it makes when I keep that hip up. I'm sure someone has said this at some point on this forum but I never realized I was doing it. (2) aw, crud, I've totally forgotten what I was going to say. Ugh. Typical. :roll: Wait, oh yeah: The posture thing. I really am leaning forward too much and I SOOO thought I was standing up nice and straight (well, okay, the little bit of video I took of myself last week revealed this a bit, too). But yeah, I'm gonna have to exaggerate that from here on out.

Waxel: My back hurts after standing up so dang straight and doing several spirals (been playing with FI and back spirals lately). GOtta get back to the gym and the weight equipment.

[vesperholly]

Axel: Yes, thank you! I finally landed three clean ones today after nearly a month since the last time I landed it. Double sals were still good. Much better camel spins and combinations. Discovered really cool new combination: one-foot sal-flip. I like!

Waxel: Double loops were terrible. I am really tired out and I only skated 1.5 hours. Damn TOM. AND I'm at work. On my day off. :frus:

[doubletoe]

Petlover: Thanks for your thoughts on the Comets. My coach is still convinced that the Comets are best for me. Less room for error (and yes, I really tend to wobble). Interesting how many people dislike them!! I am liking the glide with them.

Comets should be awesome for skating fast (the flatter the blade the faster the blade) and getting stability on your jump landings, but they will be harder to spin on and turn on, since the rocker is flatter. It will be hard to find the sweet spot, and a easier to hit your bottom pick if you rock forward just a tad. But your coach sounds like he/she has you in them for a reason, so go with it. ;)

[mikawendy]

Coskater, all I have to say is: :bow: :bow: :bow:

...and all that, she does at altitude, if I'm guessing right by her screen name! :bow: When I went to Colorado one summer recently, I didn't even skate and I was woozy walking around the first day (even though I was taking it easy and drinking lots of water).

[quarkiki2]

Man, I haven't posted anything here for a while, LOL!

Had a lesson on Sat. Worked on MIF. My crazy coach actually thinks that if I could get past the mental block on 3 turns that I could test Pre-Bronze and Bronze in the same day. What a nut! I reminded her that they were looking for POWER on the Bronze test and she said she firmly believed that I had enough power. She reminded me that on the Pre-Bronze three-turn pattern I was getting down the ice in 3 1/2 lobes when not trying to push -- I said that that just meant that I needed to be on steeper edges so that I could fit the full four lobes in, LOL! This truly is the case, but I'd said to her earlier in the lesson that it was going to take me eight lobes to get down the rink... guess not.

Axel: At synchro practice last night we started to revive our disco Compulsory program -- and got all the way through it and tried it with music a couple of times, too. The entire team is skating faster, so we need to alter our block footwork so we don't slam into the wall -- we were hitting the red line with a full sixteen counts of choreography remaining -- and no ice left.

It is a good thing that we're so far into the second program -- we compete in April and I'm excited to think that we'll have two fully-prepared programs on the ice -- yay!

[Team Arthritis]

Why am I sooo scared of FI threes? I can do them on both feet, but very slowly, and once in a while I freak on the LFI and out of the edge just as I'm turning 8O. On the RFI, I frequently need to touch my free foot lightly to the ice right before the turn.
Yeh, me too. One thing that is helping me is a little hard to explain, here goes: before the three twist and build up tension in the ankle - keep those muscles contracted rather than relaxing into the twist. Then try to make the three quick rather than having deep lobes and (most important for me) keep those ankle muscles tight - don't relax after the three. Coach always talks about knee and waist but I'm learning that the crucial part for me is the ankle; nothing else goes right if the ankle isn't STRONG.

Yeh Rusty; the brains are all I have for making a living. So coach says that I don't need sharp edges, I fell because I wasn't leaning back enough 8O :cry: :roll: waaaayy to scary to do that.
Lyle

[dbny]

Yeh, me too. One thing that is helping me is a little hard to explain, here goes: before the three twist and build up tension in the ankle - keep those muscles contracted rather than relaxing into the twist. Then try to make the three quick rather than having deep lobes and (most important for me) keep those ankle muscles tight - don't relax after the three. Coach always talks about knee and waist but I'm learning that the crucial part for me is the ankle; nothing else goes right if the ankle isn't STRONG.


Actually, I know what you are talking about, as one of my problems is that I tend to let my ankle flop in, which causes a horrible scrape. I think part of it in my case though, is my boot/foot problems with pronation. All of this brings us back to what I think is the biggest difficulty in all of figure skating: there are too many body parts to be controlled all at the same time :lol:.

[doubletoe]

Yeh, me too. One thing that is helping me is a little hard to explain, here goes: before the three twist and build up tension in the ankle - keep those muscles contracted rather than relaxing into the twist. Then try to make the three quick rather than having deep lobes and (most important for me) keep those ankle muscles tight - don't relax after the three. Coach always talks about knee and waist but I'm learning that the crucial part for me is the ankle; nothing else goes right if the ankle isn't STRONG.

Yeh Rusty; the brains are all I have for making a living. So coach says that I don't need sharp edges, I fell because I wasn't leaning back enough 8O :cry: :roll: waaaayy to scary to do that.
Lyle

I find that the forward inside 3-turn is much more steady if I think of of pushing off to the outside (i.e., to the right for a RFI3 and to the left for a LFI3 instead of straight forward) and keeping my weight centered over my pelvis instead of over the skating hip. Then I focus on the inside ankle of the skating foot and that helps, too.

[doubletoe]

...and all that, she does at altitude, if I'm guessing right by her screen name! :bow: When I went to Colorado one summer recently, I didn't even skate and I was woozy walking around the first day (even though I was taking it easy and drinking lots of water).

LOL! Before I saw your mention of Colorado, I thought you were referring to her height, LOL! Because she is very tall as well. ;)

[Bill_S]

Waxel: The past two morning sessions have been empty. I have had the ice alone.

Sounds wonderful, but it gets old in a hurry. It drains motivation. You start to think "Why am I doing this, shouldn't I be home asleep at 6 a.m.?" The blahs hit. Self-doubt rears it's ugly head.

Axel: When my coach arrived at 7 am after my first hour of solitary practice, all those feelings went away. It was back to work, and my mood perked up.

Thank goodness!

[Team Arthritis]

Ahh Bill, how true, empty ice is depressing unless you have a moves test coming up or a new program. What's skating without an audience?? (Figures? :twisted: )
Lyle

[Rusty Blades]

I have had the ice alone . . . gets old in a hurry. It drains motivation. You start to think "Why am I doing this, shouldn't I be home asleep at 6 a.m.?"

I guess it depend on your outlook. Since I switched to 7 a.m to 9 a.m. sessions at the beginning of December I have usually had the rink to myself for the first half hour and often the last half hour. After warm-up, I take that time to work on the things that are so bad I wouldn't want anybody else to see 8O and there seems to be a lot of those! :roll: I also very much like that time to go through my program with my iPod - I close all the doors and I don't have to worry about watching behind me. (The doors are noisy and make quite a clatter so I know when someone else is coming onto the ice.)

I get all the motivation I need when my coach shows up at 7:30 (with her whip!) and the young hot-shot competitive skaters arrive.

[coskater64]

Well I do skate at altitude and I am tall, but I actually had issues with the altitude in Vail CO @ 8700 feet. It's really important to stay hydrated and take it easy,...but once you live here a while it's easy and gives an advantage when skating at lower elevations.

Yall should all skate at altitude it's fun...:lol:
Thanks for all the kind words...I am soooo sore! But in a good way!

[Bill_S]

I guess it depend on your outlook. Since I switched to 7 a.m to 9 a.m. sessions at the beginning of December I have usually had the rink to myself ...

Maybe I'm just wishy-washy...during the crowded evening times, I start longing for quiet mornings.

Heh heh, I think there's a "grass is greener..." effect at work.

Or should that be rephrased for this crowd as "The ice is always smoother during the other session"?

[Bill_S]

Ahh Bill, how true, empty ice is depressing unless you have a moves test coming up or a new program. What's skating without an audience?? (Figures? :twisted: )
Lyle

Funny you should mention figures...I started the session by practicing the 3s for Gold Moves on only one side of the rink - for an entire hour.

The other side remained shiney and untouched. It seemed a shame to ruin perfectly good ice with my imperfect patterns.

[Skate@Delaware]

This is for last nights practice....I did not have a chance to post and now this website is blocked by the evil firewall at work!! (but the other skating website is not)....

Axel: skated in my new waltz dress....it's a hit, but I need to get bloomers to wear under...ooops! Luckily, it's a regular knee-length dress so nothing showed (at least everyone said they didn't see anything and I did have 2 pair of tights on)....

Worked on my program complete with run-through and it was decent. There are a few things that need some more work, but barring the fact that I had to dodge people who don't know what "EXCUSE ME" means (I'm thinking of going back to "MOVE IT!!!":twisted: ...it was good. One of the new coach's complimented me, said it was "pretty"

Waxel: Hubby and I did the Dutch Waltz....and he has forgotten everything! He said he was nervous (in practice?) and he kept pulling me over (we were in kilian position) and he wasn't skating on tempo or keeping his speed up, AND HE KEPT LOOKING DOWN AT MY FEET!!!! I don't know what was wrong with him, but we are doing this on Saturday, so I told him we have to do it holding hands (no way is he pulling me down, I almost fell 3 times)...and he has to speed up and I'm slowing down too. He also needs to look up.

:frus: :frus: :frus:

[doubletoe]

Yall should all skate at altitude it's fun...:lol:


Uh. . . Define "fun!" I envy those who live at altitude, since they've definitely got a stamina advantage when they compete at lower altitudes. I train at sea level (L.A.) and would seriously consider skipping AN if they ever had it in Denver! 8O

[Rob Dean]

It's been a slow week as I've been busy with my second job, but I got out for a light lunch time public session today. All the frustrating work with the moves does appear to have helped something--I haven't worked on the Ten-Fox in weeks, and suddenly the progressive into the 3-turn doesn't seem to be very hard. This wasn't on my program for tomorrow's lesson, but maybe I ought to go with it. 8O (But the time I had blocked for the Willow should produce something usable at the social dance nights sooner...so is testing more important than social nights? Hmmm....)

Rob

[newskaker5]

Axel:
1. I finally did a real scratch spin after about 3 solid hours of practicing it this week :)
2. I also had better posture and body control on stroking, moves, etc this week according to my coach.
3. I also finally "got" the salchow - all my other jumps up through the loop are fine, but this jump just didnt make sense to me. It was like a wiped/messed up thing. Today I finally figured out to bring the free leg around and up not wip it to the side which actually gave me height
4. Was able to make lots of jump connections this week: waltz-toes, loop-toe, flip-toe, loop-loop
5. Sit spin is lower, about 4 revs and I can actually spin back up from it (I kept spinning onto my butt before haha)

Waxel -
1. My sit spin is fine until i start to rise up - then I travel about 3 feet:frus:
2. My flip jump was two-footed a few times this week while my toe loop was much better and higher - usually it is the reverse:roll:

[jazzpants]

Uh. . . Define "fun!" I envy those who live at altitude, since they've definitely got a stamina advantage when they compete at lower altitudes. I train at sea level (L.A.) and would seriously consider skipping AN if they ever had it in Denver! 8OYeah, no offense on Denver, especially since one of my favorite skaters, Braden Overett, trains there (and LA too from what I've heard....) but if it's in Denver, I'll need to lug an oxygen tank with me on the trip and have it on the ready for me at my event! LOL!!! :lol: (coskater64: :bow: )

Waxel: I had mini loops near the wall today but no clean loop landings away from the wall.

Axel: But I had a "A HA!!!" moment on the loop!!! When I was doing the jump at the wall, I kept my leg really close to the skating/takeoff leg all the way thru 'til I land. (I was thinking about this one drill that Em made me with trying to get me to land with my leg in front.) It keeps the free leg from pulling me off my rotation!!! Of course, when I tried to do it on the line, I would open up the free leg. :roll:

I think I'll keep up with the mini-loops near the wall and then on the line, 'til I can get the mini-loop away from the wall consistently. I did have a couple of close calls when I did land on the correct foot but was unable to maintain the landing and stumbled. Primary coach sees that I am landing mini-loops near the wall and figures that I'm trying to build up my confidence to land cleanly... so no "Oh, you and that WALL again! :roll:" comment today! :P

Oh, the other axel is... primary coach and I started on my new FS program this afternoon! OH, it *IS* FAST!!! And I have to do it with LOTSA "ATTITUDE!!!" into the program to "sell the program" too??? 8O Should be pretty good when it's done and cleaned up... ;)

We worked the most on camels and backsit today on the spins! The camels got better after about the 4th-5th try. He's happy to see that I'm willing to get my butt wet (fall on my butt) on the backsit attempts at least.

Did a little bit of brackets before my lesson. FO brackets are okay... but no BI brackets yet. Soon, I hope! :)

[Bill_S]

Did a little bit of brackets before my lesson. FO brackets are okay... but no BI brackets yet. Soon, I hope! :)


I had to swear off bracket practice for a while because of two "wham, bam" type falls doing my LBO brackets. OUCH! Couldn't sleep on my left side for three nights.

Brackets can be evil! :twisted:

[mikawendy]

I had to swear off bracket practice for a while because of two "wham, bam" type falls doing my LBO brackets. OUCH! Couldn't sleep on my left side for three nights.

Brackets can be evil! :twisted:

I'll second that. I'm not working on the ones in the Gold/Intermediate MIF, but I do have one in my program, and if I enter it with speed but hesitation, then my momentum takes me over the turning hip, catching the edge and causing some really hard falls. Between that and the falls on the 8 step when (again) I get freaked out and my shoulders get waay ahead of my hips, I've had some doozies where I pretty much go straight down (or over) with no sliding over the ice to dissipate the force!

[Rusty Blades]

Waxel:It was -33C here this morning, -45C with the windchill! 8O I did NOT want to leave the house!

Axel: It felt WARM in the rink (by comparison)!

Axel: All the "small edge practice" seems to be helping! After warming up (which took a while!), I was actually getting half-a@@ed 3-turns and brackets every-which-a-way this morning. Nothing to write home about and not necessarily coming out on balance but turned nonetheless. I even played with a little half-flip!

Coach and I worked a lot on a footwork sequence for my program and I experimented a lot with turn sequences.

Waxel: Any more than two consecutive turns in the same direction and I get dizzy (No blond jokes please!)

Axel: So I had worked out a series of 3 turns one way and then back with 3 mirrored turns the other way

Waxel: . . . . now, if I could just REMEMBER what it was! (I HATE getting old but don't fancy the alternative either!!!!)

[Bill_S]

It was -33C here this morning, -45C with the windchill! 8O I did NOT want to leave the house!


Oh my heavens, is that ever cold! I've been whimpering about our warming winters and no outdoor ice anymore, but I would never want THAT!

[Terri C]

It's Friday and since I finally skated, can post, although it's not much

Axel:
Spins were not bad today.
Coach started me on back threes. Yes you read right, Terri has never done back threes!

Waxel:
Still cannot land jumps without pain on heel of landing leg, so now a halt to jumps on the ice is now in order and I have a ortho appointment next Friday afternoon.
A group of kids came to public session and they put Christmas music on the CD player. They were all over the place- so much for a nice quiet Friday morning session.:roll:

FWIW- I don't care where AN 08 is if I pass my Bronze free in time I'm going!!

[Mrs Redboots]

Re skating at altitude: I know the Villard-de-Lans and Oberstdorf aren't really very high in the general scheme of things (both around 1,000 m), but I usually feel it the first day and then am fine. Of course, for CoSkater64, that's practically sea level!

Axel: Husband decided that if I wasn't going to go to dance club on my own, he would take me. So he called home first and gave me a lift, which was nice, as I always enjoy it when I go - it's just getting there's so awful at that time of night. We did a good Fiesta Tango, but for the rest of it.....

Waxel: Skated really badly, I thought, head down, bum probably stuck out, knees probably straight.... sigh....

Axel: This morning's practice was on nearly empty ice as everybody's gone to Nottingham for the British Championships. Which, so far, are proving very gratifying for our skaters, who have done well! So far.... many a slip and all that.

Waxel: A nearly empty, silent rink - you could hear my toe-rakes a mile off! Very frustrating.

[Team Arthritis]

I had to swear off bracket practice for a while because of two "wham, bam" type falls doing my LBO brackets. OUCH! Couldn't sleep on my left side for three nights.

Brackets can be evil! :twisted:

note to self:
half a bracket is a bad thing http://www.cosgan.de/images/smilie/frech/o010.gif
Lyle

[phoenix]

Waxel: And under the "just-because-you-can-do-it-doesn't-mean-it's-right" category, I present my FI double 3's! Ugh. I never liked these, and had thought I'd be rid of them after I passed them in Moves way back when. But no, we still do them, and now coach wants them bigger, faster, much faster, shoulders moving just so, free leg presented just so. I could do them fine slower, but now they've totally fallen apart again. And I got really bi*chy about it in my lesson as I was really frustrated.

Axel: Well......I've been doing endless choctaw exercises (again, can technically do them, edges are correct--but doesn't mean they're really right). They're getting much better. That will be the key to finishing up my Killian & getting it ready to test.

[DallasSkater]

Axel: My coach finally cut my music and I really liked the cut! Glad we switched music as this just sounds so much more rich over the sound system. We choreographed about 20 seconds worth...ran out of time as I had so many other things to work on. Have another lesson today in which we hope to work more on it.

Backward 3 turns on my good side are coming along. Feels wrong but coach assured me that is how it is done. I keep expecting it to feel similar to how you can feel your edge on forward 3 turns. Maybe that comes with time and practice.

Waxel: The lesson was actually my Moves in Field one. Had to show her my "improvement" on the pre bronze pattern but I don't think I have improved it much. My schedule only allows a few time frames a week on freestyle ice. Otherwise I am on public ice and it is near impossible to do consecutively with so many people. Well, that is my excuse anyway!

There was an adult in lesson just before mine. Coach called me over and asked me to demonstrate a waltz toe tap waltz ....as if I am some shinning example of this! eeeek. I had hardly warmed up and it is not my favorite anyway...Jumped my little heart out to hear her tell her student...don't allow your leg to bend the way her's did! giggle. That definitely goes down as a waxel moment! I rolled my eyes (internally of course!) and moved on.

Waltz eight is coming along. She brought a magic marker to help me see how big the circles need to be. I think I need a marker with more magic in it!

Off to the rink. Have a great day!

[Emberchyld]

Axel: An awesome skating week-- 4 days of skating and a fifth coming up.

Also very AXEL-Y: Getting to skate with Renatale :bow: again after not having seen her in months. She's not only a great skater, but I always feel guilty skating with her-- even on a fun, relaxed skate, she ended up helping me with my edges (edges, edges... yup, they still need a LOT of work), my pseudo-waltz jump, and basically everything. I even got to completely freak out everyone else on the ice when I kicked the wall a little too enthusiastically on a drill that she gave me at the boards:oops:.

And, when we did a few off-ice waltz jumps, I learned that I was landing on a turned-out foot:?? I'm still working on getting my brain to recognize the difference between ballet and skating!

Additionally AXEL-Y: Thanks to FrankR's kind PM letting me know how the freestyles are at IceHouse, I overcame my fear of the freestyle session and went yesterday and today. Got to meet FrankR today :bow: (I aspire to skate like him someday!) and felt more comfortable on the ice with the larger number of very nice adult skaters. Now I just need to get more comfortable with the high speed flow of of freestyles!

Waxel:Well, I've learned that it's going to take a while for my body to get used to doing anything physical in the early A.M.. Skating wasn't bad, per-se, but it took a lot longer to feel comfortable on the ice and yesterday, I slouched the entire time on the ice (luckily, the slouch mostly went away today, but I was surprised that first morning when I realized what I was doing-- I never slouch!).

Waltz jump, waltz jump, waltz jump. 1 out of every 20, I actually hold the edge before taking off. I just zip sadly through the rest.

I hate spinning CCW. I knew that I wasn't sharing my load equally between my right and left foot, but today I really felt it-- I could practically lift my left foot off of the ice. CW, I can even go into 1-footed spinning, but I can't even get a 2-footed spin CCW. And, thanks to the mess that I've become with this switching direction thing, I've started spotting again. :frus:

[phoenix]

She brought a magic marker to help me see how big the circles need to be. I think I need a marker with more magic in it!

:lol: :lol: Sign me up for one too!

[jazzpants]

Waxel:It was -33C here this morning, -45C with the windchill! 8O I did NOT want to leave the house!
Oh, MY!!! That is... C-C-C-C-C-COLD!!!! 8O 8O 8O I guess I better not complain that right now it's colder here in California than it is in New York! LOL!!! :lol: :P

Waxel:
Still cannot land jumps without pain on heel of landing leg, so now a halt to jumps on the ice is now in order and I have a ortho appointment next Friday afternoon.
A group of kids came to public session and they put Christmas music on the CD player. They were all over the place- so much for a nice quiet Friday morning session.:roll:Sorry that you still got landing foot problems. And it's JANUARY!!! TIME to put AWAY the Christmas music 'til next Thanksgiving!!! :twisted:

[doubletoe]

note to self:
half a bracket is a bad thing http://www.cosgan.de/images/smilie/frech/o010.gif
Lyle

ROFLMAO! Yes, that goes in the book with the other great sayings like, "Three turns may react violently when surprised."

I finally stopped catching my edge on my brackets when I came up with my 1-2-3 checklist:
1. Wait until you feel like you have actually *passed* the top of the curve where you're supposed to turn
2. Get onto the ball of the blade
3. Execute the turn.
(then do a deep ankle bend and press down on the exit).

[jazzpants]

ROFLMAO! Yes, that goes in the book with the other great sayings like, "Three turns may react violently when surprised."Boy do I know that one! I'm still getting thru "fear factor" on those back threes b/c of a nasty fall I've had "surprising" my BO3's. I will eventually get thru it though.

I finally stopped catching my edge on my brackets when I came up with my 1-2-3 checklist:
1. Wait until you feel like you have actually *passed* the top of the curve where you're supposed to turn
2. Get onto the ball of the blade
3. Execute the turn.
(then do a deep ankle bend and press down on the exit).Is the bold item true for BO and BI brackets??? (I was told to go on the back of the blade.)

Love the checklist!!! And it also applies to 3turns too!!! :D

[aussieskater]

Waxel:It was -33C here this morning, -45C with the windchill! 8O

Off topic a *leetle* so apologies - we had +42C here yesterday!! And that was in the shade. No idea what it would have been if I'd left the thermometer in the sun. Man, it was hot. I sometimes find it hard to comprehend that technology has advanced so far that humans in places nearly 100C apart (in other words, almost the gap from freezing to boiling water) can communicate with each other in effectively real time!

OK, back on topic:

axel: DD's lessons start again this weekend, and ours next week. :) Yay!...

waxel: ...but both coaches (hers and ours) are still on "summer time" and all of us get just one lesson before Feb. :cry: School's on holidays until then too, so the rinks are full.

Ah, well, we're all having a lovely summer break. Icecream, anyone?? :P

[Rusty Blades]

Off topic a *leetle* so apologies - we had +42C here yesterday!! And that was in the shade. No idea what it would have been if I'd left the thermometer in the sun. Man, it was hot. I sometimes find it hard to comprehend that technology has advanced so far that humans in places nearly 100C apart (in other words, almost the gap from freezing to boiling water) can communicate with each other in effectively real time!

Amazing, isn't it. I don't know about "real time" - I'm blond 8O

[sk8pics]

Waxel:
Still cannot land jumps without pain on heel of landing leg, so now a halt to jumps on the ice is now in order and I have a ortho appointment next Friday afternoon.

Sorry to hear that, Terri! I hope your doctor can help you!

As for me, my surgeon said yesterday my ankle is totally completely healed, the fracture, that is. Still can't walk right. :frus: But it's getting better. And the doc told me to do more walking at home without the cane, since I told him I'd been doing that a little. I'm still quite swollen, partly due to the blood clot, and so they put these compression tubes on my lower leg and ankle. Hopefully it will help!

PT still going well. The physical therapist I had today was telling me he thought that PT should also come with a psychologist, because so many people get so discouraged at their slow progress. I have had those moments, too, but I think I am used to the concept from my slow progress at skating!;) Anyway, I can see I'm getting slowly better. My improvement this week is being able to walk upstairs normally, though still with the cane helping. No more leading only with the good foot! Down stairs will take a lot more work...

[phoenix]

Is the bold item true for BO and BI brackets???


No. You are correct, the backward brackets are turned w/ more weight on the heel, just like a Back 3 turn. As you get better and better at them, you actually do more of the turn closer to the center of the blade, which makes it possible to do the really fast brackets from Novice moves, & the rocker/choctaws too. I'm not there yet! I need to majorly rock forward or backward to do those securely. :giveup:

[doubletoe]

Boy do I know that one! I'm still getting thru "fear factor" on those back threes b/c of a nasty fall I've had "surprising" my BO3's. I will eventually get thru it though.

Is the bold item true for BO and BI brackets??? (I was told to go on the back of the blade.)

Love the checklist!!! And it also applies to 3turns too!!! :D

Oh yeah, good point. I always had my "yikes!" moments on the forward brackets, so that's what the "ball of the blade" part of my checklist was for. On the back brackets, you still need to feel like you are passing the top of the lobe (I guess it would be bottom of the lobe) before turning, but you want to be in the middle of the blade and focus on deep ankle bend as you prepare for the turn.

Okay, now I'll play "axel/waxel."

AXEL
I executed my spiral sequence perfectly in my program run-through this morning. This is the one thing I keep thinking about to cheer myself up as the rest of my elements seem to be falling apart lately! I also saw more progress on the backspin from the pivot entrance (I did a very nice one on the first try for my coach!) and reaped the benefit of the exercise by nailing the backspin transition in the combination spin in my program. My coach also made me try a sit/back sit for the first time in ages and I completed it quite nicely, which totally surprised me! So let's hear it for the pivot-backspin exercise! :D

WAXEL
Still no axel, although I must admit I didn't even try one this morning (I just did a waltz jump in my program instead). I secretly hoped the Axel Fairy would give it back to me today, since it's my birthday, but I didn't want to face the disappointment of finding out she would even snub me even today! The Double Toe fairy teased me a little by having me land perfect ones on the harness with zero pulling from my coach, but then pulled the football away just like Lucy once I tried to do them off the harness. I fell right onto my right hip and lay there feeling sorry for myself as I iced it for a few seconds. Other than that, the flying camel was a disaster in my program, although it did get better later when I did it on its own.

[Skate@Delaware]

5. Sit spin is lower, about 4 revs and I can actually spin back up from it (I kept spinning onto my butt before haha)
Ha! Ha! Ha! My coach would LOVE IT if I WOULD land on my butt doing a sit spin!!!!!

Cool news on your salchow and other stuff!!!

[jazzpants]

Oh yeah, good point. I always had my "yikes!" moments on the forward brackets, so that's what the "ball of the blade" part of my checklist was for. On the back brackets, you still need to feel like you are passing the top of the lobe (I guess it would be bottom of the lobe) before turning, but you want to be in the middle of the blade and focus on deep ankle bend as you prepare for the turn.Take three guesses why I made my comment about the ball of the foot vs. the middle of the blade! :frus: :roll: :P

WAXEL
Still no axel, although I must admit I didn't even try one this morning (I just did a waltz jump in my program instead). I secretly hoped the Axel Fairy would give it back to me today, since it's my birthday, but I didn't want to face the disappointment of finding out she would even snub me even today! Sorry you didn't get the axel and the double toe fairy pulled the football away at the last minute. :cry:

Given that... I have to properly embarass 'ya and say...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DEAR DOUBLETOE!!!
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU!!!

http://www.cosgan.de/images/kao/musik/a045.gif http://www.cosgan.de/images/kao/musik/a010.gif http://www.cosgan.de/images/kao/musik/a050.gif

Ha! Ha! Ha! My coach would LOVE IT if I WOULD land on my butt doing a sit spin!!!!!
My coach is hassling me about that on the back sit too! I feel your pain! :giveup:

[Isk8NYC]

Happy Birthday doubletoe!
(And Bondo, too, if he's still lurking about!)

Waxels All Around:
Between sickly people in my house and a crazy workweek, I did absolutely no skating this week, other than teaching. For shame!

Both pairs of skates are dull. Had the Patt99's sharpened by the pro shop, but I was skating sideways afterwards. Couldn't spin well on the GoldSeals; kept rocking back and forth.

Lost my $35 boot covers, but I think the head pro has them in the L&F.
(How do you put your name on black boot covers?)

Jumps are crummy, even a waltz jump or a spinny little salchow.

Axels:
Oddly enough, mohawks were easier on the dull blades, so I focused on them. Taught BO3's with some success.

Went to the Ice House and had both pairs of skates sharpened professionally.
He said the Patt99's had a very shallow hollow so he sharpened to my usual setting.
(Which he remembers everytime. Amazing - I have to look it up.)

In kibbitzing with the staff, I think I understand why one of my group students is having boot problems and how to fix them. (Cross your fingers!)

One of my fav privates from last year called and wants to start taking lessons again! Yay!

New Year's Resolution is to keep up with the sharpenings, so I put a reminder in my calendar and wrote the same on the bottom of my soleplate.

[Mrs Redboots]

With everybody away at the British we had a lovely long skate again this morning.

Axel: Dance moves, for once! But what do you be that they won't be repeatable when the coach isn't 100 miles away??? Talk about "reverse coach moment".....

Our friend from church, who has a lesson on Saturday mornings, came on to join us for the last part of the morning. I was rather impressed - from what she'd said, I'd thought she was still at the stage of clinging tightly to his arm or the barrier, but not at all. Granted, she liked to hold someone's hand if she was doing anything more adventurous than plain forward stroking, but her crossovers are definitely coming along, as are her 2-footed turns. :bow:

Waxel: Still having issues with my step to forwards, though - I know my posture is wrong, but don't quite see how to correct it. We spent a lot of time doing 3-turns round each other to try to address this issue. I got particularly frustrated during our exercises in waltz hold, as I could hold the RBO edge across most of the width of the rink (we were avoiding someone), but as soon as the Husband moved to do his 3-turn, scrape, scrape, scrape again. Sigh! :frus: :frus: :frus:

[DallasSkater]

Axel: Skated a ton yesterday. First arrived 1.5 hours prior to my private lesson to find an empty public session. Had the ice mostly to myself for the first hour. Could not believe I had such a wonderful run through of my prebronze MIF when it was not so solid in my MIF lesson on Thursday. Not sure what the difference was, but really felt great.

During my lesson, we choreographed about 1/3 of the program. I am thrilled as I really like the structure of working on something and I am a bit surprised that it was not more difficult to develop and retain. I was shakey on it but only because I am not used to skating on time to music and connecting things to each other. I think working on this will really facilitate my skating in general. By the end of the lesson it was already feeling more steady. Just a lot of pressure to jump at an exact second! lol. We are only putting elements in that I can do...if I develop other skills we can always replace something later. Makes me more comfortable with the whole idea.

Waxel: During my group lesson I took a major body slam from a back three turn. When I turned I just caught a toe pick. Was really not going that fast, but it did catapult my body up and then over forward. The slam was with such force it created a huge sound that caused the entire skate school to look up. I had several coaches at my side within seconds as it really was quite a big display! eeeek. Thank the good Lord for the invention of crash pads...I was fine...just totally stunned. I took the force of the fall all over except picked up my head and I guess that helped too. Amazing that it took an nano second to go down but I swear I had at least 30 minutes worth of thoughts while flying down! giggle.

Later in the same lesson, my group instructor commented that I was "not trusting" myself. I reminded him of that fall..and stated " but only with good cause!" giggle. I actually trust myself just fine...I just don't trust my feet through demonstrated history!

Axel: Will skate two sessions today. Looking forward to practicing some of the program and even those pesky back 3 turns. Will make sure all pads are appropriately placed! Hoping rain and cold will cause some to re think their visit to the rink today. Public sessions are all that is available to me today.

[dbny]

Terri C - Hope the ortho can help with your heel pain.

Sk8pics - Way to go on healing up so well, and congrats on going up the stairs normally!

Doubletoe - Happy Birthday!

Bondo - Where are you? Happy Birthday!

Isk8NYC - "kibbutzing" would be living on a kibbutz (an Israeli commune). The word you want is "kibbitzing" :)

DallasSkater - Ouch! Was it a BI three? One day I just had the feeling for them, and did a few, then hit the edge and the ice hard. Haven't gone back to them in a few years. Yes, I'm a very big chicken!

Axel:
From nowhere, I was suddenly able to do FI threes away from the wall. I suspected that I was swinging through them though, which was confirmed in my lesson. With a little direction from my coach, I started getting them without the swinging. Actually got 5 or 6 revs on a few one foot spins before my lesson.

Waxel:
Spins were not cooperating in lesson and coach has me doing something new. I've always done a FI pivot by winding up my shoulders, but she now has me squared and pushing three times before coming in for the spin. That alone is something I have to practice :x. Hopefully it won't take long to get used to it and start spinning.

[aussieskater]

Waxel: Still having issues with my step to forwards, though - I know my posture is wrong, but don't quite see how to correct it. We spent a lot of time doing 3-turns round each other to try to address this issue. I got particularly frustrated during our exercises in waltz hold, as I could hold the RBO edge across most of the width of the rink (we were avoiding someone), but as soon as the Husband moved to do his 3-turn, scrape, scrape, scrape again. Sigh! :frus: :frus: :frus:

MRs RB - are your "3's around each other" like the 3's in the European? If so, are you stepping wide into the next turn (and ending up on the back toepick)? Our coach is on our backs for this - I hate stepping close to the instep as I've managed to get my blade caught near the stanchion - major ouchies!

Coach's suggestion was to keep the weight a *leetle* back to make sure that all the weight remains on the first foot so there's no scraping on the BO edge and the free foot goes down tidily close to the instep on the step to forwards. I suspect that this weight placement will be required to disappear once we finally have the blasted things down silently... :lol:

[Terri C]

Waxel: During my group lesson I took a major body slam from a back three turn. When I turned I just caught a toe pick. Was really not going that fast, but it did catapult my body up and then over forward. The slam was with such force it created a huge sound that caused the entire skate school to look up. I had several coaches at my side within seconds as it really was quite a big display! eeeek. Thank the good Lord for the invention of crash pads...I was fine...just totally stunned. I took the force of the fall all over except picked up my head and I guess that helped too. Amazing that it took an nano second to go down but I swear I had at least 30 minutes worth of thoughts while flying down! giggle.

OMG- I just started on back threes yesterday- that sounds like something I want to avoid!!

Axels:
Secondary coach saw improvement on Silver moves. ("This may be a easier test for you than the Bronze test was") I'm rather amazed, since due to work commitments for the time being, I can only skate twice a week.
Granted, the power pulls, back threes, and crossstrokes are only being skated on the short axis, but hey I'm surprised at what I can do!
That's including..... I ALMOST PULLED OFF A RBO3 ON ONE FOOT!!! This is someone who only started on back threes yesterday!

Waxels:
The Road to Bronze for me is still on the detour called Painfull Right Achilles Tendon. I'm glad to be working on Silver moves, but I'd rather be working on my Bronze free test. No jumps till I see the doctor next week and know what's what.
Had really bad stomach cramps that started right before my lesson, I fought through my lesson, but couldn't do much afterwards.
Rink management pulled a fast one and ended the freestyle 50 minutes sooner for hockey. While I lost 30 minutes of ice time because of that I was feeling lousy, so it was just as good for me to pack it up and leave. Nevertheless, there were skaters that did show up expecting to skate and there were some pretty pissed skaters and coaches!

[xofivebyfive]

I got 2nd place in my FS and 1st in my artistic program this weekend in lake placid. Read all about my crappy weekend here (http://www.skatingforums.com/showpost.php?p=304547&postcount=18).

[Rusty Blades]

xofivebyfive: congratulations!

dbny: Hey! Quit trying to muscle in on my specialty! (Falls!) Glad you are ok.

Waxel: It appears I now have a bunion. I didn’t even know what a bunion was and I asked the physio about the bump on my right foot and she gave me the wonderful news. I got my right boot bumped out for my new “appendage” before skating but after 2 hours on the ice, it was getting sore. So I came home and built a boot press so I don’t have to drive an hour to get my boots bumped. 8O It works - more bunion space now - LOL! (You can take the girl out of engineering but not the engineering out of the girl ;) )

Axel: Spent most of today’s session doing turn sequences. After 3 turns in the same direction in quick succession, I get DIZZY! But my do they ever look nice :mrgreen: I was also hitting some nice CW 3-turns (both forward & back, inside and outside) in sequence - now if I could just get some working CCW and do them in isolation! Oh well, I did hit some LFO 3's and that’s unusual.

[DallasSkater]

dbny: I was practicing both inside and outside back three's and on both my strong side and my not so great side. The fall is possible from all as it really does feel strange and a bit jerky. So unlike the forward 3 turns that just seem to flow easily on the edge once you master the control. My fall just so happen to occur on the BO-3 ...this time! It was on my weaker side too. Congrats for getting away from the wall! I swear when I was learning forward 3 turns.... as soon as I forced myself away from the wall...I had it.
Reflective I am sure of the fact that it was do or die...well, ok..fall!

Terri: Wow that you are already working on silver moves! Very impressive! Glad to know you are just starting the back 3 turns as well. Will be very interested in following your progress on them.

Xofivebyfive: A huge congrats to you for your placings! What a story of injury, near disaster with music and then such sweet success. Thanks for sharing it. I found myself wondering if I would have the presence and grace to continue if there was a problem with my music. Fear it would turn my ever present low grade anxiety into a rather high grade! giggle. Sounds like you really held it together! WTG!

Axels: No falls today! Was able to help the only other adult in my freestyle class learn his salchow. He was instructed in class and by our coach but since it is new.... forgot! I can relate. Did find some space to work on the back spin...maybe sense a small improvement there...and even some work on back 3 turns...about the same on these.

Waxels: The public session was nightmare. Started 30 minutes late due to hockey. The ice was then not cut and there were b-day parties and a huge crowd. Did not get much of anything done. My alternative rink had hockey all weekend so had to deal with what I had. Thinking I will not go back tonight. We have ice and it is nasty out. Still in skating attire in case I cannot stand to know it is open and I am not there!

[Casey]

Today was the best day of my life. Imagine taking your best dreams, magnify the good parts a few times, and then have that as your reality. No, I did not manage to land an axel today, and the cause of my joy was not something that happened while skating, but it does involve it to a large degree. Without skating, I would have never discovered it. And so, I owe everything to this crazy, wonderful sport. A world without skating would just not be the same.

[Isk8NYC]

Isk8NYC - "kibbutzing" would be living on a kibbutz (an Israeli commune). The word you want it "kibbitzing" :)Thank you! (Although, by the looks of the guy ...)

[Bill_S]

Today was the best day of my life. Imagine taking your best dreams, magnify the ... >8 ...SNIP


OK, Casey. Don't just leave us hanging! The mind runs wild...

a) You bought a winning lottery ticket on your way to the rink yesterday.
b) You were spotted by a Hollywood talent scout for an upcoming skating movie.
c) A beautiful skater, a former Hollywood skating star, asked you to "do lunch".
d) You got Dick Button's autograph.
e) The rink owner put you in his will and he's very old.
f) .....

Spill the beans!

[Mrs Redboots]

Today was the best day of my life. Imagine taking your best dreams, magnify the good parts a few times, and then have that as your reality.So who's the lucky lady, and have you named the day yet?

MRs RB - are your "3's around each other" like the 3's in the European? If so, are you stepping wide into the next turn (and ending up on the back toepick)? Our coach is on our backs for this - I hate stepping close to the instep as I've managed to get my blade caught near the stanchion - major ouchies!

Coach's suggestion was to keep the weight a *leetle* back to make sure that all the weight remains on the first foot so there's no scraping on the BO edge and the free foot goes down tidily close to the instep on the step to forwards. I suspect that this weight placement will be required to disappear once we finally have the blasted things down silently... :lol:I think I do widestep a bit, but I'm scraping before I get anywhere near getting my free leg in place to step to forwards. I scrape far less (but I do still scrape) when doing it solo, so am wondering if it's partly to do with the hold.

Coach says I don't push enough into the step to forward (or next 3-turn, if we're doing waltz 3s), but if I get my weight far enough back not to scrape at all, I can barely get my free foot to the ice, never mind push on to it!

It would be so nice if I could manage my Fiesta Tango, Swing Dance AND Willow Waltz at the Mountain Cup without a single scrape.... I'm less likely to scrape on the Fiesta as I'm on an inside edge, but it does happen. Thankfully the fourth dance is the Canasta, so it doesn't apply - that has a whole set of issues all its own, though!

[samba]

I think I do widestep a bit, but I'm scraping before I get anywhere near getting my free leg in place to step to forwards. I scrape far less (but I do still scrape) when doing it solo, so am wondering if it's partly to do with the hold.

Coach says I don't push enough into the step to forward (or next 3-turn, if we're doing waltz 3s), but if I get my weight far enough back not to scrape at all, I can barely get my free foot to the ice, never mind push on to it!

Sounds like a joint error, partner maybe turning too tightly for you to have a fighting chance.

[samba]

Come on Casey, you can't just leave it there, what gives????

[doubletoe]

Thank you for the sweet birthday wishes! I had a wonderful birthday (other than not landing any axels or doubles, LOL). :D Jazzpants, I must find the secret source of your adorable GIF characters. . .!

[phoenix]

Coach says I don't push enough into the step to forward (or next 3-turn, if we're doing waltz 3s), but if I get my weight far enough back not to scrape at all, I can barely get my free foot to the ice, never mind push on to it!

The key to getting a good push into the step forward is the rebend of the skating knee before the stepping foot hits the ice. The European is the "make or break" point, where you have to learn that technique before you will pass the dance. It's not that easy to do, to control your shoulders & not fall onto an inside edge too early.

[Casey]

OK, Casey. Don't just leave us hanging! The mind runs wild...
[...]
Spill the beans!
I can't just yet I don't think, but I did enjoy reading your list of guesses. :D Time will tell.

[dbny]

Jazzpants, I must find the secret source of your adorable GIF characters. . .!

I know her secret, and you can too. Just right click on one of the GIF's and select "properties".

[Rusty Blades]

Waxel: My oh my was the rink COLD! It was so cold the ice was grainy, slow, and felt like skating on concrete! At least the graininess seemed to help hold an edge. (After a week of -30C and -40C windchill, I was expecting it to be COLD.)

Again, turns & turn sequences - YAWN! :roll:

Axel: (Don't I WISH!) At least my turns are getting better. I think my RFO3 is almost ready to turn into a spin! :mrgreen: (Don't need a spin but I'll take it if I get it!)

LOVE my home-made boot press - no bunion discomfort today - lots of bunion room.

[Skate@Delaware]

Axel: Had my lesson today and did two run-throughs of my progam (debuting tomorrow at competition). My coach was pleased and had nothing major to add. Minor details were: coming to a complete stop before assuming my final pose; watch that back arm on the waltz jump (it has a nasty habit of doing it's own thing); relax my shoulders (an ongoing battle, since I'm broad-shouldered); and keep my speed up!!!

Then she had me do some scratch spins and I actually did a spin that did not travel to Spain! I relaxed, and ARCHED my BACK!! seemed to help. Did some backspins and did the same thing (and kept my upper body as stiff as a board, too). Managed to hit them (2-3 revs). I was happy.

Waxel: not auditioning for the spring show...It was sad watching everyone skate at audition instead of joining them. BUT I will be in Europe with my daughter so that is a BIG consolation prize!!!!

Competition tomorrow at The Gardens Ice house and I'm looking forward to having some FUN!!!!!!!!!!!

[DallasSkater]

Wow Casey...sounds like a life changing something! I vote for career something related to skating.

Rusty: I really need to stop complaining about how cold it is here when I hear what you are dealing with....my coldness it nothing compared to yours!

Axel: Delighted that due to threat of ice (I saw none on roads) the public ice was reasonable today. There were 4 birthday parties but I think other then those associated very few others were on with us. Had the center circle almost to myself most of the time. Seeing tiny bits of progress on those back 3 turns in all directions. Did a million attempts on both feet both directions in hopes that it would suddenly feel as easy as it looks. Still not close to what the instructor's looks like but able to consistently keep free leg in front. Still jerking around despite trying to really pull check hard and turn. No falls. That is good. Had full crash pads and then some just in case. Now see why I caught my toe pick and hoping I can avoid future ice belly flop!

Had enough room through crowd to do most jumps. Felt good and without pressure. Even attempted a run through on the part of my program that is choreographed. Felt a bit silly as I knew it was drawing attention with my arms doing the flowing things. giggle. A woman approached during ice cut and asked if I were a professional skater. Easy to look pretty good on public ice.

Practiced edges all directions and with 3 turns and even a run through on the MIF pattern though that got interrupted often.

Spins were decent. The LTS instructor on Friday really addressed arm position in spin and entry. I think I was always doing it similar but this little lecture caused some reminders that have helped me to center faster and actually get many more revolutions.

Getting 1-3 revolutions on a back spin. My left leg is still not ready to slide down though as I do not get enough revolutions or even confidence with the center to risk it. LTS instructor said we must get it decent or he will refuse to take us further with jumps. It is good pressure. No one in my class can do it yet. It is nice that all of us appear to very close in our levels. That rarely happens in my LTS classes.

Took some time to just stroke around the rink at full speed and with cross overs around the ends just for fun and to get the heart rate up.

Waxel: Nothing too waxel for the day. It was just fun to have space and practice some of the time while messing around for nothing the rest!

[jazzpants]

Thank you for the sweet birthday wishes! I had a wonderful birthday (other than not landing any axels or doubles, LOL). :D Jazzpants, I must find the secret source of your adorable GIF characters. . .!Or click on this link (http://www.cosgan.de/smilie.php?setlang=english) to get to the main page! (This is not the only one I use, BTW... I got a couple more Smilies pages, but this one is my main one.)

This is for Saturday...

Waxel:
Had lower back problems, bad ice and abnormally cold temperature. Not a good combination to start with. Trust me, nothing worked today, not even the warmup. Should have left after the hour!!! :giveup: I was also too nervous to up the ante and try to do a LBO edge in a spinning position to go down on my butt b/c my lower back was nagging me and I forgot to bring the butt pads out. But I did continue to practicing falling back on my butt yesterday, b/c I want at least one thing that I feel I've accomplished. :frus:

Axel:
Well, a hockey guy complimented on my purple skates and said if he was a girl he would get my skates.

[Isk8NYC]

Good Luck at the Competition, Skate@Delaware!

Jazzpants - One of the guards at my Sunday rink wears hockey skate covers that are bright neon green!
They're plastic, not fabric, which is odd but cool.
BTW, have you tried an exercise ball for your back? I've been using one for a couple of weeks and it's really helped with the back pain. Of course, if I exercise with my two little monkey twins around, I end up doing strength training as well. One of them climbed on my back while I was working out tonight.

OT: What a difference a sharpening makes! 8-)
My new skates are pretty much broken in, although it takes about 30 minutes of skating to get them warmed up.
I think the old skates are giving me lace bite/ankle problems. Still, I don't want to waste my new blades on outdoor ice.

Axel:
Not yet, but great waltz jumps, toe loops and salchows! (It's bizarre for me to make that statement about salchows.)
Spins were great, centered and sustained. Squeaked out a camel-sit-change-sit. Ugly, but I went through the motions.
Sit spins, camels, back camels - wonderful! Layback was a recognizable start, but that's about all I can say that's good.
MITF were controlled and fast, just need to focus more on the correct patterns.
Tried the back three turns, but that's not happening yet.

Waxel:
Still cheating my other singles, but it was tough to practice with the crowd.
Need more crossover work: Forward/Backward LoR - boot's holding me up a bit too much.
Trying to nail a back spin position I saw in one of Sylvia Fontana's routines. So far, I'm not having much luck but I rarely spin with my head turned. I think once I get used to that, the rest of the spin should be easier.

Schmaxel:
Threes on the line are my worst enemy, so I spent a good amount of time on these with some success.
My coach has me doing a drill where I do the continuous threes across the rink, focusing (literally) on a spot at the end of the line.
After each turn, you square your shoulders, stretch the foot, step forward, and start the next turn.
I added a twist by putting both arms behind my back. It's a great exercise to stop all the arm-flailing I usually demonstrate!
It also forces you to STAND UP on the back edge after the turn, which makes stepping forward onto the other foot's forward edge so much easier.

Last note: I always stretch before skating, but someone suggested stretching afterwards while the muscles are still warm. It's really helped with flexibility and hip turnout. I can almost do a spreadeagle again.

[max]

Where did you find that piece of info Annabel? It does make me mad that not only does NISA change such things apparently on a whim but it doesnt' bother to let anyone know. It is a bit hard on those of us who can't test til end of January and then may not be able to fit in another session before 28th Feb and still have the mandatory 4 weeks between tests.

On bulletin 26 on the NISA website, it still states that you have until 1st April to do your Dance moves. It is 28th February for field moves.

However, it doesn't help if you get a retry/fail as you cannot reenter.

[Rusty Blades]

(Sort of skating related! :lol: )

Waxel: It was -38C here last night (that's -36.4F) and the furnace couldn't keep up. I am not even THINKING about clearing the snow off the backyard rink!

But, with a few hours off yesterday morning I slapped together a boot press from steel scraps in my junk box and punched out my boot. After testing it, I gave it a coat of paint. The best part, after the fact that it works - total cost $0 - just a few hours of my time.

Axel:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/calamityjanecanary/bootpresst.jpg

[Bill_S]

Wow! Is that ambitious or what!?

Pitter patter - where were you when I was in engineering school with nothing but other guys sitting around me? (except for lovely Elaine, but she was already taken)

Very nice job with the boot press, Dianne! What are the hammer and anvil parts from originally, or did you turn them on your lathe?

[jazzpants]

But, with a few hours off yesterday morning I slapped together a boot press from steel scraps in my junk box and punched out my boot. After testing it, I gave it a coat of paint. The best part, after the fact that it works - total cost $0 - just a few hours of my time.

Axel:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v181/calamityjanecanary/bootpresst.jpgRusty Blades: :bow: :bow: :bow:

Good Luck at the Competition, Skate@Delaware!


Kick BUTT, S@D!!! http://www.cosgan.de/images/smilie/sportlich/n025.gif

Jazzpants - One of the guards at my Sunday rink wears hockey skate covers that are bright neon green!
They're plastic, not fabric, which is odd but cool. Interesting. Yeah, I was surprised that the guy approached me about my purple skates and was like raving about it. He was back chasing other little hockey boys afterwards... things that makes you go "Hmmmmm....?" (then http://www.cosgan.de/images/smilie/konfus/a050.gif )

BTW, have you tried an exercise ball for your back? I've been using one for a couple of weeks and it's really helped with the back pain. Of course, if I exercise with my two little monkey twins around, I end up doing strength training as well. One of them climbed on my back while I was working out tonight.I do back extensions on the exercise ball, usually along with my ab exercises. :) I also do them on my exercise ball at home when my back is not quite "normal" (Yes, I did them this morning! The lower back feels stretched and it's at least closer to "normal" than before.

But I really need warmer temperatures. Until then, I'll have to rely on my ThermaCare 8 hr heating pads. I'm now looking around for a seat warmer that I can take with me on the car as well as having it at the office...

OT: What a difference a sharpening makes! 8-)
They sure do!!! 8-)

Last note: I always stretch before skating, but someone suggested stretching afterwards while the muscles are still warm. It's really helped with flexibility and hip turnout. I can almost do a spreadeagle again.I do stretch afterwards, but it's more to stretch and get my "lower back" back in its place. The spread eagles I admit I'm not very good about doing... but mainly b/c I have only about 5 minutes to stretch most times. My "turn out exercise" I do practice my spirals at the gym with a mirror though and concentrate on height, lowering torso and hip/leg turnout so at least my foot is not turning down. They are NOT fun exercises to do... and it's still tough to get my foot to the point where the free foot not pointing down!!! :evil: But it does force me to stretch out my legs, butt and lower back and force me to turn out with gravity working against me so I guess it also works turning my hip flexors and foot out too. (Less sucky... but still sucky on spirals. Dunno if it'll translate onto ice...)

Sit on the floor, legs outstretched in front of you. Bend the left leg and open it out so that bent leg is resting on its side on the floor and the bottom of your left foot is touching the inside of your right thigh. Now lock your right knee out straight and slowly bring your upper body down toward your outstretched right leg so that your belly button gets close to your thigh (with the eventual goal of getting your chest flat on your thigh without bending your knee). The most important thing is to arch your lower back and get your belly button close to the thigh, even if you can't get your chest all the way down. Do not round your back. Breathe and hold for 30 seconds before taking the stretch deeper.That sounds like one of my stretches after skating at home, along with the back extension on the ball when my back doesn't feel "normal." :P :lol:

[Mrs Redboots]

On bulletin 26 on the NISA website, it still states that you have until 1st April to do your Dance moves. It is 28th February for field moves.

However, it doesn't help if you get a retry/fail as you cannot reenter.Hmmm, the exact wording is: Current dance tests applied for by 31 December 2006 must be taken before 1 April 2007, or these will be transferred to the new dance tests.I rather thought this applied to the changes in compulsory, original and free dance tests, rather than Moves.

[kateskate]

Hmmm, the exact wording is: Current dance tests applied for by 31 December 2006 must be taken before 1 April 2007, or these will be transferred to the new dance tests.I rather thought this applied to the changes in compulsory, original and free dance tests, rather than Moves.

Me too. Plus I emailed for confirmation and the 28th Feb applies to dance and field moves and the 31st March to compulsories, variations, ODs and FDs

[BatikatII]

Me too. Plus I emailed for confirmation and the 28th Feb applies to dance and field moves and the 31st March to compulsories, variations, ODs and FDs


Well I've given up worrying about it - just got to get my butt out there and practice the suckers so I pass!!!

Actually the new dance tests is the reason why I've started taking dance lessons again since I can do an original dance for level 3 instead of having to do a foxtrot variation - yay! That's a good thing! Mind my poor dance teacher has done almost nothing but moves with me since Christmas!

Axel:
Anyway the good news is, I managed to do the back outside 3's/mohawks in a circle on both sides today. Still smaller circles than I'd like but it's coming - and still all of 10 days to work on them!:lol: Sometimes they seem so easy and then they just go to all to pot. Must remember to look in the right direction and lean into the circle!

Also managed some back cross rolls that were quiet putting down the right foot (i.e no toepick landing - yay!). And practiced going into all the moves at speed and keeping up a good flow. A lot of it is down to luck now as to which judge turns up - certain ones make my heart sink as you just know they are looking to fail to people, whereas others seem to be looking to pass people.

Also did a couple of cracking flips and loops that seemed easy and had height - just wish they were going to be repeatable.

Whatever happens it will be nice to get back to something other than moves although I have actually quite enjoyed workiing on them. I wouldn't even mind whether I passed or failed except with the new system it makes such a big difference - if I pass I will have level 4 - but if I fail I have to go back and do level 3 and 4, since I only had level 2 dance moves when I made the decision to do Field Moves instead of dance moves for the next test. Stupidly it was because I thought they'd be more of a challenge but that was before I'd considered the effect of the test changes. Ah well c'est la vie!

waxel:inconsistency on ability to perform moves well.

[Mrs Redboots]

Whatever happens it will be nice to get back to something other than moves .How I agree! But I heard today that our test is probably going to be either 20 or 28 February (how close to the deadline can you get????), so still a fair few weeks of plugging away at them.

[max]

Well, all I can say is that I know a skater from another rink has been told to approach me, by the NISA office, as to whether I can fit her dance moves in prior to 1st April.

[Team Arthritis]

On bulletin 26 on the NISA website, it still states that you have until 1st April to do your Dance moves. It is 28th February for field moves.

However, it doesn't help if you get a retry/fail as you cannot reenter.

Ummm, is this just for nisa or is there something like this afoot in the US also?
Lyle

[Mrs Redboots]

Ummm, is this just for nisa or is there something like this afoot in the US also?
LyleJust NISA, as far as I know. If I pass this test (unlikely), it will be the third time in my skating career that I will be credited with moves I can't actually do! Actually, even if I don't - there's one or two of the new moves on the lower levels that I'm a bit shaky on! Sheesh....

[phoenix]

Ummm, is this just for nisa or is there something like this afoot in the US also?
Lyle

It's not in the US. I believe NISA is restructuring their test levels, yes? US test levels are remaining the same (this year anyway).

[Mrs Redboots]

It's not in the US. I believe NISA is restructuring their test levels, yes? US test levels are remaining the same (this year anyway).
Yes, they're messing about with the dance tests, changing some of the intermediate and higher-level compulsory dances around, rejigging the Original and Free Dance tests, and completely restructuring the Field Moves and Dance Moves into a single discipline called Skating Moves. I'm still not quite sure what the rules are for the new OD and FD, but I believe they've brought them more into line with what's asked for in competition at that level.

[Sessy]

What is a waxel?

[Thin-Ice]

It's SUPPOSED to be an axel (single or double or triple) but the skater pops it and it ends up being just a waltz jump -- sooooo W(altz) + Axel + Waxel.

[Sessy]

So what do you call it when you do an axel that you land forwards and ride out with a 3-turn?

[techskater]

A Waxel is a wacky Axel, not exactly a pop. It's one in which the free leg comes around instead of through on the take off. It can result in a landed "something" that is sort of an Axel, one that goes up sideways and can result in a lot of pain, or some sort of odd popped "thing".

One that has a 3 turn on the exit is a cheated Axel.

[Isk8NYC]

So what do you call it when you do an axel that you land forwards and ride out with a 3-turn?Without the 3-turn, it could be a half-axel.
http://www.skatingforums.com/showthread.php?t=20931 (http://www.skatingforums.com/showthread.php?t=20931&highlight=half-axel)

[Sessy]

That's interesting, thanks!