Diamond in the Rough or Lump of Coal - Practice 6/25-7/1 [Archive]

jskater49

06-24-2007, 09:39 PM

Lump of Coal

I haven't skated (no ice available) since last Sunday and I don't have a lot of energy Sunday night so I didn't feel like doing anything and I felt like I couldn't do anything.

Watched a couple of adult beginners do a one foot entry into a spin and felt like doofus cuz I can't get it.

Diamond in the Rough Things got a little better in my LTS Freestyle 1 class. I got so I could do backward two foot turns and I practiced setting up on an edge to prepare for the 3 turn. I'm just not going to think about the fact that I used to be able to do a back 3 turn!

Tried the spin entry from a T position. Coach said I was very close- I had a good edge, good position, just lean into it more and trust it. I actually did it once - of course she didn't see it but I showed her the tracings of my centered spin. But I think it was an accident that I got it. THere was no "ah ha!" moment.

Waltz jump. This was a sort of "ah ha" in that I finally was able to jump up for the waltz instead of whipping around. And it wasn't hard and it didn't feel scary.

I'm going to just have to be prepared for slow progress. I just could not afford to buy a lot of ice this summer and if I don't skate as much, I'm not going to progress as much and I just have to accept it.

j

jazzpants

06-24-2007, 11:11 PM

Lump of Coal:

Loop
FO mohawks
AUNTIE'S early arrival right after the session!!! It's not gonna be fun tonight! :evil: :x :frus:(Chocolate and lots of rest tonight!!!)Diamond:
Everything else!!! WOW!!! I got a lot done today!!! BO3's were okay... Camels were spinning well. Back sit was sitting low enough to be "recognizable now." Flips were there! All the other jumps were there! My footwork was pretty decent!!!

Congrats to miraclegro on passing her Silver FS test!!! :bow:

Mrs Redboots

06-25-2007, 04:01 AM

I posted yesterday's practice/lesson under last week's thread, but I remembered that I forgot to say that Husband landed a salchow/loop combination in his programme run-through, much to his coach's surprise ("Where did that come from? He couldn't do that last week!"). So that was definitely a diamond, and he may even put it in on Thursday.

Sessy

06-25-2007, 07:31 AM

Almost done with my new skating dress! Only the arms are left to do (well and I need to take out a little piece from the back, but I always have with standard patterns) and to put the pants in it.
http://img220.imageshack.us/img220/5585/11048224kt0.jpg

I made it out of an XXL sized skirt I bought at the market for 5 euro (6 dollar or so). What woman in her right mind with an XXL sized behind would put on sparkling skintight lycra? My point exactly, yet I'm happy enough, the material alone would've cost more. I was a *little* short for the skirt, I would've liked a circle skirt of course, but it's become this shape: /____\

Sessy

06-25-2007, 07:35 AM

Lump of Coal:
AUNTIE'S early arrival right after the session!!! It's not gonna be fun tonight! :evil: :x :frus:(Chocolate and lots of rest tonight!!!)

Hmmm yeah I took one naproxen, one no-spa and one saridon all toghether, thrice a day, this weekend... :x

chowskates

06-25-2007, 07:38 AM

Sessy

06-25-2007, 07:40 AM

Sessy

06-25-2007, 07:41 AM

Thanks Chow!

(edit: nevermind)

Terri C

06-25-2007, 07:55 AM

Diamond in the Rough:
Got another one of those phone calls from work this morning- I need to call in at 10 and will probably have to go in. But did go to the rink and skated for a hour.
Worked on spins and silver moves for the most part. Did do one good low, centered sitspin.

Lump of Coal:
Now why can I center the sit and not the forward scratch?
Ice was very hard, as it was cut last night.

liz_on_ice

06-25-2007, 09:39 AM

lumpy - I've been off ice for 3 weeks. I got all geared up for the ISI competition here, then needed a break. Today was my first lesson with summer coach. He's going after my form on 3-turns. Boring, but essential. I paid attention, took notes right after lesson so I can remind myself what I'm supposed to be practicing this week. I can't remember my own name at 5am if it's not written down!

diamonds - it felt sooooo good to be in the rink this morning. I love that cool skating breeze when it's beastly hot out.

jskater49

06-25-2007, 09:54 AM

Try not to think of the entry as a 3-turn. Think of hooking the ice and swinging your leg around this hook synchro with the arm at that side and other than that to keep the shoulders rock hard in place (your upper body moves as one way down to your hips) and think about pulling - excuse me - the region between your bellybutton and your "hair" into the back of your spine, into your tailbone - whine tightening the bellymuscles.
That all really clicked with me last week in Heerenveen.
Also, get a deep kneebend. You can't get it off a straight leg.

I actually never did think of it as a 3 turn :) This is one of those moves that I know exactly what I am supposed to do but my body doesn't cooperate. It doesn't trust that the edge will get me round so I pull up too soon and try to force the spin. My coach keeps telling me that the fact I know in my head what to do is more than half the battle, but I'm dubious. Although it is more encouraging than say, a salchow where my head is as clueless as my body. ;)

j

tidesong

06-25-2007, 11:12 AM

Hey Sessy I can't seem to get your image working!

Diamond:
Ok well coach likes what I did to the double toe after she asked me to focus on the turn out during the take off. but unfortunately didnt land any infront of her... so she can't check if they are full for me... still I guess... progress???

Double loop is still in the sort of ok mode, aka mostly under but seemingly "right" set up... now if only I can do the "lite" entry more consistently so that I don't freak out when I try and bend my knees a bit more before the jump to get more height for double...

Worked on spirals... realized I can do the first part of the shizuka spiral seq without hands at all... ahhaahh except it'd fail the 170? degree req for a split... still fun... and then we worked on spiral with 3 turn without coming out of it... its really really wierd... and I got a bruise from it

Change edge back sit is still more or less okish.... gotta keep working on it

empty empty empty rink at the end... went through almost every single edge practise thingy I could think of...including the hydroblading stuff??(which I seem to be able to sort of do on every edge EXCEPT my left forward inside edge... wow.. thats so random I don't understand why that would be my worst edge... but it happens to be... I can't even hold it for like 1 metre before it wriggles and changes) not sure if my version is a true one but its best done with fewer people on the ice given that i get low, i can't see anyone and I cover quite a bit of ice doing it....

oh and I sort of have a ina bauer that goes to the left now!!! :O:O:O it just worked out after coach went through with me that like two weeks or more back? I dunno and suddenly today it sorta works... its crazy... it feels.... wierd... but I am still scratching the ice quite a bit when i lose the turnout after a while, maybe thats why it feels wierd... need more expeirmentation.... well the one going to the right is still a struggle...

Lumpy:
I still feel like i skate with zero power... sigh...

i fell all over the place on the spiral and double jumps and have bruises on my knee on both legs!!!!! at least they aren't huge... but well right now I have both legs on the table and icing them at the same time lol....

My right skating leg beilmann is horrible... coach asked me to try a back beilmann spin and I couldn't even catch properly... lol... something to work on off ice.

Sessy

06-25-2007, 01:02 PM

Hey Sessy I can't seem to get your image working!

Strange. Does this work?
http://img405.imageshack.us/img405/3442/a1su5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

BTW just came back from the hospital 2 hours ago: no fractures.

icedancer2

06-25-2007, 01:25 PM

Diamonds: Had a good time at our social ice-dance session yesterday and skated with almost every guy at the session, including one of the young (intermediate-level) competitive ice-dancers! Still can't do most of the dances solo but was able to work on pieces and socialize, so that was fun. We have these great social sessions - almost equal numbers of "kids" and adults and the session are semi-serious and semi-fun -- it's really great to see the "kids" out there dancing with each other, dancing with adults, following each other on dances they are learning, doing the lower-level dances in groups of 3 or 4 and generally just having a good time.

Who would have ever guessed that dance would be so popular among the young people in our small city especially where we don't have any high-level teams (at least among the standard testers - the adults are another story altogether!). It's neat to see.

The ice was also nice, which is kind of unusual for this (mall) rink!

Lump of Coal: My right foot (the broken one) felt pretty good, but now my right hip, which acts up on occassion, really really hurt doing a RO 3 as in the Willow Waltz - yikes! I would kind of launch into it and then yikes - oh, another bad body part!!

More lumps but I can make them into diamonds: My regular weekday hockey rink is having "hockey camp" this week and so no public sessions in the mornings (sigh) BUT I may plan to skate at least one day at a nice adult session at another rink (which has great ice!) and also I'm going to do kind of a "yoga intensive" this week by going to the yoga studio a couple of mornings when I would usually skate and do a drop-in class. REally felt good this morning and I plan to go again tomorrow and I hope Wednesday.

Nice weather also makes the whole thing seem like diamonds...

Rusty Blades

06-25-2007, 03:05 PM

Lump of Coal! Twelve days down, eight more days before the start of summer school and I am GOING NUTS! Gotta feed this addiction SOON!!! 8O :roll:

xofivebyfive

06-25-2007, 06:21 PM

Diamond in the Rough: Had lesson for the first time in ages it seems. Worked on moves for the first half hour and then worked on the axel. Or waltz-backspin to be precise. My coach says I almost have it, and I'm not even trying. I haven't technically tried attempting an axel yet, so I'm not really working on it.. but whatever. She showed me what was off with my layback, and with my camel spins. And I did a couple really nice spirals.

Lump of Coal:
But the price from all that waltz-backspin-ing is irritating the blister on my heel more, and ahh it hurts so much.

tidesong

06-25-2007, 09:24 PM

Sessy, wow that works!! That looks really great!!!

peanutskates

06-26-2007, 02:10 AM

diamonds:

salchow is strong and landing is good, and i *wuv* it!!! yay!
toeloop is still good.
I passed everything on the passport except the backspin (1 rotation... come on!) and the full program.
It looks like I'm competing in September despite having 2 lessons, a big break, and 3 more lessons before the comp... yay!

coal:

we tried sitspins with my friend and I cut by hand on my blade! lol. :roll:
loop is still underrotated. flip is also barely there.
backspin... how hard can it be?
scratch spin. I can't get my free leg in the scratch position. <- any advice?

Thin-Ice

06-26-2007, 02:16 AM

coal: backspin... how hard can it be?

Uhm... I guess it depends on who you ask. For me, it's three years and counting. I can finally get 2 revolutions about half the time.:roll: And I REALLY like spinning (but only on my left foot apparently!)

Sessy

06-26-2007, 03:26 AM

Sessy, wow that works!! That looks really great!!!

Thank you :)

Mrs Redboots

06-26-2007, 08:37 AM

Diamonds: Managed to do both our compulsory dances with no warm-up whatsoever! Could have been a lot worse!

Coal: If we get through our couples' interpretive without stopping to argue, it will be a minor miracle! Still.... who cares? At least it's technically choreographed now.

I had a wonderful idea for next year's a few minutes ago, and can't now remember what it was!

Terri C

06-26-2007, 09:35 AM

Diamonds:
Got a surprise lesson with Primary Coach this morning,and was able to fall on sitspins for her-- she applauded every one!
Jumps were good too, as was forward and backscratch spins.

Lump of Coal:
Lost a bit of silver moves mojo- no worries this test is not first priority right now.

tidesong

06-26-2007, 10:53 AM

diamonds: skated three days in row... and its not competition season!!! :O:O haha

landed tons of underrotated double toe loops and two suspects

quite a few under double loops...

had the most amazing axels in ages... i think at least 2 of them kinda flew... it kinda really totally came out of the blue given that I've been doing basically just those 5 axels per session, but i was just thinking to myself... what if I bend my knee just a lil into the jump... and then it kinda proceeded from there

hit yet another one amazing layback. I could feel my free leg high and I was leaning back and I could just feel that centeredness (although my centeredness usually isn't really that good it probably did loops around a spot ya)... its amazing I need to do that a bit more... i dunno why it likes coming only once per session but yeah maybe it will visit more often :P

coal:

I wish my jumps were progressing faster.... well other than that its a pretty decent session.

Petlover

06-26-2007, 12:17 PM

Sessy - your dress is gorgeous!!!!

Diamonds - Coach likes me to be creative, so I suggested adding a falling leaf - half loop - back pivot sequence into my pre-bronze freestyle program. I'm pretty good at the half loop to back pivot, but had never done a falling leaf in front of it. It only took 2 tries, is fun, and coach said it's gorgeous!

Lumps - Lots and lots of skaters on the ice this morning, I'm spoiled - I'm not used to crowded ice! It will remain this way all week since hockey camp this week has cut the daily available freestyles down to 3, and testing takes place on Sunday. Oh well.....

Scarlett

06-26-2007, 06:01 PM

Terri C

06-26-2007, 06:03 PM

You guys may think I'm crazy but I had an hour of private ice today and I hated it. I worked on moves but was totally unmotivated to jump or spin. I so feed on people.

No no, having empty ice is the time to work on moves!! When I was working on my Bronze test last fall, a empty Friday morning public session was a breakthrough session for me!

Morgail

06-26-2007, 08:06 PM

Diamond in the Rough:
-later camels were good
-did a couple good camel-sit spins (I finally understood how to bring my arm & leg around to create more speed for the sit)
-last program run-through was good
-got to work on a little bit of Gold Moves, which was a nice change

Lump of Coal:
-jumps weren't great today. Missed the flip twice in my program. And, whenever I get the set-up right, I mess up the landing. Salchow was swingy. Loop was blah.
-early camels were slow and I couldn't keep my weight over my left side
-Silver Moves were so-so today. I have a lot of polishing to do on those.
-first program run-through was really bad.

jskater49

06-26-2007, 08:40 PM

Diamonds-
Bronze moves are coming along.

Lump of Coal-
You guys may think I'm crazy but I had an hour of private ice today and I hated it. I worked on moves but was totally unmotivated to jump or spin. I so feed on people.

Once my daughter and I were the only ones on the ice. At first we were like "yea - ice to ourselves!" but we could not get motivated. We just goofed around and it was a total waste of time.

j

xofivebyfive

06-26-2007, 10:18 PM

Diamond in the Rough: I just had one of the best skating times that I've ever had. I had a group lesson(well two in a row..but it's more like one class.) and was on the practice ice for 25 minutes beforehand. There were only 5 or 6 of us there.

My laybacks were much better than the ones from last week. So excited. I think I may have done an axel. I had my mom tape me and she ended up taping for about 25 minutes altogether including my lesson. I did about 25 waltz-backspins and and two or three may have been axels. I'm going to go check now. Back power 3s were fun. I finally understood what I was supposed to do, and that there was a seperate push after the mohawk. In lesson my camel spin was fixed. I learned to keep my freeleg straight, even before starting the spin. That helped TONS. My flips were good and I actually had my loop back!

OH! I was able to jump for the first time without heel pain in two months thanks to her. (http://youtube.com/profile?user=nanpannapa) I don't know her name but man am I glad I talked to her about my problem.

http://www.tidewaterice.com/silipos_gel_pads.htm

I bought the achilles one and let me tell you, it was like heaven when I jumped. Nothing rubbed, my heel didn't hurt like heck and man was I happy. I'm SO excited to finally find something to help. I wish it made my tendonitis in my ankles go away, but we can't have everything.

Lump of Coal-
Tendonitis hurts like a mother. And there's nothing I can do about it, because I can't make my skates any looser or they'll be too wobbly. *sigh* Oh and my arms go crazy when I jump. I think it's because I don't know what to do with them. Just leave them out, or pull them in? I don't know. haha.

dbny

06-26-2007, 11:33 PM

You guys may think I'm crazy but I had an hour of private ice today and I hated it. I worked on moves but was totally unmotivated to jump or spin. I so feed on people.

Nope. I've experienced the same thing more than once.

No no, having empty ice is the time to work on moves!! When I was working on my Bronze test last fall, a empty Friday morning public session was a breakthrough session for me!

Yes. IF I can get going on an empty session, I can work on patterns very nicely without interruption or fear of collision.

Lump of Coal:
Tues morning is one of my real practice days, but I didn't get much sleep last night and so did not accomplish much today. Just didn't have the strength or energy. B power pulls are my test of this. When I can't do them, I know I'm not going to be able to do much else.

Diamond in the Rough:
When I finally got myself to try them, FI threes still felt pretty good, and one foot spin wasn't so bad either. Got a few from T push.

Scarlett

06-27-2007, 05:24 AM

I am so glad I'm not the only one who can't stand empty ice. I was starting to think I'd gone mad. Well madder. Any adult who purposely spends there hard earned money to skate around on a sharp metal blade on a sheet of ice and then immediately hops on the internet to "talk" about it isn't all there to begin with.

Mrs Redboots

06-27-2007, 05:24 AM

Lost: One dance lift. If found, please return as a matter of utmost urgency, before tomorrow afternoon!

Coal: Final run-through of everything before competition. Our opposition was also in there, practising. They are so going to beat us in the free dance, I think, and quite possibly in the compulsories as well - we shall see.

Our first Golden Skaters' Waltz was very uninspired, I thought - lacklustre. Second one was better. Fiesta Tango not bad except we had to slow down on the second pattern to avoid a child, but apart from that....

Free dance okay, except the lift didn't work.

Couples' Interp ditto.

Diamonds: Yay, Bracknell tomorrow! It should be fun.

Skittl1321

06-27-2007, 07:05 AM

Diamonds
My LTS class (I have my own!) consists of one brand new adult, and it went great.
Because numbers are low I get to join the freestyle LTS class- YAY! Free lessons.
My lessons went well- worked solely on Waltz 8 and 3-turn PBM patterns. Waltz 8 is really getting better- it might be called good. (It's been passable for a long time). 3-turn pattern is a problem. It's WAY lopsided. One side might as well be power 3s and the other side is like tenative scaredy cat threes. Test is late August, I can fix that!
Next week I'm working on jumps- my parents will be here to watch!

Lumps of Coal
Finally got a video of the show. I had gotten tons of compliments and felt great about the performance. My coach told me he was real happy with it. Having seen myself skate, I'm wondering if I'm wasting my time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT3zIQaYLrc

SynchroSk8r114

06-27-2007, 07:15 AM

Diamond in the rough: Good Starlight Waltz. Planning on testing it in mid-July! :D

Lump of coal: I felt overall crappy today. Don't know why...I'm not sick, I just felt out of sorts and therefore sluggish. Unfortunately, I also have another dance lesson later today, which is going to cost me even more $$$ than I've already spent today. That's not good considering that my parents are complaining that I need to start saving for a car (which I'm trying to do!) The funny this is is that my parents want me to get through my last few dances, but seem irritated when I tell them I'm testing at a certain test session b/c the judges there are very hard to pass with and they think it'll be a waste of money, regardless of how well I skate. I can't win! :giveup:

The second problem is that between dance lessons, freestyle lessons, synchro dues (in the fall), test session fees, and ice time (only $6/session), I'm poor. Granted, I'm making okay money teaching privately, but still...the money's here and then gone the next week. Oh, the frustration! :frus:

Scarlett

06-27-2007, 08:05 AM

Skittle---Just watched your performance....You looked like you were having soo much fun. Don't you dare give up on yourself. :twisted:

xofivebyfive

06-27-2007, 08:09 AM

Hey! If anyone is interested, here are two videos from last night. I was just so excited that I did so well! And that I could jump again. It was like heaven.

jumps-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dt06-jfpXF4
spins-http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BnnSPD_c6k4

Let me know what you think! Or leave a comment on there.

blue111moon

06-27-2007, 08:25 AM

Summer skating is Tuesday and Thursday nights with the weekends off, which is probably a good thing, given the state of my house :) and the troubles I'm having with my Achilles tendons. That said:

Diamonds: Program run-throughs (FS and showcase) went well. It probably has more to do with the European Trifecta I completed (competing three times in three weeks plus a camp at altitude had to have helped my stamina) than any actual improvement in ability on my part. But since I'm competiting AGAIN in 10 days, I'll take it as A Good Thing.

And I seem to have finally adjusted to the killer sharpening I got two weeks ago. I know the blades needed it and I know this guy fixed a couple issues from a bad sharpening I'd had previously but, man, those things were sharp!

Coal: Both Achilles tendons are severely inflamed. Okay, so all the standing on tip-toe at the club car warsh on Saturday is probably mostly to blame and I'm sure the 90+ degree heat/humidity combo we're having right now isn't helping, but the pain is getting really unbearable. I'm doing all the "right" things: ice, stretching, ice, accupressure, ice, etc. but nothing - besides the acupressure - seems to help much. I'm tired of the pain. Plus it hampers practise when about 80 minutes into the session, both ankles simply seize up and flatly refuse to do any more. Bad tendons, bad!

Thin-Ice

06-27-2007, 08:46 AM

Lumps of Coal
Finally got a video of the show. I had gotten tons of compliments and felt great about the performance. My coach told me he was real happy with it. Having seen myself skate, I'm wondering if I'm wasting my time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT3zIQaYLrc

You are NOT wasting your time. You looked like you were having fun, and it will only get better as you gain experience performing on ice. Nice spiral by the way. Your music was peppy and you skated to it well, your positions were nice and you had good presentation. These are all good things. You had a couple little bobbles, but you kept on and you actually seemed to get more comfortable as you continued. Trust your coach, he has seen "first performances" before. If he thinks it was good, that means he thinks you did well compared to how you normally skate! I don't know how you usually skate, but I think you should consider this a wonderful "ice debut".

I recently looked at my first performance. (to "London Bridge" -- required by the skating school director for skaters at my level for that year, even though I was in my late 20s. And who thought it was a good idea to use the word "FALL" in a song for a skating program!) The best thing about it is that it makes me appreciate even more even my worst performances now.:lol:

xofivebyfive

06-27-2007, 09:32 AM

Diamonds
Lumps of Coal
Finally got a video of the show. I had gotten tons of compliments and felt great about the performance. My coach told me he was real happy with it. Having seen myself skate, I'm wondering if I'm wasting my time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT3zIQaYLrc

You were awesome! I love watching you, you look like a natural out there. And you have great posture too! Really nice job. Don't be so hard on yourself.

blue111moon

06-27-2007, 10:17 AM

[QUOTE=Mrs Redboots;327885
Yay, Bracknell tomorrow! It should be fun.[/QUOTE]

Go, Annabel! Have fun, and wave to everybody for me.

Ever since I got back from the Euro Tour, I've found myself watching BBC America :) just to hear the sound of Brit-speak again. Miss you all - and hope you're all surviving the horrible weather.

chantelly

06-27-2007, 10:19 AM

Diamonds: Yay, Bracknell tomorrow! It should be fun.

Really nervous now!

Diamonds; things went ok at my last practice, apart from my sit spin kept going down and not coming back up again! Especially in jeans, which are part of my costume, although they were loose and not stiff, I think it was more to do with the fact I didn't have my tights on. I have had the same pair for 18 months with still no holes!!!

Coal; nerves! I feel so daft skating in front of other people as if I haven't earned my place there yet? Wish I could have a good drink too as its my birthday but I have to get up and drive there early so I can't risk more than one really! (not that I drink much anyway I hasten to add!) Why do I put myself through this?

Sessy

06-27-2007, 10:49 AM

Diamonds:
Sit spin's working!
Change foot's working!

Coal:
Can't center anything except the backspin, which sorta centers. And the sit, which sometimes sorta centers. But still it's not good. They're controlled. Why can't they just center? UGHHH!

BTW, on the forward spin my left shoulder now somehow ends up in front of me like on the backspin. Is that a problem?

chowskates

06-27-2007, 10:49 AM

Diamonds
Finally got a video of the show. I had gotten tons of compliments and felt great about the performance. My coach told me he was real happy with it. Having seen myself skate, I'm wondering if I'm wasting my time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT3zIQaYLrc

That was a nice program!

All I can remember of my very first solo program was that I fell on my face in the spiral :roll: There was nobody taking videos then, and I was kinda glad for that! (if i'd seen my video, i'd probably have given up!)

Sessy

06-27-2007, 10:56 AM

Lumps of Coal
Finally got a video of the show. I had gotten tons of compliments and felt great about the performance. My coach told me he was real happy with it. Having seen myself skate, I'm wondering if I'm wasting my time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT3zIQaYLrc

Everybody goes through this - not just skaters, but dancers, ballet dancers, journalists who see themselves filmed or on the radio for the first time and even LAWYERS. Yes, lawyers.
Court practice is known to be the horror of all horrors at our university because you get FILMED doing your pleading, and that's analyzed then. Some people have run out of the class in tears. Not because the teachers were so harsh but because they saw themselves for the first time. Even I felt it was very confronting - and I had gone through most of that already because my mother taped a lot of my dancing. The first time I saw myself dance, all I wanted to do was quit too. Didn't last long, fortunately, because the video's from a half a year later were MUCH better already. And I thought I'd gone through it ALL until I saw the first video of a skating performance by myself (including a bellyflop from a bielman and a bouncy butt-fall). At which point I thought: My GOD I'm a slug on skates!

Take it from me, everybody goes through that and it's nothing to worry about. You're definitely not wasting time.

chowskates

06-27-2007, 11:35 AM

Diamond in the Rough: Received photos from O'dorf, and there was *one* nice one of my catch-foot spiral (http://bp2.blogger.com/_qwuPTyM-ePY/RoKMbejRreI/AAAAAAAAACU/gEAVhBjjZ2Y/s1600-h/Spiral-Odorf07.jpg)!

Lump of Coal: Now that I've been trying the change-edge spiral for the past 2 weeks, I asked my sis to video it for me... 8O YUCKS! I never thought it'd look this bad! *sigh* any advise welcome, before I give up on it :giveup:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNlMkOHESWY

jazzpants

06-27-2007, 11:51 AM

Lump of Coal: Now that I've been trying the change-edge spiral for the past 2 weeks, I asked my sis to video it for me... 8O YUCKS! I never thought it'd look this bad! *sigh* any advise welcome, before I give up on it :giveup:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNlMkOHESWY
Ummmm... color me clueless but... what's wrong with it? :?? :?? :?? I would love to have something remotely looking like THAT!!! :lol:

Good luck to all of you guys competing at Bracknell tomorrow!!! GO KICK SOME ICE BUTTS!!!

Diamonds
My LTS class (I have my own!) consists of one brand new adult, and it went great.
Because numbers are low I get to join the freestyle LTS class- YAY! Free lessons.WOW!!! Your own LTS class!!! WOO HOO!!! (And am so jealous that you get free freestyle LTS lessons too!!!) :P

Lumps of Coal
Finally got a video of the show. I had gotten tons of compliments and felt great about the performance. My coach told me he was real happy with it. Having seen myself skate, I'm wondering if I'm wasting my time.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT3zIQaYLrc No, you are NOT wasting your time! Burtie did a nice job on you for your first program! :D (Unlike me... I don't dare put out my first program on the net! 8O )

peanutskates

06-27-2007, 02:58 PM

diamonds

it never fails to amaze me that my sal and toe are still there...
spin ok
spread eagle is actually gonna work soon, i can do it by the boards.

coal... boo.

backspin
loop. !!!!!!!! i need the other half!!!!! aaaaaaaaaaah
flip. i love the sound my toepick makes when i stick it in but i don't rotate properly
i cut my arms on the ice again... people are gonna think i self-harm soon!
off ice, i am progressing to an axel-> straight into a 'little man' position. useful if I'm going to land the axel with a shoot-the-duck...

Morgail

06-27-2007, 02:58 PM

I bought the achilles one and let me tell you, it was like heaven when I jumped. Nothing rubbed, my heel didn't hurt like heck and man was I happy. I'm SO excited to finally find something to help. I wish it made my tendonitis in my ankles go away, but we can't have everything.

I'm so glad you found something that works! Now you can axel away happily (or sort of happily, considering the tendonitis):)

Finally got a video of the show. I had gotten tons of compliments and felt great about the performance. My coach told me he was real happy with it. Having seen myself skate, I'm wondering if I'm wasting my time.

No way are you wasting your time! You looked very nice. I think everyone thinks that way when they see themselves skate. Everyone else thinks you look good, but all you can see are the flaws. The first time I videoed myself, all I could see was how HUGE I looked in my blue hoodie. Then (after I got over that), I noticed how weird my arms looked and how stiff my legs were. After you watch yourself enough, you get used to those kinds of things, and can start seeing the good stuff:)

Sessy

06-27-2007, 04:36 PM

No no, having empty ice is the time to work on moves!! When I was working on my Bronze test last fall, a empty Friday morning public session was a breakthrough session for me!

Totally agree here. You can focus on the technique then, as in, where does my neck go, where do my shoulders go, where are my hips instead of WHERE IS THAT SKATER that was just setting up for a lutz behind my back? etc. As soon as you do that, your neck and shoulders are out of allignment and a move isn't working and you have no clue why. Once you've mastered a move, then you can look around you cuz your shoulders will stay where they need be anyway, and only your head turns and changes nothing about the balance or anything else. With the jumps it's a little easier because people realize you're setting up for something and get out of your way, but with moves they can't predict it.

chowskates

06-27-2007, 08:00 PM

Ummmm... color me clueless but... what's wrong with it? :?? :?? :?? I would love to have something remotely looking like THAT!!! :lol:

So, point is, we are our own harshest critics! Ok apart from our coaches...

Skittl1321

06-27-2007, 08:35 PM

So, point is, we are our own harshest critics! Ok apart from our coaches...

I think I'm way harsher than my coach. He is always telling me I'm too critical.

The reason I don't like it is because I toe pick through all the stroking- and I know I can do better than that. I DON'T do it in practice. Why do I do it when doing a program? I was wobbly on all the connecting elements, and things I do well were just ECK!. I had so much fun, but who wants to watch someone stink it up? I liked my arms, and my back spiral but everything else- eh.

Thanks everyone for the compliments though. Maybe the next one I post will be better looking to me too.

tidesong

06-27-2007, 08:42 PM

Hey chow... its so nice to have someone video your moves... Haha... You're ahead in the speed department so I can't help there :giveup:

skittl: I toe pick alot too... its horrible and its even worse when the rink is quiet and I can hear everysingle wrong step i take (because I stepped off/on the pick instead the edge....)

chowskates

06-27-2007, 09:08 PM

Hey chow... its so nice to have someone video your moves...

I would do it for you too... but you never seem to want to skate on the same evening I do! :P

xofivebyfive

06-27-2007, 09:58 PM

Diamond in the Rough:
Jumps were still good. Backspin keeps getting better and better. Backsit is good too.

Lump of Coal:
I'm now having issues with my left heel and boot. *sigh* And my tendonitus kills. Oh man it hurts so bad! I don't know what I"m going to do. I can't make my skates any looser without killing myself on the ice. Oy. What a mess.

Here's a video of today:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AubTD6ZrW0s

Thin-Ice

06-28-2007, 03:52 AM

The reason I don't like it is because I toe pick through all the stroking- and I know I can do better than that. I DON'T do it in practice. Why do I do it when doing a program?

Because we all seem to get at least a little nervous when we perform (especially for the first time at something new) and then we tense up, which means you aren't bending your knees as much as you do when you practice, so it's more likely you will use the toe picks to push rather than your usual technique. If your coach is anything like mine, you'll hear "bend your knees. MORE!" even during a lesson.. and it applies even more when we tense up because of the adrenalin during a performance.

jskater49

06-28-2007, 09:07 AM

Lump of Coal

Not skating as much turns into a declining circle, I don't skate as much, I don't improve much, I don't improve much, I don't feel like skating, I don't feel like skating, I don't improve much....

So it was hard to motivate myself to do anything. Fortunately I had a lesson right off the bat so I had to work.

Spin entry - I got the edge now, good knee bend...now I have to get up on my toe pick to spin. I don't like to get on my toes. This is my problem with jumps too...I do not get on my toes. I also am still turning too soon.

Half flip- it's not the jump it's the three turn. We just worked on the three turn.

Mazurka - doing it on my right foot...good jump. Left foot, bad jump. We went back to holding the back edge.

Diamond in the rough -

Worked on stroking and she wanted me down the rink in five strokes...no problem! Five strokes on the length and two crossovers on the end. No problem.

Power Class - well I didn't fall this time. There was one teenage novice skater and two younger pre-pre girls and I kept up just fine. As a matter of fact, I beat those little girls on forward russian stroking. Skating fast is not a problem for me. Unless you want me to do something other than skate fast, like go into a jump.

j

Sessy

06-28-2007, 09:25 AM

So, point is, we are our own harshest critics! Ok apart from our coaches...

nope, mom's definately harsher than both me and the coach... :lol: Which is good, keeps me down to earth lol.

Petlover

06-28-2007, 11:38 AM

Diamond: Salchows and change foot spins. Now that my salchow is decent, I absolutely love it!

Lumps: Due to hockey camp, there are only 3 freestyle sessions per day, and it is really crowded! I guess I have been really spoiled, but I do appreciate whatever ice I can get.

Mrs Redboots

06-28-2007, 01:14 PM

Diamonds: Husband finished second in his free skate class, behind Other Woman (who he used to dance with sometimes a few years ago, and now dances against - it's the first time he's competed Free against her, though. He hopes to have his revenge tomorrow) and just ahead of Samba (who was also 3rd in her Artistic).

We didn't finish last in our Couples' Artistic - it was a huge class, 11 couples, and we were 9th, which we were very pleased with.

I won't mention anybody else, as I know I'll only forget someone if I try! But lots of friends were there, and I'm sure they'll post their own results/reports if they wish.

Coal: Husband fell in our couples' Artistic, but says he didn't hurt himself - I thought he might have banged his tailbone, but he says not. Dance tomorrow, and we are so going to come last in both compulsories and free! Ah well, we'll have fun trying not to!

This was a competition? It was more like a wake.... where were the cheers, the toys, the cowbells (apart from mine), the air horns, the shouts of "Alleeeeeeeeeeeeeez!"? All very quiet and subdued....

Rusty Blades

06-28-2007, 02:12 PM

HUGE LUMP OF COAL! It has been 2 whole weeks since I skated, five more days before I go back, and it has been a FRUSTRATING week in the office. Considering I am in withdrawal, it is only by pure "restraint" that there has not (yet) been bloodshed 8O

Am I the only one who gets cranky when not skating????

Terri C

06-28-2007, 07:01 PM

Rusty Blades:
The four months earlier this year that I could only skate once or twice a week was nothing short of pure hell. Then again, I saved some $$ on ice time and lessons that I was able put into more lessons and ice time when my work schedule got back to normal.

Now for my posting

Diamond in the Rough:
Secondary Coach has me working on Silver moves and she is very pleased with my progress. I joked that I may have the Silver moves test taken and passed before the Bronze free.
Coach was also pleased with my lower entry in the sitspin, and the splats that came with it.

Lump of Coal:
Will rink management get with the program and get the freestyle schedule out before July 1? I'm debating on whether to invest in a Unlimited pass for the month, since I'll be off almost a week and a half and will be able to skate every day if desired. But if they screw up the afternoon ice during Camp Week and schedule it so I can't skate, then forget the Unlimited and go with the tickets!

Also, one of our Special Olympians had her skates stolen (:x )- here's a link to the article:
http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=127482&ran=200865

Skate@Delaware

06-28-2007, 07:28 PM

Diamond in the rough: Today's show rehearsal went well enough. We are doing a special show outside for the 4th!!! Should be our biggest draw!!!

I don't usually get time to practice MY stuff...but did manage to kick out some waltz-toes and salchows...they were "interesting" and not too bad. My salchows tend to stop when I land. That's what happens when you skate on plastic on freshly sharpened blades!

Did a scratch spin-hadn't done one since the beginning (when I was soooo frustrated that I gave up). It was really good! You have to be dead-on with spins or they won't happen. I guess I knocked out about 3-4 revs. Can't tell if it was centered, as there are no tracings! Gets you out of the habit of looking down at the ice!!!!

FYI-I moved my right (landing) blade over 1/8" and my landings feel so much better! I feel as though my skate is actually under me now. The director did state that if your blades are out of alignment, you will notice it the most on this stuff.

Lump of coal: it was sooooo hot in there! I went through 2 bottles of gatorade, trying to stay hydrated! I got the silicone junk on my jeans. ewwww! Most of our numbers were awful! But, they do say in show business that a bad rehearsal makes for a good show!

SynchroSk8r114

06-28-2007, 07:30 PM

Also, one of our Special Olympians had her skates stolen (:x )- here's a link to the article:
http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=127482&ran=200865

Oh, my Gosh! That's so sad...why would anyone do that?! I can only hope that someone reading that article gifts another pair to her because, unfortauntely, I doubt the skates are going to be returned. :cry:

jazzpants

06-28-2007, 08:05 PM

Oh, my Gosh! That's so sad...why would anyone do that?! I can only hope that someone reading that article gifts another pair to her because, unfortauntely, I doubt the skates are going to be returned. :cry:I agree. I had my skate bag and skates "disappear" on me and to this date, I doubt I'll ever see them again. :cry: (Who in the world would want to steal a pair of PURPLE CUSTOM skates where it's not hard to track me down with the skate is beyond me. :x :roll: )

Lump of Coal:

Primary coach still hasn't had a chance to do a runthru of the program with me b/c of the crowds at Coffee Club. In fact, it took me 10 minutes to actually get IN the rink b/c of a crowd of 10 people and they (nor the lady at the front desk) would let me cut in line, even when I said that I need to go in there for a LESSON!!! And of course, I had a horrible time finding parking and waiting 5 minutes from the time the lady got in the driver seat 'til she finally pulled out of her spot so I can take it. :frus: :x :evil: (SHE was gabbing on the cell phone.... :roll: )
No camel spin
Very VERY close... but no cigar on getting myself low enough on the back sit. And certainly no sit-backsit either. :roll: :frus:Diamond:
After a couple of dud loop jumps, I did a bunch of very nice and smooth moving loop jumps. Okay, so they're not fast speeds yet, but they're getting there. Primary coach says that those were probably the best loops he's seen me done to date.

Coal again:
No loop-loop jumps though!!! :x

Diamond again:

Flips were mostly there too!!! YAAAAAAY!!!
Sit spin is getting LOW!!! If I keep at it I MIGHT be able to finally get them low enough for IJS! :twisted: :P :lol:
Primary coach says that my RFO catch foot spiral is better than my left. However, he thinks that they are much better than when I first started doing them, so I guess a small diamond here. :D (I'll get secondary coach to look at it and see if she can fix it.... meh... let's see if it will fit in the choreography first. )

Emberchyld

06-28-2007, 09:02 PM

Diamond: (Quick note from Sunday-- had an hour lesson with "team Emberchyld"-- they tag-teamed on MITF and jumps. One of the little girls at the rink is skating to "Bippity-Boppety-Boo" from Cinderella, and after the thrid time of that music coming on my coach and her husband, aka coach #2, started goofing off. They were a pairs team that skated for Disney, so the music just got to them-- that was FUN to watch!)

Uhm, backspin. I got about 2.5-- 3 if you ignore the hopping-- revs on this (CCW) tonight (1.5 CW). It helps that I'm trying to remember to lift my crossed leg up and out to get out of the spin, instead of switching legs and hopping.

Coal: My CCW scratch spin has been very coal-y lately. Okay, so I can't get into either direction properly from back crossovers, but at least CW I can center myself. CCW, I fall onto the side of the blade and spiral out. ew.

BI edges.

Waltz 8. If I can't control the right side, this is what's going to really mess up my PB test. Everything else (well, except BI edges, but those are on/off) is okay. This, well, stinks.

I just hope that I start to sparkle at least like cubic zirconia in time for the Ice House camp!

xofivebyfive

06-28-2007, 11:00 PM

Sessy

06-29-2007, 01:28 AM

Sessy

06-29-2007, 08:34 AM

Coal:
Today was the last skating day till august 6th.
I'll never center that scratch spin... :x
Backspin was so-so.

Diamonds:
Camel spin's working! Not really centered, not really uncentered either.
Sit spin is working and centered half the time (now how can that be, when the scratch and 1 foot aren't?). Also it's actually a sit now. Apparently I've got to lift that free leg. Well pretty logical, but nobody told me that before, so I always ended up with the foot on the ice if I managed to get deep enough. But not anymore. And lifting the leg sort of seems to balance out the rest of the spin.
Learned another back 3-turn (left back inside to left forward outside).

jskater49

06-29-2007, 08:42 AM

Not even coal because at least coal is useful....

STUPID FRIGGIN MOHAWKS!!!! I suck, I stink, I'm hopeless, I'm driving my coach crazy because she's even running out of ideas.

Okay, well for the mohawk on the entry steps in the Swing Dance even though it's rushed, I was at least able to do it and hold the extension afterword for the count. But the mohawk in the dance, forget about it. I sort of had it in my mind to test my bronze moves in November, but I am not making anywhere near the kind of progress on those stinking mohawks for that to even be a possiblity. Maybe in 2010.

I've been near to tears in every lesson this month because I just don't seem to be making progress. But I have to remind myself that this is because I am learning new stuff and it is hard. And I just can't afford to skate more than a couple of hours a week.

This is why I quit skating before, I could not afford to skate much, and skating only a little was too frustrating because I simply could not make any progress.

I'm just seeing new expenses coming up and not even sure how I can afford to skate at all, much less more...

anyhoo...one diamond in the making...

my spin entry - I actually was successful a few times and manage to do a few revolutions from the entry. Since I tend to pull up too soon the trick for me was to make myself bend my knees even more when I felt like pulling up, that's just enough extra time and bend to make the spin happen. Now I need to work on the rest of my body because I'm so busy thinking about holding the edge and bending my knees the rest of my body is wonky. I need more speed going into the edge for a sustained spin, but hey, maybe I'm not so hopeless.

j

Sessy

06-29-2007, 09:05 AM

JS, which mohawk are you learning and can you maybe post a video? Or where it's going wrong?

jskater49

06-29-2007, 09:25 AM

JS, which mohawk are you learning and can you maybe post a video? Or where it's going wrong?

Thanks but I don't have the capablity to post videos. Also, I'm helpless enough with my coach right there, I love this board for many reasons, but written coaching does nothing for me. And I know where I'm going wrong, I don't hold the edge long enough before the mohawk, my hips are not open enough so I'm trying to twist the turn instead of it all being in my feet and then I'm so twisted I can hold the exit. And I'm not keeping my feet close enough together which also throws off my balance.

It's not that I don't "know" how to do it correctly...

j

SynchroSk8r114

06-29-2007, 09:42 AM

I don't know, you tell me.

http://youtube.com/watch?v=KzIK0MX11N4

Diamond in the Rough: My flips were nice and high today because I'm bending more. Camel spins were.. eh. Sitspin was fast and lower than usual. It's almost back to how it was in March.

You have a pretty spiral. You'll kick butt on Novice and Senior MIF with a spiral with that much height, extension, and turn out! :bow:

Scarlett

06-29-2007, 09:54 AM

Diamond- My coach is back from sabbatical. I only had to do one forward spin, got this look 8O and we got to move on. Back spin was shockingly centered as well.

Coal-
Moves. The progress I made on my moves were apparently all in my head. The first two were ripped to shreds this morning. We didn't even look at the other 3.
Kids are out of school so my lesson rink has turned into all freestyle all the time. Normally that would be great but I get really intimidated on freestyle sessions.

jskater49

06-29-2007, 10:08 AM

Coal-
Moves. The progress I made on my moves were apparently all in my head. The first two were ripped to shreds this morning. We didn't even look at the other 3.
.

Those moves are deceptive. Seemingly simple but HARD. I did those back crossovers for nearly a year thinking "I got this down" and my weight was on the wrong foot the whole time"

j

momsk8er

06-29-2007, 02:29 PM

Lump of Coal - no skating last week, so this week's practise has been relearning everything I know. Why does it go away so quickly?

Diamond in the rough - spins left me completely - and they never do that - but my coach told me my blade needs to be moved. So maybe that will fix it. Meantime my jumps are improving (but no loop yet).

jazzpants

06-29-2007, 03:26 PM

Those moves are deceptive. Seemingly simple but HARD. I did those back crossovers for nearly a year thinking "I got this down" and my weight was on the wrong foot the whole time"It sure is deceptive and even now I sometimes have to go back and do them deliberate slow and steady to concentrate on getting it right again. And it took me doing tons of FI mohawks before I even got them remotely correct. I think I had a bunch of small breakthrus that eventuall added up to one HUGE breakthru.

Lump of Coal:
Spirals again!!! :roll: My secondary coach is trying to get me to arch my torso. We've tried having me pretend that I'm my Hunky Trainer with his big shoulders and chest out. Nope! No go there... I did finally get a...

Diamond!!!
Secondary coach and another fellow coach were joking about how I look like Melissa Doolittle on American Idol -- no neck, torso scrunched and totally hunched over. Needless to say, secondary coach was joking "Hey! That did the trick! I guess you REALLY don't want to look like Melissa Doolittle, huh? LOL!!! :twisted: " (Seriously, I have no idea 'til just now what Melissa Doolittle looks like b/c I don't really watch American Idol...or much TV for that matter. But I got the general gist of what Melissa looked like the way they'd describe her... ;) )

Lump of Coal:
We then did loop jumps and my secondary coach wants a bit more speed and she "expects me to land it clean." One of my faster jump attempts I tried to land it clean and my ankles buckled under. I had to put down the free foot to keep me from spraining my ankle even further. Thankfully, after a bit of rest it's "normal" again, but it does make me question whether my body can handle the larger jumps later on or whether I should switch over to ice dance now while I can still skate! :twisted: :lol:

Diamond Again:
Secondary coach waited 'til the end of the lesson to tell me that the reason why my ankle buckled under that one particular loop jump was b/c I had quite a bit more height than usual and my ankle is not used to landing the higher jumps and that's why it buckled. 8O :D :bow: She also said that she waited 'til the end of the session to tell me this so I wouldn't freak out. (Funny! It didn't feel that high in the air... :?? )

Rusty Blades

06-29-2007, 05:13 PM

... I suck, I stink, I'm hopeless, I'm driving my coach crazy because she's even running out of ideas. ....

HUG!

Go easy on yourself J! I've been there, I know your frustration, but don't let that one move get you down. Want me to tell you about my 3-Turns? No, I wont - I want to cheer you up!

If one move is really getting you down, take a break from it and do stuff you enjoy and that you do well. Take the time to enjoy your skating again.

I still can't do forward Mohawks worth sh!# but for some reason I can do back Mohawks just fine. I have "closed hips" and the only way I can do forward Mohawks is by cheating them - the trace looks like two J's hooked together!

Now 3-Turns ..... no, we wont go there ;)

Skate@Delaware

06-29-2007, 06:22 PM

Thanks but I don't have the capablity to post videos. Also, I'm helpless enough with my coach right there, I love this board for many reasons, but written coaching does nothing for me. And I know where I'm going wrong, I don't hold the edge long enough before the mohawk, my hips are not open enough so I'm trying to twist the turn instead of it all being in my feet and then I'm so twisted I can hold the exit. And I'm not keeping my feet close enough together which also throws off my balance.

It's not that I don't "know" how to do it correctly...

j
Do you practice them "off-ice"???? Believe me, it does help! If you can, try in front of a mirror and look UP not down! It helps your feet stay neater and helps you with muscle memory. I did a zillion of them off-ice. It helped a lot.

Emberchyld

06-29-2007, 08:37 PM

Coal-dusted diamond: Was working on backspin today and managed to slash my leg with my blade when trying to lift it out of the crossed-over position. Didn't feel it or notice it until I was off ice a 1/2 hr later and one of the coaches pointed out the big bleeding gash on my leg. I guess I feel like a real skater now! :lol: I did think that I needed a sharpening (especially on my left blade) because I've been skidding on my edges and CCW spin entry, but I guess not!

Leg is fine, ugly, but fine.

xofivebyfive

06-29-2007, 09:42 PM

mikawendy

06-29-2007, 09:53 PM

Diamond in the Rough + Coal: So. Apparently I have lyme disease, am anemic, have an iron deficiency, poor circulation, chronic fatigue something, spasms in my lower back and a low white blood cell count. Doesn't that sound fun? Ugh. But at least we know why I've had a headache for 18 months and don't sleep, but still it sucks. No sugar for me for 6 months. How will I survive? :frus: Plus I have about 12 different prescriptions for medicines. I think I have more than my grandmother!

Um, I did go skating today, but I was late because we ran late at the rheumatologist's office, and was extremely tired. I had one really good layback, and a few really great spirals.. but other than that things kind of sucked. My camel spin never got more than 3 rotations.

Here's a video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CzVarOW85z8

^I did manage to do a few flips with more height, but when I land I break at the waist. Any idea how to not do that?

{{{{{Hugs to you xo}}}}}

Nice video, though! You have really nice extension on your spirals and I'm jealous of the speed you have in your camels and laybacks. Also, you have really nice flow in and out of your jumps.

When I break at the waist after a jump, it's usually because my arms are opened too far behind me (past 9:00 and 3:00) instead of slightly in front of me and with the free side strongly checked. (And when my arms are behind me it makes my torso go forward.) It looks like when you land you might be opening your arms too wide, too.

dbny

06-29-2007, 10:11 PM

xofivebyfive

06-29-2007, 10:20 PM

{{{{{Hugs to you xo}}}}}

Nice video, though! You have really nice extension on your spirals and I'm jealous of the speed you have in your camels and laybacks. Also, you have really nice flow in and out of your jumps.

When I break at the waist after a jump, it's usually because my arms are opened too far behind me (past 9:00 and 3:00) instead of slightly in front of me and with the free side strongly checked. (And when my arms are behind me it makes my torso go forward.) It looks like when you land you might be opening your arms too wide, too.
Thank you. And the spirals I'm so proud of because last year I was very inflexible. Couldn't even touch my toes, or get my leg up more than 4 inches off of the ground when I tried a spiral. I'm getting frustrated at my camel though because it is fast, but I can only stay with it for 3 or 4 rotations. Then I just kind of wobble over.
So where should my arms be? I don't really know what to do with them during, or after the jump, which is why most of the time they just hang there.

(((((xofivebyfive))))) Those are some pretty serious problems! Please, please do take good care of yourself. Take all your meds and get whatever rest is ordered.
Thanks. I definitely will because I want to be back to normal. Especially for school. I haven't really gotten to experience high school very well since I've had a headache for more that 3/4s of it. My mom got one of those medicine boxes that have the day of the week and the time of day on them that older people tend to have, like my nana. She loves to make fun of me.

Morgail

06-29-2007, 11:06 PM

So where should my arms be? I don't really know what to do with them during, or after the jump, which is why most of the time they just hang there.

Here's what I've always been told: when you take off, arms should scoop in a down-in-up motion so that your hands are right below the right side of your neck/collarbone (if you jump CCW). When you land, they come down into the checked position. I don't always do this successfully...especially on the loop. BTW, your mom sounds hilarious:lol:
ETA: I think I actually do the right thing with my arms on my easier jumps: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d0vwOsczIVY Now if I could just make that happen all the time with the other jumps:)

Diamond in the Rough:
-Everything my coach has told me about the camel is finally beginning to click. I don't know why it's taken so long, but anyway I feel like my camel has gotten much better this week. It's not much faster and doesn't have more than 3-4 rotations, but I feel as though I finally know how to get my weight centered in the right place so I don't fall onto an inside edge.

-I did a couple of good flips with a pause between the 3 and the pick-in, pulling my arms in correctly, and landing checked, but not bent over.

-I've been working on the landings of my jumps, and the off-ice stuff is starting to come together on-ice.

-Attitude spins were fun tonight!

-Did one lutz that felt sooo easy and effortless...but still put my left foot down.

-Sit-change-sit is getting fast. Don't know how "sitting" the back sit looks though...need to get a new camera so I can tape it.

Lump of Coal:
-Went to scary evening public session with hormonal hockey boys ripping up and down the middle of the rink8O Shouldn't complain, since that's the only way I get to skate at all this weekend. But one of them spit on the ice...ewwwww! I tried to remember not to skate in that spot in case I fell.

-Loop-loops were not happening. I don't think I had enough speed and I kept forgetting to check in between the jumps.

-Kept getting my blade caught in hockey gouges while trying camels and backspins right before I left. :frus:

-I feel all twisty trying to do the cross-back inside 3-forward inside 3 thing that is part of one of the Gold Moves. Good thing I have lots and lots of time before I can even think about testing that!

jskater49

06-30-2007, 07:58 AM

HUG!

Go easy on yourself J! I've been there, I know your frustration, but don't let that one move get you down. Want me to tell you about my 3-Turns? No, I wont - I want to cheer you up!

If one move is really getting you down, take a break from it and do stuff you enjoy and that you do well. Take the time to enjoy your skating again.

I still can't do forward Mohawks worth sh!# but for some reason I can do back Mohawks just fine. I have "closed hips" and the only way I can do forward Mohawks is by cheating them - the trace looks like two J's hooked together!

Now 3-Turns ..... no, we wont go there ;)

Thanks. The thing is, I worked on these moves 4 or 5 years ago - even took the test for giggles, knowing the mohawks were not happening (actually passed a couple - even over for forward perimeter crossovers) and I've been avoiding mohawks ever since and I need to tackle them because when I make myself work on them, they do get better.

I think I am going to do something I've been thinking about for a while - I'm going have my coach cut me 1:40 of Pachelbel's Canon and choreograph me a progam, not for competition, just of moves I like and can do well -edges and swing rolls and chasses and arm movements that I can skate when I want to feel pretty and feel good about skating.

Do you practice them "off-ice"???? Believe me, it does help! If you can, try in front of a mirror and look UP not down! It helps your feet stay neater and helps you with muscle memory. I did a zillion of them off-ice. It helped a lot.

I should do that. I'm really bad at leaving skating at the rink though. It's why my spiral sucks, some moves require off ice work, and (you know--single mom, full-time job) when I come home, I just don't think about doing off ice stuff. Mohawks are a little more doable than spiral stretching though.

Diamond in the Rough + Coal: So. Apparently I have lyme disease, am anemic, have an iron deficiency, poor circulation, chronic fatigue something, spasms in my lower back and a low white blood cell count. Doesn't that sound fun? Ugh. But at least we know why I've had a headache for 18 months and don't sleep, but still it sucks. No sugar for me for 6 months. How will I survive? Plus I have about 12 different prescriptions for medicines. I think I have more than my grandmother!

Oh my goodness! You poor thing!
I'll just stop my whining now and count my blessings.:oops:

j

xofivebyfive

06-30-2007, 10:42 AM

Oh my goodness! You poor thing!
I'll just stop my whining now and count my blessings.:oops:

j
Nah it's fine. Whine all you want. I may be pretty sick but at least it's not affecting my skating too much, so I'm pretty thankful for that.

Debbie S

06-30-2007, 12:34 PM

I feel all twisty trying to do the cross-back inside 3-forward inside 3 thing that is part of one of the Gold Moves. Are you talking about the back double 3-turns? If so, then I guess you mean a BI 3 that is followed by an FO 3 and a BI extension until the crossover to start the next lobe. Or do you mean the back perimeter stroking with BI 3's and FI 3's around the end areas (aka Novice MIF #1)? If that's what you are working on, no need to - it's no longer on the Gold MIF test (good thing, b/c I would probably slam into the wall every time). If you are looking at last year's rulebook, it is incorrect (I never got the current year's - that ends today - so I don't know if the adult MIF stuff was fixed). As of 9/1/05, there were some changes made to the Adult MIF structure - among other things, that Novice move got taken off the Gold test and the adult track completely, and the slide chasses got moved from the Silver test to the Gold test to replace the Novice move, and then the power pulls were added to the Silver test to replace the slide chasses. But on the page in the rulebook where the moves on each test are listed, the changes were never made, so if you go by that, you'll be practicing the wrong move (several months ago, I noticed a friend who is working on Silver MIF practicing the slide chasses, so I had to tell her about the change....boy was she ticked off - not at me, at the rulebook - lol).

A funny story about this....a couple of months ago, my coach came up to me in lesson (she had apparently just looked at the rulebook to go over the Silver moves b/c we hadn't worked on MIF for a couple of weeks) and had a look of horror on her face. She said she had just realized that she hadn't yet taught me one of the Silver moves - the slide chasses. I told her, don't worry, you don't have to, they're now on the Gold test. She looked relieved and we both got a laugh out of that. But seriously, the USFSA needs to do a better job of incorporating changes into its publications, b/c if I didn't read this forum, I wouldn't know half the stuff that goes on.

Morgail

06-30-2007, 05:45 PM

Or do you mean the back perimeter stroking with BI 3's and FI 3's around the end areas (aka Novice MIF #1)? If that's what you are working on, no need to - it's no longer on the Gold MIF test (good thing, b/c I would probably slam into the wall every time).

That's the one I was talking about. Thanks for telling me it's not on there anymore - I'll pass that on to my coach. I'm the first person she's had who will (hopefully) be taking Adult Gold in a long time, so I'm sure she hasn't looked at that test in a while.

Your poor coach! I'll bet she was relieved when you told her those slide chasses weren't on the test anymore.

jenlyon60

06-30-2007, 06:50 PM

Coaches also need to be encouraged to get a new rulebook each year. The adult MIF changes were incorporated in the rulebook last year (even though there were typos/errors that were corrected online).

Too many coaches don't invest regularly in new rulebooks, but rely on other coaches or students to provide accurate info.

A funny story about this....a couple of months ago, my coach came up to me in lesson (she had apparently just looked at the rulebook to go over the Silver moves b/c we hadn't worked on MIF for a couple of weeks) and had a look of horror on her face. She said she had just realized that she hadn't yet taught me one of the Silver moves - the slide chasses. I told her, don't worry, you don't have to, they're now on the Gold test. She looked relieved and we both got a laugh out of that. But seriously, the USFSA needs to do a better job of incorporating changes into its publications, b/c if I didn't read this forum, I wouldn't know half the stuff that goes on.

Debbie S

06-30-2007, 08:55 PM

Coaches also need to be encouraged to get a new rulebook each year. The adult MIF changes were incorporated in the rulebook last year (even though there were typos/errors that were corrected online). The rulebook my coach has is from the 05-06 season, so yes, it's a year out of date (soon to be 2), but the MIF rule changes took effect that season, and should have been in the rulebook, but weren't. Well, if you look through the MIF diagrams, you'll see the headings at the top, and they are correct (although they originally left out the new Pre-Bronze 3-turn pattern, but added it to later printings), but the page at the beginning of the section that lists the moves on each standard and adult MIF test, where my coach (and Morgail's coach) looked, is wrong.

As far as looking online for corrections, I think the general assumption among coaches, test chairs, etc, is that the rulebook is correct, which would seem like a fair assumption to make. I don't know if the MIF changes were fully incorporated into the 06-07 rulebook, but I do know (after my club's spring recital which included a judge's critique - in which the judges were given copies of the WBP for each skater's level) that the WBP for Adult Bronze (and perhaps other levels) is wrong. And even though there are red flags that would perhaps tip someone off that it was wrong (like an axel being required), most people wouldn't assume the rulebook would be that messed up.

Mrs Redboots

07-01-2007, 05:18 AM

Diamonds: Coach2 took one look at our programme and said not to add any more technical in it! In fact, she spent all the lesson working with us on staying in character during such technical as we have in it - she said anything would do as long as we didn't just look at the ice.....

Coal: Still tired after Bracknell and have to compete again this afternoon! Towards the end of the session I suddenly felt faint and had to get off the ice; don't quite know why.

Tried to work with Husband to start rechoreographing the step sequence in our free dance, but I don't know whether it will work. We have two months, so it should....

chowskates

07-01-2007, 09:40 PM

We didn't finish last in our Couples' Artistic - it was a huge class, 11 couples, and we were 9th, which we were very pleased with.

Hey good job, Annabel! :-)

jskater49

07-01-2007, 09:41 PM

Rough but still mostly diamonds today

I had my freestyle 1 LTS class today. It's a great deal usually because I share it with one kid but today he didn't come so I had 20 minutes to myself. The teacher is my coach so this is almost like a free lesson.

We went over outside and inside edges which is pretty simple for me, but I did learn a new little trick, pivoting on my heal so I get a good push for the next edge. This is a figures trick.

And I actually did one decent sratch spin from the t position entry. I just need to keep my arms straight - she made me point my right thumb up to keep it stretched. I tried to do some more but I kept coming up too soon an she told me to leave it for awhile.

Coals

Then she worked on getting me to jump off my toe for the waltz jump. That is so hard for me to let myself get up on my toe pick. I just hate it.

We had 5 minutes left and I asked if we had to do only FS 1 stuff and she said no and so I begged her to help me with my mohawk. I'm working on this with a different coach so I thought maybe a different view point would help. We worked with me just holding the edge and slowly bringing my foot to the position. Helped a little.

If you in the US are familiar with the commercial where the guy says his kids call him the "finisher" but coach said she's going to call me the "rusher" I rushed the push on my edges, I rush coming up in my scratch spin, I rush the mohawk. I'm the rusher.

j

WhisperSung

07-01-2007, 10:26 PM

chowskate (sorry if I messed up your username. . .it's only been 3 seconds, and I've already forgotten it. :P): That's a BEAUTIFUL picture of your spiral. And I love the color of your dress. :)

Synchrosk8er: I hear you on the cost of things. I'm on my own now money-wise, and with this cross-country move coming up for law school, I don't have much extra money. At the same time, I know it would be invaluable to have some moves lessons for Senior MitF with the coach who got me through Novice and Junior (huge accomplishments considering I'd taken Novice 9 times before coming to him and then passed on my first try for Novice and Junior under his coaching). . .is it worth sacrificing food for, though? Is it sad that I think it is? :twisted:

Anyway, diamond:
I was on an adult-only session last night, and I landed all but one of the double lutzes I tried. Now they weren't smooth, or pretty, or anything of the sort, but who cares? It was on one foot and within 5-10 seconds of landing and fighting, I did manage to check out on all of them ;)

I had an adult skater who just passed his senior moves walk me through the patterns so I'd get familiar with them. He just gushed about what I did, saying he thinks I'll pass in a month or two. Even if it's a load of BS, makes me feel quite nice!

Coal:
I was babysitting all last week and didn't get to skate.

I'm still a little annoyed with myself for failing Novice Free last weekend. I hate that I landed the hardest jumps in the program and then had a meltdown on the easier ones.

I also can't really afford any more ice time or lessons, but I'm somehow stubbornly trying to make it possible until my loans for law school come through in a few months.

Sessy

07-02-2007, 02:14 AM

Whisper: food, yes, health, no. Get vitamin pills and mind your proteins (beans are cheap and have proteins and fibers you need).

Sessy

07-02-2007, 02:15 AM

JSkater49, not sure if I'm helping any, but try thinking about it not like jumping off your toepick, but jumping off the tip of your toes. Like in ballet where you jump up and point your toes. It's more natural to jump off the toepick because that way you're using the entire foot's strength :)

Skate@Delaware

07-02-2007, 06:15 AM

Jskater, I was always rushing everything...until my coach had me COUNT OUT and do things in cadence.

Like for a spin, hold the back edge for 3 counts, turn to front and hold for 3 counts, turn it and bring leg to front and HOLD FOR 3 COUNTS!!! Waltz jumps are the same: hold back edge for 3, turn and hold for 3, jump and hold landing for 3...I think she likes the number 3!

Like Sessy said, try jumping off your toe for the waltz jump. Also, try doing them off-ice (not in your skates, but in sneakers).

jskater49

07-02-2007, 06:25 AM

Jskater, I was always rushing everything...until my coach had me COUNT OUT and do things in cadence.).

Yea, mohawks work much better when I count although I just count faster. I had my coach count for me and that worked. We did that with waltz jumps too- with coach counting.

Like Sessy said, try jumping off your toe for the waltz jump. Also, try doing them off-ice (not in your skates, but in sneakers).

Yea, the whole lesson was trying to get me on my toes. And it really doesn't better whether or not I think about it being my toe pick or toe, I have to go on my toe pick and I don't like how it feels, whatever it's called.

Coach gave up giving me off ice work a long time ago. It's all I can do to find time in my life to go to the rink. I pretty much leave skating at the rink. I know that will slow my progress and I'll never do a decent spiral without off ice work but you gotta deal with the life you have.

j