Sizzlin' or Fizzlin' Out? (Practice 07/02-07/07/07)

[peanutskates]

cuz I want a barbecue....

[Sessy]

LOL. I dunno. I'm moving, and I've paid a week's extra rent for my old room, which is now empty and perfect for, say, practicing camel spins on a spin trainer, etc. No real skating though.

The skin I chafed against the ice last week is REALLY itching right now though, it's driving me nuts.
:lol:


Mmm a bbq sounds nice, but it's raining so badly!

[icedancer2]

fizzlin' - got on the ice yesterday for the social dance session - YOUCH my foot hurt! I had told dance coach I wanted to try a lesson - then wasn't so sure... so I kept skating on it and it was okay... just okay...

sizzlin' - had lesson anyway and it was fun to finally dance and get some input again! We started just with some easier dances - Foxtrot, Rocker - then somehow got up to pre-Gold again and worked on the Starlight... - it was way fun and good to get that "1st lesson" out of the way.

Next week we can really start getting to work and hopefully the foot will hold up!

[flo]

sizzlin: nice skate yesterday and a very productive 15 min. lesson. Working out the program and hoping to get to compete with it soon.

[Morgail]

Sizzlin':
-Flip! I did some HUGE flips today (they felt huge anyway). And they were controlled and I waited between the 3-turn and the pick-in. I even did two with a toe loop on the end, and I've never ever been able to do the flip in combination before because my landing was always so out-of-control. I'm so happy. I hope it sticks around for my coach to see tomorrow;)
-Sit-change-sit was good and fast.
-Camels weren't too bad. I did at least one with four revs, and others with three, but most of them felt good.
-Attitude spins were good. I'm not sure if I have my leg back far enough though.
-Spirals went well (I think).
-Canasta Tango was in good shape today.

Fizzlin':
-Didn't work much on Moves. Not sure if that was a good idea or not since my 3-turn pattern felt way off today. Power pulls weren't so great either. 8-step mohawk was alright though.
-Backspin wasn't as strong as it has been.
-Sit spin refused to be lowered today.

[peanutskates]

sizzlin:

beginning a sitspin which isn't so bad
got my program music!!! (coach picked phantom... sorry everyone) but made it faster. apparently it's gonna suit my spirals.
backspin; ooohhh I got like 2 rotations!!! applause please. :P

fizzlin out:
flip
loop (although apparently better than last week)
cross rolls. I am ashamed. they're gone...

[jskater49]

I was sizzlintoday --

Went to public skate and there were mostly figure skaters on the ice --it's not so bad when you outnumber everyone else.

Worked on my scratch spin entry and about half were good, half were rushed. But when I do it right, that spin is so centered, and I am on my sweet spot, I think I could be a good spinner. I even worked on doing the entry in my program. It works out that my spin was already right on the line so I could put the entry on the line - helps to try to make sure I'm back to the line before pulling up.

Tried the mohawk moves pattern and it seemed a little better. Then decided to work on back chasses. Then back chasses and swing rolls, then thought, what the heck, let's try the Swing and low and behold, I was able to do that right inside mohawk in the dance, going at speed, held the extension...I'm not saying it is pretty but the last time I tried this and was in near tears, I had to practically skid to a stop, put my foot down, do some extra steps to work up to the mohawk and this time, I just went on an inside edge and put my foot down.

That is skating for you. One day you are in tears, the next day the move is there. Then it's gone.

Then there was a power class. Yup. During public skating-that was interesting. Different coach and it was more challenging. Cross unders on the circle - which I couldn't do but I was quite pleased with myself that I was able to slide my foot under, progressive style, but then I did have to pick it up. There were some things she modified for me but when she was going to have me do swizzles and dips when the others were stroking with their knees bent as low as they could go I said I thought I could do that and didn't I do that better than the young'uns! After the class many parents told me how impressed they were that I lasted through the class!

j

[Rusty Blades]

Well I think the old brain is pretty much burned to a crisp!

A while back I decided it would be good to have a skate sharpener (since the only one I trust is over an hour away). Being too cheap to go out and buy a machine, I decided to build one. The building part was easy but setting it up was a great P.I.T.A.!!! Trying to maintain 0.001" took HOURS! Now it is perfect for my blades (and anybody else's that are 0.160" thick). Would I sharpen a different thickness of blade? NOT ON YOUR LIFE!!!

http://www.geocities.com/diannebest/skating/sharpener/sharpener.html

(Being naturally blond is DANGEROUS!)

It is a good thing I am finally back on the ice tomorrow (after 2-1/2 weeks off) - maybe this other foolishness will stop then :roll:

[SynchroSk8r114]

Simmerin' down: I backed out of testing my Starlight Waltz on the 11th. Just don't feel it's quite there - I've only been on it for three weeks, partnered it once (oh, the arm position changes! 8O), and just haven't been able to get on the ice as often as I would have liked. So, yeah...maybe next month? At least my coach wasn't mad...disappointed, maybe because she said I have no much power and great edges and all, but I don't know. Testing on the 11th would have already put me at a disadvantage because the judges are impossible to pass with, so I think I'll sit this one out and save my money, hahaha! ;)

Sizzlin': Heading to Ohio on Friday to get my skates punched out and the rest of my screws put in. Five weeks later and I'm soooo ready!

Fizzlin' out: Unfortunately, going to get my skates punched and whatnot means missing a freestyle lesson...:roll:

[WhisperSung]

Sizzlin': I had what might be the very last lesson I ever have with my freestyle skating coach. I wrote down all the things I wanted clarification and explanation of so when I have problems when I'm on my own, I can look back and fix them.

Double lutz: we worked on single lutz with the draw-together, up-and-over entry. Did some 1.5 lutzes. Fell on about 3 doubles and landed 4 others. I'm getting there. :) The landing's not the smoothest, but it's my goal to get all my doubles, so darnit, this is progress!

Double-double combos with the second jump being a double loop: We worked on single loop-single loop combinations and making sure my left leg/free leg was closed on the take-off for the second jump. I tried 2 single loop-double loops. Fell on 1, landed the other.

Double axel: My coach doesn't really want me working on this until the lutz is consistent, but she knows it's either teach me the correct way or I'm going to do it my own way and break every bone in my body. She said she wants to see it completely rotated off-ice first, so next time I manage to get to the rink, she said she'd work with me (I can get it off-ice, but she doesn't believe me, so we'll see!).

I also set up a lesson for my senior moves for Friday so I can start learning them! :)

Fizzlin': I am so beyond broke right now. I don't even know what to do with myself. I knew it would come to this when I started on this law school journey, but I can't wait to have my loans and not feel so financially unstable (we'll save that for 3 years down the road when I have to pay them all back!).

That's the worst I can come up with right now. So far, this week is going well!

[chowskates]

A while back I decided it would be good to have a skate sharpener (since the only one I trust is over an hour away). Being too cheap to go out and buy a machine, I decided to build one. The building part was easy but setting it up was a great P.I.T.A.!!! Trying to maintain 0.001" took HOURS! Now it is perfect for my blades (and anybody else's that are 0.160" thick). Would I sharpen a different thickness of blade? NOT ON YOUR LIFE!!!

http://www.geocities.com/diannebest/skating/sharpener/sharpener.html


OMG! I wouldn't even dream of sharpening my own skates, let alone build a sharpener! :bow: :bow: :bow:

[Morgail]

Fizzlin': I am so beyond broke right now. I don't even know what to do with myself. I knew it would come to this when I started on this law school journey, but I can't wait to have my loans and not feel so financially unstable (we'll save that for 3 years down the road when I have to pay them all back!).

I live in fear of my law school loans coming due in November...

(but somehow I still feel I have enough money to skate:lol: )

[jazzpants]

Rusty Blades strikes again with her GREAT INVENTIONS!!! WOO HOO!!! :bow: :bow: :bow:

Peanutskates: Mmmmm... BBQ!!! The friend I was visiting this weekend had BBQ tri-tips and veggies too!!! YUM YUM YUM!!! :yum:

Tonight I skated as if someone might be watching me skate thru the window... and if it were true and that part did peek thru, I hope that person liked my skating! ;)

Sizzlin'

My flips at the beginning of the session
My loops later on after a rough start
My forward attitude. My fellow Bronze III Lady skater said that it looked nice!!! Bless her!!! :bow:
My camel... it's not perfect but at one point I started to get some speed and a bit of a better position and somehow I managed to attempt to get down to sit and try for a camel-sit combo! (I only got maybe ONE rev out of the sit and the position sucked considering what I can do on the sit spin...)
My scratch spin is CENTERED today! WOO HOO!!!
My sit spin was nice, low and FAST!!! WOW!!! 8O
My footwork (when I wasn't blocked by other skaters) looked pretty good. I think primary coach should be happy with what he saw...
Was playing around with this FO-BI bracket exercise again near the wall towards the end of the session and I'm starting to make some progress. (Well, what little progress I had anyway... basically, I am able to get some of the FO-BI bracket exercise away from the wall, even though it's pretty much "not moving.")Fizzlin'

My loops at the beginning of the session. I figured out now that I should not curve too much into the entry 'til the very LAST moment to land this sucka!!!
My flips at the end of the session. Then again, I wasn't really trying for it.
My FO mohawks are still non-existent!!! :frus:
My back sit (and backspin) edge is still bad... though I am spinning on it.

[WhisperSung]

I live in fear of my law school loans coming due in November...

(but somehow I still feel I have enough money to skate:lol: )

Ooh, I'm in the phase right before law school starts. I just passed my junior moves, and I *know* the coach I have is fantastic and I should get lessons with him at least to start on senior moves. . .but I have no money. So what do I do? I schedule lessons with him up until my relocation date. Who needs to eat? Not me! :lol:

[Mrs Redboots]

Fizzling: No lesson today as coach at a competition elsewhere.
Had upper-body and weight-change issues in the exercises we did.
Can't do a couples' spin yet.

Sizzling: Good chassés in Kilian hold. Beginning to be able to do, once more, the forward spin we used to do, so that we can turn it into a changefoot.

Even the "proper" couples spin felt more as though it was our technique was just off, not that we can't do it at all.

Husband isn't going to skate tonight - this is good, as it means he probably (but not definitely) won't be exhausted on Friday so we can skate then.

[dbny]

A while back I decided it would be good to have a skate sharpener (since the only one I trust is over an hour away). Being too cheap to go out and buy a machine, I decided to build one. The building part was easy but setting it up was a great P.I.T.A.!!! Trying to maintain 0.001" took HOURS! Now it is perfect for my blades (and anybody else's that are 0.160" thick). Would I sharpen a different thickness of blade? NOT ON YOUR LIFE!!!

http://www.geocities.com/diannebest/skating/sharpener/sharpener.html



Wow! Nice job. Thanks for all the detail and great pix. Maybe I will encourage DH to follow your lead. We've toyed with buying a sharpener for a while, but, like you said, always too $$$, even on ebay.

Sizzlin':
I had a great skate today. The threes in Prelim power threes were suddenly much easier and I was actually able to move faster than a snail, at last! FI threes still feeling pretty good, including doing a LBO three after the LFI. Spins were almost the best ever. The first two, I did from a F pivot, and both were centered and felt like they could go on forever. Then I tried from a T push, with arms pre-rotated, and did several, also centered. Finally, I went into one from T push with arms in wind up position and spun so fast it scared me! I've been working on allowing myself to do the snap into the spin, and it's coming along, hence more speed than I'm used to.

Fizzlin':
Haven't practiced BXO to BO edges in a while, and they felt uncertain enough that I had to slow down to below passing speed. Still having trouble checking FO threes properly. LFO is better, but can't hold the edge long enough. I'm now 80% sure this has something to do with my boots. As Don said when I got fitted for my new boots, I would never want to wear the old ones again. If only my blades arrive in time, I'll be in the new ones by Saturday!

[doubletoe]

Rusty Blades strikes again with her GREAT INVENTIONS!!! WOO HOO!!! :bow: :bow: :bow:

Peanutskates: Mmmmm... BBQ!!! The friend I was visiting this weekend had BBQ tri-tips and veggies too!!! YUM YUM YUM!!! :yum:

Tonight I skated as if someone might be watching me skate thru the window... and if it were true and that part did peek thru, I hope that person liked my skating! ;)

Sizzlin'

My flips at the beginning of the session
My loops later on after a rough start
My forward attitude. My fellow Bronze III Lady skater said that it looked nice!!! Bless her!!! :bow:
My camel... it's not perfect but at one point I started to get some speed and a bit of a better position and somehow I managed to attempt to get down to sit and try for a camel-sit combo! (I only got maybe ONE rev out of the sit and the position sucked considering what I can do on the sit spin...)
My scratch spin is CENTERED today! WOO HOO!!!
My sit spin was nice, low and FAST!!! WOW!!! 8O
My footwork (when I wasn't blocked by other skaters) looked pretty good. I think primary coach should be happy with what he saw...
Was playing around with this FO-BI bracket exercise again near the wall towards the end of the session and I'm starting to make some progress. (Well, what little progress I had anyway... basically, I am able to get some of the FO-BI bracket exercise away from the wall, even though it's pretty much "not moving.")Fizzlin'

My loops at the beginning of the session. I figured out now that I should not curve too much into the entry 'til the very LAST moment to land this sucka!!!
My flips at the end of the session. Then again, I wasn't really trying for it.
My FO mohawks are still non-existent!!! :frus:
My back sit (and backspin) edge is still bad... though I am spinning on it.

Wow, sounds like you have really made progress! It wasn't long ago when you considered a loop or flip a pretty rare occurrence! Way to go! The trick on the transition from the camel spin to the sitspin is to first bring your torso upright, then--keeping your back arched and rigid, swing that nice straight free leg and free arm into the sitspin.

[Rusty Blades]

In three weeks off the ice I reevaluated my priorities in skating. Though I have a competitive streak and really get into competing, skating a beautiful and pleasing program is much more important to me.

Sizzlin :D WAHOO! Back on the ice today after my 3 week break! :mrgreen:

Fizzlin :cry: The first few minutes were really SAD! I was shaky, unsteady, wobbly, and felt like I was starting over. The old muscles were protesting and I felt stiff.

Sizzlin :D WAHOO! Thankfully, within 20 minutes things were coming back. Surprisingly the backward glides and edges came back first, then the forward edges and XOs, and finally the RFO3s!

Fizzlin :cry: No sign of the rudimentary spins though. I’ll look for them tomorrow.

Sizzlin :D After last week’s sever withdrawal, the ol’ broad is back in a chipper mood again

Sizzlin :mrgreen: Oh, and my home-sharpened skates were just FINE! As good as the best sharpenings I have had from the best sharpeners :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

[Morgail]

Fizzlin' Out:
-Rant: :x After all the really good flips I did yesterday, I was excited to show my coach...probably a little too excited and I botched all of them. The first one, I had way too much enthusiasm and tore a nice big hole out the ice with my toepick. The second - I tilted and fell on the landing. I did a few more, alone and in my program, and none were as good as yesterday's flips. Then we moved on to loops and I couldn't land any of them. I was SO mad at myself. I've been landing loops consistently for months and tonight I couldn't get any of them?! Blah.

Sizzlin':
(Thinking about these things makes me feel much better).
-I did land two loops in my program run-throughs. They weren't great, but I landed them and felt much better about the earlier bad ones.
-Did really good entries to my flips, even if the rest of the jump was crappy.
-Did very nice spirals with straight legs.
-Did good camel spins (deemed passable by my coach:D )
-Nearly landed two lutzes. I'm putting my free foot down right after I land in front of my right foot. That's what I did on both the loop and flip right before I started really landing them.
-Worked on artistry for my program. Never my strong point, but I had lots of fun working on it tonight.
-Did some strong power pulls and cross-rolls.
-Fell on a LFI 3, but learned that it was because I didn't have my shoulders turned enough. Also got my free foot position fixed on the BI 3s.
-Did a great sit spin at the end of my last program run-through.

[Skate@Delaware]

Fizzlin' Out: Rehearsal was BAD!!!!!! It was the worse one we had! I messed up a little bit...if everyone messes up a little bit, then as a whole it's ALL messed up BIG! Had to leave my skates for a sharpening-hope they make it to the show (stranger things have happened, like skates getting left at sharpener's home). So, I won't get to clean and polish them for the show (I'm weird that way).

No gym this week-was out sick on Monday with some sort of stomach bug (gut cramps and fatigue), Wednesday is the holiday and show, Friday is my busiest day so we will see-might just do cardio. Will pick it back up next week though-don't want to lose the gains I've made with the sit-spin training!

Sizzlin': Did a backspin!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Woo-hoo!!!!! My blade was moved the other day and today I braved one and it was good! Only did 1.5 revs around but on this plastic stuff, that's good! Jump landings are SOUND and did a nice scratch spin! After tomorrow's show, I will start working on some other jumps and some footwork.

I also have my additional on-real-ice training mapped out for August. I am hoping to have a nice sit-spin in the works as a surprise for my coach come September!!!!! And maybe some other things!

[Hannah]

Sizzle: Finally, finally the one-foot spin is solidifying. :D

Fizzle: I cratered onto my knees right after a jump that I still can't remember the name of (I mix the names up!!). One toepick went in, then somehow I managed to get the other toepick in the ice in just the right way to slam me down on my front, knees first.

[tidesong]

sizzling:

double toe, double loop had alot of suspects! Can't wait for lesson to show them to coach.
double flip had one good attempt where i felt the height and still rotated!!
hit yet another centered nice layback.... and again... only one!!! after that I managed to get the nice arch feeling but i kept travelling ....

fizzling:
double salchow had its worst night ever in the longest time. it was totally crazy, it mutated like some wierd alien thing but I got it under control in the end.

[Mrs Redboots]

Sizzling: Really good lesson today, helped us identify several problem areas to work on.

Fizzling: Why is it that as soon as you correct one fault, something else comes crawling out of the woodwork???

[Rob Dean]

Sizzling: I had my first practice session with my trial dance partner after our first team lesson. I was pleeased that things were starting to fall together on the basic drills we'd been left with. This is going to be fun, and I'm looking forward to the next team lesson next week. Most of my moves are starting to shape up to my coach's satisfaction for that much-delayed APBM test. Next week, we'll have two lessons to work on things.

Fizzling: Coach is on vacation for most of this week; only one lesson -- need more. :)

[Clare]

Sizzlin';
- Two awesome lessons today, the most fun I've had in ages.
- Introduced to jumping. Just how much fun is that little tiny 3 jump/waltz jump? :) and how can I be less afraid of something that involves my feet actually leaving the ice than I am of damn back crossovers?!
- Inside to Outside change of edge finally happened without what my coach calls my "Saturday Night Fever" arms - yay!

Fizzlin' out;
- Not skating related but...all the electrics in our office following yesterday's storm and partial roof collapse.

Clare

[Rusty Blades]

Fizzlin' My right big toe was feeling jammed today - don’t know why.

Sizzlin' In first lesson we worked on back cross-overs again. Finally started to get the CW again but still no CCW.

Fizzlin' Between lessons I went back to 3-turns and spins, none of which were working.

Sizzlin' In second lesson coach asked what my cue word was that got the spins going last month. Cue word? Oh yea, I had one of those didn’t I! I said “I think it was ‘stretch the axis’!” and immediately did a spin. (Coach made some comment about “engineering terms” and how she wouldn’t have remembered it...)

Sputter and Spit! (Sort of inbetween ;) ) After second lesson, with the RFO3 working not bad (for me) I started working more on the other forward 3's, particularly LFO3 and both FI3. Clockwise is DEFINITELY my favoured direction and any CW turns come easier than CCW though the LFO3 feels the closest of all.

Fizzlin' In a moment of insanity, I sent my coach an email saying I want to jump tomorrow, no matter how much I whimper and beg to get out of it 8O (I wonder what colour cast I should get? LOL!)

[peanutskates]

rustyblades, the last one is SIZZLIN!!! go jump :)

never mind fizzling, this is burnt out: i have NO height on my jumps.... I know exactly what I need to do for the loop, but no matter how hard I try to push up and get height, I only get enough for a half loop. see my vids on youtube... you'll see what I mean.

[techskater]

Peanut, I saw your video and you are totally pre rotating your shoulders when you attempt loops and are straight up on your knee before you even consider leaving the ice (timing is a bit off) which = no lift and no rotation = falling leaf. I had a Russian coach at camp once have us work on loops with our free side arm (for CCW - left, CW - right) held on our opposite shoulder and only work on using the skating leg to create the jump (so a lot of down and a lot of push off to get height).

When I work on double loops on my own (not on lesson, we have other drills during lessons) and am having problems with pre-rotating my shoulders, I go back to that drill. In fact, I was on it this morning because I was taking off with my upper body over my free side again when trying doubles. :roll:

[tidesong]

sizzle:

coach had me attempting double axels today... o.O !!!!! It was really quite unexpected but we haven't touched axel yet since going under her until now. So she got me to do axel and after some tweaking ( my upper body was rotating too much for lower so we fixed that) I was kinda floating and then I started to overrotate... so she was like ok lets try axel - double loop, and then i promptly did an almost face plant after the axel, then we tried to fix that, but i just couldn't take off for the double loop ( I ended up doing some wierd axel-back spin-hop back spin thing), so she just told me to go straight to double axel....and a few tries later I got 2 rounds around felt myself catching the landing edge ... and then sat down (well it was under anyways). I'm pretty excited... The last time I tried a double axel was at least 3 years back and barely got more than 1.5 rounds around...

The back camel has arrived. in style. lol like yeah... I haven't been even seriously practising it. But today it just CLICKED boom, back camel.
and I thought oh fluke, then coach saw it and wanted me to do back camel -layover... In my mind i was thinking... I could barely do a back camel before that attempt just now but i went ahead and did it again anyways. and it was still there...
and it was still there when coach decided to move me onto back camel change edge...
funny how things happen.

landed 2 double toes.

some double loop suspects didnt get time to squeeze it into lesson. next week I guess.

fizzle:
coach asked me to try triple salchow... well ... i basically just did a slightly overrotated double salchow and fell over. But I've never ever tried one before, so I guess thats how you start.

no centered layback today... it travelled with a vengeance... maybe it was jealous of my back camel

boots are starting to show signs of wear, ankle area feels odd until I warm up... i am planning to get new ones though so thats a good thing but i have to stop being lazy and get my foot tracings done....

I'm very worried I'll lose all my jumps in new boots....

[Scarlett]

Had a crack of dawn lesson this morning after yesterdays festivities...I'm surprised I survived it but anyways

Sizzlin:
-Loops were clean.
-Actually received praise on my "toe-loop." It is still a toe-waltz but it is a high, strong toe-waltz.
-Camel is progressing.

Fizzlin out:
-Flips are regressing. We should so get credit for landing them on two feet.
-Bronze moves are offensively bad.
-I am making progress toward my broken leg sit. Unfortunately, I am not working on a broken leg sit. It just so happens that every third sit attempt my leg just does that. It is more comfortable like that. My left leg apparently does not appreciate being held straight out in front in a turned out position. Oh I hate the sit spin.
-My job is being transferred to a location further away from my house. This will seriously cut into my skating time.

[Figureskates]

Fizzling....Waiting for my new skates!

My other pair were breaking down and really broke down rapidly during Adult Week last month. The sole on the left skate developed such a bad torque that the balde was actually twisting. My coach's husband who is a speed sjkting coach leterally was resetting the blade each evening the last three days with shims to compensate for the torque.

Problem is I got big feet so the boots have to be made up and hopefully will have them in a week or two...which gives me 4 weeks to break them in before Adult week in mid August. I guess I will be wearing my skates at work to break them in faster.....I have done that before..

[liz_on_ice]

Sizzling - I had a couple of nice scratch spins the other day, I'm getting faster.

Fizzling - nothing really.

I've had two lessons now with summer coach, and I'm just buckling down to paying attention and remembering as much of what he tells me as possible and drilling those things in practice. Dull but it feels good to be working on overall quality right now. Also drilling towards learning new elements soon.

-Liz

[dbny]

Fizzling....Waiting for my new skates!



Me too! I still have not heard back from the place where I ordered my blades, and blades have not arrived at Klingbeil. Today I started calling local pro shops to see if I could just go and pick up a pair tomorrow afternoon, as my appt at Klingbeil is for Sat morning. Still waiting for confirmation from the shop with the best price.

Went to a very nice BBQ yesterday, but the beer and wine did no good for today's skating. I just didn't have quite the "pull it togetherness" that I need, so spins were so so, as were three turns.


Sizzlin':
I wasn't completely discombobulated, and did mange a few good one foot spins, and a couple of LBO threes. Also, I'm feeling less chicken on the FI threes. The music got me doing little tiny one foot edge changes. Can't really call them edge pulls, because I was just riding the back of the blade and swishing back and forth, but then I started putting three or four very nice pulls between, as it went with the music. The whole thing felt really good and was fun until I went a little too far over on the RFO edge and just barely stayed upright. It's amazing what the right music can do for my skating! I really have to get my MP3 player up and running again, since the rink I skate at now has mostly horrible music.

On Fire!
Got a very nice compliment on my Prelim Power Threes. Was told by another adult skater that the threes were very smooth and graceful. I am still going just a bit faster than a snail, but I'll take it as it's been a long time coming.

[Rusty Blades]

Fizzled! Third day of 3 in a row and my goodness was I STIFF! My commitment to do my first real jump today quickly fizzled when I got on the ice :cry:

Sizzlin! On the other hand not only was my RFO3 working but so were all the other forward 3-Turns as well 8O (off and on, sometimes better than others), even the CCW 3's (opposite my preferred direction). I have NEVER been able to do the other forward 3's before! 8-)

Fizzled! In lesson today coach and I went back to the Waltz jump but that was just NOT going to happen! (The Waltz is the FIRST jump that “normal people” learn, right? Well I ain’t normal!)

Sizzlin! Then coach said “I see your LFI3 is working - try this.” and demonstrated a move. (Hint: I am going to be a CW jumper.) I stepped through it a few times and by golly it all started coming together.

A TOE LOOP! Ok, the height was microscopic and half of it was rotated on my toe pick, but it was STILL A TOE LOOP and properly landed! :mrgreen: Given a bit of altitude, it has lots of potential and a Toe Loop is worth more in competition than a Waltz jump ;) (Is my competitive streak showing?)

Fizzled By the second hour I was pretty pooped and the Toe Loop fizzled ....

Sizzlin! but I did manage to hit a couple of good spins with whatever energy was left.

What a hellofa week! First week of summer school and my first jump :mrgreen: (and I already know the second one will be a Salchow - I just need more height!)

[Terri C]

Sizzlin':
My forward and backscratch spins, toe loop and the loop jump- I landed a clean one today, according to Secondary Coach- "It is so a loop jump!"

Fizzlin':
Salchow- need to hold the right arm back on takeoff!
Sit spin, oh sit spin, uh the holiday was yesterday!! You need to be back at 7:20 am Monday morning for lesson with Primary Coach or she may not let me retake Bronze free at the end of next month.

Possible Opportunity or Dilemma:
Last weekend, I decided to do Dogwood Open in NC in August, just to get more experience with my program. Then two days later, our test chair e-mailed me and told me she is trying to put together a test session for the end of August- the week after Dogwood. Now the way I see it is that I can use the competition for a practice for the test. I may also not do the compulsory moves event so I devote more time to this program. Opinions, please!

[Skate@Delaware]

Hey, dbny, yesterday at our show....the word she used was DISCOMBOBULATED!!!! And she only used that because small children were present!!! Our show was Fizzlin out!!! but, the ice was on an uneven surface and it was HOT!!

We had rehearsal tonight, and it was SIZZLIN!!!! She went over, in excruciating detail, all the little things that didn't turn out right. Such as this is your left, that is your right.

2.5 hours later, we were done. It will go like this until we are done!!!! If the actual shows are messed up, we will STAY LATE AND REHEARSE!!! That means after our 8 pm show, we will stay.

I am wondering if this is worth it now...:frus: we will see!

[singerskates]

Fizzlen' Out:

The body. Sore and stiff all over but mostly my shoulders and back. I did too much working out at the gym, then more of my own skating than I'm use to doing (normally, I do half teaching, not in summer skating school, also the first sesson is twice as long as a normal session and there are two of them each day) and I was stuppid enough to try out off-ice class that the competitive kids do. Not a good idea for an almost 45 year old. I irritated my shoulders and herniated discs (they've since comed down) and pulled an adductor music trying to do a split like the kids with one leg near flat infront and the other behind with both feet pointed. I was stuck and coudn't go up or down. I've since pulled out of Summer Skating School Off-Ice classes which are smack in between skating sessions with only a 15 minute period to eat and rest between skating and off-ice.

The first few spins I tried to do this morning didn't want to happen because of the pain I was in with my shoulders and adductor. After I warmed up, I began to get the use of my body back.

A couple of waltz jumps that I did in my test freeskate number just disintigrated for no reason. Weird and not normal.

Couldn't get down in my sit spin or combo sit spin because of adductor. Didn't dare try a camel spin.

Sizzling:

Prelim Creative Dance is now taking shape since we rejigged it. Only thing is now I have to wait even longer before testing it. I'm skating to the Gypsy Kings' Tango Flamenco (shorterned version).

Coached myself today and fixed my salchow to get more pop by getting my arms right. Now if I could just hold the landing longer when doing one in combination.

Toe loops were solid.

Most Waltz jumps were good except the two weird ones done in my program with the music on right infront of my coach no less.

Loop getting closer to being a one foot landing. Same with the flip. Just need to tweak the landing and timing more.

Upright behind the back catch foot spin starting to come back.

[looplover]

Fizzling: Coach said I may not pass pre-bronze moves. Apparently I keep going on an outside edge in inside edges, and I don't push out enough in back clockwise crossovers. I cannot fail prebronze moves, omg!! I was in ISI FS4! I will feel incredibly lame if I don't pass this test. Have more practices before it though. 8O 8O :?? 8O

Sizzling: A whole lot of nothing except I did one great centered scratch spin yesterday.

[flo]

Looplover, take a breath and practice. I don't suggest anyone take a test that they are not confident they can pass, but do remember that pre-bronze is an "encouragement" test. Practice and when you're ready, give it a shot. And if you don't pass it - no big deal - really. But it is a big deal to pass a test and end up in a level for which you are not ready. You'll always be playing catch up to your skill level.

[RinkRat321]

Sizzlin`


sooo so close to landing double loop! its less than a quarter cheated! :D (same with double flip)
been working alot on ina bauer (sp?) spread eagles and charlotte spiral & they're getting better :)
change sit spin is getting alot lower
been stretching more


Fizzlin`

havent been working on double toe; should work on it but i hate that jump
still having some trouble with MITF:frus:
i need new skates and im broke. need. summer. job.

[looplover]

Looplover, take a breath and practice. I don't suggest anyone take a test that they are not confident they can pass, but do remember that pre-bronze is an "encouragement" test. Practice and when you're ready, give it a shot. And if you don't pass it - no big deal - really. But it is a big deal to pass a test and end up in a level for which you are not ready. You'll always be playing catch up to your skill level.

Thanks! I hope I'm freaking out over this more than I need to be - I knew it was an encouragement test but I can't fathom not passing it...I was working on a lutz before I switched to USFSA! Oof, that will be mortifying. Anyway, I'm going to practice a lot. I think it was more an issue of my not paying attention enough on my edges so that's gotta change 8O

[Morgail]

Sizzlin':
-Camel spin:D Also did a couple of good camel-sit spins.
-Loops were good today.
-Flips were better. Sometimes I land really weird - like on an inside edge and then I switch back onto an outside edge. It doesn't happen often, but I can't figure out how I do it when it does happen.
-Lutz is soooo close. (How long have I been saying that?) It was too crowded to work much on them today. Hoping to get more lutz work done this weekend.
-Made good progress polishing up the Silver 3-turn pattern in small pieces.
-Did a good program run-through when the kids went inside for a snack - forgot to do the second part of my combo jump and had to abort the camel-backscratch because of some kids. But it was decent.
-Had fun playing with combination jumps today.
-Did good sit spins and attitude spins. Need to get back to working on lowering the sit. I'm getting lazy with it.

Fizzlin':
-Sit-change-sit went on vacation. I actually fell on two them...and I'm not sure how.
-Ice was BAD. Tons of bumps and the ice was hard and scratchy.
-Waltz-loop. How in the world is this done? I think I have issues with putting anything after a waltz jump. I can do loop-loop, salchow-loop, toe loop-loop, but not waltz-loop.
-Too crowded to work on dances or whole Moves patterns.

[doubletoe]

Fizzling: Coach said I may not pass pre-bronze moves. Apparently I keep going on an outside edge in inside edges, and I don't push out enough in back clockwise crossovers. I cannot fail prebronze moves, omg!! I was in ISI FS4! I will feel incredibly lame if I don't pass this test. Have more practices before it though. 8O 8O :?? 8O

Sizzling: A whole lot of nothing except I did one great centered scratch spin yesterday.

Did your coach give you a fix for that problem? It's usually just one little thing and then it's fixed.

[looplover]

Did your coach give you a fix for that problem? It's usually just one little thing and then it's fixed.

Yup she did - she's great at pointing out little technique fixes, plus...despite my arms thread on here I still had the arms wrong!! Sheesh! I'm going to have to write it on my palm or something :lol:

[Clare]

Sizzlin':
-Back crossovers- my evil nemesis...I told coach about the advice people had been kind enough to offer over this silly mental block of mine and mentioned the idea of holding a glove. Started with CCW, usually the hardest for me and managed a few perfectly smooth crossovers whilst holding an empty glove. Switched to CW and yep, still there! Coach said he's never seen them smoother and as long as I was happy to use a handless glove, we may well have made a breakthrough. Yay :)

-Was determined to go for an unassisted 3-jump. The first attempt was a very big step rather than a jump but after that, they were ok. Obviously, I am barely leaving the ice but I *am* leaving it, doing what I need to do and then coming out of it on a running back edge, which is what I think amazes me the most given my fear of most things backwards!

When I said I wished they were a bit stronger and more than mere centimetres off the ice, Coach laughed and asked me "you do know we only tried these for the first time 2 days ago, Miss Impatient?!". As always, he makes a good point.

Fizzlin' out;
-FI3s still not coming out to play but, apart from that, this week has been really positive :)

Clare

[jskater49]

Yesterday - mostly fizzlin...

Just my daughter and I for an hour of public freestyle. And of course we could not get motivated and played

"Look at my Rocker Foxtrot"
"Look at my mohawk in the Swing --wait no, never mind"
"Mom you should do counters"
"I can't even do an decent 3 turn, I'm not trying a counter"
"Look they are EAAAASSSSYYYYY"
"Show off"

DD just came back from where we used to skate and there the judges are sticklers making sure you stay outside the hockey circles - and will automatically fail you if you don't stay outside. Yes I know what the rulebook says but around here they get very lazy about that and judges seem to let them get away with it so between that and often people being in the way, I"ve gotten lazy about not staying outside the circle. DD just came back from having that drummed into her head so she corrected me and we fixed my pattern for the forward and back peremiter crossovers in Bronze moves.

Then she watched my 3 turns and this is how she coaches - every time I did not hold the 3 turn long enough and tried to put my foot down before the long axis she would scream "NO" I don't think I like that coaching technique. Maybe we should have a children coaching parents thread. She actually did a great job coaching me at adult midwesterns.

So I guess I got some excercise, but other than that, not really a productive practice.

j

[techskater]

Yup she did - she's great at pointing out little technique fixes, plus...despite my arms thread on here I still had the arms wrong!! Sheesh! I'm going to have to write it on my palm or something :lol:


LOL! This reminds me of when I was filling in for someone on a basic 3/4class. I told the kids to push onto their left foot first for something. One of the kids held up both hands with thumb and forefinger extended, looked at both hands, saw the "L" in the correct direction and proceeded to step on the correct foot. :D

[Mrs Redboots]

Sizzling: Got a lesson in this morning as our coach wasn't doing anything, and tomorrow's lessons have been cancelled due to the Tour de France (if the coaches leave to come to the rink, they won't get home again until late afternoon, and anyway, it's going near their house so of course they want to see it!).

Worked on couples' spins. Learnt how to spin in Kilian hold, and actually managed 3 revolutions once!

Even managed to do some of our dances to the music - the ice was far less crowded than usual on a Saturday.

Heard that someone will be in at 07:15 tomorrow, so should be able to skate. We weren't planning to, as we were afraid nobody would be in until 08:00 and we have to leave at 08:30 so hardly worth it.

Fizzling: We only managed one couples' spin - all the others, if we spun, Husband didn't catch up! We spun all right, but not in hold.

The new coach was wearing red boot covers! Hmph! Just so long as we all know that I'm Mrs Redboots, thank you!!!!

[xofivebyfive]

Fizzlin Out: I'm taking a bunch of new medication for pain and to get my iron levels up and to get.. I don't know, but my sleeping pill makes me groggy in the morning and I'm so out of it. I had a lesson yesterday and I had to get off the ice and get a hug from my mom. My head was pounding and I was exhausted and when I warming up without my coach there I couldn't do anything. I could barely balance. I started crying, which being 16 is very embarassing, especially in front of the other mothers.. but whatever.

Sizzlin:I did go back on and get my lesson and we worked on moves for a while, and then we fixed my swinging leg on my waltz jump, and how I pick too far to the right during my toeloop. So that's good I guess.


here's a video from 3rd: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eHcA6IIAFLc Not too bad yet. But yesterday awful.

[looplover]

Fizzlin: omg still in danger of not passing pre-bronze moves - waltz 8 is two triangles, LFI threes are shooting me out diagonally and lobes become triangles...what is it with me and triangles?!?! Why are there not more triangles in figure skating, anyway?!?!:frus:

One lesson and three more practices until test.

Sizzling: Good loop, good scratch and one good low sit spin. Which would make me happy except I dont' need to test on two of the three yet, and if I can't pass prebronze moves I won't! AARRGGH

[Debbie S]

Fizzlin: omg still in danger of not passing pre-bronze moves - waltz 8 is two triangles, LFI threes are shooting me out diagonally and lobes become triangles...what is it with me and triangles?!?! Why are there not more triangles in figure skating, anyway?!?!:frus:

On the waltz 8, focus on keeping your feet close together (no wide-stepping) and not rushing the transitions. That will help you stay on your edges (and remember to lean on the edges as you step to them). That worked for me on the 5-step mohawk (I never had to do the waltz 8 on Pre-Bronze MIF, I had to do the lovely alt 3's :twisted: ). On the LFI 3-turn, press to the ball of your foot as you do the turn and make sure your arms are staying close to your body and not flapping around (guess what my problem is on 3-turns? ;) ). Also, make sure you're not rushing the turn - it should be at the top of the lobe - I know that the lobes are smaller in the PB turn pattern, but you still want to wait until you are at the top, otherwise you won't curve around afterward.

I had a lesson this morning, mostly focusing on the 3-turns on Silver MIF - my problems are 1)fear, and 2) arms and legs going haywire....and also not really using my ankle to stay on edges. My coach says that if I get my back 3's to the top of the lobes (instead of about 2 feet before the top), I'll pass those moves. Solution: she wants me to wait until I think I'm 2 feet past where I'm supposed to turn - hey, it sounds good to me - lol.

I think my new motto will be that thread title...."feel the fear and do it anyway" - lol. BI 3's still freak me out, as does bringing my feet close together on the 8-step.

[Morgail]

My coach says that if I get my back 3's to the top of the lobes (instead of about 2 feet before the top), I'll pass those moves.

I have that problem on the Silver 3-turn pattern too. I'm either too early or too late. And my lobes start out big at the beginning and then get smaller as I go down the rink. I think I need to devote an entire session to fixing just that pattern!

Sizzlin':
-Camel spin is still good! On about half of the ones I do, I feel like I could keep spinning on and on in that position, except that I don't have enough speed.
-Did two very good sit-change-sits near the end of the session.
-Jumps were all good. Flip and loop were decent. I did a good loop-loop, flip-toe loop, and salchow-toe loop. Lutz is still two-footed, but it feels a lot easier than it used to. I tried a flip-loop for the first time. I two-footed the loop, but other than that I think it was good:)
-Did a good change-foot spin.
-Did a few one-revolution back camels.
-Did a good program run-through and worked on my choreography.
-Moves were all okay.

Fizzlin':
-Had a heck of headache today after my yard sale this morning, and then went skating anyway.
-Right as I got into an attitude spin, I caught a huge ice bump with my blade and went down. Got a nasty ice burn on my arm.
-My LFO spiral in my program isn't on much of an edge. Need to work on that.

[looplover]

Thanks. I'm really down about this. If I fail prebronze, I dunno. I just don't know. I thought I was a better skater than this. People usually think I'm a really good skater...but maybe I can't cut it in USFSA? (I'm having a feel sorry for myself moment...I mean come on, prebronze?)


On the waltz 8, focus on keeping your feet close together (no wide-stepping) and not rushing the transitions. That will help you stay on your edges (and remember to lean on the edges as you step to them). That worked for me on the 5-step mohawk (I never had to do the waltz 8 on Pre-Bronze MIF, I had to do the lovely alt 3's :twisted: ). On the LFI 3-turn, press to the ball of your foot as you do the turn and make sure your arms are staying close to your body and not flapping around (guess what my problem is on 3-turns? ;) ). Also, make sure you're not rushing the turn - it should be at the top of the lobe - I know that the lobes are smaller in the PB turn pattern, but you still want to wait until you are at the top, otherwise you won't curve around afterward.

I had a lesson this morning, mostly focusing on the 3-turns on Silver MIF - my problems are 1)fear, and 2) arms and legs going haywire....and also not really using my ankle to stay on edges. My coach says that if I get my back 3's to the top of the lobes (instead of about 2 feet before the top), I'll pass those moves. Solution: she wants me to wait until I think I'm 2 feet past where I'm supposed to turn - hey, it sounds good to me - lol.

I think my new motto will be that thread title...."feel the fear and do it anyway" - lol. BI 3's still freak me out, as does bringing my feet close together on the 8-step.

[jskater49]

Thanks. I'm really down about this. If I fail prebronze, I dunno. I just don't know. I thought I was a better skater than this. People usually think I'm a really good skater...but maybe I can't cut it in USFSA? (I'm having a feel sorry for myself moment...I mean come on, prebronze?)

If you aren't ready to pass the test it just means you aren't ready to pass the test. If you don't pass the test, it doesn't even mean you aren't ready to pass the test - it just means those particular judges were not satisfied with what you did THAT DAY, THAT test. It doesn't say anything about what kind of a skater you are.

I failed the Dutch Waltz 3 times and I thought I was a better skater than that and I was. I just didn't do the Dutch Waltz as well as the judges wanted me to THAT DAY THAT test.

You can pass the test and you can cut in the USFSA. I'd tell you to relax, it's an encouragement test but that's what they said about the Dutch Waltz.:roll:

Just do the best you can, but don't let it dictate to you how you feel about your skating.

j

[dbny]

Sizzlin':
Picked up my new boots and blades this morning and went straight to the rink to try them out.

Fizzlin':
Nearly crashed the moment I stepped on the ice! I haven't skated on freshly sharpened blades for at least a year. I had to do very slow F swizzles to the wall on the other side. Then I stuck to the wall for about 15 minutes. Skated a total of an hour, if you can call it skating :roll:. More about this in the thread I started on it.

[doubletoe]

If you aren't ready to pass the test it just means you aren't ready to pass the test. If you don't pass the test, it doesn't even mean you aren't ready to pass the test - it just means those particular judges were not satisfied with what you did THAT DAY, THAT test. It doesn't say anything about what kind of a skater you are.

I failed the Dutch Waltz 3 times and I thought I was a better skater than that and I was. I just didn't do the Dutch Waltz as well as the judges wanted me to THAT DAY THAT test.

You can pass the test and you can cut in the USFSA. I'd tell you to relax, it's an encouragement test but that's what they said about the Dutch Waltz.:roll:

Just do the best you can, but don't let it dictate to you how you feel about your skating.

j

Couldn't have said it better, so I will just say I SECOND THAT!!

[jazzpants]

Doing some catch up on the Lesson posts...

Sizzlin':
NOTHING!!!

Fizzlin':

Working on correcting my spin entry for the ENTIRE lesson!!! Still :frus: about it coming out of the lesson.
CROWDS!!! I would have THOUGHT that no one would come in on the 4th of July!!! NOT!!! :evil: EVERYONE showed up! I almost didn't get on the ice too! FS was full and I had to plead with the guy up front to let me in there b/c I have a lesson on that particular FS session.
Didn't really try jumping...

[jazzpants]

Fizzling:

Primary coach wanted to go thru the runthru to the program. I am WAAAAY behind on the music currently. On top of that, he forgot that we made certain changes to the program for different reasons.
I'd freak out when going into the loop at fast speeds, which is what the program calls for.Sizzlin:

Did a couple of relatively decent camels (though not well enough to do a camel-sit, but...)
Loops when it's slower is good with the program's entrance.
Flips are decent (probably b/c the entry IS slower... :lol: )
The half a chocolate glazed donut I did have at coffee club. :yum: :twisted: :P :lol:

[Skate@Delaware]

Wow, jazz, the rinks around here all CLOSED for the 4th!!!! Would not have mattered anyway...I was in a show and had to be in place by 4 and the traffic would have slowed me down a bit-people were headed to the beach to get a spot for watching the fireworks.

A whole lesson on spins? Sounds like one of my lessons....Summer is half-way over and I'm counting the days when I can pick up lessons again!!!8O I'm sure we will spend ALL of September just in review!

[jazzpants]

Wow, jazz, the rinks around here all CLOSED for the 4th!!!! Would not have mattered anyway...I was in a show and had to be in place by 4 and the traffic would have slowed me down a bit-people were headed to the beach to get a spot for watching the fireworks.Not my rink!!! It's definitely open. Okay, maybe there's no hockey but the FS sessions, the Sr. Skate and the afternoon public session was definitely going on. Heck, the rink is open Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years Day. AAMOF, I think the Thanksgiving coffee club session is the most CROWDED of all the coffee club sessions. Given that, I doubt that the July 4th Wed evening session was going on though. It wouldn't have mattered anyway, in my case, since I was watching the fireworks from a very fancy restaurant (http://www.juliuscastle.com) with a great view of the firework (but enough of a distance to make a quick getaway after the fireworks before the crowds block traffic... :P ) in San Francisco.

A whole lesson on spins? Sounds like one of my lessons....Summer is half-way over and I'm counting the days when I can pick up lessons again!!!8O I'm sure we will spend ALL of September just in review!Yeah, my secondary is VERY nit-picky on those spin entrances. In fact, she's very nit-picky on just about EVERYTHING and tends to make you beat up on a particular skill until it's beaten to total submission!!! :P :lol:

For those who are interested, this is off-ice but still related to my skating -- here are my notes for my first interval training (http://www.skatingforums.com/showthread.php?t=24162) session! Well, sorta related... it's so I would look good in a skating dress!!! :twisted: :lol: But I think it will be good cardio training for when I do my program too!!! :P This is probably not all that grueling for some of you but... ;) (Also, keep in mind that I'm almost 40... :P )

[chowskates]

By the way, am I the only one who's confused with the dates in the title of this thread?

[Mrs Redboots]

By the way, am I the only one who's confused with the dates in the title of this thread?

No, I just noticed them, too. So as it's Sunday, and arguably the start of a new week, I'll start a new thread!

[Emberchyld]

These are from Thursday and Friday-- thanks to vacation time, I was able to take lessons on Freestyle ice on my weekend rink, so I sucked it up and took an hour long lesson a day. (Yay, no watching out for little public skate goobers skating into me!)
Fizzlin':
After reporting on my toe-waltz diagnosis from the Hackensack camp, most of the lessons have been remedial work on my toe loop-- they agreed with Adam Rippon on my timing (apparently, I hold the three-turn too long :frus: ), and then it was about 45 minutes of picking, stepping, and then checking out the look of the pick in the ice-- turns out that I also pick with a turned-turned out hip. Friday, I jumped a few, and they apparently look much better... whew.

We're working on a drill for my loop entry, and I'm fine while my coach is around to catch me if I fall (which I don't), but as soon as he's gone, I tumble off of the back of my blade. Had two really nasty falls right after the back three, and the whiplash is back.

Moves. My coach has fianlly agreed that I won't be ready by mid-July, so we're working for later this summer. Everything is there, one way or another, but nowhere clean enough to test.

Sizzlin':
Thanks to Sylvia Fontana's insight at Hackensack, my CW scratch spin is actually looking like a real scratch spin. CCW is still sketchy because my timing with my leg and arm are wrong, but it has also improved a bunch.

Backspin! 2.5-3 revs with more, according to my coach, if I didn't keep bailing out from fear. :bow: I'm just happy to REALLY be backspinning.
I do need to work on checking better, though, because right now, I practically go into a camel spin :roll:

And we're going to start on my freestyle program today, if we can decide on the music. Team Emberchyld is torn-- I love two pieces, my main coach loves the slower flowy-er music (so does every female I ask for an opinion-- from my ballet teacher all the way to my sisters), and her husband/coach #2 loves the second choice (so does every male, including the male skaters at my rink. He's convinced he can get the rest of us to love it if he can recut the music... so he;s going to present it to us today :P ). We've decided to adapt the program as needed to my test level.

[WhisperSung]

Sizzlin':
On Friday, no one was on the adults only public session but me! I practiced some nice senior moves all to myself which made me feel a lot more confident about them in general.

On Saturday on the same ice (with more people this time), I landed a double lutz-double toe combo, the first I've done since I was a young teenager! It was so exciting. :)

I also started working on my loop-double loop combo (in preparation to do double-double jumps with the double loop being the last jump). At first, I couldn't get the second jump to rotate even to a half loop, but then I realized I was jumping on a flat. As soon as I made sure to land on more of a RBO curve, the double loop on the end just popped right up into the air with ease.

Fizzlin': My stupid skate shop seems to be sharpening my blades much too hard. I've only had them for a year, but they've already died (at least the blade on my left foot has no more edge anymore). I had to fork over $450 for a new pair. I know this'll help my jumps, but geez, I didn't want to spend that money right now so close to my move.

I also just realized how bad of a wrap I have on my axel, double loop (although this one is getting better), and double flip. I'm not too concerned about the flip, because I don't plan on attempting triples anytime soon, but the axel is a huge problem, because I'm nowhere even close to getting a double axel because of the wrap. The loop's wrap is only a problem if it hinders doing double-double combos with the loop on the end. We'll see when I actually start trying them.

==
If anyone has any tips on some warm-up exercises for the double axel, I'd greatly appreciate it. All I can think of is doing an axel-back spin, and axel-loop combo, and attempting double axels on the floor. I'm trying to figure this out without a coach to save myself some money.