In School or Unlearned ? Sept 1-7

[liz_on_ice]

Tomorrow is back to school, are we doing our homework like good kids or goofing off and forgetting our moves?

In School - finally getting somewhere on spins, after some good advice from summer coach. Even got 2 1/2 revs on a backspin for nearly the first time.

Unlearned - wonky jump takeoffs and landings today, it just wouldn't come together

[dbny]

In School:
Well, I really haven't had any time to practice, but have been on the ice teaching a lot. When I got a little spare time on a public session Saturday, I did a few FO figures, and was very surprised to find my push off greatly improved, including gathering myself to the back of the blade much faster than usual. I've also found that I don't need to warm up very much to begin doing FO and FI three turns. Finally, I'm teaching an adult skater who wants to do the adult track and is working on Pre-Bronze moves, so on Sun I showed her the waltz-8 and the three turn pattern without any prep, and they weren't half bad (thank goodness - how embarrassing it would have been if I couldn't pull them off in front of a student!) So, in sum, my skills have not progressed in number, but in quality and ease. I'll take it!

Unlearned:
I really, really need to get back to practicing!

[techskater]

In school (Off topic, but related to competing :lol:): Did my first agility trial with the border collie I got right before ANs in 07 (in school only trial and I've only been in that school for about 10 weeks). Got a 1st and a qualifying run in the tunnel (only) event, a 3rd (didn't qualify, though), in the jump (only) event, and a second in the regular event (with all the cool stuff you see on Animal Planet) (my husband got first in the regular event with our Australian Sheperd but has his issues with the other three runs). I used the opportunity to work on staying in the moment and only focusing on what I am doing, so in a way skating related...

Unlearned: I had no idea what a "chance event' was and did really bad in that event. I would liken it to the surprise event in ISI. :roll:

It was a great way to spend a Labor Day when it's 85 and sunny, not too humid and breezy here in Chicagoland...

[Petlover]

In School: I competed at Peach Classic this weekend and attempted and landed a flip jump in my program for the very first time!!!!!! Also, spins have been very difficult for me, but they worked beautifully this weekend, and 3 different coaches (2 of them I have never even met before this weekend) came up to me and complimented me sincerely on my spins. Especially my change foot, I had at least 5 revs on the back spin, and 4 on the forward spin. I LOVE Peach Classic, this is my second year and I always skate well there.

Unlearned: Not much, I'm still on cloud 9 from Peach.

[jazzpants]

In School:

Took a road trip today to finally meet e-skater and her fellow skaters!!! I was at the coffee club session of a rink in "The Sticks" (aka Roseville, CA... about 30 minutes from Sacra-"tomato")

Very VERY nice to finally meet THE ONE AND ONLY E-SKATER!!! :bow: :bow: :bow: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen:

Unlearned:
I feel like all the stuff I was doing was definitely not back from the long Labor Day weekend yet! I barely landed my flip. I managed to only land ONE clean lutz BARELY in front of e-skater (and it was right after I said "I'm probably not gonna land this clean anyway...." :P ) Everything else was like "meh..."

And you know I'm gonna complain about this... my sympathy goes to e-skater for practicing on Rink 2's VERY VERY HARD ice!!! Worst part is that she says "Wait 'til you try the ice at around Wintertime!!!" :twisted: (I assured her I'm NOT coming up there around winter time.)

In School:
I found out one of my fellow competitors at the upcoming ISI Adult Champs is at this rink. (And by fellow competitor, I mean the same exact one event I'm entered in!!! What luck!!! 8O :P :lol: ) I saw her going thru her run thru of her program. For someone who hasn't done her program in a while, she did a reasonable job...

[black]

Unlearned: Consistency on camelspins still is not up to scratch, but its getting better - anybody else struggle with this?

In School: Did some amazing outside edge hydroblades this morning - it was so low that when I tilted my head slightly I got ice in my hair!!

[Mrs Redboots]

Back to School: Yes, our lot go back today and/or tomorrow, too, and you could tell by who was there at what time!

Good practice; right now we need to get everything consistent and looking good.

Unlearned: No lessons as the coaches (whose sons are home-schooled) are on holiday this week and next. I did a solo Swing Dance, and we will kindly draw a veil over it. Mind you, it was better than last time I tried soloing it about ten years ago.... but not good, and I was not pleased to discover that where Husband said I was mis-stepping - I was mis-stepping!

[Thin-Ice]

Unlearned: I did a solo Swing Dance, and we will kindly draw a veil over it. Mind you, it was better than last time I tried soloing it about ten years ago.... but not good, and I was not pleased to discover that where Husband said I was mis-stepping - I was mis-stepping!

It was so gracious of you to allow him to be right -- for once. :D

[Skate@Delaware]

In School: I am going to try to hit the ice either today or Thursday...for the first time since March!!!!!

I'm sure everything will have been UNLEARNED!!!! 8O

ps-I'm a little scared.....ok LOTS!!! I'm sure I will be ok. Say a prayer to the skating powers that I make out fine!

I'll post when I get back!

:giveup:

[dbny]

GOOD LUCK
Skate@Delaware!

I'm sure you'll do better than you expect.

[Terri C]

In School:
Rink that was under renovations all summer reopened yesterday!! I skated for a hour yesterday and for two hours today.
Got my free foot in front on the forward scratch part on the back to forward scratch combo I've been working on all summer. It truly felt like a forward scratch on that part.

Unlearned:
Unfortunately, while the renovated rink is longer and a bit wider, but still not regulation size. It's also freezing with the new ceiling and insulation in. Need to remember to bring jacket when I skate there on Thursday.
Also, sound system has yet to be installed and working.

[doubletoe]

In school (Off topic, but related to competing :lol:): Did my first agility trial with the border collie I got right before ANs in 07 (in school only trial and I've only been in that school for about 10 weeks). Got a 1st and a qualifying run in the tunnel (only) event, a 3rd (didn't qualify, though), in the jump (only) event, and a second in the regular event (with all the cool stuff you see on Animal Planet) (my husband got first in the regular event with our Australian Sheperd but has his issues with the other three runs). I used the opportunity to work on staying in the moment and only focusing on what I am doing, so in a way skating related...

Unlearned: I had no idea what a "chance event' was and did really bad in that event. I would liken it to the surprise event in ISI. :roll:

It was a great way to spend a Labor Day when it's 85 and sunny, not too humid and breezy here in Chicagoland...

What a great weekend! Australian Shepherds and border collies are the best!! (and that's coming from a cat person, LOL!)

[ibreakhearts66]

In School
-Today STARTED out great. I landed huge doubles through double lutz and got some really nice comments. One person said that I had a really nice delay on my 2loop, and another responded, "She has a nice delay on ALL of her jumps." When I landed my 2lutz, my friend looked at me and went "I'm jealous." But then she landed one :D

Unlearned
-Things went downhill from there. I was working on 1lz+2lo. I shouldn't have tried the 2loop on one particular attempt, but silly me, I did anyways. My blade flew out from underneath me and I landed straight on my left hip. Luckily it wasn't the one I had surgery on, but since that once hasn't been fixed, it still dislocates. It took me a minute or so, but I finally got up. I skated around a bit, but it was pretty sore. I felt it pop, but I also landed on the muscle, which gave me a dead leg. 10 mins later or so, I went to do a program run-through. In the first like 15 seconds of my program, I do RBI 3, LFI3, cross, RBI 3 etc (like in the novice moves). I caught an edge and slammed down on the exact same hip. After that fall I got off. I tried to get back on and do moves later, but it wasn't happening.

-Fast forward a few hours, my puppers is being naughty. When she gets super excited/hyper, she nips at legs. I was running to grab a toy to put in her mouth and slammed my foot into the couch. The fourth toe on my right foot took most of the impact. I broke that toe pretty badly a few years ago, and I'm sure it's broken again. At first I was worried that I'd broken my foot/ankle as those were in excruciating pain too, but now it's just the toe. So I currently have an ice pack shoved down my pants and my foot in a bucket of ice :roll:

I just hope my hip isn't seriously damaged. I think it's just a really nasty bone/muscle bruise. I'm supposed to compete in less than two weeks and don't want to have to drop out. I can skate with a broken toe, but not with my hip the way it is. Send me healing thoughts please!

[Mrs Redboots]

It was so gracious of you to allow him to be right -- for once. :DAh, but the plot thickens - when I was in the shower this morning I realised that yes, I was stepping at the wrong angle - but that must mean the whole of that section of the dance was at the wrong angle. So we ran through it this morning and corrected that. We don't need the Swing Dance just now, so aren't really working it, but it's always good to stay in practice.

Back to school:
Ran through everything we need for the forthcoming competition, and nothing felt horrible. Still plenty of room for improvement, but most things fine. Had fun watching our senior couple playing!

Totally unlearned:
Canasta Tango - first edge a bit poo unless I go at such a steep curve I'm well over the centre line. Husband says it's me, but that's the curve he's pushed me on to.

[jskater49]

Back to School:

Skated at 5:45 today. And on my own, I discovered why I was having such a hard time not two footing my swing roll transistions. I was not finishing the edge! Well duh, if you are still curving one way and you want to suddenly step and curve another way, you are not going to be stable....once I finished the edge, it was a piece of cake to step on the next edge, one foot. YAY for me!

Worked a little on inside 3 turns....they are still pretty much unlearned, but we are making progress.

Watched a girl do the Willow Waltz. I could fake that dance pretty easily I think. Easier than the Fiesta Tango. (note we are talking about faking it- not dancing it properly)

j

[Rusty Blades]

First day back after a 3 week break (between Summer School and fall session).

In School: ALL THE KIDS! I had the rink to myself for an hour and a beautiful fresh flood :mrgreen: Wasn't as rusty as I feared 8-) Back edges were SMOKIN' !! (Particularly since I didn't have to watch behind me.) Everything was as good (or bad) as I left it ;)

Unlearned: Nothing that I can think of.

[doubletoe]

In School
-Today STARTED out great. I landed huge doubles through double lutz and got some really nice comments. One person said that I had a really nice delay on my 2loop, and another responded, "She has a nice delay on ALL of her jumps." When I landed my 2lutz, my friend looked at me and went "I'm jealous." But then she landed one :D

Unlearned
-Things went downhill from there. I was working on 1lz+2lo. I shouldn't have tried the 2loop on one particular attempt, but silly me, I did anyways. My blade flew out from underneath me and I landed straight on my left hip. Luckily it wasn't the one I had surgery on, but since that once hasn't been fixed, it still dislocates. It took me a minute or so, but I finally got up. I skated around a bit, but it was pretty sore. I felt it pop, but I also landed on the muscle, which gave me a dead leg. 10 mins later or so, I went to do a program run-through. In the first like 15 seconds of my program, I do RBI 3, LFI3, cross, RBI 3 etc (like in the novice moves). I caught an edge and slammed down on the exact same hip. After that fall I got off. I tried to get back on and do moves later, but it wasn't happening.

-Fast forward a few hours, my puppers is being naughty. When she gets super excited/hyper, she nips at legs. I was running to grab a toy to put in her mouth and slammed my foot into the couch. The fourth toe on my right foot took most of the impact. I broke that toe pretty badly a few years ago, and I'm sure it's broken again. At first I was worried that I'd broken my foot/ankle as those were in excruciating pain too, but now it's just the toe. So I currently have an ice pack shoved down my pants and my foot in a bucket of ice :roll:

I just hope my hip isn't seriously damaged. I think it's just a really nasty bone/muscle bruise. I'm supposed to compete in less than two weeks and don't want to have to drop out. I can skate with a broken toe, but not with my hip the way it is. Send me healing thoughts please!

OK, for the next two weeks, DON'T TRY ANYTHING THAT YOU AREN'T 100% SURE YOU CAN DO SAFELY!! As a matter of fact, don't even practice any jump or jump combination that isn't in your program (and if the 1Lz+2Lo is in your program, take it out, LOL!). You are not being very good about your 2008 goal of staying injury-free. (where's a finger wag emoticon when we need one?!)

[ibreakhearts66]

OK, for the next two weeks, DON'T TRY ANYTHING THAT YOU AREN'T 100% SURE YOU CAN DO SAFELY!! As a matter of fact, don't even practice any jump or jump combination that isn't in your program (and if the 1Lz+2Lo is in your program, take it out, LOL!). You are not being very good about your 2008 goal of staying injury-free. (where's a finger wag emoticon when we need one?!)

Haha, but I think I already failed at the injury-free goal when I had my second leg surgery. Plus, if I don't let myself try anything I'm not positive I can't do safely, I shoudn't even step on the ice lol. My last bad fall was on forward crossovers :oops: But I understand what you're saying. I'll be careful :roll: And I'll wear my hip/butt pads.

[doubletoe]

Haha, but I think I already failed at the injury-free goal when I had my second leg surgery. Plus, if I don't let myself try anything I'm not positive I can't do safely, I shoudn't even step on the ice lol. My last bad fall was on forward crossovers :oops: But I understand what you're saying. I'll be careful :roll: And I'll wear my hip/butt pads.

Good girl. ;) Yeah, you have a point about the forward crossovers. . .:??

Unlearned
No skating for a whole week! :( Now that our rink's big competition is over, they are re-making the ice so they are closed until Friday.

In School
No skating for a whole week! :D Is this what life is like for "normal" people? I can actually sleep until 7:30am every morning and after work I actually have enough energy to go grocery shopping, go home and *make dinner*?! Who knew evenings could be so looong! I don't have to go to bed until 11:00 or 12:00. This is like being on vacation!

Unlearned
Getting up at 5:00am Friday morning for my jump lesson after a whole week of going to bed and getting up late is going to be paaaaainful! 8O

[phoenix]

Well, today got right down to working on Paso. I need to practice this one a LOT, to get it comfortably up to speed. But he helped me a lot w/ the mohawk & the chasses are better too. So, some progress, which is good.

Coach's fiance was there this morning....I had brought him a cup of coffee as a thank you for my Killian. She said, "Oh no! You're spoiling him!" I said, "No---I'm bribing him!" Which is a very different thing. :P

[dbny]

Unlearned:
Tried to show a student the standard spiral stretches yesterday, and found myself in serious pain from putting my leg up on the wall. Now, I've lost flexibility in the past from lack of stretching, but it has never been this bad. I almost couldn't do the stretches at all. Went home and put my dining room table to use stretching. It's just the right height for me in my shoes.

[techskater]

What a great weekend! Australian Shepherds and border collies are the best!! (and that's coming from a cat person, LOL!)

LOL! Not according to my neighbors!!

[jazzpants]

Unlearned
No skating for a whole week! :( Now that our rink's big competition is over, they are re-making the ice so they are closed until Friday.

In School
No skating for a whole week! :D Is this what life is like for "normal" people? I can actually sleep until 7:30am every morning and after work I actually have enough energy to go grocery shopping, go home and *make dinner*?! Who knew evenings could be so looong! I don't have to go to bed until 11:00 or 12:00. This is like being on vacation!
YOU TOO!?!?!

Yes, Yerba Buena is closed too for rink maintanance! Our skating clubs' other rink is closed for close to two months for rink maintanance too!!! But I couldn't resist having lunch near the YB rink and walking by to see that my rink is already rebuilding the ice and has repainted the hockey lines!!! (And our wonderful rink manager driving the Zam around in circles.) :D

In School:
Two of my coaches' weekly schedule is settled and I expect my primary coach to be settled too. I've been with him for a long time so I expect that if he wants to keep me as his students that he will do what he needs to do to keep me. :mrgreen: (I'm rearranging my lessons to accommodate for my new job that I'm starting next Monday.)

I slept 'til 8am... and this morning 'til 9am!!! :oops: (And yes, I did go to bed early last night (10:30pm) and STILL overslept!!! 8O )

Unlearned:
This adjusting my sleeping schedule for my new job so I can skate mornings is gonna be HELL... :evil: :frus: (Thank goodness the new work place has a decent on-site gym and is 10 minutes away from one of the branches of my gym and I already have "all network gym membership privileges.")

Personally, I miss my home rink already!!! I'm going thru withdrawals already. (Darn AOSS!!! :twisted: :lol: )

[kander]

In School: Skated "on the road" over the labor day weekend. On saturday I skated at Vacaville on my way to Lake Tahoe. On monday on my way back I skated at the South Lake Tahoe rink. I really like that rink. The ice is nice and there were only a few people there. It also has a nice picture window on one side that overlooks a forest. I managed a couple good toe loops.

Unlearned: My axel is still on vacation. It took 7 HOURS to get home from Tahoe :frus:. My spins, which have been good lately, were awol that weekend. A week ago thursday I had one of my scariest fall ever. I waxeled on a takeoff and went over backwards 8O On reflection I think I might have caught an edge judging by the way my blade shot out from under me.

[TiggerTooSkates]

In School: ALL THE KIDS! I had the rink to myself for an hour and a beautiful fresh flood :mrgreen: Wasn't as rusty as I feared 8-) Back edges were SMOKIN' !! (Particularly since I didn't have to watch behind me.) Everything was as good (or bad) as I left it ;)

Unlearned: Nothing that I can think of.


In school: I have to agree! Finally - daytime publics as daytime publics were meant to be skated. Three people on the ice for over half the session and that included me (this was on Tuesday afternoon b/f I went to work). And our coffee club time is back to an hour and a half instead of just 45 minutes!

I too have found some smoking back edges - AND MY RI3 and (most of my) RO3!!! YAY!!! My LO3 is coming along (please don't ask about the LI3...8O).

Landed some stable waltz jumps - now if I can just clean them up (I'm very anxious to do this). I want a nice big one and I know this will come with time.

Two foot spins remain the same, which frustrates me b/c my coach wants to start one footers soon and I can't get a two foot that I'm happy with. It's very frustrating. But I think I've found part of the problem...

Unlearned: how to recognize when my blades are dull - had a really interesting experience with a skid that I don't particularly care to discuss. Afterwards I looked at the bottoms of my blades and ran a finger down the edge. I've gotten better cuts from paper. Off to the sharpeners!

[Thin-Ice]

Two foot spins remain the same, which frustrates me b/c my coach wants to start one footers soon and I can't get a two foot that I'm happy with. It's very frustrating.

But I think I've found part of the problem... Unlearned: how to recognize when my blades are dull - had a really interesting experience with a skid that I don't particularly care to discuss. Afterwards I looked at the bottoms of my blades and ran a finger down the edge. I've gotten better cuts from paper. Off to the sharpeners!


Dull edges may have something to do with it.. but I NEVER have had and STILL don't have a good two-foot spin:frus::roll:. In fact, when I took the test that needed it (Pre-Bronze?) I STILL couldn't do it (SHHHH, don't tell anyone.. but I had my right foot just hovering slightly above the ice and was way down the rink from the judges.. so it APPEARED both feet were on the ice.. but it was really a one-foot spin 8O).

And spinning is my favorite thing... I certainly do variations on one-foot spins better than any jumps or footwork and I've managed to pass up to Silver FS. I just think it's easier to spin when you only have one small spot on the ice (the sweet spot on ONE blade) to rotate on, rather than having two that are supposed to stay close, but may actually be fighting each other and creating more drag, so your spin isn't as strong as it might be on one foot. Good luck!

[Rusty Blades]

I NEVER have had and STILL don't have a good two-foot spin

You to eh? My coach tried to teach me 2 foot spins first but anything I tried became a one foot spin so she gave up!

[FlyAndCrash]

In School: Well, college started earlier this week. And I've decided to join BUFSC (my school's skating club) and am doing a comp next month!!! I've never competed before, so I'm super excited. I will be doing prejuv (I think) because I already have a prejuv program and music that I used earlier in the summer for my test. I can just tweak some things. However, for the next two comps, I think I'm gonna do juv because I plan on testing up soon and have a decently clean axle. Maybe I'll even do int. by the end of the year. You never know! :lol:

Unlearned: I haven't step foot on the ice since I left home. :cry: It seems like forever, but it's only been about a week and a half. Hope I didn't degress too much!

[Rusty Blades]

In School: First session with coach since Summer School - coach commented on improvement in back edges :mrgreen: Hit a couple of upright spins properly (with coach watching!), Spiral almost good (which would be EXCELLENT for someone my age), otherwise same-old, same-old.....

Have a lesson tomorrow with an Olympic medalist - THAT ought to be interesting LOL!

[ibreakhearts66]

In School
-Had a relatively good skate yesterday despite my broken toe and very, very sore hip. Landed all of my doubles, and did some good 1lt+2lo combos. I still don't like that combo at all.
-I landed my 2flip combo a few times in music-less program run-throughs. I couldn't get 2flip+2toe+1lo, only 2flip, single toe single loop, but I'm still glad I was doing that much, as I am most nervous about that jump.
-This should go half in unlearned...Anyways, my 2sal 1/2 loop 2sal sequence is pretty consistent, but I often have to muscle my way through the second 2sal. I lose a lot of speed on the 1/2 loop, but at least I can pull of a 2sal from almost a standstill. I'm going to work on getting more speed out of the 1/2 loop though.

Unlearned
-Secondary coach took one look at my skating/walking and said she wouldn't let me waste my money on a lesson when I was so broken down. I was grateful though, as I didn't really WANT to waste my money on a lesson.
-First program run-through was an absolute disaster. I forgot my first combo spin, and took up so much music on the footwork and first spin that I didn't have time for my last jump and spin! 6 jumping passes, 3 spins and a full-ice footwork sequence are a LOT to fit into a 2:10 program!
-Hip was really bothering me. I was nervous to jump. It was actually pretty funny--at one point I did kind of flip sideways on a fall onto the hip. I let out this "Ohhhh owww" noise, then went 'Oh, that didn't hurt!"

[techskater]

YOU TOO!?!?!

In School:
(I'm rearranging my lessons to accommodate for my new job that I'm starting next Monday.)


Woohoo, Jazz! Glad to hear you will be making money again!!

[Skate@Delaware]

I feel bad for not posting right away about my skate-I got busy then didn't have a chance....I'm also back in school and haven't had as much free time as I used to have (life? what life?)

Anywho....It was VERY SCARY at first. I took it easy and very slow, did a few laps of slaloms and sqizzles until I felt a bit more at ease.

The best part? For a drop-in session it was EMPTY!!!! I had the whole rink to myself for 1.5 hours! And it was very warm!!! I expected it to be cold and cranked down to about -20 like it normally is but with the new management, who knows?

I did edges (all forward, not chancing backwards until my balance is checked out); 3-turns, some stroking, jump run-throughs (at the boards) and 2-foot spins. I ended with some (ok, 3) very small shaky waltz jumps.

I txt-ed my coach that we have LOTS of work to do...(mostly on my part).

Glad I am not able to do HC this year-no way would I be ready...I have to get over the head games first, then the injury/compensation crap. But, eh, beats sitting on the couch!!!

BRING IT ON!!!

[Morgail]

In School (haha...kids here started school back on Aug. 13!):

-Axel technique feels great! If I could just snap everything in faster, I feel like I could actually rotate this jump. :D

-Camels are still in a good phase. I did some good sit-change-sits tonight, too.

-Brackets were good. I think I did them a bit faster than normal.

Unlearned:

-Really, really bruised my knee falling on a 3-turn (yup. a 3-turn.). I usually hop right back up after I fall. This one took me a minute. Owwwww.

-Couldn't seem to stay up on flying camels.

-Power circles felt slow.

[Kim to the Max]

[In School]
We were back on our regular ice surface...the rink got the ice back in and we finally got to skate there tonight!

FINALLY found new music and cut it...coach approved and we started choreography tonight...I have a lesson tomorrow, so we will see what she decides to torture me with. The footwork in the program is going to be fun, but I'm going to have to work on it...and remember it :roll:

Axels are getting less cheated...but I need to remember to stay pulled in until I land...

Double sals were okay, but not as close as they were the other day...

Spins were spot on...

[Unlearned]
Moves just weren't happening tonight...

I can do the bracket-3-bracket pattern with no speed, all the way down the center line, but once I put speed with it today, they went to pot...ugh

Must be up by 4:45am tomorrow because I am getting picked up at 5:15 to be to coach's house by 5:30 to be to the rink by 6...that's freaking early...

[kander]

In School: Ran in to a couple aquaintences at the rink this morning, one of whom was Cecealias. (I'm glad to hear you had such a wonderful experience at Burning Man :)) I landed one of my best double sals ever in lesson. Did a pretty good axel but landed it on my rear. Did a nice double toe right in front of coach.

Unlearned: My spins have been awol for 2 sessions in a row now. For some reason I can't do the entry right. If I can manage to get into the spin I can do still do it. My loops started out promising but ended terrible.

[Mrs Redboots]

At school (Note UK usage here!): Wonderful, wonderful morning! Hardly anybody else on the ice, great ice, nobody else wanted the music. A total dream. So we ran through all six dances for Oxford, then Husband's free programme and the two dances for Dunkerque!

Unlearned: One or two issues with the end of our free dance, with arm movements for the Canasta Tango, and the stuff for Dunkerque is very rusty. Still, we know what to work on tomorrow, when it will undoubtedly be far more crowded!

[Rusty Blades]

At School: Had a lesson this morning from Liz Manley (Olympic silver medalist, 1988). My 15 minutes with Liz this morning was "notable". She asked what I wanted to work on, so I said back cross-overs - I have been TRYING to get those for MANY months without any success. She said "Lets see what you got" and immediately she had comments: get down in the knees, get MORE ankle bend, face into the circle, loosen up the upper body. Damned if she didn't have me doing CCW back cross-overs in like 8 minutes - LOL! We tried a bit the other way (CW) - not quite as good but still happening!

In the last few minutes, I asked her to look at my upright spin. Immediately she said I wasn't getting over my spinning side and told me to look over my right shoulder, then to bring my hands up to my right shoulder instead of centre (which forces me over my right foot more). Holy crap! What a difference. It will take a bit of getting used to.

Unlearned: After 3 weeks off and 3 days in a row of hard skating, my gawd am I STIFF!!! 8O

[Morgail]

At School: Had a lesson this morning from Liz Manley (Olympic silver medalist, 1988).


:D That's so neat!!

[Mrs Redboots]

At school: Got to the rink early enough that the ice was fairly empty. Two good runthroughs of our free dance, but the ending has got sloppy. Danced our Variation, the Prelim Waltz, a Canasta Tango and a Swing Dance.

Unlearned: Had to get up so early (weekend patch gets busy early!) that I am now sleepy!

[jskater49]

This is for yesterday

Just an hour of ice - first half hour was my moves class, second half hour was a lesson

In School: We did the two foot back inside edges (like in the Bronze moves without the crossover just switching weight) and I really did those well. Probably better than I did it for the test.

We did the back edges down the side and then held the back edge for a full circle on the ends and I did those beautifully, no problem.

Unlearned:

Then outside 3 turns on a circle - she wanted me to ride the edge to the half of the circle, turn and then do a two foot backward turn (can't do backward 3 turns yet) on the other half. Well....I managed to hold the first edge to 1/4 of the circle but couldn't even hold the exit 1/4 of a circle. She laughed and told me she told me to do a half circle because if she told me 1/4 a circle I'd have only tried for 1/8 and she was right. I'm still working on stretching my arms and keeping my shoulders down and stretching back as far as I can...but it's really hard. She kept telling me "Put your shoulder down" "It IS down.' "No it's NOT"

Lesson--

She made me do the other 3 turns on the circle on the other foot since I didn't get to that in the class...same conversation


I showed her how I had figured out why I was two footing my swing rolls-because I wasn't finishing the edge. She said that was good but I had to be careful because now I was retrogressing.

Then she looked at my forward perimeter crossovers and had not a word to say....that's good...then backward...I just had to hold the crossover and finish the edge so it would be easier to step on the inside edge

Then on the back crossovers. THis is the progress I have made on my backward crossovers. There was a time when I thought my crossovers were hot stuff. Now I know they are crap. I scrap and lean forward something awful. And it was a real struggle for her to get me to lean back and put my weight on the back of my blade. Then I can get on a really good back edge but then when I try to cross my foot in front, wham totally forward. That's going to take a while to fix.

Last two minutes she made me spin. Oh this is so discouraging I feel I'm getting nowhere with that entry. If I manage to hold it long enough, then I'm not leaning into the circle enough. If I do that I'm not leading with my knees enough. And if I actually manage to spin, I can't seem to cross my free leg in front.

I was glad to be done!

[RachelSk8er]

Ha ha I like these categories:

In school: ME. In law school, and between that, work and our ice schedule shifting from Summer to regular season and the week of horrible ice times in between, I hadn't been on the ice in almost 2 weeks, up until yesterday. Andddddddd I compete at Wyandotte today. Oops. Yesterday morning I was a big ol mess but I got in another 2 hrs this morning and a lesson, coach and I fixed a bad habit I picked up in my lutz and we ironed out a few things in the program, I did a good run-thru (well and a bad one at the end of the session but I wasn't putting in a ton of effort because my knee started to bug me) so I feel ready!!!!

I'm doing bronze rather than silver since no silvers signed up so I had to add 10 sec to my bronze program from last year (or shorten my silver by 20 sec and put it back to last year's version, whichever way you want to look at it). I can't tell you what a difference that extra 10 seconds in bronze makes. I felt so rushed and frantic last year, but now that I spliced 5 seconds into a place where I normally get rushed and added 5 sec to the beginning, I actually have time to finish my spins and hold my jump landings.

[Scarlett]

In School-
Back to skating on a regular basis. Working on a program that is driving me looney. I love the music and the choreography but I cannot seem to do a single element.

Unlearned-
End pattern of CT is giving me fits.
Gained 10 lbs due to health issues and the extra weight is throwing off my recently consistent jumps :x

[Petlover]

In school - Coach videotaped me yesterday, and it was very helpful. Some stuff looks better than it feels, and I can really see what she's talking about. I also have a new jump - a stag jump from a falling leaf entrance.

Unlearned - Hubby has a bad cold and has not slept for 2 nights, which means I haven't slept for 2 nights :(.

[celticprincess]

Not a bad session today, though the rink was extremely crowded with five different coaches giving lessons. I had to pretty much worry about dodging them, but luckally no crashes:)

In School: I started off with my assorted moves. My brackets were actually good this time. I didn't fall on them and they seemed to have a better flow to them, then ever before. Double threes and power threes were definatly on today as well. My double threes had nice flow and speed and seem to be consistantly getting better.

Unlearned: Not much in regards to moves. They were actually going very well.

In School: Spins! Definatly all my spins have been improving and my leg didn't hop up in the middle of it. I had a really nice sit spin while running through my artistic and almost had to force myself out of it. Layback is getting closer and I took into consideration what my coach said about going into it. Flying broken leg went very very well. I was able to jump up and hold onto the spin for a good amount of revolutions.

Unlearned: My only spin that was taking a slight vacation was my backspin. It was inconsistant and at times I would get stuck and wouldn't get the hook.

In School: Definatly my loop!!! It is wonderful! I just feel so comfortable with it. Even doing it in combos. My coach was right about keeping my right arm pressed back..it got me alot of heignt. My lutz was also going very well today. I even landed a couple good flips which I nod in approval to because we all know I can't stand that jump and it can't stand me.

Unlearned: Heh, so after a couple nice flips, I attempted yet another. I actually landed it on one foot, the blade slipped out from under me and I landed straight on my butt. It hurt soooo bad. I mean that attempt was a pretty large jump so you could imagine how hard I fell.

In School: Had some good run throughs of my artistic programme and used my time very wisely.

Unlearned: Had this really pretty fall...Im not even sure how it happened but I was trying to choreograph alittle more of my artistic and I was going backwards and for some reason my legs got all caught up and I fell on my butt(again:) It was just a really weird fall and I was happened to be right in the middle when mostly everyone was standing near the boards. I also was taking off to do a waltz..yes a waltz and I did one of those things where I kicked one leg up, but the other didn't want to leave the ice. So that resulted in another pretty stumble. And now for some reason I have a cut on my left hand and Im not exactly sure where it came from.

Overall, despite the amount of falls, I defiantly had some highlights and really pushed myself. I did not do my programmes with music due to the amount of people on the ice. Not just people, but elite skaters from another club who are doing triples. But nonetheless it was a pretty good session. Im back on the ice tomorrow so hopefully great things will happen then:)

[jazzpants]

Very Unlearned:

My home rink is STILL not reopened yet. Neither is the club's other rink since it's still going thru a long renovation process too. 8O I may be traveling to either Oakland or San Jose, depending on my mood tomorrow. (kander, are you skating tomorrow? If so, where? I may join 'ya...)

Well, ummm... this picture (http://www.skatebowl.com/Ice_Center/Public/080906%20rink%20pix.jpg) on this page (http://www.skatebowl.com/Ice_Center/Public/Public_Skating.htm) is QUITE depressing!!!

(Assuming that it's the picture of the rink melted down)

Don't worry though!!! I doubt it would impact the ISI comp! I'm confident that I will be back skating on that ice by late next week.

In School:

Ummmm... after over a YEAR (yes, OVER A YEAR!!! 8O ) and being sick and tired of having weird slips on a strong edge, I finally drove my lazy @$$ over to my skate sharpener!!! It's nice and sharp again and I will feel more confident trying for those deeper edges again!!! :mrgreen:

[Helen88]

This is for yesterday:

At School:
Had to get up at 5.45 for patch; it wasn't as bad as I thought it might be actually. I was worried I might have been a bit sleepy and uncoordinated but I was fine.

Unlearned:
It was a lot busier than I thought it would be though!

At School:
Started work on back cross rolls; need some work but they should start pulling together with a bit of practice. 3-jump was good, salchow wasn't as first but it came back eventually.

Unlearned:
Cherry's done a runner :giveup:. Back to the barrier...

Lunch Break:
Coach didn't work on any spinning with me...:halo::halo:

[dbny]

Got to the rink last night to practice:

In School:

I had a real eye opener on my not-yet backspin. DH had videoed some of my lessons last spring. He showed me a clip with a few failed backspin attemts followed by my coach doing tight B half swizzles (almost a B pivot) into a two foot spin. I did the half sw with her, and in the video is it quite clear that her weight is over her R foot (CCW), while mine is slightly off to the L. With that video in mind, I worked on using the B half sw to get my weight to the R and had some success. I also taught a teenager the backspin and in doing demos of the starting move I use in teaching, was able to get at least one rev pretty much every time. The teen, of course, got a real backspin out of it :frus:.

Much to my surprise and delight I found that I can enter a one foot spin from a T push at the line to a deep FO edge, spinning on return to the line. I did several and got some decent spins. I teach this, so I really do need to be able to do it!

Did a few rounds of Prelim power threes and Pre-Bronze three turn pattern. Not fast enough, but happy that they haven't deserted me over the summer.

Unlearned:
Threes are sooo much better, but still not sufficiently checked. Spiral stretches - nothing to say about these except OUCH!

[jazzpants]

In School:

I finally got back into skating...

Unlearned:

...even though it's in OAKLAND and on a crowded public session. (AND there's NO ICE MONITOR THERE TOO!!! :frus:

And oh, dear!!! I will not let myself slack off like I did on skate sharpening again. I swear I feel a HUGE drag on the blade! Loops weren't as easy as usual. It's just AWFUL, if anything. Same with the flip...and I don't even want to try the lutz either. *sigh*

In School:

The only good part is that I could feel safer going into a spin again... since the edge is now gonna HOLD instead of slipping from under me!!! :twisted:

And I'll guess I'm gonna have to SKATE SOME MORE 'til I'm used to the blades again, huh? :twisted:

Unlearned:

It will be quite interesting how I'm gonna managed my ice time given that our home rink is closed for at least a few more days. This will definitely impact my lessons for this week at least!!! Practice-wise, I should be okay. I'll just skate at whatever rinks I can get to. But lessons... EEEEK!!! (My primary coach has already cancelled for this coming week. My secondary coach will have to think of a rink to go to. And who knows with my choreographer.)

[kander]

(kander, are you skating tomorrow? If so, where? I may join 'ya...)


I'll probably be at SJ. It depends on whether my skating friend is also going there. If not then I'll be at Wacko (Vallco):lol: If I were you I'd definetly go to San Jose. Crossing the Bay Bridge is a pain in the ***! There is also a group of skaters that sometimes goes upstairs after the session for pizza and beer (nothing like pizza and beer at 10 pm :))