Congrats NoVa Sk8r -- Newly minted Adult Gold Male Skater!!!

[jazzpants]

Okay... SOMEBODY has to post this... it might as well be me...

Congrats, NoVa Sk8r! Newest Adult Gold level male skater!!! WHOO HOO!!! :bow: :bow: :bow:

(NOW you can panic!!! :twisted: :twisted: :twisted: )

[renatele]

CONGRATULATIONS!!

(Took a peek at your warm-up today - great sit spin!)

[dbny]

congratulations!

[flo]

Congrats!!!!! 8-)

[mikawendy]

Congrats, again!

[montanarose]

Huzzah! to you, my man! :bow::bow::bow:

[patatty]

Congratulations! That's great!!

[Stormy]

Congrats!!! :bow:

[sexyskates]

Congratulations! Well deserved!

[NoVa Sk8r]

Thanx! My goal was to pass my moves and free by year's end. Or pass the moves and at least attempt the gold free. I injured my back very badly a week ago and had to do many aggressive sessions at the chiropractor. I was freaking out when he told me that I had to wait till Sunday to get back on the ice--the test was Monday AM. But I trusted him, and he helped correct my back to the point where it was possible to take the test.

I'm not sure how I was able to learn the axel (it's not perfect and a bit underrotated, but the technique is correct and the transfer of weight is pretty good) in 3 weeks. I will say that sheer determination and utter focus were instrumental. 8-)

Yesterday was capped off by me falling, ironically, in an icy parking lot, smashing my right hand and right knee on the ground. :roll::P

[Mel On Ice]

I am not going to say congrats on your parking lot debacle, but OMG, wow on passing both Gold tests, that is incredible! Congrats No:bow:va!

[herniated]

Congratualtions!!!!!!! :bow:

[Isk8NYC]

What a great achievement!

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

[Black Sheep]

OHhhhhhhh YEEEAHHHHHH!:bow::D:bow::D

[MQSeries]

I'm not sure how I was able to learn the axel (it's not perfect and a bit underrotated, but the technique is correct and the transfer of weight is pretty good) in 3 weeks. I will say that sheer determination and utter focus were instrumental. 8-)


You got your axel? Good job!!!

[flying~camel]

I'm not sure how I was able to learn the axel (it's not perfect and a bit underrotated, but the technique is correct and the transfer of weight is pretty good) in 3 weeks.

You got your axel in 3 weeks?! :bow::bow:

I'm jealous! Even as a kid, it took me 6 months!

[sk8er1964]

Congrats! Nice to have another Gold around - especially a guy. 8-)

[san]

That's amazing! Congrats!

[doubletoe]

Okay... SOMEBODY has to post this... it might as well be me...

Thanks, Jazzpants! I was waiting for NoVa to post here so I could get the play-by-play of the test but he kept not posting. . . LOL!

[techskater]

Woohoo! Welcome to the Gold FS family

[Black Sheep]

I'm not sure how I was able to learn the axel (it's not perfect and a bit underrotated, but the technique is correct and the transfer of weight is pretty good) in 3 weeks. I will say that sheer determination and utter focus were instrumental. 8-)

After 13 years of working on it, I still don't have mine! I wonder why I skate Adult Gold anyways, sometimes....:roll:

[NoVa Sk8r]

I had tried the axel a while back, but it was more on my own, and I just threw myself in the air trying to get the rotation without getting the transfer of weight.

On a whim, I took the adult gold moves test the Monday before Thanksgiving and passed (my coach did not even know that I signed up for the test).
So then I thought that I might be able to pass the adult gold FS test and maybe make the Jan. 2 AN deadline. I rechoreographed the program, invented a circular step sequence, and decided to focus focus focus on the axel. After getting some help from double toe (:bow:) My coach gave me some very specific exercises to zero in and get to the heart of how to make the axel work. I finally committed to stop doing the 1.5 revs and landing on my left side and start doing 1 rev but land on the right side. The latter "has a future," my coach said. I approached nearly everyone at my rink and asked their advice. I clearly remember telling a fellow skater, "I have 18 days to land an axel. Think it could happen?" We laughed about that today.

Anyway, I was able to cherry pick certain axel techniques and pointers that made sense to me and that fit in with how I was progressing. My coach put on me the ankle buzzer (http://www.skatepsa.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=315) a few weeks ago. This is a velcro sleeze that goes on your landing boot; it has a little plastic buzzer that makes a noise if you touch it--that is, when you cross your feet. I immediately thought it was too gimmicky, but it instantly worked. Trying to get the gadget to make that noise was enough incentive for my primitive dopamine reward system in my brain that I was able to cross my left leg. The axel was not perfect (and still isn't--though it often makes it to the 1/4 cheat, which would count under the new system), but my body now "feels" what it has to do. My brain always understood what to do and how to do it, but I could not make or force my body to do so.

I suffered a bad back injury one week ago, and I had to do 5 intensive (and expensive--I have no health insurance) sessions with a chiropractor to realign my body. (My left pelvis was out of whack, and once he corrected that, the pain in my back subsided.) I was not "allowed" to skate or walk on a treadmill or even sit on a couch for 5 days, and it was tortuous. But I trusted him, and my body felt right again. I remembered exactly what I had done on the axel to get it to work.

On the day of the test, I was able to get on a FS session at the rink where I was testing, and my coach was there. She mentioned a few tips for the axel and I was able to eke a couple out. The problem was that I have never been able to do it in the program. I also had not been practicing any of the spin elements. How funny, I thought, if it would be the spins that did me in. Well, if you know me, you would know that I absolutely LOVE to spin. The spins (one combo spin, one 4 rev single spin, and another 4-rev single spin) did not let me down. I felt like I could stay in my sit spin for 50 revolutions. It came right after the axel, and I was pretty much relaxed after that. I stopped counting at 5 revs in the program and did not want to get back up because I was on the sweet spot and felt nothing. But the rest of the program awaited and everything was spot on.

My goal last year was to pass my gold tests by this year's end. So I am glad to have met my goal.

Happy skating, everyone. 8-)

[NoVa Sk8r]

After 13 years of working on it, I still don't have mine! I wonder why I skate Adult Gold anyways, sometimes....:roll:There is more to skating than an axel. And it is only worth 0.2 more than a lutz jump under IJS.
I would be happy to never work on this jump, but my coach is excited so there's no backing down. I just hope that my pairs partner does not insist we try side-by-side axels. I see disaster.

[Black Sheep]

The ankle buzzer looks like a house-arrest bracelet! :lol:

[Terri C]

I commented on your Facebook page, but it's worth repeating (or shouting for that matter)

CONGRATULATIONS NOVA SK8R!!!!

...now I guess I'll have to bring some vodka nips to Easterns!!!:P:twisted::lol:

[NoVa Sk8r]

The ankle buzzer looks like a house-arrest bracelet! :lol:Yes!
Also, some folks at my rink apparently bought some different buzzers (the one my coach has sounds like a cell phone going off--it's called "Magic Sound.") from Build-A-Bear (http://www.buildabear.com/shop/browsecategory.aspx?Category=Sounds). :lol:

[coskater64]

Congratulations!!
:lol::lol::lol::lol:

[Thin-Ice]

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!! What a great way to celebrate the holidays.. with the present only you can give yourself -- a test-level promotion -- to GOLD FS!!!!:bow::bow::bow:

[skaternum]

3 weeks?! Holy cow, Batman! That's totally impressive! :bow:

[NoVa Sk8r]

Before I hurt my back, I was skating nearly 6-7 days/week @ 2-3 hours per day (in addition to doing pairs)--a man on a mission.
Hmm, maybe that's why I hurt my back? :??:roll::lol:

[AgnesNitt]

NOVA Sk8r---
I worship you from afar.:bow::bow:

[CoachPA]

Yes!
Also, some folks at my rink apparently bought some different buzzers (the one my coach has sounds like a cell phone going off--it's called "Magic Sound.") from Build-A-Bear (http://www.buildabear.com/shop/browsecategory.aspx?Category=Sounds). :lol:

An even cheaper alternative is to purchase a vinyl dog squeak toy (usually something round, like a ball (http://4yourpaws.com/cart/images/uploads/SpikedVinylBall2_39Small.jpg)) that can be tucked into the top/ankle area beneath a pair of tights that cover just the top of the skates. (You can pick them up for under $5 at a pet store.)

The squeak toy stays put with the tights holding it in place and serves the same purpose as the more expensive boot buzzers by letting out a squeak when a skater crosses their feet in the correct position.

I've used them on my skaters to teach everything from backspins to in-air positions on axels and doubles.

[NoVa Sk8r]

Oh, great idea!

The other nice thing about the ankle buzzer, besides the noise, was that I could actually feel the thing pressing on the top of my right foot. It wasn't heavy, but I could just feel it. Taking advantage of this tactile trick, I improvised my own system (when my coach and her product were not at the rink) whereby I used 2 velcro straps (http://www.bohnarmor.com/catalog/proddetail.php?prod=KCEXT) (which I bought so that the harness belt would fit around me--the rink bought the small size, and since I do not have the waist of a 10-year-old girl, I could never fit in it) and the top of a Gatorade bottle. It has those little teeth and so stays in place. With the velcro straps pushing on the bottle top, I could just feel it on top of my right foot, so that in the air, I knew where to "aim" my left boot. It surprisingly worked! 8-)

[manleywoman]

Congrats!!!

My coach uses a squeaky toy on her kids' ankles.