Flying or Falling: Feb. 23 - Mar. 1

[FlyAndCrash]

New practice thread for the new week.

Flying: I did 2 run-thrus of my program and hit all my jumps.

Falling: I am consistently missing one or two of my three spins, and I am ending after the music. I need to get my program fixed by this weekend!

Flying: I landed a few good double sals and axels.

Falling: I need to work on my backsit and make it lower.

Flying: I now have a pretty consistent catch-foot camel spin! And I can manage to do it at the very end of my program.

[flo]

Flying - We finished setting our pairs program last night. Now to practice practice practice.

Falling - need a nap.

[Bunny Hop]

Falling: Despite the half-term holidays allegedly being over, rink was packed with school-age children. Left early as we weren't going to be able to practice anything.

Falling: Still scared of the Rhythm Blues.

Flying: Did a decent lesson behind the cones. Small breakthrough doing backwards skating, trying to get on outside edges, when coach told me to use the hockey line as a guide, but wasn't allowed to put my other foot down until I'd crossed the line with the skating foot. Couples portion of lesson went well. Worked on little bits of Golden Skaters Waltz - seem to now be getting the hang of the wide step.

[miraclegro]

TOTALLY TOTALLY FLYING!

I had the best skate of my life at Adult Sectionals in Hillsborough and got 2nd place! I nailed everything! The lady that got first had skated as a child and was really gold level but hadn't had a chance to test yet.

PLUS,

i tested my Adult Gold MIF today and PASSED! I am beside myself! I feel like i am having my own Olympic moments!

[CoachPA]

Congrats, miraclegro! That's great news!

[gypsy_82]

Congrats Miraclegro!!!!

I haven't posted in this thread before, so here it goes

Flying - Had a HUGE breakthrough on the Axel today. Something clicked today and landed a bunch of them on the toe, but I also fell a lot too. I have 8 weeks until Nationals to get this consistent.

Falling - Though i had the breakthrough, I fell a lot. I stood up on 2 or 3 axels and fell on the rest.

Flying/Falling - Sectionals this weekend didn't great. I stood up on everything, but did not place well. But I skated better than last year despite what the placement said.

[herniated]

CONGRATS Miraclgro!! That's HUGE!!! What a rush!!:bow:

Flying: Had a great lesson today - finally getting the hang of 'following 'instead of trying to lead my coach through dances.:lol: dance is fun, fun, fun...so far.

Falling: My back STILL hurts!! Uggh.:frus:

Bunnyhop - let me guess what is scary re: Rythm Blues? the back cross- step behind thingies? If so it scares the you know what out of me too!! Especially trying to avoid my big ol' heels of my Pattern 99's.:lol:

[Debbie S]

Congratulations, Miraclegro! :bow:

I'm working on Gold MIF and hope to pass it....someday.

[Mrs Redboots]

TOTALLY TOTALLY FLYING!

Congratulations!

As for me:

Falling: No lesson today, as poor coaches not very well.

Flying: However, blessing in disguise, as it meant we got a lot of work done consolidating the choreography we were given on Sunday, and trying to go ahead with a little more.

[liz_on_ice]

Flying - *finally* well enough to be back on the ice. I've been coughing up a lung for three weeks and it has sucked. I had today scheduled off, so checked out the new World Ice Rink in Corona, this is the one that is replacing the World's Fair rink, and it finally opened.

The facility is shiny and the ice was very nice. It is rather unfair that the swimming pools have a huge glass wall fronting the park, while the ice rink has a big grey cement wall, but I guess that is just standard for ice rinks.

Falling - after three weeks of no skating, or any exercise really, I'm a creampuff. I skated around an hour and a half, with several stops to rest. Everything was pathetic, although it started to get somewhere reasonable by the end. At least I won't completely waste my lesson time tomorrow.

[AnnM]

Flying: I learned the basics of the Dutch Waltz and Canasta Tango last night. According to my coach I picked them both up rather quickly. It was a lot of fun!

Falling: I started learning the two ice dances because the tentative schedule for ISI Worlds is not work-friendly for me, unless I miraculously pass Freestyle 4 in the next month or two. Competing in solo ice dance and/or the production team is a possibility, but I am a little bummed that I might not get to do a freestyle or artistic program.

[jazzpants]

Flying: Flip and loops were there. :)
Falling: Loops left the session early and took the lutz with him. JUMPS! :roll: (Said in the same tone as Annabel says "Husbands!" when she's frustrated with DH. :P )

Falling today b/c I caught my DH's cold. Of course, he made the intention of making sure that I get in Zinc in and "enough sleep." He intends to return the favor to his "Florence Nightengale." (Actually, he calls me his "Flo Jo." I'll let you figure the connection. LOL!!!)

[Isk8NYC]

Jazz - I've seen your nails, they're not that long. j/k - get well soon.

Flying: I did a layback tonight after teaching classes - the kiddies all went "Oooooo" lol That was priceless. Another decent camel-change-camel - go figure.

Falling: My right ankle hurts a lot, but I'm still planning to knock out some work and head out to skate with friends tomorrow morning. I think my blade's still misaligned.

Cut my thumb (badly) so I've been keeping it clean and bandaged.
I had three students grab that spot tonight - OUUUUUUCHCCHHCHCHCHC!

I have a new tackling student, lol. I have one in every session who comes flying down the ice out of control and slams into or grabs me to stop. I told today's offender that it will hurt her more than me when I fall and land on top of her little body, lol. (They're being affectionate, but it's dangerous and makes me uncomfortable.)

[ibreakhearts66]

Flying
-Started doing 2flips from mohawks and I can actually feel myself lift THEN rotate. Don't get me wrong, I've never had super tiny spin-y jumps, but this is a feeling I can't even describe. Like time pauses for a second, then I'm suddenly sucked into a whirlpool...or something like that!
-Intermediate moves are feeling pretty good! My jump coach saw me doing them, and he commented on how nice my posture and body line were, which is NOT something I hear often. I'm testing in...wow...2.5 weeks! omigosh and I have to have my freeskate ready by then too. Ohhhh crap.....moves, ok, freeskate, uh oh.
-Did axels and double sals from the entrance in my program. Axels are from chainé-type toe hops and double sal is right from a mohawk (RFI mohawk, jump, no 3turns).

Falling
-Footwork sequence. Yikes. It's got everything, loops, counters, rockers, twizzles, counters, toe turns, brackets. I don't know how I'm going to be able to get myself to SKATE it.
-Double axels. Ugh. I'm really starting to get frustrated. It seems that every time I work on them another person tells me that I'm "so close." I'm sick of being so close. My secondary coach always tells me, "3,000-5,000 attempts, 3-5,000." I guess I've never had to spend too much time on any one jump before, so it's really hard for me to feel so hung up on this double axel.

[kateskate]

Flying
Something clicked and I managed to become aware of my arms in an axel and so rather than having them hang like a gorilla by my sides they actually moved and sort of came in and the result was a much easier axel. Still underrotated less than a quarter:frus::frus:but then I'm used to that now. And hopefully now that I have regained control of my arms I will get some more height and rotation.

Falling
Flying camels did not happen. Not that I have really worked on these for a while but they were better than this. I think this all stems from my poor ordinary camel.
Oh dear months without dance lessons has made my compulsories very very bad indeed.

[FlyAndCrash]

Flying: I made it to morning ice and I found out I can skate on morning ice tomorrow also! I need to do as many runthrus of my program as possible before this weekend. I foresee double runthrus tomorrow (or at least 2 if I skate one session and 3 if I skate two sessions). :D

Falling: I fell really hard on the spin at the end of my program. I could feel going into it that it wasn't going to end well but did it anyways. Now, I have a painful bruise on my elbow. :roll: :frus:

Flying: My program felt tons better today. I didn't skate it with as much energy or conviction as I need to, but I got through it mostly clean (minus the fall on the last spin and possibly a mistake on my second spin with the change-sit part that may or may not make it to the competition) and I wasn't completely out of breath at the end. :lol:

Falling: Only two more days until the team leaves for UPenn! I'm super excited, but I just found out that we are now officially leaving Philly to return to Boston Sunday morning which means I am losing ALL of my weekend and will be gone from Friday morning (I'm excused from class) until Sunday afternoon! And I have a paper due Monday morning. Ugh. I love intercollegiate skating and the team, but the scheduling of the competition sucks. :giveup:

[jskater49]

the only problem with this thread title is that I don't fall much but that's not necesarily because I'm flying ;)

My coach is torturing me with back crossovers. I just cannot sit back and hold my weight on the back leg enough. I can lift up my foot and hold the edge...no problem, but when it comes to putting it crossed in front, I break at the waist, and all bets are off. I hate back crossovers now.

Then we worked on the 5 step. It's pretty amazing I passed Bronze moves because step #4 is rarely on a true outside edge. At least now I hit it sometimes on my good side and it's flat not an inside edge which is probably what I did on my test. Ironic that the mohawks are the best part of that move for me now.Part of the problem is that my half circles were not very round - she had me think about skating out of the circle on the first inside edge and that actually does round these out nicely.

We jazzed up my moves program a bit - so that instead of stroking I do forward progressive edge holds and I add back chasses to my circle of waltz 3s. She says my power pulls are starting to actually look like power pulls.

j

[Isk8NYC]

Can I offer a drill for the back crossovers? Practice the first push, then draw that foot in front of the other (both feet on a hockey circle works well) so that you are gliding backwards. It really works the hip and knee muscles that you need to stay in alignment for the full crossover.

I had a late-morning skate with jwrnsktr today, which was delightful, as always. We had the entire rink to ourselves - whooo hooo!


Flying:
The few jumps I tried, I nailed. Even my dinky little split jump wasn't bad.

Couple good layback and camel spins, but the backspin felt wonky today. No good back sits or camels.

Thought I nailed the Prel power threes, until I noticed the "too much noise" caution. Oops. I'm not scratching, but my edges are ripping throughout. Guess I'll have to tone it down a bit.

Falling:
I hate the threes on the line. There, I said it. Not too thrilled with the PreJuv three turns down the rink either.

I am really struggling with RO anything, grrrr!

My twins are (hopefully) catching up to me on tests next month when they try for Pre-Prel MITF. I have to keep up with them now - maybe we'll all test Prelim together later this year.

[liz_on_ice]

Flying - I still have to recover my strength, but things are better than I expected. My new dress came in the mail. It is sparkly :D:D:D

Falling - I'm weeks behind now in learning my new program. I'm going to have to work extra hard this entire month to not look like a sparkly purple dork for the end of season show.

[jskater49]

Can I offer a drill for the back crossovers? Practice the first push, then draw that foot in front of the other (both feet on a hockey circle works well) so that you are gliding backwards. It really works the hip and knee muscles that you need to stay in alignment for the full crossover.


Yea - that part about both feet on the ice --one in front of the other? That's the problem. Coach tries to get me to do that. I just don't do well with my feet like that.

J

[Morgail]

TOTALLY TOTALLY FLYING!
I had the best skate of my life at Adult Sectionals in Hillsborough and got 2nd place! I nailed everything! The lady that got first had skated as a child and was really gold level but hadn't had a chance to test yet.
PLUS, i tested my Adult Gold MIF today and PASSED! I am beside myself! I feel like i am having my own Olympic moments!

Congratulations!! :D


Falling:
Ugh. I didn't skate at all from Friday until today so my knee could get better. It didn't. It really hurt and made weird popping sounds when I tried to skate tonight. I guess this means I should get over myself and call the doctor already. :roll: It's like I'm cursed with getting injured at least once a year.
Here's hoping for a miraculous recovery so I can still test Gold Moves in a month.

Flying:
Well, I did a lot of spirals. I did some halfway decent change of edge spirals, and some good forward and backward catch foot spirals.

[Isk8NYC]

Yea - that part about both feet on the ice --one in front of the other? That's the problem. Coach tries to get me to do that. I just don't do well with my feet like that. It takes a lot of practice and we never finish practicing, right? Do it in socks on the kitchen floor. Hang onto the counter and don't fall, try to lean over that "inside" hip (the rear foot). If your weight is distributed correctly over the back leg, you should be able to easily pick up the foot and hold it over the tracing from that position. I hope you get it - it's so frustrating sometimes. (BTW, if you're leaning forward, that position is near impossible. Be sure to sit on that back foot and keep the knee over the toe instead of stretching forward to put the swizzle foot in place. Free advice is overpriced, sorry.

[kimberley801]

Flying: I was off the ice for two months due to my job and moving, and I didn't lose any of my skills! In fact, my spiral is higher, I'm skating faster, and I'm closer to getting my loop jump. I can thank the Navy for getting me in better shape, thus improving my skating. :)

Falling: Going through serious skating withdrawl. I'm used to skating at least three times a week for an hour or two at a time, with five different rinks to choose from. If I wanted to skate, there was usually a rink with a session available. Now due to my work schedule, fewer rinks, and very limited ice time, I'm lucky to go once a week!

[ibreakhearts66]

Flying: I was off the ice for two months due to my job and moving, and I didn't lose any of my skills! In fact, my spiral is higher, I'm skating faster, and I'm closer to getting my loop jump. I can thank the Navy for getting me in better shape, thus improving my skating. :)

Falling: Going through serious skating withdrawl. I'm used to skating at least three times a week for an hour or two at a time, with five different rinks to choose from. If I wanted to skate, there was usually a rink with a session available. Now due to my work schedule, fewer rinks, and very limited ice time, I'm lucky to go once a week!

Welcome back to the ice!

Flying
-I did, quite possibly, the biggest double loop I have ever done today. The distance between the take-off and landing was probably close to 4 feet! I wanted so badly to get a marker and trace my take-off and landing. I remember just a few months ago when my coach was telling me that my double loop didn't get nearly enough distance for how much height it got. It used to be like a foot and a half between take-off and landing.
-Double flips continue to be much better with the mohawk entrance. Still can't over the fact that I'm going up THEN rotating. What a concept! :lol: Did some 2flip+2loops too. Just 10 days ago I was despairing over the disappearance of my 2flip, and now they've back and better than ever!
-Did a few 2lutzes that had the same up then in feeling that my coaches keep trying to get from me.
-Starting to get the hang of my step sequence.

Falling
-Ice was scary today. It was far too hard and was chipping and cracking like crazy. Just the edge pressure of a powerpull put huge ruts in it. And it was so LOUD!
-Step sequence is still not nearly as good as it needs to be
-Double axels :giveup:
-I really need to work on my stamina for my Intermediate moves test. WHY did they have to put the back crossovers w/ power 3s right after the power circles?! It's exhausting!! Couldn't they have shoved the power 3s somewhere in the middle?
-Took a really interesting fall on those power 3s. I caught my blades together, not on the back crossovers, but on the actual 3 turn! :roll:

[liz_on_ice]

Falling - 8O OMG, the recital is March 30 and I'm only just learning my program. I am dooooooooooommmmmed 8O

Flying - so I'm going to get my tail out on the ice several times a week from now until then, I've got an extra lesson scheduled tomorrow and I practiced today. I've learned maybe the first 20 seconds of the program. Loop is gaining credibility, flip has regressed since I only barely had it before I got sick. I got complimented on my proto-layback by another skater. :D

[CoachPA]

Flying: Well, this evening I was unexpectedly invited to be a guest skater in one of the rink's I coach at ice show. That gives me...a week and two days to throw together a number. I'm not too worried though; I've already cut my music (Michael Buble's version of "Crazy Little Thing Called Love") and it's only 1:32, so I figure I'll do a bunch of footwork, a few spins, maybe a double sal or so and call it a night. :lol: It's supposed to be fun after all...and surely, this will be entertaining. Plus, I get to choreograph for myself for a change! :D

[FlyAndCrash]

Flying: I did my program and it felt fine. And I could breath fairly well at the end. This was also the first runthru that had all my spins in it.

Falling: It only felt fine. And I have "paddle hands."

Flying: I landed most of my axel attempts today and a few 2sal. I think my 2sal is almost consistent again!

Falling: I'm leaving for the competition tomorrow morning and have a major paper due on Monday that I haven't started yet and some random homework assignments due also! Ugh. I have no clue when I am going to find the time to actually do these...

[flo]

Coach PA and Fly and Crash - congrats! Sounds like a great day for both of you.
We had a really fun practice today. We've finished the program and are now really working on working it and making it our own.
Next step - costumes!

[kander]

Falling: literally falling all over the place. My right arm is hurting quite a bit. I'm breaking in new boots and my jumps have suddenly become tougher (although I think part of it might be my sub-consciously trying to protect my right side)

Flying: not much.

[sk8lady]

Falling: In my 6th day of Nasty Respiratory Virus. Did a run-through of my show program yesterday and almost keeled over--felt so exhausted it seemed like waaaay too much effort to put my leg up behind me for the camel!
Flying:Despite feeling awful still got 1 out of 2 loop attempts fully rotated and a half-loop with some actual air behind it!
Starting to seem as though Silver Moves might actually be testable someday. But I still hate them.

[RachelSk8er]

Flying: Spent some time on my session and half of my lesson working just on basics (stroking drills, etc). It was a nice break and a good workout.

Spent the rest of my lesson working on the Blues. Solo is getting stronger, I think competing it solo at DBNAI (where it did NOT go all that well but truthfully could have been worse) helped shake out the nerves for when it comes time to test. Partnering is getting much better, mostly we ironed out the choctaw/restart where my posture goes to crap and I tend to pull away from my coach.

Also went through my program, finding little places to add more bells and whistles (bracket before the mohawk going into my lutz, RBO 3 out of the landing position of my lutz rather than stepping forward into a crossover--which forces me to hold the landing position for a second rather than rushing into the next thing, inside spread eagle into my camel spin), etc. I'm really starting to like this program and with 7 weeks to work on jump technique, strengthen my spins, and get everything down, I should be in good shape for ANs. Especially now that handling nerves at competitions is getting easier.

Nothing really bad today, granted I didn't jump at all and didn't really spin.

[liz_on_ice]

Flying - fourth skate this week as I desperately try to make up for missing three weeks being sick. My strength is coming back, as are jumps and spins. I landed three respectable loops and a recognizable flip.

Falling - still working on choreography for my program, with barely a month to go. I will not know it. I am doomed.

[Mrs Redboots]

Flying: It's been quite good not having lessons this week, as we really needed to consolidate the work we'd done on Sunday.

Falling: However, we've done that now, so we wish our coaches better and hope they will not come back too soon, but that they are better enough to teach us again next week.

[SkaterBird]

Flying - Had my first lesson in a couple of weeks (have been out sick :cry:), and we got through a lot of my choreography for a Pre-Bronze program AND I actually did a (teensy, itty-bitty but still) waltz-tap toe-waltz combination. We're putting it in the program!

Falling - literally. Caught an edge on my back spiral, typically one of my better elements, and went down hard backwards. Rejoined the Society of Headbangers. Thank heaven for the padded hat that I wear when I practice :roll:- people sometimes rib me about it, but today it did its work really well.

[dbny]

Flying:
I have no idea where this is coming from, except that I must have somehow reached a new level of comfort. FO threes are now excellent turns, but still not checked enough. The turns themselves, though, are like a knife thru butter. FI threes came back today all on their own. First spin of lesson was also first spin in the past 2 weeks, and was decent, maybe 4 revs. Second spin was so fast and so many revs that I was dizzy coming out of it. Coach said it was the fastest she's ever seen me spin. I was telling myself the whole time "just hold on, just hold on", and it worked! I then had to switch to backspins because of dizziness. By backspins, I mean backspin attempts, which, amazingly, were not too bad today. I actually got almost 2 revs. I just suddenly feel where I should be and the biggest obstacle is my fear. Went back to "forward" spins, and did another really good, fast, many rev spin from a T push. This time I actually snapped into the spin instead of sneaking slowly into it as usual. To finish up the lesson, I suggested waltz 3's, which I always bail on after maybe three of them because of the speed I gain. Well, today I just kept going, and they got better and more flowy as I went. Both directions too. I'm really thrilled with this progress, especially since it seems to be across the board, but I would also kind of like to know how it happened, as I haven't been practicing. Maybe my ice dance lessons are helping?

Falling:
Not a thing.

[Laura H]

I haven't posted in a while, but it's been a pretty good week and lots of stuff going on, so it's as good a time as any to jump back in, I guess!!!

Flying: FINALLY got my pre-bronze program put together last evening - we had bits and pieces choreographed already, but we put in some things and took out others, and I finally have everything all laid out and "connecting the dots" so to speak so that they actually flow together and I don't just stumble around trying to figure out what comes next and how to get onto the right edge!! [to bring you up to date - I finally tested pre-bronze MIF in January and passed!! with some really nice comments from my judge, the success of which got me all fired up to actually sign up for the rink's competition (it's next Saturday) so I have been getting ready for that]. I'm skating to music from the Atlantis soundtrack, scored (another ebay find) a great royal blue (with silvery sparkles in the material!) dress to wear, and have finally figured out how to do a presentable salchow . . . and spins are . . . well, spinning!! so life is good.

And the best part - there is ONE other adult skater in my group - so I'm at least going to get a silver - and none of that "against the book" stress! LOL.

Falling: Not exactly related to my practice, but had to pull DS from the competition as he has been having back spasms which just kept getting worse and worse and we finally dragged him to the dr, who says NO jumps/spins for 2 weeks (or until everything settles down) - fortunately, x-rays looked OK, but they think he has pulled or torn a muscle. (and he says it's not an injury from skating, but he can't remember exactly HOW it happened - 10 y.o. boys, what are you going to do with them!! :giveup:). I'M sort of relieved though, he has been having trouble with his usually reliable axel, which was making things a little tense, but probably most of that was probably a result of the back pain.

[Debbie S]

Flying: I passed Preliminary MIF today! I'd passed most of the moves (except the spirals) on either the Pre-Bronze or Bronze MIF tests so I was feeling pretty confident. I ended up skating OK - it was frigid in the rink area and I know I didn't skate as well as I could have - of course nerves and an ankle injury (see below) played a role. But at least now I can say that I passed those moves on the standard track. :)


Falling: My right ankle starting hurting again over the past 2 weeks. I'd had issues with tissue/tendon inflammation in Sept, spent 5 weeks off the ice, and now it's flared up again. Actually, it never totally went away, so I have an appt with a (new) doctor this week. This morning, it started hurting in warm-up and never went away. The power 3's really killed it. Then I went out for the alt 3's and put my foot down on one of the turns on my bad ankle/foot. But the judge asked me to reskate at the end, and I did them fine, so I passed. I really don't want to have to take another 5 weeks (or more) off, since it took me a while to get back to where I had been before my Sept/Oct break.

[dbny]

Flying: I passed Preliminary MIF today!

CONGRATULATIONS!


Those alternating threes on the line are a real bear.

[SkaterBird]

I haven't posted in a while, but it's been a pretty good week and lots of stuff going on, so it's as good a time as any to jump back in, I guess!!!

Flying: FINALLY got my pre-bronze program put together last evening - we had bits and pieces choreographed already, but we put in some things and took out others, and I finally have everything all laid out and "connecting the dots" so to speak so that they actually flow together and I don't just stumble around trying to figure out what comes next and how to get onto the right edge!! [to bring you up to date - I finally tested pre-bronze MIF in January and passed!! with some really nice comments from my judge, the success of which got me all fired up to actually sign up for the rink's competition (it's next Saturday) so I have been getting ready for that]. I'm skating to music from the Atlantis soundtrack, scored (another ebay find) a great royal blue (with silvery sparkles in the material!) dress to wear, and have finally figured out how to do a presentable salchow . . . and spins are . . . well, spinning!! so life is good.

And the best part - there is ONE other adult skater in my group - so I'm at least going to get a silver - and none of that "against the book" stress! LOL.

Falling: Not exactly related to my practice, but had to pull DS from the competition as he has been having back spasms which just kept getting worse and worse and we finally dragged him to the dr, who says NO jumps/spins for 2 weeks (or until everything settles down) - fortunately, x-rays looked OK, but they think he has pulled or torn a muscle. (and he says it's not an injury from skating, but he can't remember exactly HOW it happened - 10 y.o. boys, what are you going to do with them!! :giveup:). I'M sort of relieved though, he has been having trouble with his usually reliable axel, which was making things a little tense, but probably most of that was probably a result of the back pain.

Congratulations on passing your PB MIF test - that's FANTASTIC!!!!!:D :bow: And best of success with your program. BTW, now that you have presentable Salchows, could you loan me one for MY (skating up) PB program 5 weeks from now? I can't seem to find any . . . :roll:

[Mrs Redboots]

Congratulations to the test passers!

Flying: Coach really pleased with the way things had firmed up during the week.

Falling: Even if she and Husband did describe me as "a sheep ready for market".... that was actually the way Husband was holding me!

[Laura H]

Congratulations on passing your PB MIF test - that's FANTASTIC!!!!!:D :bow: And best of success with your program. BTW, now that you have presentable Salchows, could you loan me one for MY (skating up) PB program 5 weeks from now? I can't seem to find any . . . :roll:

Testing was SO stressful even though I knew what to expect (from watching DS's test sessions). I calmed down, for the most part, for the actual test itself, but I fell during the warm ups (on EDGES, no less!!) and I was apparently so nervous about the backwards inside edges (my weakest) that I did TWO sets of those and no backwards outside edges (which are no problem at all for me). Luckily, they did let me reskate (or, I guess, SKATE) them at the end. I didn't even notice that I had left them out - my coach had to tell me!!

As far as the Salchow, my problem was that I was tending to "collapse" inward/around my takeoff leg (weak muscles - my bad) and I really have to make an effort to get my body straight up over that leg (not leaning forward, not leaning to the side, just straight and strong!) before I start bringing the free leg through. (making an effort just before takeoff to look UP/forward and to spot on something in front of me helps me immensely with this) Also, the free leg needs to be beside/a little forward on the take off leg before jumping (don't ask me how I was trying to do it before!!!). I just found on youtube a helpful video on the breakdown of a salchow (the poster is actually a skatingforums.com member - but I didn't know this one had been posted, it shows the different stages of the jump and a little bit of slow-mo so you can actually see how it progresses.

http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D643YGbUHs0 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D643YGbUHs0)

Good luck with your program!! I don't know if I'm considered "skating up" or not, because I've only passed PB MIF and not the freestyle (I just didn't want to worry about taking both tests on the same day). The other adult skater has already passed the PB freestyle and Bronze MIF, but I don't think we're too awfully far apart, as far as I can tell, if I can skate a clean program I should at least be competitive, I hope, but really I just want to get my first comp under my belt. :)

[SkaterBird]

Good luck with your program!! I don't know if I'm considered "skating up" or not, because I've only passed PB MIF and not the freestyle (I just didn't want to worry about taking both tests on the same day). The other adult skater has already passed the PB freestyle and Bronze MIF, but I don't think we're too awfully far apart, as far as I can tell, if I can skate a clean program I should at least be competitive, I hope, but really I just want to get my first comp under my belt. :)


You will be absolutely wonderful!!! Enjoy the competition - adult competition, I've discovered, is very, very supportive - we're all just glad to be there and are genuinely cheering one another on. It's fun! Your program is going to be marvelous. :D Post it for us when you can!!!!!

Mimi

[FlyAndCrash]

I second the pat on the back to those who passed tests this week! Any test is always a huge accomplishment and takes so much effort!

Flying: The team qualified for nationals!!! YAY!!! I'm so excited. We're going to Colorado Springs mid-April! Also, I got third in pre-juv (for the second time - I also got 3 at Cornell in the fall) and am felt that my skate was decent. At least I didn't forget to do my footwork and finish last like I did two weeks ago.

Flying some more: I got the day off tomorrow. I still might go because I feel that if I take a day off, my endurance will disappear on me and I can finally do my whole program well again.

Falling: We need to do endurance training for nationals because it's in Colorado. The high altitude is going to make programs that much harder... Double run-through torture here I slowly come. :frus:

Flying: The trip back from Philly only took 7 hours compared to the 9 hour drive down there Friday.

I'll post my program on youtube and put a link here when I get a copy from the girl who taped it for me.

[flo]

Congrats to all passing tests!

Debbie - MP is freezing, and the ice is crunchy.

[jazzpants]

Flying: I passed Preliminary MIF todayYAAAAAY!!!! CONGRATS to you, DEBBIE S!!!

http://www.cosgan.de/images/kao/musik/a045.gif http://www.cosgan.de/images/kao/musik/a055.gif http://www.cosgan.de/images/kao/musik/a050.gif

(Debbie in the middle doing the happy dance... :lol: :P )


STAY OFF OF THAT ANKLE TIL IT HEALS!!! You got the test done! You've EARNED the rest!!!

How old are your boots? Maybe you need new boots? :??

[to bring you up to date - I finally tested pre-bronze MIF in January and passed!! with some really nice comments from my judge, CONGRATS to you too on passing your Pre-Bronze MIF test!!! :bow: :bow: :bow:

[dbny]

I finally tested pre-bronze MIF in January and passed!! with some really nice comments from my judge,

Wow, sorry I missed that.
CONGRATULATIONS!

The team qualified for nationals!!! YAY!!! I'm so excited. We're going to Colorado Springs mid-April! Also, I got third in pre-juv (for the second time - I also got 3 at Cornell in the fall) and am felt that my skate was decent. At least I didn't forget to do my footwork and finish last like I did two weeks ago.

CONGRATULATIONS!



Hope I didn't miss anyone else - BIG CONGRATS, if I did!

[Thin-Ice]

CONGRATULATIONS TO Laura H. & Debbie S. and FlyAndCrash's team and EVERYONE with HAPPY news! Sounds like a good weekend for SFers!

[Skate@Delaware]

Congratulations to all those that have passed tests!!! yay for you!!!!

This is for yesterday, when I had to drive HOME during the SNOW!!!

Flying: made it thru my program with SYNCHRO GIRL on the ice, who was showing her friend some moves (he was off ice)...so she wasn't trying to kill me (LOL). Again, a centered scratch spin. AND LANDED TWO LOOP JUMPS IN A ROW before they got sloppy. Oh well.

Better backspin too-had one that went round and round. Then I did my routine, which was better and we added some arm stuff (we are ALWAYS adding arm stuff).

Falling: remainder of jumps were sloppy, I'm pitching forward (bad posture from too much time studying I'm sure).

I do 2 knee slides in my routine-which means my knees are bruised. Man they look awful! They are so boney...can't be helped.

The drive home was interesting, 35 mph and it normally takes me an hour, I lucked out and made half the drive behind a snowplow so he paved the way. The remainder of the way I was on my own. I'm ok with driving in the mess-have a 4-wheel drive truck and I don't freak out as long as I have a radio.

[Isk8NYC]

I finally tested pre-bronze MIF in January and passed!! with some really nice comments from my judge

Excellent! Congratulations!
(Hope DS gets well soon)

Flying: I passed Preliminary MIF today!

That's Wonderful! Congratulations!

[Debbie S]

Thanks, everyone! I did get a rest from skating tonight, thanks to the snowstorm that closed the rink. Oh well, at least I got a snow day from work, too. ;)


How old are your boots? Maybe you need new boots? :??
The boots are 3 years old but are not even remotely starting to break down (I don't jump that much and I only skate 2-3x a week). I've had the tongues replaced twice (most recently in Sept when I was off the ice), but I think if it were the boots, the other ankle would also be having problems. My problem started after getting a mosquito bite on that ankle - even after it healed, the ankle still hurt when I skated - no more itching, just pain. The first doc I saw said the bite probably triggered inflammation (possibly infection, but it wasn't swollen or red) in the tissue surrounding the tendon on top of the ankle. So I was to put on a walking boot and rest it. After 2 weeks, it still wasn't completely better, so the doc told me to rest it for a few more weeks and then I could gradually reintroduce activity. So I started back skating slowly (and no jumping for a while) but when I started pushing it again (particularly on the Prelim power 3's and the Gold power circles) it started hurting.

I was talking to a coach at the rink who is a PT, and she said it's a tough area to treat. Indeed, the doc told me you can't inject anything into it b/c the tendon could rupture, and it's not something that gets drained. I really hope the doc I'm seeing this week has better ideas - I'd hate to think that I wouldn't be able to skate b/c of some mosquito bite. :twisted: