Snug lace or wiggly boots - practice 7/6 - 7/13/09

[Bill_S]

We're a day overdue for a practice thread, so I'm starting one for the first time.

Wiggly boots: Still wishing for ice. I'm making do at the non-air conditioned roller rink on my PIC skates. It gets mighty sweaty out there!

Snug laces: The company is good. My spins are progressing on PIC skates, although it's still an order of magnitude more difficult than ice. Here's a "tracing" of one 4-revolution spin....

http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~schneidw/skating/images/pic_skate_spin_tracing.jpg

NOTE: I had to increase contrast of the photo to see the faint tracing, so the floor looks mighty dirty. It's not that way in real life.

I posted a video of a four-rev spin on PIC skates here:

http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~schneidw/skating/images/pic_spin_09.avi

Not bad (pats self on back), and they are getting better each week. I hope this translates to better spins on the ice. They are exceedingly difficult compared to spinning on ice, so I'm happy with them.

[Petlover]

Wiggly: lots of rain here so lots of "pimples" on the ice. I'm often the first one on in the morning, so I check it out and put cones over them so no one gets hurt.

Snug: New skates from Klingbeil came last Thursday afternoon. Mr. Klingbeil sealed the boots, mounted the blades, and sharpened them before they were shipped, so I was ready to go. They are perfect! I skated for an hour Friday morning, Monday morning, and this morning. After 15 minutes on Friday morning, I was able to do a 1 foot spin, and by the end of the session I had done dance, edges, 3 turns, waltz jump and toe loop. Yesterday, I landed all my jumps and got my change foot. This morning in a lesson I actually skated my program with the new skates. I still have to up my confidence level, but coach told me I am actually skating better with the new skates even though they are new. Best of all, the blades are set perfectly for me and won't have to be moved.

[chowskates]

Snug laces: The company is good. My spins are progressing on PIC skates, although it's still an order of magnitude more difficult than ice. Here's a "tracing" of one 4-revolution spin....

I posted a video of a four-rev spin on PIC skates here:

http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~schneidw/skating/images/pic_spin_09.avi

Not bad (pats self on back), and they are getting better each week. I hope this translates to better spins on the ice. They are exceedingly difficult compared to spinning on ice, so I'm happy with them.

Wow, looks good... Actually, I'd like to try the PIC skates myself! Can you really do all the ice moves in them?

[Bill_S]

Wow, looks good... Actually, I'd like to try the PIC skates myself! Can you really do all the ice moves in them?

Some people can, but not me! ;)

They are very similar in feel to figure skates, but are different enough that I can't do everything that I can on ice. For example on ice, I have all my threes and brackets. On PIC skates I can muster the FI/BO and FO threes, but I don't even try my weakest elements - the BI threes and most brackets. I hate falling!

For me (beside satisfying my skating jones when there's no ice) the biggest advantage is how much better stroking becomes on ice after overcoming the friction on wheels for a while. You develop leg muscles on PICs and that translates nicely to speed on the ice.

There's a competing brand of inlines called "Snow White" having just three rockered wheels, and they're highly regarded. I've never seen or tried a pair, so I use what I have.

[sk8tegirl06]

Snug Lace: I finally had my first lesson after 4 months. To top it all off, coach said I should consider testing my moves for the August test. 8O Amazing what time off will do for ya! Everything just seemed to work, I can't explain it. I had practiced but the moves never worked out too well. And the best part was the lesson was a busy freestyle, when I am used to empty public sessions during the day.

[liz_on_ice]

love the thread title!

Snug lace - 2nd lesson on pre-bronze moves this morning, learned the waltz-8 pattern. Coach pronounced it good. We're figuring on testing on Sept, because he's away for the August test session. If I can figure out how to get to Lake Placid where he'll be, I can test there. Needs plotting

wiggly boots - ccw forward xovers - totally suck, not even passing. It won't take much to get them up to scratch now that I know to work on them, but how lame is that?

[flo]

Sounds like quite a bit of progress here.

Wiggly - from last week. Been so crazed that I went to the rink for our pairs lesson that I forgot my skates. Grrr. I didn't have enough time to trek back home, so a pro graciously let me borrow her skates. They were a different brand and little large, but ended up being fine and even managed a few death spirals.

Snug - Had very productive practice yesterday and today. Lots of improvement on death spirals and throws!

[ibreakhearts66]

Snug Laces
-Coach decided to have us try rocker figures. All things considered, I did pretty well on them! We were doing outside rockers. I had a bit of a hard time holding the BO edge for a full circle after the rocker, but again, all things considered, I did well.
-Invented a newish spin! I'm sure it's been done before, but I've never seen it. I was messing around with grabbing my knee on forward camels like in a Kerrigan spiral, when I decided to try leaning back. A catch-knee layback! From there, I'm working on pulling into a hair cutter and (eventually) a Biellmann.
-We were doing backspin-double loops in camp. I was terrified at first (took a really nasty fall a while back when I was first trying backspin-2loop). But, after a few good backspin-2loops, I look over to my coach and she holds up 3 fingers, indicating she wanted me to try backspin-TRIPLE loop. I hit the backspin, went "Here goes nothing," and just jumped and pulled in as tight as possible. I heard a bunch of OOOOOHs from the other skaters. I asked my coach how many times I went around, and she said more than 2 and 3/4s! I know backspin-almost 3loop is a long ways from a true 3loop, but I am very happy with just that.
-2axels getting consistently better. Even when they're off and slightly funky, they're almost clean.

Wiggly
-There was a group of over 200 on the afternoon session. We were able to keep the middle to ourselves by forming a human barricade--a skater in each place a cone would normally go.
-Left blade is loose (the screws aren't loose, but I guess they're the wrong type of screws for slotted holes or something like that), which is causing problems every now and then on spins, axels and sals.
-2loop+2loop has disappeared. 2sal+2loop and 2flip+2loop are still there, but not 2loop+2loop. Ugh.
-Skates are no longer staying tight enough for a full session. The ankle support isn't breaking down by any means, but maybe the tongues are? I don't know what's causing the problem, but I'm having to retie several times.

[PinkLaces]

Go Bill! Awesome spin!

Monday

Wiggly: Knee is at 95%, but am having trouble with scratch spins, lifting the knee. I did manage to do 1 of many attempts. Loop jump and flip jumps were just not happening.

Snug: Had a good lesson. Worked on Bronze Moves. They are getting bigger when I remember to push in the right places. Salchows and toe loops were good. Backspins are traveling less. Waltz toe not too bad.


Tuesday

Wiggly: Went to the FS session before group lessons to work on MIF. I am freaked out going into the first 3 turn on the Power 3's. Not sure why, but I flub it every time. The rest of them are okay, but that first one I mess up every time. The LI Mohawk on the 5 step pattern is rushed and small.

Snug: Had my group lesson with the kids tonight. There are 3 of us doing ISI FS3. There is no FS4 group (next one is FS5) so that coach lets me work on both as well as USFS FS stuff. Toe loops and salchows good. Learned the back inside pivot - easier than the back outside pivot I learned as a kid. Change foot spin was good. Scratch spin seems to be coming back.

[CoachPA]

Snug Lace: All four of my skaters that I had testing this morning passed! They put out two Pre-Pre MIF, a Preliminary MIF that passed .2 over, and a Pre-Preliminary freeskate test.

[Skittl1321]

CoachPA- congrats on such a successful test session.

wiggly boots Why do my feet hurt so much when I skate here? They didn't hurt at all in Detroit. I blame the humid weather and bad ice :(

I posted this on my blog, but if anyone is keeping a list of things I can't do, add flying camel. HAHAHAHA. The "flying" should have clued me in, but I couldn't even comprehend how I was supposed to jump... So confused. That one will have to wait a few years.

Snug lace The Stinkeez things are the best thing ever invented. They are expensive, but I'm sold on them. My skates (which used to not be allowed in the house) pretty much don't smell anymore.

Worked on corkscrew sit spin variations, and I can spin just fine with my boot on my knee, both coaches said the height of the sit was okay. I freak out though once I have to lean over, and the idea of having to take my free hand and tuck it between my legs is terrifying- how would I catch myself if I fall?

[blue111moon]

Snug Lace: The whole lesson went well - ran through my two dances with only minor corrections on the chasse step and my arm position going into the corners of the dutch. And miracle of miracles, my spins returned from last week's holiday. I even got rotation on the backspin! Then worked jumps up to and including the loop. Arm position is a major issue. And I pointed out to the new coach that I've heard "Keep your head up" in five different languages (English, French, German, Russian and Polish) and it still hasn't sunk in.

Wobbly boot: actually the laces in my skates need to be replaced. I hate the comb nylon/cotton ones that were all i could get a year or so ago. The skate shop guy said he has all-cotton ones but none of the ones he has in stock are long enough for me AND white. All the long ones he has are black.

And all that arm position work has my neck and left shoulder very tight and sore today.

[katz in boots]

Snug Laces
ah, a freezing cold yet sunny winter morning. Frost on the ground, ice on the roads, and NOT ONE condensation bump to be seen on the ice 8O. And a blissful hour wworking hard with my coach.

She was pleased with my progress, most things were "Bettaah!" (She's Russian, and the way she shouts better makes me smile inside.) Toe-loop is being put back together after she took it apart, and she had her first go at my salchow. A few corrections, but not too bad. Even my camel spin didn't attract too much criticism, apparently I'm on the right track.

I'm used to her finding lots of faults, so it was nice today that she seemed pleased with my progress.

Wiggly Boots
My boots. I want new boots, I desperately want new blades. Been in these a year and that's enough to say I want Phantoms again and Graf boots. Unfortunately desperately wanting doesn't=money to buy. :roll:

[PinkLaces]

Wiggly Tried 1/2 lutz and couldn't even get a 1/2 rev. Just popped up. I probably shouldn't have waited until the end of the session to try them and not on a full session....full of small barely skating kids who were practicing their spot light programs for the competition on Saturday. Knee felt tweaky so didn't even attempt the loop or flip.

Snug Backspin - 10 revs - most ever :D It felt fast and secure. Loved that feeling! Camels weren't as bad as I feared. I haven't done any in a few weeks - been mostly focused on Bronze Moves and FS stuff for testing. Most had 2 revs...one had 3.

[doubletoe]

-We were doing backspin-double loops in camp. I was terrified at first (took a really nasty fall a while back when I was first trying backspin-2loop). But, after a few good backspin-2loops, I look over to my coach and she holds up 3 fingers, indicating she wanted me to try backspin-TRIPLE loop. I hit the backspin, went "Here goes nothing," and just jumped and pulled in as tight as possible. I heard a bunch of OOOOOHs from the other skaters. I asked my coach how many times I went around, and she said more than 2 and 3/4s!


-Skates are no longer staying tight enough for a full session. The ankle support isn't breaking down by any means, but maybe the tongues are? I don't know what's causing the problem, but I'm having to retie several times.

Dayum, girl!! That's pretty awesome! As for the skates, maybe take them to Willie's and get them reinforced in the ankles? I love Willie's!

[londonicechamp]

Wiggly
5 step mohawk sequence on the left side, though my coach said that it is better.

Doing scratch spin from backward crossover position. Coach discovered that I am sometimes not doing backward crossovers properly. :roll:

Power stroking: not a lot of people in yesterday (Thursday)'s lesson, so coach taught me this new move. Struggled for the first 2 to 3 minutes, then after copying her, and explaining what I am supposed to do, I find that pretty good. :D

My niece, 3 years younger than me, started her skating lesson (intro) yesterday. She was 30 minutes late, so ended up having lesson the same time as me. My performance was a bit off whenever I realised that my niece was looking at me. She also got problems of not knowing how to stop, though her intro. coach said that she was probably basic level 3 or so. I gave up teaching her how to stop. :giveup:

Learnt backward pivot on the left leg (is that inside or outside edge) :roll: for the first time. Getting the feel, though feeling a bit weird.

Snug
Did loads of stretching exercises, including forward and backward crossovers on ice, inside and outside edges, and also two foot slalom. Coach taught me new stuff as she was aware that I was practising crossovers. :D

Backspin: can do up to 4.5 revolutions with leg wide open, coach has not taught me how to cross yet.

Change foot spin: can now do 6 revolutions on the forward scratch spin, and 4 to 4.5 revolutions on the backspin, and then another 4 revolutions or so on the forward spin. Stopped practising towards the end when I felt slightly dizzy. 8O

Sit spin: can go probably more than half lower on the right leg, about 4 revolutions, though on the 3rd attempt or so, fell on the ice.

Scratch spin: sometimes when practise, can do what my coach asked me: put the right crossing leg higher. Can sometimes do from backward crossovers, but not consistent at the moment. Hopefully, with more practice, can do what the coach requires me to do. 8-)

My niece said that her intro. coach said that within 6 months, if she often goes for practice, she can probably progress to freestyle level 1. Her intro. coach told her that I am at freestyle level 3 now. (How did her intro. coach know what level I am at?) :D Looks like I will have competition with her. I better make sure I make progress every week. :)

londonicechamp

[sk8_4fun]

SNUG I passed level 1 Elements test today:P (or should that be SMUG??)

Its a big thing for me as I swore I would never test jumps and would be stictly Ice Dance! then this year I decided to bite the bullet. So glad I did as I'm having great fun! My legs shook terribly - so much so that my spiral made the strangest sound like I was skating over cobbles!!8O I had to reskate my cherry flip (toe-loop) but I passed and I'm delighted:D

[Mrs Redboots]

SNUG I passed level 1 Elements test today:P (or should that be SMUG??)

Its a big thing for me as I swore I would never test jumps and would be stictly Ice Dance! then this year I decided to bite the bullet. So glad I did as I'm having great fun! My legs shook terribly - so much so that my spiral made the strangest sound like I was skating over cobbles!!8O I had to reskate my cherry flip (toe-loop) but I passed and I'm delighted:D

Congratulations, Jayne! ALL the best people have to reskate their cherries, just ask my husband!

(As for us, snug: looks like we'll be competing on Sunday, which was a bit iffy for awhile there. Mind you, if we dumb down the programme any more, we'll just be skating round and round.... but should be fun, anyway).

[RachelSk8er]

We're a day overdue for a practice thread, so I'm starting one for the first time.

Wiggly boots: Still wishing for ice. I'm making do at the non-air conditioned roller rink on my PIC skates. It gets mighty sweaty out there!

Snug laces: The company is good. My spins are progressing on PIC skates, although it's still an order of magnitude more difficult than ice. Here's a "tracing" of one 4-revolution spin....

NOTE: I had to increase contrast of the photo to see the faint tracing, so the floor looks mighty dirty. It's not that way in real life.

I posted a video of a four-rev spin on PIC skates here:

http://oak.cats.ohiou.edu/~schneidw/skating/images/pic_spin_09.avi

Not bad (pats self on back), and they are getting better each week. I hope this translates to better spins on the ice. They are exceedingly difficult compared to spinning on ice, so I'm happy with them.


That's really cool. Those Pic frames have always intrigued me. I can do do all the single jumps (not very gracefully and the loop is shaky b/c I can't get over the wheels on my R side correctly) on my roller derby/quad speed roller skates, which are short boots (like speed skates), have completely different wheels (derby wheels are thicker and very soft, figure roller skates have very small, hard wheels), and I have much smaller toe stops. I'd be interested in seeing what I could do on some real roller skates or pic frames (you can't spin on derby skates because of the wheels).

Did you just mount them on an old pair of figure skating boots? About how much did it cost?

I'm in a total skating funk. Skipped Monday, had just a blah "don't wanna be here" practice Wednesday. Decent lesson today, we just worked on all my jumps to make sure I'm breaking my old bad habits and not developing any new ones. It's time for a short break from skating, fortunately I leave tonight for vacation. My real lay on the beach vacation in 4 years :) I get back on July 18 and should be geared up and ready to get back on the ice and prepare for Peach after that.

[PinkLaces]

SNUG I passed level 1 Elements test today (or should that be SMUG??)
That's awesome! Congrats!

(As for us, snug: looks like we'll be competing on Sunday, which was a bit iffy for awhile there. Mind you, if we dumb down the programme any more, we'll just be skating round and round.... but should be fun, anyway). Best of luck at your competition. Our club is hosting one on Saturday. I'll be volunteering most of the day.

Change foot spin: can now do 6 revolutions on the forward scratch spin, and 4 to 4.5 revolutions on the backspin, and then another 4 revolutions or so on the forward spin. Stopped practising towards the end when I felt slightly dizzy.
Yea! You go! I always get super dizzy on the change foot spin.

My real lay on the beach vacation in 4 years I get back on July 18 and should be geared up and ready to get back on the ice and prepare for Peach after that. Hope you have a great time and come back refreshed!

[PinkLaces]

Snug Ran through Bronze Moves as if I were testing. Coach is always saying/implying that I am a bit slow/take up too much time. Did the whole test in 8 minutes which I think is respectable. The Test Chair manual allots 12 minutes for the Adult Bronze test.

Camel spin - did one that was 4 revs today. Yea! Getting better. Backspin - did one that was about 8-9 revs. 6 of them were centered. Waltz toe-loop coming along. I was able to get up some speed today.

Wiggly Backward 3's. Could only "do" the outside ones. They were teeny tiny and shaky. Flips - went back to the half flip to get up my courage for the whole flip. 2 footed all the landings on single flips. Working really hard on getting the foot in front instead of on the side. Loops - ack! I either 2 footed the landing or spun out.

At the end of the session, I was doing a backspin and going pretty fast (for me). When I came out, I lost my balance. Foot slipped out from underneath me and fell on the same knee I fell on 2 weeks ago. Luckily it was more to the side than straight on. I felt a little pain for about a second, but was okay. The problem was getting up couldn't push myself up and put pressure on the knee. I had to call DD over to grab onto to right myself. I was worried about a repeat of 2 weeks ago, but could bend to take off my skate and walk okay. Whew!

[Bill_S]

I'd be interested in seeing what I could do on some real roller skates or pic frames (you can't spin on derby skates because of the wheels).

Did you just mount them on an old pair of figure skating boots? About how much did it cost?



When I bought mine, I bought the package including both boots and frames. It was close to $500.

However I HATED the boots (something really soft and comfy (Gam?), but w/o enough support), and after a year I bought a new pair of Riedell Bronze Stars to replace them. I've had the bronze stars for 8 years now, and they are severely broken down. I still use them though - it's expensive enough to keep up with boots etc for just ice.

You can buy JUST the frames if you want to mount them to an old pair of ice skating boots. I just looked at their web site, and it would cost anywhere from $125 to nearly $200 depending upon which frame you choose.

http://www.picskate.com/products.htm

Also, I was surprised to see that they have added some new 3-wheel frames to their lineup! Perhaps the competition from Snow White caused them to offer these. I wonder how these feel compared to my 4-wheel frames?

http://www.picskate.com/images/professionalframe.jpg

[liz_on_ice]

Snug - practiced all the pre-bronze moves patterns on a nice uncrowded freestyle, so plenty of practice on the CW perimeter pattern. My lessons have been devoted to the moves patterns so I'm referring to my journal for jump and spin corrections - sure enough, there are things I had forgotten so I'm getting good traction just revisiting my notes and applying them. Toe loop is improved - loop even has a bit of air time (still ugly, but improving) flip is starting to come more than go.

wiggly - left thigh is still sore - spirals are terrible, sitspin practice is limited.

[katz in boots]

Snug
Pretty good skate this morning. Ice was a bit rough and it was moderaely crowded for a Saturday morning public session, but it was okay.

Have got my LFI3 nearly as good as the right, most edge exercises felt better.
Jumps: worked on toe-loop & salchow to make corrections coach wants. Felt like I made progress. Couple of decent loops, a moderately good flip and a decent toe-loop/loop.
Spins, well not too hard to fix the locking knee problem. Did a couple of nice backspins from push start, and at least one decent attempt at all my regular spins.
My footwork is really benefitting from my new coach, much smoother, faster and better balanced. Yay.

[Skate@Delaware]

I have nothing really to add except because of my WIGGLY BOOTS I'm going for a fitting for new ones on FRIDAY!!!!! I am heading up to the Liberty Competition held at Aston, Pa, so this means I will actually be able to watch the skating! I haven't been able to go the past few years because I was working. I do believe that the Jr/Sr's will be skating that day. Super treat!

Yay!!!!

[Kim to the Max]

No specifics since this is an update for a few weeks :)

[Wiggly Boots]
I am still trying to figure out when I am going to test my Juv free.

[Snug Laces]
Axels and other jumps are getting better :)

Coach and I had a great lesson last Tuesday with a lot of laughing :lol: we were joking about "full moons" because of a combination of things including a story she told me earlier in our lesson and the fact that I am not getting my butt facing parallel to the boards on my rockers :) and then she said that I needed to do that on both sides and my response was that we needed a "blue moon" :) *sigh* I'm going to miss her when she is out with her baby!!

2 sal is landed on 1 foot, slightly cheated, but getting better. 2 toe is getting close to being landed on 1 foot...

[Wiggly but Snug]
I start lessons with another coach tomorrow for the period of time that my coach is out. I am extremely excited for her, however, I am not a big fan of change...I like the coach I will be taking lessons from, but the lessons will have a distinctly different feel since coach and I spend so much time catching up and laughing :) oh well....I know it will all work out though and that a different opinion is sometimes good...

[katz in boots]

Wiggly
struggling to do salchows the way new coach wants. She says after the 3 turn entry I need to stay down the whole time. I just don't have any push up from that. I guess maybe I have to be only a little bit down after the turn and then go lower before pushing up. I've always struggled with this jump, so am open to anything that might improve it. I had found it worked better for me to straighten after the turn and then go down again as I start to sweep the free leg around.

Snug
Didn't work hard today. I work hard other sessions, so Sunday mornings are becomming my free-play day. Still worked on everything coach wanted though., just didn't flog myself.

The other adult skater I am helping is going really well. Today I moved her on from preparatory exercises into proper crossovers and she is picking them up well. Also worked on T-pushes, and holding strokes longer. I am always delighted when she gets the hang of something fast.

[Kat12]

Snug laces: I FINALLY got to try out my new skates! And got to go skating with the boi.

Wiggly boots: my new skates have bigger toe picks and more of a rocker. On one of my first trips around the rink, I caught the toe pick and fell flat on my face (well, stomach). I hit the ice and as I went sliding, flat out, I said, "toe pick!" (at least I still have a sense of humor, though it naturally wen't right over my partner's head since I'm sure he's probably never seen that movie). This would not have been so bad except we'd just eaten a big lunch. So I spent a few minutes in the hockey box going "please don't barf, pleasepleaseplease don't barf..."

Snug laces: I didn't barf.

Wiggly boots: practicing two-foot turns, got unbalanced, and fell backwards. Hit my head. Have never done that before.

Snug laces: Luckily, today I had my hair in a bun; usually i wear it in a braid as is my usual style but today I had just washed my hair and didn't want a hairsicle, so i put it in a bun and put a scarf over the top. I felt my head BOUNCE off my hair. A slight headache from the jarring for a minute or two, but otherwise I was fine. Might wear my hair in a bun from now on! I can't imagine what would've happened if i hadn't been doing so, as I hit hard enough that when I got up, my scarf was falling off and my bun was falling down.

Also snug: The boi wanted to see some of the new stuff I'd learned, esp. a spin. I was afraid to try a two-foot spin in the new skates as I sometimes tend to lean forward too far and catch my toe picks, so with bigger picks...yeah. But I tried it, and I think I actually do better on these skates. I had my partner counting revolutions for me and I got up to 4 or 4.5, yay (shuttup, 4 is good for me on a spin). Certainly not perfect, but a bit better. Crossovers as well almost got up to snuff. They will eventually as I get used to these skates.

Wiggly: As usual, other people on the ice. There was one girl who looked like she was giving a lesson to a bunch of kids. They all had hockey sticks, which I'm pretty sure aren't allowed. It wasn't the sticks that were the problem, however...it was that they were utilizing the whole middle of the ice that wasn't the perimeter where people were skating. There was one young girl having a lesson with her coach in the center ring. Then the two spaces on either end, between the center circle and the skating perimeter. I would start trying to practice crossovers in that area while those kids were in the one at the other end, then the girl would have them skating across (THROUGH the one girl's lesson space even! I don't know why her coach didn't say something) and to the other open end area. So I'd switch to the other. Then they'd come back. Finally I decided I was picking a spot and sticking to it, but either way I almost ran into a kid several times. I almost said something to the girl, esp. since a couple of the kids could barely skate and didn't need to be given a hockey stick. Then about half an hour in, a bunch of kids who'd been skating just fine on their own decided to start playing with the ice walkers. I hate those things with a passion, especially when kids just use them as toys, or when parents don't supervise their kids who are using them--hello, if your kid can't even skate without propping themselves up on something, don't just let them go around willy-nilly; you need to be RIGHT NEXT TO THEM making sure they are going the right way and in case they fall. And don't do like one guy did and just leave it in the middle of the ice while you skate off holding the kid's hand. I was about to grab it and take it off the ice when they returned to it. I almost said something to several people today. Next time i will, and next time I will report any kid with a hockey stick or who's messing around with an ice walker. I'm also going to suggest that they keep the ice walkers behind the front counter and only give them to kids who actually need them, rather than leaving them out for people to grab whenever they want to mess around, and that they tell parents that they need to stay with their kids who are using them and that they are NOT to be left unattended on the ice. Also, if I had a dollar for every kid I saw who thought it was a game to throw around their hockey gloves whenever I go skating, I'd be rich--and usually their parent or handler is joining in on the "fun."

Snug: My partner is so funny. He was full of questions about figure skating "tricks." He wanted to know if I've ever seen anyone jump in real life. Well, duh. He wanted to know how many revolutions people usually do in spins and I wasn't sure how to explain to him that stuff like scratch spins get going so fast that it's sort of hard to count.

[Kim to the Max]

[Snug]
First lesson with temporary coach...it went well, very different from regular coach, which is going to take some getting used to, but oh well...it's only temporary....

Skated pretty okay today :)

[Wiggly]
2 sal and 2 toe were not happening...

Just got an e-mail from my club which specifically states that for the show next year there will be no coach, adult, or guest solos...I am unsure of how I feel about this, considering that I am the ONLY adult in the club (minus coaches, etc).... On one level, I am okay with it because performing is not something I enjoy, but at the same time it seems like a jab....

[ibreakhearts66]

Dayum, girl!! That's pretty awesome! As for the skates, maybe take them to Willie's and get them reinforced in the ankles? I love Willie's!

Thanks :)

That's the odd part, though--the ankles aren't broken down at all. The tongues seem broken in, but not broken down at all either. I guess I'll switch the laces out and see if that helps.

[londonicechamp]

Hi Kat12

What is boi?

Re: the problem in your rink about kids messing up with hockey sticks, I think that you can report it to the skate hire counter.

In the rink that I now go to, one Thursday, after my lesson whilst I was practising, I saw that two kids were using one treadmill frame (like walking ice frame), which is against the rink's regulations, as the rink's regulations said that those frames are only for one kid to use. There were another 2 kids who copied those two kids using one walking ice frame. So I went up to the skate hire counter to complain. The counter staff said that she will speak to the ice marshall. After about 10 minutes, one of the ice marshalls talked to the kids, and the problem was then solved. :lol:

londonicechamp

[Kat12]

The boi = my partner. Cuz I get tired of saying "my partner" all the time. Meaning can be ambiguous, though--when I picked it up, it was in goth communities where it's used to refer to a female's male significant other. It wasn't until later that someone got confused and told me they'd always heard it used to refer to a male's male significant other, which I'd never heard before. I still use it because I figure both ways are accepted, and besides I would think it's pretty obvious on here by now that I'm not a guy, lol.