Moving in the Field or Freely Falling Practice 7/14-7/20

[liz_on_ice]

Working those moves patterns gave me a thread title

Moving in the Field - I've got all the pre-bronze patterns down, fw xovers needs a little work, but everything else coach approves of. Started in on bronze moves.

After lesson I ran all my jumps, concentrating on keeping my right shoulder checked hard - and wow, it improved everything. My salchow toe loop and loop all improved. I landed several flips and even a couple of lutzes 8-)

Freely Falling - I saw the video from the ISI comp - that sitspin I thought was so low looked like a crouch on top of a tiny little squat. sigh.

[londonicechamp]

Moving in the field
My forward and backward crossovers are better. I am now on ISI level 3 (equivalent to USA bronze level). Finally able to land my half flip on one foot yesterday, and my coach was thrilled. :D

Coach now getting me to work on backward pivot from inside 3 turns.

Also my change foot spin, now coach wants me to do forward scratch spin on my right leg when I do the last change foot (so it is right: open wide, backspin: open wide, and also back to right leg: forward scratch).

After my lesson, my mom rewarded me with ice kachang, the singapore delicacy food. 8-)

Freely falling
Coach needs me to glide more before I do my jump(s).

Coach started teaching me ISI freestyle 3 dance sequence, needs me to work on the inside mohawk on the left foot.

I can do sit spins, but so far only up to 4 revolutions, not more, but can come up with an upright spin. Fell once during my practice. My mom was laughing when I fell. :lol:

[Mrs Redboots]

Moving in the Field: Back on the ice and working on basics. Again.

Freely Falling: Still can't skate backwards or turn with any degree of self-confidence - I struggled, even before my new blades, with taking my upper body with me on turns and backwards skating, and now that failing to do so risks landing on my nose, it's worse! Husband complained because I hate to fall, but he's the one who'd have to look after me if I broke my hip!

[londonicechamp]

Hi Mrs Redboots

Good luck learning your basics again. Better keep yourself accident free!!!!

Let us know how your lesson went.

londonicechamp

[PinkLaces]

Moving in the Field Was able to do the Freestyle session before my group lesson. I worked on Bronze Moves - the 2 backwards patterns are getting bigger. I am remembering to push - most of the time.

Had group lesson - it's supposed to be ISI 3 - there is no group for 4. ISI 5 is the next group. So that coach lets me work on USFS Bronze FS test stuff. She liked my waltz-toe loop, salchow, and toe loop. She thought my sit spin was pretty good. "At least you are getting down there." It's not even with the hip yet, but not butt in the air either. She thought my backspin was pretty good, but...

Falling Freely Monday I had my private lesson with my coach. She didn't like my leg position on my backspin. My leg is crossed, but with the toe pointed down. She wants the foot flat. The only problem is that when I think about pressing my heel down on the free foot, the spinning foot shifts back and stops the spin. She didn't like my sit spin either. She wants me to go into it from more of a squat position (her way does seem to work better). She didn't like my toe loop. I'm not waiting for the free foot to come across before jumping.

We worked on loop jumps at the end. I'm having a heck of a time keeping the foot in front during the jump. It starts out that way but moves to the side. She had some excercises for me to practice which I worked on but I didn't have too much success with it.

Part of the problem is that coach only wants to coach during the day(when kids are off school and there is lots of day ice). I'd like to get 2 lessons a week, but she is pretty full and only wants to coach 1 night per week in the summer. Our club is losing a coach at the end of the month that has a lot of students and some want to go to my current coach. I told her that I wanted at least 2 lessons a week in the fall so don't fill her schedule up too much.

[ibreakhearts66]

Moving in the Field
-Lots of edgework today. I was the only one out of all of my coach's students that could do a pattern the way she wanted :) Felt like I made a lot of progress on the little things that make a big difference in your overall skating.
-Worked on 3toe a little bit at the end of the session. The ones I really went to were all 1/2 to a little over 1/4 short. I'm happy with that...for now.
-Hit all of the elements but one in my program, which was great considering how long it's been since I worked on it...

Falling Freely
-However, the second my coach yelled "BEND YOUR KNEES" during my footwork, the entire sequence flew out of my head. I was doing turns on the wrong foot, rockers where there should've been counters and vise versa.

Moving in the Field
-Announcement for the non-qualifying competition at regionals went up. There is no maximum age for open-juv, so I can compete at that level.

Moving in the Field
-As relieved as I am that I'm going to be able to compete at regionals, I can't help but be sad that I'm not going to be able to compete as a Novice lady. I KNOW I would get my butt kicked, but it's what I've been working on, really, for the last year. I'm going to have a heart procedure done after regionals that will keep me off the ice for a bit, and I really just wanted to go out on a high note. There's always next year, but I'm going to be starting school in the fall and will be working, so I won't have nearly as much time to train. So yeah, I'm just feeling kind of down about regionals.

[katz in boots]

Falling Freely
I've been feeling off for a few days, a viral flu thing, but it'd take a lot to make me miss a lesson . So I was a bit lacking in energy this morning. Couldn't jump much, and didn't want to do camels today.

Moving in the Field
I am making good progress on most things. Toe-loop is coming now, as I better understand what my bad habits are. Generally edge work and 3 turns are improving.

Best thing was progress on my scratch spin. I knew it sucked, but at least now I know why and am correcting it. Mainly to do with arm position in the prep and entry edge. And I have been given permission to use my left arm to initiate the spin (not hugely, of course) instead of being told to follow it into the spin. This is a big relief to me. Suddenly I have speed and attack. Now I just need to improve my posture on the entry edge and stay down longer before spinning. At least it seems possible now.

Falling Freely
The way I do BO3s is wrong. I have been twisting my arms & upper body outside the circle before the turn, and I am not to. Sort of weird though, how you get the torque to make the turn without that twist, but I will work on it.

As I was pretty tired, instead of jumps she got me to do simple pivots from standing starts. Not low enough, wide enough, strong enough. Did another sort of pivot from a FI3 (don't know what you call this type). At least I can do these, but am now challenged to get those deeper, stronger edge in a big circle after putting the pick in, before ending them.

Moving in the Field
I love(/hate) that even when I think I can do something, I find out I can do it better. I love that no matter how much I improve, there'll always be fresh challenges.

And after flogging myself for an hour and feeling decidedly light-headed afterwards, my flu symptoms have disappeared. If only I could skate every day !!! Now I can't wait to flog myself again on Saturday!

[Stormy]

Ibreakhearts66, weren't you going to retest your moves? It's still possible you can do Novice if you pass your tests, right?

[PinkLaces]

((((ibreakhearts66)))) Big hugs to you!

Katz - glad to hear you're feeling better. I wish I could skate every day too. Luckily we have evening ice on Thursdays for the next 2 weeks -so I get an extra day.:D

Falling Bronze Moves: Power 3's - I am still flubbing the 1st 3 on the right side. Ack! 5 Step Mohawk pattern - rushing the left inside mohawk. Sit spin - DD is a little more honest than group coach. Can get 5 revs in position, but not sitting as much as I thought. Flip - still 2 footing the landing.

Also back to working with my personal trainer at the YMCA. We had a streak of 2 years with doing some kind of lunge at every session. I couldn't do them because of my knee. So we are pretending this session didn't happen. ;) She had to modify some of the balance/core stuff for me and I couldn't do our usual leg work.

Moving Backspin - by the end of the session, I was getting 3 revs with the crossed flat free foot. I'm really encouraged by that. Also worked on loop from the 3 turn (even though coach wants me to do it from the back crossover - sssh!). Working really hard on keeping the foot in front. It wants to fly out to the side. I actually had 2 good ones - foot in front and landed. Super encouraged by that.

[ibreakhearts66]

Ibreakhearts66, weren't you going to retest your moves? It's still possible you can do Novice if you pass your tests, right?

In theory, yes, but I'd have to pass Int AND Novice moves and free by September 1st. I'm retaking Int on the 22nd and put papers in to do Novice moves on the 28th, but I think I'm just going to pull my papers for the Novice test. I'll talk to my coach tomorrow, but I think I'm just going to settle for open-juv this year.

[Stormy]

In theory, yes, but I'd have to pass Int AND Novice moves and free by September 1st. I'm retaking Int on the 22nd and put papers in to do Novice moves on the 28th, but I think I'm just going to pull my papers for the Novice test. I'll talk to my coach tomorrow, but I think I'm just going to settle for open-juv this year.

Good luck with whatever you decide. Don't think of it as settling, and you have a great chance of medaling in Open Juv!!

[doubletoe]

Ibreakhearts - You are still my hero! So many people would use all of those health issues and injuries as an excuse to give up. Not you! It's OK to be in Open Juv again if you have to. There's no shame in skating one of the best Open Juv programs at Regionals! :bow:

[ibreakhearts66]

Thanks everyone. Yeah, I've decided to make the best of it and try my very best to medal in open-juv, or at least get top 5.

Doubletoe--do you happen to know if they give jackets to open-juvs? I want stinkin club jacket!!

Moving in the Field
-Moves were good today. Spent extra time on the CW power circles and made lots of progress--at least I think! Power and foot speed were definitely better, but not sure about the posture. Brackets were better too.
-Landed all of the 2sal+2toe combos I attempted

Freely Falling
-However, they weren't all clean. I hate how I have a perfectly good 2toe by itself, but when I use it in combination I do all sorts of funky things with my arms I don't normally do. :giveup:
-I was a big chicken today. Circled around a lot on 2loop and 2flip. I think I'm still mentally nursing my right ankle.

[singerskates]

I haven't been on Summer Skating School or Club Ice this summer but I have been skating a bit. Cash has been strapped with Chryslers being on layoff, so I have yet to sign up for any summer skating. I may even keep on doing Open Ticket ice the rest of the summer if it's available in August too. But most likely will sign up for Summer Skating for August now that the cash is starting to flow again.

I won't be doing Vivian in Wyandotte this year because well, I don't have enough training time with my coach to make it happen but I'm thinking about doing Falling Leaves in Novi, MI this fall just to test out things. I mainly compete in Canada.

I've also been having issues with my left lower wisdom tooth giving me a whole lot of pain and an infection. It really played with my balance since May. Saw dentist and they don't want to pull the tooth but they did treat it. Wonder how long that will last. I'm on dental antibiotics too. I can already feel a difference. I was really draggy and tired all the time. No wonder I was starting too loose height on all of my jumps this past month. Just didn't have the energy.

This week:

Didn't skate Monday to Wednesday because I was gone on a trip to Niagara Falls, ON with hubby. Too much to do there and so I left my skates at home.

Skated on Thursday;

Although the jumps weren't all that high like they once were, they were making progress.

Waltz - smooth again

Toe Loop - effortless

Salchow - was a little swingy and I need to adjust the blade on my forward inside edge so that I'm not leaning inward too much and causing me to be on a too deep edge. This caused me to not be able to hold the landing when I added some speed going into the jump. Nice for when I start relearning and doing the 2 Sal but not on a single.

Flip - not getting my free foot back far enough and jumping up a fraction of a second too soon which causes me to land on two feet.

Lutz - got my left foot to pull out to the left as I picked in which makes the LBO edge to start the jump super clean. Now I just have to get that hip flexing to do a clean one again. It's been a long time coming.

Loop - did several at the boards and started to touch the boards less and less. I'm trying to get the freeleg to wrap and hold through out the jump. Trying to train the body to win over the head. I actually did one super clean Loop not touching the boards at all with my coach seeing it and commenting on it as he passed me while coaching another student. Yeah! It's on the way back!

Sitspin - still not as low as I'd like but it's getting deeper and holding long enough in both basic and broken positions.

Camel - was hooking OK but I had a headache and so I only could get 1 rev. Better next time.

Upright - better centered that I've done in a month but when I got out I had to hold my head.

Split Jump - legs are starting to lift a little more.

RFI to RFO spiral - not very strong

LFO to LFI spiral - I actually was going to do another RFI to RFO spiral but then the next thing I knew I was starting my spiral sequence on my left foot and walla, a decent LFO to LFI spiral without letting my freeleg down at all. Surprise, surprise!!!

RBO Spiral - since I had the LFO to LFI spiral going, I decided to try the RBO Spiral and found that I could do that too and so instead of having to switch feet after the back spiral to set up for my sit spin, all I had to do was to let the RBO Spiral curve a little extra on the end and then step on to my LFO edge to start my sit spin. Going to keep working on this more. Won't this surprise my coach and the judges when they see this.

Swing Dance: did only half of the sequence clean but had to stop because there where simply too many little hockey dudes on the ice always in my way. Had to restart a few times to finish. Also I need to work on the Mohawk to do it text book dance right.

Fiesta: never did the Fiesta as I gave up on dance after being cut off too much with the Swing Dance and so I returned to Freeskate.

[PinkLaces]

DD and I skated the extra session at the rink today. It was just her and I so I got to use the whole rink for my moves. yea! My 2 backwards patterns are big enough. Didn't work on the Power 3's or 5 Step Mohawk.

DD was running through her 3 programs for ISI Worlds so I started fooling around with some music I am thinking about using for my Bronze test. I forgot how tiring it can be to do a program. ;)

I had gotten all the required jumps and spins worked in and was running through it when who walks in but my DH. He has never seen me skate since I started back up this past September. After we got off, he hugged me and said he was surprised at how good I was. That was a nice way to start the weekend.

[katz in boots]

Falling Freely
Me. I had at least 4 falls today, two from back 3 turns. Only nice little falls though, nothing heavy.

Still very under the weather with flu symptoms, very little energy etc, so lots of short breaks between working on each element. I think I did well to last the whole 2 hours.

Moving
I felt I made a little progress on toe-loops and salchows, while flips weren't too bad, considering how I felt. Loops felt high and big, and although the tracings didn't support that feeling :roll:, it was good that they felt easy and flowing.

Lately I've worked hard on Thursday & Saturdays and slackened off on Sundays. This Sunday I think I had better knuckle down and work hard, if I am up to it.

[Skate@Delaware]

Moving in the field: this is for yesterday, I had a "field trip" to Aston PA to do several things:
-get measured for skates; I am getting slightly smaller skates width-wise but nothing really fancy; the new models are made with lighter soles so that will be cool. I'm not getting anything fancy on mine-plain vanilla. Mike said if they are in stock I should hear from him in a few weeks, otherwise maybe a month since I'm now in a STOCK SIZE!!
-buy a Sk8Strong dvd and meet the owner (HI!!!)
-watch the ladies skate; we were going to stick around and watch my other coach, Shaun Rogers, skate but my daughter was getting sick so we headed back home just in time to hit the beach and rush hour traffic-grrrr! BUT the couple we sat near took video and they do this every year and put it up on YouTube (look for gloryday) which I thought was nice.
-One of the ladies skating was one of the coach/helpers from Hackensack, and I got to chat with her after (and admire her beautiful dress which had a ZILLIION stones on it).

It was really nice and we had such a GREAT time actually relaxing and watching such wonderful ladies skate! It was nice being AT a competition and NOT skating (did I just say that?)

Pat, if you were there, I'm sorry I did not see you, we left around 3:30. Maybe next time!

Query-they are still selling the Matrix blades. You might want to give Mike a call about them, if someone told you they were being discontinued, they were wrong.

[sk8pics]

Pat, if you were there, I'm sorry I did not see you, we left around 3:30. Maybe next time!

Hey, no, I didn't make it. And I would have gone later, so we'd have missed each other anyway. Oh well, next time! Glad you had fun.

[Kat12]

Falling: going to have a go at doing my socks-turned-boot-covers by hand. Wish me luck! I took them to an alterations place but she said "no, they can't do socks." I think it may've been a culture thing--they seem to be of some Middle Eastern persuasion there and it's probably the foot thing (I should've thought of that before I went in). However, I don't feel like running around trying to find an alterations place that will do it (or trying to explain on the phone to ten places what I want), so I'm going to try it myself! Eek. My instructor says her mom used to do this when she was younger, sometimes by hand, so it must be possible. I've gotta go to JoAnn Fabrics to get some supplies anyway (namely hooks to fasten on the bottom) and I'll ask them for advice on how to do it.

I admit I didn't really want to try to explain to an alterations place exactly what I wanted anyway, for fear they wouldn't quite understand what I was trying to do, plus you gotta admit it's sort of a weird request. So, yeah. Today is my day to be ambitious!

[dbny]

going to have a go at doing my socks-turned-boot-covers by hand.

I found neoprene boot liners at a K-mart for about $6. I cut a single slit in the sole from the heel to the toe (not quite all the way to the ends) and had do it yourself insulated boot covers. You may not even need to fasten them under the boot, depending on how stretchy the fabric is.

[Kat12]

^Oh man, totally doing that if I find my feet ever get cold!

I've taken the plunge and slit them, and am Fray-cheking them right now so they're not unraveling while I'm trying to sew them (I've got them stretched over a pair of shoes so they're Fray-cheked stretched out). A lady at JoAnn suggested elastic thread and a blanket stitch, so that's what I'm going to try.

A bit snug right now in the middle part but they'll stretch out, from what I know of these socks. Then I'll try with a second, different, more lightweight pair of socks once I have these the way like. I need to get some more hooks for attaching at the bottom at some point, but that'll be no big deal; I won't even need to go all the way back to the fabric store for that as I wanted lighter-weight hooks for under the toes anyway.

And if you want to know what I mean when I say I have lots of old socks...I still have slouch socks in bright colors from, like, elementary school! Too bad they're all singles or I could make a fun 80s-tastic pair!

[katz in boots]

Freely Falling
darned back inside 3 turns had me falling again today. Fine if I do a FO3 followed by BI3, but can I do BI3 followed by FO3? No.

After feeling very fluey and going to bed at 8.30 last night, I felt a bit better today, though still not great. Did work pretty hard though.

Moving in the Field
Good news today is that my hard work on scratch spins is starting to pay off. I had the ice to myself for the last 15 mins today, and worked hard. Now my scratch spin entry is getting longer, I'm rewarded with centred spins which start with circles straight away (instead of a 3 turn followed by a couple of wandering circles before centring). Breakthrough!

Ooh, and a 5 rev camel spin! Yeah!!! Still not much energy, so not a lot of jumping, but again loops felt easy and salchows weren't too horrible.

So I'm glad I dragged myself back out to the rink again this morning.

[aussieskater]

Freely falling - well that's what I managed tonight. Hit my head hard (but didn't get knocked out - just an almighty bruise!) after falling on my hip first. Owww!

A doctor who also skates that session and saw the fall (and came over to rescue me :bow:) thinks it is unlikely I have concussion (he checked me again while I was sitting on the bench an hour later as he left), and a friend who is a nurse checked me over a couple of hours later and also thinks I got lucky.

I cancelled my skating lesson tomorrow (and for the rest of the week) as I don't want to bang my head again. The problem is that I have a competition on Sunday - assuming I continue to have no concussion symptoms, am I likely to be able to risk skating by then (a clear week since the fall)?

[Skate@Delaware]

Hey, no, I didn't make it. And I would have gone later, so we'd have missed each other anyway. Oh well, next time! Glad you had fun.
I figured you were probably at work, given that it was Friday. We wanted to come up on Saturday, but Mike said he would be there Friday, so Friday it was.
I found neoprene boot liners at a K-mart for about $6. I cut a single slit in the sole from the heel to the toe (not quite all the way to the ends) and had do it yourself insulated boot covers. You may not even need to fasten them under the boot, depending on how stretchy the fabric is.
Were these in the fishing department? I'm thinking that these would be cool, although I'm wondering what color you got yours in...
Freely falling - well that's what I managed tonight. Hit my head hard (but didn't get knocked out - just an almighty bruise!) after falling on my hip first. Owww!

A doctor who also skates that session and saw the fall (and came over to rescue me :bow:) thinks it is unlikely I have concussion (he checked me again while I was sitting on the bench an hour later as he left), and a friend who is a nurse checked me over a couple of hours later and also thinks I got lucky.

I cancelled my skating lesson tomorrow (and for the rest of the week) as I don't want to bang my head again. The problem is that I have a competition on Sunday - assuming I continue to have no concussion symptoms, am I likely to be able to risk skating by then (a clear week since the fall)?
Just because you DON'T have any existing symptoms of a concussion doesn't mean you didn't suffer any damage. If you notice ANY weird neurological symptoms up to months later, go to a neurologist for an evaluation.

I'm not trying to scare you or anyone but even blows with no apparent symptoms can present a person at a later time with cognitive difficulties, mood disorders and fatigue with no apparent cause. I went through this after my concussion. I was very moody and forgetful for up to 3 months following my concussion.

[dbny]

Were these in the fishing department? I'm thinking that these would be cool, although I'm wondering what color you got yours in...

Yes, the fishing and outdoor sports department. They are camo! I got two pair, one for myself (which DD stole) and one for DH. I haven't seen them since, and that was about 6 years ago. The nice thing about them is that the bottoms are flat because they are not socks, but boot liners. They are exactly the same weight as the much pricier Ice Lights (http://www.icelight.biz/)!

[Kat12]

^Do you just stretch them over your skates, or do you have to put in the zipper or other fastener like the Ice Lights have? Do they fit tightly?

Hit my head hard

You need a lot of hair to put into a bun too! :) Maybe I'll start doing mine in several, on back and sides...like a bunch of bumpers around my head. :) Gosh did you get lucky though...

cognitive difficulties, mood disorders and fatigue with no apparent cause

OMG! I've had a concussion my whole life! :)


So, let's see...

Today things were largely
Falling: Only really falling once, and that wasn't bad at all (I spent a lot of time flailing trying to catch myself before I hit the ice, and those are always the least-bad falls--it's the ones that catch me by surprise that are the worst). Two-foot spins sucked (worse than they've been in a long time). Crossovers and stroking sort of sucked. Backward skating was so-so.

But there was some
Moving: First off, I got in for free, as did the girl ahead of me*; I don't know what she was paying with but I had a 20 and the girl at the counter said she didn't really have change so she just waved us in. Got a couple of spins in despite the crappiness. I'm still freaking out and losing my balance when I get going fast, except in the case of one which had to be at least five revs before I lost it! Too bad I'm not sure what I did right in that case! Also, two-foot turns improving. I mean, I'm still a giant wuss and don't do them very fast, but I definitely added a bit more speed today. Also, not too many annoying people on the ice today. *Who was the nice girl who recommended to me where I now go for lessons, so I got to watch her pretty spins and such again today.

Also, I've decided that I've invented some new spins (at least I've accomplished *something*; you can thank me later):

The two-foot scratch spin: This is where I am still too far forward and hitting the toe picks, even though they're not quite stopping/tripping me.

The 1.5-foot spin: This is where I lose my balance at some point during the spin and end up spinning with most of my weight on one foot for a second with the other largely just touching the ice for balance.

The quick-change spin: This is where I lose balance...then regain it...then lose it again in another way, even though I don't actually stop spinning...resulting in interesting leaning and other upper-body positions

The heel spin: In which I'm totally way too far back on my blade but still get a couple revolutions in before grinding to a halt (lest it turn into another type of spin, the on-the-bum spin, which is not generally accepted in competition). See also: quick-change spin

The oh, good save! spin: Can encompass all of the spins above and may be a variation of the quick-change spin; this is where I am tripping all over the place but still upright and still spinning...might be combined with the 1.5-foot spin, the quick-change spin, the heel spin, or all three as well as possibly me stepping back or sideways because I've lost balance so badly I'll fall otherwise. I do think this one would get me a 6.0 for creativity.

[aussieskater]

Also, I've decided that I've invented some new spins (at least I've accomplished *something*; you can thank me later):

The two-foot scratch spin: This is where I am still too far forward and hitting the toe picks, even though they're not quite stopping/tripping me.

The 1.5-foot spin: This is where I lose my balance at some point during the spin and end up spinning with most of my weight on one foot for a second with the other largely just touching the ice for balance.

The quick-change spin: This is where I lose balance...then regain it...then lose it again in another way, even though I don't actually stop spinning...resulting in interesting leaning and other upper-body positions

The heel spin: In which I'm totally way too far back on my blade but still get a couple revolutions in before grinding to a halt (lest it turn into another type of spin, the on-the-bum spin, which is not generally accepted in competition). See also: quick-change spin

The oh, good save! spin: Can encompass all of the spins above and may be a variation of the quick-change spin; this is where I am tripping all over the place but still upright and still spinning...might be combined with the 1.5-foot spin, the quick-change spin, the heel spin, or all three as well as possibly me stepping back or sideways because I've lost balance so badly I'll fall otherwise. I do think this one would get me a 6.0 for creativity.

Love the new spins! Some of them sound technically difficult and are clearly worth a high base mark under IJS...:P

[Kat12]

^Not so technically difficult...but not so easy to do INTENTIONALLY, lol. I call their category, "the surprise spins." :)

[PinkLaces]

RFLMAO at the Surprise spins.

The heel spin: In which I'm totally way too far back on my blade but still get a couple revolutions in before grinding to a halt (lest it turn into another type of spin, the on-the-bum spin, which is not generally accepted in competition). See also: quick-change spin
This is totally my backspin....will have to tell coach the "real" name of this spin. :)

[dbny]

^Do you just stretch them over your skates, or do you have to put in the zipper or other fastener like the Ice Lights have? Do they fit tightly?

I just stretch them over the skates. They fit pretty tightly as they were intended to inside hunting boots. I didn't use any fasteners. The neoprene is just stretchy enough to get them on. The only problem with one pair was a little bit of a bulge at the toe end, probably because they were a bit large. I just pulled them down more.

LOVE your surprise spins! I've done more than a few of those myself.

[Bunny Hop]

Also, I've decided that I've invented some new spins (at least I've accomplished *something*; you can thank me later):

The two-foot scratch spin: This is where I am still too far forward and hitting the toe picks, even though they're not quite stopping/tripping me.

The 1.5-foot spin: This is where I lose my balance at some point during the spin and end up spinning with most of my weight on one foot for a second with the other largely just touching the ice for balance.

The quick-change spin: This is where I lose balance...then regain it...then lose it again in another way, even though I don't actually stop spinning...resulting in interesting leaning and other upper-body positions

The heel spin: In which I'm totally way too far back on my blade but still get a couple revolutions in before grinding to a halt (lest it turn into another type of spin, the on-the-bum spin, which is not generally accepted in competition). See also: quick-change spin

The oh, good save! spin: Can encompass all of the spins above and may be a variation of the quick-change spin; this is where I am tripping all over the place but still upright and still spinning...might be combined with the 1.5-foot spin, the quick-change spin, the heel spin, or all three as well as possibly me stepping back or sideways because I've lost balance so badly I'll fall otherwise. I do think this one would get me a 6.0 for creativity.
I recognise all of these spins! Who knew they had real names? :lol:

[katz in boots]

assuming I continue to have no concussion symptoms, am I likely to be able to risk skating by then (a clear week since the fall)?

I got concussion last year, and wasn't knocked out.
The Dr at emergency said that a 2nd head hit within 2 weeks could be serious, even fatal. Much as I love to skate, I stayed off ice for the 2 weeks.

Having to pull out of a comp would be hard though. We only get 2 a year, so I'd be tempted if it were me.

[aussieskater]

Thanks Katz. I actually went to my own doctor this morning to get checked over as had been recommended by the guy who rescued me last night. My doctor checked me over pretty thoroughly and said that as far as he can tell I have no signs of concussion at all. I can't work out how I got so lucky but I'll take it...! :D He said that the "second impact syndrome" really applies to events where the first one led to concussion, which apparently hasn't occurred in my case.

I asked him when I can get back on and he said maybe Wednesday as long as I continue to improve and don't suddenly show neurological weirdnesses (dizziness, nausea, headaches etc - you know the drill), so my own personal estimate of Friday turned out to be conservative. I was relieved - I waited for his answer before telling him that I'm competing in synchro in States on Sunday and that would have been a very hard one to give up!!