Flip or Flop Practice Thread 12/9-12/20/2009

[Isk8NYC]

Needed a new practice thread.

Flip:
Spirals are fairly stable.


Flop:
Jumps are annoyingly clumsy.

[PinkLaces]

Flip New skates are feeling so much better and more "mine." I still have to take them off after the first 20 minutes, but then I can go the rest of my 90 minute session feeling fairly good. I had a lesson yesterday. We worked on jumping, getting arms under control, setting the ground work for combo jumps. Practicing on my own, I was able to do loop jumps from the 3 turn and some tiny ones from back cross-overs. I even landed a couple flips.

Flop Spins are not cooperating. I spin much faster on these new blades and am traveling a lot. I could get low on the sit spins, but couldn't hold it more than 2 revs. Back spins are still grinding to a halt after 3 revs.

[Isk8NYC]

I didn't realize the title would give us "flip flops" lol -- sorry Numbers!

[RachelSk8er]

Flop:

I haven't bothered to get on the ice at all in a week and a half, since the swelling in my ankle is still there and I've been so busy studying for finals every free moment. I'm going to try again on Friday if I'm not too braindead from Thursday's final (if that doesn't work, I'll do Saturday).

Flip:

Overall the ankle pain is mostly gone during normal activity (just some minor soreness/stiffness) and it's not really hindering anything but figure skating because of the boot putting pressure on the swelling. I'm making it through 1.5 hrs of 2 hr roller derby practices and keeping up with all of our endurance workout (speed down a little still but that just means I'm hanging with the middle/slower skaters and not the faster ones).

The good news is that I've been able to start running again without issues and have been doing weight training (free gym at work that I've been hitting up during lunch). I'm easing into training for a marathon or at least a half marathon with the goal of losing 50 pounds along the way (and I've been pretty much living off of egg whites, chicken and veggies for a little over a week now). Right now I'm only doing a series 30 min interval workouts building back up to where I can run for 30 min nonstop at at least a 10min/mile pace, then I'll start a more focused training program. The marathon I want to do is May 15th, but there is also a half marathon the same day if I can't handle the full thing (since that's right after my finals for fall semester are over and I don't want marathon training to hinder performing my best at ANs in April).

I HATE watching videos of my skating, but I FINALLY got around to watching videos from ANs last April. Overall I was actually really pleased with my skating, particularly my interp. That performance was the first time I've been able to watch a video and think "darn I look good!" and not focus on every little thing I didn't like. I think the overall thing that will help my skating and my confidence will be getting back down to the size I was in college (or as close to it as possible).

My final exams are over next week and I don't have school again until mid-January, so that gives me almost an entire month without school where I can skate before/after work and just focus on getting back to 100% on the ice. I figure it's best to not really worry about skating until then and focus on fitness off the ice in my very limited spare time. Once the swelling in my ankle gets better to where my boot doesn't hurt, it won't take me long to get my jumps/spins/programs back in order, especially if I'm getting in shape off the ice.

[CoachPA]

Flip: One of my students passed her Pre-Juvenile MIF this morning. One judge passed her at the average passing total of 16.2 while the other two judges passed her .2 over at 16.4. She had several moves in which she passed .2 over as well. A great day for the both of us! :D

[sk8tegirl06]

Any tips for pre-juv moves? I just started working on them last week. I think my nemesis move for this test will be figuring out the back 3s :frus: I have decent forward power pulls, (or so I think, coach hasn't seen them yet). The five step mohawk doesn't seem too daunting.

[RachelSk8er]

Any tips for pre-juv moves? I just started working on them last week. I think my nemesis move for this test will be figuring out the back 3s :frus: I have decent forward power pulls, (or so I think, coach hasn't seen them yet). The five step mohawk doesn't seem too daunting.

knee bend, knee bend, knee bend. That's always crucial in skating, but I think pre-juv is the first moves test where people who are a little more stiff really start to have issues and need to break those habits.

[sk8tegirl06]

knee bend, knee bend, knee bend. That's always crucial in skating, but I think pre-juv is the first moves test where people who are a little more stiff really start to have issues and need to break those habits.

Ain't that the truth! :lol: I think I need to work on body awareness in general. If I focus on one thing (ie knee bend), something else (ie the arm positions) go haywire and vice versa.

FLIP I had a lesson today, nice treat for the last day of classes. We went over a couple of the prejuv moves, five step and the dreaded 3s. The five step is actually going really well, though I need to remember where the long axis is in the rink. FI to BO 3 turns actually somewhat happened. I could at least attempt the turn, most of the time I came to a screeching halt but hey after 2 weeks I'm happy.

Then we did a little bit of freestyle...eventually getting to loop, back spin, and camel. OMGoodness I think I actually did a couple of loops with legit landings. This was out in the open too, I have been landing them forever as long as I am near the wall. (a very bad security blanket that I needed to move away from) On the first one, I think I actually scared myself on the landing. 8O

Back spin had some improvement, but again the body awareness thing. My arms just have a mind of their own sometimes.

Camel spin: I finally did one!! I finally did one that went more than half a rotation. Whee! The last one was really good so, Coach convinced me to try camel-sit, so I did my first combo spin today! :D I then showed her my halfhearted attempt at the camel-catch foot, another little trick I discovered and I actually caught it this time! It doesn't look like too much right now, but whee!!!!

FLOP The 3s are where my body awareness comment comes in. I do the forward turn and then it seems like my arms, legs, and head don't know where to go. I'm sure I'm a rather amusing sight to see right now. FO to BI are nonexistent. The FO turn is fine and then I just like to ride the BI edge right now.

[Skate@Delaware]

Flip: not skating related but I'm finished with this semester at school, grades will be posted on Monday.

Flop: show practice tonight....and our music was different! We had it nailed before but tonight it was all messed up! The director had re-cut it because his iPod died and he had no backup so, we got what we got which was also about :30 short....8O and so we were way off!

Major scrambling to figure out what to do! One of the girls was grumbling but we got her calmed down. Bottom line: when the music stops-pose!

We will work through it at tomorrow's dress rehearsal.

[Mel On Ice]

totally flopping: haven't skating much since before Thanksgiving and I'm supposed to compete in a month. I blame the holidays and the kid.

[CoachPA]

Any tips for pre-juv moves? I just started working on them last week. I think my nemesis move for this test will be figuring out the back 3s :frus: I have decent forward power pulls, (or so I think, coach hasn't seen them yet). The five step mohawk doesn't seem too daunting.

I just had two students take--and pass--this test between October and...well, today, so I can kind of relay briefly what the judges wrote on their test papers.

Both my students passed .2 over on the forward and backward power crossover stroking. The judges really seemed to like their even pace, deep lobes, and correct use of the inside edges on the forward extension and backward inside edge before the crossover. Good posture, minimal bouncing of the arms on the end pattern [crossovers], and proper use of the blade on all pushes, which will lead to excellent power and flow, is essential to scoring well on these elements.

In general, the biggest comment I've seen on both is that subcurves on the three-turns is a common error. Watch your placement and be aware of the edges that you are skating upon entering and exiting the turn to ensure that you have a solid, round, even lobe. Wobbles are not a good thing and will be noted by the judges. Also, be sure to place the three-turn in the correct spot; after all, the judges want to basically see three things in regard to these: 1.) that you know what a three-turn is; 2.) that you are able to skate the correct edges in and out of the turn; and 3.) that you know where the change of edge happens during the turn (obviously, that is at the top of the lobe...the cusp of the three-turn). If you can master those three points, you're doing well.

Powerpulls should be even and cover the ice well with strong flow. As RachelSk8er mentioned, deep knee bend is helpful, but don't forget to bend the ankles as well. Watch your posture; do not break at the hips. Avoid too much upper body (arms/shoulders) movement. Disasterous powerpulls often stem from an overrotation of the upper half against the lower body, which causes the skater to twist too much and have difficulty maintaining even inside and outside edge pulls.

Lastly, for the five-step mohawk sequence, try to keep that nice, even cadence mentioned in the rulebook. Remember that each step--five of them--has its own beat (1, 2, 3, 4, 5). Know which edges you are on on which step, and make sure that the mohawks (yes, there are essentially two of them per lobe: steps 1 to 2 and steps 3 to 4, which are inside to inside and outside to outside) are neat. Don't get sloppy with technique; bring the free foot into the skating foot's instep. Judges love this! Be careful not to bob or break at the waist upon each step and show off every single extension. You have a total of ten lobes with five extensions per lobe for a chance to demonstrate fifty fabulous extensions, so take advantage of that!

Pre-Juvenile MIF is a fun level. Good luck and enjoy the learning process! Feel free to PM me if you want more advice or whatnot about this level.

[antmanb]

I'm hoping for a flip session tonight after finally (more or less) feeling back to normal after the FLOP of the last few weeks in terms of injury:

Four weeks ago in my lesson i caught an edge coming out of a camel spin and fell, but somehow (perhaps the rotation from spinning) flipped around 360 degrees in the air and landed on both knees and one elbow. Right knee seemed to take the most force and was bruised badly on two opposite sides of the knee 8O :?:

Stuggled to walk for a a day or two and then the swelling went down and i was on the mend (but off the ice for well over a week) i slipped on mossy cobble stones round the edge of my house and went flying landing on the edge of a step with the small of my back....OUCH and more pain for a week, after which that old feeling of sciatica down the right side of my back/leg came back but nowhere near as bad as it has been in the past!

So finger toes and eyes crossed that i managed to get through the rest of the day without falling, tripping, slipping etc and actually make it to skate tonight!

Ant

[RachelSk8er]

totally flopping: haven't skating much since before Thanksgiving and I'm supposed to compete in a month. I blame the holidays and the kid.

I think your 9 month old having surgery is more than an acceptable excuse.

Did anyone else see that they want to do a test session at Wyandotte? That may be too soon for my junior moves considering the past 2 months, but now I'm motivated to get better and at least try to get the test back in shape....if I get a retry, there is just enough time between that and our next session here. (If I don't take it until Feb and don't pass, I'd have to wait until April right after ANs.)

[flying~camel]

My last practice/lesson was last Sunday (tonight's session is canceled due to the "blizzard" we are currently experiencing :roll:) but I'll report on it anyway!

Flip:

Lutzes!

It took me a little while to get my confidence built up on them but once I did they were HUGE! I'm slowly starting to get my consistency back on them so, hopefully, I'll be fully competition-ready by next season (and my coach and I made the decision to stay in Bronze 1 more year while I continue my recovery from the MG).

Silver/Pre-Juv MIF!

My coach thinks my cross-strokes, power pulls, spirals and CCW 8-step are passing quality. Now just have to put my focus on both sets of 3s and the CW 8-step. At this rate, I should be ready to test by spring!

Flop:

Sit-change sit

I think my muscles forgot how to do the switch to the back sit because I keep falling out of it! Argh! Guess I'm just going to have to keep at it!

Camels

As usual, my nemesis spin. The "sweeping the table" technique I learned as a teenager is KILLING me now and causing my left side to whip around before the rest of my body catches up! When I can control my left side, I can usually get a few revs out but that is sooooooooo inconsistent right now.

[doubletoe]

Camels
As usual, my nemesis spin. The "sweeping the table" technique I learned as a teenager is KILLING me now and causing my left side to whip around before the rest of my body catches up! When I can control my left side, I can usually get a few revs out but that is sooooooooo inconsistent right now.

Try really planting your spinning foot down onto the ice, bending your knee deeply, looking up and a little to the left and THEN simultaneously pushing into the entrance edge and sweeping with the left arm. I've had the exact same problem you're having, and taking that extra second to get my body positioned over my left side like that always fixes it! :)

[Skate@Delaware]

Flop: had dress rehearsal tonight and a lot of things went wrong:
1. our "too short" music from last night had suddenly reverted back to it's original form, making our "re-do" seem un-done....and once again, we improvised
2. Having a 3 minute piece in between numbers proved to be too short for one of our ladies and she was caught with her pants down-literally! She had to change from her guy costume to our synchro dress (it was under costume) but she was still taking off her boot covers, breeches, etc when the music started.....
3. Were told not even WATER in dressing room. Too bad backstage mom and I will have it out. I always bring water and a snack for plummeting blood sugar. She will have to get over it.
Skating director was having a meltdown-too many kids (about 50), not enough adults to corral them. I think next show he needs to have less LTS kids in the numbers unless there are adults working with them (a lot are dropped of by parents, then picked up later).

Flip: met the new rink manager who made some changes-ice is one of them! He dropped the compressor temp from 60 to 16 degrees! Wow no wonder it was so cold! Also, he sanitized the locker rooms (it hasn't been done in about a year). He has some other things in the works but he wouldn't say what they were. It should be good. I hope he lasts!

[antmanb]

Oh my goodness I managed to have another one of those dream sessions where (nearly!) everything works!

I'll start with the FLOP: After teh freak fall on a camel spin four weeks agp that resulting in hurt knee i'm scared of doing a camel spin - i don't commit to it so much and am finding that i'm spinning off the sweet spot and too much on my toe pick to ensure i don't fall off the back of the blade like i did when i fell. I guess that will take some time to get back but it will eventually.

FLIP

I managed to get all my three turns backwards and forwards done! The back ones aren't at any great speed, but i actually got the back insides done too! The LBI has been even scarier since the spin fall - epecially getting my weight far back enough to do the turn not force it!

Jumps went extremely well tonight. I'm actually getting lots of speed into and out of my toe-loop now - i've ben trying it by doing cross overs round the middle circle then aiming it towards the middle of the short side, stepping forward doing a couple more pushes and then doing it at some (for me anyway!) speed!

Loop on its own is ok but i can only do it really slowly, as soon as i try to speed it up I two foot it or chicken out, but in combination i can do it no problem so waltz+loop is fine, toe-loop+loop is fine too - better than on it's own.

Finally after a couple of warm up abortive attempts of the flip, i didn't miss a single one!! I had a couple of wonky landings but otherwise it was fine. I did loads of Flip+Toe-loops and then managed loads of Flip+Toe-loop+Loops as well which i was really proud of. Then Coach got that evil glint in her eye and suggested Flip+Loop. Now given that i've only just started "getting" the flip i though it was mean to expect me to land the flip with free leg in front but i said i'd have a go. The first one I tried i couldn't keep the free leg up, the second one i did i landed!!!! It was slow and cautious but i landed it! I then tried about another 5 times but couldn't do it - psychologically landing the flip with the free leg forward is too difficult!

Very happy that i had that session after not setting foot on theice for two weeks!

Ant

[Skate@Delaware]

Flip: Here is a link to a picture taken backstage while me and my friend Jean were messing around:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3525311&l=cd5f90b2ab&id=702251064

I need to work on my flexibility hahaha!

It took me a while to warm up once I got home, it was 22F this morning! I don't think the rink will be much warmer tonight (according to the new manager). I'm bringing my robe!

[tazsk8s]

Flip: Camel spin was a little better today. Biggest problem is that I rush the entry and don't get a good edge "hook". I did mange to "hook" one well enough that I actually got some speed on the spin...scared the doo-doo out of myself.

Tried a few camel/sits. Need to work on better hip flexibility, BUT I didn't fall over which is what usually happens when I try this one.

Loop and flip felt nice.

Flop: Lutz is toast again. I was feeling tired this morning and my timing was off, but still. This is getting ridiculous.

Skates need sharpening. It has been six months, BUT three of those were spent off the ice. Maybe that will help the lutz (she says wishfully).

Flipflop: (since I'm not really sure what to do with this one), we are going to work on the Pre-pre moves test next week. I need to build back up to moves slowly and with things I actually have a chance of succeeding on. Being grandfathered to Silver moves just plain did not work for me...after two retrys on the test (a couple of years ago) and a broken wrist, it's time to :giveup: for the time being and work on the underlying skills. Otherwise I will be stuck beating up on this test forever. I like the skill progression better on the standard track than I do for the adult track and will probably end up testing pre-pre, anyway. If nothing else, the skills should be well within my ability and make the test process a little less stressful.

[doubletoe]

Flip
My coach said my program run-through this morning was the best she's ever seen me skate with this program. :) I landed both axels, completed all 3 spins and the spiral sequence and basically skated a clean program except for the lutz-loop-loop (see "Flop").


Flop
Due to interference from another skater (who almost collided with me as I was setting up my lutz combination), I just did a lutz instead of the lutz-loop-loop.
Also, the landing of my first flip was pitched forward a little, which was disappointing because I landed it nicely in yesterday's run-through and I was looking forward to showing my coach how I'd fixed that bad habit on my flip landing. :roll:

Overall, this morning was a good confidence boost, though! :)

[Petlover]

Flip: Here is a link to a picture taken backstage while me and my friend Jean were messing around:

http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=3525311&l=cd5f90b2ab&id=702251064

I need to work on my flexibility hahaha!

It took me a while to warm up once I got home, it was 22F this morning! I don't think the rink will be much warmer tonight (according to the new manager). I'm bringing my robe!

Skate@Delaware, that is an awesome picture! I'm really impressed with your flexibility.

[PinkLaces]

Flip Worked on spins in my lesson. Once we corrected my dropping left arm, I was able to get some nice 3-4 rev camels. Worked on camel-sit and camel-backspins. Sit spins are getting lower. Scratch spins are getting more centered again.

Flop Had problems with the loop tonight and flip wasn't cooperating.

[Skate@Delaware]

Skate@Delaware, that is an awesome picture! I'm really impressed with your flexibility.
Thank you Petlover! I'm trying to catch up to Doubletoe!!!!!

Had our first night of ice show, it went very well except for the rink was freezing (ok enough of the JOKES)-the new manager dropped the compressor down a few degrees and the temperature of the rink went from a balmy 60F to 20F so now the ice is hard and the inside temp is barely warmer than outside!

Flip: Hit the freestyle session before the show so I could get a feel for the ice. Glad I did! Once I skated around a bit I did some jumps, which will take some getting used to on the harder ice but spins, wow! I did manage to hit a few that were more centered than before and two that were right on the money! Did some backspins that went on and on and on! Still having trouble exiting them, as the "lift and kick" method isn't sinking in as of yet...I sort of just stay in one spot.

Flop: it was cold...really, really, really cold! I put toe warmers into my skates (haven't had to do that in years) and spent most of the time in the locker room jumping around! Brrrrrr! Our routine was nice but the kickline was a little crooked and for our pinwheel one of the other ladies forgot where she was supposed to go so that got a bit messed up-she felt bad but no one else noticed and the number looked great anyway.

[phoenix]

Flip: Good lesson today; we mainly worked on partnering & I made some good fixes there.

Flop: In one section of the pattern, Coach now has me turning my head in the opposite way that he had originally taught me (for expression), and it screws me all up! Silly how such a small thing as looking in the other direction can make such a difference! I'm going to have to go drill that section over & over to get it put back together.

[RachelSk8er]

This thread title makes me think of being on a boat!!! I'm on a boat, I've got my flippy flopies....ha ha ha


Overall Meh:

Ankle hurt less, just a dull ache in the skate (and random weird sharp pains on occasion), foot still kept falling asleep so I had to stop/unlace. I can tell strength in my leg is back since I've been pretty active off the ice. I can hold edges (inside and outside) without pain or wobbling, and was doing 3-turns up and down the ice (both forward and backward inside and outside) on the bad ankle fine. Did a few loops and flips. I can now at least do forward scratch spins too (those were still not happening last time I tried skating 2 weeks ago). Can now do the step sequence in my program, at least the old version and not the beefed up version I put in my program for Buckeye. I was actually able to stroke with some power (forward and backward crossovers) at the beginning of the session. Worked on back spins, back sit is actually better than ever. Back camel is a tad wonky since I can't push into it like I want to, but when I hit it I'm actually getting more revs than I used to. Overall my speed is down but then again I'm not being very aggressive just yet.

Hoping to skate tomorrow and if not, then Monday. Goal for next practice is to start being more aggressive, see what patterns of Junior Moves I can do, and work on my other spins.

6 weeks to Wyandotte...

[dbny]

Flop:
I've suspended my ice dance lessons indefinitely. Hopefully, sometime in January or Feb, I'll be feeling stronger, and will be able to resume them. Meanwhile, I now have the energy to do justice to my moves/spin lessons.

Flip:
I had a great lesson Friday, after not having one for two weeks, and not practicing at all. One foot spin from a T push was on, and on and on..... I really just kept going and got more revs than every before. Coach and I both then thought of backspins, where I got 1.5 revs and I think I could have kept going, but freaked and pulled out of it. I'm still doing them at the wall. Maybe it's time to move away. I worked on FO and FI threes, as usual, with quite a bit of progress noted, but still not good enough checks for Prelim MIF, and still a bit of a chicken on the FI's. Finally, I wanted to do the Pre-Juv FI/BO threes. I have a student doing them at speed with just a tiny spot from me, and I want to do them too! My coach spotted me that same little bit and I did them, moving faster than I've ever done. They were fun!!! It amazes me how much teaching can help the teacher!

[Skate@Delaware]

Had our 2nd show, only one more (later today). I came home last night and fell over into bed, slept until 9.

flip: it was good, everything was nice, I added some waltz & salchow jumps to my one routine.

flop: our synchro routine was better for the part we messed up the first night, but the kick line was was crooked-grrrr! Oh well, we have tonight to get it right. We are going to get together earlier and practice (again) but that's only helpful if everyone shows up early to practice (which we haven't gotten a lot of so it really shows in things like precision work).

Once this is over that's pretty much it for me and group activities at my home rink-no group classes or shows because of my school schedule. I had to drop this part, but no way am I dropping my private lessons!

[AgnesNitt]

So I set up a lesson with my new coach for Sunday. Saturday, I get a call from the pro shop that my new boots are in and I go pick them up with the intention of skating in them for a half hour before I put on my old boots prior to lesson.
So Sunday I go in for my first lesson with new coach. Due to a traffic accident ahead of me I am delayed for an hour and have no time to warm up. We go with the new boots for the lesson.

Flops: No Power
Flips: I can do T stops even with fresh sharpening!
Flips: I can still do respectable crossovers! (Remember-have only skated 4 times in the last 7 months due to broken ankle recovery)
Flips: I still have my edges! Forward serpentine looks okay.
Flops: Oof, do my feet hurt!

[phoenix]

Flop: New gym trainer continuing in her quest to kill me. Yesterday we did 1/2 hour of lower body work, lots of various weight machines, squats, lunges, etc. It was challenging, but didn't feel too bad.....until this morning when I awoke to find that I could hardly walk!! Owwwwww! I wanted nothing but to stay on the couch w/ a heating pad, but had to teach for an hour. I'd planned to practice an hour too, but that was so not happening. So I went in, and paid for 1/2 hour of ice, thinking that at least I'd see if I could move enough to make it worthwhile to show up for my lesson tomorrow.

Flip!! While clumsy & slow, I could skate! And after a sufficient warmup, I went for it & put my Paso music on--and got through two patterns, on time!! And then, did it again later in the session!! Now, granted, it was total crap, but if I can get through that dance when I'm crippled, then there's no reason why I can't rock that dance on a day when I have energy and am not in severe pain. That was a very good confidence builder for me; I'm very proud of myself! :D

[Skate@Delaware]

Agnes, that is good news! I'm glad things are finally going your way. Now go soak your feet!

Flip: Last show, it's done. For some reason the last show is always the most fun. During our cast call we weren't supposed to do anything besides "skate" but I did a lunge and a spiral. I figured-WTH, it's my last show for possibly 2 years.

Flop: Yeah, it's my last show for possibly 2 years (or until I'm done with school because I hear clinicals are a bear).

Flip: we had a wonderful time after at dinner. Unfortunately, it was only a few of us-no cast party due to some people at the rink and their cliches not getting along with the new management (too long to get into here). We had a long dinner over great food and it was so nice to relax!

[PinkLaces]

This is for Saturday - group lesson at seasonal rink.

Flip Group coach was pleasantly surprised with first camel I did as she had never seen me do one before. She got it polished up so that i was consistently doing 3-4 revs. Got some nice compliments from my fellow adults and even my DD :) This coach is the only one that can seem to fix my flip when it has problems. Got some nice high ones.

Flop Scratch spin is still traveling although I was getting some spiral-graph type patterns in the end. Frustrating, because this is usually very good and centered. Didn't get a lot of practicing done, because the FS1 & 2 girls always come over and want to show me stuff. :lol: Oh, well.

Flip-Flop Depending on how this turns out. DD & I have been talked into doing a family spotlight for our home rink ISI Competition. We are going to do a play on the Evolution of Dance. DD is busy making up the choreography.

[londonicechamp]

This is for last week's lesson.

Thursday:

Flop
Still school holidays in Singapore. Loads of kids in the rink, as my lesson time was in mid afternoon. 8O

Scratch spin: coach taught me from outside 3 turns and then one backward crossovers. For some unknown reason, the first fews were not cooperating, not until the last two. :roll: This does not help, by two hockey skates teenagers going into my lesson area, and my coach basically had to shout at these guys. :!:

Back pivot: had a tendency to push my blade backwards. Eventually got it corrected by coach.

Flip
Basic stroking added in arms posture. Confusing at first, as opposite leg, opposite arm movement. After about 2 tries, got it in the end.

Liked the 3 forward lemons and then 3 slaloms as warm ups before getting serious into the lesson. :lol: Later on also added in arms movements, but just for the 3 forward lemons. Quite fun. :)

Forward and backward crossovers: coach said that I am getting more power and speed now. Problems only occur when asked me to add it into a jump or spin, so working on that a lot during the lesson (with jumps and spins).

Change foot spin: Backspin- needed to remember the leg is out in front, not to the back (unintentionlly do it sometimes). Not too bad, managed about maybe 5 to 7 revolutions in the last scratch spin.

Half loop: corrected my jump, as I thought that after the jump on the left leg, the second one was a second jump, whereas it was a landing position. Once coach told me where I went wrong, I could do the jump and the landing. When added in arms position, I got confused, as hands tend to be not in the landing position even when I finished the jump (should this go to the flop bit?)

Before my lesson, a middle age lady came up, said to me that I have improved a lot in my skating. She was only in maybe FS level 1, as working on two foot spins. I have not seen that lady since September some time. That gave me some kind of confidence boost. :D

Friday

Flop

Coach tried to teach me inside and outside brackets. Somewhere there, but not quite. Needed the help of cones on ice, so that I know what the move actually is. Well, never learnt this before, so takes time getting used to.

Also worked on the FS level 3 dance step sequence. Always got stuck on the step swing and inside mohawk on the left leg. As always put leg down, does not know what the next step would be. Needed to work on it more during practice.

Worked on backward spirals, on my stronger leg (the left leg). Coach said that the left leg was low enough, but still a bit bent. So suggested that I did those stretches in the backward spirals off ice at home, when I was watching tv.

Flip

Forward and backward crossovers: coach happy that they are now with more speed and power.

Toe loop: jump is getting better. Landing position is there.

Salchow: worked on holding the 3 turn longer, before the jump. Also worked on the landing position.

Back pivot: did it nicely. No pushing of the toe anymore.

Change foot spin: with proper 3 turns and backward crossovers. Could do scratch spins, with 1 revolution before crossing the leg. Back to the normal good days, for this spin again, I would say.

Scratch spin: good spins as well. Worked on the landing position, needed to hold the leg straight. :lol:

Finally finished all the FS level 3 stuff. Can start working on FS level 4 stuff soon, I hope.

Coach reminded me to book next course of lessons early with her, before my current course finishes, as a lot of her kids students thinking of asking extra lessons from her. I better do that tomorrow, when I go for skating practice.

[Laura H]

Had the rink's "winter" show last night and it was a definite FLIP as far as I was concerned!! Our adult number went well, no major hitches and seemed to be over with in a flash! I also did a solo number in the 2nd half of the show and it was so much fun . . . seriously, my best skate ever, not necessary because of the difficulty (I think waltz-toe loop combo was probably the hardest thing, unless you count the Bauer at the end) but it was just FUN . . . I skated to the "Grinch" music!! Got a lot of raised eyebrows from "the moms" whenever they would hear what I was skating to, but I loved it. Stayed relaxed and got to ham it up to the music and all.

DS wowed the crowd with his funky "Boogie Woogie Santa Claus" routine (picture white suit, red shirt, Santa hat and sunglasses!). The music is by Brian Setzer Orchestra - really fun to skate to. And he REALLY hammed it up (He's been catching lots of flack because he also started playing hockey this year -people seem to be unable to understand you can do both! so I was really happy he had such a good skate.)

[Skate@Delaware]

Had the rink's "winter" show last night and it was a definite FLIP as far as I was concerned!! Our adult number went well, no major hitches and seemed to be over with in a flash! I also did a solo number in the 2nd half of the show and it was so much fun . . . seriously, my best skate ever, not necessary because of the difficulty (I think waltz-toe loop combo was probably the hardest thing, unless you count the Bauer at the end) but it was just FUN . . . I skated to the "Grinch" music!! Got a lot of raised eyebrows from "the moms" whenever they would hear what I was skating to, but I loved it. Stayed relaxed and got to ham it up to the music and all.

DS wowed the crowd with his funky "Boogie Woogie Santa Claus" routine (picture white suit, red shirt, Santa hat and sunglasses!). The music is by Brian Setzer Orchestra - really fun to skate to. And he REALLY hammed it up (He's been catching lots of flack because he also started playing hockey this year -people seem to be unable to understand you can do both! so I was really happy he had such a good skate.)
Laura, that sounds so great! I'm sick to death of "those" rink moms..... We have one girl at my rink that is just starting her doubles who is also a phenomenal hockey player! The rink moms don't like her because of it, but hockey can be such a beautiful sport, and it's great for footwork. I love hockey!!! (I'm going to a Philly Flyers game thursday at the Wachovia Center).

[dance2sk8]

Flip: Lesson on Saturday with my coach. It went really well! Got some new foot work to possibly add to my program for Wyandotte. So, practiced that. Had some really nice spins for the lesson. Even got into a camel spin/sit spin combo!! Ohhhh yeeeah, here I come! I hope I can do this for my program.

My mom came into town and got to see me skate. I was really nervous but considering, I relaxed and skated the best I have in a while! Even got some really nice camel spins into a camel catch and did more than 3 revs! Worked on my flip jump a little, got really nice height on my loop jumps and now am starting to cover some ground for my jumps. My ankle is almost back to normal. Almost. ;)

Had some great back spins! I am now crossing my leg and bringing my arms in. Now to work on not traveling when I enter the spin. :D

Surprisingly no real flops to report. Maybe a little bit of traveling on my scratch spins, but that's about it.

[RachelSk8er]

Flip: Lesson on Saturday with my coach. It went really well! Got some new foot work to possibly add to my program for Wyandotte. So, practiced that. Had some really nice spins for the lesson. Even got into a camel spin/sit spin combo!! Ohhhh yeeeah, here I come! I hope I can do this for my program.



Yay I'll be at Wyandotte too! I only signed up for Silver I free and pre-silver/silver solo dance. Skipping masters interp at least for this competition. I'm still not nearly back to myself yet on the ice and don't want to sign up for too much. Interp and then 3 dances back to back to back an hour later (with freestyle luckily not until the next day) was a lot last year when I was not coming off of injury.

[Isk8NYC]

Flip: Had my skates sharpened (3/8" ROH, $8:!:) - hope that tides me over on the ice for a bit.

Flipped: Ordered Jackson boots so that I can have a working pair of freestyle skates. Measured at a 7.5 E 8O Hope they come in for Christmas.

Flip Flopped: Didn't order new blades since I probably have a pair the right size in my garage. (I sympathize with pro shops - inventory IS expensive!)

[Laura H]

Laura, that sounds so great! I'm sick to death of "those" rink moms..... We have one girl at my rink that is just starting her doubles who is also a phenomenal hockey player! The rink moms don't like her because of it, but hockey can be such a beautiful sport, and it's great for footwork. I love hockey!!! (I'm going to a Philly Flyers game thursday at the Wachovia Center).


Bizarrely enough, I don't think the other hockey kids care, and 2 of the hockey coaches have seen DS skate in figure skating comps/shows and have been VERY complimentary. It certainly doesn't work in reverse though!! (we do have this whole extreme "figure skating VS hockey" dynamic at our rink, though. Since we have BOTH in our family, I try not to go down that road, personally. And I really have learned to enjoy hockey, well, except for the smell of the equipment, LOL. :giveup:).

[Skate@Delaware]

Bizarrely enough, I don't think the other hockey kids care, and 2 of the hockey coaches have seen DS skate in figure skating comps/shows and have been VERY complimentary. It certainly doesn't work in reverse though!! (we do have this whole extreme "figure skating VS hockey" dynamic at our rink, though. Since we have BOTH in our family, I try not to go down that road, personally. And I really have learned to enjoy hockey, well, except for the smell of the equipment, LOL. :giveup:).
The odor seems to be a badge of "honor" best (and only) appreciated by hockey players LOL!

[flying~camel]

Yay I'll be at Wyandotte too!

Me, too! I'll be doing Adult Interp A/D class I! No freestyle for me this year, as I'm still working on getting my jumps & spins back consistently!

[phoenix]

Flip: OMG, my lesson was great today!! My legs are still super sore, so I came extra early to give myself time to slowly warm up, and was very careful in the warmup to not use up too much energy.

And I totally rocked my lesson! By then, my legs were warm & not hurting at all, and I did multiple patterns of the Paso w/ music, and coach was smiling!! (those of you who know him know that a smiling coach is a BIG deal!). After the first run through, he said, "It's on time! I'm suprised!" And when I said I'd been working on it, he said, "It looks like you've been working very hard on it!" Ahhh, such sweet words. :) :)

I also got the Russian word for "very good/excellent", which I get like 3 times a year, so it just doesn't get any better than that.

flip > flip > flip > flip > flip > flip > flip > flip > flip > flip > flip > flip > flip > flip

[techskater]

Me, too! I'll be doing Adult Interp A/D class I! No freestyle for me this year, as I'm still working on getting my jumps & spins back consistently!

I'll be at Wyandotte - Gold FS and Masters A/D Interp (going to try out a new one we're choreographing, oh, this week!)

[Skate@Delaware]

Flop: I'm suffering from post-ice show depression.....I will get some treatment when I skate on Wednesday night's freestyle session, but it's the realization that this was my last show for a year (or two) that has me bummed out. I'll be ok. I'm thinking maybe I can squeeze in a competition next year to compensate. Anyway, I do have a test session to find between now and June......

Flip: My body is mostly recovered from the ice show; man was I tired!

[dance2sk8]

Yay I'll be at Wyandotte too! I only signed up for Silver I free and pre-silver/silver solo dance. Skipping masters interp at least for this competition. I'm still not nearly back to myself yet on the ice and don't want to sign up for too much. Interp and then 3 dances back to back to back an hour later (with freestyle luckily not until the next day) was a lot last year when I was not coming off of injury.

Sweet!! We'll have to meet or something. ;)

FLIP: I did :: gasp :: a change foot spin, and it was awesome!!! I had speed and pushed into a back spin. I couldn't believe how well it went!!! Did it a couple of times, too.

Back spins are now becoming more centered and I am finding them easier to get into it. Holy crap!!! Eeeeeee!!!

Working on some footwork for my program. I can't wait to compete. Hoping I can keep myself composed the way I did in track and field. Don't be offended if I don't talk to anyone before my program. I get wrapped up in my own world with head phones on and work on getting into a certain mental state. Mwahahahhaaa :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

Me = Competitive.

[Skate@Delaware]

Sweet!! We'll have to meet or something. ;)

FLIP: I did :: gasp :: a change foot spin, and it was awesome!!! I had speed and pushed into a back spin. I couldn't believe how well it went!!! Did it a couple of times, too.

Back spins are now becoming more centered and I am finding them easier to get into it. Holy crap!!! Eeeeeee!!!

Working on some footwork for my program. I can't wait to compete. Hoping I can keep myself composed the way I did in track and field. Don't be offended if I don't talk to anyone before my program. I get wrapped up in my own world with head phones on and work on getting into a certain mental state. Mwahahahhaaa :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

Me = Competitive.
LOVE IT!!! You sound like a TYPICAL SKATER!!! :lol:

[dance2sk8]

LOVE IT!!! You sound like a TYPICAL SKATER!!! :lol:

Hehehe, thanks. I am COMPLETELY ADDICTED to figure skating. Its a blast and I love everything about it.

[PinkLaces]

Skated twice yesterday. The snow and slow traffic only gave me a 1/2 hour to skate - that's barely enough for a warm-up. When DD had practice, I signed on to one of her sessions.

Flip It's amazing how much easier Bronze Moves are with the new blades. Coach has me run through them as warm-up on every practice session. Had some scratch spins that were centered. Wahoo! The hardest part of adjusting to these new blades has been the spinning. The backspin is coming back. If I get the arms right, the rest follows. I can get the h position, but not quite to d yet. Loops from the 3 were good and even got a few from back cross-overs.

Flop Flip. I know what I'm doing wrong, but still keep doing it. Putting my foot down. It's all mental and I'm not sure how to crack that. Sit spins were traveling wildly.

[Skate@Delaware]

Flop Flip. I know what I'm doing wrong, but still keep doing it. Putting my foot down. It's all mental and I'm not sure how to crack that. Sit spins were traveling wildly.
I did that on the loop jump at it was a matter of me just doing it over and over on and off-ice before I finally got it without putting my foot down.

[PinkLaces]

I did that on the loop jump at it was a matter of me just doing it over and over on and off-ice before I finally got it without putting my foot down.

Glad to know it eventually comes. I'll just keep at it both on ice and in my kitchen 8-)

[tazsk8s]

Flip:

Discovered that the village where I work has installed a small, temporary outdoor rink RIGHT ACROSS THE STREET from work. It's awfully cold out today and I'm busy anyway, but I'll have to bring skates and sweat pants with me tomorrow to investigate further at lunchtime.

[Skate@Delaware]

Flip: hit the freestyle session today to get moving....the rink wasn't as cold as it had been. Backspins were nice.

Flop: scratch spins were yucky (as usual), could not seem to get the "snap" on the free leg for the sit spin, and I'm still struggling for height on the loop. I did try "kicking" my free leg UP which helped, but eh, I don't know. I take off & rotate...then land it about a hand's width (if that far) away from the takeoff point.

[tazsk8s]

Flop:

Dragged my skates and sweat pants with the intention of skating on the little rink across the street from work, only to find it's not open yet. It looked plenty frozen to me, but there was still a sign saying "freezing in progress, keep off the ice." :x

[Kim to the Max]

Flip:

*Moves are feeling better and better...MUST work on outside rockers...if I can remember what I'm SUPPOSED to be doing :roll: Testing January 16th...we'll see how this going because of course, that Thursday/Friday are 2 of my busy work days where I need to work into the evening. So, hopefully I won't need any last minute EXTRA help.

*Coach and I worked on axels today and making them bigger :) I am still not crossing my feet which is :frus:

*We worked on fixing my 2 sal since I tend to kick through with my heel and not my toe...started feeling different by the end!

*We then did 2 toe and made some corrections there and now I just need to start landing the thing! My rotation is getting closer.

*Finally, for $#*@s and giggles, coach had me try some 2 flips 8O :lol: I need to not be scared to pull in which is what I think the issue is, but I was able to get an extra 1/2 rotation which for me, for the first time working on a jump is pretty good. After my lesson I did a ton of singles to work out the timing (1, 1, AND 1) and they were HUGE! at least it gives me something new to get frustrated about :)

Flop:
*Axel/half loop/double sal - it's just not happening. I hate half loops and I lose so much speed on them even when I'm just doing waltz/half loop/2 sal. ugh!

*I'm so ticked - every single rink around here that normally has ice appears to have NO ice between x-mas and New Years...I have that week off from work and get back from Milwaukee on the night of the 28th and have nothing to do but SKATE and I can't even do that!! BOOOOOOOOOOO!

[phoenix]

Flip:

*I'm so ticked - every single rink around here that normally has ice appears to have NO ice between x-mas and New Years...I have that week off from work and get back from Milwaukee on the night of the 28th and have nothing to do but SKATE and I can't even do that!! BOOOOOOOOOOO!

Stay in Milwaukee--we have lots of extra ice that week!! :halo:

[Kim to the Max]

Stay in Milwaukee--we have lots of extra ice that week!! :halo:

I would, but my mother may not survive that long of a stay.... :halo:

I'm hoping to get to the Pettit on x-mas eve (went last year and it was wonderfully QUIET!!) so that I can get some moves practice in (the diagonal patterns would be impossible on some of the sessions I have been on at the Pettit!! And then perhaps Saturday or Sunday morning and some sessions on Monday. I need to have my yearly update with one of the coaches there (who also coaches with the Greater Milwaukee FSC).

I have figured out an alternative since the vast majority of rinks (minus 1!) don't have ice - I have a friend who lives in Cleveland and skates at Winterhurst, so I can travel down there to visit her and she will actually come back to Syracuse with me to help with the synchro team's bootcamp.

Decisions, decisions!! Because I could just stay here and skate a few days at the 1 rink that has ice...

[antmanb]

FLIP

Made it to patch at local rink for practice. I've not skated here since the summer, and this rink is FREEZING cold in the winter. The ice has hard as rock. Despite this i managed to get some shakey spins out (still abit scared from fall a few weeks ago)

Landed all my jumps included a shaky and cheated Flip+Loop.

Overall was a good practice but after 45mins I was done with the cold in the rink.

Yesterday went to normal rink for a lesson and the jumps were all still there. managed several waltz+half-loop+flip+Toe+Loop sequences which felt great. The loop is fine at speed so long as there's anotehr jump in front of it. As a solo jump at speed i two foot it or simply land on the other foot. I think it's a symptom of rotating first then jumping rather than jumping then rotating.

Flop

Coach tried to teach me a split jump! Firstly split jump???? My legs can barely make a 90 degree angle let alone a split! Still it was fun to walk through and apparently my attempts to "split" my legs is one of the funniest things my coach has ever seen. To be fair it felt very funny to me too so undoubtedly we will have lots of fun with this in the new year!

Ant

[tazsk8s]

Flop-er-oo:

Walked across the street at lunch, looked at ice, looked plenty frozen to me.

Laced up skates, took off hard guards, stepped on ice.

*****>>>>CRAAAAAACCCCKKKKK<<<<*****

Saw a little bit of water oozing up around the edges. Got off of there as fast as I could.

Guess it's not quite ready yet after all. :??

ETA: signs have been changed from yesterday's "keep off" to a sign listing the hours and rules, so it isn't like I was being entirely stupid and ignoring anything...

[flying~camel]

Flip:

Lutzes! I landed 2 clean last night, which is a HUGE feat for me because I'm usually pretty lethargic when I skate after work (ever since I developed MG).

FO-BI 3s! I actually skated 2 out of 2 clean patterns of these. :)

Flying camels! I had some great snaps on the jump over and even did one that was 4+ revs! Let's see if I can repeat it during my next lesson!

Flop:

FI-BO 3s. My LFI and LBO 3s suck pretty bad. It's that whole turning-in-the-opposite-direction thing that's getting those bunged. Ah well, at least I'm 1/2 way there!

Flips (ironically). While I was landing them clean, I was either slamming my tow pick in (subsequently taking out huge chunks of ice) or just not getting much height.

[Isk8NYC]

Flop-er-oo:

Walked across the street at lunch, looked at ice, looked plenty frozen to me.

Laced up skates, took off hard guards, stepped on ice.

*****>>>>CRAAAAAACCCCKKKKK<<<<*****

Saw a little bit of water oozing up around the edges. Got off of there as fast as I could.

Guess it's not quite ready yet after all. :??

ETA: signs have been changed from yesterday's "keep off" to a sign listing the hours and rules, so it isn't like I was being entirely stupid and ignoring anything...
Is this a natural rink or do they have a cooling system? All outdoor ice tends to melt a little as the sun hits it/temps rise, so it may not have been as thin as you think. The ice is usually thicker in the middle. How deep could it be?

[tazsk8s]

Is this a natural rink or do they have a cooling system? All outdoor ice tends to melt a little as the sun hits it/temps rise, so it may not have been as thin as you think. The ice is usually thicker in the middle. How deep could it be?

It doesn't have a cooling system. It's one of those deals where they build walls maybe 15-18" high, install a plastic liner, and fill it with water and let it freeze. The ground where it is isn't exactly level, so it looked like the ice was maybe 5 to 6" on one end, and closer to 10" on the other. Our outside temps were close to 0 the day they set it up (Tuesday I think), but it's been gradually warming up all week and today was a few degrees above freezing for sure. If nothing else it was NOT worth risking the embarassment of having to go back to my office wearing soaking wet clothes.:lol:

[Kat12]

Flop:
Today was my last class for a while. We are coming to the end of our initial 10 weeks, which means we're done with the bridge class and now need to buy ice and instruction separately. I've been hit pretty hard by bills for the past couple months--and my car insurance keeps trying to overcharge me--so paying about $130 for a punch card is not good right now, nor probably paying the coach. I could do it if I dipped into my savings, but I might already have to do that just to be able to buy Christmas presents and pay the speeding ticket I just got (long story) and I don't want to push my luck. I'm really sad, and I'm going to miss the rink buddies as much as the skating, and am sad that only one of them was at class with me tonight, but we'll try to keep in touch and some of us also might see each other at the home rink on Sundays. I would like to go back as soon as the wolf is not quite so close to the door. But I'm evaluating whether I should go back to this class, or the one at DSC. The issue is price. A month of classes at DSC cost me I think $56/month. I've figured that this class will cost me $94/month (our price has gone up now that we're out of the bridge program). So, I dunno. :( I keep wish I could think of some smart idea to trade some sort of service to the club for ice time (I'm good at all sorts of administrative stuff), and then I'd only have to pay for class and I could probably swing that, but I suppose even if they had something I could do, they probably wouldn't let me, lest other people want to do the same thing...

Also, waltz jumps sorta sucked.

Flip:
I SPUN!!! I really did! Okay, only for a few revs, but it was like a real spin, unlike previous pathetic attempts. I'm so excited. Naturally I couldn't quite replicate it during our practice time after the lesson time, but at least I know I can DO it!

Spirals felt nice too. It really makes the difference to feel like I have the room to do them...just working out outside spirals right now (and the left-foot-as-skating-foot one is much better) and inside can come a bit later. Catch-foot only so-so, though.

[dbny]

I SPUN!!! I really did! Okay, only for a few revs, but it was like a real spin, unlike previous pathetic attempts. I'm so excited. Naturally I couldn't quite replicate it during our practice time after the lesson time, but at least I know I can DO it!

Congratulations! Maybe it's something in the air, because all of a sudden my spins are really happening, every time!

Flip:
I only did 4 one foot spins today and every one was really good, with two of them going on until I was too dizzy to continue and had to exit, and even the exits were in control. My coach was really impressed & pleased. Then we went on to backspins and I did several more 1.5 revs, but I still get freaked and bail. I'm working on weaning myself from the wall. I'm checking FO threes better, but still not quite enough. Did one lenght of LFI/RBO threes with a spot from coach, and then we worked on holding the BO edge in a very strong position for the turn. They were playing Christmas music today, and it really energized me - just a lot of fun being on the ice! I played around with F & B cross rolls, X behinds, power pulls, etc, all in time to whatever was playing.

Flop:
I am soooo phobic of FI threes, yet again!

[PinkLaces]

Flop My whole lesson on Tuesday. I seriously felt like a should quit, because coach was unhappy with everything. I was getting a total "you suck" vibe from her. She is competitive and was hoping I'd have the flip consistent by now. She wants to put it in my program for the competition at the end of January. It also didn't help that we had no Friday ice so no lesson.

Flip Group lesson at seasonal rink this morning. Just friend B & I - last week there were 4 of us. Worked on flip and it is high, but I am putting the foot down. Worked on camel. Had some good ones when I didn't rush to pop up. I even added on the backspin to them and it was pretty good. Sit spin was good too. Scratch spins are back to being centered. Yea!

Flop Tried lutzes and I have a mental block about rotating.

[RachelSk8er]

Flip:
I'd like to give a huge "welcome back" to my lutz and flying camel.

Obviously my lutz isn't as good as it was pre-injury (holy crap my lutzes got so good before I was hurt, they were awesome at Peach in August). But I can now hold a steady LBO edge long enough to at least do it. I tried 2 or 3 (can't remember). Ultimately it was probably flutzed, technique sucked, but at least I can start working on it again.

Only tried one flying camel. It was cheated (the LFO edge into it makes me nervous post-injury) and the jump wasn't very aggressive, but I actually got into a back camel that I was able to hold.

Also did 3 clean flip jumps, 2 of which were really solid.

Loops were pretty good today too, that was the first jump I was able to get back and I did a bunch of them today and they were stronger than a few weeks ago now that I'm not afraid of falling/hurting myself again. Even did one loop-loop (first combo post-injury).

Since back spins have been the only spins I could really do up until now, my back sit is stronger than ever. I'm actually confident with it enough now that I might switch my sit-back sit in my program to a back sit-forward sit. I did one of those today (first and only sit spin post injury) and it was good.

I did some good back camels today, too.

Quasi-ran my program, as in I left out all the jumps except for one flip, and all of the spins.

Also was able to do a forward scratch without pain, so I plan to try and do some work on sit spins, camels and laybacks next time I skate.

I start lessons with my coach again on Wednesday :)

Flop:

Still keep having to get off and take my left skate off every 20 min or so because my foot either starts to hurt or falls asleep. And deep edges on the L foot are still a little painful. Tried the rockers on JR moves and those are still a no-go.

[dbny]

Flop My whole lesson on Tuesday. I seriously felt like a should quit, because coach was unhappy with everything. I was getting a total "you suck" vibe from her. She is competitive and was hoping I'd have the flip consistent by now.

Is it possible that you would do better with a different coach? I know that I need a coach who is relentlessly positive, because I have more than enough negativity on my own. IMO, a coach should always be encouraging and never discouraging. I try to do that with my own students and would bolt in a minute if I got discouragement from my coach. Also, is it possible for you to discuss it with her; let her know that you work better with encouragement.

[katz in boots]

Flip
Good skate yesterday, spins & jumps worked and felt pretty good.
Even though I haven't been able to work on fwd camels for some time due to a muscle injury, tried one and it was surprisingly good.

Flop
Not so good today. Spins weren't as good and jumps weren't happening. Couldn't do loops today for some reason and only managed one decent flip, the rest were definitely flops.

Today was my last skate for the year. The rink closes now until 11 Jan. Sigh! :cry:

[Skate@Delaware]

Flop: no skating today-both rinks are closed due to the snow! Delaware is still in a "state of emergency" which means-keep off the roads!!!! It's ok, I am sore from shoveling out my super-long driveway, and I still need to get the tree down (after the furniture is re-arranged to accommodate it) and the decorations up!!!!!

[londonicechamp]

This is for my lesson last Thursday and Friday.

Thursday

Flip

Coach was pretty happy with my change foot spin. Said that everything was good, with the exception that my last scratch spin was travelling a bit.

Coach finally had me worked on the sit spin. Did not get down low at the beginning. So coach had me do little man and teapots, to see how low my right leg can actually go. Coach used her mobile phone camera to take a video of me, of when I get down low and when I get down not so low. Coach finally said that I could start practising on the sit spin. :lol:

Half loop: the jump is there, but needs to be higher. Actually during practice, I kind of feel the jump, as when I jumped the right way, I could feel the bit of height. :) But coach still wanted my jump to be higher.

Scratch spin: I could not stop beyond at least 8 revolutions. Might be coz I practise this spin every time I was at the rink. 8-)

Flop

Coach tried to teach me the proper way of doing an alternating 3 turn, just does not seem to get it, something to do with the wider feet push, which most ballet students would be able to get it, according to her. :roll:

Lost a bit of confidence after falling over on ice one time, after trying to do the sit spin low. After lesson, practised on loads of them. Tried to get down low and stayed there, and managed 5 falls. Result: a sore bum the next day.:cry:

Backspin: Still could not get past the 1 revolution.

Friday

Flip

I was at the rink early for practise as had lesson at 5:30 p.m. Lucky that I showed up early, as coach started my lesson 10 minutes early, due to a non show up of her student and that another one of her students showed up very late for the lesson.

Learnt forward outside power 3s. Eventually got it, and found it fun.

Sit spin: finally coach said that she could see that I have been practising hard on them, now I can stay down low, the most important thing is to keep down low, coach kept on shouting 'down, down' to me when I was doing the sit spin in the lesson. 8-)

Backspin: coach said that now I have the speed, what I need is a quicker snap action, so that I could have more than 1 revolution.

Forward and backward crossovers: very steady and powerful. Needs to keep working on them.

Scratch spin: still could not stop beyond 6 to 8 revolutions. My mom and hubby turned up towards the end of my lesson and practise. My hubby said that he felt dizzy looking at me practising the spins, and my mom said that I seem to be getting lower in my sit spin, though still can go lower. :D

Back 3s: get the hang of it. Okay. Found that I practised better on them when I was doing a double 3. No idea why though.

Flop

Did not get the forward outside power 3s at the start when my coach was teaching it to me. Finally got it. Rink was too crowded due to the school hols, so I could not fully utilise the rink. :frus: (Please see my separate post on forward spin entry hell.)

Half loop: needs to work on the rotation, the jump is still not high enough.

Sit spin: when attempting to go down low, the right boot blade caught the ice, so I dived forwards. I felt the pain, but not too bad, continued with my lesson, and about 30 minutes practise. Discovered after I arrived home that I had a big bruise and minor cuts on both knees. Rubbed my mom's deep heat oil on the injury area, seemed to be getting better.

Worked on ISI freestyle 3 dance step sequence. Not sure if I was doing the swing and the left leg mohawk position correctly. Hopefully I was.

Though I went for practise on Tuesday late afternoon, as most of the stuff are the same as what I did during my lesson and practise, so I won't put them down here again, for the sake of repetition.

I did have two nice flops during Tuesday's practise.

1.) Some teenagers at the side of the rink saw me doing a scratch spin, asked me to repeat the spin again, and asked me if the spin was a trick. :D:D:

2.) Another student of my coach asked me how many lessons I have within a week, and if I am preparing for next week's ISI freestyle testing. :) Another random skater said that she would follow me to do the crossovers, in the circle where I was practising. 8-)

I saw that someone mention about a spun in ice skating. What is that? ;)

Out of fun, my hubby said that he hopes that one day he can invent some kind of machine, so that us the ice skaters will be able to know whether we are doing the spins correctly, and whether our sit spin is low enough, haha. :o

[RachelSk8er]

Flop My whole lesson on Tuesday. I seriously felt like a should quit, because coach was unhappy with everything. I was getting a total "you suck" vibe from her. She is competitive and was hoping I'd have the flip consistent by now. She wants to put it in my program for the competition at the end of January. It also didn't help that we had no Friday ice so no lesson.


Was your coach seriously throwing off a "you suck" vibe, or was she just frustrated because she knows you were having a bad day or that you have the ability to get your flip consistent and it'ts just not happening? My coach and I both get frustrated over my axel (it's so close, but I scrape the free foot down and won't just suck it up and land it, so we're both pounding our heads against a wall :frus:). And normally I'm his first skater of the day, but some days I get to him in the afternoon and he's not in the best mood to begin with because some of the kids he works with during the day are really bratty.

[dance2sk8]

...but some days I get to him in the afternoon and he's not in the best mood to begin with because some of the kids he works with during the day are really bratty.

Hahaaa! Bratty kids! What are you talking about? At an ice rink, there really are bratty kids??????! :lol:

Sorry, I'm being a brat now. ;)

[PinkLaces]

Was your coach seriously throwing off a "you suck" vibe, or was she just frustrated because she knows you were having a bad day or that you have the ability to get your flip consistent and it'ts just not happening? My coach and I both get frustrated over my axel (it's so close, but I scrape the free foot down and won't just suck it up and land it, so we're both pounding our heads against a wall :frus:). And normally I'm his first skater of the day, but some days I get to him in the afternoon and he's not in the best mood to begin with because some of the kids he works with during the day are really bratty.

Yeah, I think it was more frustration over the flip. She is tough (which I like - most days ;) ) and wants good technique. We have been working on this quite awhile and we have sometimes have communication issues over it. The group coach on Saturdays explains what I'm doing wrong much better.

She is also my DD's coach and one of thing that I always liked about her was her positive attitude and who cares where you place as long as you skate your best. It still applies to DD, but she has made a few comment to me about not wanting me to place last in a my first competition (the end of Jan).

Also she put us (me & DD) in the middle of a drama between her and another skater (DD's friend) and her mom. Coach broke off coaching relationship with this girl due to comments the mom said during a test session. Mom didn't think her DD was ready to test and was upset that her DD was not doing well. It was just us and another coach in the waiting area. The other coach went to our coach and said something about the mom getting upset. Coach wouldn't tell the mother who said it. They assumed it was us. We were upset that they assumed we'd bad mouth them, because we really like them and hadn't said a thing. Our DDs got along great and we have spent a lot of time on skating trips with them.

Ugh! I guess I really need to call coach and talk with her.

[londonicechamp]

Hi Pinklaces


I think that you better call your coach and talk with her. It is better not to burn the bridges with your friend, if you both are great.

I used to have my skating lesson on Tuesday evenings. However, my friend (probably over 20 years age difference), her dad requested that I do not take away his dd's usual Tuesday coaching slot. As he talks to me in a very nice way, I accepted, and we eventually became friends.

I now switch my lessons from Tuesdays to Fridays with exception of this Friday and next Friday.

londonicechamp

[Kat12]

whether our sit spin is low enough
Easy! A tail! Some sort of string/cord/ribbon with a washer or jingle bell something at the end, attached to a belt or to your pants/skirt that is just long enough to touch the ice when you're low enough....if you hear it dragging/jingling, you're there! :) Or you could make a skirt that is just that length, with bells or something on the hem in the back (or all the way around if you want symmetry) that would drag!

[PinkLaces]

Hi Pinklaces


I think that you better call your coach and talk with her. It is better not to burn the bridges with your friend, if you both are great.

I used to have my skating lesson on Tuesday evenings. However, my friend (probably over 20 years age difference), her dad requested that I do not take away his dd's usual Tuesday coaching slot. As he talks to me in a very nice way, I accepted, and we eventually became friends.

I now switch my lessons from Tuesdays to Fridays with exception of this Friday and next Friday.

londonicechamp

I tried calling the coach today, but she wasn't home or not answering. Saw her at the rink tonight, but only talked to her for a few minutes about other stuff. It's not something I want to get into at the rink, because Mondays are a super busy night. DD & I have lessons tomorrow so will talk to her then.

I did see DD's friend's mom and talked to her last week. We are cool. DD and her friend sat together during the ice cut tonight.

[doubletoe]

Out of fun, my hubby said that he hopes that one day he can invent some kind of machine, so that us the ice skaters will be able to know whether we are doing the spins correctly, and whether our sit spin is low enough, haha. :o

Actually, my coach gave me a fantastic tip on the sitspin! He says if you can feel the calf of your spinning leg pressing against the inside of the thigh of your free leg, that means your skating thigh is parallel to the ice.

[londonicechamp]

Hi doubletoe

Thanks for the advice. However, how do you tell whether the calf of your spinning leg is pressing against the inside of the thigh of your free leg? :roll:

londonicechamp

[Skate@Delaware]

Actually, my coach gave me a fantastic tip on the sitspin! He says if you can feel the calf of your spinning leg pressing against the inside of the thigh of your free leg, that means your skating thigh is parallel to the ice.
This advice has helped me a lot, one day I'll actually GET that low on ice (I can do it off-ice LOL!)

[dbny]

Hi doubletoe

Thanks for the advice. However, how do you tell whether the calf of your spinning leg is pressing against the inside of the thigh of your free leg? :roll:

londonicechamp

You can feel it. If you are unsure, then do it off ice and take note of the feeling.

[Skate@Delaware]

You can feel it. If you are unsure, then do it off ice and take note of the feeling.
I do mine off-ice for training in front of a full-length mirror (to make sure I'm not all hunched over LOL). :roll: I suppose one day it will work.....still trying to get my free leg to "whip" around faster and my foot to roll over hehehe! Tired of catching the heel of my blade on the ice!!!

[doubletoe]

You can feel it. If you are unsure, then do it off ice and take note of the feeling.

Yes, you should be able to FEEL the calf of your spinning leg pressing against the inside of the thigh of your free leg. When practicing the position off ice, you can simulate the position of the spinning foot by wearing a shoe with a heel on it (so that your heel is lifted and you are on the ball of the foot, as you would be while spinning).

Remember, as you bring your free leg around from back to front at the end of your entrance edge, turn your foot out when it gets to 2:00 (or 10:00 if you spin clockwise) so that the heel of your blade does not point down to the ice and catch.

[londonicechamp]

Hi doubletoe

I practised some sit spins after my lessons today. Did feel the wrap action. Is that the same as what you are telling me about?

londonicechamp

[techskater]

You shouldn't wrap your free leg- this makes for a really sloppy looking sit that someone will have to fix later. It should feel like it's pressing together and someone is pulling your free leg out straight in front of you.