Snowflakes or Sugar Plums - Practice Thread 12/21 - 12/31/2009

[Isk8NYC]

A Holiday-themed thread to finish out 2009...good/bad isn't too drastic.

Enjoy the holiday season, everyone!


Snowflakes: Sharp blades made turns and spins better.

Sugar Plums: Still waiting for my new boots to arrive.

[dance2sk8]

Snowflakes: My sit spins are very consistent and centered compared to all of my other spins. Clean on the spin, too. No toe pick grinding (slight sometimes when I spin). Footwork sequence is just about ready for competition. Might add a few more elements if I can squeeze them in.

Finding my toe loop and tacking it on the end of a salchow jump for my program. Will be included in my program!!! Yay! And I am getting some nice height off of it. Pleased that I am now getting more comfortable with combination jumps.

Backspins! Not as consistent as I want to be, but now am not afraid of them at all. When I do get a good spin going, I now know what it feels like to speed up on a back spin when crossing the leg over. Weird but cool. Strange that it seems easier to get into a back spin than a forward spin. Anyone else think this?

Flip jump! Got it back and realized I had been hesitating for the LONGEST time before picking into the ice and jumping. Grrr!!! Why had I not figured this out sooner?! I end up all weird with my arms and FORCING the jump. My coach has been communicating this to me all along and now I get what she meant. If you hesitate, its harder to get a natural jump out of it.

Did I mention I love spinning?? LOL! Camel spins are there and getting better body positions. Doing camel catch as well. Not consistent with my entry though into my camel spin. I hope that starts to come soon as I am with my sit spin. I love camel spin and spirals. :lol:

Sugarplums: Camel spins. LOL! Sometimes they are amazing and I have some speed, others, not so much and terrible entry edges. Still doing a bit of twizzles into my back spin. I want that to stop. But I know I have to be patient. :roll:

Nervous for Wyandotte. Trying to get myself into track mode so as to not be nervous. After this week, its run throughs and perfecting some spots in my program. Also, more ice time and training to be ready.

Can't wait to meet some of you!!! :bow:

I am skating Monday through Thursday this week. No skating over the weekend. Booo. But that's ok. I'll be very refreshed for Monday. My day off, plan to get 4 sessions in. :)

Happy Holidays!!!!!!

[PinkLaces]

Snowflakes:
Flip jump! Got it back and realized I had been hesitating for the LONGEST time before picking into the ice and jumping. Grrr!!! Why had I not figured this out sooner?! I end up all weird with my arms and FORCING the jump. My coach has been communicating this to me all along and now I get what she meant. If you hesitate, its harder to get a natural jump out of it.


UGH! I do this too. I wait too long sometimes and then it is hard to jump.

Plums Flip - working on not hesitating. Camel - couldn't get more than 2 revs this morning. Sit spins were lower, but couldn't hold it.

Snowflakes I love loops today. They were good from the first one - usually it takes 1-2 tries. Since they were good from the 3 turn, I tried them from back cross-overs and they were small, but landed. Woot! That encouraged me to try salchow-loop. Landed it first try...okay came to dead stop after the loop, but I did it! Subsequent tries were better and I left the ice feeling very happy. So happy, I plan to buy on at one of DD's sessions tonight. DD and I are going to work on our family spot light for the February competition. We found out we have competition in the family spotlight from a girl at our rink and her Dad.

Backspin is also good - was able to get down into the d with my feet crossed. Waltz jumps are finally getting that feeling back...the floaty feeling where you hang in the air for just a split second before coming back down. Love that feeling!

[dance2sk8]

UGH! I do this too. I wait too long sometimes and then it is hard to jump.

Plums Flip - working on not hesitating. Camel - couldn't get more than 2 revs this morning. Sit spins were lower, but couldn't hold it.

Snowflakes I love loops today. They were good from the first one - usually it takes 1-2 tries. Since they were good from the 3 turn, I tried them from back cross-overs and they were small, but landed. Woot! That encouraged me to try salchow-loop. Landed it first try...okay came to dead stop after the loop, but I did it! Subsequent tries were better and I left the ice feeling very happy. So happy, I plan to buy on at one of DD's sessions tonight. DD and I are going to work on our family spot light for the February competition. We found out we have competition in the family spotlight from a girl at our rink and her Dad.

Backspin is also good - was able to get down into the d with my feet crossed. Waltz jumps are finally getting that feeling back...the floaty feeling where you hang in the air for just a split second before coming back down. Love that feeling!

For flip,what seemed to help me is to count 1, 2 ,3 and on the 3 I pick into the ice. Now I am working on the muscle memory thingy. ;)

[Kim to the Max]

That is what I was going to suggest is counting it out. I don't do this unless I am working on doubles, but I do a 1 ((turn)) 1 ((BI edge)) AND ((bend knee)) 1 ((pick)). My singles are HUGE when I do this.

[AgnesNitt]

Well it was snowflakes all the way.

26 inches of them.

Rinks closed. Coaches cancelled lessons. The entire state of Virginia apparently ground to a halt.

[Layne]

Sugar Plums: (I thought those were a good thing..?) I've never been so sore in my life! I fell backwards twice saturday (I'm a sub-beginner lever skater for those who don't know me yet :halo:). Landed on my arm once which was bad enough, but now my neck muscles are crazy sore from trying to keep my head from hitting the ice, and my abs too though I don't really know why. Now I'm getting sick too, yay.

Snowflakes: I'm actually really impressed with my progress. I'm anxious to get started with lessons next month.

[PinkLaces]

For flip,what seemed to help me is to count 1, 2 ,3 and on the 3 I pick into the ice. Now I am working on the muscle memory thingy. ;)

Thanks for the tip! I'm going to try that. :bow:

[PinkLaces]

Snowflakes Picked up another session with DD tonight. We worked on our family spotlight for about a half hour. We are stealing part of this idea http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMH0bHeiRNg but adapting it for the ice. We ran through it tonight and got lots of good feedback from several of the skate moms.

I also ran through my program with the changes I'd like to make to it....salchow-loop instead of salchow, doing the sit spin before the toe-loop instead of after it, changing the toe-loop to a lutz, changing backspin to camel backspin.

Plums lutz didn't work out so well.

[dbny]

Sugar Plums: (I thought those were a good thing..?) I've never been so sore in my life! I fell backwards twice saturday (I'm a sub-beginner lever skater for those who don't know me yet :halo:). Landed on my arm once which was bad enough, but now my neck muscles are crazy sore from trying to keep my head from hitting the ice, and my abs too though I don't really know why. Now I'm getting sick too, yay.

Snowflakes: I'm actually really impressed with my progress. I'm anxious to get started with lessons next month.

Ouch! If you're falling backwards, it's possible you've got your arms too high for your skill level. Some coaches, mainly those who've skated their whole lives, have everyone hold their arms straight out and high. For beginners, it's much safer to hold your arms at belly button height, and just in front of you, as if on a table you are belly up to. This will lower your center of gravity and help you reach for your knees if you lose your balance. OK - just re-read and saw your last line (also just finished martini :lol:). So, if you haven't had any lessons yet - then do what I said with your arms. Keep palms facing the ice and push your knees over your toes when you grab them if losing your balance. You might also consider wearing a helmet - some schools require all beginners to do so. Also, pack some ibuprofen in your skate bag and take it immediately after any fall; you'll feel like a real skater then! :lol::lol::lol:

[dance2sk8]

Snowflakes: Had a two hour session last night. My coach and I worked on my program (and finished it!) for over an hour. I feel very confident. I have lots of great elements and combo spins. Woohoo! Very happy! Even got my split jump in there (not really splits although one day I hope to get close to being able to do that when I am more comfortable)

SugarPlums: Exhausted after two hours of go! go! go! I ran through parts of my program several times and was destroyed! But, I know I got a good work out.


Skating tonight again, tomorrow (with coach), and Thursday. Getting used to the new footwork sequence I have in my program. :twisted: Its really cool.

[Skittl1321]

For beginners, it's much safer to hold your arms at belly button height, and just in front of you, as if on a table you are belly up to.

Can I clarify this? It says the right thing, but I think it might be misread. Just in front of you means a little in front of the horizontal line created by your shoulders. Thinking about putting your hands out to the side of you, but on a table that is in front of you, as dbny suggested, is a great idea.

(I read this first, dbny, as if you were telling her to put her arms straight in front of her- like in a dip-)

As a more advanced skater, my freestyle coach likes my arms just below shoulder height and just barely in front of my shoulders; but this drives my dance coach crazy, and any time I'm on the ice I'm shouted at to lower my arms, almost exactly how beginners are taught.

[Isk8NYC]

Sugar Plums:
Student sent me an email and voice mail yesterday, asking if she had a lesson. I replied "Yes, I'll be there."

Turns out the family was going on vacation (I had no idea; must have been an oversight) but their flight had been cancelled the day before. They caught a flight at the time of the lesson and no one let me know.

Snowflakes:
I choreographed her new program since I had the music on my iPod.
Don't like the version though, so I might look for a different artist.

[tazsk8s]

Sorry, but I have to reverse the good and bad here. I'm sick of snow already. Anything related to sugar can't be that bad....

Sugar plums (i.e. good): Nice empty ice yesterday. They had pretty much their regular schedule, but since all the kids are off school, the evening crowd came in during the day and there were only 8 or 9 of us on what is normally a packed freestyle that I usually go to after work.

Jumps all behaved well. Still working through back-outside-edge-a-phobia and the lutz has been erratic. I landed all of the ones I tried last night...they weren't as big as they used to be, but I'll take it.

Used my camera phone to take a couple of video clips of my spins and was happy to see that the sit is back to where it was pre-injury. Can always be lower, but it at least looks decent again. Camel behaved too.

Snowflakes (i.e. not-so-good): Went through the pre-pre moves test today. Some of the elements I've done before. The waltz-8 is completely new though. Definitely harder than it looks. CW front crossovers...ick. There's a reason I don't like to work on those. Felt like I was going to fall right over. And I've somehow acquired the habit of having my arms reversed from what my coach wants on the forward edges. I think it's from working on 3 turns so often as opposed to the edges themselves. Still, I think this test is well within my capability to pass if I force myself to spend time on it. And there are plenty of back outside edges so I will be working on my phobia at the same time.

[dbny]

Can I clarify this? It says the right thing, but I think it might be misread. Just in front of you means a little in front of the horizontal line created by your shoulders. Thinking about putting your hands out to the side of you, but on a table that is in front of you, as dbny suggested, is a great idea.

(I read this first, dbny, as if you were telling her to put her arms straight in front of her- like in a dip-)

As a more advanced skater, my freestyle coach likes my arms just below shoulder height and just barely in front of my shoulders; but this drives my dance coach crazy, and any time I'm on the ice I'm shouted at to lower my arms, almost exactly how beginners are taught.

Thank you. Did I mention I had just finished a martini? :lol:

That lower arm position is also what we used in roller dance.

[doubletoe]

Ouch! If you're falling backwards, it's possible you've got your arms too high for your skill level. Some coaches, mainly those who've skated their whole lives, have everyone hold their arms straight out and high. For beginners, it's much safer to hold your arms at belly button height, and just in front of you, as if on a table you are belly up to. This will lower your center of gravity and help you reach for your knees if you lose your balance. OK - just re-read and saw your last line (also just finished martini :lol:). So, if you haven't had any lessons yet - then do what I said with your arms. Keep palms facing the ice and push your knees over your toes when you grab them if losing your balance. You might also consider wearing a helmet - some schools require all beginners to do so. Also, pack some ibuprofen in your skate bag and take it immediately after any fall; you'll feel like a real skater then! :lol::lol::lol:

Yes, definitely focus on keeping your knees right over your toes. In fact, you should keep your CHEST over KNEES over TOES. That means you need to push your chest forward and arch your back, like a semi-squatting position, when you skate. That will keep your weight on the balls of your feet, where it belongs.

[Layne]

Thanks for the advice everyone. I believe I am generally holding my arms as you say, though I couldn't guess where they were at the time. I am focusing on keeping my knees bent, but I was under the impression your weight should be on your heels. Maybe it's the crappy rental skates, but I slow way down if I put my weight closer to the front, to the point that I would fall forward if I did that while moving quickly. That makes more sense though, I couldn't figure out how to get one skate in front of the other or crossover while standing on the heel. I have much to learn...

[RachelSk8er]

That is what I was going to suggest is counting it out. I don't do this unless I am working on doubles, but I do a 1 ((turn)) 1 ((BI edge)) AND ((bend knee)) 1 ((pick)). My singles are HUGE when I do this.

Yep. Same here. When I take my time on my flip and count it out (rather than rushing into the jump), I pull one of those huge flips where you finish rotating with that little bit of "hang time" before you land. Love when they're like that!!

What's good and what's bad? Snowflakes or Sugar plums?

Anywho:

Bad:

Started out the session in a bad mood. My ankle was sore, it was cold, I was up early (after being up late last night) and wanted to just be in my warm, cozy bed. I was supposed to have my first lesson since my injury (last lesson was 2 mos ago today). I was mad my coach was either late or forgot about me altogether. He was 15 min late because he wrote down 7:50 but told me 7:30, I had to be at work by 9 and it's a 40 min drive to work, so instead of 30-40 min I only got a 20 min lesson. In retrospect that's probably a good thing because he pushed me harder than I've been skating the past few weeks in my lesson (see below) and more than 20 min of that may have been overkill.

Good:

I thought my coach was going to make me do more stroking and edge work, but we delved right into junior moves. Did power pull quick rockers on the R side (they were bad, hadn't done them in 2 mos and the first few times I was really hesitant). Just did power pulls on the left--last time I skated (Saturday) I could not do these on the L yet, it was really painful. Today they were fine!! Not planning to add the turns in for a while yet though. Luckily the L was my better side when it came to this pattern, so once my ankle can handle it, they shouldn't be too bad.

Also did outside rockers (again, first time in 2 mos). I had tried these before (including last Saturday) but my ankle wasn't quite ready. He wasn't gonig to have me do the left foot but I started on the left just out of habit, and they actually weren't bad and didn't hurt much today! Obviously they were not as edgy as they were pre-injury, but it's a start. The right were actually worse, but those were the weaker ones to begin with (and since the left is used more to push on that side, I couldn't get good pushes).

So now I feel better that I'm working on my moves again and can add 2 more things to the list of stuff I'm able to do again.

Also worked on some spins, mainly fixing technique things that went away or got sloppy while I was off the ice. Tried a few camel spins, those were a bit shaky, couldn't get as low as I wanted in a sit spin because it still hurt. But my back sit and back camel were much improved.

I feel like I can start skating more frequently again, and start to build back up to 2 hr practices now that I can handle 1 hr. We have ice 6-10am tomorrow morning so I'm planning to drag my butt out of bed and get there before work, hopefully skate for an hour and a half.

[Skate@Delaware]

Snowflakes: no skating today (haven't skated in ??? days???), was called to work. Seems no one wants to work because of the holidays. I'm ok with it, it's a quiet place to study (I'm in between semesters but I need to review).

We are supposed to get some rain and it's going to be a mess, as we still have a lot of snow on the ground. We are expecting some flooding.

Anyway, I'm hoping to skate Christmas Eve, then on Saturday (freestyle). Our rink was closed last Saturday because of the storm.......I should have my blade re-mounted by then (yes, I'm re-doing it.)

[Skate@Delaware]

Didn't go skating Christmas Eve, had toooo much to do. Went today, only 2 others on the ice. Messed around with my blade alignment, now I'm 1,000% sure it's ME not the blade (hey, I had to try!!!) So, now I need to figure out what to do about it. Put blade back on the "old" way, might drop in to public tomorrow before going to Easton just to make sure it's 100% (or not it doesn't seem to really matter).

Sugar Plums: did some nice sit spins, actually got my legs to touch and r-e-a-c-h-e-d instead of hunching! Toe-loops did some concentrating on position. Salchows were strange because of my blade. Back spirals were ok, still going to take some doing, cause I'm curving around so much.

Snowflakes: the music box is off-limits unless you ask, because too many fingers have been messing with it. Scratch spins were nasty (it's me) keep going up on my toe. (but my sit spins are centered, so that tells me everything).

All-in-all it was a decent skate, for what I could squeeze into 50 minutes!

[flo]

Snowflakes:
Had a fun skate tonight. I got to skate by myself for a few minutes to some beautiful music, and it was wonderful. We then had a great pairs session and are really making progress.

[Skate@Delaware]

this is for last night, I was too lazy to post when I got home.

Sugar Plums: worked on scratch, sit, back spins. Had some insight on the sit, i.e. how far I'm NOT down but it's good because I really cant tell how far I am from the ice when I'm spinning. Tried something new to compensate for my back/quad weakness but it didn't quite work (I'll keep trying it when I practice).

Backspins were awesome! Coach had be keep my arms/free leg out a smidge longer before bringing them in. I mentioned I had problems ending/gliding out of the spin....she mentioned I need to bend my skating leg-doh! That was the key part!

Salchows were next and she had me do them from BO3-mohawks which were interesting! Faster tempo, something fun to try.

Loop jumps were the last thing worked on.....traditional entry (RFI edge-right mohawk) grrrr I just lose speed and oooomph! So she had me try a RFI3 and wow! I can do them AND take off/land from my toepicks! This was a MAJOR breakthrough!!!!

Add all this together AND a relatively empty session!!!!

Snowflakes: none, our snow melted because of the rain, it was near 50 degrees yesterday; and the rink was even warm.

[Laura H]

I actually got to skate a few times over my 4 day weekend - finishing up with a public skate session (not too busy either) from 2-4 yesterday.

Snowflakes - Santa brought me a FLIP for Christmas!! I have been really nervous of this jump for some reason, have been doing walkthroughs, half flips and other exercises for some time, just couldn't get up the nerve to pick in and do the full jump. With DS along to bully me into it, I finally did it!! (he's been doing them since he was 7 or 8, so it is all very HO HUM to him). He finally convinced me to try the mohawk entrance, and darn it, that was really easy!! However, he wasn't with me yesterday and I couldn't figure out the whole entry sequence to be able to do it again. Just couldn't figure out how to get INTO the correct mohawk, and I'm not good enough just to do it from a standstill . . . so I tried it from the outside 3 entrance (I like 3's much better!) and was even able to land them that way as well, they just weren't as high, (Ok, they were tiny) but I did a couple million of them just to try to get the muscle memory working.

Backspin also going REALLY well, I have been working hard on the backspin and back pivots and I think it is paying off.

Feeling so good, had to throw in a few Bauers just to show off. :oops: Gotta use those open hips to my advantage when I can.

Went right home and emailed my coach to set up private lesson to show her "what I did over Christmas break" and sort all this out. Also need to work on getting a consistent loop and sitspin sometime in this lifetime, no time like the present.

Sugar Plums: uggghh that forward sit spin. Or more precisely, the entrance to the forward sit spin. Need to figure out some way to trick my body into reaching the correct position - I have the quad strength, I'm just not getting a good center on the spin itself, to get my knees together and make the sit happen. Worked on back shoot the ducks and back pivots to try to get a better feeling for the correct position.

[Skate@Delaware]

Sugar Plums: uggghh that forward sit spin. Or more precisely, the entrance to the forward sit spin. Need to figure out some way to trick my body into reaching the correct position - I have the quad strength, I'm just not getting a good center on the spin itself, to get my knees together and make the sit happen. Worked on back shoot the ducks and back pivots to try to get a better feeling for the correct position.
Congrats on the flip and backspin progress!!!!!!

As for the sit spin, I had my coach position me by the boards, to show me how (not low) I am. I don't have the quad strength (nerve damage) but am working hard on building my muscles off-ice (squats, one-leg squats, lunges, etc).

Her advice? Keep trying, enter lower than you think you need to be (if you fall, you are close anyway), enter slower. I know you've heard this all before.

[ibreakhearts66]

Snowflakes
-Skated a session with Daisies and Doubletoe! Brought a friend to the adult only freestyle session and we had a blast.
-Jumps were all pretty solid. 2lutz is smaller than I'd like but the edge is good and I'm not swinging my arm around--essentially managed to fix my bad habits. Landed a miraculous 2flip+2loop that I just randomly decided to go for, AND I had witnesses. That combo has been more or less MIA so it was nice to land it.

Sugar plums
-Was having layback issues, but I also spent quite a bit of time on them on Saturday so my back was a little sore.
-2axels :frus: I don't feel like I'm getting any closer. They were actually less rotated than usual, but I guess I haven't worked on them that much. It's just frustrating because for the most part, there isn't anything TECHNICALLY wrong with the jump, I just can't quite get it. I guess it'll just take time.

[Laura H]

Congrats on the flip and backspin progress!!!!!!

As for the sit spin, I had my coach position me by the boards, to show me how (not low) I am. I don't have the quad strength (nerve damage) but am working hard on building my muscles off-ice (squats, one-leg squats, lunges, etc).

Her advice? Keep trying, enter lower than you think you need to be (if you fall, you are close anyway), enter slower. I know you've heard this all before.


LOL - not really - our coaches haven't really pushed the issue of sit spins with our adult group class - probably a liability issue or something!!:halo:

The entry is what is killing me - my right hip is slightly lower and further back than the left, just a postural thing, probably from years of desk work and not sitting with proper posture (although I have been improving this somewhat with actively working on stretching, etc.) - but it makes it a little of a trick as a CCW skater to get the right leg UP and ACROSS into proper spinning position with the traditional spin entry. So I end up spinning with my legs not together, which is obviously a recipe for disaster. I'll probably just have to figure out some off-the-wall entrance to "trick" myself into setting up in the proper spin position. Like back crossovers, I'm sure I will get the hang of it . . . eventually. :giveup:

[jp1andOnly]

it is doable. I have one hip that is higher then the other as well as a twisted pelvis, tight IT band from MS. The sit spin is my best and most favorite spin of all times. I dont fully close my legs but the force keeps me low and spinning quite quickly.

LOL - not really - our coaches haven't really pushed the issue of sit spins with our adult group class - probably a liability issue or something!!:halo:

The entry is what is killing me - my right hip is slightly lower and further back than the left, just a postural thing, probably from years of desk work and not sitting with proper posture (although I have been improving this somewhat with actively working on stretching, etc.) - but it makes it a little of a trick as a CCW skater to get the right leg UP and ACROSS into proper spinning position with the traditional spin entry. So I end up spinning with my legs not together, which is obviously a recipe for disaster. I'll probably just have to figure out some off-the-wall entrance to "trick" myself into setting up in the proper spin position. Like back crossovers, I'm sure I will get the hang of it . . . eventually. :giveup:

[liz_on_ice]

Snowflakes and Sugar Plums - it's all good, I'm back in the practice thread! Squeaked in 15 minutes this morning under the Tree, saw my buddies again. The resurfacer was busted so the ice was a mess - which saved me from the temptation to do anything crazy. :D

[Skate@Delaware]

LOL - not really - our coaches haven't really pushed the issue of sit spins with our adult group class - probably a liability issue or something!!:halo:

The entry is what is killing me - my right hip is slightly lower and further back than the left, just a postural thing, probably from years of desk work and not sitting with proper posture (although I have been improving this somewhat with actively working on stretching, etc.) - but it makes it a little of a trick as a CCW skater to get the right leg UP and ACROSS into proper spinning position with the traditional spin entry. So I end up spinning with my legs not together, which is obviously a recipe for disaster. I'll probably just have to figure out some off-the-wall entrance to "trick" myself into setting up in the proper spin position. Like back crossovers, I'm sure I will get the hang of it . . . eventually. :giveup:
When you find out the trick let me know LOL! I spent too many years sitting as well and when I went to therapy for my back surgery recovery, my calves were TIGHT! did not help either.
it is doable. I have one hip that is higher then the other as well as a twisted pelvis, tight IT band from MS. The sit spin is my best and most favorite spin of all times. I dont fully close my legs but the force keeps me low and spinning quite quickly.
That is good to know-there is hope for the rest of us! Maybe we need a new thread "skating things we can do IN SPITE OF our injuries/disabilities"???? I'm happy that I can remain upright on some days...KWIM?

[Skittl1321]

snowflakes (bad): I just don't care about skating anymore. It's not that I don't like it anymore, I still want to skate, it's just that whenever I get to the rink I don't want to skate. I'm not getting any better so I feel like I'm wasting my time. And I'm always hurt and it really sucks.

My lesson today was so blah. I did everything my coach wanted (including waltz jumps with my hands behind my back. That was terrifying. Also just standing still on 2 feet and jumping around- which is scarier than any other jump) and she was pleased with how I skated, but it wasn't fun. And everything I did was wrong, even if she was able to pick a minute thing to say was good.

I just feel like everything left is so far beyond my reach: I'm never going to be able to get my silver moves, my bronze free, or even my preliminary dances (RB is a killer, and finding anyone to test the other 2 is impossible, and I don't want to solo. Solo dance is boring.)

sugar plums: I have money for new boots. I'm not sure I want to bother spending it though if I'm not enjoying skating anymore.

[dbny]

Snowflakes and Sugar Plums - it's all good, I'm back in the practice thread! Squeaked in 15 minutes this morning under the Tree, saw my buddies again. The resurfacer was busted so the ice was a mess - which saved me from the temptation to do anything crazy. :D

Hooray! Welcome back, Liz!

snowflakes (bad): I just don't care about skating anymore. It's not that I don't like it anymore, I still want to skate, it's just that whenever I get to the rink I don't want to skate. I'm not getting any better so I feel like I'm wasting my time. And I'm always hurt and it really sucks.

My lesson today was so blah. I did everything my coach wanted (including waltz jumps with my hands behind my back. That was terrifying. Also just standing still on 2 feet and jumping around- which is scarier than any other jump) and she was pleased with how I skated, but it wasn't fun. And everything I did was wrong, even if she was able to pick a minute thing to say was good.

I just feel like everything left is so far beyond my reach: I'm never going to be able to get my silver moves, my bronze free, or even my preliminary dances (RB is a killer, and finding anyone to test the other 2 is impossible, and I don't want to solo. Solo dance is boring.)


I've been there, and still go there sometimes. When I first started skating, my goal was to pass Juv MIF, but I have since realized that I have too much fear to master the 8-step. BUT, I have discovered that cross strokes are relatively easy for me, and fun. I do variations on them that are also fun and now am even putting power pulls into the F cross strokes (on my braver days). So now my goal is not to pass any particular test, but to improve what I can do, and find the fun in that, while avoiding getting too frustrated with the things that seem too hard for me. When I get really down about my skating, I go back to just fooling around with the fun stuff - good music helps a lot. Don't give up on the RB, just back off for a while, and you may find you will get it later.

If you really want to feel better - look at your Pre-Bronze MIF test! Your skating has improved exponentially since then!

[PinkLaces]

Snowflakes Got a lesson tonight. Worked on revamping my program from the Bronze test program to a more competitive bronze program. Coach was very positive today especially about the flip and lutz which are inconsistent. She is putting them in and we are going to work hard to get them. Changed my spiral from the flat to a inside edge and was able to hold from blue line to blue line.

Plums A week off and plenty of good holiday food has left me huffing and puffing trying to do multiple run throughs. DD and I are going to have to hit the gym this week as we can't skate again until Monday.

[katz in boots]

Sugar Plums !

Serious withdrawal symptoms, last skating session was 20 December!
12 days til rink re-opens, 17 before I get to skate again !
Wah!!!! :cry:

[BatikatII]

snowflakes (bad): I just don't care about skating anymore. It's not that I don't like it anymore, I still want to skate, it's just that whenever I get to the rink I don't want to skate. I'm not getting any better so I feel like I'm wasting my time. And I'm always hurt and it really sucks.

My lesson today was so blah. I did everything my coach wanted (including waltz jumps with my hands behind my back. That was terrifying. Also just standing still on 2 feet and jumping around- which is scarier than any other jump) and she was pleased with how I skated, but it wasn't fun. And everything I did was wrong, even if she was able to pick a minute thing to say was good.

I just feel like everything left is so far beyond my reach: I'm never going to be able to get my silver moves, my bronze free, or even my preliminary dances (RB is a killer, and finding anyone to test the other 2 is impossible, and I don't want to solo. Solo dance is boring.)

sugar plums: I have money for new boots. I'm not sure I want to bother spending it though if I'm not enjoying skating anymore.

Sorry to hear you are not enjoying your skating any more but don't give up just yet. I know solo dance is boring when you are just doing compulsory dances but how about asking your coach to teach you a solo free dance.

You can put in spins and waltz jumps and use whatever footwork you have and pick some great music you love (especially as it can have words now). You don't have to worry about jumps and you can usually find somewhere to compete a solo free dance if you enjoy doing that and I know you can test solos free dances In UK (as an independent stream so you don't have to have done the same level compulsories), so maybe you can there too?

It will give you a feeling of accomplishment without getting disheartened over stuff you can't do yet and after working on that you may feel more like giving some of the other stuff a go again.

The lower level solo compulsories are boring but maybe have a go at some higher level ones as they get more interesting to do even solo and it will make the RB seem easy when you come back to it.

I found a partner for dance after 10 years of skating so don't give up yet!:lol:

As for things being beyond your reach - just try to look a little bit ahead and not at the big picture. When I started I thought jumping would be impossible for me and swore i'd never do it but now have up to flip and love jumping. I never thought I'd be able to pass level two field moves but with a bit of determination now have level 4.

Out of interest which bit of the RB do you find hard? If it's the cross behinds
they are really not so bad - quite fun in fact! Though I thought my coach was mad when he first showed them to me - "you want me to do that!"8O

[Skittl1321]

Sorry to hear you are not enjoying your skating any more but don't give up just yet. I know solo dance is boring when you are just doing compulsory dances but how about asking your coach to teach you a solo free dance.


I found a partner for dance after 10 years of skating so don't give up yet!:lol:


Out of interest which bit of the RB do you find hard? If it's the cross behinds
they are really not so bad - quite fun in fact!

Thanks for the kind words. I've never heard of solo free dance, so I'm not sure if we have that here. I'm also not sure if my coach would know how to do that, I think she only did compulsories herself. It does sound interesting, though what makes it different from a low level freestyle? (It sounds like footwork and basic jumps, which is what my freestyle program is!)

I'm not even looking for a skating partner- just someone to do the test with! That's how few dancers we have around here. There is one male coach who has done the 3 preliminary dances with a few girls (all at one test session, I think he did 12 dances) but he refuses to do them again. He's a pair skater and really hates dance. You can do same sex partnering if it's your coach, but my coach isn't a registered coach, so she can't do it. (She's not registered as she only has 2 adult students, it's just not worth the money. She has insurance.) There are no other male coaches who dance, and politics make it tough to ask another female coach, and even the ones who we are friendly with, it seems like it would be tough to work out them taking me through the test without doing my lessons with them on the dance. (Although one skater on the boards has offered to skate with me through the tests, she's a registered coach, though I don't think she's really a dance coach, so that might end up being my only option. I've seen her dance and she's more than good enough for the first 2 dances.)There is a high level skater who like 4 of us has asked, but he's super busy with his own skating and said he coaches at most test sessions. I think we all are just going to have to name a good price, and tell him to look at it as a part time job. $10-15 a test and he could make good money for one test session and maybe one lesson to practice it. And since he doesn't have the tests yet, it's good for his coaching credentials to get them!

And yes, on the RB it's the step behinds. I can do them okay if I'm not moving at all, much better on one side then the other, but then when I try to do them on pattern (not even to the music- we haven't gotten that far) the pushes before them have me moving so fast I have no chance at them. I've kicked myself over, HARD, more than once, and I'm pretty sure that is what has caused my nagging hip problems now. Oddly enough I always kick myself over from the side- so I'm not hitting myself from behind. I guess that's a good sign. But my coach has just shelved that dance for now. I'm really only working on the first 2, and then I do the RB every month or so just to remember the pattern.

[BatikatII]

I've never heard of solo free dance, so I'm not sure if we have that here. I'm also not sure if my coach would know how to do that, I think she only did compulsories herself. It does sound interesting, though what makes it different from a low level freestyle?

And yes, on the RB it's the step behinds. ...........
Oddly enough I always kick myself over from the side- so I'm not hitting myself from behind. I guess that's a good sign. But my coach has just shelved that dance for now. I'm really only working on the first 2, and then I do the RB every month or so just to remember the pattern.

Solo free dance concentrates more on the musicality, choreography and skating to the beat (music must have a recognisable beat to it (I've done rhumba, disco, waltz and just general strong beat type music). Jumps are limited to half rev so waltz jumps are really all anyone does if that. I think it may have technically changed to single rev now but I've rarely seen anyone do jumps at all in free dances. There is usually a requirement of at least one spin and a step sequence. It should have changes of direction and speed etc. Maybe no-one does it in America?

For the RB have you practised the cross behinds in a straight line just going as fast as you can? Sometimes it is just the speed going in that people have trouble with. Otherwise it may be the pattern that makes it scary going round the corner and then in to them. I can't remember how I overcame my fear of doing that. I think I just started slowly and built up the speed over several weeks. Bending the knees much more always helps!:lol:

[phoenix]

Snowflakes: Literally! Got stranded due to the blizzard on my way back from Mom's on Sunday night. Spent the night in a hotel somewhere, & ended up having to cancel my Monday lesson. Boo!

Sugar Plums: Was lucky to re-schedule lesson today (coach came in just for me, bless him), which was very reasonably good for having been off for a week+. He only had me do 1 pattern of Paso, which was quite decent, and then we just did exercises to help get me pulled back together & also because the session was full of very slow-moving, non-watching-out little kids. Not a good scenario for a Paso at full steam!

So I'm going to have to work my butt off between now & the 11th (test date) to get it all ready to go so I can go out there feeling confident.

ALSO--I'm starting to feel the results of my gym workouts / weightlifting. My legs feel stronger & my stamina is better!

[liz_on_ice]

Snowflakes - made it to Aviator last night with renatale to see jazzpants and dbny. It felt soooo nice after three months off ice. I was cautious, no jumps and only a couple of upright spins, mostly reviewed moves.

Sugar Plums - I'd actually forgotten half the moves patterns, had to look them up on my printout :roll: dbny tells me I looked fast, but I felt so slow and cautious, my core felt really weak. Those pre-bronze edge-rolls put me right in my place!

[dance2sk8]

Sugar Plums (good): Made it through my program last night with my coach there and I was nervous! I was so thrilled to have gotten through it on the first run through of the day.

Warm up went well with her, too. I did a sweet camel spin (arched back and pointed toe with my free leg) and I got a big "woooooo!!!" from her. It must have looked really good. :lol: Sit spins are consistent and low, but traveling a little. Worked on my waltz jumps and we refined those a tad to get more height and reach out. Wow did they get high and further out than ever!

Worked on the footwork sequence that we pulled together. After about 15 times going over it with refinements, I definitely noticed a lot less scratching (meaning I am leaning too far forward). Made me happy. Also got some speed into it now and am working on pushing at the right points. Also softening my arms and trying to look more fluid.

Snowflakes because I hate snow: During the program, missed two elements. I fell out of the camel (was so tired towards the end), and missed the flip jump.

My flip jump fell apart last week. I am panicking. I want it in my program! Its the last jump at the end. Now my flip jump is non-existent. I don't get how I can have it beautifully one week and not have it the next! Rawr! :frus:

Also, fighting whatever my husband had last week. He's been so sick. I think that's why I got so tired so fast in my program. :( I hope I don't get it. Vitamins, eating lots of fruits and veggies, and eating healthy meals have been keeping the enemy viruses away so far. Hope it lasts.

[jazzpants]

Snowflakes:
Had the first of our meetup today at Aviator. Met up with renatele, liz_on_ice (who vows to stay ON ICE even after this ordeal!), and dbny (who showed us her much improved edges to us!)

Sugar plums:
The ice on rink A, very little give and hockey hard! The cold weather didn't help either! I felt very stiff and cold coming in even after a good warm up! I even skated close to 2 hours and hardly broke a sweat, even though I did a good amount of skating work! BRRRRRR! Not as bad as Tuesday, but still WAY TOO COLD for this Californian!!! 8O

The service at the Turkish restaurant we went to after skating! I went from snarky but joking to PISSED when we ask 2 times for the check and they've ignored our request -- AND they :roll: when they did finally bring the check after the THIRD time we asked for the check! Unbelievable!!! (Dbny, I know you like this restaurant and yes, the food is good, but we are NOT coming back again next year!!!) :evil: :x

[dbny]

(Dbny, I know you like this restaurant and yes, the food is good, but we are NOT coming back again next year!!!) :evil: :x

Lunch there was fine, but I wouldn't go there for dinner again either!

[Skate@Delaware]

this is for yesterday, I've been too busy to post.

sugar plums: went to my rink, not to skate but to attend an exhibition skate for my Skating Director's skaters that are going to Nationals next month. It was very short notice (less than 24 hrs) but the turn out was nice (about 100 people). I don't recall all that skated but everyone was good, very pleasant to talk to (even the parents). They normally skate up at U of Delaware and were glad of the time to "practice" their skate.

We don't usually see skaters of their caliber in our rink....not that we are "hick" but we just don't typically get that sort of exposure. I'm so glad he brought them down!

[jazzpants]

Snowflakes:
First lesson with my NYC coach! :mrgreen: Glad to see him again!!! :bow:

Sugar Plum:
Too bad I was sleep-skating that morning. I didn't get enough sleep b/c I didn't get myself adjusted to ET yet. Never mind that I learned the hard way that my iPhone runs out of juice after 2.5 hrs. and sounds the alarm LOUD 3 hrs. before it was intended!!! :frus:

We started with spirals. After doing the first one, he helped me stretched at the wall. He then was saying "WOW!!! Look at that stretch! Let's see it on ice!" Then he had me doing the spirals again on ice and said when I came back to him "Oh, c'mon!!! You ARE flexible!!! You're just LAZY!!!" :twisted: (Me: "Uh oh... BUSTED!!! 8O ) Had me do it again. Hubby commented my secondary coach would be very happy now at the height that NYC coach got me. He said "Yeah, but we're working on straighten the leg now." That....ummm... needs work... :frus:

We then did the cross steps. Can't do the back cross steps in front of him at all.... (WTF!?!?! I can do them find at home and dbny saw me doing them at Aviator at the meetup!!!) We worked on keeping my torso straight and knees/ankles deeply bend for forward cross- strokes. Have an exercise to bring home to try out. (Hubby videotaped him doing them so I remember.)

And my secondary coach will be happy to know that we also worked on forward spin entrances too!!! 8-)

[jazzpants]

Sugar Plums:

One of the COLDEST days in NYC EVER!!! Low 20's and 45 mph winds (MAJOR wind chill!!!) O-M-G!!! 8O I was FROZEN STIFF and could get into the rink (or somewhere indoors and warm) fast enough!!!! 8O :evil:

Snowflakes:
So I came extra early to warm up in time for another lesson with NYC coach. Since I didn't pack a jump rope with me, I did a bit of jogging back and forth between the entrance to the East and West rink. When I was jogging back to the East rink I look over to my left and caught a skater from my home rink staring right back at me -- Brian Boitano!!! (Yes, both of us was thinking "Aren't you from the home rink?") I found it quite hilarious since I skated with him on the same FS session at least 3 times at our home rink and here I am seeing him at my vacation rink! :lol: Of course, I went and said "Happy New Year" and "Fancy meeting you here too!" with a chuckle and told him that I'm looking for my NYC coach (who he's old buddies with) He said "He's here?!?!?! I didn't see him..." I said "If he's not here, he better be soon since I have a lesson with him on the 11am FS session. He then said "I'm going on the 11am session too! I think I'm gonna having fun running over your NYC coach during your lesson!" (evil grin and joking tone) Apparently the low and high FS session had to be combined into the West Rink since the East Rink was taken up by hockey!!! So VERY weird coincidence that we're skating on the same session at the NYC rink again!!!

Anyway, NYC Coach finally walks in, waves hello to me, went in coaches room to change into coach's outfit and skates, came out and I pointed NYC Coach out to BB. BB makes his way over to give NYC Coach a big friendly hug hello, talked and goofed around all the way into the beginning of the session where my coach gave me a chance to warm up on ice and get my grounding and began my lesson.

Sugar Plum:
We worked this time on my FO mohawks for the 8 step mohawk move. Well, I don't quite have the FO mohawks, but I have an exercise to help me get it and NYC coach is encouraged with the result so far with the wall exercise. We'll see if it works back at home too.

Snowflakes:
We also worked on my waltz, sal (both of which he liked) loop (minor correction but overall he's VERY happy with now and commented that it's much better than the last time he worked me on it.)

Sugar Plum:
Then the dreaded flip jump.... UGH!!! I probably have to work on quickly doing a "pick and jump", as well as my air position (which he was VERY picky on!)

Snowflakes:
Finished up with lesson, NYC coach goes back to talk to BB some more... then NYC coach left... a few minutes later, BB's done with his program run-thrus and left before the session was over. (He mentioned he's not staying the whole session beforehand.) Grabs his stuff and waves bye to me on his way out!!! 8O

I already pinched myself...and this is NOT a dream!!! 8O

[Kim to the Max]

Snowflakes (bane of my existence living in Central New York!! :twisted:):
* Outside rockers are currently making me very frustrated. I can DO a rocker, just NOT in that pattern!! I bet you money that my next lesson with coach we will work on them AGAIN, ugh!

* Axel (or waltz)/Half Loop/2 sal just isn't working. I need to work on these some more so that I stop grinding my toepick when I land the 1/2 loop...

* I keep flipping out in the middle of the air on my 2 flip. I think it's partly that I don't know where I am in the air and partly because it's just so new. When I got home this evening I did some 2 loops on the ground (I can only get about 1 and 3/4, but you get the point) to get used to going around more than once...we'll see if that will help.

* I've got this headache that won't go away :(

Sugar Plums:
* My 2 toes are closer :) I had one on Tuesday that was SOOOOOOOO close!

* 2 sals are going well, but I just need to work on the rotation part because they are about a 1/2 revolution cheated.

* My power pulls are getting so much better! As are my choctaws. :) I'm feeling a pass on Junior Moves in my future!! Well, I hope so...January 16th is coming quick!!

[Skate@Delaware]

Jazz, isn't it funny how SMALL the skating world really is?

Kim, hope you feel better soon, headaches really SUCK!

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!! No skating today my rink is closed so I'm tidying up and sewing. Already got my 1st workout of the year in (a Bollywood dance).

[RachelSk8er]

Whichever is bad:

No ice time anywhwere this weekend. Ugh. I guess there are public sessions but i) I don't like public sessions, and ii) they would all be too crowded to do anything productive or anything I need to do (like piece my program together, moves, dances, and start choreography for new interp).

In retrospect maybe it's a good thing, between figure skating, roller derby, and taking up running, I've worked out pretty much every day since 12/22 (other than Christmas day). Many days I did 2 activities in one day (gym during lunch and either skating before work or roller derby in the evening). Even went to the gym today because it was open. My body is kind of screaming for a break.

[Skate@Delaware]

didn't feel up to starting a new thread.....

Snowflakes: it is C-O-L-D!!!! Took a long time for me to warm up, and still felt tight. My lower back was screaming, I'm out of shape from not really working out much lately.....

Sugar Plums: hit my stuff, I have a new "condensed" practice plan, here it is:

Warmup: 2 laps of stroking, 2 laps of alternating crossovers
Elements: depending on the crowds I intend on hitting elements from the pre-bronze test
Jumps: hit the jumps-waltz, salchow (both entrances), toeloop, loop
Spins: scratch, sit, backspin (although my backspin is done before the loop jump)
Extras: such as spirals, like back spirals if the rink is empty

Today I lucked out, it was a fairly empty session and I managed a nice tight scratch spin that centered (this despite my tight back). Sits really sucked but that's ok. Salchows with alternate entrance....interesting. Getting used to it will be interesting-back 3-mohawk-jump. Then I worked on some backspins, which were stiff. Did some loops using the 3-turn entry and they were icky but ok.

It was VERY cold today, I got up and noted the temperature, about 30 minutes later noticed the temperature had dropped. Then I got into my truck and noticed my Sirius channels were gone....yeah my subscription had expired. Not going to renew....we have a local station I like so that's ok.

Talked with another rink mom re: rink politics & bullying. Her daugher also skates at other rink (as well as #3 rink). We both agree some of the mom's are being pains.

Hope everyone's new year is going well!!!!!

[jazzpants]

Jazz, isn't it funny how SMALL the skating world really is?It really IS small! But still, what are the chances that I have an Olympic champion whom I have skated with 3 months ago at my home rink popping up at my visiting rink... AND we did NOT planned to meet together... AND he recognized me when we met again at the visiting rink!!! 8O

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!! No skating today my rink is closed so I'm tidying up and sewing. Already got my 1st workout of the year in (a Bollywood dance).8-) 8-) 8-)


Snowflakes: Literally!!! I came in thru snow flurries for my lesson. For this Californian, it's odd to see snow flurries! Quite pretty too!!! 8-)

We worked on back power pulls today!!! He helped me balance so that I can stand up straight AND push on those edges. Well, the following dialog should say all...

NYC coach: "Did you hear that?"
Me: "Hear what?"
NYC coach: "That!" (I just did an edge pull!) "Your edges are purring!"
Me: "It is?" 8O
NYC coach: "Yup! Oh... more purring there!!!" :D

I guess I have more work to do to do them w/o him holding on to me on both hands to balance, but it's VERY encouraging!!! :bow:

Sugar Plum:
We worked on BO3's today. I think my BO3's decided to stay home cuz it sure didn't show up during my lesson!!!! :frus:

Have to say goodbye for another 11.5 months to him!!! :cry: I always wished that I don't have to say goodbye to him every year. I love his lessons and I always get something thru his lesson. Plus he's a sweetie!!! :bow: (Maybe someday I'll win the California Lotto so I can live and train bi-coastal with my coaches at home AND with him on a more regular basis! *sigh*)

[Skate@Delaware]

When I was up at Skate Club of Wilmington (Delaware) to get my skates punched out, Peter (the skate fix-it guy) had me try them out on the ice. The adult session had ended and it was novice ice....yeah. Anyway, I tried to skate and stay alive. I was doing a 3-turn when this GUY came out of nowhere, grabbed me and hugged me! Scared the heck out of me! It was Shaun Rogers, who had been one of our (adult group) LTS coaches! It was funny!

I don't work on back 3's.....I should but I don't. They scare me even more than random cute guys grabbing me LOL!

And I KNOW how excited you must have been about the snow! When I was younger, we lived up in Fairfield (near Travis AFB) and ONE time it snowed! When my dad said we would move to Delaware and that it snowed a lot we got excited! He didn't tell us the "a lot" was in comparison to California! LOL!!!!!

[londonicechamp]

Hi

Sorry for not posting here for the last 2 weeks. But here you go:

For the xmas week:

Snowflakes
Forward crossovers and backward crossovers are getting better. My coach said that I can actually do deeper knee bends. Woo hoo!!!!!!!1 :D

Change foot spin: good, according to my coach, though the last forward scratch spin travels a little. :halo:

Toe loop: not too bad.

Salchow: when I manage a deeper knee bend, the jump was actually higher. :)

Half loop: not too bad, but can be higher.

Forward scratch spin: the highest number of revolutions I managed was 15 revolutions, my highest number (records) so far.

Sugar Plums
Forward spins alone: not that great, though I still managed most of the time between 10 and 12 revolutions. Maybe I am asking too much of myself.

Backspin: still non-existent, IMHO, as not more than 1 revolution. This is the most frustrating spin anybody who is learning that tells me. My coach has her own skating blog, and she also moans about how long it takes her to master a backspin. So it is still way way way long for me to go to perfect this spin yet. :frus:

Sit spin: well, tried to get low enough, but usually ending up sitting on the ice.

Backward 3 turns: a bit weird to practise with, though I can do it when I am doing double 3s.

Alternating 3 turns with a dip on both feet: stronger on the left leg then on the right leg. Got confused at the beginning when I just learnt it.

Loop jump: got confused learning it, as I confused it with the half loop. Eventually coach said will leave that jump till the next lesson (new year's eve).

No practice on xmas day, as the rink would probably be too crowded. :roll:

New Year's Eve

Snowflakes
Coach had me do forward crossovers then mohawk then backward crossovers, on both legs. Coach said that I bent my knees deeper when doing the backward crossovers. Tried asking me doing forward crossovers on its own, still the knee bend is not as deep as the backward crossovers.

Change foot spins: the forward open leg position, and the last forward scratch spins usually good. :lol:

Backspin: when I got the position correct, I usually have the speed, but the revolution is not happening. My coach said that that is coz I am having my left leg too low, before the cross, that is why it is not happening.

Toe loop: well not too bad.

Salchow: when I got the knee bend correct and the movement, it does seem to make a difference to my jumping height, according to my coach. I am still to experiment on this.

Well, one young girl asked me to teach her how to do my one foot spin. I apologised to her and told her that I am not qualified to coach her. :o I think that the girl got mistaken that I am a coach as I was wearing my London ice rink club jacket. :D:D

Sugar plums
The backspin on the change foot spin is not on the exact correct position. Did manage 1 or 2 decent ones.

Sit spin: I am still working on it, tried to get lower, and tried to lower the number of times that I sat on the ice.

Backward 3 turns: still finds it easier to practise on double 3s then backward threes. :-p

Backward inside pivot: sometimes got the feel of it, sometimes not. 8O

Spirals: the school holidays, so dare not practise them, before I kill off some young kids. :?:

Loop jump: learnt the process of the loop jump, not exactly the full revolution yet. My coach had me push backward on the outside edge on the right leg, then cross my left leg then jump up twice, with the landing position on the left leg still in the cross position, and not throwing that left leg wide open. Coach said that when I have this posture constantly, then we can worry about a full revolution.

Half loop: I tried to get it out of my mind, as I am getting confused between it and the loop.

No practice on New Year's Day, as the rink would probably be too crowded.
8O

londonicechamp