Lotsa green ($) or Tavern on the Green: Practice/Lesson March 16th-31st 2010

[jazzpants]

Just starting a new thread. :)

(BTW: "Tavern on the Green" is consider "bad" b/c it's closed due to bankruptcy... another victim to the current recession we're in. Very sad story! :( )

[liz_on_ice]

Tavern - yet another week with no practice between lessons

Lotsa - fw spin entry improvement at last week's lesson did not disappear, and we even built on it. worked towards scratch spin (which I'm deeply scared of now after going down due to blade caught in pants). Worked back inside threes, which benefitted from the attention.

after lesson I ran my jumps. I did three loops - with even some modest height and distance :!:

[Isk8NYC]

Tavern on the Green has danced on the brink of bankruptcy for ages, so don't think this is a new development, lol.


Lotsa Green:
Moved my right skate blade a notch and skating's a bit easier.

Edges and stops are so much easier on dull blades, lol.

Knocked out a demonstration camel spin that was really good. Even I was surprised. I think I could have pulled off a change foot, but it wouldn't have been appropriate.

Cut some music and made up a little Basic 6 routine. (See note, below)

Tavern on the Green:

Spins are still traveling. My ankles hurt when I do back crossovers.

We only had two kids for Parent & Me, so I let the college kid have the class.

I need my blades sharpened, but had to wait until after the kids' exhibition last night. I'm going either tomorrow or Friday to get the deed done.


Note: I was walking through this little Basic 6 routine for one of my students since I had some free time on the ice. A snotty person asked if it was my Adult Nationals program, lol. Someone's in the doghouse now.

[jazzpants]

Tavern on the Green has danced on the brink of bankruptcy for ages, so don't think this is a new development, lol.Yeah, I know, I know! But took how long it took to finally force it to close its doors? Sad story still. As the resident (self-proclaimed) foodie on this board... I always wanted to say that I've been there, even though I know the food is probably crappy.


Lotsa Green:
New blade alignment so far as passed my secondary coach's test and definitely "for the better." I hadn't realized how long it's been that I could NOT feel much of my edges and the distinction of outside or inside edges. It's a LOT easier to do forward power pulls now!!! WOO HOO!!! :bow:

Tavern on the Green:
Got homework now to work on BO edges and keeping the hips "squared" (in my case, crooked to the point of over compensating it to keep the hips squared. :roll: )


Note: I was walking through this little Basic 6 routine for one of my students since I had some free time on the ice. A snotty person asked if it was my Adult Nationals program, lol. Someone's in the doghouse now.OOOOOH!!!! You need to show this person "the rest of your program", especially the ending where you doing a hockey stop and spraying ice at said snotty person!!! ;) :twisted: :lol:

[PinkLaces]

Tavern on the Green Ran through my program and got a little lost after the lutz-toe loop....forgot that we had put a camel there.

Lotsa Green Put the camel in (once I remembered :?? ) and Coach pronounced in beautiful. :) Got my skates sharpened earlier that afternoon and put in new laces. That seemed to do the trick. Spins were better. Jumps were better. Spent a lot of time working on sections of my program....holding the landings on my jumps.

Tavern Coach said I looked like I was concentrating too hard on what comes next and not enjoying my program.

[FlyAndCrash]

Lotsa Green: I passed my intermediate moves!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:So excited. I felt that the patterns that I did today were about the same as the ones a month ago, but I passed this time. The judge that retry-ed me by .5 last time passed me over by .4! I could not believe it. I still haven't gotten my papers back, but I did get a chance to talk with the judges after. They were super nice and the judge the did both my tests complimented me on my improvement and that I had taken her previous comments into consideration. She still had many critiques of my patterns though.

Lotsa Green: My coach complimented me on my 3-axel program run-thru yesterday. She loved that I added the axel-side toe hop-axel and landed one of the best flying camels that she's seen me do at the end. I had some major mistakes, but she let them slide because I had been off the ice for a little bit.

Tavern: The ice has been taken out of my current home rink due to renovations and now the ice schedule for near-by rinks is really sporadic starting next week. With my busy schedule, I'm hoping that I'll still be able to fit skating in. :(

[ibreakhearts66]

Lotsa Green: I passed my intermediate moves!!! :lol: :lol: :lol:So excited. I felt that the patterns that I did today were about the same as the ones a month ago, but I passed this time. The judge that retry-ed me by .5 last time passed me over by .4! I could not believe it. I still haven't gotten my papers back, but I did get a chance to talk with the judges after. They were super nice and the judge the did both my tests complimented me on my improvement and that I had taken her previous comments into consideration. She still had many critiques of my patterns though.

Lotsa Green: My coach complimented me on my 3-axel program run-thru yesterday. She loved that I added the axel-side toe hop-axel and landed one of the best flying camels that she's seen me do at the end. I had some major mistakes, but she let them slide because I had been off the ice for a little bit.

Tavern: The ice has been taken out of my current home rink due to renovations and now the ice schedule for near-by rinks is really sporadic starting next week. With my busy schedule, I'm hoping that I'll still be able to fit skating in. :(

HUGE congratulations!!!! :bow::bow:

Lotsa green: After my meltdown last monday, I took the rest of the week off, but after talking to my coach and another coach at my rink and after watching older videos of my skating, I decided not to hang up my skates. I'm just taking it one day at a time, skating only if I feel like it. I skated Monday and today.

Worked on moves. Counters are feeling good as are slow rocker choctaws and the spiral sequence. Quick rocker choctaws are getting there, but I sometimes spook on the RFO swing rocker. I probably COULD pass these pretty soon, but I don't think I'm even going to attempt to test until school is done--I don't want to put myself in the same position where I don't want to skate but force myself to for a test.

Jumped a bit, just through 2loop. I FEEL like my jumps may actually be bigger than they've been in a while, but I'm not sure if my body has just kind of forgotten what my jumps usually feel like, lol.

Had fun just skating with one of the younger skaters (12 or so). First we worked on the senior quickstep, then junior power circles (she has her junior moves) and then a bit on Novice. It was just nice to practice WITH someone, I guess.

Had even MORE fun with that skater trying to teach my coach the senior quickstep. It was really quite entertaining, and it was nice to see HER unable to remember steps when it's usually ME going 8O when she's trying to teach me footwork, etc. The sequence with the BI rocker, mohawk, BI bracket, step behind, FO bracket required 3 coaches and 3 skaters to figure out--we couldn't quite identify what the turns were supposed to be. Finally my coach got the rulebook :lol:

Tavern on the Green:
I don't know if it's just that I've been slightly weak the past two times I've skated (I skate after having two classes and probably consuming a bit too much caffeine), but I've totally lost my head for spinning. I was getting way dizzy even doing Scotty turns.

I've been a little wary about working on the rolling 3s and the bracket-3-bracket because I felt a little "out of it" on the ice. But at the same time, I'm not stressing over it, I'm trying not to get myself frustrated or injured.

[phoenix]

Tavern: My coach was badly injured at the end of Jan. & has been unable to come into the rink. In his absence, I blew off a lot of practice.

Lotsa Green: Getting back to regular practices & workouts, so feel better in general. Started working with an interim coach so that gets me motivated again and I'm enjoying working with her. She's very detail oriented. And the main dance I'd been working on didn't suffer too much from the break & is coming back together pretty well.

Tavern: I don't know when my coach will come back and I don't have any idea when I'll get to test again.....he always partnered me of course. There are one or two options, so we'll have to see how things go & may have to come up w/ an alternative plan. I would have re-tested a dance yesterday, so that was kind of depressing.

[RachelSk8er]

Tavern on the Green has danced on the brink of bankruptcy for ages, so don't think this is a new development, lol.


Not to mention that they were one of the highest grossing independent restaurant in the United States. Their ultimate demise was largely due to poor management and financial planning. The 2007-2008 downturn should have been nothing to weather when you were previously bringing in about $40million/year. Many, many less famous independent restaurants across the country survived on far less revenue. (Sorry....dork who works in commercial real estate speaking...I saw lots of crazy stuff go on in the past few years.)

[drskater]

Nothing momentous, but here it goes…

Lotsa Green: It was a week where those little things come together. My left foot power pulls (F and B)came easy, with those scrumptious edge growlie sounds and some, ahem, power. I did an actual outside edge mohawk for the first time, which lit a little fire of hope for the 8 step Mohawk sequence –some day anyways. My bronze moves were a bit better than okay and I went waaaay down on a sit spin, as if I knew what I was doing (ha!). Also, I managed to do a good “corkscrew” spin that was just as centered as it could be. Note: that is singular, as in one, the rest were just screwed spins.

Tavern: I over-rotated my flips, I under-rotated a few, I landed on my left foot on a few, and I played human zamboni with the rest. Did I mention it was a bad week for flips? Coach made us do power swizzles around the rink during power skating and as a result my thighs hurt more than as if I’d been riding a bronco (not that’s there’s anything wrong with that!). As I pumped around the rink, watching the kids grow ever more distant ahead, it occurred to me that I am getting old. Ah, well, on the upside, at least (unlike them) I can have a drink after skating!

[jazzpants]

My hubby tells me that the locals think that Tavern on the Green was a big time "tourist trap." Looking at the reviews for the restaurant, looks consistent with what I've heard from hubby. :twisted: You'd wonder with that type of grossing where all that money went to... :??

Lotsa green:

Looks like the blade alignment is definitely for the better. It's noticeably easier for me to do edge stuff. I was able to feel whether or not I'm on the inside and outside edge on the right foot now. Of course, we'll see the next time I have spin lessons with my spin coach whether or not the spin entry has improved. :P

Tavern on the Green:

Still skate like crap!!! :frus:

We did back crossovers and 8 step mohawks today! On the back crossovers, I had one of those "Oops! Lost an edge" slip accidents on the ice. Luckily, it's not a bad fall. But certainly does not instill confidence in my ability to do good crossovers yet... :roll:

Still in the learning "how to do it" stage on the 8 step mohawks. I just don't get that #$*&^% FO mohawks... and I practice those alone 'til the cows come home... :frus:

[Terri C]

Haven't done this in awhile, but here goes...

Lotsa Green: With my father on the mend and my brain again sane, I've started to work on Silver moves again. And what happens when I mention this to Primary Coach today? You got it- a 30 minute moves lesson!!
Was a bit tentative about it, but got back, amongst other things my RBO3!!

Tavern on the Green:
Rinks continue to drop like flies here in VA. In January, Prince William Ice Forum (near Potomac Mills) had to close after a roof collapse during one of the DC blizzards. Then the last two weeks, the word got out that Charlottesville Ice Park is for sale and will close if there is no buyer.
This afternoon, it was announced due to high maintenance costs that Hampton Roads Iceplex will close on July 31. :cry::cry::cry:

[Isk8NYC]

My hubby tells me that the locals think that Tavern on the Green was a big time "tourist trap." Looking at the reviews for the restaurant, looks consistent with what I've heard from hubby. :twisted: You'd wonder with that type of grossing where all that money went to... :??TOTG is IN Central Park - the rent alone must have been six figures. While their gross income was high, I'm sure their expenses were just as high. In addition, they only had dinner and sunday brunch, iirc, so their fixed costs were astronomical. Add in the garbage carting, graft and payoffs, and there you go. (As we say heah in the south!) I went there for a wedding once and it was very nice, but I agree with your DH - it's a tourist trap for dinner or brunch.


Tavern on the Green:
The right blade is better, but I really think the boot's too wide. Socks don't help, either. Making an appt with Klingbeil for next week. Maybe he can do the fitting and fix these behemoths.

Lotsa Green:
My Basic 6 program is looking pretty good (LOL) and I came up with a new way to teach mohawks that works really well! May be transferable to 3-turns, not certain. Yay me!

[phoenix]

I came up with a new way to teach mohawks that works really well!

Share, please??

[Mrs Redboots]

Congratulations, Flyandcrash!

Ibreakhearts66, so glad you have decided not to hang up your skates. Take a few weeks to just play on the ice - do things you enjoy doing, and don't stress about the "next thing", just play. Fool around, jam it up, improvise to everybody else's music, find a friend and challenge each other to moves you find hard, that sort of thing. The tests and competitions will still be there when you're ready to have another go, there's no hurry!

For myself, training is going well - I tend to blog about it on my LiveJournal (set to friends-only, but I have a wide network of friends, so just comment to be added!) rather than on here; Husband and I are working very hard with our new coach and have sent off our entries for the Mountain Cup; unfortunately the ISU ignores skaters at our level (Bronze free dance; pre-Bronze compulsory dance) and the French federation's requirements are quite different to NISA's, so we won't be doing any UK competitions before then.

[Isk8NYC]

Share, please??
Okay, but it turns out that it's only new to ME, lol.
http://www.skatingforums.com/showthread.php?t=28096

Tavern on the Green:
Sit spins are very high (for me) and I'm not getting as much speed.

Lotsa Green:
For some reason, I can now do a catch-foot spiral. Not that I really had any intention of gaining that skill, but I've been doing a lot of stretching after workouts, plus I have students who can do them. I demonstrated one and held it for the full hockey circle. I was impressed with myself!

Edges and turns were better; the LFI 3t is baaaaaddddd....

[RachelSk8er]

Lotsa Green:

Conquering the new blades. Haven't killed myself yet. Had my first lesson in them and it wasn't too bad, we worked on all my spins and jumps and did a run-thru (which was a typical Friday 7:50 AM run-thru at the very end of my 45 min lesson when my coach has tired me out, blades didn't make it any worse than usual). I'm getting better at finding the sweet spot for spins, and jump landings feel so much more secure. I'm still having a hard time bending my ankles because the 1310/2010 boot series actually has support in the tongues of the skates, and not just the typical flap of leather with foam glued on the back. Not quite broken in yet.

Did the best flying camel my coach has ever seen me do.

Competing this weekend (FS tomorrow, in the new skates), and 4 solo dances (2 silvers, 2 pre-golds) Sunday. Just 3 of us in my FS, and I think only 2-3 of us in each dance (dances are against teenagers). And since it's a local competition, my coach will be there! I don't shell out $$ to take him out of town with me so he's never actually been there at a competition to put me on the ice and see me compete. It'll be weird, and for some reason I'm really nervous and freaking out about it. He always sees me do really shitty run-thrus in practice since by my lesson on Friday morning I'm usually exhausted from a week of work/law school, and I always tell him that I usually pull my sh!t together at competitions. I want to be true to my word!!

[tazsk8s]

Lot$a Worked on waltz 8 in my lesson. It's coming together pretty well and as my coach counted in 6's (1-2-3-turn-5-6, push-2-3-4-5-6, step-2-3-4-5-6) I was able to keep up and do the whole thing in some semblance of a rhythm. We were both pleased.

Spirals a little better. We played a tiny bit with the Prelim spiral pattern for "fun" (ok, my coach's idea of fun, mine is a little different than that).

Spins weren't too bad, and I did a flip jump that felt huge. Most of the rest of my jumps were ok.

Tavern Lutz was completely gone again. Man, is this frustrating.:frus: I'm pre-rotating the upper body and somehow have developed a nasty hammer-toe habit and have zero sense of timing. Back to doing just the entry and landing with no rotation along with mixing in some 1/2 lutzes. Grrr.

Hockey tournament at our rink so ice is screwed up for the next 3 weeks. :cry:

Wish I was in a tavern Somehow I allowed myself to be persuaded to sub for a couple of skate school classes last Friday and this week. I was reminded last week why I hate teaching on Fridays. I'm already tired from getting up early to skate and then working all day, and for some reason the kids in the Friday classes are just off the wall and the parents are extra-whiney about everything.

Coach gave me a minor heart attack when we went to start on moves this morning...she meant to say "waltz 8" and instead said "8 step mohawk" which is what I was doing when I broke my wrist. Not even close to being ready to think about the 8 step or any other moves at that level...that's why we're going back to pre-pre. We had a good laugh once I got past the moment of "huh"????

[jazzpants]

Tavern:
The first batch of forward and back cross-strokes were pretty bad!!!

Lotsa green:
Looks like I managed to give secondary coach a very happy lesson this morning. I've made progress on both the forward and back cross-strokes!!! Not perfect, but I was definitely (at least) moving at a pretty good speed and continued at a very good speed through out the move!!! I doubt my primary coach noticed since he had his lessons, but we'll see...you never know. WHOO HOOOOOO!!!! :bow: :bow: :bow:

I'm sure I worked on other things after my lesson, but it was all a blur after today's lesson!!! :lol: :bow:

[Kat12]

Awww, and here I was gong to think of "tavern" as good, because, well, you know... :)

Okay, so, not much this week.

Tavern: no skating for me today. My partner was sweet enough to share his cold with me. Cold (as in rhinovirus) = runny nose. Being IN the cold = runny nose. The two together would probably mean I'd do more wiping than skating. Plus no doubt my immune system doesn't need the stress of a public skate today.

Lotsa green: Not sure if this counts as good, actually, but my partner says he thinks I'm getting a "skater's butt." I took that as a good thing until he said, "it's getting more like a bubble, and..." Erm, no. My butt already sticks out; I do not need you telling me that apparently it is sticking out MORE. At first I thought he meant my butt was getting more toned and perhaps less fatty (that is, sticks out LESS). But he likes it, so I guess that's one good thing about it. Now to keep watching and see if *I* like it, I guess.

See, toldja. Boring this week.

[RachelSk8er]

Good:
Competed this weekend. Overall managed to stay really relaxed and not let my nerves get to me.

Survived competing in the new boots & blades, was a tad rushed but otherwise it was a good skate, I want to say it may have been my best overall skate in a competition this season (since I jumped really well but tripped at Peach, got flustered after the fall and switched my flying camel to a back-forward scratch, something I did bothered me at Wyandotte but I can't remember what, and I was on a re-sprained ankle at Easterns so I had a really hard time with lutzes and my flying camel never took off). All my jumps were clean, but just need some work as I get more comfortable in these skates and can be more aggressive. We've been working on a back-forward sit and I put that in and did it OK, not as good of a snap into the back sit as I was getting in practice but that's OK. I did do a really nice loop jump. Had to tone down a few of my connecting steps because I couldn't bend in these skates and therefore couldn't use the more difficult connecting steps to pick up speed. I'm happy with this being my competition-before-ANs performance, since it was strong but still has room for improvement, and my coach was there so we know exactly what we need to work on these next few weeks. (Mainly getting my lutz back to where it was before my ankle injuries, getting the skates broken in and me more comfortable on these blades, being more aggressive on my spins, especially the flying camel, probably swapping the location/placement of 2 of my jumps back to the way we initially choreographed the program.)

Found out when I got to the rink that I was doing A/D interp. I had signed up for it, but it was never on the schedule, so I assumed it was cancelled and I'd get an event fee refund when I got there. Needless to say, I didn't have anything prepared, and I planned to work on my program for ANs starting this week. Turns out they didn't see that I had checked that on the form and paid for it. The other skater who signed up (who they thought then was the only entry) pitched a fit when the event got cancelled. They added it at the last minute. I found out when I got there, and my options were either an event refund or to skate. I figured what the hell, I was there, it was after my freestyle, might as well do it. I had an extra costume and last year's A/D music (hadn't done the program since ANs last year), so I winged it, the other skater is barely pre-bronze so it made it a little more fair to her, she was glad to not have to be the only one in the event, and I walked away with straight 1s.

Dances yesterday....competed Rocker Foxtrot, American and Blues, didn't win because I was against teenagers who skate much more than I do and actually work on their dances, but held my own. Managed to keep the nerves in check and have fun, which was the whole goal of me doing this in the first place en route to ANs in a few weeks.

First 2 patterns of Rocker Foxtrot were good, especially considering I hadn't even worked on that dance since I passed it 3 yrs ago. 2nd two weren't so not (they made us do 4 since that's what the rulebook says! I signed up for this for fun, and 4 patterns is not my idea of fun. But I held up fingers counting it down at the start of every pattern, the judges were amused. During the warm-up I tried to talk them into bonus points for being twice the age of everyone else competing but that was a no-go. Boo!). This was my 3rd time competing the American this year and the best one so far. Still a little work to do before ANs but I feel good. My Blues (they made us do 3 patterns of this one, I don't think I've ever done more than 2) was strong, first pattern felt really good. I even got complimented on my choctaw by one of the judges afterward! I competed that one a few times last year too, but haven't really worked on it since, and it was by far the best I've done it. Even got some first place ordinals.

[PinkLaces]

Good:
Competed this weekend. Overall managed to stay really relaxed and not let my nerves get to me.

Survived competing in the new boots & blades, was a tad rushed but otherwise it was a good skate, I want to say it may have been my best overall skate in a competition this season (since I jumped really well but tripped at Peach, got flustered after the fall and switched my flying camel to a back-forward scratch, something I did bothered me at Wyandotte but I can't remember what, and I was on a re-sprained ankle at Easterns so I had a really hard time with lutzes and my flying camel never took off). All my jumps were clean, but just need some work as I get more comfortable in these skates and can be more aggressive. We've been working on a back-forward sit and I put that in and did it OK, not as good of a snap into the back sit as I was getting in practice but that's OK. I did do a really nice loop jump. Had to tone down a few of my connecting steps because I couldn't bend in these skates and therefore couldn't use the more difficult connecting steps to pick up speed. I'm happy with this being my competition-before-ANs performance, since it was strong but still has room for improvement, and my coach was there so we know exactly what we need to work on these next few weeks. (Mainly getting my lutz back to where it was before my ankle injuries, getting the skates broken in and me more comfortable on these blades, being more aggressive on my spins, especially the flying camel, probably swapping the location/placement of 2 of my jumps back to the way we initially choreographed the program.)

Found out when I got to the rink that I was doing A/D interp. I had signed up for it, but it was never on the schedule, so I assumed it was cancelled and I'd get an event fee refund when I got there. Needless to say, I didn't have anything prepared, and I planned to work on my program for ANs starting this week. Turns out they didn't see that I had checked that on the form and paid for it. The other skater who signed up (who they thought then was the only entry) pitched a fit when the event got cancelled. They added it at the last minute. I found out when I got there, and my options were either an event refund or to skate. I figured what the hell, I was there, it was after my freestyle, might as well do it. I had an extra costume and last year's A/D music (hadn't done the program since ANs last year), so I winged it, the other skater is barely pre-bronze so it made it a little more fair to her, she was glad to not have to be the only one in the event, and I walked away with straight 1s.

Dances yesterday....competed Rocker Foxtrot, American and Blues, didn't win because I was against teenagers who skate much more than I do and actually work on their dances, but held my own. Managed to keep the nerves in check and have fun, which was the whole goal of me doing this in the first place en route to ANs in a few weeks.

First 2 patterns of Rocker Foxtrot were good, especially considering I hadn't even worked on that dance since I passed it 3 yrs ago. 2nd two weren't so not (they made us do 4 since that's what the rulebook says! I signed up for this for fun, and 4 patterns is not my idea of fun. But I held up fingers counting it down at the start of every pattern, the judges were amused. During the warm-up I tried to talk them into bonus points for being twice the age of everyone else competing but that was a no-go. Boo!). This was my 3rd time competing the American this year and the best one so far. Still a little work to do before ANs but I feel good. My Blues (they made us do 3 patterns of this one, I don't think I've ever done more than 2) was strong, first pattern felt really good. I even got complimented on my choctaw by one of the judges afterward! I competed that one a few times last year too, but haven't really worked on it since, and it was by far the best I've done it. Even got some first place ordinals.


Yay!!! Congrats!:bow::bow:

[PinkLaces]

Tavern Woke up late this morning. Only got a 1/2 hr of practice in. Felt like I needed it. Friday practice was cancelled. Saturdays are now full of show practice so I don't get any regular practice in at all. Sit spins were crap today. I am working on getting lower. I can do 1 low rev and then I put my foot down. :frus: Working on getting the elbow down on my backspin. If I got the arms right, I'd grind to a halt.

Lotsa Green Waltz jumps had that nice pop of airtime today. Camel is getting better. If I think about keeping my left arm up and looking up, they are much better. Did some decent flips straight out of the gate today. Working on holding the landings out of them instead of rushing to the next thing. Also loops from the back cross-overs are getting better. I usually have to do a few from the 3 turn before hand. Only did 1 from the 3 and got a nice loop from the back cross-overs first try. Woot! Ran through my footwork sequence...pretty good. I do a loop jump right after. I thought about bring in my arms. I popped up so high it scared me 8O

Found out that DD has an orchestra concert tonight on Saturday. Had to spend some time rearranging with skating coaches. Might be able to make the 4:30 session tonight.

[drskater]

Kat12, good for you! My husband likes my skater's butt too. Lucky for me he figure skates too and I get to enjoy HIS skater's butt!

[Skate@Delaware]

Lotsa green: I've managed to keep my lesson time so my sanity is intact while I'm in school. Lesson went well, we hit loops, flips, 3-turns and sit-spins. All require tons of work but that's good.

sort-of-green: working on the sit almost made me puke-I'm bent over so low my stomach actually hurt! Now if I could just get a bit closer to the ice I'd be there!

Tavern: we figured out that my crappy 3-turns have to be fixed on the flip as well, they are really messing me up so I have been relegated to table-topping my arms in a neutral position and keeping them there the whole time ((sigh)) it's hard, I hate it, but it works (did wonder for the salchow too).

Loop jump is getting better, I'm sometime even rolling off my toepicks. Which means I get a bit of air time LOL!

I started skating pairs, but when my other rink closed for the summer (in early March) we stopped skating together....trying to fit that into my schedule right now is darn near impossible. Maybe soon???? I don't get much free time, school is my food and air now. 8O

[tazsk8s]

Tavern: Usual rink has limited ice for THREE WEEKS due to hockey tournaments. Ugh. Skated at another area rink after work today. Just had skates sharpened and much to my surprise was skidding all over the place! Going to wait to skate on my normal ice (probably Friday morning) before I take them back and inquire if something has changed, or if maybe the other rink has unusually hard ice or something. (Because it's never the skater's fault, right?:) )

Did my first workout on Saturday with my previous off-ice coach. Lots of core and leg strength work, some upper body work. Felt like someone had hit me in the ribcage with a baseball bat from the core work. Legs were sore, but not ridiculously so. I was hoping for a good skate today, but uggggh. Knees were very unhappy. I think it's just a matter of getting used to the off-ice again.

Most of my jumps were just off today, even the flip which is usually my friend.

Lotsa: Ummm, not a whole lot. Spins felt okay, not great, but okay. And I did one nice loop that felt like "ahhhhhhh".

[PinkLaces]

Tuesday

Lotsa Went through program with coach in lesson. She liked most of it. Camels are better. Sits are a tiny bit lower(I'll take every mm I can get :twisted:). Flips were decent. The loop after the footwork is much improved. I have to remember to wait and set it up properly before jumping. Working on holding the endings and not rushing into the next element.

Tavern The part of my program where I finish the sit spin, do a spiral, then do the lutz-toe loop is bad. My free foot toe tends to droop on the spiral and the lutz is all kinds of crazy bad. Coach wants me to work on this section and have it "perfect" for my lesson on Friday (Ha!)

Thursday

Lotsa Nice quiet session. There were 3 of us adults and 1 kid with her coach. Camels were good. Flips were decent. Scratch spins are back to being centered again. Ran through program without music and it went pretty well. Ran through it with music right before the end of the session. Seemed to go well. Other skaters thought it looked pretty good except....

Tavern for the lutz-toe loop. Ack! Had nice speed going into it, but totally chickened out. I worked on that spiral-lutz-toe-loop-camel section a lot. It seemed to get worse rather than better. :frus:

[drskater]

I was a barfly at the Tavern this week. I didn’t stop in for a drink—I camped out there, Eugene O’Neil character style, Meryl Streep singing in Barfly style. Caught a toe-pick while pushing into a three in the Bronze Moves Three-Turn pattern and went down hard on my knee. Our rink (like others?) is pretty macho about injuries, there’s a culture of no-crying or whining. The pain was unreal and I sobbed like a baby. Later that same session, I sat back on a sit spin and –for the very first time—bonked the back of my head. I let out a huge, “Yeee-ouch!!” and looked up to see half a dozen concerned faces looking down at me. Coach said, “Don’t you know you’re not supposed to land on your head?” I followed up this display of extreme gracefulness by failing to do anything right.

Lotsa: But I kept skating. Got the program in shape and went through it to music. All the jumps, spins, and footwork went well, though I have the most problems with those connecting moves, like back cross-overs and power threes. I feel like I’m skating on sand. Still, I have a t least enough experience to know that these things smooth out over time and more practice. Did some nice loops and mediocre flips. I started to feel a bit like a real figure skater by the end of the week.

[dbny]

Tavern:
Ugh! I haven't had a lesson or practiced in 3 weeks and the antibiotic I'm on for my sinus infection makes me ever so slightly dizzy, so we really didn't so much and I had a major lack of confidence. Did some edge work, which was OK, then worked on FO and FI threes, which is where I really felt dizzy.

Lots of Green:
At the very end of the lesson, I suddenly felt really good, and solid, and wanted to spin. I did just one very, very nice one foot spin from a T push. It was centered and about 5 revs. If I had ended it just one sec earlier it would have been perfect, but I waited and did rock back just a bit, forcing me to end the spin. Nevertheless, I was very happy to get that one nice spin in.

[AgnesNitt]

Tavern:
Skated an hour. Coach cancelled.
Blech :cry: of a week.

Lots of Green:
Got my boots fixed so the big toes are popped out. My skate tech was tech for the US team at Vancouver, heard some cool stories. Nope, not going to repeat them.

[Skate@Delaware]

Lots of Green:
At the very end of the lesson, I suddenly felt really good, and solid, and wanted to spin. I did just one very, very nice one foot spin from a T push. It was centered and about 5 revs. If I had ended it just one sec earlier it would have been perfect, but I waited and did rock back just a bit, forcing me to end the spin. Nevertheless, I was very happy to get that one nice spin in.
Yay for you! Luv spins like that!

Tavern-no skating this week....ended up at a real tavern for a one-beer-study-break. I have two big tests on Monday and a skills sign-off (sterile wound culture & dressing change), then two more days of clinicals before spring break. I am hoping to catch up on some skating during break since the college will be completely shut down (no way to practice trach care at all).

Yeah. My plan to test next month-pfft! out the window. Oh well, there is always May, and the session after that (July). I'll keep trying. to find time to skate.

[Isk8NYC]

Lotsa Green:
Got to Klingbeils and they were able to adjust my skates. Didn't have a chance to try them out yet, so *crosses fingers*

Tavern on the Green:
Ordered new boots but I also need new blades. Big bucks.

[AgnesNitt]

Lotsa Green:
Tavern on the Green:
Ordered new boots but I also need new blades. Big bucks.

Count yourself lucky. My friend the Big Guy goes through 2 pairs of boots and parabolic blades a year. He's so hard on boots he keeps them in rotation so one pair is winding down while the other is breaking in.

[blue111moon]

I've been in sort of a holding pattern this year so haven't posted much - but I finally worked up the courage to test the first two Preliminary dances - the Dutch Waltz and the Canasta Tango - and passed both yesterday. :)

Judge's comments mentioned my weaknesses in the two parts I always have trouble with so no news there but my "timing and expression" got "OK" for both dances - which is extraordinarily good because generally I suck at both.

Anyway, a "P" is a "P" and I'm happy that I don't have to worry about the Dutch Waltz any more. :)

[Isk8NYC]

...but i finally worked up the courage to test the first two preliminary dances - the dutch waltz and the canasta tango - and passed both yesterday. :)congratulations!

[PinkLaces]

I've been in sort of a holding pattern this year so haven't posted much - but I finally worked up the courage to test the first two Preliminary dances - the Dutch Waltz and the Canasta Tango - and passed both yesterday. :)

Judge's comments mentioned my weaknesses in the two parts I always have trouble with so no news there but my "timing and expression" got "OK" for both dances - which is extraordinarily good because generally I suck at both.

Anyway, a "P" is a "P" and I'm happy that I don't have to worry about the Dutch Waltz any more. :)

Way to go! CONGRATS!

[PinkLaces]

Tavern Lutz is giving me fits. I hesitate. I chicken out. Spent some time working on it. Turning my head into the circle seems to help keep the outside edge. Had a couple of friends look at it and they said when I don't hesitate it's not bad. Flips were also a bit tentative. Need to attack those jumps more.

Lotsa Ran through my program twice. Both run throughs were pretty good with the exception of a missed lutz-toe loop. I wasn't even too badly out of breath on the first run through so that I went again after a junior freeskate program.

[Mrs Redboots]

Judge's comments mentioned my weaknesses in the two parts I always have trouble with so no news there but my "timing and expression" got "OK" for both dances - which is extraordinarily good because generally I suck at both.

I am not at all surprised you passed! And I can't think why you say your timing and expression suck - I've seen you do these dances, and you've been absolutely fine!

Onwards and upwards, and the horrible cross-behinds in the Rhythm Blues (are you doing Preparatory-level at the Mountain Cup, as we are? I don't have too many issues with those dances and it frees us up to concentrate on our free dance, which is at the why-did-I-think-this-was-a-good-idea stage).

[blue111moon]

Yup, it's the Canasta and the Rhythm for me at Mountain Cup. Jean too, since we don't know the french-only dance that they've picked for the Preliminary level.

I don't have much trouble with the cross-behinds - I find the three easier to do than the optional two. It's that dumb down-up step down the side that I dislike and the off-count timing around the corner confuses me. At least the tempo is slower on the Rhythm Blues than on the Canasta.

Are you doing the solo dance too or just the partnered one?

With all the changes in MC's rules this year, I have no clue whether my free and interpretive will fit in. We'll have fun anyway.

[PinkLaces]

Tavern Couldn't get out of the tavern last night. I ran a 4.5 hour test session. Then went to the rink 3 hours later. Ugh. Everything was bad. Couldn't go a loop to save my life. The salchow I did was scary when I looked at the tracing.

Lotsa Not a lot. I could still do scratch spins okay.

[Isk8NYC]

Tavern - I don't drink, but I should start. Skates are meh, not better, not worse. Just fit a little better and are more balanced. They're super-sharp, so that could be part of the problem. Forward brackets were fine, but back brackets are scraped and uncomfortable.

Lotsa Green - I can center a forward spin now, so that's a good thing. New skates are on the way - even better. FI Twizzles were pretty good, even the "wrong" way.

I *wanted* to go skating yesterday at coffee club, but my coworkers sent me a ton of work that had to be done right away, including a conference call mid-session. I was so ticked off, it showed.

Looks like I charmed the development team vendor into doing an upgrade for free, though. Yay!

Maybe tomorrow, I'll get to the rink.

[Kim to the Max]

I got to skate in our club's show this weekend and got to see the tot number I choreographed. It was a ton of fun. I screwed up my axel and 2 sal both nights...don't really know what happened. I think both nights I was rushing the jumps...

The tots were adorable skating to itsy bitsy spider and they totally stole the show. They didn't do much of what I choreographed, but that's okay. One of them was so cute and giggled loudly through the entire program, which made the entire audience giggle :) I have a picture of her mid giggle which just makes me smile :)

Here are a few photos of me :)
Not my best layback...
http://gallery.me.com/wademackey/100268/IMG_6784/web.jpg?ver=12698226430001

http://gallery.me.com/wademackey/100268/IMG_6768/web.jpg?ver=12698233180001

My spiral :)
http://gallery.me.com/wademackey/100268/IMG_6778/web.jpg?ver=12698237390001

[drskater]

Wow! You look great--just fabulous!! Thanks for posting these pics!

[dbny]

Wow! You look great--just fabulous!! Thanks for posting these pics!

ITA! Beautiful spiral!

[doubletoe]

I love the spiral picture, too! And your layback is WAY better than mine!

[Kim to the Max]

Thanks everyone!! :) The show was fun and it was an excuse for me to stone a new dress!

[Mrs Redboots]

Are you doing the solo dance too or just the partnered one?

With all the changes in MC's rules this year, I have no clue whether my free and interpretive will fit in. We'll have fun anyway.

Just the partnered, but I do have an interp - and, since yesterday, a costume for it (long story).

The trouble is, the French federation has finally sat up and took notice. Which would be fine, and in many ways is good, but I do wish ISU would set standards for Bronze free dances and pre-Bronze compulsories, as it is making life very difficult. However, our free dance should be adaptable to NISA requirements come the autumn, and the compulsories are what they are, and as long as they don't want too much in the way of ten-foxes and hickories (we have competed the latter; it was just that with fewer lessons this year, there wasn't time to polish up these two dances AND do a new free dance, so we dropped to Preparatory for the compulsories).

[londonicechamp]

Hi

Well, I will post the practice thread for this one short, as it was a long time ago, due to the Easter holiday, and I was too busy with the Easter play preparation in my church for the Good Friday.

Lotsa green (the good bits)

Forward one foot spins (well, at least hitting 32 revolutions max.) Jumps are getting better. Finally getting comfortable with my loop jump, and trying to get down lower with my sit spin. Getting there with my backward cross-rolls.

Tavern (the bad bits)

Backspins (cannot cross yet, but can do the leg wide open). Brackets- still finding this weird.

Due to the Easter school holidays, and also the kids preparing for a competiton two weeks ago, jungling competitors with students who are having lessons are never a good idea. 8O

Give some of the basic jumps a miss, as needed to work on the ISI freestyle leve 3 and 4 elements.

londonicechamp