Nice or Nasty: Lessons/Practices 2-8 February 2003

[Mrs Redboots]

Nice: I was able to skate a bit today - I really wasn't sure if I'd be up for it, even to the time I laced up my boots. One of the coaches said, "Well, maybe you'll feel okay when you're on the ice", to which I replied "That's exactly what I'm hoping!" I did, too - but only a certain amount. I felt really rather wobbly, and didn't finish our lesson (only just not).

However, in my practice I was able to do changes of edge at full speed, but felt really wobbly going backwards. I managed to do various 3-turns (and VERY NEARLY a LFO3/LBI bracket and RFO3/RBI bracket combinations without either holding on or toe-tapping!), but not Mohawks. In the lesson we did runs round the circle in both directions in Kilian hold and then reverse Kilian hold - I couldn't find my balance in the clockwise reverse Kilian, but otherwise they were okay. We then did inside swing rolls in Kilian, and himself was very pleased with them! And then chasses and swing rolls in waltz hold. The chasses were all fairly okay; the first half-lap of swing rolls with me going backwards were a bit flat, and the ones with Robert going backwards were very odd. At which point I began to ache violently all over, and said I'd had enough, so Robert had the last 3 minutes to himself working on his swing rolls. I took my boots off, but was watching him practice and noticed that part of the problem was that he was forgetting to prebend, which made him lurch forwards.

Nasty: As above, feeling wobbly and not up to much (I really want to sleep now, but am staying awake to cook a pseudo-Chinese lunch in honour of the Year of the Ram). Plus New Management is changing not only the rink timetable, but also the way we pay for patch ice - they will refund what is left on our season tickets, and then we pay our coaches. Which is all very well, but what happens when you go to a patch where you coach isn't? I suppose mine will trust us to pay weekly by cheque - he'd better! I'm also cross as normally I've paid for our lessons and my own ice time, and Robert has paid for his ice time and mine at other rinks, plus mine at Dance Club (which is alleged to be moving night). I'm NOT prepared to pay for his ice time, so he says at the moment that he'll pay me cash each week. Yeah, right....

Still, it'll all work out in the end - but I'm NOT looking forward to the avalanche of grumbling that will indubitably ensue (why do people always grumble at me? As though I could do anything!). You can't please all of the people all of the time, and the management are entitled to do what they want. PLUS the coaches have asked for a dance interval on the same night as Dance Club - and if we get that, I could forgive the management a great deal!

[mikawendy]

Annabel--congratulations on the brackets! In theory, I understand brackets and rockers but I think I'm years away from being able to do them!! I hope the transition to the new ice payment system will be as trouble free for you as one can hope.

And everyone who went to the New Year's comp at Ashburn, do post in the forum to tell us how things went!!

Nice:
Forgot to mention last week that I was fooling around and figured out how to do an ina bauer to the right!

Tested and passed Basic Skills 7. That means (gulp) I'll be moving on to learning moving three turns. Ack!

Mohawks are improving.

CW one-foot spins are fairly consistent. Not having much luck with practicing the scratch spin.

A skater recruiting people for the synchro class at my rink complimented me on my skating. (She also really wanted me to join the class, it must be said.) I told her I didn't have time b/c I'd see my husband less (we work different hours) and I already feel like I've been neglecting my cardio training in favor of skating and Pilates.


Nasty:
LF spirals are *just dreadful*. I must make myself practice these each time I'm on ice so that they are up to the quality of my RF spirals.

LBI-RFO choctaw (for spin preparation) isn't happening. My instructor figured out what I'm doing wrong: I'm stepping outside of the circle and too far on to the front of the blade, and stopping myself.

Twisted my left ankle (stupidly, of course) while crossing the street. I was distracted by three fat bulldogs who had been trained by their owner to jaywalk (a funny sight, though dangerous for the dogs) and I put my foot down the wrong way. I immediately iced and took ibuprofen and have been icing for 15-min periods every few hours since. It's only mildly stiff so it should mend soon.

[icenut84]

This is for yesterday:

Nasty:

It was SOO crowded!! Even more than last week. This meant the ice was horrible (really rough), and practicing jumps (HA!) was a no-no.

My three turns were a little off. They were fine at first but later deteriorated a bit, so that makes me think the state of the ice might be a contributor.

Had a dicey moment during my dance lesson, when me & my coach were in the middle of a dance - I think he stepped on the back of my blade! Eek!! Really hurt my heel actually.

Not really nasty, but my clockwise spin wasn't too amazing.

Nice:

Anti-clockwise (not my normal direction) 1 foot spins are still improving. :mrgreen: I did a lot of good (for me) ones, and although I felt like I was a little too far forward on my blade, I got numerous rotations nearly every time, and felt quite well balanced. Also doing them from back crossovers is better. And at one point my dad was there, and I showed him one from a FO edge, and it worked! Amazing, considering I was doing it in front of someone, lol.

Coach showed me how to do a backspin - I started to learn it a while ago with my old coach but didn't really carry on practicing it. We did it from a FI3. It was quite hard, especially the exit (put down my other foot to help), but I'm gonna keep practicing it both ways. Any tips?

BO3-mohawk sequences ok.

Learnt the Willow Waltz, it's nice, though I can't remember the steps now.

[quarkiki2]

Nasty: I admit that I was an idiot in that I've been so relentlessly busy working on "Hair" that I haven't been able to practice since before Christmas. So I was pretty lousy at my lesson on the 25th (of January). Better on Saturday, thank goodness.

More Nasty: FO3s still pukey. I'm very, very close on the right side and struggling with the LFO edge on the left side. I'm not quite committing fully to the edge with my upper body and therefore the turn is all wonky. And then I drop my free foot.

Nice: I didn't lose my FI mohawks. Can do the right one faster than the left and am trying to work more speed into and out of them. Fortunately, even though I'm going into them at a snail's pace, I'm coming out of them at the same snail's pace, LOL!

Started working Delta moves. Forward edges. FO are not as secure as FI. I make it 3/4 of the lobe and barely have enough speed to get to the midline. On the FI, especially the left, I am actually accellerating through the lobe and can at least maintain my speed down the line. On both sides the lobes are pretty even and I can get about 5 of them in on the blue line. My instructor told me I have "pretty feet" when I swing the free leg forward. Another thing for which to thank my ballet training -- it's nearly impossible for me to extend my foot forward without turning it out and pointing my toes. This just goes to prove my theory that I really AM the Sasha Cohen (of two years ago) of Eastern Iowa figure skating -- pretty arms, pretty feet, red hair and weak edges, LOL! And someday I'll have a killer spiral!

[Debbie S]

Mika, ouch! I hope your ankle feels better!
(Heather asked me to do the synchro class too, but I mentioned that the late hour, when coupled w/ the travel time for me, kind of made it difficult. I also inquired about whether it was for adults anyway - I assumed it wasn't - and she told me they were going to form an adult synchro team - she said she'd update me when/if the team forms.)

Nice:

Finally got a sit spin that rotates for the required number of revolutions. Apparently, my problem was that my back was hunched too far forward so that I was getting off balance - I imagined I probably looked a little like Tim Goebel pre-2001. Once I straightened up and just bent my knee, I was able to maintain rotation. Of course, I realized that I'm probably not very low, but the instructor (we had a sub today b/c regular instructor wasn't there) said it was fine.

Power 3s and mohawks out of spirals are coming along.


Nasty:

Yes, that darned loop jump again! :( The instructor assured me I was making progress, althought it doesn't feel that way. Bottom line - I can't do a full rev (even w/ the quarter/half-turn cheat at the beginning) and am nowhere near the waltz-loop combo that I need to pass the level next week. So I guess I will be in Freestyle 4 again. Sigh.

Rant: After being nearly run over by a kid w/ one of those helper bars this week during the pre-lesson practice - which overlaps w/ the practice for the kids in the previous hour's lessons - I finally went to skating director to complain. The incident made me extra mad not just b/c it seems to happen every week, but this time there was plenty of room on either side of me for the kid to go. Instead, he comes straight at me, and did I mention that I wasn't even moving at the time? I was standing still (I was about to practice a back spin) w/ my back to the kid so that I didn't see him, until I heard a noise behind me, and turned around to find him within inches of me. I jumped out of the way and yelled at him to watch out - not that he was even watching or listening. It would have been different if I moved into his path, but this time, he should have been able to see me. I spoke to the skating director about it during the lesson changeover, and she said she would have the bars hidden from now on b/c the kids didn't need them if they were truly practicing what their instructor taught them.

The real problem is that the area coned off for before/after-lesson practice is small, and you end up with a mix of low-level skaters that just finished their lesson and freestyle-level skaters that are practicing before theirs. Which means little kids that don't know how to watch where they're going (and I can't fathom that they wouldn't watch where they're walking on the street or playground) and older kids and adults doing jumps and spins - it's really a recipe for disaster, and no one from the staff is watching the area. I've seen kids fall b/c one of the bar kids knocked into them or they collided w/ another skater - it just seems that there's a huge potential for injury and the rink staff seems oblivious. OK, rant over.

[sk8er1964]

Originally posted by Debbie S

The real problem is that the area coned off for before/after-lesson practice is small, and you end up with a mix of low-level skaters that just finished their lesson and freestyle-level skaters that are practicing before theirs. Which means little kids that don't know how to watch where they're going (and I can't fathom that they wouldn't watch where they're walking on the street or playground) and older kids and adults doing jumps and spins - it's really a recipe for disaster, and no one from the staff is watching the area. I've seen kids fall b/c one of the bar kids knocked into them or they collided w/ another skater - it just seems that there's a huge potential for injury and the rink staff seems oblivious. OK, rant over.

At our rink, they have extra people who patrol that practice area. Saturday the program director was even doing it (they must have had a no-show volunteer). Can anyone at your rink volunteer to patrol that area? BTW, I think there's nothing worse than those metal bars.

[JDC1]

I barely skated last week because of fatigue from work and the rink changing it's Saturday hours and not telling me. :-) Oh well.

Nice - I really enjoyed practicing the Dutch Waltz, I like the focus and holding the edge and the feel of flowing across the ice.

Did some toe loops with some speed going into them and did some not too horrible waltz jumps.

Worked harder on double 3's and had a much better edge out of my LFO I held it took my time and actually did hte back 3 on an edge. !! Woo hoo. I have a bad habit of rushing and not doing them on a lobe.


Nasty - Not too bad, my Swing roll edges weren't the most secure but I"m pushing myself so that's good.

RANT - Okay, now that I've actually skated free style a few times I understand the earlier complaints from some skaters about "non-freestyle" skaters being on the ice. I"m not that advanced so it doesn't affect me much but we can have between 6-8 kids on free style ice doing private lessons and these kids are working on cross overs. One little girl in her pink dress was out there by herself working on cross overs, why does she need to do this on a free style session right in the way of 2 couples doing dance patterns, me trying my dutch waltz, and other skaters who do their lutzes. A number of the teen girls doing programs had to abort their jumps and restart their programs because of these little kids. My guess is the coaches don't want to do the lessons on the public session but it really is irritating.

[nutty-ducky]

This is for yesterday:

Nice: Got my brand new bots and blades. I tried them out last night and it felt really weird. I was told by my coach that I might trip over my toe-picks so take it eay but I didn't fall over them.
Anyway this is for my lesson that morning:
Nice: Worked on novice field moves. I did my forward spirals and it felt better as I arched the back and brought the arms and shoulders back. Appartently it looks very good! :D
Worked on my mohawk sequence which was quite good. I just have to remember to stretch the free leg out behind crossing over.
worked on my toe-toe-toe step sequence aswell and it was ok. I have to do it around a circle not in a straight line!
2-foot spin is improving but I just have to remember to push the right shoulder forward and turn the head to the left and pull up on the knees and lift up leg! toooooo much! :lol:
3 jump is feeling like it is getting good height. Just have to remember not to look at the ice!
Also my forwrad and backward crossovers are improving. When doing the back crossovers I have to remember to pull in wide into the circle and hold. For the forward crossovers I have to count it, 1 for the push and extend, 2 for the stretch behind. I feel like they are improving though:D

Nasty:
The salchow sometimes worked, but it was hard. I feel over twice in the lesson doing it. The first time I landed on the inside edge. The second I just couldnt land it. But after my lesson I landed loads! But I was getting dizzy! heheheheh
It gonna feel like I am learning right from the start again in the new boots. Last night I couldn't do very much at all! :(

[DancinDiva]

NICE: Well, um...I didn't fall. I guess that's it.

NASTY: Spent almost the whole time doing crossovers AGAIN. I am so sick of crossovers! Finally towards the end my instructor had us try going backwards. I don't remember what he called it, but it was basically gliding on one foot while the other foot "swizzled" or something like that. Kind of boring, as I already figured out how to skate backwards without all this swizzling. But again, the instructor was busy with the more advanced adults and the other new skaters who aren't progressing as quickly and basically left me on my own. I am SOOOO ready for something new!

[dbny]

Originally posted by DancinDiva
I don't remember what he called it, but it was basically gliding on one foot while the other foot "swizzled" or something like that. Kind of boring, as I already figured out how to skate backwards without all this swizzling.

DancinDiva, patience: those back half swizzles (on a circle) are in preparation for back crossovers.

NICE
Started my lesson today armed with the info that on pre-Bronze, we are allowed to put a foot down on the alt threes. I "powered through" the FO threes, with free leg extended and just a light touch down of the free leg before stepping forward for the next one. Of course, I do want to be able to do these with perfect control, but for now, it means I can focus on the one pre-Bronze move I don't have at all, the FI alt threes. Coach told me she knew my CW back crossovers were my weak side, but that no one watching would guess. Improved my extension on the under stroke on both F and B crossovers.

NASTY
Why, oh why, have I waited sooo long to really work on those FI threes?
I cannot do a LFI three except on the wall or with a spot. Just too scared of it. I am going to do the FI alt three pattern 10 times every time I skate. This is with two footed turns, but at least I will be getting the posture and check.

[MissIndigo]

Nice:

All of last week. I didn't post a message 'cause I didn't want to jinx my success! My MITF were fantabulous; I was especially on top of my game last Thursday. My patterns are where they need to be, and my edges are good.

Also have discovered the value of the moves for improving my jumps. My waltz jump has improved several-fold since I've seriously focused on my moves. They helped me develop some more knee bend.


Nasty:

Every freaking bit of today!!!! When I left the rink this evening I just wanted to go scream and bang my head against some bricks. Everyone on the FS session had pre-test jitters (including me, I admit it) and rink manners seem to be falling by the wayside a bit. Case in point, we had a traffic jam in one corner of the rink with my coach and me, another coach and her student, and a skater doing her MITF patterns. The other coach could see I needed to be on a set pattern and graciously let us have the space. I nodded my thanks. The other skater was skating backwards and spotted my coach, but continued on her track. I am not really sure who was supposed to be more on the lookout, I just was able to tell my coach to watch out; my coach had no clue there was someone behind her. Luckily, no collisions, but after that (and getting caught in rut doing my "bad" three turn, almost having a very scary fall), my nerves were frazzled and if anyone even came close to me I was too freaked out to try to do anything. The adult skater psyche is much more affected by this than the teenager psyche, and the two don't always mix well. I'm going to the adult-only session tomorrow even if it means taking a small road trip.

This was just a very nerveracking night. :??

[Mrs Redboots]

Dancin'Diva, I hate to tell you, but you can never do too many crossovers! Even our national skaters start their practice session with crossovers. Or progressives, which are very similar.

Anyway, for last night at Dance Club:

Nice: I finally managed to do 3-turn/bracket/3-turn without holding on! Several times on my left foot, just once on my right (it wasn't repeatable). Not at all well - they were scrapy and toe-rakey and didn't really go anywhere, but at least I did them. Of course, I am still at the barrier, not to hold on to, but to keep my upper body parallel to (this, I discover, is the secret of this move, to keep your upper body as still as possible). So I was very pleased!

Nasty: However, I was at the barrier because I was still feeling rather wobbly and disinclined to dance. I did do some dances, but just didn't feel secure, and I did a really terrible Golden Skaters' Waltz. I don't know what was wrong with it, but it wasn't right! Ended up getting off the ice before we had to, which is unheard-of for me!

[JDC1]

Dancin Diva - I hate to join in the chorus but you can never do too many crossovers. Ask your coach if you can do them in a figure 8, it takes a little more control and precision. And ask your coach point blank to make them more interesting. I do this with my coach, I say "I know we have to practice 'so and so" but it's mind numbing to do it over and over" and she tries to come up with something.

Nice - We worked more on the Dutch Waltz, I really enjoy this!! Am getting better on progressives and swing rolls, worked really hard at the ends of the rink, have tendency to get "lost" and can't figure out how to place the swing roll, am rushing, as usual. :-) In class we worked on backward brackets, actually like these, we then combined Forward Inside brackets with back outside, hard but I really enjoyed them, need to practice them.

Nasty - I really don't hold my landings on jumps, it's just rush, rush , rush. :-) We did some waltz/toe loop/toe loop and I was rather awkward and rushing. Generally I need to slow down and deepen my knees in my skating.

[Yazmeen]

dbny: I hear you. I have a good RFI3, but its the left that will be the death of me. At least I'm finally getting on a backward outside edge, even though I can't hold it for more than a nanosecond. Apparently on my old boots, I always went on a flat and then caved inside. I guess we both just need plenty of practice and patience!!!!

DancinDiva: Sorry, add me to the Greek chorus--you have to live with doing ALL moves over and over again. Just because you basically get something doesn't mean you have it perfect. Does the coach have you doing the crossovers with the second push (the foot that doesn't cross) yet? If not, they've still got a long way to go. I'm not trying to pick on you, but like the others, I've been skating for years and my crossovers and ALL my basic skills STILL need more work and constant improvement.

NASTY: Mohawk cross step--I can do it, but its not working out of speed after a couple of bunny hops, so we switched to a basic mohawk with side step and flashy arms to get me into my back crossovers smoothly.

NICE: Choreographed the rest of "Happy Feet." For now and the Mercer Competition it will be:

Four "wiggles" sideways, stick back of left blade into ice.
Reverse direction, two toepick steps
Stroke into two bunny hops
Mohawk/sidestep
Back crossovers into outside edge spiral (no stroking in between, man, that's not easy!!!)
Stroking into 3 fast half flips out of mohawk entrance, ending the last one with a RFI3
Forward crossovers into 3 left pinwheels (LFO3's into back extensions)
Finish with a series of quick twists on both feet, backwards stop/big finish pose!!!


Doesn't sound like much, but good grief, she wasn't kidding--TRULY the longest minute of my life!!!! But I can basically do it and keep up, so it should be OK in five weeks. Then by May for the Warwick comp we can hopefully add in even more fun stuff.

Enjoy your skating, everyone!!!

Beth

[garyc254]

DancinDiva, you might ask your coach if you can do the crossovers in combination with some other moves. My coach is having us do sequences like: front crossover, mohawk, back crossover, back mohawk, repeat.....

Last Monday night I left the rink with a sore hip. Wasn't sure if it was fatigue or if I had injured something. Last night the soreness came back, but not as severe. I think it must be getting my body back into shape after the couple of months off the ice.

Nice: Started learning back 3-turns. Two footed a lot, sloppy form, and seldom completed one, but it is fun trying something new.

Nasty: Most of my other minimal skills were more minimal than normal. Everything I did seemed sloppy and unbalanced.

I'm blaming it all on my time off the ice and only being able to skate once a week since Christmas. I need PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE and more hours in my day!!! :lol:

But I had a great time on the ice (as always)!!!!!! :D :D :D

[DancinDiva]

Okay, my wise chous of experienced skaters, I get the picture. Now, don't get me wrong, I know that even basic things like crossovers need to be practiced regularly (I've been doing ballet for eighteen years, and each lessons still begins with the basic moves, I understand how important all the basic skills are in developing one's ability in a given area.). I make it a point to attend a few public skate sessions every week in between lessons to practice things like my crossovers. Yazmeen, believe me, I know I don't have them "perfect" after just four weeks on the ice, but they are smooth and controlled, in both directions. Yes, I am doing them with that second push you mentioned.
dbny, thanks, I was wondering what those half-swizzles were for. My instructor just made us do them, without telling me why. The biggest problem is that he has nine students, pretty much at nine different levels right now, and it is hard for him to focus on any one person for any length of time. Like I said last week, I'm stuck right in the middle. I'm progressing much faster than the other real beginners (I think my 18 years of dance has something to do with that), but I'm not quite ready for the spins that the more advanced skaters are doing.
You can all rest assured that I will keep practicing my crossovers!

[Yazmeen]

DancinDiva: Here's a big question: Have you considered private lessons? From your description, you seem to be catching on faster than your group, and maybe that's the way to best bring out your natural talents. You may want to look into it--my private lessons cost only a few dollars more than a group lesson cost me, and they've been a godsend. Its not always a huge expense--check it out!!!

Again, I apologize if I sounded like I was picking on you. We've had a few posters here from time to time who act like practicing basic skills are not good use of their time and "when do I get to do the fun stuff and jump and spin" and "I've already taught myself all of this along with basic jumps so this is wasting my time" and all that-usually they don't last long here because I think they get bored with us!!!! We tend to be a little protective of the importance of good skills, and we all have our nemesis moves, so bear with us!!!

Good luck!!!

[DancinDiva]

Yazmeen, I never thought you were picking on me! Just offering advice, which is exactly what I want. I thought about private lessons, but there aren't any times that fit with my schedule, of wallet, right now. I'm finishing up my last year of college, so I'm always short on time and money! But maybe after I graduate and get a job I can try private lessons. I really do better with one-on-one lessons, or small groups for a few reasons. For one, the instructor is paying more attention to me and can correct problems that, if neglected, could turn into bad habits. Two, when you are on your alone with an instructor, they keep you going the whole time. I find myself getting bored with those repititious crossovers and end up getting distracted, watching other people, and there is no one to get me back on track. Also, the instructor can see when I've picked up something quickly and am ready to move on to something new. This is all stuff I've noticed during dance classes. So maybe when I'm no longer a poor college student I'll get into private skating lessons.

[garyc254]

Originally posted by DancinDiva
So maybe when I'm no longer a poor college student I'll get into private skating lessons.

A couple of other thoughts on private lessons.

One 15 minute private lesson is worth more than an hour of group lesson in skills training. Then you'll need to practice on your own.

Let any instructors that are there during your skating times know that you're a "poor college student", but that if their student doesn't show up for a lesson, you'd be willing to take a "cut rate" lesson from them. I've seen an $ 80 an hour instructor give a half hour jumps lesson for $ 10 when his student didn't show up.

Also, some coaches will work out a discount rate if the time is convenient for them and you're dedicated to be there and learn. Another of our local instructors charges based on the skill level she is teaching. She also offers cut rates for some who simply can't afford it, but the student had better plan on working hard and showing they want and deserve the lesson.

Get the word out at your rink.

[Yazmeen]

Gary makes a great point: I started with Paula with only one fifteen minute lesson per week but learned far more than I did with a half hour lesson in groups. We're now up to two half hour lessons per week.

Give it a shot, DancinDiva--someone may be able to fit you--even if its only once a month it would be worth it!!!

[JDC1]

As one who started out in group and then added private I would second that even 15 minutes working on one new element to keep it fun and interesting for you would be worth it. Have you tried spirals yet? With your dance background this should be a move you acquire easily, I taught myself about the time I was learning back crossovers. Anyway maybe you could get your coach to start you on spirals, this is a great move to work on by yoursef. I get bored easily so I constantly ask to try new things if just to sort of "excite" my mind about skating. It is hard at times to justify the expense but I just make cutbacks.

[1lutz2klutz]

Nice: I had a lutz-loop again today!! I haven't had one in about 6 months and it came out of the blue 8O 8O :D :D !

Nasty: Everything else, but I had a lutz-loop!!

[mikawendy]

Originally posted by JDC1
Have you tried spirals yet? With your dance background this should be a move you acquire easily, I taught myself about the time I was learning back crossovers. Anyway maybe you could get your coach to start you on spirals, this is a great move to work on by yoursef.

One word of caution, DancinDiva, if you do try spirals, be sure to keep your weight back. I also danced for about 20 years and tried spirals early on before anyone told me that. I did okay for the first few tries, then my weight was too far onto the ball of my foot and SPLAT, right onto my knee, hip and ribcage! I'm sure now to lean back almost so my weight feels more on the center/back of the blade. (And don't look down at the ice or that's where you'll end up during the spiral, or most other moves, actually.)

Dancing puts me too far onto my toes and I have to remind myself of that all the time when I'm on the ice.

Good luck!

[Mrs Redboots]

The trouble with this thread, is that you know what others are practising, and when you are asked to do such things in your lesson, you start thinking of them, instead of what you are doing! ;)

So, today's lesson:

Nice: Got to the rink early, for once, and was able to warm up very thoroughly before my lesson, practising such vital skills as changes-of-edge and back edges, as well as working on turns. We have a New Boy - a Junior-level dancer who has just taken a new partner from our rink (Batikat will know the lad in question, as he basically trains at her rink) - and I spent some time watching him training with the other National level dancers, his new partner having already left to go to school. They were working with a parachute, which I gather is horrible!

They, having been at the rink since 6.00, left early and I had 15 minutes with the ice to myself before my lesson. I did some patch, and then worked as many of the 32 1-footed turns as I can do round the hockey goal! And my dance Mohawks, too - bother, meant to practice 14-step Mohawk and Foxtrot Mohawks, and forgot. Remind me next time.

Lesson started off well with changes-of-edge, forwards cross-rolls and backwards stroking. Then we did waltz 3s, the steps of the European waltz (i.e. back edges and 3-turns) as an exercise, back chasses, and a figure 8 of crossovers (which is why I thought of JenLyon and of DancinDiva, you see!).

Nasty: Well, of the 32 1-footed turns, I can do 2 really nicely (the 2 FO3s), 3 so-so (the FI3s and LBO3), and was pleased to manage a BI3 which surprised me as I usually can't do them! But I think 6 out of 32 is pretty poor - I want at least 16 reliable ones before I'm done, and ideally 32!

My 3-bracket-3 deserted me! I found it was actually the right foot that was the good one on Monday, not the left! I have done it on the left foot, but not reproducibly. Anyway, showed my coach, and he said (which I had guessed) that I'm not getting my weight far enough back for the bracket. Managed it fairly respectably with a toe-tap, but I want to do it without!

The waltz 3s. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! Actually, it wasn't the 3-turns that were the problem, it was the other back edge and stepping to forwards - I kept on and on and ON anticipating the step, and not thinking of the edge I was on! Hence the European waltz steps to try to sort that out, but to no avail. So ended up either scraping my toe-rake, or wide-stepping, or, more usually, both! Grrrrrrr. Frustration!

Then my back chasses were pretty disastrous, too - I had done fairly good back edges earlier, but not this time! I think I was getting tired. My coach said he reckoned I wasn't quite recovered from the virus - he said I obviously was a lot better, but not quite back up to scratch yet. Oh well... these things do take their time and you can't rush them, but how disappointing!

[melanieuk]

Monday
I didn't get to rink due to snow. :(
We have less than 2 inches and the whole village comes to a standstill - it's pathetic.
Anyway I couldn't get my car out of the estate till it was too late, and not worth my while going.

Wednesday
Got started with my new programme - hip hip....;)
So far, I've got a sit spin, a RFO spiral and a flip.
The steps will come next and somewhere after that, a loop-loop and a salchow needs to go in (or should I go for a lutz?)

It'll take me forever.........
8O

[tidesong]

I actually had my first official practise with a judge coming to watch us... it was cool, although I fell on my axel. I have to work on my footwork sequence more also...competition coming up soon! I'm so excited :)

[flo]

Hi,
Something to add to Mika's post on spirals and such. One thing I tell my little kids it that skating will "follow your nose". Many of us remember the fruit loops ad with Tucan Sam. Anyway your body will "follow your nose" - for good or bad. Like Mika said, if you look down in a spiral, that's where you'll land - on your nose. But also if you are having trouble with an edge, look where you want to go, and your body will follow.

Nice: went skating last night and did a bunch of flying camels from the new entrance, and they were fine. - Now to do that in a competition! Also just back from the PT. She located the problem (part of my vertebre is not closing properly), so we're working on it.
ta,

[quarkiki2]

DancinDiva -- I'll echo what mikawendy said about weight distribution coming from a dance background. I danced for 15 years and have a great deal of difficulty wrapping my brain around the fact that the blade is longer than my foot and that I do have to use the back of it.

I know that it's because you simply can't turn flat-footed off the ice, but it's super hard to break that particular habit, at least for me! I was working my forward outside edges for the Delta test and the instructor had to remind me each time I changed feet to get my weight further back on the skate. I also have to think really hard about not setting my foot down turned out -- can cause sudden and very clumbsy falls (so I'm told!)

There is a bonus, though -- my upper body and arms are always in position and my feet are always pointed when I pick them up. I anticipate doing killer spread eagles and ina bauers because my hips are open and turn out naturally. I'm one of the few beginners that isn't reminded to bend my knees every time I try something. I have a kick-butt lunge. And, regardless of how terrible I'm skating, I usually look great and graceful doing it!

[singerskates]

Sunday/Monday:

Nice: Got a salchow/toe loop combo going after my second footwork section in my FS. Not High but it works.

Still know the Dutch Waltz even though I haven't danced it for over a year. Need it because I'm demostrating it along with the Canasta Tango and Baby Blues for our year end Pop Concert.

Not so nice: I have to switch from Dutch to Canasta to Baby Blues one after the other as the music changes during the demo. I've been praticing but sometimes I forget to change and I get a good clip going and find myself going 3 times around on the Dutch or twice on the Canasta before changing to the Baby Blues. I change right after where the intro for the Dutch ends for each segment. I'm also finding that I push harder than before surgery now and I'm going faster and running into the walls even when I've adjusted where I start. I need an Olympic rink now. LOL What happens when one becomes healthy.

Foot work in both my FS and interpretive is faster and I'm also having problems with fitting it in. So I've had to take some of it out to end at the right place to fit in my jumps. Otherwise, I'm in trouble.

Nasty: spinning is way off. I'm on vacation with my spins. I think I'm travelling to Timbucktoo. LOL

Brigitte

[Andie]

Uh well, today I went to my private lesson, which I've been taking for a few months now. Lemme try to remember.....

Nice: My instructor was helping me on a spin, which is improving. She seemed more impressed with me than usual. Instructor told me that she'd like me in the spring ice show and she said "This time I won't take 'no' for an answer". That's good, I guess?

Nasty: Hmm... I fell twice - which, might I add, I hadn't done in awhile before today. Once when I was trying to spin today, I leaned forward too much and nearly fell flat on my face! (She seemed glad that I recognized my mistake on my own - leaning forward too much.) Also, my legs were getting kinda weak and shaky during part of the lesson.

[Yazmeen]

Nasty: Da' weather----cold, freezing, icky!! Plus the "bas relief" map of an alien world on the ice this morning. Gee, this ice is lower, so this must be the oceans, and this area is higher, so this must be the land!!!! :P

Nicey Picey: Finally did my whole footwork program to the music, did all the elements, missed nothing and ended on time!!! Whoo hoo!!! Its a little sloppy of course, and ice coverage could be better, but the big battle is won--I know I can do it. Its really cute and tap dancey--of course, what would you expect with a song called "Happy Feet?" :P I really like this program, but Paula was right--it is exhausting--more so than my free program, which is half a minute longer.

Conquered the "bad spiral free foot position demons" today, courtesy of my coach and Nancy Kerrigan. No, Nance wasn't there!!! It was her book, "Artistry on Ice." I read some of it on the planes to Chicago/Dallas last week, and her statement of how the weight has to be on the BACK of the blade on the skating foot during a spiral caught my eye. Paula agreed with Nancy: We then did spirals out of simple one foot glides, and I was able to position my weight properly and get the free leg into position better. We also discovered that I get a better free leg position if I lift the free foot into attitude position first and then go into the spiral. Overall, spirals were pronounced 100% better than before, so the attitude trick goes into both programs.

Worked on elements for competition: Waltz jump, spiral and two foot spin, in that order for Freestyle 1. Not bad for the first couple of tries. I'm already more comfortable with these than I usually am with Elements: Of course, I don't have to demonstrate THREE TURNS this year!!! ;)

I highly recommend "Artistry on Ice" to everyone. Its designed for the intermediate and advanced skater to help improve basic moves, jumping and spinning skills, and does have chapters on pairs, dance and synchro. Nancy and Mary's descriptions are spot on, and the pictures of Nancy demonstrating moves are really helpful--especially some of the "in air" positions. You can get it for a nice price on Amazon--I recommend it.

[dbny]

Originally posted by Yazmeen
We also discovered that I get a better free leg position if I lift the free foot into attitude position first and then go into the spiral.

This is how I was taught spirals from the start. I still practice just raising the free leg from a T position as far as it will go. Doing it this way also prevents lower back strains as you are using the gluts to raise your leg instead of your back.

Nice
Finally got to the outdoor rink at 8 AM. Daughter has started at a new school, so I'm driving her and going straight to the rink. It was gorgeous out :D

Managed my three obligatory waltz jumps, all from B crossovers, and all were pretty good, with landing on toe pick and good check.

Did my obligatory 10 iterations of (two footed) FI alt three pattern. The R one are beginning to feel like real turns with the free leg just barely skimming the ice, and the L actually felt a bit better too.

Best of all, I met about 6 other adults. Most of them don't take lessons at present, but did in the past. It was nice to have some adult company.

Nasty
Going this afternoon to change my blades from Majestics to Coronation Aces. I'm going back to the outdoor rink after to begin the adjustment process. Wish me luck.

[Yazmeen]

dbny: Without a book to guide me, I don't know the radius/curvature on the Majestics, but the Aces are quite "curvy." I went from Comets to Aces--yes, I know that's kind of backward, but it was a good change.

One big thing--I caught the toepick a lot at first with the Aces, due to needing time to adjust and find the right spot on them for stroking, etc. as the curvature was different. Take it easy at first, they will feel different. You will probably grow to love them like I do. Here's a BIG ray of hope: My three turns are MASSIVELY improved on these blades!!! I even get a decent entrance edge coming out of fairly speedy stroking!!!

Your comment on the muscles used with attitude into spiral also explains why my left leg (free) aches a bit after today's workout on the ice. Ahh, more stretching for me!!

Good luck and keep us posted on how it goes. 8-)

Hugs,

Beth

[skateflo]

Had lesson last night and I felt like I had finally come out of the recent month long deep freeze! But prior to that I went for practice Sunday and Monday eves with no specific expectations except to get on the ice after almost 10 days off due to neck strain and right knee arthritis flaring up (could it have been the new Power pulls??) And to give final evaluation to the new orthotics - they don't work, so back to my old one and feeling much better...$200 down the drain.

So I was energized - coach said let's start with back outside 3's as she caught a glimpse of me trying them while she was in another lesson. Well, the one side wasn't much success but the other side was perfect and I thought I was going to have to pick my coach up off the ice!! She was so thrilled and wanted to know when had I learned it and why hadn't I told her when I made the breakthrough. And had she seen me do it she would have screamed with joy across the rink!! Geesh...All I could say was I just keep working on them and it started to happen 1-1/2 months ago. So we worked on the bad side to see what the difference was. On the bad side, I need a deeper knee bend and to cross the free foot further over the skating foot.

One foot spins are coming along but I need to keep my arms open longer. I have a tendency to bring them in too soon and the faster spin scares me and I either bail out or I start wobbling on the rocker with loss of control.

It was a wonderful lesson and I felt like I was off the plateau at last. I think coach was actually disappointed that I had not let her know about the back 3 as we have worked on it for years! But boy was she surprised and thrilled...one of those special moments for a coach when the student finally gets it!!

Finally, I am so glad to hear others are getting Kerrigan's book and finding pearls to help their skating. If you haven't seen it yet, get thee to a book store asap! Even my coach is getting a copy after she borrowed mine.

[skateflo]

Slightly off topic but I just wanted to share another thing. There is a senior level skater at our rink who recently started working with a second coach (skater does freestyle and now is working on dance) who recently came back to our rink so I knew her (the coach) from years past. Well, I'd noticed that the skater, when she is working with new coach, is looking so happy, she smiles all the times she is working on the posture exercises with great speed, they laugh together - just a joy of skating sight. I find her smiling an inspiration to me mentally - her skills are waaaay above me and many at the rink. So I quietly went up to coach and told her that I had never seen skater smile so much and it was such a pleasure to see her skate with such joy. Coach was deeply touched and thanked me for sharing that observation. I told my own coach about it later (the two coach get along quite well.) My coach told me that so often it is just the skater that gets all the attention and no one ever says anything to the coach, except of course the parties involved, and that it is really meaningful to have someone 'outside the circle' make a positive observation and say so. I'm glad I did it. We are not what you would call a close family of rinkers.

Have any of you ever done such a thing?

[dbny]

Yazmeen, thanks for the encouragement. As it turned out, the sharpening was a bigger hurdle than the new blades. I found the most difficulty with FO edges, of all things. I had to do the FO edge pattern to get adjusted and then I was fine. No toe pick problems at all, thanks to my old Majestics being half ground down, I think. It took me a few tries to get the FO threes to stop scraping and to find my new spin point. I'm absolutely thrilled that what I was afraid would be a big setback has turned out to be none at all.

We stayed at the afternoon/evening session till after the 6pm cut so we could sample the clean ice. I did F and B cross strokes and was able to see my tracings so clearly: nice deep edges, and hubby said I made the B look easy, though I had to ask him not to talk to me while I was doing them :lol: It was so beautiful in the evening, like a country pond scene.

[Mrs Redboots]

Skateflo: be careful with those power pulls; they are the one thing that makes my knees hurt almost more than anything, and I daren't do them much. Not that I'm able, you understand, but....

DB: I envy you your back cross-strokes; a skill I have yet to master. Glad you are liking your new blades.

Well, today's practice. It being Friday, no lesson, but we were able to practice together. Started with Robert getting on the ice before me, as he takes less time to change than I do. So he was working on back cross-rolls and back cross-cuts, and I yelled at him to bend his knees more (his legs were practically straight). "I'm bent double" he yelled back. "No you aren't," I said, "Or if you are, it's at the hips.....".

Anyway, after a joint warm-up, we were very good and practiced our runs (progressives) round the circle, both directions, Kilian hold and reverse Kilian hold. Interestingly, when we were in reverse Kilian hold going clockwise, Robert said I needed to have my right shoulder back a bit. So we ended up doing them separately, and found we both have awful problems that way round. I actually prefer to do runs with my shoulders the "wrong" way, i.e. facing out of the circle (we are taught to do them both ways), but the main problem was that both of us found it really hard to slide our right feet under our left, and we were both toe-pushing. Some work to be done there, methinks.

Anyway, we then worked on our chasses and swing rolls in waltz hold - I don't know whether we just get worse and worse at them, or whether we become more and more aware of just what we are doing wrong! The latter, I hope - Robert is much more aware of his mistakes now, which is terrific!

He had to go off to work, and I spent some time working on turns, and then a long time chatting to a friend who isn't back skating yet after an operation, but was nevertheless in to watch the group number rehearsal (she's to be Official Understudy), and another friend who was supposed to be in the rehearsal but had personal problems and was too distressed to skate. And so it goes.... Did go back on the ice to work on my waltz 3s, which were depressingly similar to the way they were in my lesson. I think I will work on them with a crossover in between, instead of a direct push - that ought to help. Did a bit of European waltz steps, too, and found it easier to hold back. All in all, a good morning!

[melanieuk]

Our rink was being used for tests today, up to novice level and primary.
I didn't get to skate but went to watch anyway.
Not many passes I'm afraid. :(

I got a signed photo of Stephane Lambiel today, with a message on the back from him.
I will be smiling for a week! :D

My pic of Stephane Lambiel (http://www.villagephotos.com/viewpubimage.asp?id_=1523423)

[tidesong]

Today, I just had ice time again. I did four complete run throughs of my program!! I can't believe I got through that... I was so tired! My jumps were on and off and so was my flying camel. I hope I have better practises soon...

[wannask8]

I just had to post on today's lesson for DancinDiva, because once again we spent half the lesson on, you guessed it, crossovers!! Also worked on BO edges, which are still a work in progress (some day I WILL be able to hold them without tipping onto the flat after the first second . . .). Wish I even had nasty BOs, as I really don't have any to speak of yet.

Crossovers were nicer. D2, to put it into perspective, I can only skate an hour a week and have a private lesson about once a month. I started learning crossovers two lessons ago and have had about ten practice sessions between then and today. I figured today I'd really show coach my stuff, as I was feeling more confident in both directions, but he dove right into showing me several new things to work on to execute them properly (and I strongly suspect that there is more to come), like working on a smaller circle to get the feel of really pressing down on the outside edge to get some power from that second push. He also changed my arms (inside arm was too low). Honestly, I felt like I'd been taught a whole new skill today -- who knows what's in store for next time. I think what keeps me from getting frustrated about this is that the attention is 100% on me, which means that the instruction is adjusted for my own peculiar strengths/weaknesses, so even when we're micromanaging a skill, I feel progress.

-- wannask8

[sk8er1964]

Nasty -

Well, with my usual sense of good timing, my aductor muscle got inflamed on Monday, and, of course, I have my first competition on Sunday :evil: . I don't really know why it happened - just a remainder of the December injury I guess. Monday my leg would not hold jump landings, and Tuesday it hurt to even skate. So I took Wednesday and Thursday off to heal.

Nice -

The muscle, which is not 100%, was better today. Had my lesson and did my final program run-through. It went well and coach was pleased - did every element except the axel. Haven't done an axel since last Saturday - didn't put it into the program because I was worried about the force of the landing. I'll try one tomorrow on its own. May not put it into the program Sunday if my leg doesn't feel good enough - I'd rather finish in last place here than really screw things up for Wyandotte/AN.

Hey DancinDiva - I'm adult gold and guess what one of the things we worked on today was? A string of fast, forward clockwise crossovers from my program. Coach said I wasn't bending my knees enough. You'll never get away from those darn things :D .

I asked coach how many times in the last nine months he has told me to
bend my knees and how many times he's told me to check. Thousands, I'd guess!

[batikat]

It's hard to divide my lessons this week into nice and nasty. I enjoyed trying all the old and new stuff which was nice but I guess most of the results were pretty nasty!:(

Annies Edges class was fun - now I am finally getting my weight off my toepicks more I can see the diference in smoothness and speed on all my backward skating - still along way to go to perfection but it is improving!

Redid much of my Free Dance to incorporate twizzles (not that I can do these yet!!!!) and replaced some of the nasty (because I can't do them well yet) and difficult steps in my step sequence with even nastier and more difficult steps8O - but with practice I hope this will result in better speed and flow through the sequence. My back spiral where I circle my arms to touch the ice and back up is feeling more secure and if I can just get my weight a little further back off the picks it will have enough speed to end up where I need it to be.

Sometimes I think my coach forgets he is choreographing for a 40 year old adult learner and puts in stuff I reckon even the kids would find tough. I usually find a way of dumbing them down enough to make them possible!!!! I've always found mohawks difficult so he puts in several - a left forward inside barrel roll at high speed from crossovers, a mohawk entry into my spin, and a RFO spiral followed by Left step behind which becomes a LFI mohawk. I have discovered the secret is all in getting the upper body position correct and to do them at the speeds he wants it is a question of just doing it and not thinking about it at all, since thinking about it is terrifying!!

As for jumps and spins - well I can do a reasonable toe-loop and salchow but they are not consistent and there is much room for improvement. The flip - i can do the entry steps beautifully but then lose it once I've put the toepick in and get no lift or rotation. The Loop - well I still reckon this is an impossible jump. I can now do a single rotation backspin on the ground which I am told will help me get this jump but I'm not convinced!!

Sit spin returned a couple of times this week and I am now getting 6-7 rotations on my upright spin without much effort and even managed a couple of really fast ones where I hit that sweet spot and it felt great!

Got to practice Ice dance with a partner a few times this week - even managed a reasonable Rhumba and Swing Dance together. It's hard to improve without the benefit of a coach to tell you where you are going wrong though.

[Mrs Redboots]

Originally posted by batikat
Sometimes I think my coach forgets he is choreographing for a 40 year old adult learner and puts in stuff I reckon even the kids would find tough.Yes, but you can do them! Look how much better your free dance always is than mine.Got to practice Ice dance with a partner a few times this week - even managed a reasonable Rhumba and Swing Dance together. It's hard to improve without the benefit of a coach to tell you where you are going wrong though. I hope you mean Riverside Rhumba, or I'll despair next time I'm up against you in competition! Are you and your partner planning on competing this season, and if so, where?

As for me, I was wide awake at 5.30 this morning and could easily have gone skating - but Sir didn't want to, said he'd be too sleepy if he went.... :roll: so I didn't either, which was a bit feeble of me, I think! :(

[JDC1]

Haven't skated since Monday. Had some massage therapy today and we noticed that most of the "hot spots" or "tense spots" on me were where the tendon meets the bone, I have no idea what this means but I am going to ask the next GP or Ortho I talk to, this can't just be a coincidenc.

Nasty - THE RINK WAS INSANELY Crowded, there has to be some legal limit!! I felt a little off as I haven't skated except monday. Foot hurt some the whole time so I was mindful of what I was doing. Totally forgot the steps on the Dutch Waltz, how isane is that?

Nice - So far my foot is not so bad, I iced my foot and my ankle and while they're sore it's not horrible. I won't skate tomorrow, give my ankle a break. It's so hard to NOT to skate but I know I need to baby this kind of problem.

[batikat]

Originally posted by Mrs Redboots
Look how much better your free dance always is than mine.


Annabel you flatterer!:oops: I am pretty hopeless at compulsories though!


I hope you mean Riverside Rhumba, or I'll despair next time I'm up against you in competition! Are you and your partner planning on competing this season, and if so, where?


Sorry - I did mean the Riverside Rhumba - not much chance of me ever doing a proper Rhumba (did have a go at the 14step mohawk with a partner though - that's fun!!!)
Sadly the partner is not mine - I merely borrow him when his usual partner is not around as we have a lot of fun trying out the dances and I actually enjoy the compulsories with a partner - hate doing them solo.


To JDC1
I regularly forget the steps to the dances even though I seem to have been doing them for years. When I dance with a partner it is always a surprise when we both remember and do the correct steps in the correct order at the same time!!!
Last year in a competition I was happily skating the Baby Blues(solo) when I caught sight of a friend videoing me and completely lost the plot. I switched to the Dutch Waltz steps for about 4 bars down half the length of the rink but managed to pull it back to the right dance on the short barrier. As I kept going and continued to wave my arms about, I don't think the judges even noticed (it was on the second sequence) and I got great marks for it!!!!!!!!!
I think my brain refuses to commit these dances to memory as I don't find them particularly interesting to do and the lower level dances in particular are easy to confuse. I never have a problem remembering my own programmes for Free Dance or even a 2 minute OD as I love doing them.
Hope your ankle is better soon.

[mikawendy]

Originally posted by JDC1
Haven't skated since Monday. Had some massage therapy today and we noticed that most of the "hot spots" or "tense spots" on me were where the tendon meets the bone, I have no idea what this means but I am going to ask the next GP or Ortho I talk to, this can't just be a coincidenc.

JDC1-
The sore spots are probably the "attachments" or the "insertions" of the tendon (I get them mixed up), but basically, like you said, its where the tendon connects muscle to bone. So if that tendon is inflamed, it would make sense that the attachment/insertion might be.

I hope it's feeling better soon. These kind of injuries can be pesky because unlike a fall, it's hard to figure out what causes the pain and how much the body can take. I'm going to a PT on Wednesday for some chronic knee trouble that I was just too busy this fall to get looked at. I'm pretty sure I know what it is and that it's not serious, and the PT said over the phone he thought the same thing.