Fireworks or Fizzle: July 1st - 7th 2003

[jazzpants]

Okay, no one has started a new lessons/practice thread for the week so I'll start one. Of course, for the US, Independence Day is coming, thus the thread theme for this week.

[sk8er1964]

Fireworks: My lesson. I love my lessons. My axels were good. My MIF's were coming along. We worked about 1/2 hour on double toes. (Our 50 minute lesson went too fast so we went 20 minutes into the next session until coach had another lesson). I had one in the harness that felt right - I'm having some trouble getting the weight shift right on the fly (among some other things). However, it will come. No pain from the hip flexor :D :D :D :D !!!!

Fizzles: Nothing, except am I ever tired! My legs ache, my back aches, my arms ache. I am not used to doing 2 sessions in a row, and I haven't jumped like this in months. The aches feel good, though....

Also, at the end of the session (I'm really tired at this point) I decide to work on my MIF's a bit. I'm doing my nemesis brackets, and on one lobe I came around and fell off my edge right onto my butt. The momentum rolled me over on my back, legs in the air. Reminds me of the commercial: $45 for the skating skirt, $825 for the skates, $12 for the skating session...falling on your butt on a bracket and rolling on your back at the feet of an National, World and Olympic ice dancer.....PRICELESS!!!

[Mrs Redboots]

I don't always skate on a Tuesday evening, but I wanted to get my hair cut, and as my hairdresser is half way to the rink, it made sense to go on. Plus one of my closest friends now skates on a Tuesday evening, so that's an incentive.

Spent most of the time working on basics, especially runs (progressives) round the circle. Robert had pointed out on Sunday that I was taking my leg straight back, not across, and I spent time with two feet on the ice trying to correct that. It worked anti-clockwise, but not clockwise. Danced whenever appropriate music came on - was very pleased to find that I got decent edges, even solo, but timing was off. But then did a couple of lengths of back chasses, and felt I was horrendously flat.

Anyway, I was a bit stiff this morning when it came to going down the rink for my lesson! Coach diagnosed the problem with clockwise runs as that I was leaning my weight out of the circle..... Can't get it in, mind.....

Then had to do changes of edge; outside-to-inside were fine, but inside-to-outside were a bit clunky. Apparently I need to bend my knees more.

I now have a very nasty speed exercise for going backwards - start fast and get going, not worrying about technique, and when I am about half-way down the rink, start proper stroking..... I am embarrassed by my inability to do anything decent when going backwards, and really need to work on this. Also had to do back crossovers in a figure 8 - I can get some speed up, especially anti-clockwise, but my clockwise technique is allegedly better! And I slow right down when changing.....

Oh well, all good clean fun, but I'm not sure I'll be able to move for the rest of the day! Tashakat, we aren't coming to your rink tonight as I know if I do I won't be able to dance at ours tomorrow night and we have special visitors, so I must.

[TashaKat]

Originally posted by Mrs Redboots
Oh well, all good clean fun, but I'm not sure I'll be able to move for the rest of the day! Tashakat, we aren't coming to your rink tonight as I know if I do I won't be able to dance at ours tomorrow night and we have special visitors, so I must.

That's a shame, I'll probably see you next time anyway :D I probably won't be hanging around tonight after the classes as I've not been well since the weekend and am sleeping for England!

Have got the 5/6 adult classes tonight so will see what joys I learn tonight!

All the best to everyone.

x

[TreSk8sAZ]

Fireworks: My warm-ups. Three turns were decent.

Fizzle: Every darn other thing. Today was my all dance lesson (my coach altrenates all dance, all freestyle, and combo lessons). We worked on the Solo dances I'm competeing later this month. I swear, everything that could go wrong, did go wrong. I couldn't stay outside the circle, kept falling off my edges, was chasing the music the entire time, felt out of control on my inside swing rolls. Of course, my coach thinks that I look better than I feel that I do (and being a national ice dancer, I suppose she would know... However, that doesn't change the fact that I felt like I skated horribly, and am seriously questioning if I'll be ready to compete the dances. Grr! How frustrating! Oh well. Three weeks to get everything together. 8O

[TashaKat]

Have been a bit yak this week so only stayed for group lesson and not moves lesson (heart monitor revealed that I had a 2.3 second pause early this morning!).

Ran through Inter-Bronze elements which weren't too bad. Camel took a few tries and backspin had practically disappeared but I eventually got them :D A new tip on the backspin is that instead of hold my free leg out (as if I could hold the skating leg out :roll: ) I brought it straight in to the crossed over position .... AND IT WORKED!!! Perfectly centred and the most rotations I've EVER achieved AND I felt secure (I usually end the spin by flapping my arms around like a frightened hen).

Not much else to report. The jumps are coming back but the timing is still not back. The spins have always been crappy.

Last week (and 'test' week) next week ..... LOL

x

[tidesong]

Fireworks:

I landed some decent axels!!!!
And nearly had my double salchow.... so looks like i'm almost back to where i was before i hurt the ankle...
Closer than ever to getting the Y-spin
I think my crossovers are still fine... must remember to check with coach :)

Fizzle:

My ankle still hurts a little when i get wierd squeaky landings... so i got to be careful...
Camel spin not making enough revs some times

[sk8clean]

Fireworks:
I landed a salchow jump for the first time!!!:mrgreen:

Fizzle:
Having to learn backward spin.

[garyc254]

Back on the ice after another week of R & R for my aching everything. It felt good to be back.

1st class: Adult Workshop: Did FI & FO edges for a warmup, then tried a Waltz-eight. The ice we are on is a small block for 6 adults, so could only do half an eight (is that a four???). :lol: None of us were much good at it, but we had a lot of laughs trying.

2nd class: Beginner Dance: Hard to dance when we can only use about 1/4 of the ice, but we successfully did both the Dutch Waltz and Canasta Tango with only minor modifications to keep from crashing into walls. My girlfriend and I partnered. At the end of the session, the coach arranged for us to do three patterns around the full rink before the Zamboni drove over us. What fun!!!! Can't wait for next week. :D :D :D

I'm still skating very carefully so as not to pull or strain anything, but plan to get back to my regular skating schedule next week.

[Black Sheep]

1. Fizzle: The incident on Tuesday, which I described in the thread "What If?/If Only", so I don't need to repeat it here, especially since.....

2. Fireworks: Today I managed to land a double sal. and my lutz-axel in my program! Seems things are looking up after all....8-)

[Stormy]

Fireworks: Spins are back! They took a 2 week vacation somewhere, they won't tell me where. Axels were closest they've ever been! If I could only stop breaking forward when I come down I wouldn't 2 foot them. :x Other jumps were pretty good, too.

Fizzle: Although Intermediate Moves are improving, it still seems like they're a long way from passable.

[Mrs Redboots]

Dance Club Last Night:

Fireworks: Having visitors - former members who now live in the USA - meant we had plenty of people for a change.

Fizzle: One of the tapes went totally pear-shaped, horrible noise! And Robert couldn't make it, which made it very dreary for me. Did do a couple of dances solo, and one with a partner, but felt very clunky, so spent most of my time chatting.

Back to work this morning, though: Working with Robert on the end pattern of the Swing Dance, which we just can't get right! It's all right when it's his Mohawk, but when it's mine, we just don't cover enough ice, and I'm sure it's partly his fault as he doesn't get his shoulders in the right place.... Plus his hand is still sore so we had trouble practising the Riverside Rhumba end pattern.

By myself did some wonderful changes-of-edge, but a very clunky Dutch Waltz. And spent time chatting.... it is Friday, after all!

[NickiT]

I had my first skate in just over a week today as the hockey lines have just been repainted so we lost ice. I needed the break anyway following all the hard training that I've been putting in over the past few months in preparation for last weeks Open competition.

Anyway I arrived at the rink today to see that it was so cold that condensation was dripping off the ceiling and covering the persplex around the rink. Not a good sign. Then I was greeted by my coach who said the ice wasn't good. I knew then that it was going to be bad. She rarely complains about the ice even on bad ice days!

So I had to have my lesson on the most horrendous ice. There was a layer of snow in each of the corners, bumps from where the condensation was dripping off the ceiling and all in all a pretty poor ice surface.

Considering all this I didn't skate too badly but I kept my speed down and we just ran through some basic stuff and jumps. It was actually a relief not having to skate my programme. I did a few things that have been neglected over the past three months and found to my delight that they weren't bad at all. These included the backspin, camel spin and some work towards the axel.

I'm hoping come next week the ice is better and the temperature will be more comfortable so that I can have a decent skate though!

Nicki

[Mrs Redboots]

Nicki, I didn't think your rink was ever cold - I've only ever been there and been amazed at how warm it was, compared to ours!

Not a good day today; trying to work on the end pattern of the Swing Dance with Robert in our lesson, it kept going wrong. And the coach was trying to help me correct it, fair enough, but Robert kept being in the wrong place, and he never got told.... We did a pretty good Canasta Tango, though (RIDL match next weekend).

Now Robert tells me he wants to go to another rink tomorrow; I could wish he'd told me earlier when I could have brought my skates home..... This, too, is supposed to be All My Fault. :( :( :( :evil:

[NickiT]

Originally posted by Mrs Redboots
Nicki, I didn't think your rink was ever cold - I've only ever been there and been amazed at how warm it was, compared to ours!


Believe me Annabel, on Friday morning it was COLD!!! Apparently they were changing the fans over (?) which meant they lost all heating and hot water in the complex. Fortunately when I took my daughter for her lesson yesterday it was pretty much back to normal so providing we're not inundated with groups of kids, I should be in for a decent skate!!!

Nicki

[Black Sheep]

Originally posted by Black Sheep
Fireworks: Today I managed to land a double sal. and my lutz-axel in my program! Seems things are looking up after all....8-)

When I showed it to my coach this afternoon, however, it was a no-go. In fact, he toned down the elements in my program for my competition next month! That means fewer double jumps and more singles. It makes me feel inferior, and that he just doesn't have confidence in me. :roll:

[singerskates]

Blacksheep, When you out on the ice to compete, forget about your coach. Just play with the music and go for the jumps even if they're not perfect. Go for the doubles if you feel like it. You're coach isn't the one competing. You are.

[Black Sheep]

Originally posted by singerskates
Blacksheep, When you out on the ice to compete, forget about your coach. Just play with the music and go for the jumps even if they're not perfect. Go for the doubles if you feel like it. You're coach isn't the one competing. You are.

singerskates, thanks! Sounds like a plan to me! 8-)

[sk8er1964]

Originally posted by Stormy
Axels were closest they've ever been! If I could only stop breaking forward when I come down I wouldn't 2 foot them. :x Other jumps were pretty good, too.

Fizzle: Although Intermediate Moves are improving, it still seems like they're a long way from passable.

Stormy -

I've had the breaking problem too. Try to remember to use your abdomin muscles to keep yourself from breaking (NOT your back muscles - I did that and went over backwards on the landing, whacking my head). It really helped me and I rarely break anymore.

[Stormy]

Thanks. :) My coach has suggested I do more ab work in order to help the not breaking forward problems. I'll do a zillion sit ups if it helps me land this. :)

[quarkiki2]

Hello!

Been working 3 turns like mad FO, FI, and just started learning BO. Instructor keeps calling me a chicken for putting my free foot down. I know I can do the turns, I just need to stop being a dork about it. I'm planning to practice this evening provided the weather's not bad (I hate leaving the mutts out in the rain).

BO3s may be easier for me than the forward 3s. Wouldn't that just figure? I'm so backwards about everything.

We put all of our Delta elements into a little program. I wasn't able to practice it well though during the lesson as we were following the instructor as we were learning the pattern and my stroking is stronger than the 8/9-year-olds in the class and I had to keep stopping so that I didn't run them over. I couldn't skate out in front of them or I would have missed what the instructor was doing. That's the biggest issue I'm having with the mixed class: we're practicing forward edges and my lobes are twice as big as the kids, so it's all I can do to keep from running them over when we go one after another. Same with 3 turn lobes. I try to go first, but there's always a really excited child who either starts before we're supposed to or runs to the head of the line.

Also did alternating FO3s. I think this is fun. I like the mohawk, even though it's harder than the mohawk in the alternating FI3s. My 3turns may stink, but my mohawks are pretty good and pretty easy for me. Or would that be a choctaw from the RBI edge to the LFO edge? In any case, I like it!

So if I practice tonight, I'm planning on getting my elements as steady as I can in sequence. FI3s are still 2-footed, but I'd like to get the rest up to snuff. I think I need to work on the bunny hop and get it higher. Right now it's a bunny limp, LOL!

Have a great day!

[garyc254]

Originally posted by quarkiki2
I think I need to work on the bunny hop and get it higher. Right now it's a bunny limp, LOL!

Probably nothing compared to my "bunny-hobble". :lol:

One coach told me to visualize jumping/stepping over a log to get the additional height. It really helped.

[96.23??]

fireworks: I get to skate after being off since April! :)

[TreSk8sAZ]

Yesterday was the best practice I've had in a long time! My coach was on the ice just skating for the first time in quite awhile. She's only a year older than I am, and we have many of the same University classes (I'm ahead). She's SO gorgeous to watch, and I wish she'd compete again. I finally had someone to look up to at this particular session --it's an all adult session, and I'm constantly the youngest-- so I actually worked pretty hard. It was great! Especially since one of us would clear the way for a jump, and the other would follow right behind (which worked since we have similar builds and jumping patterns). I finally didn't have to stop half of my jumps for people skating behind me! It was a miracle for a Monday session.

Fireworks: First off, the session was just fun and wonderful. All of my jumps up to my lutz, minus my flip, were wonderful. I was doing them with speed and getting higher than normal. Spins weren't too bad. Trying something new that my coach's boyfriends taught me, and it somewhat worked. Still no backspin, but what are you going to do. Dances felt really great, and I even had an audience (the public session after my session) who thought they looked great.

Fizzle: Flips. Finally landing them, and then yesterday I couldn't stay on my feet at all. Literally. I fell in the exact same place seven times in a row, and hard, basically out of the air. Stung my leg, but it's better today. Double 3s went well, except for the RBI3. I just can't keep over my foot. But it's a LOT better than it was!

[twinkle]

Originally posted by quarkiki2
.

Also did alternating FO3s. I think this is fun. I like the mohawk, even though it's harder than the mohawk in the alternating FI3s. My 3turns may stink, but my mohawks are pretty good and pretty easy for me. Or would that be a choctaw from the RBI edge to the LFO edge? In any case, I like it!



Yes, that's a choctaw, from outside to inside or inside to outside. A mohawk is inside-inside or outside-outside.