Olives/The Pits: Lesson/Practice July 15th-22nd 2003

[jazzpants]

Okay! Time to start a new Lessons/Practice thread!!! :mrgreen: (And I just LOVE OLIVES too!!!) :yum:

Olives: Flip: FINALLY landed ONE and it was nice... almost over rotated if anything. (I've been consistently been underrotating the flip by a *small* amount.) WOO HOO!!! :D :D :D Loops: Landed TWO of those today!!! :mrgreen:
Scratch spin and sit spins are fine...
Backspin ALMOST coming... AWAY from the walls too!!! :)
The Pits: The ice: The ice was bad tonight. Seems to be a problem with the ice being uneven or something on BOTH ends. :( The crowds. Can't practice moves w/o both the crowd AND the ends of the rink being screwed up (considering that I have to keep to a certain pattern when practicing the Bronze moves in its entirety...) :(

[flo]

Olives: had a chance to do some pair skating with a friend in town for an interview. It was great to be up in the air again. We paracticed lifts, death spirals and some great throws.

[96.23??]

olives: axels and doubls sals landed with new technique! :) fly camels and laybacks were pretty good! lutz landed on proper edge ( it only took like 3 years to get that one! :frus:

pits: absolutely nothing :D oh except for off-ice which was beyond boring.

[sk8er1964]

Olives: Did an axel-toe today :D. I think that we have a good technique correction that will make the double sal & double toe feasible instead of frustrating. Set a test timeframe for the Intermediate MIF's.

Pits: I was quite tired and wilted from heat at the start of my lesson today. It didn't help that we had some extreme rudeness out on the ice. I had moved my power circles (in my lesson, btw) to accomodate somebody doing spins in the center during their lesson. Well, on one of my power circles, they decided to move over, and skated right through my line of crossovers, not even doing an element - just skating. I bailed, because if I hadn't I would have been in a collision. Then I went back to my coach, said a word I haven't used a whole lot since my Navy days, and skated off to calm down. :evil: :evil:

I know it wasn't deliberate, just thoughtless - I'm not the first person this has happened to on this session, and it has happened to me before too. I don't have a problem with somebody being in an element having the right of way - in fact I hope that others have the courtesy to give me the right of way in an element. It's just that, if I'm in a pattern or element, I certainly expect to have right of way over you if you are just starting an element or are just skating around. I am going to have to say something next week, because I can't take it anymore.

[96.23??]

Originally posted by sk8er1964
Olives: Did an axel-toe today :D. I think that we have a good technique correction that will make the double sal & double toe feasible instead of frustrating. Set a test timeframe for the Intermediate MIF's.


I don't have a problem with somebody being in an element having the right of way - in fact I hope that others have the courtesy to give me the right of way in an element. It's just that, if I'm in a pattern or element, I certainly expect to have right of way over you if you are just starting an element or are just skating around. I am going to have to say something next week, because I can't take it anymore.


Congrats on the axel-toe! :D

OOOO I just hate it when I used to do power circles and it seems like everyone is gettin in your way.. especially when you music is on and you're in a lesson. :frus: The thing is most of the people on my session are usually on the same skills so when power circles came on everyone would scatter into the middle to start.. which was um.. interesting..

[Mrs Redboots]

Pits: The ice was terrible as the Zamboni has broken down yet again, and it had been cut by hand. Also this weather - exceptionally hot for this country - isn't helping. There was a shower just as I arrived at the rink so I got wet (Here comes another one!). My sciatica really doesn't like skating much - it's not nearly as bad as it was last week, but I am aware that I possess nerves in my bottom and the top of my legs, put it that way!

Olives: However, despite all that I had a great skate day! Did very little in my lesson except basic skating, but it was one of those days when quite suddenly, and for no apparent reason, I could get my weight transferred at the right moment, pre-bend at the right second, and change feet without slowing down - backwards as well as forwards! As I told my coach, such days are all too rare, and I bet I won't be able to do it again tomorrow..... So I enjoyed it while it lasted. But he couldn't tell me what I was doing differently, either.

[JDC1]

Pits - still have issues with my left leg but since I can't trade it in I just work around it. :-)

Olives - Mrs. Redboots I had a similar experience. My back cross overs used to be crunchy and my pushes were uneven and then one night I did then and "Bam!" they were even,not crunchy and I was leaning TOWARDS THE CIRCLE. :-) I don't attribute this to divine providence but to DANCE ever since I switched to primarily ice dance my basic skating skills have gotten so MUCH better they surprise me at times. I think all beginning skaters should have to take 1 year of dance it would improve everyone's stroking.

[CanAmSk8ter]

Originally posted by JDC1
I don't attribute this to divine providence but to DANCE ever since I switched to primarily ice dance my basic skating skills have gotten so MUCH better they surprise me at times. I think all beginning skaters should have to take 1 year of dance it would improve everyone's stroking.

I agree wholeheartedly. There were three coaches at my old club who put their students right into dance lessons along with freestyle as soon as they finished learn-to-skate, and they stayed in dance until they passed their pre-bronze, like it or not. Some of them were kept in dance through the Bronze test if the coaches thought they needed it. Those girls didn't all have great jumps- I don't think any of them ever got beyond double lutz- but they could skate. I remember one in particular- she was my age, we would have been about 14, and she was skating Intermediate. Her jumps came and went- at competitions they often went- but she consistantly placed well because she had such style and extension. I fully intend to do dance with any student I teach beyond learn-to-skate.

[mikawendy]

Olives--
Worked on waltz 3s and spirals in practice today. Spirals on the left foot are coming along. They still have a "dead fish in the air" feel to them, but less so than before.

Lesson was fun, too--worked on spin entrance (choctaw), and I'm finally getting the hang of it. If I remember to bend my knee enough and almost step toward my free foot's shoulder, it's almost there. Worked on doing waltz jumps with a moving entrance (instead of from standstill). Mine are definitely waltz hops or waltz hobbles, but they're coming along.

The Pits--
Saw DebbieS take a *hard* fall today during lessons. Debbie, I hope you're feeling better. (And lay off of those quad loops!) ;) ;)

Felt all spaced out at show practice on Saturday. We rehearsed with props that will look great once we all get the hang of them. But it was tough for me because I had to concentrate on my prop, plus what my feet were doing, plus my spacing with the group, and by then I was feeling a bit discombobulated and missing my cue in the music. Ack! I know it'll get better, but it stressed me out a little.

Got sad news from a friend that a mutual friend is very sick. :( We're going to make plans to see her soon.

[garyc254]

Olives: Had a terrific couple of classes last night.

In the adult workshop we worked on setting up the waltz jump from back crossovers. Once I got the proper form, I actually got a little height into the jump. :D

Also worked on a dance sequence from one of the II levels (I never remember which as I'm not planning to test it). Front crossover, swing roll, mohawk, cross behind, cross front, step out. Whatever it was, it was fun.

In dance class, reviewed the Dutch Waltz and worked on the Canasta Tango. Unfortunately, we're still trying to do the dances with limited rink space, so when we finally got to try on the full rink it wasn't very pretty.

Pits: Was working on the cross-roll for the end of the Canasta, leaned a little too far back, and went horizontal. Bounced off of my knee. Not serious, but definitely purple.

[flo]

Debbie - ouch! Hope you're better. Would you and Mika like to skate with me in the all-adult show on August 24th?

[MissIndigo]

Olives--

Layback spins were on last night. On, on, on!!! And centered on a dime. Waltz jumps were big and floaty too.


Pits--

Couldn't get my usual trusty camel going.
Power 3's sucked. Bad.
Have lost timing on salchow. That used to be my best jump.

And my body aches all over today. No reason for it to, so I'm puzzled.:(

[garyc254]

Originally posted by Mel On Ice
Finishing touches are on my adult team compulsory program, and we practiced it together 5 or 6 times yesterday morning. We are skating to "Roller Derby Queen" and it's a riot. It's ISI 4, and I have to do the half loop.

Forgot to add that I watched Mel's group run through this program several times last night. It's really looking sharp!!! I especially like the part where they're purposely bumping and pushing each other around. Just like roller derby. What a hoot!!! :lol:

Good luck this weekend, Mel!!!!! :D :D :D

[Elsy2]

Pits: After a few weeks off the ice, things were pretty whacky :P Stepping wrong on waltz jump, looking the wrong way on salchow, looking down at the ice on loop, arms flailing wildly....you get the picture!

Olives: I found the whole session very funny and laughed myself silly through it all. It just felt good to be skating again!

[96.23??]

Olives: double flips were so close :) got to go in the harness today too :D

[DancinDiva]

Olives: YES! YES! YES! I did FO3 turns on the right and left today! Away from the wall! I had my first lesson since mid-April, and I am taking prive lessons now. My instructor showed me FO3s and had me try them holding on the wall. Then he showed me what the goal was for me to do by the end of summer...a series of FO3s away from the wall. After he left, I still had 20 minutes on my session, so I tried the turns around a hockey circle. I actually made did a full circle of turns in each direction. I was SOOOO excited, but my coach had already left and there was no one else there that I know that I could show-off for. Maybe three turns aren't such a big deal, but I'm super excited about learning them:D Oh, and I'm at a different rink for the summer, and it is SO nice! The ice is perfect, like skating on BUTTAH! And there are only a few people skating on that particular session, so I had plenty of room to practice.

Pits: Nothing, except that I finally had to get off the ice! I felt like I could stay there doing 3 turns forever!

[sk8er1964]

Originally posted by DancinDiva
Olives: YES! YES! YES! .......Maybe three turns aren't such a big deal, but I'm super excited about learning them:D .......

Pits: Nothing, except that I finally had to get off the ice! I felt like I could stay there doing 3 turns forever!

Anytime you master any element in this sport, it is a triumph! Plus, 3 turns are a serious basic that it is very important to own. Congrats on your FO3's!!!:D :D :D

Olives: As for me (DancinDiva - the level may be higher, but the challenges are the same :) ), after my coach's advice this week, the 2Toes feel more comfortable. They are still way under-rotated, but I don't feel all twisted around myself. The falls are easier too - before they really jarred and hurt and now they don't. So, there is hope!

[jazzpants]

The PITS: I didn't have enough time to go skating b/c I woke up late and I had to eat before going to skate. I only had ONE HOUR to skate at coffee club, so my session was kinda rushed and I didn't accomplish much... :(

And the worst PIT of all... I didn't go "star gazing" this week at my home rink. Scott Williams was at YB Tuesday morning!!!! WAAAAH!!!! :cry:

[jazzpants]

Olives: Backspin, Loop, and Flip all very close to getting it!!! My coach asks me to do a backspin today but before I started, he says "Today is gonna be the day you get your backspin! I can just FEEL IT!!!" (Yeah, I feel it alright! I can feel the PRESSURE that is... ) :P :lol:
Camel better :mrgreen:... too bad my coach raised the bar already and said "I want a camel-sit!!!" :twisted: :P Coach liked my very LAST salchow! WOO HOO!!!The PITS: 18 people signed up on my FS session today and our rink is NHL sized only. WAAAY too crowded!!! Can't do moves at all! :x :evil:

[jenlyon60]

Olives:

* Worked on re-learning the Tango this week...the way my current coach wants it skated. Discovered parts of my quads I had forgotten existed

* 5-step mohawk sequence is MUCH better this week. Even some of the pesky RFI-LBI mohawks were better.

* Got rid of my old tank (beat-up 8 year old SUV with dying transmission) and bought a new Honda

Pits:

Forward power 3's are my permanent nemesis.

[Raine]

Olives:
Scratch spin: improving the final position of this spin, the vertical S-T-R-E-T-C-H
Layback: starting to get my weight over on the skating side more and levelling my shoulders more during the spin. If I could only stretch back further...
Lutz: still hesitant on the takeoff, but kicking the habit of kicking my free leg back in the air :p

Pits:
Backspin: No way can I spin on the BO edge of my baby toe without pitching forward. As I said in a previous post, it's time to blame the equipment. ;)
Too chicken to air my potential program music over the rink's sound system

Happy Skating,
Raine

[DancinDiva]

Thanks, sk8er1964;)

[Elsy2]

Originally posted by jazzpants

And the worst PIT of all... I didn't go "star gazing" this week at my home rink. Scott Williams was at YB Tuesday morning!!!! WAAAAH!!!! :cry: [/B]

OMG! One of my fave performances is Scott skating to "Walking on the Sun" by Smashmouth. He's skating in shorts..........Love it!

[Debbie S]

Olives:
Landed a loop and a flip at my practice on Tuesday.
Got 2 revs on my camel spin.
My new skates are feeling a little less painful. They still need more breaking in, though. I'll be looking forward to when I can get the blades permanently mounted so I can get rid of my current skates.
Scratch spin is getting to be show-worthy - I'm doing it in a group number in our show on Aug 2, so it better be show-worthy by then!

The Pits:
Aforementioned (by mikawendy) fall at group lessons Wednesday. I was trying to do a waltz-loop combo from no speed, b/c our group was crammed into a tiny area. Every time I did a couple of crossovers, I'd end up practically in someone's lap. I fell down on my left side, got a large bruise on my left hip, left leg (just below the knee), and hit my face just under my left eye (a little diagonally to the left). I was terrified about what I was going to look like, but lots of ice helped the swelling go down. Now it's a red circle, a little swollen, but not that noticeable, and covered with lots of foundation makeup. :)

I decided to withdraw from group lessons, as the setup wasn't that productive, given the lack of space and the fact that there are so many diff skill levels in the group, and I was the farthest along. My next step will be private lessons. Fortunately, the skating director agreed to give me a credit of the balance of the lessons toward my next purchase of a FS sesion punch card, which I'll need to get sometime next week.

Fortunately, I looked well enough to go to a happy hour last night at which Dorothy Hamill (she lives here in Baltimore) was the guest bartender. (I posted a thread on this in General Chat.)

[Mrs Redboots]

Originally posted by DancinDiva
Olives: YES! YES! YES! Maybe three turns aren't such a big deal, but I'm super excited about learning them:D I bet you are! Many congratulations - and can you do them moving yet (I still can't do them at speed by myself, even though I've been working on them for years). I've offered to play with a friend who is learning them, as I want to play with some of the other 3-turns; she needs the confidence to do them away from the barrier (thus needing a friend to grab if necessary), and I have some I'm not too sure of my balance with.

[jazzpants]

Originally posted by Elsy2
OMG! One of my fave performances is Scott skating to "Walking on the Sun" by Smashmouth. He's skating in shorts..........Love it! My friend who has saw him said that he's a "hottie" in person! DRATS! DRATS! DRATS!!! :x

Oh, well! At least I didn't waste $300 fighting for rink space with a bunch of kids... (like last year...) :P But it sure would be tempting to go just to meet Scott. I wanna know if MK saw my coach's interp program dressed as her. :P

[DancinDiva]

Mrs Redboots, yes, I actually managed several three turns while moving! Like I said, I was so excited to do them, especially since it was my first time even TRYING three turns. I was expecting it to take me a lot longer to learn them, but they aren't so hard as I'd imagined, really. Once I got it into my head that the upper body has to rotate first, it just all came together. The part that made me happiest was that I was doing three turns without making any noise. My coach had said that you know you're doing the turns right is you don't make any noise, and you don't fall over!

[Elsy2]

Originally posted by jazzpants
[ I wanna know if MK saw my coach's interp program dressed as her. :P [/B]

Certainly someone must have sent MK a copy of that performance. The skating world is really a small world after all ;) I know I have a copy! I'd love to hear if MK saw it though.......If you ever find out, let us know.
The guy from Ledin said he made a fortune selling copies of that performance.

[TreSk8sAZ]

Pits: Couldn't get out on the ice

Olives: Went down to my usual session to say hi to everyone and meet a friend for lunch. My coach was still giving her a lesson, and I got quizzed as to what she was doing wrong. I got to coach on my own after my coach finished teaching. Couldn't skate, so coaching is the next best thing! :)

[jazzpants]

Originally posted by Elsy2
Certainly someone must have sent MK a copy of that performance. The skating world is really a small world after all ;) I know I have a copy! I'd love to hear if MK saw it though.......If you ever find out, let us know.
The guy from Ledin said he made a fortune selling copies of that performance.

Well, I've heard that Karen Kwan has seen it... and that Danny Kwan wanted a copy of the tape too! So I wouldn't be surprised if it got to her already. But I do wanna hear what SHE thought of it when she first saw it. :P

I got a copy too (ironically from Ledin too)!!! I had to have SOMETHING to pick on him about! :P :lol:

[icenut84]

Skated yesterday. WHAT A DISASTER. Well, the skating itself wasn't a disaster, but the rest of the day was! :x Ok, I was supposed to be going to a practice session on Wednesday. I overslept, giving myself 10 minutes to get ready, including packing 2 bags. We set off for the train station and missed the train by less than 2 minutes! I had no choice but to go back home again. The next train wasn't for an hour (meaning I'd miss most of the session), and I couldn't go to the later public session instead because they were expecting a group of 309 kids! So I wanted to skate yesterday (Friday) instead. Woke up in good time to go to the practice session - but my dad was stuck in traffic for ages taking my brother to work, so he didn't get back in time to take me to the station. I decided to go to the public session instead, as they were only expecting a group of 30. Getting there was ok, but I didn't get home till over 4 hours after I'd left the rink! I was stuck in train stations for over an hour and a half, and then when my mum picked me up from the station, we had to detour to pick up my 2 sisters. How I wish the ice rink was only down the road... :( Oh yeah, and once again I couldn't book a lesson because there aren't any coaches on the sessions I can get to! Uck! The longest practice sessions there are are about 1.5 hours long. Every time I've tried to book a lesson on one of those, there's either no coach on the session, or there's one but they're fully booked. There's no point me going for a 1hr long session, since it takes me 2 hours to get there and 2 hours back! And in the next couple of weeks, due to the summer holidays and a camp, the sessions have been reduced in both number and duration. This is so frustrating!! I've only had one lesson in the past four months. I haven't done dance properly in all that time, and I could really do with someone looking at my skating. The last thing I want to do is to get into bad habits. At the moment I'm just practicing what I can. My skating at the moment has no structure and no direction, I'm not learning anything new and I don't really feel like I'm improving. I almost feel like I've quit since my old rink shut. :cry:

(Sorry for the rant)

ANYWAY - cheering up now. My spins were better (control etc), and I was getting 4-5 rotations. Still not exactly centered, but I can't do much about that because I don't know what I'm doing wrong. I practiced both directions too, and they were pretty much even as far as standard goes, so that's good. Everything else was ok I think. (My FI3s have gone a bit funny though, dunno why). I spent some time practicing the BO3-mohawk sequence - I slowed it down and just did a couple of steps at a time, concentrating on control and positioning. It wasn't easy but I think it helped. I also practiced other step sequences.

Good news - someone recognised me! :) (I'm not exactly well known to the skaters/coaches yet). It was one of the coaches who I spoke to last week. :)

[Mrs Redboots]

I had thought we'd arranged to go skating this morning, but my alarm went off and nothing stirred in bed beside me. So I went back to sleep for another 30 minutes, but suddenly woke up and was awake for the day. Decided that even going down to the rink by public transport, I'd have a good hour or more to skate, so showered, dressed and left, leaving his lordship fast asleep!

A very mixed session, really:

Pits: As always on a Saturday morning, it was a bit crowded, and lots of rather good dancers and free skaters who make it feel crowded, even when it isn't. My hips are still really sore and stiff, and my back started to ache rather during the session - I got off and sat down for ten minutes and chatted with a friend, stretching while I did so, and it recovered, but my hips still ache. Worked on my basics - my back stroking was fine, but somehow my back chasses were pretty diabolical, and we will not mention my back swing rolls! Tried to work on my back inside edges, but found that the technique (for our Field Moves) still eludes me - how does one change feet without changing edge? My tracings showed I was pretty flat anyway, and kept changing edge at the last minute. Grrrr.

Olives: My forwards chasses were fast and tidy - I still seem to have more knee-bend going forwards than I've ever had before, and am pre-bending more, too. My changes-of-edge were okay; I don't think my coach would have liked them very much, though, although I was better pleased with the inside-to-outsides than the others. My forward outside swing rolls were actually really rather good, I thought - I didn't lose speed changing feet, which is unusual for me! Worked on my closed chasses - I still can't cross my feet on the ice, it's almost silly! Also worked on FO 3s (okay; back edge after a bit clunky, though); Mohawks (as good as they ever are, which isn't very); and played around with FI3s and BO 3s. Not a bad session, and of course the delicious feeling of virtue one has when you get home and you've been taking vigorous exercise while himself lazes in bed! :twisted:

[Mrs Redboots]

This morning we had the ice to ourselves for the first 30 minutes - it suddenly filled up at about 7.45 am, and by the time of our joint lesson at 8.00, it was quite busy. We had a good session, though.

Olives: Somehow all our exercises are better - faster, less tentative, covering more ice. We are far more aware of where we are in relation to each other, and Robert is even beginning, rather tentatively, to be able to steer me to where I need to be. It did feel good! We also had time to practice together before our lesson - as well as work on the stuff we are working on separately - and afterwards were able to do a couple of dances to music, since it was being played.

The Pits: Nothing much, really. The end pattern of the Swing Dance when I am supposed to do my Mohawk is still not very good, but as the coach said, if the side pattern is good and one end pattern is good, it's a lot better than all of it being weak! If I remember to turn my head while doing the Mohawk, it goes a lot better, but I don't always remember.

No lesson next week, as it's the British Solo Dance Championships, and our coach is taking another skater. :?? Oh well, we can always practice.

[JDC1]

Only practiced twice this week because I hurt my ankle and had to wait for the leg to feel better.

Mrs. Redboots - I know what you mean, sometimes I skate on sessions and it feels like there's no room because a few of the skaters are practing 3's and double/double's and they cover the ice FAST.

Olives - I LEARNED A NEW MOVE!! This young skater was doing a RBOspiral 3-turn (leg stays up) into RFI spiral she had LOTS of speed I had close to none but I did it with my leg staying about waist height. Need to practice that more it feels really cool. Dutch Waltz was good, Swing rolls are getting better more on a lobe.

Pits - Lower back was tight so I had to work around that and the rink STUNK!! Yuck, kinda like sewage and ammonia.