Been working on pre-bronze MITF...my coach says she's amazed at my progress on the different test elements...she said the crossovers no longer give her gray hair because i'm no longer toe pushing and even if I wear, usually it's only one or two times she could see that I did so. And the fact that my crossovers are nice and even, plus keeping the same beat/rhythm rather than before would drive her crazy. Ditto for forward stroking and backward edges...even my waltz 8 is really great. My only problem now is the left side of the waltz 8. My coach drew me a way bigger circle to follow, and I cannot hold the first LFO 3 turn that long . The right side is okay though. And the last "weirdo pattern" as we call it...i'm still shaky but she said at least I know what I'm doing now and we just gotta polish it up.

Also been working on my scratch spin...can't quite get the free foot totally in the front to cross....i think it's a mental thing. Salchows and toe loops are great. Been working on the loop but haven't landed it yet. My coach said she'll put me on the harness so I can get the feeling of the loop...can adults use the harness? I only see kids being put on it. My husband was like, "oh really? THIS i gotta see!" lol.

Yeah, I've used the harness. We have the kind suspended from the ceiling - I don't think the "fishing pole" kind would generally work well for adults. I don't especially like it, though - I find the straps really annoying. It doesn't prevent you from falling, but allows your coach to soften the blow. The coach can also buy you a little time in the air, so you can get the feeling of fully rotating a jump. I only used it for axels (which I've since given up on). For the other single jumps, I mostly worked on off-ice rotations.

Thanks...we will be using the kind that hangs from the ceiling. I have been practicing it off ice but I still can't get the full 1 foot rotation on ice. The most I can do is a half rotation and land it two footed Guess we'll see how it is this weekend.

Can you get a full rotation off-ice? How about 3/4 rotation? An exercise out of the Poe book has a skater stand on 2 feet hip or shoulder-width apart and rotate 1/4 turn, then rotate back to start; rotate 1/2 turn, then rotate back to start; rotate 3/4 turn, then rotate back to start; and last rotate 1 full turn, then rotate back to start. So each time, you rotate one way, then back to start. This can also be done on one foot but I'd recommend getting it down on 2 feet first. This is a speed drill-you are going for several things when you do this:
-quickness in obtaining the turn
-stability in landing and holding the same position

This drill is effective for many of the jumps. When you can do these well and can land from a full rotation without falling over then try it on one foot. Snap into that landing position each time.

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

Not quite that exaggerated, but one of 3 reasons I haven't posted here much.

Another reason: most skaters, thankfully, have no clue what 'health-challenges' - some of us started with, & lingering,
can get soo frustrating. - BUT the point is I have, by sheer persistance , just found 3 important resources I need, to help me
move forward more safely... and naturally I'm thinking this will give me more confidence...
however, unfortunately I don't think it's going to be Success-overnight (not that it ever is anyway) -


Well, and then (unless Board-members "practice, or compete" together), no one else can OBSERVE us skate...,
so people are limited in how much help they can give. - Being embarassed to say much of anything, mostly I just read,
often wondering what I am even doing here.


I already asked about a "Beginners Club" at one time, thought that would be kewl. -
However, noticing how many adult-beginners have
passed (those of us majorly physically-challenged) at the rink,
such a group would be just one more downer, so no, I don't think that's beneficial either.

When I had a coach, one day I told her "something similar to 'Special-olympics',
we should have a class for skaters like me, to help each other our goals achieve..." - and
she even had no clue what I was talking about, sigh.
--- that said,

I enjoyed a nice (albeit short) practice this morning, including
asking 'grandpa' (our skate-Sharpener extra-ordinaire!!) "so, aside adding-back my extensions on my stroking,
how will I get from stepping..., to feeling & looking, like I know what I'm doing, lol" and
he said
"ah, did you forget to push-OFF with your Stationary-foot, so your other foot can glide...";
and I said "apparently so "; so we rehearsed that on the floor, & then he watched me skate it, with
"YEAH, now you're doing it right, again. See how much more natural that feels!" -
and
Another thing I am noticing, or maybe better said, I appreciate more about my skating:
I no longer throw... myself forward, hoping for the best. No, I can actually Focus, & Concentrate, & set my Intent, &
then whatever results, I praise myself for it (instead of being dis-appointed, when I don't get it on 1st. attempt.)
Instead, I have returned to "ok, let's try this again, & again, & again...and as I notice incremental progress, I PRAISE myself again.
Which, when you think of it, is exactly how I parented too.

Anyway, hopefully another (un-usually challenged) skater can from this take some encouragement, & also think of themself well...
.

Here is a video of my first competition, done a few years ago. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dzVeMwvgXlM

Cruise around and you will see a few more skating videos. I did another competition (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yhbLeDO28LY) when I was still suffering from my herniated disc (I could not feel my left leg below the knee and was forbidden by my doctor to jump or do full-out spins). I just finished one on April 4th but haven't put up the video. Yeah, I'm not even close to "smooth and accomplished" but hey, I'm out there having fun! I'm the only adult at my rink (out of 5) that competes and have been skating for a little over 6 years now (not overnight success, right? Sometimes I wonder what I'm doing out there!!!)

So keep on doing EXACTLY what you are doing! Not for anyone else but for yourself!

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!

THANK you so much for sharing!

Tho o/o necessity, in the 2nd. video you scaled back your skating, yet it was very nice!
and
Your 1st. competition: what a wonderful Spiral , and nicely-centered Spin you showed.
And then, your two Waltz-jumps lovely!! - You skated really well.

Today during practice, a teenager skated no less than 52 consecutive Waltz-jumps, lol - and she was still upright at the end.

As soon as I get my BOE, I'll be skating waltz-jumps too, I can hardly wait

Hi Skate@Delaware

I agree with sk8joyful's comments on your first competition. The first video is better than the second one. Yet, I understand that you had setbacks from your injuries on the second one. Given that, the second skating is not too bad either.

When I used to skate in the UK, my coach used to make me do 10 waltz jumps, and I was still upright after that.

Keep up the good work.

londonicechamp

I can do 3/4 rotation off ice on one foot, sometimes 1 full rotation but not consistently. I haven't heard of the exercise above but i will definitely try it! anything will help me at this point. my coach put me on the harness today just so I can have the feeling of taking off the right backoutside edge and doing the 1 full rotation. it was awkward because i never used the harness before but i guess it helped. she said it'll be better next week.

I also don't have my back spin yet so I know that's another issue too, we're working on that as well. I can only manage 1 rotation on the backspin, sometimes 1 1/2 and i wobble around.

Pre-Bronze MIF are going great though!

I just finished up adult skating camp at Hackensack NJ this past weekend and for the first time actually managed a better backspin than I've had all year....from a 2-foot spin! It took a few tries to get the weight shift just right but when I did wow it was great fun! You might want to give it a try and see if that works for you. Be sure to stay lower in the knee at first when you shift your weight and rapidly cross the free foot over instead of leaving it out.

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Skate@Delaware
Ah, show skating!!! I do it for the glitter!