ps - JAZZ, change your signature!

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It's all about the dress!

Congratulations Jazz, that must be such a relief!

Apples
Back on my old blades, I can spin again and jump again!
Scratch spins are back and even a couple of reasonable backspins - but only if I pulled in as if I were trying to do a double jump (I can't actually do double jumps, so it's only my concept of what that would be like). It seems committing to the pull in really helped get me further forward on the blade.

Tried a few gentle jumps and they were pretty okay except loop & flip.
Even did a few lutzes from different entries. My lutzes are such great flips, yet my flips are tiny- there's been so much pulling apart of my flip that I'm over-thinking, over-waiting and picking right next to the take-off foot, whereas for lutzes, I just reach back & go for it in a very relaxed fashion.

Oranges
upset piriformis muscle from wonky camel spins a week ago, totally aggravated by an off-ice fall last Friday = major sciatic pain. Unable to attempt camels or sits at the moment, and taking it easy on all jumps.


Bananas
stood in as trial judge on our Artistic competition. Interesting. I hadn't done anything under IJS before (and hadn't read up on it because I hadn't planned to stand in at this one), so it was a learning experience. Also stood in on tests the next morning. Verrry interesting. Turns out I am way too harsh on the Learn to skate edge tests.

Peaches
My coach comes back from o/s this week ! Yay, after about 5-6 weeks without a lesson, swine flu, injured piriformis etc, it will be so great to start work again !

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Katz

Saved by Synchro!
I was over it, now I'm into it again !

Apples:
My sit spin is now past the 90 degree mark!!!! I can sit really REALLY low! It happened on several sit spins yesterday. My coach even was surprised and excited by it! She was whooping it up across the ice. LOL! Everyone probably heard her. Now I have to keep my free leg up higher and eventually I will start working on resting my head on my knee or other variations!!! Woohoo!!!!!

Oranges:
Very discouraged, once again, with back spin. I see how to do it, but feeling for it is impossible for me. I only twizzle or end up on an inside edge or grinding my blade. Grrr. Why can't I get this one particular item???? This will be the one thing that keeps me behind in progressing to other levels. Everything else is coming along and I am able to learn more and more. But this is the only move I can't seem to get together and get it.

apples - last practice for moves test went well, a few last minute-corrections, but coach knew this wasn't the time to pile them on. He pronounced the back crossovers to outside edges very nice, but I knew they were good - it feels like effortless flight. You know, that "this is why we skate" feeling.

oranges - 2nd move, back crossovers, still not up to where he wants them (but much improved from a month ago) Hoping other moves are good enough to carry it.

apples - this time I'll have my coach to put me on the ice. I had to schedule my first two tests while he was away in LP. I put on my big-girl panties and did it, but it was still

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It's all about the dress!

No skating today-I'm going with a friend while he goes to the chiropractor (to hold his hand he is such a big baby). However, I am going to the rink tomorrow for the 7pm freestyle---if they don't get enough attendance at the evening sessions they will disappear !!! I LIKE the pm sessions, late enough so people have eaten dinner and there isn't the crazy hockey boys hanging around.

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

I have this exact same issue w/ backspins--I think it is the dancer's curse--we are drilled to stay back on the blade & we practice twizzles for hours.....then try a backspin? Yah, right. Personally I'm hoping to at least get to the point where the twizzle points are tight enough together so that from across the rink it will pass as a backspin.....

Every so often I get the miracle of actually getting a couple of loops instead of points, but very rarely.

Jazzpants - Congrats on the job!!!


Monday
Apples Worked on Bronze Moves test. Coach wants me to run through it like I would during the test without resting. I was less winded. Spent a lot of time with the 5 Step Mohawk making sure the hold #2 step.
Spins were pretty good and centered.

Oranges Jumps were just not happening. I worked on a footwork part of my program. It has an RI 3 turn. This not a one that I do a lot (CW skater) so worked on getting that feeling and looking better. Didn't go to ice dance class DH wanted me to go to the big game with him last night.

I just wish it would come together so I can do change of foot spins, even from a scratch. It would be nice. I've been able to do a couple of sit spins this way, but I haven't worked on that in ages. We started really refining my forward inside edge 3 turns left and right to try and correct some upper body problems that I am having incorporated with the back spin. I know part of it is my confidence. Everything else, no fear. Not worried about falling from jumps or anything, but the back spin I feel so helpless with. I don't push my hips forward and if I focus on my pinky toe, I end up on my toe pick.

I want to pass Bronze, freestyle I think I will with ease, but we'll see. Not sure if I am going to be doing that test before January or not. Would be nice. If a backspin is required, I don't know if I will. I am doing a mix of silver/gold moves/freestyle...etc. and I passed my Pre-Bronze test.

Oh, and Pheonix, I started skating in January (no prior experience other than public sessions here and there...very few and far between). I am not an ice dancer. I dance ballet, jazz/hip hop, so that explains my name on the forum. I am, however, taking my first ice dance lesson next week. I know it will help improve my moves.

Apples:
Moved the blade on my right skate - it helped, but it's not perfect. Wonder if the insole is part of the issue, since it was matched to my orthotics?
I think the left blade is set too far FORWARD - the plate goes past the sole and the rocker seems to be between my toes and the ball of my foot.

Spins were so-so and wobbly. Did a nice layback with huge circles though, lol.

Oranges:
MITF were good, except for the three turns. The LFI and RFO are terrifying and lousy.

No jumps. ;( Ran out of time, raced to pick up the kids at school only to find they have show rehearsals after school. DH will pick them up since I have to go back to the rink to teach.

At least I have time to fix dinner now.

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Apples...uh pretty much everything Jumps felt great! Spins even better! I might actually get the evil loop jump by the end of the year.

Oranges...My stamina and confidence for my program. I can run through it in my head thus far, just fine...but stringing the whole thing together and not bailing out on jumps is a whole 'nother story.

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~Always Dream!~

Check my progress at www.freewebs.com/sk8tegirl06

Ah!! Yes, I was thinking you were an ice dancer!

Yes, ice dance will definitely improve your moves & make you a better all-around skater. However, it will screw up your backspin.

Yay!! on the sit spin! Sorry the backspin isn't going better, but at least know you are in good company. It took me forever. When I took my Bronze FS test, the only way I could get 3 revolutions on a backspin was to bend my right knee, rest the outside of my left foot on my right knee, have my left arm up in the air and my right arm rounded in front of me. For whatever reason, it kept my weight balanced in the right place and I got enough revolutions on it to pass the test!

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"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics

Apples Finished my test program tonight except for a footwork section. Coach wanted to think about what to add there. Spins were good and centered. Backspin really improved by thinking about standing up straight. Loops from the 3 turn were good. About 50-50 from back cross-overs. Yay! Progress.

Oranges All the progress I made on the flip seemed to go bye-bye today. Only landed 1 small one.

Cherries LTS skate started after our 2nd session tonight. DD was staying to help with tots. I stayed and helped too, because they were really short handed. Nobody else wants the criers, but I actually like working with them. I can usually get them to stop crying and start skating by distracting and praising them. There were 3 tonight. Only 1 was still crying at the end, but she lasted 28 of the 30 minutes.

Ok, I guess I should share the painful details of my competition on Saturday. Let me just start by saying that I had my 3rd round of chemo on Friday (mild chemo, but still chemo), so it may not have been the best idea to compete, but I'd signed up and didn't want to withdraw.

Here we go.
Oranges
-Warm up was bad to begin with. I spent too long trying to just get my feet under me and only ended up jumping through 2toe and doing a little bit of spinning. I was extremely nervous, really afraid that I wasn't even going to be able to get through my program.

I popped the opening axel, 2footed the 2sal (and got downgraded on it, but I don't actually think it was UR), fell on the 2toe in 1lutz+2toe (although DIDN'T get downgraded--ironically, that's the jump I was having the most trouble rotating). FCSSp was kind of weak, but not tragic, footwork was meh, CUSp was decent, then came the meltdown. I singled the planned 2flip. I landed and just kind of felt my legs turn to jello. Stepped forward. Fell. Tried to get up, fell. Tried to get up one more time, fell again and sat on the ice with a priceless look on my face and shrugged my shoulders. I still don't know if I had something on my blade or if it was just lactic acid build up, but trying to stand up really felt like I had a skate guard on.

I was quite discouraged after that. But, the past two skates have been better

Apples
-Had a nice talk with my coach on Monday.
-Fixed the timing on my 2sal. It has slowly been getting funkier and funkier to the point where I was taking off with my arms already in to rotate. I was still getting all the way around, and it was still fairly big, but its MUCH better now that I'm actually kicking AND reaching through.
-Changed the arms on my 1lz+2T so that I just keep my arms out on the lutz so I'm ready to pick for the toe. I've only missed a handful since (and of those, probably 2-3 of the misses were just pops).
-Really drilled combos today and was just nailing axel and double sal combos with both 2loop and 2toe on the end (and a few 3 jump combos using both 2T+2Lo and 2Lo+2T as the second and third jumps).

I'm also just happy that I'm not letting myself get too discouraged about the bad skate. I'm kind of looking at it like I did my epic back flop of the high dive--I don't have much left to be nervous about! Plus, I'm proud of how I handled it in the moment. Normally, I'd pop the axel and just have a meltdown, but I was able to tell myself to just stay calm, move on and focus on the next element. I DID do this--I at least WENT for the 2sal and 2toe--they may not have been great successes, but I know in the past, I would have just popped everything.

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Youtube Videos

[Oranges]
frickin' frackin' dumb stupid horrible no good very bad frustrating axel...

Today I didn't skate well. I was having issues with my axel and I was also have major issues with my camel/back sit. I don't know what the issue is. I haven't been skating well on Tuesdays lately and I am wondering if it has something to do with the fact that I'm teaching before hand and then go into 2 freestyle sessions.

I was so frustrated because my axel was okay on Friday/Sunday as was my camel/back sit.

I had a horrible run thru of my program as well.

*sigh* I may need to do some running or something tomorrow to make up for the horrible practice tonight.

[Apples]
Did some decent double sals (not landed, but I was feeling more over my right side) and got some good pop on my double toe.

Tonight was coach's first night back at my rink it was wonderful having her back. My first lesson is on Thursday!!

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Skating Dreams

"All your life you are told the things you cannot do. All your life they will say you're not good enough or strong enough or talented enough; they will say you're the wrong height or the wrong weight or the wrong type to play this or be this or achieve this. THEY WILL TELL YOU NO, a thousand times no, until all the no's become meaningless. All your life they will tell you no, quite firmly and very quickly. AND YOU WILL TELL THEM YES." --Nike

Oranges

After the dream like session a good few weeks ago when i didn't miss a single loop or flip i tried everything has regressed totally. I just don't get it - i know it's mental and not physical but i constantly two foot both loop and flip without any good reason. I'm frustrated. Coach is frustrated. She says everytime i take off it is all great until the split second before i land when i lower the free foot to the ice. There is no discernable reason. She has me drive the free knee up high and leave it there throughout the jump in an attempt to keep the free foot from touchign down on the landing. I do the jumps exactly that way and as i go to land i put the foot down as a "stabiliser". I am pretty avers to falling which i think is partly the problem but i don't get what the difference is when i do land them and when i don't.

Ant

What backspin?

I have a backspin, but the circles are HUGE and I can't get my foot crossed. Yes, Renatele, I moved the blade. It helped, but it's not perfect.

Apples:
Another adult skater gave me a "checklist" of things to evaluate blade mounting issues. Very simple things: list all the edges, try them, and write down the results. (I fall to the inside on my left.)

Did a few backspins and found that I untied the laces on my free foot boot! Don't ask me how, I just started laughing and decided that it was time to go.

Oranges: It stinks that the coaches aren't paid if the students don't show up. The rink collects full tuition in advance, so they've already collected the coaches' costs. Tsk, tsk.

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Well, it looks like you have the back spin and I have the foot crossing. Wanna switch? LOL!

I usually have an excellent backspin with a full, tight cross. I've been having blade problems that still aren't resolved. I have to attack this problem today. I'm sick of not being comfortable on my skates.

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That's ridiculous. If the student paid, the coach should be paid.

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-Jessi
What I need is a montage...
Visit my skating journal or my Youtube videos (updated with 2 new videos Sept 26, 2009)

Apple pie - Test day today. Summer coach put me on the ice, and Winter coach came to see me test so I had lots of morale support.

I PASSED BRONZE MOVES! Judges sheets were mixed, each one marked one move .1 under standard and one .1 over - but which was down and which was up varied across all the sheets. Worked out to an even 12.5.

Comments are pretty much the same things my coach has been complaining about for the last month - no surprises there, which is just how it should be.

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It's all about the dress!

Glad it didn't turn out to just be my screwed-up eyesight or something, LOL!

Sorry it still isn't completely right

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--renatele

congrats!!!!

Congrats Liz on ice!

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-Jessi
What I need is a montage...
Visit my skating journal or my Youtube videos (updated with 2 new videos Sept 26, 2009)