[b:b0d02919ab]S'marvellous:[/b:b0d02919ab]

* Everything in group lesson much better! WAY better than on Thursday. Amazing what a different smooth, clean ice makes. Changes of edge (a lot smoother and more controlled), back cross cuts, back cross rolls, mohawk sequences, 3 turn sequences.
* Worked on Swing Dance and Fiesta Tango in dance lesson. Good. Just need to work on the mohawk in both - tends to go a bit mad when I've got speed!
* 1 foot spin better. Coach assured me I'm on the ball of my foot even though it feels like I'm on the toe pick. Didn't travel as much. Also learned to do it from the proper entrance! Woohoo!!! (Y'know, the back crossovers and step into it)
* Double 3s and mohawks better.
* 3 jump ok, salchow and toe loop better (especially toe loop!)
* Spiral fine.
* BI and FI pivots improving.
* Loop - am sort of getting the hang of going onto the toe and what to do with the free leg, but...

[b:b0d02919ab]Stoopid:[/b:b0d02919ab]

* Still not really jumping or landing on the correct foot (in the loop). Hmm.
* The proper spin entrance is really hard! Not so much the first part, but when you step onto a RFO edge (I'm CW), I couldn't really make it curve right and when I did the 3 turn, I was just on a RBI edge instead of a spin! Will take some practice to get the hang of it.
* Wanted to try some right foot spirals (I'm a leftie) but when I raised my leg at the barrier to get the feel of the position, I couldn't get my leg as high as I wanted and I had a sort of pain in the muscle in my left bum cheek (best way to describe it! lol) Have felt that before.

__________________
"It’s never too late to skate at any age." - Alexei Mishin.

Nothing like both of us posting at the same moment, is there!

__________________
Mrs Redboots
~~~~~~~~
I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

S'marvellous

3-turns - they are coming along. I couldn't do them at the start but then i got them back! My coach said to me next lessons he will bring the waltz music so i can make my first program!

Inside Edges - they are good (at least they feel good), but now my coach wants me to do the arm movements and it really confuses me when doing opposite arms with the legs. I have to hold the edge for longer though.

Outside Edges - They are ok. I find the arm movements with them are confusing too!

Forward crossovers in Figure 8 - well, when i wa doing them in Figure 8, I felt as though I was going to bang into people! But they are coming along good. I feel my confidence is building up when doing them!

Stoopid

Well, it was nothing to do with me skating. But the ice was sooooo horrible. It was all scratchy and you couldn't skate over it without feeling like you are on a bumpy train! Then during my lessons the ice stewart came and went over the ice. They could of done it last night! My coach said he was going to complain to management!!!
Hope the lesson is better next week!

S'marvellous:

Toe loop getting so much better these days and I'm even working up to performing them at speed. I must have practiced three or four of those for every one of any other jump I did, and it's paying off now. I tack a toe loop onto every other jump I do consistently as well, and doing it in combination has helped me overcome the block I had on this jump. Waltz-toes, salchow-toes, and even a few loop-toes have been happening for me this week! Working on waltz jump with arms over head also. So happy. Camel has also returned from the desert and hangs around for longer spells now than it used to--really have to tighten the abs to make the spin strong as well as bend that knee and snap that spin around (of course all three of these parameters must happen at the same time!) This is my most fun spin. Forward scratch spins have also become much, much better, very well centered and I am managing to get my feet completely crossed and arms fully extended over my head. What a rush! So many moves that had disappeared on me suddenly reappeared in the past couple of weeks--this time I hope they stay. I garner new skills more quickly when I'm on a roll like this. I know another time of plateau will come, but I am sure enjoying what I can do now. Also been experimenting with approaches to the elements in the Bronze test, thinking about what I want to do where.

Fun sequences: waltz-mazurka-3 turn-sal; sal, mazurka, 3-turn, sal

My old friend the spreadeagle is also wanting to come back! Guess he missed his cousin Ina Bauer.


Stoopid:

Sit spins. People look at me strange when I tell them I have a camel up to about 75% consistency and still no sit spin. Well, the spin itself is good, and so is my position, but I'm not getting low enough...yet.

Stag jumps. Not able to kick that back leg out yet! Argh argh argh!

Loops from mohawk entry. Can do a loop from a FI 3, but only when slower and more controlled (hard turn to control at speed). Just don't trust rolling with that BO edge and springing. One thing for sure is that I am not lifting my free leg up at the same time I try to spring, and once I get that timing problem resolved (and skates sharpened) I might have better results.

__________________
All that glitters has a high refractive index.

[b:93fbbfee7a]S'marvellous:
[/b:93fbbfee7a]
Back on the ice after 8 days holiday.
I did the field moves a few times (nice unbumpy ice) - still not doing the back swing cross things though because they are [b:93fbbfee7a]stoopid[/b:93fbbfee7a].

All the jumps worked ok.
I had a goofy slip on a flip during the picking, and one wobble on the loop-loop (weight too far back, doh), but apart from that, these were fine.

The lutzes are not bad. I have better speed on them then any other jump, isn't that strange?

[b:93fbbfee7a]Stoopid[/b:93fbbfee7a]
I'll play it safe and say all the spins.
Who knows what happened to the parallel? It felt like I was really straining to keep the position. I couldn't get it at all in the program - and EXIT it in the right direction.

Backspins are their minging selves. :wink:

__________________
MEL
Absolute Skating

Just a quick post cause I wanna go to bed!
Practice only today.
LFO-LBI double 3s luvverly RBI3 a bit dodgy
Toe loop ok, waltz jump ok, salchow better
Spirals good
Mohawks at speed much better (have to practice them for when I'm doing dances with coach)
2 foot and 1 foot spins a bit more comfortable
Back cross cuts good
BI and FI pivots still improving

Nighty night!

__________________
"It’s never too late to skate at any age." - Alexei Mishin.

The backspin continues to cause grief, but I practised 100s today, and some have made an improvement.

I'm still struggling to keep the parallel - biggest problem is getting the entry right.

No chance at programme - I cannot do it/concentrate when there are so many (fast), sometimes unyeilding skaters on the ice.
Never mind, I'm doing the elements individually for now.

The jumps, except the flip-toeloop are ok.

__________________
MEL
Absolute Skating

Adult Alpha, Lesson 8

S'marvellous: I passed my Alpha test today with no repeated elements -- got everything right on the first try! Forward stroking, snowplow stop, forward crossovers R over L and L over R.

Continued on backwards stroking -- seems to be OK when I hit the sweet spot on the blade. If only I could do that every time! But I'm hitting it more frequently, which is good.

Learned backward pumping -- can do OK on left foot with right pumping, I was able to gather some speed doing this. Meaning a little faster than a snail's pace. Couldn't get the other side working, though, my right foot doesn't want to stay in place while the left pumps. I'll forgive myself, though, since it was the first time I tried it!

T-stops ok from a creep, turn into a mini-spin if I have any speed going into them, but again, I just started on these so I'm not upset.



I actually had a make-up lesson on Satuday with a different instructor, who happened to be Russian. Boy was that different! As some of you may know, I've been having issued getting my feet completely crossed, pinky-toe-to-pinky-toe in my crossovers. I had been told for my test that a close cross was something they'd be looking out for, so my instructor had me holding the crossed foot position for a second before uncrossing my feet. The make-up instructor approached crossovers completely differently -- he was so much more interested in getting the weight change smooth and complete. He had me working on a smaller circle and insisted that I NOT spend any time with my feet crossed "because they are going two different directions and will slow you down and you'll never learn to skate on one foot if you keep skating on two!" That made so much more sense to me! By the end of my 1/2 hour lesson with him, my crossovers on both sides were smooth and he said I improved 100% from the beginning. Of course, I get to my normal lesson and they want me back to the holding-the-crossed-feet thing and suggested that I not worry about speed yet, so I was a little confused, but managed to show them what they wanted to see for the test.

Is that a common difference in teaching philosophies? My normal instructors teach the crossovers without any pushes -- literally stepping over and my make-up instructor (Russian) wanted both pushes and complete weight transfer. He was also insistant that I use better form -- stroking leg straight with pointed toe, etc. ("That's what makes a crossover a corssover and not a step-over!") Or maybe he thought that my crossovers were ok enough to work on more power and speed. I dunno. It was a very good lesson and I learned a whole bunch, regardless. His best piece of advice: "It is always a program. One thing must always flow into next."

ps. I'm posting this on both threads so I don't snub anyone!

[quote:60bf96ae50="quarkiki2"]Adult Alpha, Lesson 8

... I get to my normal lesson and they want me back to the holding-the-crossed-feet thing ....., so I was a little confused, but managed to show them what they wanted to see for the test.

[/quote:60bf96ae50]


First great lesson of skating! Find out what they want and give them that!
Styles vary from judge to judge, coach to coach, method to method, nation to nation.

Very often, you are taught a skill in a way that a beginner can grasp, tested on that, and then developed to a higher level, which is what the Russian coach was doing.

This happens a lot with three turns - you have that joy to come - the wonders of the developing three-turn!!

[quote:8f6a77f781="quarkiki2"]Adult Alpha, Lesson 8

S'marvellous: I passed my Alpha test today with no repeated elements -- got everything right on the first try! Forward stroking, snowplow stop, forward crossovers R over L and L over R.[/quote:8f6a77f781]

Congratulations!

[quote:8f6a77f781]
I actually had a make-up lesson on Satuday with a different instructor, who happened to be Russian. Boy was that different [snip]
Is that a common difference in teaching philosophies? My normal instructors teach the crossovers without any pushes -- literally stepping over and my make-up instructor (Russian) wanted both pushes and complete weight transfer. He was also insistant that I use better form -- stroking leg straight with pointed toe, etc. ("That's what makes a crossover a corssover and not a step-over!") Or maybe he thought that my crossovers were ok enough to work on more power and speed. I dunno. It was a very good lesson and I learned a whole bunch, regardless. His best piece of advice: "It is always a program. One thing must always flow into next."[/quote:8f6a77f781]

I bet your Russian teacher is/was/has been an ice dancer? What he is teaching is really where crossovers shade into runs, or progressives as you call them on your side of the Pond. There, the idea is very much to push with both feet, the push-under being smooth and no toe-pushing (ahem!), and the finishing position is with the inside leg crossed under, but the free foot in the air, pointed tidily, etc. And the knees bent and the inside hip dropped (my bug-bear).

You will, as others have told you, always work on crossovers and runs; your normal coach is teaching you how to do them as a beginner, and what they want to see in the beginning test (which, of course, you have now passed, so you can forget about!), whereas the Russian coach is helping you get up to the next level of doing them.

You wait until you are made to do four slow, four fast, four slow, change your shoulders so the other one is leading, repeat, do a figure-8 of 1.5 times round one circle then change and 1.5 times round the other in the other direction, and various combinations of such exercises such as I am not infrequently made to do.

[quote:8f6a77f781]ps. I'm posting this on both threads so I don't snub anyone![/quote:8f6a77f781]
No skin off my nose - it just so happens that Rachel and I must have reached our computers at the same time on Sunday morning and been composing at the same moment! Post on whichever thread you like! Next week we'll be back to one thread again as I'm not around on Sunday. It's usually we UK skaters who start the ball rolling, simply because we are up first!

__________________
Mrs Redboots
~~~~~~~~
I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

[quote:9c8ac2341d="quarkiki2"]Adult Alpha, Lesson 8

S'marvellous: I passed my Alpha test today with no repeated elements -- got everything right on the first try! [/quote:9c8ac2341d]

YOU GO, GIRL!!!! CONGRATULATIONS!!!!


[quote:9c8ac2341d="quarkiki2"] Is that a common difference in teaching philosophies? [/quote:9c8ac2341d]

I have two coaches and although they are both teaching me the same basic elements, they often approach them with different techniques. In the end, I learn both techniques only to discover I would have learned both eventually anyway.

One of my coaches will often start teaching me using one technique, then if I'm struggling, will approach it with a different technique. Anything to make it easier for me to learn.

Quarkiki2:

Your Russian's coach's forward crossover is what you'll be doing eventually. You do need to push with each stroke (both left and right foot).

However, sometimes it's difficult for beginners to remember so many things all at once. That's why some instructors will ask beginner skaters to hold their free leg next to the skating leg for a while. The purposes of this exercise are

1. to let the skaters get use to and hold the right inside edge (RFI for CCW skaters),
2. get use to the LFO (you'll have to master this so that you can use the LFO to push in the future)
3. the body lean toward the center, and
4. deep knee bend.

With the help of the free leg (LFO) on the ice, some adult skaters feel more secure. They don't feel like they're balancing their whole body on one leg. This mental block prevents lots of beginners from leaning toward the circle!

Like many other have suggested, this is just an exercise for beginner. Once you master the edges, body lean and knee bend, you'll move on to the next level. Your Russian coach is teaching you the more advanced crossover.

This is for the entire week:

[b]Smallvellous: The backscrach, the back scratch and the backscratch! Having at least 90% consistency with getting the free foot in front!
Salchow is getting better as well. On back crossovers, acutally had one circle of them without one toepick scratch.

Stupid: Acutally, this wasn't stupid. My primary coach has been after me to get lower on my sitspin. Well on the Tuesday night practice,acutally got lower on the sit, SO low that I fell on my butt with a thud
It was the kind of fall that knocks the wind out of you afterward!
That toeloop is still driving me crazy!

No lessons this week- coaches are at Liberty Open! Anyone else missing out on lessons due to this competition?

Quarkiki2

Your "beginner crossovers" will come in handy for some other dance steps which you will learn - namely "cross stroke" and "cross in front".

There is an alternative (and quite different!) way of teaching beginner crossovers, where you bend the knees and place the (outside) free foot uncrossed side-by-side next to the skating foot, then place the weight on the outside foot and let the inside foot slide away underneath, straightening the leg as you push with the outside edge of the blade. This gives a smoother effect.

There will be more opportunities to polish these up when you have progressed through the beginner courses, and are taking private lessons.

[b:3ff046cef7]S'marvellous[/b:3ff046cef7]:
[list:3ff046cef7][*:3ff046cef7]Sit spin!! I love these babies!
[*:3ff046cef7]Scratch spin was improving sooo much yesterday! Still traveling, but I could cross my feet on most of them! Woohoo!
[*:3ff046cef7]Backspin was finally getting better today, although I wish my body would just stay upright automatically instead of me always fighting to hold it. Still, I'm getting somewhere....
[*:3ff046cef7]Camel. I got around one time on the flat today. Of course, it can always be better, but I'll take every little improvement I can get right now!
[*:3ff046cef7]Loop. I was pulling out of it better - still not much runout, but at least I'm checking out of it...
[*:3ff046cef7]Three-turns getting better, especially the back ones.
[*:3ff046cef7]My cross-strokes kick serious bootay! We practiced them today in our lesson and I really did have the best ones. (I'm not the best skater overall, not by a long shot, but my edges are comparatively better. I don't know whether it's because I do practice them or if it's because nobody else apparently does....)[/list:u:3ff046cef7]

[b:3ff046cef7]Stooopid![/b:3ff046cef7]:[list:3ff046cef7][*:3ff046cef7]Flip. I [i:3ff046cef7]hate [/i:3ff046cef7]that LFO3 that goes into it...
[*:3ff046cef7]BI3s are still a killer. RBI is okay, but LBI....forget about it!
[*:3ff046cef7]I wish I could stop, LOL. I still can't really stop right....[/list:u:3ff046cef7]

Anita

No skating for a week due to hockey school - unless I go in at 6.30am with my children. :?

__________________
MEL
Absolute Skating

[quote:8edeb35bd9="melanieuk"]
No skating for a week due to hockey school - unless I go in at 6.30am with my children. :?[/quote:8edeb35bd9]You mean, you get to go in at 6.30 even though there's a hockey school? Our hockey school runs from 6.00 am to 10.00 am - in fact, it takes up all next week's teaching ice! And because the schools break up this week, there is no teaching ice and no dance club, either! At least my coach is on holiday (fortuitous; he booked his time off long before we knew there would be a hockey school), so I'm not missing a lesson.

But I had to work all this week, and have not been skating since Monday, and oh, how restless I am! I may have to go down to the rink this afternoon just to shake the fidgets out - but we are skating tomorrow and twice on Sunday, so I don't want to overdo it! Next week, I think we'll have to arrange to visit Alexandra Palace and/or Slough, or I really will go crazy. On the other hand, I do have to paint the bathroom.....

__________________
Mrs Redboots
~~~~~~~~
I love my computer because my friends live in it!
Ice dancers have lovely big curves!

Got stuck in traffic on 95, and missed some lesson time.


Heard the new music, and worked on new choreography for gold program.

S'marvelous:

* I have a new coach! (Since mine is leaving at the end of the month)
* Getting more rotation on double loop. Still not all the way, but better.
* One layback spin was really fast and perfectly centered.

Stoopid:

* Axel. Not only is it cheated, but this week I can't even land on one foot.
* Camel spin went on vacation. I've had a solid camel for at least two years, and it just disappeared on me. All week I'm lucky to get one good one a day.

Marna

Decided I was going to join my girlfriend's synchro team this September when they start learning their new long program. Unfortunately, I have to test ISI alpha, beta, gamma, and delta before then to be able to join. I can do all of the elements, but didn't want to get into the "testing" thing.

S'marvelous: Had fun at my Power Stroking class last night. A very good coach. I can't do a lot of it well, but still fun and strenuous. The coach warned the kids in the class to watch out doing backward stroking so that they don't cut the adults off. One little girl piped up and said "We can't help it. They're old." (I think I'll just fall on my samarai sword now and save myself the future pain).

Stoopid: Both coaches on vacation and one rink closed for hockey tournaments. My 3-turns are suffering.

[b:f04346b807]S'marvelous:[/b:f04346b807] [list:f04346b807][*:f04346b807]That I even have a lesson with either of my coaches. I didn't get a lesson with Mistress Coach (since she still assumed I was on the disabled list), but I got a lesson with the Moves coach.[*:f04346b807]My Forward Power 3's to back crossovers on the side where my FO3's is stronger is finally getting there!!! The other side is still the pits, but I at least have some hope of getting that now. The choctaw continues to be a nemesis for me on my weaker side. But still, it's way better than a month ago!!! [*:f04346b807]Forward perimeter stroking... Moves coach says I need to "flex my foot out." Outside of that, she seemed to be happy with the speed. (I wish *I* was happy with the speed though. Based on the last pre-juv move test I saw, I really should be a lot faster.)[*:f04346b807]Tried a couple of loops. It's coming back!!! (As in I'm landing on one foot and I'm getting some speed and height again!!!) [/list:u:f04346b807][b:f04346b807]Stoopid:[/b:f04346b807][list:f04346b807][*:f04346b807]Moves coach got pretty upset because my back crossovers are definitely STILL STOOOPID!!! She complained that I wasn't always lifting the free foot that's crossed behind. Back to working on those GAWD-awful back crossovers again. [/list:u:f04346b807]Cheers,
jazzpants