Get well soon, Lynne!

I'm happy to report that I passed Freestyle 1 last night. My scratch spin was OK, my jumps and stroking were good, but she told us that our forward edges and BO turns need work (well, duh - we only practiced them once during six weeks of lessons!) - we all passed nonetheless. So now it's time to perfect the toe loop and work on back edges and FI and FO spirals. And the salchow is lurking in Free 3.

I guess I've got lots of time to practice since lessons don't start again until the end of September, so soon I'll be back to the early evening freestyle sessions.

Elephants: No, the Blues is definitely not my dance! That was the featured dance at Alexandra Palace last night, and while I can do all the steps - even the Choctaw - my back edges are simply not good enough. I can do the steps, but not join them up, if that makes sense! And it is a lovely dance - I plan to work on the Choctaw, back cross roll, step to inside edge which goes right round in a circle, it looks and feels lovely, but I can't really do it yet. Once I can, I'll start to really work on the dance and see if I can make it skateable.

Robert and I were, I think, tired - it is quite late at night when we go there - and the only dance we managed to do at all decently was the Fiesta Tango, of all things! For the others, we were getting in each other's way rather than enabling each other. I was amused when in the Paul Jones another friend grabbed me for the Canasta - we are due to skate it against him and his partner in a few weeks, so he hoped to rob us of one practice run-through!

However, I did get very cross with Robert in the Swing Dance, since he will wave his free leg in the breeze on the last swing roll. Which he says is to flatten out the swing, and I do see his point, but it pulls him on to an inside edge and makes the whole pattern go wrong, and he simply doesn't believe me! I will make my coach look at it.

Did I tell you he has been given his papers for Level 3? Jammy - I am credited with it, but asked my coach whether I'd pass. He doesn't think so - he thinks I would probably pass the Golden Skaters' Waltz, but not the Riverside Rhumba yet (not enough edges, he says).


Oh, and when I got in, I made myself a "doctored" cup of tea - and was asleep before I could manage so much as a sip. What a waste of a good digestif!

Elegant: Well, I am very pleased for Robert getting his papers. I got off the ice after the interval, as I was tired, and he stayed on for a while and did a lovely Golden Skaters' Waltz with a very good skater: "And the edges she made me do!" He was exhilarated. But his head (I typed "free head" at first, as though he had two!) was waving in the breeze a bit, and I wonder whether the judges might not comment on that.

I did a lovely twizzle sequence in the interval - best I've ever done! I do know why my coach said I looked hesitant doing it in the morning, mostly because I wasn't focussing on where my feet were, so this time I really focussed on keeping them together and tidy, and it made a huge difference. I also got some lovely flowy back edges, much better than I've done before, which pleased me - I can do them, sometimes!

Oh well, trudge another mile! No skating today, although Robert may have had a practice this morning - he had an appointment in town, but not until 9.00 am, so he thought he might go first - but we will practice together and separately in the morning, I hope.

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

A very positive lesson today....

* FINALLY, I did 3 consecutive patterns of solo Foxtrot IN LESSON with COACH WATCHING. They weren't big, they weren't powerful, but they were mostly on-time and I kept going. This is a major confidence builder I hope for me.

and... the right side of my Forward Power 3's was much improved today. I said to my coach, "yes, the choctaw does work better when I stand up straight on the back crossover... you can now say 'I told you so'" (We joke around alot...) I find that I have to feel what I'm doing wrong, even with coach saying it, before I can really fix something.


14Step was okay but not great today. I wasn't completing the back swing roll enough, so then the next back progressive sequence was shallow, which set up miscellaneous problems for the end pattern. But I know what i'm doing wrong, so I just need to drive the early morning skaters nuts for the next 2 weeks with lots of Foxtrot and 14Step.

Then... left rink and I swear I hit every possible traffic light between the rink and my office RED.

But... bought my airline ticket to Atlanta for Peach and got a pretty decent price....

Anyone ever skated at the rink in Duluth, GA who can tell me how cold it is?

Hi No, I don't think that I'll be having pins as the break was very clean with little deformity. They did some manipulation in the A&E but am seeing the fracture clinic next Tuesday for a new (lighter I hope) cast and an assessment. We haven't actually discussed going back to skating yet ........ to be honest I'm in no hurry, even I know it would be stupid to try and go back before I'm healed! LOL I've been given 6-8 weeks in plaster if all goes well .......

Unfortunately we don't get the Lussi tapes over here but I still have to work anyway so that whiles away the hours .....

L xx

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The best whisper is a click

I've never been comfortable with the lutz, and although I don't mind the flip, on both jumps I have a habit of turning them into toe-assisted salchows (i.e., I leave my weight on the left foot after I've picked with the right and often after the pick has left the ice as well; plus I almost always flutz at least a blades' length).

Started double toe today as promised and it didn't feel very comfortable to get power for more rotation either.

Would different blades be likely to make a difference in terms of committing my weight to the picking foot?

Oh, I'm so sorry to hear about your injury Lynne! Hope you get well soon! 3turns are always evil, but the BO3s are okay for me. If anything's gonna break a bone, it's the LBI3. If I work on that, I'm begging for a toepick trip!

Elephants (let's the bad stuff out of the way first..)

• I couldn't center my scratch spins or sit spins at all today! Well, I had one "good" sit spin - boy, it was FAST.... - but URGHGHGHG I hate that!!!! Grrrrrrrr......
• Still not feeling the toe loop. I'm lacking in air time and it has to do with my pick in...sigh..
• Flip. Every time I tried it, I collapsed over my right side. I had forgotten my gloves, and the ice was rough. My hands burned afterwards. Why can't I get this jump???!!!!
• The all-importance of jumps. Okay, let me elaborate: another adult skater has been working on all sorts of jumps, courtesy of her coach. Today she was trying out a lutz for the first time, and IMHO if I was her coach I would have her work on edges the entire time. (Actually I took some lessons from the same coach and I insisted that I work on spins, LOL..) What irks me is that she told us that she might be working on the axel soon. From her basic skating skills, it looks like she's been skating for four months tops, and her spins are basically nonexistent. So, if anyone who bemoans the little kids only learning jumps, adults can be the perpetrators too. I don't quite understand why this annoys me so much, but the skaters who extensively work on their edges and basic skating get so much more respect from me, LOL.

Okay, let's be more positive now!

Elegant

• Backspin is still present! Now I need to get my skating foot to point straight ahead before I kick out with my free leg. I usually kick out first when my skating foot is still turned out, and I have to adjust it as I spin along, LOL.....
• Loop! It was faaabulous! Whee!
• Salchow! I don't hate it as much anymore! Just need to remember to push down the heel as I jump up...
• Had fun demonstrating edges to another skater. (Yay! Somebody else who cares about them! )
• To get my mind off that darned flip, I worked on the camel, and my balance has gotten a lot better! I'm not getting anywhere close to centered on them, but at least I can hold the position longer. Also, I can do a scratch spin from the camel, when I couldn't do one from regular crossovers. Oh well - combination spin!
• Right before the session closed, I decided to try out the back sit, and actually got around twice without falling over! Whee!
• Dabbled in the back camel, and I can get into the position! LOL it was more of a back spiral than a spin, but it wasn't as bad as I thought it was be, LOL....
• When I was stopping by the boards, a beginning adult skater stopped me and complimented me on how beautiful my skating was. At that point, I had only warmed up with edges and crossovers. (Woohoo! I have basic skating skills! I have basic skating skills! ) That totally made my day!

Anita

Actually, Lynne, the skating community seems divided - I've known people who've skated very happily with a wrist in plaster, and others who have preferred to stay off the ice altogether - so when you go back seems to be entirely up to you!

Anyway, for today.

Elephants: Didn't really feel like doing any work today, so mostly played around! Robert and I did do some stuff together, but mostly we played, too. We tried to do our waltz 3s round each other, but they didn't work, so we played with the Prelim Waltz instead.

And before I got off, I tried to rechoreograph the middle section of my free dance in accordance with my coach's instructions to "dumb it down", but although I like it now, I don't think it's quite long enough. Oh bother.

Elegant: Well, if you fancy a morning's playing instead of skating, let yourself have one! It pays dividends from time to time. I spent most of the time playing with the steps of the Blues, and actually found my back edges improving! I think, tell it not in Gath, publish it not in the streets of Askelon, but I think I am beginning to have a back cross-roll.
[size=large]YABBA-DABBA-DOOO![/size]
Only LBO at the moment, and I can't do them continuously, but [size=large] THIS IS PROGRESS!!![/size]. So I am very pleased. Bet I don't still have it on Sunday, but will keep trying. The secret is to go slightly faster than I'm actually comfortable with..... It is still really scary. Oh well, I always was a wimp!

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

I just want to respond to your post - the one particular example you give is a skater who takes private lessons (solely?, you don't say) -and focuses on jumps and not edges. I take group lessons and it's just one big group of adults so they cannot teach me separately, so even though I don't have a toe loop yet (but my flip is VERY close) I have worked on the structure (holding the edge, picking in then popping up not jumping)of a lutz because there's only two coaches and they cannot teach me differently. So not all adults jump because they want to rush it sometimes you just have no choice. When I do have private lessons I like to work on edges, and crossovers BECAUSE I jump so much in class. But I actually do have really decent edges and learned a bracket as well as any of the advanced skaters, the irony is I'd love to take it more slowly and focus on edges and do one jump every 10 week session and learn it then move on but I just have to go with the flow. So anyway just thought I'd give you some insight into what might be happening with some adults who seem to jump to early.

Elegant :

Started choreographing a new program to Cirque du Soleil's Quidam.. we worked on the first minute and I did two run-throughs - each one I did a double axel, double sal and double flip-double toe and right in front of my coach so I'm a very happy camper!!.


Elephants :

Tried the triple flip and triple loop.. it didn't turn out right even though they felt good. I didn't really warm up the double flip until the 15th time.. argh.. these jumps are so inconsistent i need to skate more. I basically had a horrible first hour where absolutely nothing worked so it was just a waste of time.. things didn't pick up unti lthe 2nd session.

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Oh, all that I know.. There's nothing here to run from.. 'Cos yeah.. everybody here's got somebody to lean on.

Thanks for the insight, but this is really very unusual, at this rink and for this coach. Yes, she does take group lessons too but they actually work more on non-jumping moves in those lessons. It's when she's working one-on-one that she tackles the hard jumps. I've seen other skaters that this coach works with and they all have pretty decent edges and spins. So really, I don't get it, LOL.

All I've done are group lessons (not counting the three private lessons I received as a gift last month), and it's true, we don't usually get to work on edges, although we spend most of the time on random footwork moves. I wish I could do a bracket, LOL, but I'm going to wait until I can properly control my checks before I tackle it again. I don't know if I'm unusual in the fact that my edges are pretty decent despite my lack of private lessons, but it helps tremendously that I read boards like this and watch a ton of skating so I know that edging is important. LOL actually my dream is have edges that are similar to Michelle's and to do a biiiig delayed axel one day.

Anita

From my own experience, a colles fracture calls for a cast half way up the upper arm, making skating pretty difficult. Personally, I didn't feel the least bit like skating or doing anything else that could possibly even jostle the arm for at least four weeks afterwards.

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Yes, to be honest I feel the same. I'm usually fairly flippant about injuries, I even (stupidly) skated the day after my head injury. My 'gut' tells me no this time ... plus, as you say, the cast is not exactly discrete. The things that I'm doing right now are difficult enough without having a change in my balance to deal with. I'm also worried about falling again and making it worse, I'm pretty 'lucky' in that it is clean and not deformed

I may feel differently in a couple of weeks, who knows I may be growing up at last

I'd certainly welcome any thoughts/experiences as this is the first time that I've broken anything.

L xx

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The best whisper is a click

Be guided by what you feel like! I know one child who had a colles fracture of her wrist who was back skating the following week, but adults do heal more slowly! DB, I know, didn't skate at all until her wrist was out of its cast, yet another friend of mine broke a bone in her hand (okay, not quite the same thing) two weeks ago and didn't take any time off at all until her planned holiday this week. All you can do is listen to your body and not skate until you feel able again. And do skate as soon as you do feel able, even if all you do is Novice Field Moves!

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

This week I got my new boots!!! I got Risport's RF2 Super and they are beige and the correct size finally!!!! No blisters so far!!! I am very happy... I can manage a few axels but I am so nervous taking off on new boots that I swing around alot sometimes and splatter. My blades are also new and since the boot is smaller, the blade is shorter... now my toe pick is where its supposed to be. I don't have to strain so hard to press on them anymore
Now I am lacing up with one left at the top. It doesn't give me as much support as I like but lacing all the way makes backward three turns and sit spins nearly impossible.

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Tidesong

You know, I wonder if this isn't holding me back on the sit spin as well. My Risports are still very stiff and I've had them almost two years now! I can bend my spinning knee to only a certain point before I feel my ankle is hindered by my boot. I can do shoot-the-ducks though, but just that move alone lets you rest more toward the heel of the boot while you need to bend forward a bit more to spin on the ball. Hmmm...

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All that glitters has a high refractive index.

I want to add to this sub-thread...

My experience when I first took group lessons is that my classmates usually HATES having their coach make them work on crossovers and edges once they are in the highest level of the adult group classes. They all prefer working on jumps and spins!!! Of course, to keep the students interested in their lessons, the coaches often give them what they want. Also, group classes are limited in the number of lessons per semester(?), so there isn't really a lot of time for a coach to beat those essentials into a student's skull.

Since then, our skating school as introduce an group edge class to get people to build up their foundation as well too. It's probably one of the more popular classes. Still, with the short semester period... and the individual one on one time you get during group lessons....

I've been heavily been working on (Adult Bronze FS) moves as of late. It doesn't mean that I don't work on jumps and spins...but that for now that my foundation needs more attention. It's already paying back in spades though - Mistress Coach commented at my last lesson that my crossovers are a LOT better than when I first came to her and she credits my working on moves for it!!! (She's into the total package thing... she wants to see good stroking and crossovers leading up to the jumps or spins!!!) Of course, this doesn't mean that I now skate gracefully... (On the contrary, there's still a lot of work to be done on me!!!)

Cheers,
jazzpants

Hey there, what kind of Risports do you have? You could try lacing up with one left at the top to see if you could do a sit spin with that Some of my friends at the rink never lace up to the top. Alternatively, you could also think of getting a slightly softer boot for the time being. I managed to break in my Risport RF2 (previous boot) so if yours is even harder than that you may want to try the RF2

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Tidesong

Hey!

I have the Super Cristallos. Those were recommended to me as a good beginner/intermediate boot, and have served me well as I'm still working on single jumps and single/loop combos.

I'll try doing a sit spin with the one hook undone and see if I will be able to bend down farther. My coach has told me my position is good and my spin is good (it is passable but not yet as good as it could be); I just need to get my leg bent at that magic 45 degree angle. When I was breaking in the boots I skated with the top hook undone but found I needed more support; now that I know more about the control I need to put forth I can probably back off one hook.

I'll try it and post it in next week's lesson thread.

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All that glitters has a high refractive index.

Last November, I fractured the main arm bone at the wrist while skating. It split the end of the bone.

I had my cast put on the next day and was back on the ice two days later. Other than having to make minor adjustments for balance, it didn't bother me while skating. As tight as the cast was, I could have beaten hockey players with it and not injured my wrist further.

I was in the cast for 6 dreadful weeks. Dreadful because it was on my primary hand. I could barely hold a pen to write at work, but had to.

Elegant: Flying camel is improving, and becoming more solid after the "fly". Good spins in general!


ELEPHANTS!!: Failed Juvenile moves. The judges said I was much too stiff on almost every element, and as a result of that the forward double threes were very shaky.

Any advice on getting rid of stiffness in general? I'm always being told by my coach to relax and loosen up. I'm not doing it purposefully, it's just how I skate!

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"Where are we going and why are we in this handbasket?"