+GOE- I had a private lesson! No one else in my group showed up for halloween... we worked on waltz jumps, which are getting to look more like a jump, spins- which I actually held for more than a rotation, crossovers- which I was able to put in with more power, and then we started on a toe loop! I love this jump (so far). Apparently I'm going into it with less hesitation than the waltz jump, and the gal I worked with said it looks better than the waltz. I now have 2 jumps in my repertoire, although to save I have them is to say it very loosely.

-GOE- we also worked on 3 turns on a circle, not so good. My 3 turns just aren't as good as they were when I was in cheap skates. Everything else is a million times better though. The other thing was I noticed how much better I'd be doing if I was taking private lessons. This lesson was so much more productive than the normal group lessons. Bummer, because I really can't afford them- although I am going to start a once a month lesson.

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

-GOE Tonight's session was cancelled due to Halloween - apparently I was the only one who saw nothing wrong with skating on Halloween

+GOE My dog LOVES Halloween! She just loves having all the little kids come to visit. I think it was almost worth staying home to see her so happy and excited. LOL!

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Dianne
(A.O.S.S.? Got it BAD! )

Woohoo! Way to go! I agree about the arms--I have to go into it with my free arm pushed way across my torso until I hook the turn, then I open it up. If I drop that free shoulder during the entry or the spin, however, it pulls me onto too deep of a BI edge after the hook, and all is lost and I'm doing some awful BI circle-y thingy that looks neither like a camel nor a BI loop.

+GOE
Few kids at the rink today because of Halloween. (Note to self: must remember to skate on Halloween more often.)

+/- GOE
Had to park in lower nowhere in my neighborhood because of all of the extra people in the neighborhood for trick or treating. On the long walk back to my house (in my skating clothes still), I was offered candy by quite a few of the people sitting on their porches with bowls of candy.

- GOE
Three of the four jumping passes in my program are toward one end of the rink and all finish with me facing the other end of the rink. So I get all stressed out about my combo jump, fight to land it, then have a blank out as I go to do the next step and realize it's the wrong step!

__________________
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http://www.marrow.org
http://www.nmdp.org

+GOE
I am back on the ice (for a few weeks now). Today I landed my first lutz after five attempts. After spending 6 months struggling with the flip, this is like a Halloween's treat. All other jumps are solid.

-GOE
Not today. ^+++++++++++++^

__________________
Reach out for the sunshine ~*

+GOE:
Skated on 2 near-empty sessions tonight. There were a few other adults and a couple of teenagers. Got to run through my program several times. I landed all of my jumps, but the change-sit is still hit or miss. I give myself a 50% chance of doing it reasonably correctly on Sunday.

-GOE:
Had my music stopped in the middle of my first run-through by a teenager who wanted to play her dance music. Uh, hello? I skated over to the side and informed her of what she had done and she looked surprised. Did she think someone was playing "Rhapsody in Blue" for fun?

Really, really negative GOE:
I'd been on the ice for about 20 minutes and my right ankle started hurting as if something was rubbing against it. "Something" turned out to be the side of the tongue of that skate - it twists a bit to the outside and the edge of the tongue has started rubbing the skin on my ankle - and I mean rubbing raw. Ouch! I noticed the other day that I had a red mark on my ankle, but I assumed it was a cut from shaving. So now my custom $630 skates are doing essentially the same thing as my SP-Teris (which weren't cheap, either). Grrr.

I relaced a couple of times tonight but nothing seemed to help, and when I took my skates off, I noticed a...um....reddish mark on my tights on that spot - yuck! The problem is I have an allergy to Vitamin E oils and lotions and such, and when I wore bunga pads a few times a couple of years ago, I developed a rash around my ankles where the pads were. I concluded that the gel material on the inside of the pads contained Vitamin E. When I was in my SP-Teris, I tried moleskin over tender spots, but it didn't stay stuck and one of the corners started dugging into my skin while I skated.

I have a comp this weekend, so I need to come up with a quick fix. One of the skating moms said her daughter has stuck moleskin to the inside of her skates at times, but I have lambswool lining on the tongue so I don't know if that would work. I'm thinking the only solution is to wear a bunga pad on that ankle and hope I don't break out in hives. As for a long-term solution, I'm kind of at a loss b/c I don't know if Klingbeil could even do anything, plus I'd have to go there in person (I assume) in order to show them exactly where the problem is. Has anyone else had this problem? I've been wearing the skates for 9 months w/o a problem until now.

__________________
Terri C is a Bronze lady!
Gold Moves, here I come!

I've had the same problem. In March, I had my Klingbeils (which were basically breaking down) rebuilt--and they did an exellent job. Before that, a club member gave me a couple of thick, circular sponge/makeup pads. I wedged one between the lambswool tongue and my ankle and it held up (for the WFSC club and CRC competitions, no doubt). I think it's a fairly common occurrence. My boot tongues had actually split at the sides (after the lambswool became matted) and were not just rubbing but cutting my ankles. Thank God Don gave me new rubber tongues (and restitched the whole lining of my boots, both at no cost).

__________________
Doubt whom you will, but never yourself.
"Do what you love, and you'll never have to work a day in your life."
-Haha, I've *arrived*! I am listed as a reference on Wikipedia.

Debbie

Klingbeil should be able to make the fix. Can you have someone take a digital picture of your foot and the red spot? Then your foot in the boot, unlaced but maybe with the tongue tucked into place. Perhaps you could be pointing to where the red spot is at, or use a photo editor to draw in an arrow to where the spot is at.

Then call and see if you can send them back. They should do the adjustment for free except for the shipment charges.

I've always chosen their sponge tongues so haven't had problems with the lambswool.

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American Waltz... Once, Twice, ???? ...

Q: How many coaches does it take to fix Jen's Dance Intro-3 Problems
A: 5 and counting...

Another note on the Halloween thing--I'm going to be traveling on business later this week, which will disrupt my son's lesson schedule. His coach called yesterday to say that with Halloween cancellations he now had extra time, so son decided he'd better have the makeup lesson while he could. The two of them had one of the two rinks at UD entirely to themselves. The medium freestyle session on the other rink had people; guess the older/higher you get the more likel you are to prioritize the skating.

Rob

+ GOE: Skating this morning was pretty good, on the whole. Husband and I got some useful work done on our edges, and then stepped through the Canasta and Fiesta Tangos and the 14-step. In my lesson, we worked on the dance moves - the cross-rolls are getting better, but the cross-cuts are still totally impossible - and on the linking back crossovers. And then we worked on the end pattern of the 14-step which was rather fun - no way did I do it well, but I do think I did it rather better than the coach expected!

- GOE: Back cross-cuts. I simply can't make the things work as they should - either my weight is too far forward (the usual problem) or my knees are too straight or I'm flat or, or, or.... I am tempted to give up in despair, but it feels so feeble when there are still a couple of months before the deadline. But if anybody has any hints on this impossible move, do say! Loudly! I just don't understand how I can have my body leaning backwards while placing my foot down on the ice in front of me, and my posture lurches forwards every single time.

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

Debbie S - if you are brave enough a quick cure for tongue rotating is to cut 2 up and down slits about 3/4 an inch apart in upper tongue at the level of middle hooks and then crisscross the laces through them. The only trick is that you have to do this carefully so the lace isn't twisted over your bare skin.
Lyle

I remember struggling with these for ages. I am desperately trying to think of what it was that made them click. I'm going to have a go at them at the rink tomorrow to see if I can remember how I got myself to do them. These are a weird move that everyone seems to struggle with. I've had to do them twice in tests now - for prelim field moves and level 3 dance moves. I recall 2 very strong skaters at our rink took a really long time to get them and it held them back from putting their test papers in for ages.

Debbie - Klingbeil does have a fix for tongues that shift, but if you cut holes in the tongue, they can't do it.

__________________

Yes, sorry I forgot to put that in!
Lyle

Thanks. Neither Husband, nor the other adult dancer who took level 3 dance moves, has ever done one since, and they can't remember how to do them!

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

Thanks for all the suggestions! That's a good idea about the digi photo. I'll call Klingbeil next week after HC. In the meantime, I think I will try the bunga pad (I saved them, in case my allergy got cured or something) and hope that I'll be OK. I did wear the sponge pads with my SP-Teris, after nothing else worked, but unfortunately, I used them all up by the time I got my Klingbeils (they tore easily) and threw them away.

Regarding the rubber/sponge vs. lambswool tongue issue....I chose lambswool b/c I thought it would end/remove the lace bite on the front of my ankles, which it pretty much has. Then, I was chatting with the younger Klingbeil (Don?) at Liberty this summer and he said that the rubber tongue is actually better for that...he was pointing to a tongue sample that had the spongy stuff on the outside (or was it lambswool?) and a darker, flatter rubber center. What have other Klingbeil wearers here found with tongue materials and lace bite?

__________________
Terri C is a Bronze lady!
Gold Moves, here I come!

+ goe forward perimeter power stroking went well, backwards are coming along, I'm getting the weight shift/swizzle thing better and both patterns are picking up speed.

+/- goe coach thinks I should set a goal for testing pre-juvie moves in February! Testing that soon means all lessons will have to be moves and hardly any fun freestyle.

- goe 3s -- I feel like no way will these ever be ready to test; however, last year at this time I swore I would not be able to pass prelim moves.

I've never had lace bite problems, but on both this pair and my previous pair of Klingbeils I had the grey sponge tongue with the other rubber thingy in the middle of the tongue. I guess it helps. Can't say as it's prevented lace bite but can't say it didn't (since I've never had lace bite).

__________________
American Waltz... Once, Twice, ???? ...

Q: How many coaches does it take to fix Jen's Dance Intro-3 Problems
A: 5 and counting...

My old Klingbeils didn't have rubber tongues initially and the edges wore down and became hard. When Don rebuilt them, he put in new tongues with an allover light grey rubber backing. No problems with them, no lace bite or rubbing.

My newer Klingbeils came with a black rubber pad centered on the leather tongue. The edges are thin leather. The tongue kept slipping and putting pressure on the nerve in the little channel next to my anklebone. Don added a hook that catches onto the skate itself near the laces and that solved the slippage problem. I've been tying my skates more tightly lately since I started working on jumps, and I've noticed a bit of rubbing at the front of my ankle after I skate.

Never tried lambswool, other than the little "heart breakers" that came with these skates. (Don included two 5" hearts made of lambwool for making the skates more comfortable during break-in.)

Try running a suede brush (pick it up where they sell shoe polishes in the supermarket) over the edges to shred some of the hard leather. You can cold-water wash the lambswool and fluff it up a bit, right?

__________________

Any chance you could upload a video of your back crossovers to YouTube? It's hard to know what the problem is without seeing it. But it sounds like basic body position is probably an issue, so here are some tips that I found really helpful:
1. Make sure the skating knee is deeply bent so you feel tension focused in the top of your hamstring.
2. Keep your chest pushed out forward, but pull your shoulders back by squeezing your shoulder blades together. This will help you keep your weight in the middle of the blade instead of on the toepick or the heel (although you want it more toward the heel than the toepick on back crossovers).
3. Hold your arms and shoulders at a 180-degree angle, straight out to the sides, but pull the leading shoulder (the one that faces the inside of the circle) WAY back so that your torso is twisted 90 degrees against your hips and your chest faces the inside of the circle.
4. Now lean your torso a little OUTSIDE of the circle to counter-balance the inward lean you're getting from the hips down.

I hope some of this turns out to be helpful!

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

Well, since it's always either the jumps or spins that seem to be "ON", I guess this week I'm glad my spins are worth more than my jumps, LOL!

+GOE
My spins (for a change!) Camel-sit-back scratch: Check! Flying camel-back sit or back upright: Check! Sit-scratch with arm variation: Check! I actually completed all three in my program today.

- GOE
My toe jumps! The flip and lutz have traditionally been my most solid jumps, but in my program run-through this morning, they were both wonky! My coach says I twisted my shoulders before leaving the ice instead of pulling straight back and up and then turning. How weird. This had better be a fluke and not a new habit!

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

I think Mrs Redboots means back crosscuts - not sure if they have a different name in America but they are done in a straight line going backwards with each foot crossing in front of you and setting down on an outside edge while progressing backwards the length of the rink. I actually quite like them but can't think how to explain doing them except perhaps to say that while you are fairly upright, you are bringing your feet sort of under you to cross in front. Keeping your head up is vital to stop leaning forward (at Bracknell I can look at the third row of seats on the upper level ) Perhaps I should try the level 3 dance moves - what else is in them since I can do the crosscuts! It would have to be easier than the interbronze field moves.

as for lessons
-GOE the ice since it wasn't cut.

everything that was good yesterday wasn't today

+GOE Flip and loop still there just about. Did mostly field moves type things today though and I really love doing the alternating waltz 3 turns - especially now I have finally learnt to really bend my knees so i get good speed and flow.

-GOE back threes that I thought i'd cracked yesterday disappeared again today.

+GOE Group dance lesson only had 3 of us in it so it was a good one. Re-learnt the Swing dance (still solo since we've no men) and I actually feel I have progressed on this. Have arranged a private lesson with the dance coach as I think she is a really good coach.

[QUOTE=BatikatII]I think Mrs Redboots means back crosscuts - not sure if they have a different name in America but they are done in a straight line going backwards with each foot crossing in front of you and setting down on an outside edge while progressing backwards the length of the rink. I actually quite like them but can't think how to explain doing them except perhaps to say that while you are fairly upright, you are bringing your feet sort of under you to cross in front. Keeping your head up is vital to stop leaning forward (at Bracknell I can look at the third row of seats on the upper level ) Perhaps I should try the level 3 dance moves - what else is in them since I can do the crosscuts! It would have to be easier than the interbronze field moves.

DOH! The language monster strikes again! Sorry about that!
So are your "back cross cuts" the same as what we call "back cross strokes" on the Juvenile/Adult Silver test? (On these, you cross behind on each stroke and push off onto a BO edge.) Or are they the exact backward equivalent of our forward cross strokes, where you cross in front and push onto an outside edge with each stroke, but traveling backwards instead of forwards?

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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

The back cross cuts would be the equivalent of the latter, while I imagine that your 'back cross strokes' would be the equivalent of our 'back cross rolls'! I get confused with the terminology myself and usually my coach has learnt not to tell me what he wants but to show me - it's much quicker than when he says for e.g. do some back cross rolls and I look blank and go 'der.....what?' until he shows me - but I think I am right on these ones!

[QUOTE=doubletoe]Annabel--if this is what you meant, I had the darnedest time with these, too, for the longest time and was quite quite scratchy on them. It helped to practice them with a little more speed and also to feel a bit more of a back outside edge on each stroke. Not nearly as curvy as semicircle, but also don't think about these as being totally straight. I think it also helped me to extend the free leg after it had left the ice and before I set it down in front of me.

I have two of these in my freestyle program (from RFO rocker to two of these thingies to two FO alternating 3s) so I've had to work on them loads.

__________________
Ask me about becoming a bone marrow donor.
http://www.marrow.org
http://www.nmdp.org

Hmm. . . Debbie, maybe she thought United Airlines was advertising??? (They have forever ruined Rhapsody in Blue for me. Sorry, Mr. Kulik. Sorry, Mr. Gershwin.)

+GOE
-Applause from coach for consecutive BI edges. She does not applaud often. Whee!! At least SOMETHING is going right!
-I may in fact be a clockwise spinner. In my lesson today we worked on spinning, and while CW wasn't easy by any means, it still felt a bit more natural than CCW. Thankfully, I'm not so far gone in my freestyle work (all the way up to the whopping waltz & half flip) that I'd be throwing jumps and spins away if I switched. So I'll play around with this for the next few weeks and see what fits best.

-GOE
Just inconsistent. . . with lots of stuff (BO edges especially). It just doesn't help that I can't make it to the rink very often--my schedule and the rink schedule just DO NOT mesh. Coach again emphasized that my skating woudl improve by leaps and bounds if I were at the rink more often--each time I go it's like relearning everything. . . And no other rinks in town! Only other option will be, in a few weeks, an outdoor rink, which will have more skating hours for me, but the ice is reportedly crummy a lot of the time. Still, I will probably go for it. Although, maybe I can convince the local roller rink to flood themselves, at least for the winter? : )
-I HATE WALTZ 8s!!! Somehow my transitions are just lousy so I come out with something looking more like a water balloon sitting on the ground, or something. I can do each element but going from one to the other is going poorly.