Congratulations!! I'm gonna get that cha cha cross behind by the end of this summer or die trying!

Worse collisions I have had have been when there's only two or three of us. It's like we were wearing magnets!

j

I'm trying to start at a low position. The way I was doing it was stepping into as deep a knee as possible, then getting into position and lowering myself as I go. Unfortunately, that is not going to be allowed anymore.
I've always had the issue that when I did start at a low position, my free leg would snap too quickly and I'd either have no spin at all or would be stuck at whatever position I was at.

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Adult Nationals, 2009 "The Time of My Life"

The sitspin is the reason I'm pretty sure I will be a permanent member of the pre-bronze for life club.

j

Yeah, me too! My coach sent me an email and told me she was hoping I was ready to "step it up a notch"...whatever that means I'm sure it means more!!! AND she asked about my sitspin (which doesn't exist)

Why can't they let us have the option of choosing a sit OR camel for the test??? (member of the club of wishful thinkers here) but my coach would MAKE me choose the sit so I'm sunk anyway

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

Sitspin...blecchhhh!!! I'm not going to say it is the reason I'm going to be a pre-bronzer forever but it is in the top 3. I think the number 1 reason is actually going to be the toe-loop. Why do you forsake me toe-loop why? That and the bronze moves, and the fact that I can't do a loop from the crossover entrance and I have no flip, or speed, or grace, or presence, or...I guess I should stop while I'm ahead. If they let you move up for want, I'd be there Good thing I have a job that pays the bills.

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Happily defying the laws of physics when I skate...and not in a good way

If I could meet ole Axel Paulsen, I would kick him in the teeth

President and Founding member of the I hate Toe-Loops Club

Still a member, but trying to get out of the Pre-bronze peanut gallery.

Visit my skating journal

Bent and twisted: double loops and double flips. Why can't I pull in all the way without yanking and throwing myself of my axis.

Nice and straight: Program run through. The program is 1 week old and I only two footed the double toe (the take off is correct), had a couple sloppy steps in the footwork (but I got through it without looking like I was stumbling), and put my foot down too early on the step between the (figure) loops in the opening transition. I did land the 2S, both Axels, Lutz, and flip in the program. I went back to the double toe and landed a beauty right after the program while tired. For this early with a new program, it's not in bad shape!

Oh man! I'll take the sit spin over the camel any day even with my sink spins. The camel totally freaks me out, can't do 'em. But I also hate spirals.

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Revised Official 2010 Goals checklist
Skate __
New boots __
(lowering the bar for 2010 as I haven't skated in a year)

Ditto! STILL HATE Camels!!! (Though... not that much now!!!)

Keep at it, you guys that are sit spin challenged. I don't have a great one either, but I was a LOT worse off when I first learned this spin. I did eventually *get it* and it's now one of my better spins.

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Cheers,
jazzpants

11-04-2006: Shredded "Pre-Bronze FS for Life" Club Membership card!!!
Silver Moves is the next "Mission Impossible"
(Dare I try for Championship Adult Gold someday???)

Thank you for the support, you guys!!!

I like the camel. Something about almost nose-diving at the ice and hooking yourself in place with the toepick as if it's a harpoon appeals to me.

Bent and Twisted: whenever I'm the lowest level skater on the ice I feel like a big klutz. Today I felt like a big klutz. Did not even try to flip.

Nice and straight: Gotta take the pre-bronze tests in July so focused on moves, toe loop and waltz jump. Figured out why my LFI 3s always seem so awkward and fixed them (focused on shoulder blades!). May be making more out of the prebronze test than I need to! Forcing myself to do the clockwise crossovers the right way and feel more confident with those. I NEVER practice those.

I can't believe I was once thinking of taking four tests in one day!

__________________
Revised Official 2010 Goals checklist
Skate __
New boots __
(lowering the bar for 2010 as I haven't skated in a year)

Nice and Straight:
Felt immediately at home on the ice when I stepped on before my lesson on Fri. DH said it was because the ice was great, which it was, but I rarely feel so comfy so fast. I went right into F power XO's for warm up.

Had my coach check my crossovers, F & B in my lesson. I teach these, and am particularly concerned that my posture be good, with good upper body stretch and strength. I got the OK on them, with just a word about pushing through more completely on the F CW underpushes. I know I demo these well when I teach them, because I do them in slo-mo for demo.

Showed off my new LBO three to coach's congratulations! Worked a lot on FO threes on the circle. Doing them on a shallower edge and holding the edge for a greater time before the turn is a challenge for me. They are definitely getting better. Did the same with FI threes, also getting better.

Bent and Twisted:
I am going to have to teach the Waltz-8 very soon . I have had consistent FO threes for this move exactly twice in my skating career. Once right before I broke my wrist and had to put off testing Pre-pre moves, and the second time for two weeks before (finally) testing Pre-pre moves. I scraped every three on the test, but otherwise did a good pattern and passed. I've avoided this move ever since, and now I am sorry. I have perfect confidence in being able to teach moves I cannot do, but will my students have confidence in me?

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Been on the same ice with our then silver medaillist of the nationals senior ladies... Pretty much felt that way too till I realized that for ME, all had to be about ME, not about what they could do.

Nice and Straight: Did a teeny-tiny, itsy-bitsy, salchow-esque jump with my coach's husband (or should I call him coach #2 in Team Emberchyld? It looks like she wants to keep him working with me on any jumps, so I work with her 1/2 the time on spins and MITF and presentation, etc, and him the other half the the class on jumps.) Now I know what a RIGHT jump feels like and what happens when I do it wrong (THUNK!)

Today was a really good day for internalizing my coach's corrections during LTS and then privates:
Actually managed 2.5 revs on my backspin in my not as easy--CCW-- spin direction (funny, because I can only get one rev in the CW). Got a good correction on how to use my right and left arms that make my spin now only reliant on me remembering to pull up in my right hip and keeping my abs tight!
Managed to consistently toeloop in my waltz-toeloop combo jumps

Bent and twisted: Still that stupid entry into a scratch spin from crossovers. Blech.

My RO3 has gone away, messing completely with my waltz 8. Methinks it's back to remedial 3 turns in my practices from now on if I want to even think of passing moves

Especially since:
My coach wants me to test PB in mid July... we're going to evaluate my moves next sunday and see if I'm solid enough, but it feels like it's soooooooo fast! I'm not scared, per se, but I like to have warning. Then again, I'm one of those people who manages to pull off great things if I don't have a lot of time to prepare, so hopefully that translates to skating as well!

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When asked what his "secret" to success was, Wayne Gretsky said: "Skate to where the puck is going and not to where it has been."
Is the figure skating version of this: Skate as if you're doing an axel and not just learning how to hop?

Nice and Straight - got through the swing very well - even the mohawk...I can actually do that sort of while gliding. I need to have my coach review the timing with me again but I think I will soon be ready to do it to music.

Bent and Twisted - Had my freestyle 1 LTS class today. There's only two of us- a boy who is working on freestyle 5 but we both had back outside 3 turns to work on. I remember what if felt like to do those but I guess my body forgot and had to start over with backward two foot turns.

The whole class was very frustrating...worked on holding my edge and doing a better 3 turn for my half flip- which I didn't do very well. Then the backward 3 turns...and I just don't seem to be getting the entry for a scratch spin. I keep rushing it and trying to force it before snap. I did get better at keeping my body alighned for the entry edge and I understand in my head at least that I need to bend my knees even more as I begin the spin before coming up but my body was not cooperating.

Learning something new is very difficult for me because I'm so slow at getting it and it's really no fun practicing something when the progess can only be measured in micro-milimeters!

j

Nice and Straight:
Umm well at least axels and double salchows are still pretty ok...
Landed a gazillion underrotated and slightly better suspects double loops in a row and not in a row... (but none in front of coach I better do some in lessson.....)
Landed a couple no idea how rotated they are double flips.... might be as bad as a full rotation under lol.... I don't know why but I can't really tell how much i'm rotating in the air...

Bent and Twisted:
And the double toe loop goes down the tracks again for the roller coaster ride... a couple suspects a few unders and nothing really nice

So well I was reallly excited to be trying double toe again after last week but sigh... and yeah I didn't really work on spins, so I'll have to do spins on tuesday instead...

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~
Tidesong

Nice and straight:

• Some of my loops.
• Most of my flips
• Maybe ONE camel???
• Almost all sit spins and some of back sit attempts.
• Footwork

Bend and Twisted:

• Most of my camels!!!
• Some of my loops... don't even dare to try loop-loop today.
• Lutz attempts (then again, I don't expect to get it either.... Just want to see if I could get it.

__________________
Cheers,
jazzpants

11-04-2006: Shredded "Pre-Bronze FS for Life" Club Membership card!!!
Silver Moves is the next "Mission Impossible"
(Dare I try for Championship Adult Gold someday???)

Thank you for the support, you guys!!!

Magnetic attraction!

Hmmm I'll bet it is, every object attracts other objects, after all.

Oh remember I was whining about the storm? Well it did give us a nice little goodbye present in the form of a BEAUTIFUL sunset, if anybody's interested, click here, here, here, here and here.

As for me, I'm going skating tomorrow! Ok, 19 euro's for 1,5 hours of just training (no coaching) and I won't be jumping with that ankle but hey I'm happy as a bunny anyway.