I put my coach into the boards. That's true, there isn't anywhere. I have to remember to hold the LFO for the 3 beats (sometimes it's only 2), and really be leaning into the circle. That gives him enough room to get around on the mohawk and in front of me before I step to the RFI chasse, and to make sure I hold that for 3 beats also. If I do the LFO 2 beats, I don't lean enough and then head into the boards, and that leaves him no room especially if the timing is off on the mohawk. The Willow is probably the closest dance to hockey that I can think of because of it's potential for bodychecking into the boards.

The same thing happens on the LFO after the second set of progressive/chasse. I have to remember to step to the LFO and head towards the centre of the rink, otherwise he can't get his three turn done. Good things we're friends off the ice because I test his patience. A lot!


Oh, I'm not testing this dance, probably not until the fall if ever because it's one of the ones that the judges get picky about, and I need to work on those two areas,the two LFO's as described above as well as my mohawk. It's supposed to be a 3 +3, and I'm doing a 2 + 2+wild armswinging balance thing.

the way you "quote" someone is, at the end of their message there is a button that says "quote". click on this, and then their message will pop up in the "reply to thread" box. so you delete whichever part you DONT want to quote. also make sure you leave the (QUOTE= person) and the (/QUOTE),(these are in these [] by the way) and not delete these as well!

hope this helps!

as for the smilies, you merely click on them, but you may have clicked on the "disable smilies in text"at the bottom of the reply box.

~kittie

thanx for the tips!

Hello everyone,

Cracked:
All in all this has been a pretty good week. One sore spot, literally, is that I've been feeling achy and sore in the lower back and left hip-flexor. It's not blinding, searing pain. It's just a dull ache in both areas. I've been careful to be thorough when I stretch and to just approach each session with care and warm up slowly and that's been helping. I had my moves lesson Tuesday and my moves coach told me, "You're the skater with the loudest, scrapiest turns I've ever taught." I had to agree. He told me that I should focus more on feeling the edges, sinking into the knees and really knowing the sensation of creating and changing curves. I've been thinking about what he said all week and I think it's beem making a difference in how I skate. Within my program, I have a tendency to rush about in a panic. I had a lesson today with a guest coach as my regular coach was tied up with our on-going Basic Skills competition today. She emphasized that it's important to get my feet underneath me during my program. She even suggested that I do some run-throughs of my program with no spins and no jumps just to make sure I get every step down exactly right. I'm looking forward to trying that next week.

Chocolate:
My coach and I have made some minor changes to my spins in my program. I feel much more comfortable with the way things are now. In addition, I was very happy to see that my spins showed some improvement as the week progressed. Every day, in isolation and within the program each spin seemed to get a little better and today I'd say I had the best spins in my run-through that I've had so far. (Yay!) I don't think they're quite at the level I would like to see them but it's a step in the right direction. The jumps also got stronger throughout the week as well. Now I just hope all this good stuff sticks around. Does anybody know the appropriate prayer to the Skating Gods for retention of elements?

Take care,

Frank

Chocolate:

• Primary coach continued going over FI mohawks with me. He thinks he finally got it better today. Well, we'll see if it last, won't we???
• There were some parts of my 5 step mohawks that he liked. The weird thing is the parts that I thought I did crappy is where he pointed out I did REALLY well in. Okaaaay... I'm not gonna argue!
• Primary coach loved the alt. forward crossovers...well, at least the second time around...after I was totally PO for getting cut off by a bunch of high school kids!!! He liked the nice smooth flow and speed. This is one case where getting me PO'ed will actually make me skate better.
• He is still working on my power 3's. It's becoming more "a work in progress" now rather than a hopeless case, so I'm happier. (Note: happier...still not happy!)

Cracked:

• Alt back crossovers is now the bigger pain in the tush!
• Back crossovers to BO edge... well, if those pesky teenager who got me on the alt. forward crossovers also got me here. Can you say "two minute penalty???" (Okay, maybe not that bad. Just that they were all over the place, they were loud and they didn't know what they were doing...)

__________________
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!!!

Chocolate:

• Got plenty of compliments on my skating. Then again, those purple boots seems to give people the impression that I'm a much better skater, even though they really haven't seen me skate much...

Cracked:

• TWO MINUTE PENALTY (well almost...) when I was doing forward cross steps. That kid was racing forward and did NOT see me in front of him!!!
• Rink too crowded to do ANY of the moves entirely. I had to do them in parts and sometimes I have to slow down or else risk crashing into some hockey kid!!!
• After my secondary coach picked out my artistic piece, I found another piece of music I heard on the radio that I wanted to skate to. It's okay though... my secondary coach would still rather have me do something a bit more ethereal and ballerina-ish this year as a start and then go "edgier" once I get more speed/power in me. (Maybe daisies would be a better candidate for this piece... it's "What Happens Tomorrow" by Duran Duran.)

__________________
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!!!

Oh, dear, I'm glad I don't have that coach as he would have left the ice in disgust. Really.

NOOO!!! How will I have a chance at nationals if your spins are getting better?!

Say a prayer to St. Lydwina, the patron saint of ice skating.

__________________
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.

(Watch one Luddite being dragged kicking and screaming into the 20th - oops, 21st - century)

Well, let's see if this worked...I have checked that the "disable smilies" button is *not* ticked.

Hooray! It worked!! Thank you!!!

i landed a few axels today! it's at that point where the jump is either a made-it or a fall. we just recently had a seminar with this russian coach from australia (go figure..) and i landed a clean one during today's two hour session. guess the new perspective along with the obssessive practicing i've been doing on this jump has helped.

then later, just before my lesson i landed a few more clean ones. during my lesson i completely forgot how to jump (panicking cos...well...my coach brings out the panic in me like no other..) but managed to sorta get my act together and landed a few more. these were shaky though.

so chocolate: those precious axels and the seminar (it was awesome...can't wait to go for the next seminar-ish thing that comes along)

and cracked: some bad falls, getting cramps in my toes towards the end of my lesson and just a general achy feeling in my body...hmm couldn't be the 3 hours of straight skating under a coach yesterday and the two and a half hours today, could it?

Was the coach male, named Slav? If so, he's a lot of fun (he's from Sydney) . I'm not aware of too many male Russian coaches down here, but I do know there are some female Russian coaches at other rinks around, including Galina Something who coaches our Worlds ladies skater (sorry I don't know her surname).

well im glad!

if i may say so ive been called a very good teacher, even in stuff i dont understand my self! go figure

but i wanted to ask you what IS a "Luddite"?

~a very confused kittie

choclate: no school till wednesday so i can skate tommorow!

cracked: my little sis is sick, and i cant skate today cuz htey are not open
no one to have fun with!!!!!

~kittie

if eveyone could please pray for my sisters health and hope she doesnt have some really bad virus!

thank you!

Yup its Slav... I chose to skip the seminar but I saw the announcement about it.

Congrats on landing your axel falling rain! I'm excited for you

__________________
~
Tidesong

Cracked:
I had out of town guests all week, and so only skated when I had obligations to, which meant Monday and Wednesday. Still struggling with Prelim power threes. Coach wants me to rotate shoulders on the B crossover, but when I do, it makes the step forward impossible. I watched other skaters in their lessons on power threes, and did not see such a sharp distinction in the rotation. In my lesson on Wed, I discussed it with coach, and she said that as long as the shoulder/arm movements were smooth and continuous, it was OK. That worked fine on the L, but the R were still too "bumpy".

Chocolate:

Had a big surprise on Wed, when I did a LFI Mohawk almost without thinking. Smooth as a knife through butter and much better than my "always better" RFI's. Jazzpants - there is hope for us!

In last week's lesson, coach wanted me to place my transitions between circles on F and B Prelim crossover patterns more precisely. They were better this week.

I guess if that's all my coach has to complain about with my F and B crossovers, then they are pretty good (at least at the Prelim level). I do still get the occasional "head up" on them.

FO threes are sooo close to being properly checked, and are getting smoother.

__________________

Hey Steve,

If my moves coach can tolerate me I'm sure you'd be fine with him. I couldn't help but poke fun at his frustration at times. We were working the left back double 3's from the gold test and I almost caught an edge on one and he immediately gave me one of these . To which I responded "You're really pissed off at me right now aren't you?" He didn't answer the question but I think the answer was a most definite "YES!" Mind you this coach has also said to me "Ok. You're an adult so I can say this to you. Get off your f----ing toe-picks!" lol

As for my spins improving, you have to understand that comparative statements about things getting better must be considered with the appropriate point of comparison. My flying camels a few weeks ago were not spinning at all on impact but just kind of sticking and then I had to put forth Herculean effort to just make it spin let alone stretch out in the camel position. The camel-sit was more of an amoeba-slouch and the final scratch spin was travelling so badly that I was tempted to just call them twizzles. Things are better now but based on what I just told you I think it's pretty clear that they couldn't have gotten much worse. I think you'll be just fine.

Thanks for telling me about Saint Lydwina! I'll begin building a shrine immediately.

Take care,

Frank

Haha. Well, my ex-pairs coach told me I should just give up on singles because my basic skating and transitions are so bad. <sigh>

Thanks for the clarification. My spins have gotten better as of today. My flying camel is becoming less of a flying salchow and I can get maybe 3 good revs from the landing. I'm sure by Tuesday, it will have disappeared again.

Make sure the shrine is huge--she's quite busy this time of year!

__________________
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.

I'm not going to AN, but am working on Bronze tests for Dallas next year!
Shall I start a novena for KC???

__________________
Adult Nationals, 2009 "The Time of My Life"

Cracked:
Loops and I skated in a deserted noon freestyle. Early on, our spins--pairs and side by side--were freakishly good. Then we decided to do a program runthrough.
It was by far the worst runthrough we've had. But in our defense, we had good speed and the split twist had good vertical displacement and hang time. Luckily, I was just able to catch Loops. There could have been a serious "ouchie" on that attempt!
Practically everything in the program felt out of whack. Don't know why that was. (Maybe my Catholic sensibilities were punishing me for skating on Easter! )

Chocolate:
Made some progress on the pair sit in the public session following the freestyle and fixed some pesky transitions. Also, Loops helped me to return to working on the flying sit. It was by far unsuccessful, but it was fun to revisit that element after a 2-year hiatus.

After Loops left, I pulled out all the stops and skated for another hour. I felt like I was on crack. I worked on silver moves (for old times' sake!) and played some "skating" music, which I used to work on impromptu choreography and interpretation. It was good to have skating feel like fun again. The mood was spoiled, in part, when a skate guard came up to me and said, "You know, your forward crossovers are looking a little scratchy." I then did what I do in my singles program: I proceeded to only skate backward!

__________________
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.

YES ... Get your 'votive' on!

__________________
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.

HEY NOVA,
Frank and I have the same moves coach...I have heard that your an adult so I can say this...followed by the f word...several times...but he is the bomb...if he got me to pass gold moves , then he's woth the trip....novice 3 turns and brackets werre my nightmare...only to be revisited in standard track to get ready to test pairs...

We had no chocolate today...we skated an hour and 1/2 freestyle that ended up being really an hour so after my singles lesson we had time fo like 2 death spirals and a few spins and then the public session mad house hit...don't these people have church?

No, REALLY, I am incredibly bad at moves. Really. Ask Loops. And what was your story today, Loops, about that choreographer saying "Finally, you recognize what an INSIDE edge is!!!
My coach deserves a silver star for working with me on gold moves--many months ago. And back brackets? The only bracket I'm interested in is my tax bracket!

As much as I would love to pass gold moves, I'm realistic in accepting that that is probably never going to happen. I'm not exactly the most graceful person on the ice. And precision in moves? HA!

I'm content to be in silver--as long as I get to spin to my heart's content. The mere thought of competing in gold level is scary. Pardon me while I get a drink. Oh, wait, I don't drink.

__________________
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.

Chocolate:I could go to skate 5 times this week, I usually only go 2 or 3 times per week.
I'm very happy because I have become more consistent with the lutz loop toe and flip loop toe.
The camel is also going better.
Cracked: I have a lot of problems with my left back croos overs, as I don't use them to enter spinsor do the lutz I don't practice them as much and they have deteriorated.
I'm not very happy with my spins positions , I can do the spis but the positions are not very good.
Happy easter to everyone

kitty067 - from the Oxford English dictionary your word of the day (now take it to work and impress your friends):

Luddite (noun) : (1) a member of any of the bands of English workers who opposed mechanization and destroyed machinery in the early 19th century. (2) a person opposed to industrialization or new technology.

(No, I'm not a walking dictionary - my interactions with technology have meant that this was *one* word I have to know!!! )

Wow... you're soooo lucky! All the ice rinks where I am (we have about a dozen) are closed on Easter.

HAHA...funny thread name!

Chocolate:
Am back skating again, even if it is only on public sessions. Thank goodness for Arenamaps. com.

Cracked: the traveling for the job doesn't permit me to get anything formal going (yet) in terms of lessons, but hopefully that will change in a few months.

thanks tidesong! i'm so excited too lol. my coach actually said 'good' for the first time in forever...the last time he said that was...hmm...can't remember!

and aussieskater, yeah, slav was tons of fun. all of us loved the seminar and can't wait for another chance to meet him again.