About time we started a new thread at the beginning of a new month! Pollen being the baddie as it makes so many of us sniffly with hay fever!

I don't normally participate much in these, as I tend to blog my skating, but:

Blossom: Our free dance is very nearly ready for competition.

Pollen: Our couples' spin is a a bit broken....

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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!

Thanks for the new thread, Mrs. R.

Blossom: New Skates!!! They fit well and I can sort of maneuver on them. Managed a few simple forward spins and turns, didn't have the time or the courage to really push myself.

Pollen: Skates are a little stiff in the soles. I guess I've become dependent on the cushy padding of my old skates. I can feel how different the support is on these, which isn't a bad thing.

Didn't even ATTEMPT a jump - it wasn't on my lesson plan for students anyway since they're testing this summer. Have to focus on moves.

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Blossom: Programs are coming together - at least now I remember all the steps! Canasta is at the point where I can think about expression WHILE I'm doing the steps. Rhythm Blues is 90% there; I still have some issues with timing on the down-up step. But I like it more than the Canasta and the Dutch put together.

Pollen: Rink management screwed up the schedule again. A month ago the director handed the club coaches a schedule and swore that it went into effect the first week of May. Coaches scheduled lessons, mine got switched from Thursday to Monday. We showed up on Monday and found that, unbeknowst to the rink manager, HQ had sold the ice to a private hockey coach for the month of May. Hockey coach wasn't there, and as far as the manager knows, has no plans to use that ice - or of paying for it. So we got to skate. But meantime rink's skating director has told all of her people (omitting the club coaches) that the Monday ice doesn't start until Memorial Day (who starts ice on a holiday?) so no one other than club people have planned on that ice. If the hockey coah doesn't use the ice and refuses to pay for it, the rink will probably offer it to some other hockey group (if they can find one) rather than have it "underutilized" by the figure skaters that were promised it.

We don't know what will happen next week. I may not have lesson time, since my coach is already booked on all the remaining available ice time.

This crap never happened before the management company took over.

Plus they've raised walk-on rate again so that it now costs more per minute to skate on their 40 minute sessions than it does to skate on the club's 55 minute ones.

Been awhile since I've posted:

Blossom: Pancake spin, broken leg spin, camel spin entrance, and scratch are become more and more refined! Back spin is much more consistent. Waltz, salchow - have a lot more height and distance on the ice. Loop, loop, loop! I'm putting that into my program, I never see anyone do that combo. Also now have a combination spin! Camel into a broken leg! Woot! Got my Mohawks down with speed as well! Working with my moves coach has been SOO beneficial. Even my cross overs look great!

Pollen: Flip and lutz. Why can't I get these dumb jumps and stay consistent! Oh, I know why, because I am an edge jumper!

You can't do a loop loop loop in your FS program. Well, you can, but you won't get credit for it. You can only repeat a jump once in your program and it has to be in combination. Hence why you've never seen anyone do it. (Even a loop-loop uses up both of your loops. A lot of people prefer to split their loops up and do one on its own and one in combo, or as part of two different combos.)

You can do it in interp since there are no rules on jumps (other than no axel or above).

2 yrs ago at ANs a girl in one of the open masters events did a sweeeet double loop-double loop-double loop and got 0 credit for it.

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2010-2011 goals:
Pass Junior MIF test
Don't break anything

Pollen Had the ice show this weekend so only one day of practice last week. It showed when I went to practice today. Spins are all a little off. Lost the inches I'd gained in my sit spin. Camel only had 2 revs instead of the 3-4 I'd been getting. Loop jump was a bit off too. Started working on Silver Moves 2 weeks ago. Back 3 turns and outside mohawks. The arms get all messed up and I do a lot of grinding to a halt on the back 3's. But today....

Blossom I felt like I made some progress on the mohawks. Practiced the 1st 4 counts. The right mohawk is much improved and the left one is getting better. Had an empty rink in the a.m. so I practiced the back 3 turns on 2 feet to get more comfortable with them. Now I can all of them except 1 to get through the turn before stopping. The LBO 3 I can get an actual 3 turn. It's small, but I can do it. Yay!

I was somewhat distracted, because DD was in the jump harness the last 20 mins. of the session with jump coach. She has been working on the axel for over a year now. She does great in the harness...high and beautiful...the coach is barely holding the rope. When she gets out...not so good. Tonight, the coach had her in and out of the harness. Out of the harness, she would land them and then immediately fall. Her main coach, her dance coach, & I were all watching the last few minutes holding our breath. She didn't land any, but all 3 coaches were very excited for her. If you have a spare minute to send up some good positive axel vibes for my DD, I'd appreciate it. She is picking up an extra lesson with jump coach today.

Blossom: I can do brackets and three turns on my new skates. It's easier to find the turn spot on the back of the blade now. Managed two or three simple forward spins.

Managed a few waltz jumps. Toe loop entry (didn't jump) felt fine.

Pollen: backspins are awful. Back crossovers are fine, but I can't stop when I'm going backwards without using my toepicks or the wall. Scary!

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Managed to get in a short practice after I finished teaching this evening. It's just like old times, changing skates after each session, lol. (Old to new)

Old skates are in bad shape - something's wacky with the blades I had mounted. It's probably just that they were badly sharpened ages ago and I'm not used to them, but I'm going to check for straightness. They're really just for backup purposes, but I'll try to keep them usable, just in case.

New skates are good - I'm getting a rub spot at the top edges, but since the boot's cut lower, it's no big deal. My pinkie toes are rubbing a bit, but I might not have tied the skates well.

Blossom: Did two backspins that weren't too bad. Forward spins were dead on - centered and controlled. Even managed a scratch spin.

Pollen: Did a two-footed landing on a loop, but the entrance and takeoff was great! Tried a few toe loops, but chickened out. Have to work on back brackets; it's been so long since I was able to do them, I think I've forgotten how.

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My FS skates are still being fixed, but I managed to pick up a session last night and worked on dance/moves in my old skates (which are now pretty much just my dance skates).

Blossom:
Re-acquainted myself with the Quickstep. My pattern is so off and oddly shaped it's not even funny, mainly because of the end pattern. Choctaw got much better by the end of the session.

Worked a bit on moves, trying to get over the fear of the rocker-power pull pattern I seem to have developed. Just worked on the turns in isolation down the blue line. Normal rocker pattern wasn't bad. These moves are so much easier in my old skates Hopefully once I get the new skates back, they'll be better.

Pollen:

Now that my feet are used to new boots with arch support and a slightly higher heel, they really start to hurt in my old skates after about 20 minutes. Need to look into innersole solutions to get these skates by until I can buy some new dance skates/blades.

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2010-2011 goals:
Pass Junior MIF test
Don't break anything

I've been doing nothing but eating, breathing, living Junior moves for the past 2 weeks trying to get them ready to test yet again on May 15th. Power pulls are MUCH better, but today Operation: Outside Rockers begins. I will still work on the other stuff, but the focus moves from drilling the weak side power pulls to the outside rockers.

I need to pass this test because 1) I've spent a lot of money the last few months trying to get this test passed. 2) I really don't want to have to do the new patterns for Junior. 3) It's the day after my birthday and that would be a horrible birthday present.

What sucks is that the building that I am currently living in is having the water shut off on Monday, May 17th, which means that I am getting moved either the 14th, 15th, or 16th...stress that I do not need right now...we just found out this morning the day we were moving. Ugh. But! Only positive thinking!! If I get my butt in gear, I can be done packing by next week Wednesday and then I don't have to worry about it.

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Skating Dreams

"All your life you are told the things you cannot do. All your life they will say you're not good enough or strong enough or talented enough; they will say you're the wrong height or the wrong weight or the wrong type to play this or be this or achieve this. THEY WILL TELL YOU NO, a thousand times no, until all the no's become meaningless. All your life they will tell you no, quite firmly and very quickly. AND YOU WILL TELL THEM YES." --Nike

Blossom: Most stuff is going really well these days. MITF - my coach really liked my back edges this week. Proclaimed them better than the forward ones - go figure. Largely because I tend to toepush on the forward inside ones.

Good jump and spin week. Lutz is back for now, and I even had a few close encounters with the axel. I land on one foot pretty routinely, but very underrotated most of the time. I did manage one that was rotated, on one foot, and then splat. The off-ice torture is definitely helping here. Not sure what I am going to do about that for the summer...all of the classes are during my work hours, and I'm just not disciplined enough to work out regularly or effectively on my own.

Pollen: Got majorly busted for toepushing on the forward crossovers in the pre-pre stroking. And had to practice them clockwise in my lesson. Ick.

Well that's just plain stupid in my opinion. If adults can do a triple combination, why not allow them?

It's called a three-jump combination, not a triple combination. Unless, I guess, if you're doing only triple jumps, hmmm....

The two-use/same jump is referred to as the "Zayak rule."

From Frogsonice:

Zayak wasn't the only skater to tack on an extra triple toe loop whenever possible, but the name stuck.

http://www.frogsonice.com/skateweb/faq/rules.shtml

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This reminds me of when I was a kid in junior club and would keep doing loop after loop, went to school and told everyone I did triple loops, because that's what I thought a triple was. I thought I was so cool.

We repeated jumps like crazy when I was younger. I remember competing pre-pre/prelim and pretty much only doing flips and lutzes, and I tacked a loop onto the end of just about every jump to make it a combo. I don't ever remember doing toe loops or salcows in my competition programs.

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2010-2011 goals:
Pass Junior MIF test
Don't break anything

3-jump combinations are allowed; you just aren't allowed to do the same jump more than twice in any program (it gets too repetitive and doesn't show that you can do the other jumps). Why not work on a flip-loop-loop or lutz-loop-loop? Either of those 3-jump combinations would be allowed in competition and would be considered more impressive than a loop-loop-loop.

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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

Wore my new skates with the lambswool pads to cushion the upper edges.
Worked fine - soles still feel really stiff; I think it's the insole padding. My old skates were really cushioned.

Blossom: I have my fan kick/back double three, on one foot at least. Twizzles on the right foot were decent; chickened out on the left. Spirals were nice - these boots are lighter than my old ones.

Pollen: Back spins are wobbly, but I think some back edge work (also wobbly) will help resolve some of that problem. Inside threes on the left are strange - I have to set them up just right before I attempt them.

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Pollen - family all got sick with contagious stomach-awfuls, had to take care of them over the weekend, didn't get to skate. Also didn't get to shop for replacement wrist guards.

Lesson today was mixed - I didn't feel secure without that second guard and was nervous, also feeling a bit tired and under prepped.

Blossom - spins are still improving, also worked on loops. I was very cautious without that left wrist guard, but I did a few and got the corrections so I can work on them in practice - and hey, I did land them even if they were wimpy!

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It's all about the dress!

aka it's not a well balanced program!

Good call! I will work on that for sure!

Blossom:

Had my first lesson ever on the Quickstep today!!!! (I taught myself steps to all the dances years ago but have never had a lesson on anything above the pre-golds since that's what I'm working on test-wise). We actually made a TON of progress just in the 20 minutes we spent on it. Still needs a lot of work, but it's a solid start.

Also first lesson on the Blues in at least a year and a half, if not closer to 2 years. Went well, just have to dust the rust off, although overall the dance has gotten stronger by not working on it much. Especially the choctaw.

It was so fun/refreshing to be working on newer dances again (and not going back and doing ones I passed and was competing).

Looks like I'm doing gold solo next year, my coach is all for it. We're still sticking with the original plan of seeing how summer/fall go, though.

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2010-2011 goals:
Pass Junior MIF test
Don't break anything

I thought the Zayak rule only applied to triple jumps- so how would it affect single jumps? (The USFS rulebook does say "jumps can only be repeated once" in the adult section, but I don't think it's really the same rule) (ETA: The rulebook also says "A double Axel cannot be included more than three times in total during a singles free
skate." so I think the Zayak rule does only apply to triples, if they added a clause for double axels.)

(For example: I thought that senior skater could do say 2 triple toe loops, but then tack a double toe onto a combo, because it's not the same as the triple toe.)

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

True, the rule that restricts adult skaters from not repeating a specific jump (single or double) more than once (and must be in combo) is not the Zayak rule - it went into effect when IJS was adopted. It effects all the standard track levels, too, even the lower levels. I think the idea was to infuse IJS principles into the WBP to get people in that mindset when they do start competing under IJS. I think it's a good rule - I remember seeing adult skaters do every combo with a loop or loop-loop tacked on to the end. It gets tedious - this forces skaters to do all of the jumps and vary their combos.

There is a proposal for the upcoming ISU Council to limit skaters to 2 double axels in a program.

Yes, as long as there are not more than 2 double toes in the program, the computer will count it. From the Olys results, I believe jumps of different revs are counted separately - I'm pretty sure some male skaters (Takahashi? Plushenko?) did 4toe and then 2 3toes at some point in the program. I think as long as the jump is coded differently in the computer, it counts as a different jump.

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

Blossoms: Had an hour worth of lessons this week and really worked hard. My coach had me do several flip and lutz exercises and what do you know these jumps improved dramatically! After nearly 6 weeks of screwing up the flip it was great to finally land two good ones. I’m getting some height on the lutz, though they’re not clean and still two-footed. Practiced Bronze moves and I must confess I much prefer these to the PB moves. I love the feeling of moving fast across the ice (with the pointed exception of the right-side power threes, I’m still too timid on the push to the outside three from back x-overs). Really got serious about the Figure 8 and I certainly understand why people who did figures were better skaters (I did these a child but I don’t think much is carrying over into adulthood.). The control of the entire body and the nuances of positioning the blade in a precise pattern really makes you aware of your movement. Still, I can’t see myself perfecting this for quite some time. Had a fun time at a local competition—met some awesome fellow adult skaters (yes, it’s true adults are so much nicer). I won my event, though it was hardly a mistake-free skate.

Pollen: A-choo! I’m frustrated by my inconsistent sit-spin—some days I can do a semi-decent one and other days it disappears completely. I really want to get this because I enjoy doing it, but also because I can’t even enter a PB event without it (or so it seems). I feel like it is taking me forever to move myself up to the advanced beginner / Bronze stage. Part of my frustration stems from a feeling of doom as I grow older (early 40s) and that my window of opportunity to learn is narrow. I feel that I have to work five times as hard as the younger folk to do even half as well. No wonder adult learners have problems with confidence.

Blossom: went up to Skate Club of Wilmington for a sharpening. Then skated for almost 2 sessions (almost because I missed the first of one and left before the 2nd was over).

LANDED MY FLIP ON ONE FOOT!!!! Of course, could NOT duplicate, but I'm happy!

Ran through some of my moves: waltz-8, 3-turn pattern (ugh) and stroking. Did some crossovers which felt weird on sharp blades (haha no skidding). But the 3-turn pattern felt so much better.

Pollen: fell on one flip-right onto my knee, which is NOT padded. It's ok, just unsettled me. I'm still tentative going CW on crossovers AND going on the left-side of the 3-turn pattern. Almost wobbled, but it was ok other than that.

It was very nice being able to skate on uncluttered ice! With adults! Yay! Not sure if I'm going skating at my club in the morning, depends on how I feel. I'm trying to cram more skating in over the next few weeks, maybe daily if I can since I test on June 6th.

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

HOORAY for the flip, S@D!!! YAAAAAY!!!

Pollen: Physically feeling drained this week.

Blossom: So my secondary coach "wants to do cardio" again and wants to race around the rink AGAIN!!! I really wasn't feeling well this week... but well enough to skate... and I basically said "Do I REALLY have a choice here?" She said "Mmmmm... NO! "

So off I go. Went two laps and I beat her!!! She was . Then she said "Either I'm really out of shape, or <Jazzpants> here was REALLY going faster here!!! What did you DO this time?" My answer was "Ummmm...I did that homework assignment you gave me two weeks ago? " She did NOT get eyewitnesses on this, so unfortunately for me she has to find someone to watch us do the two laps AGAIN!!!

Blossom: And yes, I beat her again!!! The eyewitness (a fellow skater) told her that "Yup! She was faster that last time and it's NOT her imagination!!!" The eyewitness also told her that she has noticed that I have been progressively FASTER the last few months actually!!!

Pollen: Of course, as I have learned from work, the "reward" for good work is MORE WORK!!! In this case, it was back crossover drills. This is where I'm a bit weak at on speed, so I have to work on this one on my own so that the next time she races me doing back crossovers that I can get around, but I am hopeful I will get this one so I can beat my secondary coach on this one too!!! LOL!!!

Her parting shot at our lesson was "I'm pissed now (Seriously, she's not!!! She was when she said this and she was beaming with pride!) and I'm determined to beat you next time." LOL!!!

Blossom: NoVa Sk8r showed at at the FS session after mine and I stayed a bit after my session to skate with him for about 10 minutes or so before I really had to leave and get ready for work. I wish I could have stayed so I can pick up some of his spinning tricks, since I've been trying (on and off) to get a couple of his mushroom sit spins for fun...

(See NoVa? If you showed up earlier, you would have gotten a good comedy show with your skate!!! )

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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!!!