That sounds totally impossible - please don't tell my coach about it or he might make me have a go! But excellent, I should imagine, for getting one's weight and hips in the right place.

Wish to remember (I think): So there we were, doing continuous cross-rolls in Foxtrot hold, when I became aware that all was not as it should be with his eyeline.

"Stop looking at my feet!" say I.

"I'm not looking at your feet," says he. "I'm looking at your behind!"

Collapse of both of us when he realised what he'd said - his concern, apparently, had not been for my beautiful (ahem!) arse, but he thought I was leaning forwards too much.

In my solo lesson we worked on the end pattern of the Fiesta, the level 3 dance moves and back inside swing rolls, and the mantra seemed to be "drop your hips!" I showed him my Field-moves-style back inside edges, which are fast and good, and he reckoned it was because I can keep my hips fairly level in it, so he made me work the swing rolls (which I wanted to do anyway) to help me get the feeling for dropping my hip, which apparently is the main fault in all the bits I am having trouble with. I think I see what it is supposed to feel like, and how am I supposed to get that with a Husband hanging on to my other hand in the Fiesta?

Hope to forget: His comments on my dance moves, which were not complimentary. Oh well.... Plus the Swing Dance Husband and I did together, which was frightful.

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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!

Wish to Remember Suprisingly, one footed spins. I got around quite a few times going into them on a hockey glide. There were very few spins that I wasn't able to get around at least once or twice on a hockey glide or two foot spin entrance. They weren't good spins, but they were spinning- and that's never happened before. The instructor probably thinks I'm a nut, because after the lesson and all the hugs by 7 and 8 year olds I asked if I could hug her. I've never spun before!!!

Hope to Forget Why are my right to left mohawks so pitiful? My left to right ones aren't terrible (from a stand still, a little worse moving, but doable)- I have to put so much thought into which direction I'm going and if I have any speed at all on the R to L it doesn't happen.

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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)

Shoulders! Make sure you are bringing forward the shoulder and facing into the circle (assuming you're doing FI Mohawks); you can't do it if you're square on.

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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!

Things to Remember: Absolutely centered, 6+ revolution one foot spin this morning, several times!

Things to Forget: Coach wants me to do a salchow off of a swing choctaw, soooo not happening this morning.

Things to remember -- forward and backward power perimeter stroking -- coming along, edge pulls!

Things to forget -- 3s in the field. Did not even make it to 5-step mohawk today.

You'd better not quit, especially after I promised to take my Bronze Moves with you!!!!!!

It's great that you are skating to LOVE by Nat King Cole -- one of my favorite all-time skating pieces!!

Wish to remember: What it was like to skate well on clean, good ice.

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Is Portland the only city with it's own ice-dance website? http://www.pdxicedance.net/

I think you have to do a power pull to get onto that BO edge. There is an exercise on the PSA MIF tapes that alternates B pulls with B cross strokes which I can do, but the transitional pull is always from BO.

I once again woke up too late today to get to the rink, but since younger DD called from Japan with worrisome medical symptoms, I was glad to be home for her. If I don't get to practice tomorrow, I'll just be throwing away my lesson fee on Friday .

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Dbny, is your daughter okay? Sounds like it must have been the middle of the night her time when she called.

HOPE TO REMEMBER
- The great camel-sit at the beginning of my program! (Please don't go away again!)
- The gorgeous flying camel-back sit I did in my lesson
- That I got thiiiis || close to a full split (on my "bad" side!) when I was stretching on the floor after this morning's skate!

WISH TO FORGET
- That the great camel-sit at the beginning of my program was supposed to be a camel-sit/reverse scratch . . .
- That I sat down on the ice at the end of the "gorgeous" flying camel-back sit because I tried to hold the back sit too long, LOL!
- That my program run-through had a botched lutz combination, no flying camel and no axel or double salchow.

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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

dbny - I do hope your daughter's OK. Being overseas when you're not well is awful.

Yes, as far as I can tell, that diabolical exercise does need part of a back power pull to change the edge, and while you're doing it the free leg comes from the under-cross position to behind you but toe pointed outwards (ie: open the free hip), all as you rise up in the skating leg, ready to re-bend for the other-direction back XO. At least, that's what the coach did - and very nice it looked too.

Now as to what it looked like (and sounded like!) when the class was murdering it ... the only one who got it was a Junior level dancer in her youth - and she has the enviable ability to make all this stuff look graceful and extended in 3/4 length capri pants with brown boots hanging off the bottom!

Wish to Remember: I kinda like Bronze Moves. They're a lot more fun and cover far more ice than PB Moves. Did really well with the forward perimeter crossover pattern today. And I think I finally understand the 5-step mohawk pattern.

Hope to Forget: Argh...I have NO rhythm or counting talent for dance. My Dutch Waltz is like 1,2,3,...4...,5,6....1...2...3,4,5...6...blah. And I had some problems with stepping forward onto on outside edge for the Power 3s for Bronze Moves. The pattern is too similar to the Pre-Bronze 3-turn pattern, which required stepping forward onto an inside edge.

Hope to Forget: It seems I paid for all my silliness last night with VERY sore knees tonight! They felt like I had climbed the stairs of a very tall building - more than once! At least my coach got some mileage out of it - “Dianne can’t boogie all night anymore!”

Stroking and edges were the only things working with the sore knees so I spent my session on edges and stroking, both back and forward, mainly getting the toe picks out of my forward strokes! I always have to work on the stretch for the left foot glide to!

I swear my coach must have been watching me do outside edges because the first thing she asked for was forward insides! (How do they always seem to know what you HAVEN'T been practicing!)

Wish to remember: I did manage to figure out how to get the toe pick scrape out of my forward strokes and correcting the push gave more speed. (Great! Speed is one thing I DON'T need!) Nice quiet stroking now (when I pay attention).

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

Doubletoe & Aussieskater - thanks for asking. Unfortunately, we have lots of experience with her being sick while in a foreign country. The first symptoms she told me about brought something very nasty to mind and totally freaked me out to the point that I don't even want to say what it was. However, upon lots of googling, and further details, I was able to rule out it out. I sent her info on the doctors in Kyoto and Osaka who take our insurance, and she said she is going tomorrow, but maybe with a friend who is going to a different doctor. To which I said - just go, don't worry about the money! She's been staying up most of the night, which I don't like, but can do nothing about.

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No, I'm not giving up entirely. just pondering scratching the holiday show all together. I am completely undecided and unmotivated.

yes, we will still be testing Bronze MIF in January and passing. I pinky swear.

GOOD!!! I hold you two on that promise and expect a report with test notes!!!

Funny thing... my coaches does NOT want me doing Christmas shows!!! They want me competing. I tried correcting them in saying I want to do the Christmas show and they REPEATED that "Yes, you are doing Skate San Francisco." (Ooooohkay!!! I got the hint!!! )

Sk8pdx: Why not see what happens the next time you go skating? Maybe you'll get your mojo back??? And remember, this is a local rink's Christmas show, NOT Stars On Ice!!! Go out there and do the best program you can. The rest will follow...

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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!!!

Wish to Remember:

after a long absence, my spins were centred last night. I couldn't believe it, right from the first spin I tried. Yay! Then my toe-loop-/loop combo was working pretty well, and even my loop on its own, for a change. I even did what felt like a passable flip.

Worked on my program for the upcoming artistic comp, learned most of it now, which is just as well, only 3 more lessons before the comp.

Because I have a weird habit on sit spins, I don't open my arms out on entry, this meant I can hold my bullfighter cape as I spin, which is kinda cool.

Prefer to Forget:

After an hour of skating, I thought I'd better have a rest before my lesson. When I got back on ice, I couldn't do anything. None of the above-mentioned things that were going well, nothing.

the rest of my flip attempts.

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Karen

I skate - therefore I am

Wish to remember
Field moves are so much better. I may actually pass this one - as long as I concentrate. Coach was pleased with them.

I can't seem to do axels moving anymore but they are half decent from a standstill and bizarrely in programme run throughs (from moving)!

Did a few good spins too! And spinning ain't my thing - change foot sit, flying camel and layback all felt nice

Hope to forget
Lutzes have gone weird. I seem to like waving my left arm above my head (I'm a CW jumping). And axels are just I seem to enjoy waving in these as well.

Double mohawk step will be the sticking point in my test - still a little too flat.

Need to stop breaking at the waist and getting my blade stuck on the brackets.

Weigth transferrence in dances needs work too. I seem to like trying to turn leaning the wrong way. Go figure. I do like to make things hard!

Hope to forget: Well, due to a raging case of PINK EYE, synchro was an individual event for me last night. I'd been on the antibiotic eye drops for 24 hrs, so I souldn't have been contagious, but I didn't want to chance infecting teammates, so I skated the program solo and off to the side. Helped coach a bit, too.

Hope to forget:
my wife decided she was tired of being scared of our bewteen the legs pullthrough, without telling me. So, she grits her skates and skates at my behind at 3x her normal speed. I'm bent over so I see her upside down through my legs and didn't notice her speed. She comes through like a freight train and bowls me over so hard I was seeing stars. Our first pairs fall and not on something hard, just a pullthrough
Lyle

That sounds like a painful fall!

... but ... I just burst out laughing! Your description is too funny!

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--renatele

Yeh it was funny, especially cause it hurt when I laughed
only good thing was I was wearing my butt pads to keep my pants up

I can't think of any time I've EVER seen her skate too fast for anything
Lyle

Now who's scared of the pull-through? LOL

Hope to Forget: Missed my Wed evening skate because of family obligations.

Wish to Remember: Did some stretching and exercises - knee feels okay!
Pulled out the old spinner and did a few back spins. I really want to nail this cross-foot spin!

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Wish to Remember

the look on my newest skaters face when I showed up at the rink with music for her and mentioned "it's from casper" Apparently she loves the movie!

Also Axel is back after taking a time out because my arms don't like pulling in...My coach started yelling "Thump!" at me in an effort to get me to try and thump my chest with my hands...and it worked! my axel is now fully rotated and only ever so often double footed when my right foot decides it doesn't want to swing round, ah well. Also I can land the axel if I'm talking to someone while I'm jumping, coach thinks that I "think to much" and just need to do the stupid jump (her words not mine)

Flying camel coming along much nicer to. I must remember that "it's basically just a horizontal cartwheel" So I'm getting all the rotation and not doing a salchow camel...

hope to forget
While coaching canskate one of my PA's comes up to me looking slightly horrified and whispers "Scott just lost his tooth" now this strikes terror into my heart because knowing Scott he very well could of knocked out a big tooth. (This is the child who likes to whiz about the ice at top speeds while running into as many others as he can) Anyway I tell said PA to make sure no one touches the tooth and skate over there after I'd finished dealing with another crises(which was underway when PA came over) When I get there about 2 seconds later a little girl holds out her hand to hand me this tooth. So I had to tell her to go wash her hands(she decided she didn't need mitts to pick it up. I walk scott off the ice and hand him over to his mom(he stopped crying when I mentioned the tooth fairy. He was back on the ice for game time....to show all the other kids the "hole in my face"

and double loop needs just a 1/4 more rotation...ah well, I'll get Myles to yell at me, that normally works because then I get pissed with him and do it just to prove to him I can...That is if he doesn't sit on me and squish the air out of my lungs again....

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The Axel has been landed...

I'm assuming it was a baby tooth? (My DD lost one yesterday at school and was heartbroken that no one made a fuss over her. My older daughter clued me in beforehand, so I fussed to make up for it! The Tooth Fairy brought her usual half-dollar coin.)

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Hope to Remember:

dd came with me skating yesterday, so I didn't get much practicing in. Just as well since I hadn't been skating in nearly 2 weeks (hockey skaters taking over the rink, through this weekend). Just as well--landed SPLAT on my rear trying BI edges. Next time must remember: Lots of forward & backward stroking before trying anything else!!

Wish to Forget:

The rink schedule is really designed for school-age kids, not for people *with* school-age kids. . . wish I could get an hour each morning, 'cause it'd be perfect, but I'm guessing the rink wouldn't find it "economically feasible." Unless I paid an arm and a leg for the ice time, which I can't!!

So did I. Husband won't even try a pull-through, and the looks anxious if I even suggest such a thing.... maybe if I buy him a cricket box..... but your wife must be more flexible than I am, as I'm quite sure I could never get up again if I tried!

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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!