Most skaters, including kids, spin too far back on the backspin at first. It's just that kids get it right much faster than adults do. They're usually not quite so scared of the nasty falls you can take when you go too far onto the BO edge.

__________________

The kids in my program are all on the forward inside edge- except the really good one who has moved onto back camels. While I don't doubt that kids start too far back, I thought it was kind of funny that the line was divided right down the age group- we spin on the flat and too far back, they spin on the forward inside.

It's really hard to correct because I actually can get a good number of rotations "wrong"- so it's hard to reinforce that the "right" spin is the one where I only go around once. I think that's why it's so hard to get the kids off their inside edge- they are spinning, which is the goal. Plus the coach who tells them it's a "feature" and makes it harder...

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

I am unfortunately STILL on the "flip-flop" between inside and outside edge... oh, crap! Since dbny is reading this and she has seen my backspins, I'll just say INSIDE EDGE instead!!!

Blooming:
Got thru two runthrus of my technical program!!!

Withered:
On the first runthru, I think I landed the loop clean, barely landed my (royally cheated) lutz but promptly messed up the backspin AND the flip right afterwards!

Did NOT land any of my jumps clean except for the salchow-tap toe-waltz jump on the second runthru.

Blooming:
Can land a beautiful loop and lutz after the first runthru but before the second runthru!!!

Withered:
Flip is definitely on Spring Break!!! And WHY CAN'T I LAND the Loop and the lutz IN THE PROGRAM as effortlessly as I did NOT in the program!?!?!!?

Blooming:
Did a nice sit spin on the try after the second runthru. She told me to go lower and expected to see a shoot the duck low sit spin and well, sadly only got 2 of them in that low a position, but she was VERY happy with it b/c it was FINALLY low enough for her!!!

Withered:
The sit spin try after that... got down low (which secondary coach started getting excited about again) and promptly sat on my BUTT afterwards, giving secondary coach a HUGE chuckle... (Gee, thanks!!!)

__________________
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!!!

The kids are on the FI edge because their weight is even farther back than yours. It's probably not a good thing, but I'm somewhat dogmatic about the backspin. I don't want my students doing it on a flat or FI edge at all until they have mastered the correct edge. (It's only a feature if you can change edge at will!) I start them with a push onto the BO edge and have them jump up/out of the spin if it shifts. Once you've got the habit of doing it too far back, it's extremely hard to break. I still don't have a backspin myself, partly because I changed directions just when I was getting it, and partly because I have a bit too much fear.

__________________

Oh dear! I was going to add to my above post "(ask Joanna)", but now I don't have to .

__________________

Which is why I'm finally understanding why it's such a good idea to make skaters practice the backspin from a pivot! It's tough, but if you can get into it from a back inside pivot (for a CCW skater, stay on the LBI edge and pivot on the bottom pick of the right blade), you'll automatically be spinning on the front of the blade and on the BO edge or flat.

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

Withered:
Still have a cough...yes, I should go to the doctor because it's been about 7 days now, but it's getting better and I really don't like doctors....

Blooming:
Had an empty rink again today So, I was able to do moves with minimal interruptions...power circles were better because I was able to figure out how to get the pattern to work out better...I still need to work on the power pulls, rockers, and the choctaws, but they are getting better considering that I really just started them...

Did some axels...some friends saw a few and said that they are there, I am just landing flat footed ugh!!! I did a few axel/loops to try to point that toe and stay in at the same time...didn't work as well as I would have liked, but it's still a work in progress...

Double sals are getting better...I actually LANDED one! It was not fully rotated, but it was ON ONE FOOT!!!

I also did some really good flying camels

Overall it was a good day!!

__________________
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

Kim--GO to the doctor!! Last time I let a cough go I ended up w/ walking pneumonia. All they'll do is listen to your chest & give you antibiotics so you can get better. Piece of cake.

For me:

BLOOMING! Finally! I had a fantastic lesson today, finally started to relax into my knees again & skated much better than I have since my big crash. When my coach came in I warned him "I'm still not skating very well," but after 1/2 hour of his patient fabulousness, I was getting through my dances quite well, even the waltz, and feeling much more agressive and confident. And I loved his comment at the end (heavy Russian accent inserted here): "Why you are complaining? You skate fine today." That's as high a praise as it gets, which made me very happy. I wish he could be at AN with me, but at least I'll see him the day before I go.

I second the doctor suggestion, Kim.

__________________

BLOOMING: Did run-throughs of both programs today. AND no one cut me off or ran into me!

[B]WITHERED:[B] Didn't do a good job of either one. Some strange landings and bobbles on the footwork.

BLOOMING: But I WENT for everything!!! It's been ages since my "head" (fear factor) stayed out of the way while I was skating my programs. This was a real confidence booster as I get down to the final week before AN.

WITHERED: This is what SHOULD have been happening back in December and January.

BLOOMING: On the other hand, better now than the week AFTER Adult Nationals, right?

April 13 skate.

Actually I wanted to post then but I'm not very sure how the title should be, so, well, here I am!

Blooming:
Sit spin totally rocked. I now knew how to make it go faster during the spin using my hands. Apparently if I hold my hands immediately after going into position, the spin seems not to gain speed. I actually let my hands be almost touching and then slowly draw them on top of one another. It was sooooo fast. And I could get up now. May still be short of 6 rev, I can't tell from the scrapings on the ice.

Withering:
Spirals were so blah because I haven't been skating regularly. I couldn't hold it up. My lower back was aching so much.

Blooming:
Landing (f)lutz consistently.

Withering:
I seriously need to fix the flip technique. The rink counter person (who used to skate before he got "too old") told me to imagine that I am vaulting off from my right foot.
What I've been doing is that when I am preparing to pick, the right leg looks nice and straight. But when I pick, I bend the right leg so much. AND when I pick, I'll somehow wait for the left leg to reach about the same place as the right and then I'd jump. I attribute that to a very bad habit. Because I can pick and jump up straight without rotating just fine.

Blooming:
Some back spins were really much better. Coach told me that my back scratch didn't go faster when I draw in. So I tried to tighten up a little more and it can go faster.

Withering:
If I drawn my left leg directly over my left, like straight down, I tend to go forward inside, fast. I really don't need that. Funny how people usually can't close all the way in for scratch but it's easy for me. Funny how it's easy for people to do that in a back scratch and difficult for me.

Blooming:
Forward scratch is still my No. 1 spin. I got a lot more revolutions, and I can't count because it was centered!

Withering:
Camel is not clicking at all. I don't know where to look, how to position my hip, and I really don't get how to arch my back when I do that just fine in spirals. For someone who gets spins easily, camel is a pain.

Blooming:
Jumps are pretty great. Larger, and more rotated. You know, single jumps! I still need to be more aware of arms. Flip has almost the same distance as loop, phew. And there was a very nice lutz with the correct picking, edge, and good distance. Too bad it's only one.
=======
Alright, enough of what happened. What won't happen is me skating. My throat is so red and inflamed that the doctor was surprised I didn't visit him earlier. It's to the extent that my ears hurt. Had 38.7 degrees Celsius fever at the clinic, which really surprised me. I'm on a no-talking order for two days. Just pushed my lesson back, and once I can get to the rink, I've to work something out with the management because otherwise I have four weeks without lesson!
=======
Short note about back spin: I used to spin very naturally on the forward inside edge when I started learning it. Coach made me do from a standstill, and to push into a certain back outside edge before spinning. When it became obvious that I was spinning with the momentum of my leg and thus had no balance once I close in, he made me spin with the leg open, and hands on the hips. It worked very well with me.

All the best, everyone! Stay healthy!

This is for yesterday:
Withered: with all the rain, my lower back was really hurting. I put some Biofreeze/Arnica/pain reliever gel on it about an hour before skating. Didnt help much. Also didn't have dance class before skating so, eh, not really warmed up enough for lesson (I know I could have done somthing on my own but, whatever).

Did a lap of stroking, worked on arm positions (mine are always wrong) and pointing the toes.

Coach had me run through some evil forward crossovers on the circle...and I don't normally do these. I have to now. She wants me to add these to my normal warm-up routine. Ok...I'm alright with back crossovers though.

We went to spins. I'm making sloooow progress on scratch spins, as long as I remember the 50+++ things I've been taught to correct <sigh>.

Backspins...same story (and I've been following this backspin stuff). Sloooow progress is better than no progress. However, type-a people still can nitpick.

Blooming: ok I will put backspins here, as coach did comment that I'm able to get at least one revolution when I do them (whereas before it was a major struggle).

Withered: hahaha! sit spins! hahahaha! Once again, an exercise on the line! Which seemed to work much better (my weight was less forward) and I tended to get lower.

I'm working off-ice on these, trying to build up the strength/flexibility in my back/legs etc to do these. I've had some backsliding since my injury/surgery and it's been a long slow recovery.

On another note: my boots are breaking down, time for new ones. AND my blade on my right boot needs to be moved (you know, the one that's really moved to the inside?)....my balance has changed and I feel it. My body is more "square" since getting all that rehab.

ETA: here is the link to my youtube page....sit spin video from the other day. Feel free to critique (but in a nice way) my coach is happy with how we are starting out, since it's been so long (she likes sit spins....)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3ik5NwopkN4

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

Blooming: Spin lesson yesterday. 15 minutes really helped, but it's going to take a LOT of practice to get these consistent. . .

Withered: Oh my, silver moves! Introduction to power pulls, back 3s, and cross strokes yesterday. Holy moly. I've decided already that back inside 3s are eville. . . Also intros to the Fiesta Tango (curses on that drop mohawk) and the Swing.

Blooming: Heck, I have all the time in the world to learn these. . . At least I have something new to learn now!

__________________
"Go wash an elephant if you wanna do something big." -Baby Gramps

I haven't posted in the practice thread in forever and ever...

But

Blooming: ISI synchro nationals. We're competing in Compulsory and in Skating. Both programs have been fairly consistent for the past couple of practices, so I feel pretty good coming into competition.

Withered: I did have a freaky fall in the footwork circle at the end of one program, but wasn't injured in any way, shape or form. I did, however slide about 12 feet away from the team and decided that it wasn't worth scrambling to get back to the circle for the end, so I hit a pose and watched the last 24 counts from the ice.

Withered to dust and blown away: We might not have enough members to field a team next year... If the team folds, I may not continue skating as I kit a wall in freestyle and couldn't find a dance partner in the area and teaching Snowplow Sam on Saturday mornings isn't enough fun to continue if I'm not skating otherwise. Sigh...

Blooming:
I'm testing Gold Moves on Friday, finally!

Withered:
I kept making dumb mistakes on the moves yesterday. Thank goodness I get two more practices before the test.

Blooming:
Had a really good lesson today...
* did some spins...camel/back camel, flying camel, layback, and the beginning of a haircutter
* axels were okay...still the same issue with pulling out too soon and landing flat footed...did a HUGE one though
* double sals are sooooooo close...coach was jumping up and down and doing a happy dance! I did end up landing one on one foot
* started fixing my loop jump to make it bigger coach is so transparent with what is possibly coming next
* I have decided that horrible, no good, very bad things happen when coach gets an idea in her head....and by horrible, no good very bad, I really mean kinda' cool, but scary to start with things!

Withered:
Still coughing...if it doesn't diminish to a minimum this weekend, I'm going to make a doctor's appointment for next week....

__________________
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

Blooming: Skated one last time before our rink closes for the season. Nothing terribly exciting to report, but it was a hearty workout.

Looks like it's back to the roller rink on PIC skates until September. It'll be fun to see the old folks there on Thursdays.

__________________
Bill Schneider

Kim---

call the doctor tomorrow!!!! Get an appointment asap!!!!!

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

Call tonight and try to make an appointment ASAP. If they're not in, get the hours and call tomorrow. Don't wait, it's really not worth the risk.

If you wait and see what happens this weekend, you'll be on hold for HOURS trying to get an appointment on Monday. Doctors' phones are always flooded with people calling on Mondays.

Bill - so sorry your rink is seasonal. Hope the Pic skates are fun though.

The rink put in two large, flat-screen TVs in the lobby area. I sat on one of their comfy couches after I tied the twins' skates this morning at 5:45am. I remember watching some news program and the next thing I knew, it was after 7am and the kids' coach woke me to up to talk about practices. I was zonked. I think it's the Zyrtec I just started taking for allergies. I makes me sleepy and a bit tongue-tied/dry-mouthed. I'm surprised that I'm not stuttering yet (another usual side effect) maybe the nap helped. The side effects usually pass in a few days.


Blooming: Spins were accurate and the jumps I tried, I nailed. With no warmup. I should take naps every morning!
Started choreographing a program for one of my skaters, which was fun. I'm a little worried that her music (which is slow and sweet) might not work for her - she is herself slow and sweet! We'll see after I cut the music to length.

Withered: I felt like I was wearing someone else's skates. Grrr...

__________________

I will...my doctor's office is pretty good about getting people in, otherwise, I literally work down the street from an urgent care connected with a hospital, so I will go there at 9am when they open on Monday morning...

__________________
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

That's great. See that you drink lots of water. I don't have a voice due to sore throat and a terrible cough. No fun I tell you. Eat less aggravating food like spices and sour food.

good luck!!!!! I'm looking at what moves test I'm going to focus on after I come home from AN. I'm hoping for Juvenile... my coach keeps saying "Gold Moves look like fun!" with a very evil twinkle in her eyes.

Blooming: Much better skate today; got everything worked on that we need to.

Withered: We are so going to not be ready by Monday week. Oh well, tough; we will be ready by the Mountain Cup, which is what really matters!

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

Withered: don't think I will be skating today; cleaned house yesterday moving stuff around and I'm really feeling it in my back (plus went to the gym).

Thinking a day (or two) off will help. My back is in spasms. I will try to go on Sunday (yeah weekend public but for some reason, sunday's are not too bad).

Plus, I have more homework to catch up on........that I didn't get done yesterday because we were cleaning......yeah.

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

Withered:
I just realized that I missed skating with my long-time skating buddy during my last skate of the season. She's moving soon to Amherst, Mass. to take another job.

We had always talked about doing a skate routine together for a show, but never did. We sometimes skated together working out moves, etc. with that in mind.

I wish I could have skated with her one last time - and tried some of the steps from the past. They would have been rusty moves, but we would have just laughed.

It would have been a proper way to say goodbye to a good skating friend - someone I'll probably never see on ice again.

__________________
Bill Schneider