Nice: I was able to skate a bit today - I really wasn't sure if I'd be up for it, even to the time I laced up my boots. One of the coaches said, "Well, maybe you'll feel okay when you're on the ice", to which I replied "That's exactly what I'm hoping!" I did, too - but only a certain amount. I felt really rather wobbly, and didn't finish our lesson (only just not).

However, in my practice I was able to do changes of edge at full speed, but felt really wobbly going backwards. I managed to do various 3-turns (and VERY NEARLY a LFO3/LBI bracket and RFO3/RBI bracket combinations without either holding on or toe-tapping!), but not Mohawks. In the lesson we did runs round the circle in both directions in Kilian hold and then reverse Kilian hold - I couldn't find my balance in the clockwise reverse Kilian, but otherwise they were okay. We then did inside swing rolls in Kilian, and himself was very pleased with them! And then chasses and swing rolls in waltz hold. The chasses were all fairly okay; the first half-lap of swing rolls with me going backwards were a bit flat, and the ones with Robert going backwards were very odd. At which point I began to ache violently all over, and said I'd had enough, so Robert had the last 3 minutes to himself working on his swing rolls. I took my boots off, but was watching him practice and noticed that part of the problem was that he was forgetting to prebend, which made him lurch forwards.

Nasty: As above, feeling wobbly and not up to much (I really want to sleep now, but am staying awake to cook a pseudo-Chinese lunch in honour of the Year of the Ram). Plus New Management is changing not only the rink timetable, but also the way we pay for patch ice - they will refund what is left on our season tickets, and then we pay our coaches. Which is all very well, but what happens when you go to a patch where you coach isn't? I suppose mine will trust us to pay weekly by cheque - he'd better! I'm also cross as normally I've paid for our lessons and my own ice time, and Robert has paid for his ice time and mine at other rinks, plus mine at Dance Club (which is alleged to be moving night). I'm NOT prepared to pay for his ice time, so he says at the moment that he'll pay me cash each week. Yeah, right....

Still, it'll all work out in the end - but I'm NOT looking forward to the avalanche of grumbling that will indubitably ensue (why do people always grumble at me? As though I could do anything!). You can't please all of the people all of the time, and the management are entitled to do what they want. PLUS the coaches have asked for a dance interval on the same night as Dance Club - and if we get that, I could forgive the management a great deal!

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

Annabel--congratulations on the brackets! In theory, I understand brackets and rockers but I think I'm years away from being able to do them!! I hope the transition to the new ice payment system will be as trouble free for you as one can hope.

And everyone who went to the New Year's comp at Ashburn, do post in the forum to tell us how things went!!

Nice:
Forgot to mention last week that I was fooling around and figured out how to do an ina bauer to the right!

Tested and passed Basic Skills 7. That means (gulp) I'll be moving on to learning moving three turns. Ack!

Mohawks are improving.

CW one-foot spins are fairly consistent. Not having much luck with practicing the scratch spin.

A skater recruiting people for the synchro class at my rink complimented me on my skating. (She also really wanted me to join the class, it must be said.) I told her I didn't have time b/c I'd see my husband less (we work different hours) and I already feel like I've been neglecting my cardio training in favor of skating and Pilates.


Nasty:
LF spirals are *just dreadful*. I must make myself practice these each time I'm on ice so that they are up to the quality of my RF spirals.

LBI-RFO choctaw (for spin preparation) isn't happening. My instructor figured out what I'm doing wrong: I'm stepping outside of the circle and too far on to the front of the blade, and stopping myself.

Twisted my left ankle (stupidly, of course) while crossing the street. I was distracted by three fat bulldogs who had been trained by their owner to jaywalk (a funny sight, though dangerous for the dogs) and I put my foot down the wrong way. I immediately iced and took ibuprofen and have been icing for 15-min periods every few hours since. It's only mildly stiff so it should mend soon.

This is for yesterday:

Nasty:

It was SOO crowded!! Even more than last week. This meant the ice was horrible (really rough), and practicing jumps (HA!) was a no-no.

My three turns were a little off. They were fine at first but later deteriorated a bit, so that makes me think the state of the ice might be a contributor.

Had a dicey moment during my dance lesson, when me & my coach were in the middle of a dance - I think he stepped on the back of my blade! Eek!! Really hurt my heel actually.

Not really nasty, but my clockwise spin wasn't too amazing.

Nice:

Anti-clockwise (not my normal direction) 1 foot spins are still improving. I did a lot of good (for me) ones, and although I felt like I was a little too far forward on my blade, I got numerous rotations nearly every time, and felt quite well balanced. Also doing them from back crossovers is better. And at one point my dad was there, and I showed him one from a FO edge, and it worked! Amazing, considering I was doing it in front of someone, lol.

Coach showed me how to do a backspin - I started to learn it a while ago with my old coach but didn't really carry on practicing it. We did it from a FI3. It was quite hard, especially the exit (put down my other foot to help), but I'm gonna keep practicing it both ways. Any tips?

BO3-mohawk sequences ok.

Learnt the Willow Waltz, it's nice, though I can't remember the steps now.

__________________
"It’s never too late to skate at any age." - Alexei Mishin.

Nasty: I admit that I was an idiot in that I've been so relentlessly busy working on "Hair" that I haven't been able to practice since before Christmas. So I was pretty lousy at my lesson on the 25th (of January). Better on Saturday, thank goodness.

More Nasty: FO3s still pukey. I'm very, very close on the right side and struggling with the LFO edge on the left side. I'm not quite committing fully to the edge with my upper body and therefore the turn is all wonky. And then I drop my free foot.

Nice: I didn't lose my FI mohawks. Can do the right one faster than the left and am trying to work more speed into and out of them. Fortunately, even though I'm going into them at a snail's pace, I'm coming out of them at the same snail's pace, LOL!

Started working Delta moves. Forward edges. FO are not as secure as FI. I make it 3/4 of the lobe and barely have enough speed to get to the midline. On the FI, especially the left, I am actually accellerating through the lobe and can at least maintain my speed down the line. On both sides the lobes are pretty even and I can get about 5 of them in on the blue line. My instructor told me I have "pretty feet" when I swing the free leg forward. Another thing for which to thank my ballet training -- it's nearly impossible for me to extend my foot forward without turning it out and pointing my toes. This just goes to prove my theory that I really AM the Sasha Cohen (of two years ago) of Eastern Iowa figure skating -- pretty arms, pretty feet, red hair and weak edges, LOL! And someday I'll have a killer spiral!

Mika, ouch! I hope your ankle feels better!
(Heather asked me to do the synchro class too, but I mentioned that the late hour, when coupled w/ the travel time for me, kind of made it difficult. I also inquired about whether it was for adults anyway - I assumed it wasn't - and she told me they were going to form an adult synchro team - she said she'd update me when/if the team forms.)

Nice:

Finally got a sit spin that rotates for the required number of revolutions. Apparently, my problem was that my back was hunched too far forward so that I was getting off balance - I imagined I probably looked a little like Tim Goebel pre-2001. Once I straightened up and just bent my knee, I was able to maintain rotation. Of course, I realized that I'm probably not very low, but the instructor (we had a sub today b/c regular instructor wasn't there) said it was fine.

Power 3s and mohawks out of spirals are coming along.


Nasty:

Yes, that darned loop jump again! The instructor assured me I was making progress, althought it doesn't feel that way. Bottom line - I can't do a full rev (even w/ the quarter/half-turn cheat at the beginning) and am nowhere near the waltz-loop combo that I need to pass the level next week. So I guess I will be in Freestyle 4 again. Sigh.

Rant: After being nearly run over by a kid w/ one of those helper bars this week during the pre-lesson practice - which overlaps w/ the practice for the kids in the previous hour's lessons - I finally went to skating director to complain. The incident made me extra mad not just b/c it seems to happen every week, but this time there was plenty of room on either side of me for the kid to go. Instead, he comes straight at me, and did I mention that I wasn't even moving at the time? I was standing still (I was about to practice a back spin) w/ my back to the kid so that I didn't see him, until I heard a noise behind me, and turned around to find him within inches of me. I jumped out of the way and yelled at him to watch out - not that he was even watching or listening. It would have been different if I moved into his path, but this time, he should have been able to see me. I spoke to the skating director about it during the lesson changeover, and she said she would have the bars hidden from now on b/c the kids didn't need them if they were truly practicing what their instructor taught them.

The real problem is that the area coned off for before/after-lesson practice is small, and you end up with a mix of low-level skaters that just finished their lesson and freestyle-level skaters that are practicing before theirs. Which means little kids that don't know how to watch where they're going (and I can't fathom that they wouldn't watch where they're walking on the street or playground) and older kids and adults doing jumps and spins - it's really a recipe for disaster, and no one from the staff is watching the area. I've seen kids fall b/c one of the bar kids knocked into them or they collided w/ another skater - it just seems that there's a huge potential for injury and the rink staff seems oblivious. OK, rant over.

At our rink, they have extra people who patrol that practice area. Saturday the program director was even doing it (they must have had a no-show volunteer). Can anyone at your rink volunteer to patrol that area? BTW, I think there's nothing worse than those metal bars.

I barely skated last week because of fatigue from work and the rink changing it's Saturday hours and not telling me. :-) Oh well.

Nice - I really enjoyed practicing the Dutch Waltz, I like the focus and holding the edge and the feel of flowing across the ice.

Did some toe loops with some speed going into them and did some not too horrible waltz jumps.

Worked harder on double 3's and had a much better edge out of my LFO I held it took my time and actually did hte back 3 on an edge. !! Woo hoo. I have a bad habit of rushing and not doing them on a lobe.


Nasty - Not too bad, my Swing roll edges weren't the most secure but I"m pushing myself so that's good.

RANT - Okay, now that I've actually skated free style a few times I understand the earlier complaints from some skaters about "non-freestyle" skaters being on the ice. I"m not that advanced so it doesn't affect me much but we can have between 6-8 kids on free style ice doing private lessons and these kids are working on cross overs. One little girl in her pink dress was out there by herself working on cross overs, why does she need to do this on a free style session right in the way of 2 couples doing dance patterns, me trying my dutch waltz, and other skaters who do their lutzes. A number of the teen girls doing programs had to abort their jumps and restart their programs because of these little kids. My guess is the coaches don't want to do the lessons on the public session but it really is irritating.

__________________
Too many people miss the silver lining because they're expecting gold.
Maurice Setter

This is for yesterday:

Nice: Got my brand new bots and blades. I tried them out last night and it felt really weird. I was told by my coach that I might trip over my toe-picks so take it eay but I didn't fall over them.
Anyway this is for my lesson that morning:
Nice: Worked on novice field moves. I did my forward spirals and it felt better as I arched the back and brought the arms and shoulders back. Appartently it looks very good!
Worked on my mohawk sequence which was quite good. I just have to remember to stretch the free leg out behind crossing over.
worked on my toe-toe-toe step sequence aswell and it was ok. I have to do it around a circle not in a straight line!
2-foot spin is improving but I just have to remember to push the right shoulder forward and turn the head to the left and pull up on the knees and lift up leg! toooooo much!
3 jump is feeling like it is getting good height. Just have to remember not to look at the ice!
Also my forwrad and backward crossovers are improving. When doing the back crossovers I have to remember to pull in wide into the circle and hold. For the forward crossovers I have to count it, 1 for the push and extend, 2 for the stretch behind. I feel like they are improving though

Nasty:
The salchow sometimes worked, but it was hard. I feel over twice in the lesson doing it. The first time I landed on the inside edge. The second I just couldnt land it. But after my lesson I landed loads! But I was getting dizzy! heheheheh
It gonna feel like I am learning right from the start again in the new boots. Last night I couldn't do very much at all!

NICE: Well, um...I didn't fall. I guess that's it.

NASTY: Spent almost the whole time doing crossovers AGAIN. I am so sick of crossovers! Finally towards the end my instructor had us try going backwards. I don't remember what he called it, but it was basically gliding on one foot while the other foot "swizzled" or something like that. Kind of boring, as I already figured out how to skate backwards without all this swizzling. But again, the instructor was busy with the more advanced adults and the other new skaters who aren't progressing as quickly and basically left me on my own. I am SOOOO ready for something new!

DancinDiva, patience: those back half swizzles (on a circle) are in preparation for back crossovers.

NICE
Started my lesson today armed with the info that on pre-Bronze, we are allowed to put a foot down on the alt threes. I "powered through" the FO threes, with free leg extended and just a light touch down of the free leg before stepping forward for the next one. Of course, I do want to be able to do these with perfect control, but for now, it means I can focus on the one pre-Bronze move I don't have at all, the FI alt threes. Coach told me she knew my CW back crossovers were my weak side, but that no one watching would guess. Improved my extension on the under stroke on both F and B crossovers.

NASTY
Why, oh why, have I waited sooo long to really work on those FI threes?
I cannot do a LFI three except on the wall or with a spot. Just too scared of it. I am going to do the FI alt three pattern 10 times every time I skate. This is with two footed turns, but at least I will be getting the posture and check.

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Nice:

All of last week. I didn't post a message 'cause I didn't want to jinx my success! My MITF were fantabulous; I was especially on top of my game last Thursday. My patterns are where they need to be, and my edges are good.

Also have discovered the value of the moves for improving my jumps. My waltz jump has improved several-fold since I've seriously focused on my moves. They helped me develop some more knee bend.


Nasty:

Every freaking bit of today!!!! When I left the rink this evening I just wanted to go scream and bang my head against some bricks. Everyone on the FS session had pre-test jitters (including me, I admit it) and rink manners seem to be falling by the wayside a bit. Case in point, we had a traffic jam in one corner of the rink with my coach and me, another coach and her student, and a skater doing her MITF patterns. The other coach could see I needed to be on a set pattern and graciously let us have the space. I nodded my thanks. The other skater was skating backwards and spotted my coach, but continued on her track. I am not really sure who was supposed to be more on the lookout, I just was able to tell my coach to watch out; my coach had no clue there was someone behind her. Luckily, no collisions, but after that (and getting caught in rut doing my "bad" three turn, almost having a very scary fall), my nerves were frazzled and if anyone even came close to me I was too freaked out to try to do anything. The adult skater psyche is much more affected by this than the teenager psyche, and the two don't always mix well. I'm going to the adult-only session tomorrow even if it means taking a small road trip.

This was just a very nerveracking night.

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All that glitters has a high refractive index.

Dancin'Diva, I hate to tell you, but you can never do too many crossovers! Even our national skaters start their practice session with crossovers. Or progressives, which are very similar.

Anyway, for last night at Dance Club:

Nice: I finally managed to do 3-turn/bracket/3-turn without holding on! Several times on my left foot, just once on my right (it wasn't repeatable). Not at all well - they were scrapy and toe-rakey and didn't really go anywhere, but at least I did them. Of course, I am still at the barrier, not to hold on to, but to keep my upper body parallel to (this, I discover, is the secret of this move, to keep your upper body as still as possible). So I was very pleased!

Nasty: However, I was at the barrier because I was still feeling rather wobbly and disinclined to dance. I did do some dances, but just didn't feel secure, and I did a really terrible Golden Skaters' Waltz. I don't know what was wrong with it, but it wasn't right! Ended up getting off the ice before we had to, which is unheard-of for me!

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

Dancin Diva - I hate to join in the chorus but you can never do too many crossovers. Ask your coach if you can do them in a figure 8, it takes a little more control and precision. And ask your coach point blank to make them more interesting. I do this with my coach, I say "I know we have to practice 'so and so" but it's mind numbing to do it over and over" and she tries to come up with something.

Nice - We worked more on the Dutch Waltz, I really enjoy this!! Am getting better on progressives and swing rolls, worked really hard at the ends of the rink, have tendency to get "lost" and can't figure out how to place the swing roll, am rushing, as usual. :-) In class we worked on backward brackets, actually like these, we then combined Forward Inside brackets with back outside, hard but I really enjoyed them, need to practice them.

Nasty - I really don't hold my landings on jumps, it's just rush, rush , rush. :-) We did some waltz/toe loop/toe loop and I was rather awkward and rushing. Generally I need to slow down and deepen my knees in my skating.

__________________
Too many people miss the silver lining because they're expecting gold.
Maurice Setter

dbny: I hear you. I have a good RFI3, but its the left that will be the death of me. At least I'm finally getting on a backward outside edge, even though I can't hold it for more than a nanosecond. Apparently on my old boots, I always went on a flat and then caved inside. I guess we both just need plenty of practice and patience!!!!

DancinDiva: Sorry, add me to the Greek chorus--you have to live with doing ALL moves over and over again. Just because you basically get something doesn't mean you have it perfect. Does the coach have you doing the crossovers with the second push (the foot that doesn't cross) yet? If not, they've still got a long way to go. I'm not trying to pick on you, but like the others, I've been skating for years and my crossovers and ALL my basic skills STILL need more work and constant improvement.

NASTY: Mohawk cross step--I can do it, but its not working out of speed after a couple of bunny hops, so we switched to a basic mohawk with side step and flashy arms to get me into my back crossovers smoothly.

NICE: Choreographed the rest of "Happy Feet." For now and the Mercer Competition it will be:

Four "wiggles" sideways, stick back of left blade into ice.
Reverse direction, two toepick steps
Stroke into two bunny hops
Mohawk/sidestep
Back crossovers into outside edge spiral (no stroking in between, man, that's not easy!!!)
Stroking into 3 fast half flips out of mohawk entrance, ending the last one with a RFI3
Forward crossovers into 3 left pinwheels (LFO3's into back extensions)
Finish with a series of quick twists on both feet, backwards stop/big finish pose!!!


Doesn't sound like much, but good grief, she wasn't kidding--TRULY the longest minute of my life!!!! But I can basically do it and keep up, so it should be OK in five weeks. Then by May for the Warwick comp we can hopefully add in even more fun stuff.

Enjoy your skating, everyone!!!

Beth

DancinDiva, you might ask your coach if you can do the crossovers in combination with some other moves. My coach is having us do sequences like: front crossover, mohawk, back crossover, back mohawk, repeat.....

Last Monday night I left the rink with a sore hip. Wasn't sure if it was fatigue or if I had injured something. Last night the soreness came back, but not as severe. I think it must be getting my body back into shape after the couple of months off the ice.

Nice: Started learning back 3-turns. Two footed a lot, sloppy form, and seldom completed one, but it is fun trying something new.

Nasty: Most of my other minimal skills were more minimal than normal. Everything I did seemed sloppy and unbalanced.

I'm blaming it all on my time off the ice and only being able to skate once a week since Christmas. I need PRACTICE, PRACTICE, PRACTICE and more hours in my day!!!

But I had a great time on the ice (as always)!!!!!!

Okay, my wise chous of experienced skaters, I get the picture. Now, don't get me wrong, I know that even basic things like crossovers need to be practiced regularly (I've been doing ballet for eighteen years, and each lessons still begins with the basic moves, I understand how important all the basic skills are in developing one's ability in a given area.). I make it a point to attend a few public skate sessions every week in between lessons to practice things like my crossovers. Yazmeen, believe me, I know I don't have them "perfect" after just four weeks on the ice, but they are smooth and controlled, in both directions. Yes, I am doing them with that second push you mentioned.
dbny, thanks, I was wondering what those half-swizzles were for. My instructor just made us do them, without telling me why. The biggest problem is that he has nine students, pretty much at nine different levels right now, and it is hard for him to focus on any one person for any length of time. Like I said last week, I'm stuck right in the middle. I'm progressing much faster than the other real beginners (I think my 18 years of dance has something to do with that), but I'm not quite ready for the spins that the more advanced skaters are doing.
You can all rest assured that I will keep practicing my crossovers!

DancinDiva: Here's a big question: Have you considered private lessons? From your description, you seem to be catching on faster than your group, and maybe that's the way to best bring out your natural talents. You may want to look into it--my private lessons cost only a few dollars more than a group lesson cost me, and they've been a godsend. Its not always a huge expense--check it out!!!

Again, I apologize if I sounded like I was picking on you. We've had a few posters here from time to time who act like practicing basic skills are not good use of their time and "when do I get to do the fun stuff and jump and spin" and "I've already taught myself all of this along with basic jumps so this is wasting my time" and all that-usually they don't last long here because I think they get bored with us!!!! We tend to be a little protective of the importance of good skills, and we all have our nemesis moves, so bear with us!!!

Good luck!!!

Yazmeen, I never thought you were picking on me! Just offering advice, which is exactly what I want. I thought about private lessons, but there aren't any times that fit with my schedule, of wallet, right now. I'm finishing up my last year of college, so I'm always short on time and money! But maybe after I graduate and get a job I can try private lessons. I really do better with one-on-one lessons, or small groups for a few reasons. For one, the instructor is paying more attention to me and can correct problems that, if neglected, could turn into bad habits. Two, when you are on your alone with an instructor, they keep you going the whole time. I find myself getting bored with those repititious crossovers and end up getting distracted, watching other people, and there is no one to get me back on track. Also, the instructor can see when I've picked up something quickly and am ready to move on to something new. This is all stuff I've noticed during dance classes. So maybe when I'm no longer a poor college student I'll get into private skating lessons.

A couple of other thoughts on private lessons.

One 15 minute private lesson is worth more than an hour of group lesson in skills training. Then you'll need to practice on your own.

Let any instructors that are there during your skating times know that you're a "poor college student", but that if their student doesn't show up for a lesson, you'd be willing to take a "cut rate" lesson from them. I've seen an $ 80 an hour instructor give a half hour jumps lesson for $ 10 when his student didn't show up.

Also, some coaches will work out a discount rate if the time is convenient for them and you're dedicated to be there and learn. Another of our local instructors charges based on the skill level she is teaching. She also offers cut rates for some who simply can't afford it, but the student had better plan on working hard and showing they want and deserve the lesson.

Get the word out at your rink.

Gary makes a great point: I started with Paula with only one fifteen minute lesson per week but learned far more than I did with a half hour lesson in groups. We're now up to two half hour lessons per week.

Give it a shot, DancinDiva--someone may be able to fit you--even if its only once a month it would be worth it!!!

As one who started out in group and then added private I would second that even 15 minutes working on one new element to keep it fun and interesting for you would be worth it. Have you tried spirals yet? With your dance background this should be a move you acquire easily, I taught myself about the time I was learning back crossovers. Anyway maybe you could get your coach to start you on spirals, this is a great move to work on by yoursef. I get bored easily so I constantly ask to try new things if just to sort of "excite" my mind about skating. It is hard at times to justify the expense but I just make cutbacks.

__________________
Too many people miss the silver lining because they're expecting gold.
Maurice Setter

Nice: I had a lutz-loop again today!! I haven't had one in about 6 months and it came out of the blue !

Nasty: Everything else, but I had a lutz-loop!!

One word of caution, DancinDiva, if you do try spirals, be sure to keep your weight back. I also danced for about 20 years and tried spirals early on before anyone told me that. I did okay for the first few tries, then my weight was too far onto the ball of my foot and SPLAT, right onto my knee, hip and ribcage! I'm sure now to lean back almost so my weight feels more on the center/back of the blade. (And don't look down at the ice or that's where you'll end up during the spiral, or most other moves, actually.)

Dancing puts me too far onto my toes and I have to remind myself of that all the time when I'm on the ice.

Good luck!

The trouble with this thread, is that you know what others are practising, and when you are asked to do such things in your lesson, you start thinking of them, instead of what you are doing!

So, today's lesson:

Nice: Got to the rink early, for once, and was able to warm up very thoroughly before my lesson, practising such vital skills as changes-of-edge and back edges, as well as working on turns. We have a New Boy - a Junior-level dancer who has just taken a new partner from our rink (Batikat will know the lad in question, as he basically trains at her rink) - and I spent some time watching him training with the other National level dancers, his new partner having already left to go to school. They were working with a parachute, which I gather is horrible!

They, having been at the rink since 6.00, left early and I had 15 minutes with the ice to myself before my lesson. I did some patch, and then worked as many of the 32 1-footed turns as I can do round the hockey goal! And my dance Mohawks, too - bother, meant to practice 14-step Mohawk and Foxtrot Mohawks, and forgot. Remind me next time.

Lesson started off well with changes-of-edge, forwards cross-rolls and backwards stroking. Then we did waltz 3s, the steps of the European waltz (i.e. back edges and 3-turns) as an exercise, back chasses, and a figure 8 of crossovers (which is why I thought of JenLyon and of DancinDiva, you see!).

Nasty: Well, of the 32 1-footed turns, I can do 2 really nicely (the 2 FO3s), 3 so-so (the FI3s and LBO3), and was pleased to manage a BI3 which surprised me as I usually can't do them! But I think 6 out of 32 is pretty poor - I want at least 16 reliable ones before I'm done, and ideally 32!

My 3-bracket-3 deserted me! I found it was actually the right foot that was the good one on Monday, not the left! I have done it on the left foot, but not reproducibly. Anyway, showed my coach, and he said (which I had guessed) that I'm not getting my weight far enough back for the bracket. Managed it fairly respectably with a toe-tap, but I want to do it without!

The waltz 3s. Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear! Actually, it wasn't the 3-turns that were the problem, it was the other back edge and stepping to forwards - I kept on and on and ON anticipating the step, and not thinking of the edge I was on! Hence the European waltz steps to try to sort that out, but to no avail. So ended up either scraping my toe-rake, or wide-stepping, or, more usually, both! Grrrrrrr. Frustration!

Then my back chasses were pretty disastrous, too - I had done fairly good back edges earlier, but not this time! I think I was getting tired. My coach said he reckoned I wasn't quite recovered from the virus - he said I obviously was a lot better, but not quite back up to scratch yet. Oh well... these things do take their time and you can't rush them, but how disappointing!

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

Monday
I didn't get to rink due to snow.
We have less than 2 inches and the whole village comes to a standstill - it's pathetic.
Anyway I couldn't get my car out of the estate till it was too late, and not worth my while going.

Wednesday
Got started with my new programme - hip hip....
So far, I've got a sit spin, a RFO spiral and a flip.
The steps will come next and somewhere after that, a loop-loop and a salchow needs to go in (or should I go for a lutz?)

It'll take me forever.........

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MEL
Absolute Skating