I'm quite the reverse! I'm a natural jumper but my spins (until yesterday yeah!) were/are barely passable.

I'm currently at ISI FS2 and at my age level I'm usually against the book. The few times that I've actually had "competition" I've still medalled so that was quite an ego booster in that I was competitive against other adults and not receiving a "gift".

My coach and I are working at getting my spins consistent and to start working on FS3 level spins. I've decided to stay at FS2 for awhile because I want to be competitive at the next level and not embarass myself. Don't get me wrong: I love competing. It's cool winning but it means more when I've had competition. In fact my favorite trophy is a 2nd place for an interpretive program that had everyone cheering at the end. I've seen the same thing that Annabel has at adult competitions and don't want that happening to me.

Yes, but how can it be fun when some people who win--like a certain poster I know on this board--just get so snobby they won't even give me the time of day! (I posted a post all about winning snobs on the Yahoo! board I am on--anyone else here a member of that?)

Honest, I am not an evil person, and I am tired of being a black sheep in this sport. Ever since AN'02, I've been working very hard not only on my skating skills, but on my attitude as well. I am hoping that this "new me" may clear up any grudges people may be holding against me.

Incidentallly, I have two great new programs for AN'03, and my coach says I am sure to do plenty better than I did last year.

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This space has been put on hiatus for retuning....

There has been some typically ignorant, opinionated and ill-informed comment about me earlier in this thread (thankyou Mrs Redboots), so I thought you might like to hear my dance coach's point of view.

I'd never have dared enter a competition if he didn't encourage me. He comes from Eastern Europe, where there are no tests, only competitions. His view is that competitions provide good experience. You have a goal to work towards and get experience of performing in public. I am naturally useless at competitions (never did them as a kid), get very nervous, and it is hell for me. But with every competition, I push my marks up one or two points and gain more confidence.

This was an Adult Dance competition, designed to encourage adult skating. I learnt as an adult but almost all the other competitors in my classes had skated and tested to a high level as children. I don't have the knee bend, extensions and body lean of a kid thirty years younger (!) and this will always keep my marks down. But I was actually very pleased with my showing. I spent several months working intensively on the dances (which I already knew) and did every dance with full speed and full pattern and all the elements (clean fast three-turns with check, Blues Choctaw on correct edges) which even some of the children can't do. My Silver Samba was poor for me as I got nervous, and I was disappointed, but after my Blues, two people I respect came up and complimented me on it "That was a good Blues" and "That was the best I have seen you skate".

And the reason that I left early was because I was tired out with nerves, and couldn't be bothered to wait five hours for my next class (competing is VERY time-wasting)

Alice

I don't know your particular situation, but Mrs Redboots made some valid observations about skating/testing up. I regularly see skaters who have either decided to skate up, or else there must have been a star in the north when they passed their latest test. Many of them choose to compete, there is a lot of boasting & blustering about how they expect to win competitions, their perfect technique, yada yada yada. Since they have already set themselves up for failure, there is then much boo-hooing & mood swinging when they place poorly. These skaters have often been around for awhile & have had opportunity to measure the competitive standards. Whether it's due to unrealistic vs realistic expectations, poor judgement or something else, it can often create an unpleasant experience for both the skater & the other competitors.

Kathy, sounds like she should have been in Masters. That aside, adult skaters that are former competitive skaters are often accused of sandbagging. I think it's really more to do with the fact that due to them learning all the skills years ago and just brushing them off, they don't *look* like they should be in the adult comps. They're usually more fluid, less choppy, and not as timid. (I'm not knocking adult skaters in any way but we've all seen what I'm talking about. It's not anything they can necessarily help or overcome although time usually takes care of the worst of it. ) Former comp. skaters usually come back and make it back most of the way but not all. I for one will never do another triple and that's alright by me, lol. I'd probably be accused on sandbagging myself just because I'm comfortable with skating.

The woman you competed against no doubt needed to be in Masters, but if that level wasn't offered it would make more sense to compete at an adult level instead of with the standard seniors. I'm sure you didn't like the idea of competing against her any more than she would have liked competing against the seniors there. It's all relative. And it may appear that she's well known for doing what she did, but she may not be sandbagging, she may be simply skating her best and her best is, unfortunately for her competitors, really really good. Next time, though, you really need to see why she's not in there with the Masters. If that level is offered and she's not entering it, then there is a totally legit complaint.

I do sympathize witht the lack of competitions for Masters level skaters. I myself could not compete in interpretive because there was not one skater entered in my level or THE ONE ABOVE IT. I was not offered the option of skating against bronze ladies but had the offer been made, I would have declined it. Even though I am just one level above them, I feel it would not have been fair.
These rules are what we adults fought for! In the beginning I could have skated against a 65 year old beginner or an 18 year old Senior tester. So while I sympathize with the lack of competitions, I cannot agree that skating down is "kosher" as we say in NY.

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Warm Regards,
Kathleen

"It is never too late to become what you might have been."
George Eliot

Plus, what would be the value of skating down a level, other than to ensure you win the $1.49 medal? What do you learn from such an experience? The way I see it, if I skate down a level, then I'd be expected to win, which would put more pressure on me. If I indeed won, the reaction would be "well of course, he's a higher level", and if I lost, then that would be devastating. Better to skate up a level if you can. The pressure will be off, it's not as big a deal if you don't place high, and you get the experience of competing against higher level skaters.

I think that a possible solution for the Masters skater without competition is an exhibition. I used to help run a large local competition and this is what we used to do if we had a skater that couldn't otherwise be accomodated. It is not the same as a competition but at least the skater gets the opportunity to skate his/her program in front of an audience.

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Warm Regards,
Kathleen

"It is never too late to become what you might have been."
George Eliot

ITA Mazurka. I think a lot of skaters who do the boo-hooing and complaining really don't take a hard look at themselves and what they need to do to improve. They have an unrealistic view of how they perform, and think they deserve a higher placement

This is why I would highly recommend that anyone who competes to buy the video of their competition sometime and watch it. It's a great training tool. When I started competing, I regularly placed about 6th or 7th in a field of 10 or 11 ladies. I would always wonder why I didn't place better, because I FELT like I had skated so well, and had similar elements to other ladies who placed above me.

Than I watched the videos.

Then I saw that how I FELT on the ice...I felt fast, extended, like i had good posture, like I had good presentation...was NOT reality! How things FEEL and how things ARE are very different. So I took a long hard look at what I needed to do to improve, and what I needed to do to place higher. I started to fix my weaknesses, and now I place higher. And when I look at the video, I don't cringe..at least not as much as before!

peachstatesk8ter, it's interesting that you think this view. I find that many of the former competive skaters tend to be in Gold, Novice, Junior and Senior and have a pretty realisitic view of what they can and can't do, and how they place. With the exception of one incident at AN from I think 3 years ago, I've personally heard few complaints of sandbagging from the AN competitors from Gold up to Senior. I have heard more complaints of sandbagging from the Bronze-Silver levels. But I I think like many posters said earlier, I think most of those competitors are trying really hard to pass the tests and move up a level, but have trouble with certain elements that prevent them from passing. So unfortunately they get wrongfully acccused of sandbagging. Just my observations.

And it's easy enough to do - in dance, you sometimes see skaters who you think surely must be sandbagging when they skate the lowest-level class quite beautifully. Then you learn that, in fact, they have enormous trouble skating backwards, and are totally outclassed when they do enter the class above as well....

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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!