Yay for passing bronze moves!! That's my next test, or its going to be Bronze Freestyle. Not sure which one my coach wants me to do. We are working on my program right now.

Congratulations!!!

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Cool! But, how are you going to test freestyle without passing moves first? I'm not ready for the free yet. Backspin is nice and solid now, but sitspin isn't there and loop is shaky.

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It's all about the dress!

YAY!!! Congratulations!!

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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

3 falls? Sounds like me at Golden West, LOL! Except *I* didn't have any excuse! Good for you not backing down from the mental battle, even though you knew your body wouldn't be its normal self. If you can do that, you'll be in good shape for Regionals!

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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

CONGRATULATIONS!

You aren't allowed to take a freestyle test until you have passed the moves test at the same level, so you will most definitely do the Bronze MIF first.

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First of all some non skating news once sgain...I PASSED my National Ceritifcation exam for massage therapy. That means I can pretty much practice anywhere in the USA...YAY. So I celebrated that by coming to lunch skate. Here we go:

Apples:
Brackets were wonderful today! They're feeling so smooth and almost easy for me.
Double Threes were nice as usual..it's fun pairing them with brackets.
Artisic move thingy that looks like a spread eagle, but not exactly...very pretty..I added some arms and head movements.
Shoot the duck into a catch foot...nice smooth transition
Scratch spins were good as always as were sit spins
Had two REALLY REALLY good laybacks(I'm not usually that comfortable with that spin, but those two instances felt like magic)
Backspins were better than usual..I actually did a layback and then stepped into a back sit....it worked!!!
Broken leg spin...has to be one of my favorites...I can never complain about it
Waltz, single sal, toe loop,flip and loop were all very nice today.
Had some really really close 2sal attempts. I apparently land 'cleanly' mind you on the wrong foot...not sure why. I did have one instance where I landed on the correct foot..but then fell. Honestly, today I fixed a major problem that I was doing previously...so I can't complain.
Overall, I really worked hard today and feel that it paid off
Falling leaf/stag/loop sequence was fun


Pears(hehe, I have to create a 'eh' catagory):
Spirals weren't all that bad, but I need more speed getting into them...that's what scares me to be honest.
Programme runthroughs weren't all that good..I kept forgetting exactly how the music went. Since it wasn't a freestyle session, I had to rely on the music in my head..which isn't always a good thing.

Oranges:
Lutzes were terrible today. I kept rushing into it and not only that I just kept double footing it.
Camel spins just weren't good...at all. I tried a couple attempts and gave up.
Chickened out once again on the axel. For some reason I kept continously working on the 2sal.
I currently feel like I had one too many glasses of wine..hehe. Leg muscles are killing me.

I guess that's it. Overall I had good session today!!

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[i]Beauty May Be in the Eye of the Beholder
But passion is in the heart of a skater.[/I]

Done!!!

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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!!!

Liz_on_ice: CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!! YAY!!!!!!!!!!

Non-skating note: I passed my healthcare provider CPR class, so that's another think knocked off my pre-clinical checklist! Tomorrow I get some bloodwork done (routine, non-routine stuff for my gastro doc and then some titers to prove I've been immunized against some diseases when younger which I do need for my checklist).

Skating note: went to freestyle, but didn't have time for dinner, as I left straight from school (after an exam on cellular enzymes & metabolism). And it was cold, I was cold blech! Worked on my moves, almost had a collision or two but I was nice about it-gave a polite "excuse me" and they scooted...the 3rd time I just said "beep-beep" which got some laughs. The young girls were playing on the ice (that ticks me off).

I'm getting better at keeping my free foot tucked at my heel when I'm doing the back edge on the waltz-8. It does make it easier! It also makes it easier keeping my arms tighter against my body.

Couldn't scratch spin very well...not sure why. Backspins were great! Did an awesome one, counted my loops/whirls and got 8.

Only did a few jumps. Actually got some height on my loop-my friend swears that I got more than 2 inches off the ice tonight LOL!

Club meeting was taking place during the session, rumor has it that there will be a test session in December! AND, we have a new rink manager, some man from Michigan (no name yet, he starts on Monday) who used to be a pairs skater and is very pro-figure skating, hockey, programs etc. So, we will see how things go....stay tuned is all I can say for now!

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

Lol, that's exactly the response I was expecting to get from you! Oh well, better for us to have our splatfests at our respective competitions rather than regionals/AN!

I just wish I had a picture of me sitting on the ice, shrugging my shoulders and holding my arms out at the judges with my "Ummm I can't get up, do you wanna stop the music" face on

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Youtube Videos

Apples: I did an actual back spin!!! (one rev I felt the sweet spot!). After that I was so excited, I kept twizzling, but not as far in length. I even did a change of foot spin.

Sit spin = awesome! I got my free leg parallel to my bent knee and pointed my toe. It keeps getting better and better.

Figured out how to get my entrance to my spins and camel so much better!

Learned how to do a falling leaf. That's a ton of fun!

I hope this progress keeps going!

YAY! You'll have it in no time!

I think I did (weeny) change foot spins before really backspins. Now that I have the backspin, I'm trying to do the good change foot spin.

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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)

Its all in the pivot! If I do too small of one or not long enough, I twizzle. That happens more often than not. But last night I did a nice one with my leg crossed over in the back spin...twizzle, thingy do hicky. LOL!

That makes sense, because that straight-line motion happens when your blade is flat, or bouncing back and forth on the edges.

A good pivot should get you deeper onto the edge that is essential for making the spin round, and hopefully centered. (But I'm happy even if I get a traveling set of circles- as long as they are circles!)

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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)

Change-foot spins do help with the backspin, I've found out. I get super-dizzy but still work on them when I can (not sure why I get so dizzy doing these-I'm going in the SAME direction).

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

Make sure you're upright with your spine straight once the speed builds up. (Shoulders and spine make a "T")

If you allow that spine to twist or bend, you're working against the spin direction, which throws off balance and can make you dizzy. I also teach skaters to backspin facing forward - turning the head to one side or another makes the skater dizzy. Save that move for after you've mastered the spin.

I will go skating...I will go skating...I will go skating today. (Almost done with my work for the day. Started it last night.)

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I am also going skating again today! All the progress I have made this week has motivated me and I am really loving it right now! Tomorrow will be my day off, then Saturday, 3hrs of skating! So excited.

thanks for the tip; I'm fairly sure I'm upright, although a rumor has circulated the rink that I do pitch forward from time to time.....
I'm not skating today.....I have homework, a research paper to start, and music lessons.....I'm winding down from my personal storm I've been on getting things together for the nursing acceptance package. BUT I will skate tomorrow!!!!

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

Lessons yesterday. Sit spin is coming along, yay! for spinning lessons. Backspin still inconsistent.

With primary coach: One great runthrough, without music, with a GREAT change-foot spin that just sailed. One terrible runthrough with music, in which I missed just about everything! <sigh>

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

Apples Had my lesson tonight instead of tomorrow. Going out of town for a girls' weekend We worked on the 5 Step Mohawk pattern. Coach was very happy with the progress I've made on it. Also worked on the back landing pattern. She is happy with that also, but would like to see a little more power on the pushes. I always feel like the 3rd one is a bit slower/off, but Coach said it didn't seem slower and looked fine to her.

We ran through my program minus the footwork part(will be spend most of our time on that at the next lesson). Coach was pretty happy with it....

Oranges except for my crappy sit spin. In my efforts to get low, I was barely getting 3 revs. Normally, I can do 5. Also struggling with the flip again today. I'm going to pick up another lesson a week so I can get more help on individual elements as well as working on the Moves and Free Skate tests.

Oranges: meant to go skating at school rink on Tuesday, only to get halfway there and realize I'd forgotten to bring my wallet and it was still at work. Being as they know me, they might've let me in anyway and just let me pay next time, but as I wasn't sure I didn't want to finish the journey.

So I went yesterday instead. Bit busy again this time (the guy told me afterward that it's been more on the busy side this year). One of the kids there apparently knew a thing or two about skating and kept asking me questions. It was annoying. I mean, there I was on the wall trying to figure out backward 3-turns and she comes over: "is there some stuff you're afraid to do? You shouldn't be scared, just do it." Yeah, easy for you to say. You're probably half my age and if you break a bone, it'll heal easier AND you won't be the one paying for it or taking time off work for it. I definitely didn't need the "help" from the peanut gallery, geez. I'm discouraged enough right now, and self-conscious enough, that I don't need any help. Plus I wanted to use the time to practice, not chit-chat about what my coach's name is.

So, yeah. Still discouraged. Still wouldn't be able to figure out a backward 3-turn to save my life. Forward 3-turns, backward crossovers, and everything else still so-so.

Still very discouraged. I've just hit a plateau, and at a very boring point. You know, that spot where you're not the person wobbling around the rink holding onto the wall, and you're not the person who just skates around and around the rink for fun, but you're also not a "real" skater. So you feel embarrassed at the rink because you don't fit in anywhere. Some days I just don't want to go to the rink. I make myself do it and I do have fun skating, but I wish there would be SOMETHING I'd be good at. I could stand sucking at everything else if I could just fall back on a good spin or something to have fun with and make me feel better about myself.

Apples: spins were okay but not great. I'm starting to almost get an idea of where the sweet spot might be--I think I hit it a couple times-- and got a couple revs out of a couple one-foot spins (I'm definitely better when going clockwise).

My new class with the folks I think of as my "rink buddies" starts tomorrow night...and as my mom is coming to visit this weekend, she'll be coming to at least one of my classes. So that'll be fun.

[Apples]
Everything is apples today!!!

I had my first lesson with coach!!!!! We did moves (I was given a new nick name that is inappropriate to share, but was also told to NOT think about it during my test otherwise I'm going to start laughing in the middle!!) which went well...I am FINALLY starting to get the power pulls!!!

Then we did freestyle and I did a clean-ish program (slight issue on the camel/back sit, which doesn't surprise me due to the fact that they went to crap on Tuesday) and landed 3 double sals!! (I haven't landed a double sal since I sprained my ankle).

My double toes were VERY close today too...

I haven't had that much fun in a while

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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

This is for my ice skating lesson and practice Tuesday and Yesterday

Tuesday

Orange:
Inside 3s were shaky.
Jumps: toe loop and salchow (they were definitely off.) My coach and I were both not happy.
Program: definitely off. Coach wondered if everything was alright with me.
Backspins: still cannot get past the 1 revolution.


Apples: ISI freestyle level 2 dance step. They were fun.
Learnt the inside mohawk on the left.
Crossovers were not too bad.
Change foot spin so-so.
Did the 3 forward sculling followed by 4 forward slaloms.

I know that I did not leave the rink happy on Tuesday, as my skating was pretty crap that day, due to lack of sleep.


Yesterday

Apples:
Getting more speed for my forward and backward crossovers.
Did the 3 forward sculling followed by 4 forward slaloms. These are my favourites.
Waltz jump: coach said not too bad. Trying to correct that I should look at where I was jumping, not where I was landing.
Change foot spin: not too bad, consistent now, with the right outside 3 turn entry position. Had a few good scratch spins too, where I hit the sweet spot, and got about 6 to 10 revolutions.
Sit spin: coach said that entry position is actually better, probably comes from me practising loads of scratch spins. Coach said that my sit spin is now stable, what I need to do is to practise and to try and get down lower. Was leaning towards the wrong side.
Ran through program once: coach was happy, I was happy, timing was correct, finally looking like something.

Oranges

Well, the damn backspin still sucks. I can cross my left foot, but the most that I got is only 1 rev. Also could not feel my sweet spot on the left skating boots. Arrgggghhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Sit spins: trying to practise getting down lower after the lesson, and ended up sitting on the ice 4 times.

Toe loop: forgot the glide before the 3 turn, and before the jump. Hopefully will be much better during next Tuesday's lesson.

My kiddie friends only skates about once a week now, due to heavy workload from school.

londonicechamp

I did this several times. My coach wanted me to get low and fall. However, this was EXTREMELY beneficial for me to learn how to bend at the ankle AND get lower and finally know what it feels like. I now am able to get past the 90 degree mark. It took some time, but it will happen for you too! Now my coach and I are working on me not having so much of a rounded back, which we worked on this past Wednesday. I also am please to report I am now pointing my toe on my free leg and raising it higher. I used to scratch the ice with it. I am geeked for sit variations!

That's a total Janet Lynn moment. Except your'e too young to know who that is. Heck, I'm too young to know who that is, but it was the only book about any ice skater the public library had when I was a kid.

Oranges-->I like them much better than apples. In fact, I love oranges, so they will be my good category: Had a good lesson today. I'm joining Kim in the "junior moves power pulls progress" club, because they're getting so much better. Especially when I focus on NOT doing the "ex synchro skater" habit of putting my arms up (thus pulling my shoulders up and not staying down in my knee), and remember to keep everything pressed down.

Pears: (Need a blah category, too). Choctaws are getting better, but I hate them. Now at least I'm doing real choctaws, its' just hard to keep the hip open and my weight over the skating leg.

Made a minor axel breakthrough. Fixed my takeoff and now it's much better, but it's still two-footed. Need to get over the "don't wanna fall" mental block and just suck it up and check out of the thing on one foot.

Apples: ran my program, it was bad. Huge huge huge mess. And lutzes were awful today.

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