Thanks again.. the image of "slicing off the back of my skating foot" really helped me get the idea of how much closer my feet should be. NOW if I could just get them there without looking at them! But this did improve those blasted back cross-rolls.. I think I just need more practice.. maybe 2-3 years worth... but at least I made progress today.

Remember also to NOT put the toe onto the ice first (so that the back cross-rolls look like a series of "toe pick in, roll onto the edge" manuevers down the ice.

at a minimum you won't have any flow... For the adult silver test, the primary focus for this move is "Continuous Flow and Strength" (which probably could be best described as "power light") and on the Juvenile MIF test the primary focus is Power.

You should be maintaining your rate of movement down the ice, at a minimum.

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Q: How many coaches does it take to fix Jen's Dance Intro-3 Problems
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Thanks.. I have no great desire to trip over my toe picks.. and to be honest, I have the opposite problem. My coach has taught me to flex my foot enough that the toe pick doesn't touch the ice -- and my great fear is I will catch my HEEL as I'm stepping down.

GREAT!!! I get tired of seeing toe-picky back cross-rolls. And for that matter cross-STEPs instead of proper cross-strokes.

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Q: How many coaches does it take to fix Jen's Dance Intro-3 Problems
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That's great to hear!

That's why I find that it works well to point the toes of the foot you're bringing down onto the ice, but to bring it down at 4:00/8:00, i.e., a little to the outside of the other foot. The toe touches first, but then you glide right onto the flat as the foot slides into place and you push off onto the back of the blade. If you don't hear scraping, you'll know you're doing it right.

I don't do doubles, so I'm not sure if my technique will lead to problems later if my body (especially my back and knees!) can take trying to learn doubles. However, it completely got rid of my toe waltzes, so for now for me, it's a good thing. When I pick toward the inside, for me it's at about 7 o'clock (or halfway between 6 and 7) in relation to the print, with 6 meaning directly behind me. (I skate CW, so it would be different for CCW).

Another thing that was hard for me was extending the picking leg just the right amount before picking. When I started, it was very very bent and picking practically under myself, so I had nowhere to go and a really tiny jump. Now I think about a really strong push into the 3 turn, then good check after the 3 turn and reach back (rather than under) for the pick into the jump.

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Camel jump camels are fun, too, flying~camel. I don't really like those too much compared to the f/camel because they kinda whig me out a bit. I do like the layback-jump back sit as well, just have a tough time controlling it sometimes since we started working on it about a month ago.

Flipping edges on spins to outers (forward) or inners (back) really has me stumped. I've only managed to do it by accident a few times so far and always when my coach SEES it, so she thinks I can DO it! Argh!

The pivot toe loop method works really well for the double toe and I know that my take off is clean on it when done correctly. The trick is to make sure to rotate the upper body in the same plane (don't scoop or drop the landing side on the way up) and get all the weight over the picking foot when releasing into the air.

I used to hate BI3s. Now I enjoy doing them as double 3s. I really don't work on the single ones much. If I were to be held back in testing, it would be the axel.

Kay

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Axel axel axel axel axel....it freaks me out so much...and I just can't seem to land it!!!\

Also...backwards 3-turns...,

Oh my god, I'm absolutley DYING to start working on my axel, but it won't be for ages yet, if ever! I really badly want to start it!

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For forward camel switch from BI to BO, bend the skating knee a bit and rock to the back of the blade. You can even exaggerate to do a "kneeling camel". This will put you on an outer. You cannot help it b/c if you catch the pick, you take a dive. The hard part seems to be getting far enough back on the blade to ride the outside edge cleanly. I have yet to work out how to do the back camel to FI edge. I have done it but not predictably.

Kay

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Well, believe it or not, Skate Canada Sr. Bronze Excercise A " Forward Brackets" has got me. The right outside brackets are fine but the left outside are just TOO SCARY . People think im crazy for this and I get comments like " Ohh, brackets are easy" etc.. but definetly not for me. I do think my fear is becuase on the very first time I did the excercise, I took a biggggg fall and It seems like I've had a mind block against that bracket ever since.

I know, me too, I went sideways and splat on my hips and skidded my head on the ice trying that damn jump. I only do it when I feel it is needed (competition).

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Perpetual fits - Back inside edges. Just can't get that initiall push off and rip out of my edges. I get down the axis but the lobes are not even nor anywhere near the radius they are supposed to be.

Recent fits - I lost the consistency in my waltz jump. For the past month I seem to stall perhaps thinking way too much postition etc. and just turn chicken. Toe loop is ok. Any one else with this problem of "unlearning" something.

Suggestions welcome on either or both.

double flip!!!! I hate double flips!!! for me they're sooo inconsistant...one time i'll land one beautifully the next time I'll screw it up I've also got two injuries from them (one knocked out two weeks of training grrr...) its also stopping me passing my novice test @#*@ double flips

Spin... it's always been the darned spin... first two foot, then one foot and next will come alternating one foot spin. *AAARGH*

About 70% of my Novice moves test. The backward perimeter power stroking with FI 3's and BI 3's (especially clockwise!), the spiral pattern (I have no turnout at my hip whatsoever), and I'm not so fond of the bracket-3-bracket pattern either.

Give me swing rocker choctaws or counters any day of the week over that stuff above.

As for jumping. . .not really any jump per se (although my 2lutz needs a lot of work). Mostly it's the huge wrap I have on my 2loop and 2flip. Need to get rid of that.

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I feel your pain Justine, I HATE brackets. The easiest ones for me are forward inside, and my absolute worst are back outside. Like you, I took some rough spills on those and it became a mental thing. For me, rockers and counters, both in higher-level skills, are much easier than brackets.

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FI 3 turns are my current main enemy, I can do them fine if someone holds my hand but disappears when they dont.

My other main enemy is the two footed spin. I can do a two footed back spin perfectly but I cant do a two footed spin with the other foot.

What is giving me serious fits right now this minute is the choreography our coach has given us for our free dance. You want us to do what?????

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double flip is now pretty much consistant now i actually like them now. now i hate double lutzes...I was going to try my novice free this weekend, but that darn double lutz gets in the way

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My inside and outside edges annoy the heck out of me. Everytime I do them, my arms always seem to move in the way and throw me off balance and it drives me crazy!

Some people get this right away, but it took me a really long time to learn to do it at all. For me, the back sit came first. If you try doing a plain back sit and rotating your upper body (most of the men do it this way -- watch Stephane Lambiel) so that your right arm is in front (assuming you skate CCW) and your back arm is behind all the way with your shoulder opened out, you almost always switch. If you're in the right position, it's really easy to maintain the revolutions without slowing down. In my experience, it's almost impossible to do on a forward sit, so just stick with back sits until you get it really good.

For all the spins, too, it also helps to practice doing it on uprights. For a forward upright, pull your free leg in front (like you would if you were oing the forward edges from PP moves). You can't do this on a camel, obviously, but it helps you feel the change. The hardest part, once you learn to do the 3-turn that's required to change edge, is not deepening the edge too much.

Cmales are definitely the harderst. For back camels, it helps to pull the right arm in front (for CCW skaters) and left arm in front for forward camels, though some people do it with both arms behind their back. Also, back camel changes are significantly easier if you're in almost a layover before you change edge. The other trick is not to dip in your back, since most people (myself included) tend to drop their back when they change. Concentrate on arching (even though you'll probably fall more at first).

Basically, it's a lot of practice if it doesn't come naturally. I've been trying them for about 12-18 months (not doing too many a day though), and I can now do the back sit pretty well (at least 5 revolutions, and at the very end of a very long combination spin) all the time and can usually eek out a camel or back camel every day. The furstrating thing is I can usually do a forward camel or a back camel on any given day, but usually not both, and it doesn't seem one is consistently better than the other -- it switches pretty much every two weeks! I'm finally getting to the point where I'm managing them both, though.

i hated the perimeter stroking in pre juv and and novice with the rockers and 3 turns at the end. also the flying camel which i had 2 keep practicing 2 get it for intermediate freeskate