I passed!

And it was a relatively high pass. I only received one mark of 2.5 from one judge. The rest were all above the passing average. Majority of 2.7s, but some 2.8s and 2.6s thrown in for good measure. Not a single mark below 2.5!

It was helpful that the panel took a short break between the group before mine, because we got a 10 minute warm up. I warmed up with skaters testing pre juv moves. And I went last. I ended up going through every move during the warm up and then taking my skates off while the first two went (I get terrible pins and needles when nervous).

I skated about as well as I can, given the nerve level, and I held it together pretty well. During the first move, my underpush wasn't great and I could have been on a deeper edge, but it was ok.

The backward perimeter was better, but I had some toepick noise after doing the crossovers around the end. Only on the first stroke though.

Power 3s aren't a real strong move for me, so I was thrilled at how they turned out. My axis was steady and I didn't miss any steps. They definitely aren't full of "attack" but I knew that already. My FS coach says they are like figures almost, but that how my moves coach taught them to me and it worked so whatever!

I usually don't have trouble with the crossovers to back edges and this went smoothly. I got my nicest comments on that,about my flow, edges, power and line.

Gawd, after the first side of the 5 step, I was like "am I done now" and soooo wanted to stop. I didn't obviously. For me, they were decent. Mohawks a bit choppy, the 4th step a bit weak but they were ok. Probably the weakest overall.

I didn't have to reskate anything, so that was good because I wanted off after the last move.

One thing that helped me was stopping to get words of encouragement from coach between moves and take a sip of my water. Also, I made myself stand there and take at least two or three deep breaths before beginning. Finally, I smiled.....intermittently.

So yeah, I figure I should budget at least two years for silver, because I have sooo much to learn and I know very little of the test. But for now, my next task is bronze free.

Congratulations!!!!

Testing sure does seem nerve racking...

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

Congratulations!

__________________
Terri C is a Bronze lady!
Gold Moves, here I come!

Congratulations, Hannahclear!!! Sooooo jealous!!!

Your comments with Bronze moves are a LOT like mine!!! Scary similar!!! (But since you passed, let's hope the same applies to me!!!)

Now to *get on* a test session...

__________________
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!!!

Congratulations! That is wonderful news!

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

Good job!!!

__________________
Recycle Love - Adopt a homeless pet

Congratulations!!! Soooooo jealous!!

I'm glad to hear this is how you did them -- I can't do this move with any Power but if I do it like a figure it is fine... I wish I could have YOUR judges!!!

__________________
Is Portland the only city with it's own ice-dance website? http://www.pdxicedance.net/

Well, be careful with that assumption. Only Hannahclear (and her judges and her coach) knows what her power 3's looked like, and based on her posts about what she's working on and how long she's been skating (and getting marked 2 tenths above the passing average on most of the moves - were Power 3's one them?), I'd say she's selling herself a bit short. Although "power" was changed to "continuous flow and strength", most judges basically use the same standard that they use to judge the kids (and the move is called Power 3's, after all). If you are slow and do not generate power, speed, flow, etc, you will almost definitely receive a deduction and comments - I did at one of the test sessions I did (see my siggy). It's possible that the judges in your area might be more forgiving of an adult skater and really not expect the level of power they are used to seeing in this move (and I've seen that happen), but that's a big chance to take. You're much better off improving the power in this move to be at the level of the standard track, so you can pass the move w/o any worries.

__________________
Terri C is a Bronze lady!
Gold Moves, here I come!

CONGRATULATIONS, HANNAH!

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

Yayyy! GREAT job!

__________________
--renatele

Congrats! Way to go!

CONGRATULATIONS!

__________________

YAY, HOORAY, CONGRATULATIONS!

Sounds like you passed with flying colors by the sounds of your marks! That's really great!

Isn't it interesting how there's part of the rink where it's really hard to be seen by the judges (the far end of the rink on the same side as the judges). I hadn't realized this until I came around the bend after the first end pattern in one of the moves and was thinking, hey, where are the judges?

__________________
Ask me about becoming a bone marrow donor.
http://www.marrow.org
http://www.nmdp.org

Congratulations Hannahclear!!

indulge in chocolate, and drink champagne! you deserve it!

YAY!!!! Congratulations!!!!!

Now sprinkle some of that bronze moves dust around for those who need a blessing. . . and you know who you are. . .

Congrats!! Always so satisfying to be marked above what's necessary!! (doesn't happen often, for me anyway.)

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Please let us know which elements received which marks.. so we can coordinate them with your comments on how you felt you did.

Good luck with Bronze FS! And we should be seeing you at 2007 AN!

Since quite a few of us are still working on Bronze Moves Test... I'm gonna hijack Hannahclear's old thread! (Hope you don't mind, Hannahclear!)

Okay, anyone has any tips for having the stamina to get thru the test? I found this morning that I essentially had NO energy after the second or third move! By the time I got to the 5 step mohawks, all I wanted to do then was just to crawl in this little corner and COLLAPSE!!!

Yes, Thin-Ice! I have been doing double runthrus in practice!!! But it's gonna take quite a while before I can build up to even doing one set w/o feeling like collapsing!!! I'm having trouble with just getting thru singles and by the time I get to the second on the two runthru, I'm ready to drop!!!

What seems to help some... BEND KNEES!!! Not in terms of getting more stamina, but in terms of not having to work so hard on pushing on the edges but still be able to move thru the patterns very quickly.

Okay, it's possible also that I'm burning the candles at both ends b/c of my job too as of late! I suspect other things too, but ummm... I don't want to do a TMI...

Other notes: As you have seen in the lesson/practice thread, secondary coach play "nit-picky judge" today... and it wasn't too bad this time around! Though obviously I still have a lot to work on to make this move "perfect." As I was going thru the moves today, I noticed that my notes got ummm... more critical as I went down further thru the test. I knew then that I better build up the stamina to take the test. The moves itself is pretty good, but I want "extra insurance" for this round on testing.

__________________
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!!!

A BIG CONGRATS TO YOU! WAY TO GO GIRLFRIEND!!!

Here is an off-ice exercise suggestion.

Do short intervals and give yourself only about 1 to 1 1/2 minutes of recovery time. For example....

1 minute light weight lifting (dumbbell chest press for example), then a 5-10 second break, followed by

1 minute cardio (walking on treadmill, elliptical trainer, stairmaster, etc), then a 5-10 second break, followed by

1 minute of a different type of light weight training or core training (abs), then 5-10 second break, followed by

1 minute cardio.

After you've done 3 non-cardio/cardio combinations back to back, take a 60-90 second break, then start over again.

For example:

-- 1 minute treadmill at 9% grade, medium speed, followed by
-- 1 minute "head-bangers" triceps curls, followed by
-- 1 minute stationary bike at 185 watts, followed by
-- 1 minute press-up (like a bridge, but using forearms instead of palms; hold for 20 seconds, then 10 second break, hold for 20 seconds, then 10 second break, hold for 20 seconds), followed by
-- 1 minute step-ups on a 4-6 inch block, followed by
-- 1 minute lat pull-downs, followed by
-- 1 minute stairmaster, followed by
-- 1 minute medicine ball abs curl-ups

now, 1 1/2 minute break. Then repeat the whole series. then another 1 1/2 minute break, and a 3rd repeat of the whole series.

You may well be exhausted at first, but after about a month or so of doing this once a week, you should see an improvement in your stamina.

The idea is to get the heart into the aerobic level, and do only partial recovery during the break before taking it back up again.

__________________
American Waltz... Once, Twice, ???? ...

Q: How many coaches does it take to fix Jen's Dance Intro-3 Problems
A: 5 and counting...

In addition to double runthrus, have you tried doing additional half or full patterns after you've done two runthrus, to work on anything that needs refining, which also will work on stamina? Also, if you're doing any freestyle program practice, 4 laps of stroking after every program runthru (and if you're not working on an FS program right now, then periodically throughout the session, add in laps of stroking for stamina?)

For some reason the 5 step mohawk pattern has always made me more winded than any of the other patterns....

__________________
Ask me about becoming a bone marrow donor.
http://www.marrow.org
http://www.nmdp.org

I warm up with about 3 laps around the rink, sometimes 4 laps at the beginning of the session to warm up the legs and get myself to wake up. Then I do my double run thrus, then whatever moves that needs refining.

I am currently not doing much FS program practice b/c I'm "in-between programs." (Read: I really want to get to my Bronze FS test program, but right now I'm too busy just to get thru the moves stuff!) In fact, my "reward" of sorts for going thru all the moves stuff IS to practice my jumps and spins (assuming I have time and energy at the end of the session...) When I've passed my Bronze Moves test, THEN I will have to reevaluate how best to organize my skating practice for the next test(s).

__________________
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!!!

Another suggestion:

Try setting a stopwatch to say 2 minutes or 3 minutes (or have coach do it), then skate around the rink as fast as you can for that amount of time. Don't try to go for "nice extension," just on keeping the legs moving as quick as possible for the full 2 or 3 minutes.

__________________
American Waltz... Once, Twice, ???? ...

Q: How many coaches does it take to fix Jen's Dance Intro-3 Problems
A: 5 and counting...

How long are you waiting between each move? Someone told me this before my Gold MIF test and it saved me. It's not a race, so you should take you time in between moves to catch your breath and let your heart rate come down. This is especially important when you throw in test nerves.

Try "pacing" yourself the next time you run through them and see if it helps. It worked for me!

Also, check your breathing. It is very common for athletes and performers to hold their breath without knowing it--especially if they're nervous. If you're truly sucking wind at the end, you need more oxygen (duh!). If you believe you are breathing well throughout the whole program, then maybe think about building greater lung capacity with yoga or qi gong breathing exercises.

Good breathing will not only help your wind, but also keep your muscles strong longer. Not to mention, calm the nerves.

Good luck!
Julie