I know last week's thread technically runs through today, but with it being Monday I thought I'd start a new one.

Marvellous: My son and I had the entire ice rink all to ourselves for an hour and 1/2 today. What fun!

Hideous: Brackets, but that's my usual sob story lately .

Actually, nothing has been marvelous lately. I'm the most program challenged person on earth. My coach's comment today......"that was horrible". Hey, what do you expect from an old lady at 6:00am? I'm the queen of excuses. Marvelous at that!!!

Hideous: Program.........start to finish (choreography was just finished last week...........and I'm still not jumping or doing flying spins, so you'd think what is left would be excellent........sigh)

Marvelous: I decided to try a lutz today to see how my back could take it. The jump felt GREAT!!!! The back stayed the same, so that is good news too. I'm not out of the woods, but hopefully I can start jumping a little bit (my doctor wants me to try). Yay!!!!!

Hideous: My memory!! Two more lessons till test day, so hopefully I can get the steps pounded into my head by then. I had them going pretty well, but the last two lessons we've done the dances in actual partner position, and I'm concentrating so hard on being in the right place that my feet don't know what to do anymore. Overall, I just didn't feel like I had good rhythm today, either. RFO threes have decided to fly the coop again, as well.

And, I can't WAIT until July when I am on dance sessions, instead of dodging skaters who are doing jumps and spins.

Marvellous: Open and closed mohawks are doing quite nicely. Patterns feel good by themselves, so I just have get over the partnering issue.

Hideous:

Jumps...all of them. My timing was completely off, even on my trusty salchow. I am frustrated but not surprised...when other matters in life are stressful for me, it's going to show up in my skating, and in my jumps first. I will be glad when this period of madness passes in school.


Sit spin sucked today. What's new.


Marvellous:

Other Spins! I must get my hands on a digital camera so I can take some pics of my spin tracings...they are more centered than ever. My camels were ok, not as fast as last week but still good. Coach says I finally have the layback now, and we played around with camel/layback combinations.

I can't quite figure out why these two spins came so easily to me, and before the sit spin.

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All that glitters has a high refractive index.

Hideous:
I swear! As soon as I have one element, something else must go. Sit spins went far, far away today (and yesterday... and Friday). I really don't know why, either. Lesson on Wednesday, hopefully will figure it out then. 5-step mohawk sequence wasn't quite as clean as it needs to be, but nothing major.

Marvellous:
Loop is incredibly consistant, flip is getting there. Dances feel great, just need to add arms for the competition and perfect little things.
The best thing though: One of the ladies at Coffee Club helped with my lutz edge. Once I got that down, I thought well, why not try a half lutz? So I did the approach and all, picked, and accidentally basically landed a full lutz. I was so excited! I've never been comfortable on half jumps, full revs just come more easily. I completely surprised myself on this one, and the best part is I have witnesses!

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"Without a struggle, there can be no progress" ~ Frederick Douglass

Mmmm .... in group lesson the coach who taught us (ours was off) is actually further down the test stream than me!! This WOULDN'T be a problem except that they are treating me like a beginner when they KNOW what I can do ......

I'm still not addicted, I'm still not that bothered! The will is there but everything else is very weak

Hoping that things are a bit better this week

x

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The best whisper is a click

I don't think I've skated for about 2.5 weeks! Not writing up a lesson/practice here, but just wanted to say that when I was stretching yesterday, I went into the spiral position and looked back and my leg was way higher than normal!! I've never really been able to get my free leg much above parallel (maybe a tiny bit, that's it) but yesterday, it was nearly a foot higher!! Maybe my stretching's finally paying off Just have to see if that happens when I'm on the ice now...

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

Lesson was rather low key as I wasn't feeling like the energizer bunny.

Hideous - my coordination!! I am so not visual when it comes to skating.

Marvellous - made up some ground on my salchow, actually felt the leg go around the body.

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

Lesson this morning:

Marvellous: Waltz jump gets ever longer and ever higher. I have a feeling that this will end up being my signature jump.

Hideous: My salchow. Seems I took a step backwards. I am not gliding on my edge after the 3 turn and as a result I don't kick my right leg through properly. This will take work.

Spins. Today was the first time I have actually tried the correct entry into a spin from the back crossover. It was different and rather entertaining. This will take time as well, especially with the shoulders.

Had a blast anyway...

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Keeping School Figures Alive!!

miss indigo, i can do camels, laybacks and back/front sit and flying sit, but still no forward upright spin. i feel your pain.

I have no doubt that I will probably have a respectable flying camel before I do a respectable sit. My forward upright spin is great and my backspin isn't bad...but still no sit.

Different things come to different people at different times, I suppose. *sigh*

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All that glitters has a high refractive index.

Don't know if this is considered Marvellous or Hideous but... yesterday I was having trouble with my sit spin. (My legs were very sore from the weekend and could barely walk above a leisurely pace.) I fell from trying for a sit spin entry yesterday. Not a problem for me... not even a bruise. But it sure got the attention of a lot of skaters out there since they rarely see me fall (much to the chergrin of my coach...)

One skater said about my fall: "You looked like you were going to take a dive into the ice when you were falling."

I told my coach about it and he said "YAAAY!!! Jazzpants took a fall!!!" I told him "Not just from doing something stupid too. I was trying to be more daring and aim for a lower sit spin too. He goes "YAAAAY!!!!"

Guess if I do this enough it's a Marvellous! (Shows I'm taking more chances on the ice.)

Next stop...HYDROBLADE!!! There's been a lot of skaters these days trying for a hydroblade. So far I have the edge and speed to go for it, but I've been too chicken to get down further into the ice because I was afraid of falling. I think I'm gonna go for it since I'm already down on the floor and the worse it'll happen is that I'm crash right into another skater (and making sure it's a REALLY empty session before I try it will take care of that!) Of course, if you have hydroblade horror stories...

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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!!!

Well, you wouldn't have that far to fall, would you? My coach tries to use that logic on me to get me to go for the shoot-the-duck position sit spin...granted, it doesn't always work...

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All that glitters has a high refractive index.

Marvellous: Actually, everything, which is nice for a change! RFO threes are still borderline, but were closer to Marvellous than Hideous today. A few bumps with coach on the Fiesta, but we got into the right rhythm after a few rounds. Coach said Willow was excellent today, and all three dances should do just fine at test day on Thursday. Most of the lesson was spent nitpicking, which is just fine with me -- means I have the essentials down, and we have time to give everything a little extra touch.

Primary coach went as far as showing a shoot-the-duck and then falling (more like sliding) on his butt on the ice to prove his point. Nope! Still chicken about it! Though for some reason, I'm more willing to try shoot the duck while going backwards. (You would THINK that it's more dangerous since you can't see what's behind you while you're in the position, right?)

The other thing that's weird -- I'm more willing to go for a shoot-the-duck when doing a sit spin than just a straight shoot-the-duck. For some reason it's easier on the knees. (Anyone have a theory why this is so?)

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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!!!

For hydroblading, try having someone hold on to either side of you to get the hang of it. I learned how to hydroblade a few years ago by holding on in a synchro line.

You asked .......

With my ex dance partner we had a hydroblade in our free dance (you can see it on MY (out of date) WEBSITE . Effectively we're skating backwards, he is behind me and we're quite close together (he does a fantastic hydroblade, mine isn't so good ). Anyway ..... we're going fairly well, he loses his balance slightly, kicks me in the calf of the skating foot whereupon I fall backwards and impale my thigh on his toepick!! OUCH!!!

Saying that though, if you fall on it you're SO near the ice that it hardly matters ...... I was too chicken most of the time to 'let go'!

Good luck

x

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The best whisper is a click

Our Senior dancers were working on their hydroblade this morning; first attempt ended up with him shooting off in one direction and her sitting on the ice; second attempt was better, but she doesn't know what she is doing with her free leg as they come out of it, yet, so it's not quite there.

For myself, and for several other skaters who are not usually in on a Wednesday, it was Last Practice before Bracknell. Robert and I were able to run through our Riverside Rhumba together to the music, and he did his solo, too. Then he had to leave, and I got out Jake the Peg and remembered how to skate with him. Ran through that programme in my lesson, plus my original dance, plus my free dance. Coach, of course, has made a last-minute change in my free dance.....

Had to queue for the music every time! And was fouled on the first run-through of my free dance so it all went pear-shaped. But basically, if I skate Jake the Peg and the Original Dance as well as I did today I'll be pleased, and if I skate the Free Dance better than I did at Solihull (which wouldn't be difficult!), I'll also be pleased!

I will be interested to see how Jake does at Bracknell: I've performed him 4 times so far, and he's won twice (in France) and come last twice (in this country). So I am not very hopeful! As for the Improvisation, I've been told who my competition is, and that's a guaranteed last place for me, I am 99% certain. However, I'll have fun, and be out there, and that's the main thing.

At least I'll get a medal for the OD on Friday, since there are only 3 of us dancing it! I'm very unlikely to beat either Batikat or her friend, but will have fun trying! The Free Dance may or may not get anywhere, depending on the competition - it certainly won't come in the top half of the class, though, and I doubt our compulsory dances will, either. I hope we won't come last, but given our Riverside Rhumba, I wouldn't be surprised if we did!

Still, the main thing is to have fun, and I'm sure I'll do that! One cannot control what the judges do, and one cannot control one's opposition; all one can do is skate one's absolute best on the day - and if I do that, and can sustain it over the two days of the competition, and not be knocked out in the first round of the Drawn Partners, I'll be one happy skater!

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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!

You think so? I find that it's harder for me to bend my knee deeply when I'm spinning, fighting centrifugal force. Up and down is easier for me when I simply have to change my center of gravity in linear motion. This is odd because when I think about centrifuging things in lab (to get cells to pellet, for example), I've noticed that if the process didn't pack the material very well in the bottom of the centrifuge tube the material is sticking up in sort of a spiral-shaped pattern...so the circular motion should help.

Ok, I'm getting too technical here...one coach always says I think too much about these things and it holds me back, but what can I do. That's like telling me not to breathe--I looooove the marriage of physics and fun.

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All that glitters has a high refractive index.

My first skate for nearly 3 weeks!

Most things were fine, but I've got a feeling I'm not turning out enough on a simple forward inside mohawk. I seem to put my foot down almost "underrotated", and it was causing some problems on my BO3-mohawk sequence - the circle is too small/tight and I'm not as in control as I'd like to be. Any tips?

Spirals were nice. (Although on my LFO one, I don't think my leg was as high as it was on a flat. Or maybe I'm wrong - after all, I'm facing the wrong way to tell!)

I'm wasn't dropping to the inside on my spins like before, but they were still travelling way too much. I checked all my tracings and the entry edge didn't look as good as before, that's probably a reason why. Very annoying though, as it took me SO long to get a good entry in the first place! I didn't feel in complete control of my body position/movements either. Becca - I tried to think about your tip about pressing on the little toe, but it was really hard! I could feel my weight being on my big toe but I couldn't change it. I got close-ish once, but it was really difficult. I need a lesson...

My waltz jumps were solid, but not as much spring/height as usual. Didn't feel like it, anyway. My salchow was ok but I didn't try any other jumps, apart from a very lovely bunny hop

You know what was strange though? As well as being quite tired/weary, I really felt like I couldn't bend my knees as much as I usually do. It was ok on things like crossovers, but not on anything else. The thought of trying a teapot/shoot the duck or a lunge was... impossible. My knees just didn't want to think about bending that much.

Marvellous thing though - I got a very welcome confidence boost! I met some kids from Uzbekistan, and they (a boy and a girl) both asked how long I'd been skating and then said I was beautiful and I should be in competitions! Yay!

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

That's my cue to tell about breaking my wrist doing shoot-the-duck on rollerskates. OK, so it was a shoot-the-duck war, in which we push each other over. Of course, I got hit right at the beginning and went flying forward. Wrist whacked into the floor, and I woke up at 2 AM knowing something was seriously wrong. That won't be happening again, as I'm now to old and stiff to ever do a shoot-the-duck again

Hideous
I just spent the week sick with a miserable cold. I skated on Mon freestyle anyway, but got winded just doing the spiral stretches. Spins were tilted.

Marvellous
Not much, but power pulls are still improving.

Taught the Mommy & Me this morning, and stayed to skate about 1/2 hour. This time I had a bit more wind, and was able to do the cross stroke pattern and continue working on power pulls. The B are easier than the F, much to my surprise.

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I have also found backward power pulls easier than the forward ones, I think because you won't trip over your toepicks if you're going backwards! Not that I can do them without my coach's help, but anyway...

Marvelous Pretty much everything. My programs have been improving and I can even do my (version of) jumps in my program and still finish on the music. It's fun!

Also Marvelous I've now lost 13 pounds in 7 weeks! Clothes that didn't fit me, now fit, clothes that used to fit me are big, and people are stopping me to tell me I look good! It's very exciting.

Happy skating everyone,
Pat

Congrats!!

June 25

Marvellous: All three partnered run-throughs. Dances felt smooth, and I feel good about them overall. A big "Whew!" before test day tomorrow! I'm ready!

Hideous: Timing wasn't so hot when I soloed the dances. I pretty much got it sorted out though, and it's fine when I'm partnered, so I'm not worried!

Marvelous: Back on the ice after a 1-1/2 week rest to try and heal my aches and pains. Back, knee, hip, and ankle are still tender, but improving. Really wasn't physically ready to come back, but hated to miss the group lessons. I took it very easy.

My girlfriend and I did the Dutch Waltz for the first time together. We both kind of knew the steps. We had to do it across the rink as other lessons were going on in the other 2/3 of the rink. We took very little steps. It took a complete circle of the end to do one pattern.

It will be fun when we finally get a chance to do it on the full rink.

Horrible: I haven't been on the ice in 2 months!!! I miss it SOOOOOOOO much, you have no idea!!

(somewhat)Marvelous: I started an off ice training session which includes running, rollerblading, stretching for an houra day, 45 minutes of pilates and jumproping!