Don't know why I thought of it. Maybe it's because I was playing Black Jack on my husband's cell phone!

Blackjack:

• Loop and flip both made an appearance today!!!
• Bronze moves was okay when I wasn't getting blocked by the other skaters!!!

Bust:

• Backspin didn't make an appearance.
• Sit spin was wimpy for me. My husband took pictures of me doing my sit spin and showed it to me. GAWD!!! My big ol' but is sticking out! The position was okay. (It was definitely a recognizable sit spin!) but I tried to get it lower still and ended up sit spinning with my butt on the ice!!!
• Spirals were kinda wimpy this evening. Hubby was right! I was TIRED!!! (I took a nasty fall doing spirals when I'm tired but kept going anyway. Never again!!!)

__________________
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!!!

blackjack: my dancestep sequence for freestyle four is getting better, finally. that second backward threeturn is getting there!

bust: not in much of a mood to practice anything other than dancestep sequences today...i didn't feel like i had the energy to jump and thus did not really jump at all and didn't spin very much either (even though i desperately need to work on my sitspin. sigh.) i also fell on some turn or other and banged my elbow. owwie.

Blackjack:
My FO threes are definitely getting better. I start by pushing off from the wall to one side of a line and make the turn on the line, coming back to the wall. That's an exercise my husband figured out for me when I was completely blocked on FO threes, and it got me back on track. Today all my FO threes were actually on the line, meaning that I can finally hold off until the top of the lobe instead of turning early. FI threes are also better in that I can now do them on the right sized lobe. I had some good one foot spins today including one of at least four revs. FI Mohawks seem smoother every week. I can still do the power threes.

In general, my skating has really been cooking since last week. I'm working much harder in all my practices, and really enjoying it. Sadly, the enjoyment has been missing for a very long time, but seems to be back to stay. I'm feeling so positive it's almost scary.

Bust:
Still can't check FO three's sufficiently in Prelim alt three pattern, and still chicken out of the FI threes in pattern at the last minute, just touching free foot before the turn. Spirals are just plain sad, and even the placement needs work. Still cannot do the initial FO three in the Prelim power threes pattern.

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Blackjack:
My rocker foxtrot has become marginally consistent, which is good because I'm testing it in a week! I'm trying very hard to not think about the fact that if I pass it I'll be up to pre-gold, which I've wanted for so very, very long--don't need that extra pressure! Plus it's my first time taking it so who knows what the judges will say. On a good day, provided I don't make all the mistakes I *sometimes* make, it should pass.

AND, in anticipation of working on junior free dance, I've been doing lots of twizzle exercises, & I feel like I'm finally understanding them. For the fist time EVER, I can do all my forward twizzles off any edge (never could do the FO ones much at all before). I'm very happy about that!

Bust:
SOOoooooo sick of this rocker! Some days it's hard to keep up the momentum & not let it slide & work on other, more fun stuff instead.

And worst off all, I am so tired of trying to skate dance patterns on freestyle ice which is mostly little kids who don't know how to watch & who don't move much around the ice so they're always in the way! I am constantly having to bail out of whatever I'm doing. We have NO dance ice at my rink, & it's dangerous! Much as I'm looking forward to being on pre-golds, it's not gonna be fun doing patterns of the Blues (almost all backwards) trying not to kill the kiddies in the process. They need to at least start splitting out high & low skaters on different sessions.

blackjack: was able to remember the steps for our show routines <g>; not bad for an old gal!

bust: laid up now with pneumonia! Could not catch my breath at rehearsal on Sunday morning and thought I was going to pass out-went to doc on Monday after breathlessness continued. He also said no skating this week...... well, ya can't skate if ya can't breathe!

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

Blackjack: Landed a double toe
Bust: Fell on a double toe on a flip and a half. Hurt my knee. Flip and a half is at the end of my program and when I fell on it I just didn't stand up and layed on the ice until my music finished. Couldn't walk all night.

Bust: Have a cold, and it's the worst day of it, and despite cold cure I didn't have much energy, so skated very lack-lustre. Did run through a few dances solo, but so slow you'd think my blades were glued to the ice. Plus yet another cut of my music doesn't work.... I think I know how to fix it, but how many CDs does it take to fix my music???? The Mountain Cup is at the beginning of June, dammit....

Blackjack: I did do a couple of patterns of the Fiesta Tango solo, to the music, and didn't slow down, but it was horribly small. So was the Swing Dance, ditto. Sigh..... I hate dancing solo, it's so much easier with a man!

Great excitements, though, just as I was getting ready to go home. On and off through the evening the fire alarm had gone off. The duty manager checked, and said it must be a false alarm (this happens sometimes), and so we all got back on the ice, and the coach who knew how reset it and showed the duty manager how. But it kept on going off, and he kept on resetting it, and we kept on ignoring it.

Then, suddenly, someone came rushing out of the men's loo exclaiming that it was full of smoke.... No wonder the poor fire alarm kept going off! Duty Manager rushed in there with a fire extinguisher, and a moment or two later, he and the coach who'd gone into help came rushing out bearing a smouldering rubbish bin between them. I realised they didn't have a spare hand, so rushed to the nearest emergency exit and flung the doors wide and they ran out with their burden and deposited it on the tarmac. Coach went back to the ice, duty manager dealt with the rubbish, and I went back and finished tying my shoes. Drama over!

But what I still don't understand is this: this coach normally has the bladder capacity of an ant, and he is noted for running into the gents' between lessons - how come he didn't this evening? The whole thing would have been discovered much earlier.

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

That's me! Maybe he limited his fluid intake in an effort stay on the ice longer. I've done that.


Sorry to hear you're down with a cold, but at least it didn't slow down your thinking, which was pretty quick to get you to the door in time to help!

Can you offer me some tips on the SW change of edge in the Fiesta? I'm skating solo and haven't had any instruction on it, just got the steps from a book.

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Blackjack:
I'm beginning to see that my Free programme might actually be possible after all, even at the speed my coach wants and including my nemesis - the 'Loop'.

I actually landed a few of these today - OK so most were not fully rotated so I had to hop the landing but I did at least manage to take off instead of skidding to a halt at that point in the programme!

I still have 2 and a half months before I have to do it in competition so I am hoping it will be properly doable by then. This is a huge breakthrough for me as I have been trying to get this darned loop for 18 months or so - I think I spent the first 8 months just sitting back on my blades in the take-off position wondering how it was even possible to move from that position let alone jump. I guess the answer was that I wasnt really in the proper take-off position at all, just sitting there with my weight in entirely the wrong place. Now I just have to co-ordinate the arms better with the spring up and then work on a bit more speed going into it and checking out of it better. It all looks so easy - but it's so hard! As my coach says - "if it was as easy as it looks you wouldn't need me" - aaahhhhh bless!

Bust:
sit spin - not good today
moves my coach tried to get me to do - think I left my brain at home as I'd get part way down the rink and forget what on earth I was doing and coach would say "Hmmmm! That's different!" Sometimes I think he teaches me just for the laughs!

__________________
'skating is not just a sport - it is an obsession'

Blackjack: Cross strokes. Forward has always been easy and good for me, and I'm finally getting more confident with the placement of my foot for the backward, as well as getting the edge deeper. Still awaiting that beautiful "rip", but I'm happy for what I did do.

Power pulls still coming along but I'm using my arms too much on the forward and not trusting my shoulders to help steer still--you guys were right, backward are easier!!! Rhythm, power, everything I can sustain longer. I am beginning to rip the edges now, so it (literally) sounds like I'm getting my power from the right place.

Bust: Right back inside three turn. Scary, scary, scary. However, I did have decent placement on the 3-turns in the field, so that was good. Now I just want to get the lobes bigger.

And speaking of those 3-turns in the field...the rulebook's diagram shows eight three turns down the long axis of the rink, however my coach told me today that many of the kids when testing will only do 6 lobes of FO-BI or FI-BO turns. I'm concerned because I am trying to train placement for a total of eight turns, starting at the red dot at the upper end of the axis...and I have heard of recent tests (standard MITF track) in my area that have failed with eight three turns because the lobes were too small. I find that kind of puzzling if that's what the rulebook shows. Thoughts, anyone, especially if you've passed either the Pre-Juv test or the Adult Silver MITF?

__________________
All that glitters has a high refractive index.

Make sure you don't use your free leg to change edge, but that you use your blade, as you would for power pulls. If there are changes-of-edge exercises in your Moves in the Field, work at them. Don't forget it's 2 beats each bit, so it's a six beat edge - 2 beats on outside edge with free leg extended behind, two with it extended forward, and 2 on inside edge with it extended behind.

If you think of that inside edge as the start of the end pattern, it helps.

Slusher will be better at this than me - she's passed this dance & I haven't!

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

The primary focus of this move is edge quality. Perhaps the skaters who failed with eight turns and small lobes did not fail due to the number of turns and lobes, but rather due to poor edge quality. They may have been doing more turns because they were unable to hold the edge long enough to do bigger lobes and fewer turns. I'm guessing that not only did the failing skaters have eight lobes, but also that their turns were early and rushed. The placement of your turns precisely at the top of each lobe would be an indicator of edge quality. If you are able to do clean, strong edges with eight turns, it should not make a difference. Ask your coach about it.

__________________

Picky things like how many lobes they want tend to be a regional thing--I'd check with your coach or other skaters who test in your area. If they don't like 8 lobes because they're too small, then do the 6. In my area, we pretty much always do 8 (& in general do it straight by the book), but I can't say that someone would fail for doing six. It might also depend on the size of the skater & the speed through the exercise.

And the length of your rink... when I took Pre-Juvenile Moves I needed 8 turns to cover about 160 feet. But I'm now working on Silver Moves and need about 6 turns to cover 200 feet... both are acceptable in our region.. it's more a matter of clean, well-placed turns and a reasonable amount of power (It shouldn't take what feels like a day and a half to do the pattern). It might be a good idea though to talk to a judge in your club about the number of turns that are acceptable in your area.

Good luck!

Blackjack: After having my blades adjusted and sharpened, I can now spin again! Did some wicked sit spins and a few fast scratch spins. Focused on change-foots, which weren't half-bad. MITF were fine, although I didn't try the threes-on-the-line, was able to handle the power pulls, forward and backward.


Bust: Weak camels. Too tired to jump much. Have to start working on footwork.

__________________

For about the sixth time, what I had cut didn't work on the ice - it simply didn't come through the sound system. So my coach, seeing that I was upset, said, "Well, look, let's try the tape!" I always copy my music on to tape so that I can play it through the headphones while choreographing. And the tape played perfectly! Ta-daaa!!!!!! So spent ages beginning to choreograph my programme, which is going to be great fun, I hope.

Also did some great work on back cross-rolls & back cross-cuts. I'm hoping to get them ready to test by December, but this will be major work - they aren't even anywhere near ready yet. Still, I said to my coach, "If I have a fighting chance of passing them, I would like to test them then, before the system changes!"

Bust: Stayed on the ice over 2 hours with no significant breaks, and then stretched, and my legs are too tired for me to even contemplate doing my off-ice workout! Sigh....

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

Hmph! So I'm a minority!

BLACKJACK: Weekly training started again after 3 weeks of nothing : (1) cancelation for a hockey game, (2) school winter recess and (3) a snow day. Instructor says I've improved, never-the-less. My RB Power Pull is starting to make nice ripping sounds. LB is now working a little better.

BUST: My backwards cross overs absolutley stink, as my instructor pointed out. I cheat them all the time. I've promised myself that I'll concentrate on them over the next 4 months while on inlines.

Blackjack - Monday: at long last, the FI mohawks arrived (after about 9 months of struggle...) Yay!! I then did about 100 of them to ensure they would stick until Tuesday...
Bust - Tuesday: the FI mohawks disappeared. Why?? (And what can I do to help them return?)

Blackjack:

My forward power 3's have returned for the most part! Here's hoping that it will be here to stay by tomorrow.

Did one good scratch spin.

Bust:

Sit spin was okay the first time and a BUST the rest of the time!!!

I could not do the 5 step mohawk pattern -- b/c there's WAAAAY too many people on the public session. And I had an accident with another skater trying to do the pattern too! (I felt really bad for the guy. Fortunately, neither of us were seriously injured.)

And as for my lesson with my secondary coach... I'm trying to learn how to do proper back crossovers stroking (progressives) so that I get a lot more power w/o much effort. It's TOUGH to get a good push on the cross under stroke, isn't it? *sigh*
Spirals!!! My nice spirals from last week?!?!?! Where ARE you!?!?! (Legs were mildly sore.)

__________________
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!!!

Haven't posted in a while because nothing was going too well... but now things are much better!

Blackjack Finally did a clean run through of the new version of my free program last night, with all the jumps done the way they're supposed to be done. Coach was very happy. Also since Sunday my salchows are the best they've ever been, and coach was nearly speechless yesterday at the first one I did --speechless in a good way, LOL! I actually have some run of edge on the landing of them now. It's a good thing, too, since I compete Saturday morning (with practice ice at 6:30 am! )

Happy skating everyone. Wish me luck on Saturday! Maybe I'll see a few of you there, at Princeton.

Pat

Law of skating, my dear - you can never keep a skill at first. The only thing to do is go on working at them. All skating skills are patchy at first - you might land a jump, for instance, once in a hundred tries at first, then they build up to one in ten, then you get a session when you can't miss, and then 2-3 sessions when you can't do one to save your life! Skating is Like That!

Good practice this morning. Blackjack: Managed to run through a lot of my stuff that I do with my husband solo, as it were. Beginning to get more confident now. Have choreographed some of my new programme, but not all.

Bust: Twizzles weren't working so well - I do hope I can put a twizzle sequence in the routine, it cries out for one, but I haven't done this before....

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

Hello all,

This is what happened the past couple of days.

Bust (Literally!) :
I got on the ice on Tuesday and felt that my left foot was pitching forward inside my skate. However, I thought that I could adjust to it and not have to re-tie my skate. Wrong! On my first set of forward crossovers around the end of the rink I felt like my left foot was scraping the toe. On the second set of crossovers I caught my left toe-pick and the next thing I knew I was airborne and hurtling towards the ice face first. I managed to bring my arms underneath me in the air and I hit the ice full force on my elbows and stomach. I knocked the air out of myself, my elbows were smarting like crazy and to cap it all off, because the ice had just been cut, I was soaked! Then five minutes later, my moves coach steps on the ice and I had to start my lesson with him feeling like I'd just been hit by a truck. I was a mess. Still, we managed to do some productive things and once I explained what happened to him he understood why I was a wreck during our lesson. I have a lump on each elbow but I can move my arms fine and as long as I don't touch the tender spot I don't really feel anything. I assume everything's okay in there. Luckily today was much better. I think having a day off in between helped me to settle down and forget the crash. During today's run-through I stepped out of the axel in the lutz/axel right at the beginning and the spins still need to be better. However, what concerns me most is that I need to put more energy into the performance of the program itself. It felt flat today. Oh well, there's always the second half of the week.

Blackjack:
Despite having the nasty fall right before the moves lesson, my coach and I were able to work on the forward and backward double threes on the gold test. I was particularly pleased when we managed to fix the back outside double threes to such an extent that I was able to actually complete the entire side on pattern. I kept running out of room before. We also managed to revive the back inside double threes to some extent. I had been having trouble even getting from the back crossover into the back inside double three. These were actually working when we finished our lesson Tuesday. It just goes to show that a lesson can still be salvaged despite having a near-death experience. Today's freestyle session had some bright spots. I managed to fix my spins so that they don't travel as wildly as they used to just a week earlier. In general, I find that in isolation my spins are ok but when I'm in the program I tend to tighten up and things go downhill. Despite, the slight mis-cue on the lutz/axel every other jump was more or less clean and the steps were ok.

That's it for the first half of the week. Take care,

Frank

Frank,
While I'm sad to hear about your mishaps and missteps, I'm glad to know I'm not the only one who injures himself on a seemingly weekly basis.

Oh, yeah, I need to revisit those gold moves, too!

__________________
Doubt whom you will, but never yourself.
"Do what you love, and you'll never have to work a day in your life."
-Haha, I've *arrived*! I am listed as a reference on Wikipedia.

Hey Stephen,

I've had numerous conversations with my coaches and fellow skaters at the rink about this. I firmly believe that in order to be a figure skater that you must be in "injury equilibrium." Every figure skater must be in palpable pain and if an injury heals then a new injury must take it's place forthwith or a mishap must happen to re-injure the previously afflicted area. It's like Newton's fifth law, I swear!

Tara and I are considering forming a support group for the walking wounded.

Take care and may we all heal up and not get injured immediately,

Frank

Sounds something akin to LeChatelier's Principle. Anyway...

Please add me to the support group mailing list. I tend to bruise like a summer fruit!

__________________
Doubt whom you will, but never yourself.
"Do what you love, and you'll never have to work a day in your life."
-Haha, I've *arrived*! I am listed as a reference on Wikipedia.