Everything today felt like a total flop. I could not get my jumps off the ground very well, even my sal, which is usually rock-solid. I was scared out of my mind to try the loop from the mohawk entry, so I didn't. Did two that were supposedly quite nice from RFI 3's, but at speed, a RFI 3 is a very scary thing for me to do. This was the first day I could ever remember getting visibly frustrated in front of my coach--kind of surprised her. I was just not into the "zone" at all for some reason.

About 15 minutes into the lesson I was able to skate into a sal so at least I felt better about that. Toe loops were actually pretty good today, and today's bright spot happened on one of those. I must have checked that thing hard--I got fantastic spring on it and when I thought I was supposed to land, I didn't, and kept rotating, and landed nearly skating forward. It was almost a double! (And when is that going to happen again? lol)

My normally solid spins decided to go on vacation for a while. Camel set up camp at a desert oasis somewhere and informed me it would not be back until next week. Played around with his cousin the flying camel though--still having fun working on that. Didn't fly today since I didn't feel too steady, but worked on back camels some.

Attitude spins good, sit spin attempt was good. Found out that leaving the top hook undone on my skates was neither here nor there for the spin--couldn't get my ankle to bend much either way to aid with the knee bend.

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All that glitters has a high refractive index.

Frightful

• Flip! I can't straighten the 3turn! I need major work on this, LOL...need to retrain my body into doing a different sort of 3 than I'm used to....
• Camel. I'm on a horrendously deep BI edge, but one of them felt pretty balanced today. Got around twice - progress!
• Forward scratch. Can't...center....Ewwww...I think the ice at my regular rink is just too hard, because it feels like I really need another sharpening, but if I go to the bigger rink downtown, my edges are fine, LOL. Well, I'm leaving for college next week so I'll see how the ice is there.

Fabulous:

• Brought a fellow skating fan with me to the rink today - I'm trying to convince her to take lessons, LOL...it was fun though.
• Backspin! I feel like I have the entrance right at last! When I pulled in, I actually got faster! Whee!
• Sit spin. Well, some were bad, but I just need to stretch my free leg and swing it all the way around to get a good sit. LOL I had a really good stable one which I held for what it felt like forever. Two other skaters were watching me and they told me that I was smiling as I was spinning, LOL....
• Loop. It feels really nice, but I've been wondering if I cross my free foot too much on the entrance. Is there such a thing?
• Salchow. I'm feeling it! Whee!

Anita

WAAAAH!!! I bashed my right knee again and I can't bend my knees real deep w/o pain. If it's still bad by tomorrow morning, I'm going to see a doctor...

And what element cause the knee bash??? CROSSOVERS!!! (I guess I wasn't kidding when I said that I'm going to get good crossovers even if it kills me!!!)

Cheers,
jazzpants

P.S. At least my lesson on Monday night was better...

Wednesday's lesson and practice:

I'm going to have trouble dividing this into frightful and fabulous, as it was all both! Mostly fabulous, actually.

I arrived just as the ice was being cut, so although it wasn't brilliant, it was better than it has been for some time. But the "hump" in the centre is getting worse - you can stand in the middle of the centre circle and get to just about anywhere in the rink without doing anything, just allow gravity to work! By the time my coach arrived, I'd walked through the Blues, the Willow Waltz and the Swing Dance. Spent almost all my lesson on back edges, which I wanted - pretty desperate, but improving slowly. Ran through my Free Dance and actually got complimented on it! Not from my coach - that would be too much to ask - but from another coach who was watching. "You are skating so much better now!" I also ran through my Interpretive routine. After my lesson, the ice was pretty empty except for a learn-to-skate class coned off at the top end of the rink, so I spent a long time re-laying my Interpretive. Not re-choreographing it; I do the same steps, but changing the pattern so it isn't just going round and round like a compulsory dance. I hope this will improve matters. I am really looking forward to being rid of it! I am so bored of it, but it has one more outing and then it is binned.

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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!

Hmmm looks like you have to break in your boots more or something... and you said you've had them for very long so I have no idea... Well, hope you eventually find a breakthrough in something that lets you get down in your sit (Maybe there are more reasons then the stiff boot)

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Tidesong

I'll just have to keep trying--I know I can get this. I won't give up on leaving the top hook undone though...I will say I did notice a bit more bend but I need to get used to not having the support of that top hook. Something will work for me soon enough.

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All that glitters has a high refractive index.

Haven't skated much over the summer due to hockey school, coach away and work to do for my college course but I did go to the club patch last week and again this week. Last week my kids came and gave me some useful tips, eg. 'Mum don't bring your arms in so slowly on the spin - you're like a creaky old swing bridge!'; 'Mum, you're on your toepicks again (while I'm skating backwards)'; 'Mum - it's supposed to be a jump not a step', etc etc.

This week I was on my own as daughter is at Grandmas and son was too lazy, though he promises to come along tomorrow!
It was very quiet with only me and one other on the ice for the last half hour so I was able to practice some backwards stuff which is usually difficult with people around.

Anyway I can't remember what the titles are supposed to be so I'll put in the smilies instead


I managed a fast, centred, 6 rotation, spin and was able to do it more than once - if only I had had my camera I would have taken a photo of the tracing and had it framed!!!
I remembered the pattern for the Golden Skaters Waltz and the Riverside Rhumba and even managed a few half decent rondes on the latter.
Backwards skating - OK it wasn't perfect but it was good compared to what I usually manage, possibly because I find it easier at speed and with no-one around I wasn't afraid to go fast and didn't have to keep looking round for people.
Jumps - toe- loop and salchow - I took off: I landed - what more do you want?!! Ok, I'm not quite sure what I was doing in the middle but I was at least getting some speed into them.


double 3's - I'm sure these are possible - just not sure how. I am determined to get these so I can put them in next years free dance! I can just about do them when I am more or less at a standstill but need to be able to do them while moving.
Jumps- can't quite get the arms to do what they are supposed to. I know you should bring them in to rotate but it all happens so fast that I have landed and my arms are still where they were when I took off!! Guess I need to get a bit more height to give me more time to actually move them!!


Only a few more weeks of the school hols and then I can get back to my proper skating routine....

I had the ice to myself with my coach.
The programme went well enough - only because I had an half hour warm up. The test only gives 2.5 mins warm up ...(NO skating at all beforehand!)
She advised me to try for the FMs test first, then I'd be fine for programme after it, since I'd be warmed up. It IS the answer, but the FMs are level 4, and my free test is level 2! No that it matters, but I'm using the level 4 test as a warm up for the level 2, which seems odd to me!

The FMS are dodgy so I won't be testing them, therefore I won't be testing the Free either. :?
Coach said she'd take me for more FM lessons so that I get the proper practise in, that I need.


Why did I say I needed a longer warm up? True, I do use those FMS as my warm up, but to test them first??

I had frightful parallel spins - trying too hard on the entrance edge, leaning too far forwards.

The backspin got a "That's fine, I'll take that, stop there!"
(the best bit about the whole lesson!).

I put the sit spin back in the programme, instead of the unreliable parallel. I can still flip after the sit, even though I can't see straight, so there is hope!

I hope everyone's injuries are healing.

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MEL
Absolute Skating

I'm going to start with the Frightful because there was MUCH MORE frightful today than Fabulous...

Frightful

* Dehumidifiers not yet fixed... another foggy day at the rink.

* Dumb mistake on the right side of the forward power 3's and I fell on the LAST RFO3 of the pattern.

* Chicken factor returned in vengence on the Foxtrot to the music... I WILL conquer this beast.

Fabulous (or at least not totally rotten)

* 14Step: Could have been better, but I did all 3 patterns to the music

* We had the cones out to mimic the narrower rink... this was for the teams heading to NACS Huntsville today, but helped me also.

* Alternating back crossovers... felt good even if I was a bit not upright right at the end.

* Forward power 3's choctaw LBI-RFO. If I remember to keep my back upright nice AND bend my left knee at the same time, the choctaw becomes a piece of cake...

What helped me with the latter - I take it you're working for Level 3 compulsories now? So are we, although I'm credited with them (but my coach says he reckons my edges wouldn't pass on the Riverside, the dirty rat..... Anyway, what helped me with the rondes is remembering to make them properly semi-circular..... why do I have to re-learn this on every single dance - I'm an intelligent woman, yet I cannot correlate information I learn on one dance with the same steps on the next one!


I find the easiest doubles are FI-BO 3s; make sure you can do a FI3 with a certain amount of flow going out of it, then hold the edge a beat, rock to the back of your blade, then do the BO 3. If I can do them, you can! I can't yet do a back double 3 yet, though, which annoys me - I don't have quite enough flow coming out of the back 3-turn. Although if I do it as a twizzle, with no pause in between the turns, it flows beautifully, go figure, as the Americans say.....

Skating at Slough tonight, then a day off tomorrow, and then the ice dance weekend at Bristol. Are you going to it?

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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!

Hello there! finally I get a definition of a twizzle... is that what that is? how do you do it?
Do you extend your legs between the double three turns or do you keep them in? I have tried doing both and found that it is easier to bring my free leg in to turn on my weaker side but I can do them anyway on my stronger side.

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Tidesong

Frightful
Not very much. My toe-loop is on hold, I have figured out the picking straight part but haven't figured out the kicking straight out part
I was too tired to continue skating after two and a half hours so I went home

Fabulous

Had my lesson today. Coach taught me the flying camel in serious. He had asked me to play around with it first. I managed to spin at the end of some of them!!! And I couldn't even straighten my skating leg but I was spinning in a recognizable camel position !!!!
Now I got to go figure how to straighten that leg

I had six rounds on my layback! (witnessed by coach )

I did two salchows that my coach said were about as high as my axels. Thats good... now all I have to do is combine those salchows with the ones I rotate fully (the doubles) but didn't jump high enough... (why do they come separately???)

I did a inside-outside edge spiral without losing too much speed... heh heh :p My previous attempts were done at nearly zero speed

Not so fabulous
My axel is back, but still not at its previous percentage... My boots are still laced up with one left... but with the way I spin and jump I should be able to lace them up end of next week.

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Tidesong

Frightful

Camel spin.
RBO 3s with mohawks.
Toe loop (after flip)

Fabulous

A couple of backspins, lutzes, loop-loops (just)

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MEL
Absolute Skating

For Thursday at Slough:

Fabulous: The ice, as usual! Managed to get some really good back edges, but I still wobble all over the place; I am simply not secure on them.

Frightful: Still can't do an inside3 or Mowhawk from a held inside edge - my upper body just won't turn! How come it will on an outside edge now? I suppose practice makes perfect.....

Bloody car has broken down so no way can we go to the Ice Dance weekend in Bristol, and I was really looking forward to it - I have just looked up train fares and it is too late to get a cheap fare.

And still no news of when our phone line will be ready to install the equipment to go broadband, either.

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

Stop Press Husband has just rung up to say he can borrow the pool car from work (which he has been using today anyway), so we can go after all! Yaaay!

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

Frightful and Fabulous...

Had a basics/moves/lots of crossovers lesson this week. Fabulous was that it was fun and that I learned some things to help my crossovers and back double 3s for Intermediate moves. Frightful was doing the crossovers while the coach held my left hand and right hip to keep my body properly aligned (well, to try to anyway ). I'm not sure I really like skating that close to someone. On one hand I knew that if there was anyone I could skate so close to without tripping, it was him...on the other hand I couldn't quite convince my brain we weren't going down. And finally...both fabulous and frightful...well, frightening...was the amount of SPEED you can generate that way. Exhilerating and yet I was sure we were going to crash into one of the many other skaters on the ice at the same time. (Luckily we didn't.)

Kim

Frightful

• It takes me 10 minutes of bad backspins (falling, etc) to get a good one! Arghghgh! I panic because I'll think that I've lost it, LOL. Wish I could get that more consistent...
• Scratch spins still not any more consistent. Well, at least most of them get up to the point of crossing the foot over and then my balance screws up.
• Camel. A skating friend told me my leg wasn't high enough (it was close) and that my free foot was turned in. So, I tried to concentrate on position - that's so hard, LOL!
• Still can't straighten that darned 3turn enough for flip - did land one today but it didn't feel "nice."
• Tried doing a figures circle (it should have been a figure 8 but these hockey guys kept interrupting the second part of it, LOL) and I can't check the upper body when I'm on my RFO edge. I get about halfway around and then I have to fight to keep still. The circle is sooo lopsided, LOL.
• Lil hockey guys chasing each other around the rink. Crashed into one while doing back crossovers. Didn't see him coming at all, LOL. Slid about 5 feet, but I think I hurt him more than he hurt me. (I've had more practice at falling, LOL! )

Fabulous

• I can stop my scratch spins really quickly by sticking my free toepick in the ice, LOL. Don't know how I could do that all of a sudden, but a couple days ago I found out I could do it, LOL. So, even if my scratch spins are bad, I can still end 'em with style!
• Sit spin! Whee!
• Landed the lutz twice! Still slightly underrotated, but I didn't bash in my tailbone! Yippee!
• My LFO circle is pretty good, getting more even. I think my RFO edge used to be better too...this is really weird, LOL!

Anita