Dazzling
I had the ice to myself.
I played my music about 15 times and my programme is much improved.
The camel was working today.
I tried a camel spin, change sit which is far easier than any other change spin.....why did nobody tell me that before? It's not pretty but it's easier to get the change.

Drizzling
The backspins are only 50/50 which is a slight improvement, but not enough. The spins weren't centering.
The 3 turn on the flip is going wonky every 1 out of 5 which makes me abort the flip......this makes me think about the 3 turn more, and this is always a bad thing - when I start to think!

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MEL
Absolute Skating

Dazzling - I CAN SPIN!!! I have been trying for months and months to do the LFO and get the hook and it FINALLY happened. I only went around 2-3 times before I totally lost it but I actually did it. I was so happy I was beaming and smiling the rest of the session. I practiced the lutz and got around 3 times all the way but I have no idea how to land on one foot, haven't been taught that yet and to me it doesn't come naturally.

Drizzling - Nothing too bad but realize I'd been doing my alternating 3's wrong so had to start practicing doing them right, by the 3rd try they were good again.

Melanie - I had advice from a skater much more advanced than myself about the flip, she said to go straight into, just skate glide totally straight and then make your 3 turn as straight as possible and that does work. I still can't land on one foot but I do rotate my flip totally around (usually) 3 out 5 times.

Thank you JDC1. The flip is my most consistent jump (going back to child years too) but lately something (swinging I think) is happening to the 3 turn.
I do always turn the edges into and out of the 3 turn as straight as is natural, but I think I've been forgetting the check and swinging into the turn too quickly.
I'm more worried about the backspin.....a year on!

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MEL
Absolute Skating

Adult Beta, third lesson.

Well, I'm not working on anything nearly as difficult as a flip or a backspin, but I did have a good lesson today.

Dazzling: Warmed up with forward crossovers and my left-over-right (bad side) actually felt a little better than my good side. I think because I skate much faster on my good side and, in our group lesson, I was nearly banging into the skater in front of me so I was only crossing over on every second or third pump so as not to run her down (she's a Special Olympian).

T-Stops ok on both feet. Backwards stroking getting better -- so much so that the instructor is insisting that I slow down and work for more power instead of just getting the motion right. Yeah, I'm scared of going backwards anyway and she wants me to use more power.

Back crossovers: If I wasn't such a goose they would be ok, I think. I have no problem with them if someone's holding my front hand (they're actually pretty smooth then, for a beginner), but the minute I'm at it alone I can only do about three in a row before I get moving too fast and get scared. But I kept at it. I'm not sure that I will pass Beta on the first go. Good news is that we're insisting that we work Gamma elements, too. My FO3s Left and Right are beautiful against the boards -- now I just need to get them away from the boards. I do OK through the turn but set my free foot down a split second after the turn when I'm of the boards. Instructor says that they are great against the boards -- good posture, even lobes, and even a pretty decent outside edge, no scraping, etc. Tried a few FI3 on a whim. Also decided to try alternating forward crossovers -- that was fun!

So that's my Drizzling: FEAR! My instructor and I were joking that I would be a medalist if there was such a sport as "wall skating." I don't know how to get past that irrational fear of going backwards. Grrr! I completely understand what I'm supposed to be doing on the back crossovers, 3-turns, and inside mohawks, but my stupid fear instinct keeps getting in the way. I know if I can get it through my think skull that I'll be OK going backwards everything will click -- UGH!!! Maybe I'll ask my instructor to demand that I move away from the boards. It's always just a little easier for me to swallow it if someone says "DO IT!!!" than if I tell myself to "do it..."

OH!! I almost forgot! My toe loop (against the boards, of course-- except for the landing -- I'm ok on the RBO glide after the waltz or toe loop for some reason) actually JUMPED! I had been doing a toe step instead of a toe loop, but I managed to get a little spring! Not a lot, but a little! Hubby even witnessed!

His lessons are going well. He completely aced me in pre-Alpha and Alpha, but we're about even in Beta. He can do a RFO3 away from the boards, but his upper body is a mess and he doesn't move his shoulders with his hips. I also think he is allergic to bent knees. I'm hoping that he will relent and get out of rental skates soon. I've been pestering him about it, but he's not ready for that kind of commitment yet. Of course, when he does get out of them he's in for a world of pain. He's got thick ankles and HUGE calves and will probably have to get a fairly low cut boot to work around them. Plus, he's a weenie when it comes to discomfort. If he's got a major injury, he can deal, but something like a sunburn or a headache makes us both nuts! I assume blisters will fit in that category, too. Although if he sees the woman who fit my Gold Stars, it may not be an issue -- I've never had a blister/sore spot with them and love the way they feel. I told him about Bunga pads yesterday (he's clueless) and his eyes just gleamed!

I am afraid of the boards and hate when my coach "assists" me by touching me!! I'd much rather just do it myself. :-) I have used the boards to help with getting the LFO 3 for my scratch spin but that's it. Actually what you are working on now and will be working on soon is very important and the better your 3 turns are the easier it will be to spin and jump!

Mel, you're probably just trying too hard! When you do the 3 DON'T think of it as a turn as such but as being pulled down the rink in a straight line (as JDC1 said) and 'oh, I've turned to backwards'! Also make sure that you keep your free leg down (ie fairly close to the ice but not so close that you bash your pick!) as moving it up and down can throw you off - aka Biellman Flip rather like my Biellman Lutz

Oh, well, that's my input! LOL ... have now got a painful RIGHT wrist from having to type data onto the database for the duration of my working hours

L x

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The best whisper is a click

quarkiki: Something to help with "backwards" (and those exit edges from three turns and also jumps in the future);

Practice doing back crossovers and holding the edges. Eg: In a right back crossover, cross over (Cutback the crossing foot) but hold after the "second push" and continue to glide on the inside edge of the crossover foot--OR hold both feet down in the ice after the cutback and glide on both edges together. Its hard, but it gives you the feel of the edge. For back outside edges, you can just "C-push" backwards and and hold the back outside edge of the skating foot and glide after pushing off with the free foot. It really does help you feel the positions.

My coach also has me practicing back extensions on the line. Face the end of the rink on the blue line, do a back crossover and then push onto a back outside edge, (L back crossover, right back outside edge to complete the "lobe")--it really helps you get a feeling for that extension and glide after a jump.

I hope I didn't lose you here!! I sympathize totally--only now with jumping and really working on three turns and back edgs do I feel comfortable with going backwards. All of these little tricks and exercises help in gaining that comfortable feeling.

Good Luck!

Beth

Yes, that's right - but when I think about it, it makes it worse. It seems better when I just do it and not think about what I'm doing.

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MEL
Absolute Skating

Not much dazzling or drizzling today.

I'm recovering from some combination of head cold/sinus problems, so we didn't work on dance today in my lesson, but continued to work on choreographing my planned interp program.

I guess I could say that things were dazzling because I remembered what we came up with last week.

and drizzling would be that my coach wants me to jump in dance blades (I normally skate in MK Dance blades), which I haven't figured out yet. He says that I'm enough over my feet that I should have no problems. I'm chicken over the shorter blade and virtual lack of bottom toe pick (plus the fact that dance blades are fairly rockered).

So... right now the routine just has a funky 2-foot jump forwards to backwards followed by some clowning around stuff. (Of course, we also have me staggering around and deliberately running into the barrier as part of this routine.... we're having fun doing the choreo... )

Thursday afternoon's lesson should be dance day.

Dazzling:
worked on my program 5 times on Sunday! very tiring! anyway the first time i did it, it was horrible, the second time i did it, it was better but not very good, the third time i did it, it was very good!
then i did it again at night time and they were very good! i got 2 well dones from people on the ice!
i got to cut down my program and work on everything. i think that my backward swings are coming alng much more better!

Drizzling:
RFO 3-turns are were not very good on Sunday! kept on putting my foot down to soon when i turned!
also my spins were not very good!

This is from Saturday (first chance I've had to write it up):

Dazzling:

First freestyle lesson with new coach. We worked on jumps. Before the lesson, my toe loop was ok but nothing amazing, my salchow had gone pants, and I'd managed about one loop since the first one last time. At the end of the lesson, due to being taught different technical things and tips etc, my toe loop was great (after she saw my first one, she said I was doing everything right, which was nice to hear), my salchow was back and a bit better, I landed a few more loops and I did an enormous waltz jump! Yay!!! She also had me practicing a waltz jump from standstill and to concentrate on kicking the leg through (I don't do much of that normally) and it felt great, not scary like I thought it would be and that's when I got the huge one!! Woohoo! I think I'm gonna like this! She also said I had a good landing position.

First dance lesson with new coach. That was pretty good too, although I'm not used to dancing with someone shorter than me! I'm used to my old coach, who is about 6ft tall at least. Will take some getting used to (probably the same for him, lol). It was good though. We're certainly getting more detailed.

Group lesson coach liked my back edges. Back cross rolls are steadily improving too.

Inside mohawks better (was having a bit of a barney with them), FI and BI pivots MUCH better Also, I'm starting to teach myself some stuff.

Drizzling:

During the dance interval (I did five of the dances) I almost collided three times! Oo-er. Luckily I didn't, but one imparticular was a close shave...

Spin. Nuff said. Am hoping we will dedicate next freestyle lesson to spins like we did with Saturday's one and jumps.

My left (landing) ankle still aches.

Too crowded! (For the first hour, standing near the boards, often I had to wait for people to pass before having enough space and time to do a mohawk! Hmph.)

Rachel x

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

From last week (Yesterday). I think no one read it. I'll post today's skate later on today or tomorrow.

Warmed up for 5 minutes and then got my lesson and didn't even get a chance to stretch. Had to stretch after my lesson. Anyway,

Groovy:
Waltz jump, light and airy again with more distance in air and landing.
Salchow, actually can do them now. I didn't believe I did it, so I told my coach I wanted to do it again and sure enough, I did it again.
Then I did the toe loop, had to do it twice to get the landing to stick. Then my coach said, "Salchow/toe loop combination." and I did it. Not great but I did it. Now way. What's next session? Loop?

Gordon Bennett Lessons:
Either I can get 5 to 6 revs with an improper spin entry or I botch the rotations with the proper spin entry.

Ran through my program with the music. I can't believe I could skate my whole program last spring. I'm way out of shape. I couldn't finish my program. Had to make them stop the music. I was so tired. I also am not skating fast enough to keep up with my music at the moment but that will come with time.

Had trouble controlling my LBI3's from the RFI OP MO's but was able to get a messy salchow/toe loop combination in my program when I wasn't skating to my music.

Boy am I out of shape!

__________________
"It's not age that determines but the heart." "Skating is not just a sport for the young but it's a passion for the soul of the young at heart." Brigitte Laskowski

I am a nomadic adult skater who is a member of Windsor FSC (Skate Windsor) WOS SC again since Sept. 1st, 2008.

http://eastcastlemusic.tripod.com

Singerskates Sports Music Editing

quarkiki I'm with you on the fear factor! On bad days I soothe my fears with a bit of music from my MP3 player, but am still practicing FI 3's at the wall. I'm also doing BI three followed by FO bracket on the wall. It feels so natural, but I can't let go of that wall!

Dazzling
Did the Prelim spiral pattern in my lesson today and actually got my free leg high enough on most of the FO ones. I think this one is going to clean up without too much trouble if I just remember to practice it.

My real dazzle today was that I tried the waltz-8 at the end of my lesson, and got it right the first time. I never practice it, and the last time I was able to do it to passing level was right before breaking my wrist last year. Of course, now my coach wants me to make bigger circles. Hope it doesn't fall apart completely. She wants me to test in November. I would love to, if the waltz-8 would just stabilize.

Drizzling
Had a huge fear attack today and my stupid batteries failed me so I couldn't use my MP3 player. I had that horrible off-balance feeling and nearly fell very clumsily on a FI three. Strangely, I am fine with the faster moving patterns when this happens.

My daughter better get back to skating soon, as these half hour lessons are brutal on hubby and me.

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Dazzling
* I got several nice comments about my extension during stroking class.
* Flying sitspin working better. Still a tiny jump though.
* My coach gave me something new to think about for my axel takeoff, and I was able to pull in a little bit more. Still checking out too soon though.

Drizzling
* Timing was way off for double sals.
* Did my program for the first time in over a month, and it was AWFUL.
* Every layback I did traveled a lot.

Just a comment on the fear factor.....my alpha class required that I learn mohawks, and I did many by the wall out of fear, but it is so hard to feel the movement of the mohawk when you are on the wall. So, my instructor helped me do some off of the wall by supporting my hands, and we went across the rink repeating the movement over and over again. Eventually I tried some on my own, but it is definitely an incomplete move, and I just do what I feel comfortable with.

I still can't completely do the mohawk, and after some time passes I rarely feel brave enough to try them off of the boards. So, I completely understand!

Haven't had class in 3 weeks!

Dazzling - I CAN SPIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I almost did an entire scratch spin last night, I actually spun enough to try and cross the leg over !!! I was so happy. :-) Had some decent waltz jumps and toe loops and 3 pretty convincing salchows. Tried some lutzes but it was crowded and I didn't really get enough speed. No flips, I can't try flips and lutzes in the same session, I get too sore. Tried 2 loops, going nowhere again.

Drizzling - We did lots of edge work and I really have shallow lobes. Wednesday night that's all I am going to work on is edge work and then a scratch spin. I can't even remember the "names" of what we did but we did some stuff I had never done and as I am the most uncoordinated person it takes me 2 times just to get the steps right. It also doesn't help that the people doing the demos are so far advanced of my level that I try to do it fast like they do and can't do it. It's tough being in a mixed group at times most of the people in my group have been skating for 3-4 years and I get annoyed being compared to them, I've only been skating a year cut me some slack!! Anyway, rant over.

Why, thank you for all of your sympathy regarding FEAR!

While I knew that I'm not the only person to have apprehension about letting go of the wall, I didn't realize that so many of you have battled a similar fear. At least I don't feel like the only scaredy-cat in the world!

I know that I'll get the hang of this eventually, but I'm so darn impatient! Grrrr! I should cut myself some slack -- I HAVE only been taking lessons since March. I will get there someday!!!

Went to the Todd Elderedge clinic this Sunday. It was a lot of fun. Todd, Richard Callahan and the helper coaches were really great. The groups were divided into 4 levels from never skated to high freestyle. I was in the high group, as were two other adults, and there were two more from my area in the mid level group. Because there were so many in the high group, they divided us into doubes and non doubles. I raised my hand to go with the doubles group, and the guy helper coach looked at me and said "you're going to do doubles?" I said "I'm going to try". We started with axels an doubles right away - eek. My first one was not great, so he asked me to try a big single first which was fine. The next few I did doubles and they were fine, much to his and my surprise!
Then we got back into the large group and Todd came over and we worked on spins. He was really helpful and explained his tips really well. We each did spins and Todd carefully watched each one. He got to the adults and Richard Callahan came over asking for the double sal and double toe skaters. I put my hand up and he looked at me and grinned - he thought I was kidding. I did my spin with Todd, then went over with the kids and Richard. I was toward the end of the line, and Richard asked if there was anyone who had not jumped yet. I raised my hand and he said ok, and I went off to set up the jump. I saw Richard look at the guy helper who told told him I was going to do a double sal. It was fine, and again, both of us were really surprised.
It was great to see the other adults from the area. We got lots of pictures with Todd and Richard, and had a great time.

No, Quarkiki, you're very far from the only person to have issues with fear - it really holds back my progress!

Melanie, I'd put "having the ice to myself" under "Drizzling", not "Dazzling" - I hate it when that happens.

Dance club last night.

Drizzling: Robert was held up at work so didn't make it. This meant, as there were very few men, that I was either propping up the barrier, or dancing solo, which I hate. Unlike one of our members, I will do solo dance, but I am so bad at it. However, for some unknown reason I have entered for the baby-class at Oxford Seniors (Dutch Waltz and Canasta Tango), so have to practice them. But I do prefer dancing with a partner.

Dazzling: This being the case, I treated myself to 15 minutes' of the pro's time, which I do occasionally. We did have fun - danced some dances I really never saw myself doing for ages, even had a go at the Starlight Waltz! We didn't exactly cover the ice, but we got round. Also did the Festival Quickstep, which I never really know the steps of, the Ten-Fox (which I'm getting to the stage of beginning to like - I disliked it the first time I learnt it, so didn't bother to remember the steps), the 14-step, the Foxtrot and the Prelim, Willow and Dutch waltzes.

Of course, there is no way even the politest person could have said I looked good doing most of those, except possibly the Dutch Waltz, but then, I spend so much time working really hard on the low-level dances that it was just fun to enjoy dancing the harder ones. AND I actually managed a Foxtrot Mohawk in context! Not rushed or cheated! I was seriously surprised - the others had been a bit rushed.... Only the second one I've ever done!

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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!

Glad to hear you had a good time, flo. I enjoyed it a lot. Sorry I missed you - by the time I got my skates off, it was almost 1:30 - I went outside and scanned the autograph line but didn't see anyone that looked like you. I did get to meet Ken from NW - he was in my 1/2 hour, but in the high freestyle group.

I was in the low freestyle group, with about 10 people. There were two other adults, some teenagers, and some younger kids. The two local instructors/coaches first asked us what skills we were currently working on, and then we worked on spins and warmed up w/ waltz jumps. By that time, Todd was over and he watched us each do a waltz jump, and then we worked on spins, starting w/ 2-foot and then 1-foot. Then Richard came over and Todd went over to the next group. Richard worked with us on spins - he emphasized proper spin exit (BO glide) and arm position for checking jumps and spins - left arm in front (for CCW skaters), instead of out to the side. He noted that beginning jumpers should always do it this way, to make sure we check out. He then watched each of us do a jump that we could do - I did a toe loop - and he gave us feedback on how to improve. He said my jump was good, but I needed a stronger 3-turn to give the jump more "oomph".

After Richard left, we spent the rest of the time (about 5-10 minutes) with the helper instructors going over jumps and spins - one instructor did jumps, the other did spins, and we could choose which one we wanted to do. I chose spins, and I got some tips on how to prevent my toe pick from scraping on my scratch spin entrance (bend more).

However, perhaps the most interesting thing I discovered was that the quality of the ice at my rink (or lack thereof) may be responsible for my recent skating probs. I've heard they've had probs with the compressor - I've suspected that the ice has been too soft lately. When I first skated on the rink Sunday, I thought the ice was too hard (it is primarily a hockey rink, at least it seemed), but I realized that actually, the ice was just right. I did much better on my scratch spin, w/ hardly any warm-up, and my toe loop came off well too.

I'm not sure if this discovery is a good thing or bad thing - on one hand, I now have a scapegoat for my skating troubles - OTOH, if I actually want to accomplish things, I may need to seek better ice. I'm hoping that w/ cooler weather, the ice will improve. I wasn't doing jumps or spins last fall or winter, so I don't know if the ice was really better then.

flo - you may see me at NW for freestyle practice sessions, and btw, there was no practice ice at Ice World Saturday, w/ no advance notice - grrr - I'm going to be giving the skating director a call. I called NW from the car about the club's open house time, but the person who answered the phone said it was just a skate sale - he probably didn't know what he was talking about and I thought about stopping by - but I was so mad after driving out to IW that I just went home.

Edited to add that I also got to meet manleywoman, and I am in awe of her back scratch spin, camel, and 2-toe loop.

Hi Debbie,
Glad you enjoyed Sunday. It was great to see Todd and Richard with all levels of skaters. You can really pick up some great tips listening to them at all levels. I was in line with Ken at one point and also Allen and Fran from NW. We were impressed that Todd stayed until all who wanted had a chance to get his autograph. Richard Callahan gave us some good tips on jumps as well, explaining that the toe jumps should get powere not only from the toe, but the skating leg, and should "explode off the ice".
The condition of the ice does make a big difference. The more you skate at different rinks the easier it will be to adjust to less than perfect conditions. Unfortunately Ice World's schedule is not the most reliable. I went to the NW open house and there were only a few of us on the ice. The club starts this Saturday, come and check it out if you can! Good job on the toe loop!

flo, it sounds to me like you were teaching one of the lessons – the one about not making assumptions about people’s abilities. Good for you, not only for succeeding, but for going for it in the first place!

-- wannask8

This is for today's lessons.

Drizzling: The condition of the ice! The Zamboni has broken down (we think it was fixed just as we were leaving) and the ice had not been cut since last night. Actually, it wasn't as bad as it looked - perfectly skateable - but it was very snowy and slow.

Robert's lesson went well, and his Riverside Rhumba is improving. His test has been postponed for several weeks, though, as there weren't enough dancers and/or judges (not sure which) for a session next week. This, however, is just as well as he is going away for a long weekend with one of his brothers, so won't be able to practice between now and then!

Our Fiesta Tango is still pretty horrible...

In my own lesson, I danced the Prelim Waltz with my coach (who was, I think, impressed by how much stronger I was) but still had trouble not lurching forwards. He said it was the most difficult step in the dance, though.

Ran through the Canasta Tango and the Dutch Waltz solo; pretty dire, but they improved.

Dazzling: We have finally decided on what (we think) I am going to do for the new season's Interpretive! Not sure how it will work out, as yet, so I'm keeping stumm about it. Suffice it to say, if it comes off it will be a worthy successor to Fame and Puppet on a String.

We finished choreographing our Rhythm Blues Variation, which is dead simple, but nice and Bluesy. Was pleased with how we skated it, under the circumstances, although I don't think it will do anything at Oxford. It ought to pass as a Level 1 variation, though.

Ran through my Free Dance again, it is coming along nicely now. Even might put a tiny jump in it, we'll see.

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

That's Todd's normal routine and I think it's great that he has that attitude. In fact, he actually posed for a picture with me and my coach at 2 am Saturday night at nationals in Boston. Such a nice guy.

I'm glad you had such a great time at the clinic. Wish I could have won, too!

Pat

One more note about the skating clinics - a woman in my group told me that she hadn't even entered the contest, she just called the rink the day before after hearing about it and they said she could come. So she showed up and they put her in a slot. I think the word was that they hadn't heard back from all the winners and were expecting some no-shows. Someone else in my group who overheard us talking about it mentioned that she and her mother had each entered (it sounded like they used multiple e-mail addresses) and they got about 6 winner notifications between them. I would say that if you are near one of the remaining cities and don't win, just call the rink the day before and see if you can squeeze your way in.