I was about to wish you good luck in fitting the Dutch Waltz into your rink. When we were there a couple of years back we had to bail out of it before doing the end of the pattern, and that was when we hadn't long been learning dance (so tiny swing rolls etc). I can understand why you need a modified version! I don't think we even managed the Canasta Tango, and that typically doesn't take the whole rink.

Awesome: I am getting much more used to my Phantom blades. I had about 10 minutes between group lessons today so I did more spins on them. These blades are going to SAVE me. I adore them. Spins just hit and stick right dead on centered. Flying camels are much better with speed. The only thing I'm having a bit of a problem with is back camels, since I feel the pick slipping out as I push into it with my left foot. I love these blades. I can't believe how bad my Ultimas were compared to these. I thought I'd be struggling with them a lot longer since the rocker and the blade length is so different, but I can already jump and spin great in them. Phantoms!!

At the end of the adult group class I teach, we were talking about figures and how we'd like to do them, and I said I've never learned them and I'd love to. One of the other teachers showed us how to do a basic one and we're thinking of doing all figures at the next session of group classes, since a bunch of the adults actually have scribes. I'm psyched!!

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"Where are we going and why are we in this handbasket?"

awesome: flying sits were good
awful: double flips = bad. so were 2lutzes

www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRYBGjbAmEY video from practice today

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Awful - retry on Bronze moves. I skated pretty well, and one judge passed me on everything, another gave me retry on everything and the third passed half of my moves. Go figure. Or go MIF actually.

Awesome - passed pre-Bronze free. All judges on all moves. Got a couple of "good" and "well skated." DD passed Juv moves. Yeah for her!!

Congrats for passing PB free and your DD Juv moves!!!
And if one judge passed you on the Bronze moves, you are definately close. Hope you pass next time around.

awesome:Really improved my edges today, especially BI edges.
awful: my one foot spin is still non existent, and my daughter threw the worst fit ever at the rink after we got off of the ice.

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Jessica

http://ilove2skate.livejournal.com/

http://www.myspace.com/sk8fabulous

Tee-hee, it isn't going to be easy, even modified. At our recent State Championships a couple of girls did Canasta Tango solo, they seemed to manage okay.
One thing about skating on such a tiny rink, most people develop strong edges and do really tight lobes in their dance.

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Katz

Saved by Synchro!
I was over it, now I'm into it again !

Like the skaters at Queens here (waves at Kateskate), who all have wonderful edges.

For us:

Awesome: Coach2 quite complimentary about our Riverside Rhumba, and really liked the new steps in our free dance.

Awful: There is one bit in the Riverside that is a bit muddled - and, alas, I can't blame Husband this time - so need to look at the words and see if we can work out what we need to be doing! Also another coach pointed out we didn't do a proper cross-behind.... sigh.... do we ever? It's a cross-in-front/cross-behind, which means keeping our feet in the right place, I think, if I am to get it crossed properly.

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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!

Congrats on the pre-bronze and if one judge passed you and one passed half - that's not awful!

j

Awesome: I started a new 'question mark' entry into my salchow and the increased speed is both frightening and fun - it also makes me go much higher and further - I feel like I'm finally doing a 'real' salchow.

Awful: The loop. After falling on it and getting a concussion a few weeks ago, I've had a lot of fear with it. Now my coach has me backed off it completely and back to a half loop, which suddenly I'm not able to do either. Apparently, for whatever reason, I'm not rolling up to the ball of my jumping foot after the 3-turn - I'm taking off and landing too far back on my blade. That's probably why I fell and hit my head in the first place. It's so frustrating. I was really loving the loop and finding it easy - now it seems as though I will never get it. I hate being afraid, and I hate being unable to learn something instantly without months of practice. I wish I were 7 instead of 40.

After that nice whine, I'm going to go sulk and eat chocolate.

i found out on Friday that my rink will be opening up on August 11, which is about 3 weeks earlier than normal!!!! They added 3 freestyle session, 2 of which I can attend (with my busy schedule). There is a move to also extend the season through June, either all or at least part-way.

Now I'm seriously getting back into skating shape!!!! I adjusted my gym workouts a tiny bit and will add plyometric training in August. And jump walk-throughs.

Still, once I'm back on the ice, no jumps/spins unless my coach is present.

WOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!! 2 months to go!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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

Wow! Finally someone else who has heard of the question mark pattern! I teach my students that entrance into flips, (sometimes) salchows, and toe loops primarily. Most people who have never heard of it give me a crazy look until I explain it, LOL!

I think it looks so pretty. I'm working on entering all my jumps that way, with minor changes in the stepout.

I've never heard of it....how do you do it?

Awesome: Almost everything! After losing the axel, it slooooowly started to come back today. Spins were amazing. I'm trying back camel into illusions and I was able to do 3 illusions in a row! I worked on moves the 2nd hour and the rocker choctaw pattern was so much better due to the new blades. I truly am amazed the difference they make. And I'm also REALLY PO'ed I spent a year and a half wasting time on those Ultimas. And I can actually skate for more than an hour without pain since the boots are so comfy!

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"Where are we going and why are we in this handbasket?"

OK, so are you going to explain it?

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"You don't have to put an age limit on your dreams." - Dara Torres, 41, after her 2nd medal at the 2008 Olympics

For the question mark, if you're a CCW skater:
1. Start by taking a large circle of crossovers in a clockwise direction about midway (or further) around the rink.
2. Begin cutting your crossovers into the middle of the rink.
3. Step forward on your left foot in a clockwise direction (so that there's no unnatural turn or step--you should keep moving in the direction you were skating backward).
4. Do a forward crossover (should be crossing your right foot over your left) to get you heading directly down the ice.
5. Set up and perform jump.

What you'll have then should look like a large question mark on the ice:

?

Think of the roundest or top part of the question mark as your back crossovers, the part where the question mark comes in as your transition to forward/set-up, and the "dot" as the actual jump.

Of course, this is much easier to do or understand in person. It can be difficult to explain, especially the first time, so I often have to physically walk the motions out with my students. There's a tendency for them to want to rotate CCW to step forward.

The Russian coaches call it the "question mark" (we have a couple coaches at our rink that tell their students Axel from question mark or soemthing similiar) but it was first introduced by Gus Lussi as a method to really step out on the Axel and multirev jumps. Check the opening delayed Axel in Dorothy Hamil's program at about 20 seconds:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9jjBG...eature=related

My secondary coach taught me the question mark entry to a jump too. Well, except for the fact that my question mark is flipped around. (I'm a CW skater.)

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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!!!

That's very interesting, techskater. And, thanks for including that clip. I was trying to find something earlier to show an example of it, but no such luck.

Thanks for posting about the question mark, I'm going to use this next time!

Awesome: OH MY GOD the flip. I landed at least 14 today. FOURTEEN . It might have even been 15. Ok and maybe 10 more that didn't happen. I don't care about those other 10, because 14 worked. I would like to thank the skatingforums posters, my great coach, my downstairs neighbor who moved out, allowing me more off ice practice, the academy, the Hollywood foreign press...

I did so many because I wanted to remember what was going on when it was working. I realized that for some reason when it works, it reminds me of ballet (er...I've never studied ballet. It just seems like ballet). That probably means my upper body is in proper position and I'm looking up. Also, I used "knee" as a cue word to get that free leg up.

Also decent: actual toe loops, think I have the hang of them, but they are very very small right now.

Awful: My sit spin. So really, is it too much to ask to be able to have a flip jump and a sit spin? Cuz they don't like to be in the same room together.

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Revised Official 2010 Goals checklist
Skate __
New boots __
(lowering the bar for 2010 as I haven't skated in a year)

Actually, in step 3, you must step forward to an outside edge, which means that there is a change of direction. If you don't do that, you cannot do the CCW crossover. Hamill pushes from her BXO's onto a LFO edge directly into her axel, which would not be possible if there were no change of direction.

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Agh, sorry! You're right...as I said, much easier demonstrated. You do have to take an outside edge and the crossover is technically CCW (right over left).

Wow, so that's what it's called.... My coach was having me "graduate" into that setup. I really really really like it for toe-loops (even tho I don't like tl's) but have yet to try it for any other jump (I'm off-ice now).

So, where do you "take off"? Between the hockey circles, the goal line? Wherever?

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

[Plain Awful]
I went over my package by at least 20 (read: $175)!! Dang I skated a lot this time...and that's with missing 2 weeks!! It's fine, I just need to pay $$$ ...I really need to land my axel and pass my Juv freestyle test so I can become a coach and pay $5 per session and start teaching LTS....

[Not quite Awesome]
Axels are getting better...so are double sals...actually got my feet crossed on a few of my double sals...however, didn't land any...

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Skating Dreams

"All your life you are told the things you cannot do. All your life they will say you're not good enough or strong enough or talented enough; they will say you're the wrong height or the wrong weight or the wrong type to play this or be this or achieve this. THEY WILL TELL YOU NO, a thousand times no, until all the no's become meaningless. All your life they will tell you no, quite firmly and very quickly. AND YOU WILL TELL THEM YES." --Nike

RE: the question mark entrance

I'd never heard it called that, but I've used to for 2toe. I also like it a lot. It can be kind of hard to use in crowded freestyles though (at least from my experience)

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