We have all kinds of Disney Fairies and Princesses practicing for the show these days so there's lots of skipping and tripping going on...

Skipping

I've had three good skating sessions in a row, now that's starting to make me nervous. I don't want to jinx it but I think I finally have the mohawk....now what I need to work on is holding the exit, I've stop rushing the entry. WHen I think about it - I can hold it for both the two beats necesary for the Swing and for the 5 step. Coach has me working on doing them on the half-circles and trying to hold it till I finish the half circle. I can do that on good side, not my bad side but DD watched me and told me I need to open my hip more and it helped although it was really hard for me open my hip.

j

tripping - knee tendonitis a problem.
Skipping - had a great pre-nats lesson. Before nationals each year, I get a different coach to look at my program. I've found that the different perspective is invaluable.

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Recycle Love - Adopt a homeless pet

Skipping:
Did 5 step mohawk in lesson Fri, and coach said mohawks were nice and smooth. I could tell the BO edge was flat, leading to a flat FO edge after, and coach told me to push onto the BO edge bringing the free foot to the back instead of front, and that did the trick. While playing with older DD yesterday after we finished our last lesson, showed her the Juv back power threes. She can do BO threes just fine - I'm scared of them. I was forced to do some on each foot to teach her the move. They were timid, slow little things - but I did do them and I think they were checked better than my FO threes!

Tripping:
Still having so much trouble properly checking the prelim FO threes on the line that I'm back to two footing them. As encouragement, coach told me that when she was already doing doubles, her coach had her working F and B swizzles during the public sessions, along with a lot of other elementary moves.

I am sick yet again! Stuffy sinuses, runny nose, and everything aches. This is the winter (and now spring) from H*ll. From what I'm hearing - I'm not the only one getting sick a lot.

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Skipping: Most of the elements in my program are going pretty well, esp. the loop and loop-toe. New footwork is a zillion times better. I feel much better about this upcoming competition (it's on Saturday).

Tripping: Hey, my change foot spin at the end of the program was dismal today - uh it is too close to the competition for that to be happening! Had to bail out of the program during second run-through today because one of my fave skating kids nearly back hydroplaned into me...twice, once after being told by my coach to watch out for the person in the program. I wasn't really angry but my coach was, because he did it after being told not to once already. I should probably be more angry but I was just happy the first run-through went well

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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)

Skipping:
Had a clean test program runthrough today. Primary Coach even saw what was according to her a "nice salchow." Given the way she has been on the soapbox with that element lately, it made my day.

Tripping:
Above program was done on chewed up hockey muck that the rink did not bother to resurface the ice before the afternoon freestyle sessions. Ice felt very slooowwww. Is this rink management's revenge for us figure skaters raising Cain over us losing 30 minutes of freestyle nearly every afternoon this month?
Also was in newly sharpened skates.

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Adult Nationals, 2009 "The Time of My Life"

Tripping:
Me... on my blades!!! Literally too!!! Lucky for me I managed to save myself from some pretty bad fall today. I'm so NOT a morning skater!!!

And I barely got thru my two runthrus of my technical program too! My legs just didn't wanna move this morning!!!

Skipping:
I am going back to the rink Monday night to redeem myself on the loop and the flip. And actually the loop at the beginning of this session was smooth, flawless and easy...

(I will land that loop at LP! I will land that loop at LP.... )

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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!!!

How did you do it? I find that if I hold the Mohawk for more than about 1.5 beats (2 on a good day, 2.5 on a very good day), my shoulders won't turn so I can't get the turn. I suspect I am out of alignment, but my Willow Mohawk is always rushed, and my Swing Mohawk is either off-pattern but on-time, or on-pattern and out of time....

Tripping: I just don't like the end of our free dance at the moment, mostly because I can't do it, but also it feels off. Lesson helped, though, as did doing it to music and working out what went where.

Skipping: However, after my lesson I realised that one of the problem places was where I do a Mohawk on the wrong foot (i.e. LFI/RBI, which is always weaker) and then have to turn to do a RBO/LBI back crossover.... now I know what the problem is, we can make that change of direction a feature rather than a bug!

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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!

Skipping -

Finally got back on the ice and had a really good lesson to boot.
Started working on the choreography for my program and actually landed the flip.

Tripping -

Have only choreographed one spin so far and I keep falling out of it.

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Happily defying the laws of physics when I skate...and not in a good way

If I could meet ole Axel Paulsen, I would kick him in the teeth

President and Founding member of the I hate Toe-Loops Club

Still a member, but trying to get out of the Pre-bronze peanut gallery.

Visit my skating journal

Skipping:
Jumps were nice, and landed the salchow satisfactorily for Secondary Coach. Spins were okay.

Tripping:
Missed the sitspin in my test program runthrough on lesson today. Was trying to get lower and hit the toepick. Got reamed by Secondary Coach and rightfully so, I've been nailing these consistently lately.

Too crowded on ice.

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Adult Nationals, 2009 "The Time of My Life"

I have to really think about stretching my arms to the point of being uncomfortable and turning my head helped. Amazing what a difference the head makes! My coach kept telling me that and telling me that --it was just so hard to turn my head but once I started doing it it amazing and I told her so and she just rolled her eyes. I told DD that and she did a clownish imitation of trying to turn with your body and head turned the wrong way. She's such a commedianne.

j

tripping- me. everywhere lol. been working a lot on power, especially the intermediate crossovers. they make for some interesting falls. i guess i sometimes try to push to hard on the underpush and then next thing i know i'm sliding across the ice. but, i can tell by how far i slide that there is lots of power there!

bah. video-taped my axel. not too fond of it. i mean by most standards its good, but there are things that bug me. that is probably just me being nit-picky. but now i'm ready to skate tomorrow and make what (i think) will be improvements.

decided not to do any 2axels. i want to get a really nice big delayed axel before i start the double again.

skipping- had a good skate today. started out with jumps, made my way through double flip quickly (and almost landed some really good 2flips). then i spent a while working on moves etc. definitely made progress on quick choctaws (another one of my mortal enemies). also decided to work both feet on the choctaws, and while the right choctaws aren't pretty, i was able to get over that LBO a few times.

double loops were great today. they were high, they rotated easily and came out easily. i was also proud because i managed to save some by not reaching for the ice. normally i reach straight for the ice and ruin good ones, but i actually managed to save some slightly off ones by NOT reaching. huge accomplishment for me--to have my arm position SAVE a jump.

since the doubles were going so well i decided to work the 3sal and 3loop a bit. they went really well! i had like 2 1/2 rotations on the salchow, and would have had the full 3 if i hadn't wussed out. they also felt solid, not just like i was whipping around. the 3loop was decent too. i think 3loop will come first since i have so much height on the double.

i'm just feeling good in general. my hip didn't really bother me today at all that i can think of. my feet are another matter, but what can ya do! (well, actually, you can get hooks put in so the tongues don't slip 2.5 inches and crush your toes, but that means going to a skate shop) i think i want to start taking power from an old 2nd coach. she and my main coach were a coaching team back before my absence, but now she doesn't do figure skating at all anymore. she only does power with hockey and a couple figure skaters. i'm going on a retreat next week for school, but i think i'm gonna talk to her.

sorry for the long post

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skipping: I finally figured out how to do a 2sal. Not just do one every once and a while, but to do one that isn't a fluke. Unfortunately, it's not consistant and my mental "wait 'til forward, wait 'til forward..." doesn't seem to always click. At least it works sometimes.

tripping: Monday was full of rejection. 3, yes 3, colleges denied me. And another waitlisted me. On top of that, I had a midterm that I was too distraught to study for today.

You should see my Husband spinning, sometimes.....

*Hugs* Poor you, that's not fun. Can you take a year out and try for a 2010 entry (as would be the norm in this country); if your final marks - grades, I mean - aren't good enough you could try again, or perhaps get a job (maybe even in an ice show?) to save money for college? On the other hand, perhaps somewhere will accept you that you hadn't even thought of, and you'll have a wonderful time!

As for us, today:

Tripping: This free dance! Grrr, we are struggling and two months to the Mountain Cup seems very short.

Skipping: On the other hand, we have gone up a level of difficulty, so if it comes off and we look okay doing it, it will be good. And we do still have 2 months. In my private lesson was asked to do an exercise I hadn't done for a year or two and it had magically improved!

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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!

Skipping:

-Lutz is back It feels like a huge jump too (though I'm not sure if it really is!).

-Flip and loop have improved.

-I think I might have the timing down on the Cha Cha.

-Double 3s are getting better, even the really hard LBI-LFO one.

-I'm doing forward outside brackets & have not yet broken, strained, torn, sprained, or otherwise injured myself

Tripping:

-I think I fall every single time I do power circles. Usually on one of the backwards ones. I start going so fast that I either do a click of death or just get my feet tangled up. These are always spectacular, sliding-halfway-across-the-rink falls. They don't hurt, but they are funny

-Camel-backspin is still not consistent. Grrrr...

Tripping All over the place! I fell and fell and fell last night night. Mostly on camels- so those are easy falls, I basically sit down on the ice. But I caught a toepick coming out of a half lutz, thankfully I caught the fall and fell so that I didn't land straight onto my knees, but have a bruise below my knee. I also bumped my knee really hard coming into my lunge. My PT is not going to be happy!

My first program run through was a disaster- I missed the combo spin, missed the toe loop (2 footed it), and completely missed the footwork (did 8 step mohawk instead of 9, and sloppy). yuck.

My camel is weird- I turn my head the wrong way. I just cannot look to the right. My coach seems to think this is my main issue because it's getting all my weight off. But I don't want to look that way!

Am in real bad shape today- the side of my right leg is super sore from the lutz entry, my knees are both really bruised.

Skipping So many half lutzes. I think they are sort of getting better. My stag jump is kind of getting better. Did some good backspins and am starting to have a camel (like 2 revolutions).

We added to my program, so now instead of a toe loop, I do toe loop- toe loop, and at the end I added waltz jump, side toe tap, waltz jump, ballet jump. I also added a second back pivot at the end. And practiced my 3 contigency programs. I have a spot I can either do a jump, a spin, or my footwork again depending on how the program is going Now if I mess them all up, I really have a decision to make- but it's probably a moot point

Got great compliments on my spiral.

Cannot believe synchro nationals is next week- I'm starting to really freak out

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-Jessi
What I need is a montage...
Visit my skating journal or my Youtube videos (updated with 2 new videos Sept 26, 2009)

Skipping - Back on the Ice after my off ice clutzyness. Feels good to be out there. I sooo miss skating when I can't do it. Also, my coach thinks my blade needs to be moved, which is good, as I can't spin since my new skates, and I like to think it isn't just my technique that is shot to heck.

Tripping - My body gets out of shape so easily, it's a bit discouraging. Two weeks off and I have no stamina, and no strength for jumping. Plus, I lose much of my coordination.

Ah well, its good just to be back out there.

Oh yeah, I've had a number of those falls and they are dramatic but kind of fun, LOL! I eventually figured out that I was standing up a little at the end of each stroke as I crossed over, and that's why my feet came too close together. Once I started focusing on keeping my butt low to the ice and maintaining a wide stance, the clicks of death stopped.

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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

Tripping

So I asked DD to give me a lesson so I would get in bad habits and keep practicing things wrong while coach was on maternity leave...good thing....

She basically said the same thing coach has told me only much blunter

Back peremiter stroking - I am not leaning enough into the inside edge soon enough - I get there eventually but it's usually too late, i have to lean as soon as I step down.

Power 3s- I've been making the same mistake with the crossovers I did when I started the back peremiter crossovers, putting my weight on the wrong foot - thus using the crossover for the whole curve rather than holding the inside edge more, thus getting me off pattern.

Skipping - it actually took less time to fix my 5 step mohawk pattern problems than the other moves!

dd was kind of being smart alecky and making the point that she didn't care how long I held the steps for the 5 step as long as they were all the same and then she precedes to do them by holding every step for 5 counts. I was pretty impressed since two beats is pushing it for me.

j

j

Skipping: Bronze power XO pattern feeling pretty good. Back power XO is feeling smoother and less scrapey. Got in several decent two-footed spins yesterday (plenty of crummy ones as well, but let's not think too hard about that. . . ).

Tripping: Really, I don't know what all you've done with my 3-turns, but will you please GIVE THEM BACK?? I don't know what is going on with these lately. On the plus side, my half-flip feels a whole lot more stable going from a mohawk entry than from a 3-turn. . .

So, anyway, power 3s still kind of a disaster, a couple of spills on the DPB3TP (da** pre-bronze 3-turn pattern), crappy waltz 8s. Coach and I did some work on 3s in 2 lessons ago, but something is just really wrong.

Oh, and skipping: Our synchro team got another FIRST at a competition on Sunday. This was after being off the ice for two weeks and no warmup on the ice. Not bad, I say.

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"Go wash an elephant if you wanna do something big." -Baby Gramps

Skipping: Coach was very happy w/ my Killian today! Said it looks comfortable (and not like I think I'm about to die), and that the sharp expression was very good. Woo hoo, been working very hard on that! Test is in 2.5 weeks, so I should be ready.

We also worked a little on pieces of the Starlight & he fixed my mohawk section, which has always been clumsy, slow, and also exhausting. I was tipping forward (that's the answer to everything, isn't it!), and once I started focusing on skating on a really bent knee & keeping my back held nice & straight, the mohawks smoothed right out & I wasn't dying by the end of them. Yay, that's been a problem for a long time!

I've taken a tip from some of you & have made the Int. moves back power 3's part of my warmup. And I'm also going through the Novice crossing 3's & fast rocker/choc end patterns too. I basically am walking through them, but I figure if I do them every time, they'll start to improve/get more comfortable.

Skipping: Had a lesson today as a gift from another skater for my birthday last month. I haven't had a coach this year since my former coach left the area, and this skater wanted me to see what Phil was like as a coach.

This guy is good. He spotted some little things right off the bat, and then we worked on getting a stronger backspin. Lots of things to work on.

Still Skipping: I've been working on the RFO counter at speed. I've got it where the ice rips when I do it. Feels very cool.

Too bad the left one still feels like a test-tube experiment by comparison.

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Bill Schneider

Tripping: Today was my first event at (Canadian) Nationals, Introductory Interpretive, and I felt like cr#p between practice and competition - queasy stomach, etc. I hadn't skated in 8 days and the ice was as hard as cement!

Skipping: When I took to the ice and the crowd cheered, I felt fine.

Tripping: I am consistent - bottom of the heap, and finished 10th out of 10 (Being 58 and having skated for only 26 months, I'll settle for 10th in a National competition )

Skipping: When I came to the boards after my event, my coach looked really surprised. She said "I have never seen you skate that program THAT WELL before." Who needs a medal with praise like that

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Dianne
(A.O.S.S.? Got it BAD! )

you are NOT the only one. the second quote is mine from yesterday lol. i only had one click-of-death fall on the backwards ones, and it HURT. landed right on the outside of my knee. i'm waiting to see if that and the 2 other bruises nearby merge into one massive super-bruise.

skipping Silvia Fontana was at the rink today along with two choreographers. They were working on the High School Musical show. It was inspiring to see her skate. huge jumps and just gorgeous movement.

i was able to do some flying camels! i tried one a few weeks ago, and my hip said "NO WAY!" but i tried some today and they were good! no pain either!

also worked on 2axels with my coach today. i didn't land any, obviously (first time even attempting them in like 4 months), but i had some that were only 1/2 to to 3/8ths short!

we also worked on deconstructing my single axel. i think it will still take a while for me to fix the check-out (i bring my leg up like a wrap on the checkout. feet are tidy in the air, but then the leg comes up, around and out), but i felt improvement.

i was also able to do full split jumps and split falling leafs. no pain or ROM problems in the hip. in fact, my hip only started to get sore when i did a broken-leg.

tripping- probably should have taken it a bit easier today. i was already super sore from skating so hard yesterday, but i skated just as hard, if not harder, today. so now EVERYTHING hurts. most of it is just muscle soreness, but my foot and back are both really bothering me. i think i'm going to have both looked at somewhat soon, just to make sure i don't have stress fractures.

double freakin flip. hate that jump! i mean, i think part of my problem is that my coach demands good technique, none of the whippy 3turns or arms that you see so often. but i dont know, the timing just throws me off. i have such good timing on my double loop, you would think it would translate at least somewhat. but nooooo. i did have a few decent ones, but that jump just has not clicked for me yet.

russian splits- HA! my attempts at them are quite humorous. another girl and i were trying them and just laughing at each other the whole time. it is REALLY hard to hit that position and then transition to the landing! i mean, i can hit a decent air position, but just wipe out on the landing. they do make for some good skating bloopers tho!

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Ah, I'll bet that's exactly what I'm doing too. I have a tendency to bob up and down!

ouch! I just fall on my rear or my hip - no pain so far. I'm glad I'm not the only one who wipes out on these power circles, though. Congrats on being able to do more things now - sounds like your hip is healing well!

Skipping: ME!!! after synchro practice. I was skating on freshly sharpened blades and I had good run-thrus of both of our programs. I'm still not crazy about one of the pass-thrus, but we were missing the teammate who skates on my right and usually is the source of speed on that side and I was making it without her AND not feeling like I was gonna die, LOL! I'll take that!

I hit all of the footwork elements in the Latin program in all of the run-thrus, so I'm thrilled about that! The only thing that I'm not hitting with good consistenct is the 1/2 flip in the compulsory program and that's because we're skating into it faster than I'd like to, but I fake well enough that the coach says we all look like we're jumping on my end of the line, LOL.

I even managed to get into the final pose in our Latin program, though I have a lovely black bruise on my right knee from hitting the splits so fast. So, if anyone is at ISI synchro nationals next weekend and you happen to catch EITHER of our programs, I'm the fat one ending in the splits. Yes, in both programs, LOL! It's really the only thing I can do consistently...