This Saturday, I am starting the UK Bronze level (the one straight after SkateUK level 10). YAY!

I will have 1 and a half hours to practice beforehand, so if anyone could tell me what elements are involved at the beginning of this level I would really appreciate it.



The reason I'm so happy is, a) I always thought that starting Bronze would be a real milestone, and also cos I got moved up before I've passed lvl 10. I'm currently doing lvl 9, but the coach said that as she was starting the Bronze group this Saturday, I should come anyway as I'm good enough for it. Woo

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Well done you! It is a milestone, and you've done really well to get this far.

I'm afraid I don't know what elements are on the passport, but I'm sure someone will! They didn't have passport back when I was in the classes - at that, I'd still be in them if they had, I shouldn't wonder!

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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!

I can help as I did it yesterday.
requirements are 3-jump, two foot spin, forward spiral, and a buuny hop into a drag. If you're doing dance, its forward progressives, forward open chasses, closed chasses, closed mohawks and continous 3-turns (on the circle)

good luck!

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Level one Field Moves......PASSED 05.06.08
Level one Free dance.....PASSED 02.10.08

GOALS FOR 2009

• Level One Compulsary dances.......PASSED 19.02.09
• Level One Elements.....................PASSED 10.07.09
• Level Two Free dance.................PASSED 19.02.09
• Level One Free...........................
• Level Two compulsory dances.......

Loving it, Loving it, Loving it!!!!!

Well done, peanutskates!

Those closed mohawks are, IMO, one of the hardest things in the dance passport. Quite what they're doing in the bronze section is anyone's guess...

thanks, Jayne

so... is that it for figure? How long does it take to pass bronze? 6 weeks?

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That will depend very much on you, and on how demanding your coach is. If you can already do a decent spiral, that won't be a problem for you. If you've never tried, and your coach insists you have to travel a decent distance with your foot at hip height, six weeks may well be pushing it. And - can you spin? When I started the passport, I couldn't get round more than one revolution - and I've been skating for 7 years. It's taken me months to get anywhere near 3 revolutions. Similarly with jumps - some people find them easy and a couple of hours of practice is enough to have a very decent 3-jump, others find the concept of leaving the ice downright terrifying and take much longer to get there.

I passed bronze today!!!

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This was the level you started today and thought would take 6 weeks??

Okay I think I hate you

You are a kid, right?

j

thanks jskater, I think...

Yes i am indeed a tender 14 yrs old lol... which is not actually even that young. The thing is, don't be too jealous, because the spirals, teapots and 3 jumps/waltz jumps, I taught myself like a month before starting bronze, so it wasn't like I learned everything today.

except the barrel rolls. that was completely new, and I got it straight away ok you can be a little jealous...

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Okay I won't be jealous that you taught yourself spirals and jumps

j

Firstly well done on passing Bronze so quickly!

I'm curious, what is a barrel roll? I've never heard the term used in a skating context (and can only picture it being done in an aicraft).

barrel roll:

Mohawk
Cross free leg over skating leg, put on ice
Turn to skate forward again
Mohawk, etc

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Thanks! I've seen people doing those but didn't know the name.

Barrel rolls are great fun! (and congrats, by the way). What I found hardest, even after I'd got them, was to go the other way after having been practising in one direction. I still find it really hard to switch everything round.

Or how undemanding....
We had quite a situation at our rink today. A girl came to check out if she can join our "bronze" group - she has just passed her bronze at another rink, but I've said to her dad on the phone "we've got another quite stong bronze-level skater, so she still might learn something in this group - let's see".

Well... it turned out, the girl was indeed not a very good fit with the bronze group.... for simple reason that her skating hardly reaches Skate UK 7-8 level. Tentative edges, struggling with crossovers, weak stroking. I don't get it - what's the point telling to the child that she is "silver" when she is absolutely definitely not? The girl we got in bronze lands solid salchow and cherry, yet her coach is not rushing to pass her until she gets her continuous backward edges sorted. The coach had a really hard time explaining the dad why we can't take this new girl in the group. And it's not the first time when we get skaters claiming that they passed certain level at the other rink, who should be, by our coaching team standards, 1-2 grades lower.

I understand that we can't demand that all Skate UK students skate to the standard shown in NISA video (after all, they filmed Level 1-3 Standard Test skaters, I recognize some of them). Yet I don't see any reason why coaches would skyrocket kids through SKate UK levels other than that after Skate UK they'd have to go private. Ta-da.....

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My other car is a Zamboni

sceptique, LOL about the story. I feel sorry for the girl though. Must have been a real bummer.

now I don't know about her, but I can feel when I'm not doing something quite right, and I wouldn't want to pass that element until I was confident...

BTW, is there anywhere I can watch a small clip of the NISA vids without paying? I'm just curious to see what standard you're talking about.

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I would guess since all the passport elements come up again at level 1 and 2 of the national tests that many coaches will happily pass something that's a good attempt even if not very good, while still at the passport level.

There's a choice:

Go through the passport level slowly, so everything is well above standard and then whizz through levels 1 and 2 of national tests or whizz through passport and take a bit longer on the levels 1 and 2 tests.

Result in the end would be much the same. Most coaches don't appear to take the passport levels very seriously, since indeed they have to cover the same ground again at levels 1 and 2 and it is a very new thing while many coaches have been teaching for years.

Also I can understand kids getting discouraged when they are held back because of one element. Everything is worked on continuously (even Olympians have to practice stroking and basic edges) so most coaches would allow the odd weak element to slip through at passport level, knowing they will work on it again at next level. This may well have been the way the skater's old rink worked.

Often it's not the kids that are so bothered by the levels they are at but the parents!

At any rink you will find kids at a lower level who can skate better than some at a higher level - depends on kid/parent/coach and why they skate in the first place.

I've also had the impression that for the SkateUK levels (i.e. group classes) coaches may be reluctant to split up small groups of close friends who started skating together and have moved together through the classes so far, and it's probably more sensible to pass someone who's marginal (especially if they're told that they're marginal and will have to work hard) than fail someone who's good. But, like you've found, it all falls apart if they move rinks.

I know my coach won't pass me on passport levels until I can do the stuff reasonably well - however, I'm pretty sure I can't get my leg hip-high on the spiral (I'm a not very sporty adult) and I've passed that, where he'd probably have insisted on a higher leg from a flexible child. Similarly with teapots. And definitely similarly with the step sequences in the dance passport, where I can do them but only slowly because turning at speed scares me rigid. I'm happy with that. I have to have the skating skills to pass, but I'm not being failed because of lack of flexibility and/or nerve.