That's definitely not true- your skating is not crap, and you've accomplished a ton. You CAN pass freestyle 2- you DID pass it.This means you've got the elements to it down. Sometimes with the easier elements that give you trouble, ALL that you can do is practice. Time and practice is really all that will help stuff like back edges and whatnot. It doesn't mean you're a bad skater, or that you're not worthy of FS2- which you passed. But I would question your coach's qualifications as a, well, coach, and I would insist that she follows the ISI guidelines if you decide to keep her. You can take the other tests. It will take TIME, but it's nothing you are not capable of doing. Don't beat yourself up. A test is a test, but at the same time...a test is just a test.

Thanks Jazzpants. Daughter has taken medal to school today. I don't blame her for wanting to show it off !

Nicki

Thanks stardust! The initial shock was just a bit much - I had already heard the bad news from somebody on another group, and then right after I read your post here, and you're one of those people whose advice about testing I don't question.

Anyways, she just wrote back a little while ago with quoted text from the ISI Skaters and Coaches Handbook, and here it is:

WHAT ARE THE TEST REQUIREMENTS?

• Tests must be taken and passed in order of difficulty.
• Tests must be administered by a current ISI Administrative Member
• Tests must be graded by a current ISI Associate Member
• Tests must be taken by a current ISI Individual Member (Tot-Pre-Aplha exempt)

The Pre-Alpha through Delta tests are prerequisites for Freestyle,
Couple, Ice Dance, Figure, and Pairs tests.

After regaining my composure, I sent the above text along with an inquiry to my coach. I probably just misunderstood something along the way or...something. I finally realized that, as you say, a test is just a test, and it doesn't affect my skating. It's just frustrating!

__________________
Casey Allen Shobe | http://casey.shobe.info
"What matters is not experience per se but 'effortful study'."
"At first, dreams seem impossible, then improbable, and eventually inevitable" ~ Christopher Reeve

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY:

Last hight I landed FOUR (count 'em - FOUR) clean flips out of only six attempts. I'm so thrilled! It's been seven years that I've been two-footing the darned jump. I broke that streak in the Mountain Cup camp by landing two really ugly ones - Thank you, Manuela! but last week I couldn't do one in front of my coach. Then, presto, last night, they just came. My caoch wasn't there but I did have witnesses so I'm hoping this is the break-through I've been waiting for.

SAD: Not much. Spins could have been better and the run-through of my Interp program wasn't as strong as it should be (plus I left the props at home) but I can deal.

I'm too happy about the flips to let anything else get me down, even the prospect of doing four weeks of laundry tonight after work.

Happy!!

I finally am kind of getting the hang of axels! I mean I can't land it, but I at least understand what to do, and I am starting to really kick my leg through!

Sad...

I was doing skills during the spring...and when I went to do them yesterday I just completely couldn't do them anymore!!

Excellent! Good for her. And I bet she'll be a very proud daughter tomorrow, when you go and do likewise, or even better!

See you tomorrow!

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

Happy: Had a good run-through of all our dances, no music, but we skated them well and, I hope, to time (that wretched Riverside Rhumba is slower than I think it is!). We also worked through the Festival Quickstep for Sunday (only a RIDL, but it does help to know the steps, which I could never get right, which isn't surprising, as Husband had them wrong, too....).

In my lesson, coach & I decided not to bother with a last run-through of my artistic - I had done it on Sunday, and there's nothing more to do to it. All he said was overact a bit more, even if it means skating a bit less.... So we went back to basic - plain vanilla forward stroking, mostly. 3 pushes, then holding an edge (either inside or outside) with free leg tucked in, focussing on getting my weight to the back of the blade. And swing rolls, focussing on lifting the free leg higher.... sheesh... hard work! Also worked on back outside & inside edges (so what else is new?), twizzles (which I can do much better when he's not watching!), bracket-3-brackets (probably on 2 feet mostly, for now, to get the feel), and changes-of-edge. I am bored with the old exercises, and want him to devise me ones to practice between lessons.

Also seriously thinking of returning to solo dance for Oxford in November - no need to decide yet, but we might work on the dances just to see.....As well as dancing with Husband, of course, not instead of!

Sad: Too long to go into here! See my post entitled "A chapter of Accidents!" What a morning!

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

Casey - Don't get too upset. I'm sure it was just a misunderstanding, which is why I was tip-toeing around instead just saying "YOU CAN'T DO THAT!"


I coach both USFSA and ISI. There's a definite ladder structure to testing in both and you can't just skip tests. I'm sure your coach knows this. When I first started testing ISI, I did skip a level - Freestyle 3. I competed one year in Freestyle 2, then the next year in Freestyle 4. However, I did take and pass the Freestyle 3 test, actually at the same time I took the FS4 test. I just didn't want to compete at FS3 and my skills were just barely strong enough to get to FS4. (I had a really good friend competing at the FS3 level and I didn't want to skate against her that season. It cost me: I really struggled with consistency that season in FS4. But the friendship was worth more than the medals/trophies.)

Another skater I know had a coach who did Run-Through Tests for the MITF. Basically, it's a dress rehearsal for the real test. It helps you understand to wait for the judges to be ready to score you, remember what order the tests take, and make sure your dress doesn't ride up on you! Well, you may not have to worry about the last item, but maybe your pants are too flared and you'll trip. I'll bet that's what your coach intended, just to see where your skating sits on the test ladder.

As to having other coaches test your students: I always ask for that because I think it makes it more impartial. I tell the students that the judges are going to be tough and they have to do their best to pass. If they fail, no biggie - just practice more and take it again. It's actually a good, albeit heart-breaking, lesson for the kids. Adults understand and will actually argue a pass: "But that outside edge wasn't deep enough - I shouldn't have passed!" I know of coaches who've tested their own because it's just infinitely more convenient than arranging for a colleague to help out. (There are the whole time/$$ issues, too.)


Another possibility is that the rink uses the ISI test structures for their LTS school, but only REGISTERS the tests if you want to compete and/or get the patch. (Get the patches -- they're fun to collect!) Join the ISI as individual member -- the rink usually has the forms. Membership lets you purchase the handbooks, you get a cute magazine, and you MUST have an active membership to test/compete. Work hard to master everything up to and including FS2. Have your coach arrange for another professional to test you and ask for their input. Then, make sure the test forms get registered. Then the tests are yours at that point as long as you keep up your membership. They're the same all over the world. (They can be reinstated if you do forget to renew.)

Sorry this is so long, but I really didn't want you to feel bad about yourself -- you've accomplished a lot and I'm sure you'll pass the tests with flying colors!

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I take it you're in Australia? "Kiwiskate" -- How adorable!

Try to fit in one or two extra practices and really focus on doing the test elements at least 10 times each. I'm sure that'll help you pass. If not, no biggie - just take the test again. If you don't want to repeat the whole class, I'm sure a couple of weeks practice and a few privates will help you get ready to test. You CAN take tests outside of the group lesson structure if you ask the director nicely.

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Don't worry, if you know something, and say it confidently as such, I won't mind at all. Better to know for certain than to believe the wrong thing too long.

I wasn't upset because I didn't pass. I was upset because I was told I passed and then found out I didn't really. So I felt lied to. I don't think that's what it actually was, but it took me a bit to get over it.

Sounds like me!

Yes, that makes sense. I'm sure that's what it is. I should find out today.

I signed up on their website at the beginning of the year. I got an ISI card, which is a tear-out piece of paper with a number on it that doesn't even have my name printed on it, and I've never gotten any of the magazines or anything else. I've been kinda disappointed about that, but anyways I am a member...

Thanks for the additional clarifications!

__________________
Casey Allen Shobe | http://casey.shobe.info
"What matters is not experience per se but 'effortful study'."
"At first, dreams seem impossible, then improbable, and eventually inevitable" ~ Christopher Reeve

Nope sorry I'm in New Zealand, alot of people get New Zealand and Australia mixed up. Kiwiskate is really for kids but it gives us adults something to work towards. I did end up passing my third badge, its the fourth one that will be the killer but I will work on that slowly and try not to be competitive with the other people in my class.

Kiwibabe - how cute. Is there a website for the program? For club this year, I'd like to introduce the kids to international programs. We could have a New Zealand day.
We have snowplow sam.
Thanks

Hi,

There is:
http://www.paradice.co.nz/KiwiSkate.html which gives you a overview and picture of the skating kiwi and you can see the badges.

If you want to see what the program involves:
http://www.nzisa.com/Learn_to_skate.htm
or go into rules & regulations on the side bar of the website and click on kiwiskate to download the pdf.

Let me know if you need anymore help.

Skated again this week............have only been on the ice 3 times in the last 7 weeks. Yay!!!!

I start with a new dance coach on Friday. He's agreed to come to our rink once a week (from Detroit). Yay!!!!

Wow! What a week everyone has been having!!!

Kiwibabe -- I work with a New Zealand guy and when we tease him we love to say, "Oh yeah, Aussie right?" He gets SO mad. Like when the olympics where in Austraila we were like, "So Daniel? Family get to see the diving and gymnastics?" Man was he mad. And his nickname at work is Kiwi.

OK back on the ice -- I'm already in vaycay mode as I have almost a whole month at the beach starting July 1 -- I've been working mad overtime and have not had as much time to skate and actually, since I know I'm off ice until August, I don't want to spend lots of $$$ on lessons until I get back.

Happy: one of my best friends came out to skate with me today (my first time on the ice in 1.5 weeks), this was her FIRST time EVER ice skating. She did really well! It was fun and she had fun watching me play. My 3's did not vanish as I'd feared they would. Sure, not perfect and the pattern is a mess in a dress, but I can do all of them. Barely. My 8-step mohawk actually worked better. I worked my last lesson (1.5 weeks ago--the beer sweat hungover lesson) to get my feet more under me and durn but that works.

Sad: took a lovely tremendous fall on a sit spin and really wracked my left elbow...again. Camel bit the dust. Was there ever a camel? Anyhoo....my landing knee is still swollen from landing semi cheated jumps. I need to do more off ice work to jump UP and AROUND and not land on my toepick, plus lunges on the stability ball to strengthen the muscles around my knee (my stepmother and father are both phys ed teachers, skaters and hockey players back home and they diagnosed my knee when I was home over Memorial Day weekend).

My friend really liked skating. She liked the gliding feel. She said it felt like flying and trust me, she was not going fast at all. Maybe another adult convert? When I told her how much skates cost she blanched...she's starting a not-for-profit charity for an orphanage in Vietnam and all she thinks about are getting bikes and clothes for the orphans. I may try to find a nice used pair for her for Christmas as she likes the workout and wants to skate more after my vacation and into the fall.

Boy was this yarny and long! How many days till July 1 and BEACH???

Sad: Have been super busy the past week, so I didn't get a chance to practice before today's lesson. I went to go public skating this morning, and the rink had been invaded by an elementary school class so I bailed.

Happy: Despite the lack of practice, I worked up to a flip before my coach arrived for my lesson tonight. I was glad that the flip came back, since I only learned it last week and was worried it would disappear since I hadn't practiced it. During my lesson...combinations! Landed waltz-loop, sal-loop, toe-loop, and loop-loop. Very exciting; I'd never attempted any of these before!

Worked on my spin a bit, and the centering improved some. But I still can't get my blasted free leg in the right place. AARRGGH!

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~No thinking, breathing, or hesitation!~

Sad:
Still not sleeping well, so I didn't have the energy to really work much today, especially since I don't get to skate until after I've taught the tots for an hour, which brings me to another sad. The most advanced kid in my tots class (she's 6 and really shouldn't be there anymore, but is home schooled, so...) was absent last week, and this week I learned that she broke her arm doing a cartwheel. Rats! She was actually starting FO threes, and her FXO's were looking pretty good.

Happy:
I managed to do the FO and FI alt three patterns a few times, still up to my new standard, but still not any better than that. F and B cross strokes were fun today since the rink was empty. Did the spiral stretches and then skated a really good prelim spiral pattern, without the spirals still, but with arched back and free leg as high as I could get it. Unfortunately a party group of pre-teen boys appeared and that was the end of patterns!

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Only SAD today.

Well, a few weeks ago I fell on my right knee... which would be ok if I'd slid on it, but I fell directly down on it from a spiral. It hurt like... ummm... h-e-double hockey sticks And it got immensely swollen. The next day, I hit it with the car door It was SO hurt that it's been very sensitive ever since... if I put pressure on it (ie kneel on it) it starts hurting a ton.

So. Today, being the oh-so-TALENTED girl I am, I fell on it AGAIN. From a spiral, AGAIN. Not *quite* as bad as last time, since this time I fell on BOTH knees and slid a bit, but it still hurts a LOT and is swollen. FUN. This was all 10 minutes into my session so I didn't get to skate at ALL.

Also... I watched a video of my skating the other day, and I suck. I really, really do. I dont' know what it is, I just look so AWKWARD and stupid and... bleh. And I feel like I'm getting nowhere. ANd like I suck. Which I do. BLEH.

I'm sure you don't suck! The first time of myself was when my dad was visiting - I talked him and my grandfather to come skating (my grandfather, who's 82, didn't care to ice skate, but he videoed). Anyways we had great fun and I showed off my best stuff (at the time, a salchow and toeloop, both newly-learned, some spin attempts, and not too much more). When we got back and watched the tape, I wanted to crawl into a hole and cry. I looked soooo awful. But it made me start paying more attention to what I was doing, and I started taking video clips with my phone just so I could see my errors right there on the spot. I think this has helped, or maybe not. In any case I've seen improvement over time - I'm confident that you will to.

I still don't understand - how do you people fall on your knees? If you start to fall, straighten your legs! When I fall out of spirals, I land on my hip. It still hurts like hockey sticks, but I can still skate after a minute of rest, with minimal/no swelling (I'm not really sure if my knees would even swell - I've never once landed on them!). The best, as in least painful, falls that I have have been on my chest - there the impact is spread out and it doesn't hurt at all. I think my instinct is to rotate though, when I see the ice coming towards my face , and that puts me on my hip, almost every time.

By the way, we were talking about the girl with leopardskin boots a while ago - do you also know one with hot pink boots? I saw her skating at OVA today and thought they were unattractive, but they sure did draw in your eyes just because they stood out so much!

Happy: I signed up for USFSA today with the Seattle Skating club. I also bought a 1-month flat rate card for the adult-rate of $110/month (I still can't believe that!), AND they said that it would be for July, but they would pretend it was July already, so that essentially means I get a free week, and I got to skate, for the first time ever, on an Olympic-sized surface today!! The ice was somewhere between the hard brittle stuff at my old rink and the melty stuff at the rink near my house. They seem to have a very good zamboni there, unlike the one at the rink near my house which leaves behind water-filled ruts - the ice surface itself was very smooth and nice. The rink is slightly colder, but comfortable. Not like the super-cold studio rink at the one near my house, or the cold rink that I used to skate at.

Sad: The melty stuff is a bit easier to skate on. They don't have rubber floors between the bleachers or the stairs in between, and I didn't realize this until I went walking up them on my toepicks towards my skate bag to get a tissue (at step 4, I realized my horrible error, and hurried back down and got my blade guards). Stupid, stupid me. It didn't seem to do too much damage, at least...

The rink is going to take getting used to. The ice is huge, and it makes me feel small. There was also a Nationals-placing ice dancer giving lessons that I've talked to previously (he was my skate fitter), but whom had never seen me skate, so that made me pretty nervous. I couldn't skate as fast as normal. My jumps were crappy, my spins were okay at first, but went downhill. I seem to have forgotten any and all moves - I had a hard time remembering anything to even work on. I fell trying to step out of a spread eagle (how the heck does THAT happen??), I fell trying to do a backward shoot-the-duck which I usually have no problem with (but then did one fine). I couldn't do a loop, and flips were REALLY inconsistant. I just felt weird altogether. I think I'll get used to it though.

__________________
Casey Allen Shobe | http://casey.shobe.info
"What matters is not experience per se but 'effortful study'."
"At first, dreams seem impossible, then improbable, and eventually inevitable" ~ Christopher Reeve

I'm sure you know this, and are just talking about not landing SO MUCH on your toepick- but you are actually supposed to land on your toepick and then glide out in a jump. It's a milisecond, but it is how you land. So you're halfway there!!!

You know, it just occured to me...

I almost never see anyone saying "oh hey my salchow was mediocre today" or "well my spins were pretty average today" - seems we're a pretty extremist bunch. It's either WONDERFUL or downright crap!

__________________
Casey Allen Shobe | http://casey.shobe.info
"What matters is not experience per se but 'effortful study'."
"At first, dreams seem impossible, then improbable, and eventually inevitable" ~ Christopher Reeve

Sad:

1. I thought I had completely lost my backspin yesterday. Couldn't keep the position, and I was getting REALLY frustrated.
2. Scratch spin was pretty poor yesterday too, but I got a few fairly good ones.
3. Coach spent the entire lesson today working on my waltz jump. I have to remember to keep my (*#@&$ right shoulder (and hip) back during the jump!

Happy:

1. Crossovers improving, as long as I remember the second push, LOL! Coach said my backwards didn't need fixing, but if only I wasn't so scared so I could go faster.
2. Sitspin getting better as well
3. FINALLY got a few good backspins in a row yesterday after getting seriously frustrated. I tried some out today before my lesson and it's still there, so this is good news.
4. Waltz jump got better after serious reworking. I can do the right movement sometimes, but now I have to get it so it's like that all the time!
5. Coach liked my landing position, but I doubt I could keep my leg up to hip level on all of my jumps.
6. Obviously Coach wants me to get the basic stuff down instead of rushing through everything. He didn't even see any of my other jumps today. But that's good - I want to get all of the basics, and I'm glad he's nitpicking.
7. Even though I'm trodding slowly along fixing my moves, I feel like I've improved already after only my second lesson, so having an $$$ coach is totally worth it.

__________________
"The ice is finer when the zombie goes over it!" - said by an excited 5-year-old at the rink

"The life you've led is in fact not the totality of what is possible for you." - John Partridge of Wheaton College (and a Matrix philosopher )

Hmm...your leg probably shouldn't be that high. I was doing that at first too, but then my coach explained that a jump landing doesn't need the leg extension of a spiral, and she encouraged me to *lower* it.

__________________
Casey Allen Shobe | http://casey.shobe.info
"What matters is not experience per se but 'effortful study'."
"At first, dreams seem impossible, then improbable, and eventually inevitable" ~ Christopher Reeve

Happy:
I skated Tuesday and Wednesday for the first time since having my son. (He was born 4 weeks ago-8lbs, 11 oz). Technically, I wasn't suppose to skate for 6 weeks, but I rounded it off because I was going just a tad bit nuts. All my single jumps are fine and spins were good, except I only did two camel spins because of my silly stiches. Flying camels were actually very good considering that I haven't done them since October. Some of my Novice moves (which I had been working on) are still pretty good.

Sad
I wanted to work on the axel and double loop, but I figured I better not until I see the doctor....rrrr Happy skating!

Congratulations!

I'm not a doctor, but it sounds like you should take it easy, if you've had a C-section. That's major abdominal surgery. Take care of yourself!


My "Happy" report - I think I'm getting better at pushing with my inside edges in the transitions on the power 3's and back perimeter stroking. My power 3 patterns were OK last night - and I didn't freak out when I did the right side.

"Sad" - Still too much toe scraping on back crossovers, and my backspin is still bad. I also fell on my left knee practicing the BO to FO transition in the 5-step.