Nothing, just practice I guess...

Snow whites are a type of inline skates specifically tailored to re-create figure skating. But it's not exactly the same... I'll be fooling around with them once the weather gets a bit better (I was blown off my bike today by the storm) and see if I can get a spin out of em.

Here's a guy on youtube using em
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WWCDeFyeDQU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BVS1o...eature=related

Congratulations Momskater and Skittlesk8s!

Sessy - I don't think your FO alt threes suck at all. The only real flaw is not holding the BI edge all the way to the line, but I've seen tests pass that way, and even know one coach who taught an adult student to do that as a way to overcome his not so good checking of the turn. Your Biellman attempts are positively impressive!

Rusty Blades - Have you tried to jump across hockey line (away from the wall) two footed, with a half rev rotation to simulate a waltz? If you can get yourself doing that, then you may be able to go to the waltz jump off the wall too.

Missed Resolutions:
Showering this morning totally exhausted me, so I don't see how I'm going to be back on the ice by Saturday. I had to go back to be for an hour. This pneumonia isn't even audible with a stethoscope, why is it making me so tired?

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Really?!! Cool!

Well mom always says it's because the toxins of the dead bacteria and tissues are taking all your body's resources to remove from the blood and that the body body needs all its energy to battle the disease. But I'm not sure how scientifically accurate that is. Take it easy, you'll get better faster that way!

Get well soon DBNY. It will take less time to get over this if you rest now instead of overexerting yourself.
You're sick - take a sick day today and tomorrow.

Missed Resolutions:
No patch today - the zamboni had a flat tire so they didn't cut the ice. No way to see Figures tracings. (Did I mention I just bought a scribe - that figures!)

I've given up trying to master Twizzles for the year. It just isn't working for me and it's not that important.

New Directions:
I've instead chosen to work on a backward catch-foot spiral, haha! Talk about lost causes - I can't reach my foot with EITHER hand. lol

Pre-Bronze and Prel MITF were good, even the Alternating Forward 3's. Spirals were really good - lots of stretch and control. Change-edge (FI=>FO) are getting much easier.

Jumps are about the same, but the Toe Loop and Salchow are getting much stronger! (From what I could see of the takeoff tracings, they were clean and correct!)

Camel spin was dicey at best. sigh Sit spins were better, but a little out of control. Scratch spins (fwd/back) were good.

Spreadeagles and Tango Stops were really good.

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Missed Resolutions:
There's something horribly wrong when you go back to a small rink and realize that you have to seriously curve the setup for a jump... it just throws you off.

Flying camel wasn't good last night

New Directions:
Landed some nice axels
Landed double salchow... not too nice very odd feeling on many of them, I seem to be on the toe pick alot all of a sudden, had one decent one.
Double toe and double loop very obviously cheated but didnt fall on them... guess thats a semi-good thing? Now if they don't decide to clean up then out of the program they go
Layback-side-catch still is there but travelly

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~
Tidesong

New directions

Back sit continuing to improve. What a concept: you practice something and it gets better! I have to concentrate on stepping close to the spinning foot, leaving my left foot on the ice a little longer so I can push it over onto an outside edge, and making sure my free foot blade is aligned in front of my spinning foot. If I don't do that last one, I can do a nice inside edge back sit ... unintentionally.

Tango was much improved even though I didn't practice it at all. Muahaha.

Missed resolutions

I really ought to start working on Senior MIF so I can test it before they pass all those new requirements. I hope to god they table it this year.

Cool!
BTW, I just checked out your alternating 3's and I also think they look VERY good, except that you aren't making it all the way back to the line before putting your foot down on the exit edge. A little more practice on controlling the turn and keeping your shoulders and hips checked and you'll have them down perfectly!

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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

Have you learned the sustained edge step from senior yet? Either I'm leaving out a step and my coach hasn't noticed, or the 2004 rulebook isn't accurate...

[New Directions]

Jumps were nice and high today....

Moves were actually pretty decent...also for my warm up, I did my test warm up...didn't do the moves right after that because the session was crowded, but at least did the warm up...

[Missed Resolutions]

I swear, I was going to kill someone tonight, it was so crowded...and, it was also a very mixed session, so you had the beginners working on crossovers (in the lutz corner ), folks in the middle, and folks doing doubles and trying to land double axels...

I couldn't even get through my program without folks getting in my way...even after I did my program, I was trying to do the things I had missed and couldn't do my lutz nor my footwork

I think test freak out is starting...I made some stupid mistakes today...not doing the moves in order and then screwing up the exit of one of my back power circles...I still had crossovers left that I could use and I forgot which side I needed to exit on

I'm also getting worried because my dress isn't here yet...

Axels pretty much went splat today....and my right wrist is sore after landing on it a couple of times

I've learned them all and can do them all, but not up to test standard. What are you confused about on the sustained edge step? (It's my favorite one )

I had the 2004 rulebook but I took the Senior MIF pages out and then lost them. The steps for left foot are:

LBI 3, hold LFO until middle of ice, swing change edge to LFI, hold
LFI rocker
wide step to RBI double 3, hold RBI edge to middle of ice
cross front to LBI, repeat

I see a lot of people do a crossover instead of a cross front, or multiple crossovers after the double 3. Wrong.

Missed Resolutions?
WTF happened with my flip and my loop?!?!?! I couldn't land ANY of them last night! My legs felt like jello and was quite tired. Decided to just make this a fun session and go home early to catch up on sleep (didn't sleep well Sunday night, so that might be it.) Okay, not that fun! I tried out the changes to my footwork for my FS program too.

New Direction:
I tried camels and apparently they are still there. I saw my reflection and though it's not quite hip level, it's getting very close to a spiral position, so it's obvious I'm trying for a camel.

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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!!!

missed revolutions- trying to get my change foot spin up to test standard. It was getting a little better lately, I've been practicing a lot, but it was no where in sight at my lesson. Coach said she had a nightmare about it so we spent the whole lesson on the spin.

new directions - Much work on the forward spin entrance after we worked it over, and I took lots of notes so hopefully I won't forget everything we did. She liked my program runthrough (spin excepted) and noticed improvement in the 3 turns I've been drilling all week.

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It's all about the dress!

Missed Resolutions: Couldn't do back inside swing rolls today; for some reason my body kept getting in the way. LFO3s initiated from the shoulder, which is okay when solo but not great when partnered. Can't stop being hungry today!

Cut two sets of music for a potential free dance; I like one and Husband likes the other! Which I don't dislike, but feel it would be "same old, same old", rather than a totally new challenge for us. Have asked the coaches for their opinions.

New Directions: Changes-of-edge better today. Worked on Preliminary 3-turn pattern and 5-step Mohawk sequence from American Moves in the Field, just for fun. Also did some speed work, and tried out the power circles, but am not quite sure how they differ from the variable speed crossovers/runs I do anyway.

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

Congrats Momsk8ter!!

This is for yesterday:

New Directions:

-Dances felt fine, though not done to music.

-Cross strokes were good.

-Silver 3-turn pattern - the 3s weren't bad, but my lobes were all different sizes and I couldn't fit the right amount in on some sides.

-Lutz felt great! I actually did a few with some speed and landed them. They were flutzed, but at least I was moving!

-Spins were fine.


Missed Resolutions:

-8 Step Mohawk - yuck. Edges were flat, felt stiff, and the whole thing was just scratchy.

-Forward power pulls were slow (although the backward ones were nice).

-Program Run-Through - I made it throught the whole program and did all the jumps. Messed up all three spins though - I think it's fatigue from just not doing the program very much. Did the choreography, but it was lazy Definitely need to do at least two run-throughs on each session to build up my stamina again.

Sessy--I looked at your video of the alternating 3's. If you watch yourself closely, you will see that after the turn, you're leaning forward & there is a tilt to your body. You need to stand up straight, and get your spine to be vertical, in order to be able to hold the exit edge all the way back to the line.

So, after a turn on your right foot, you're now on a right back inside edge. Your Left shoulder needs to press down and pull back, and your head needs to come up (right now it's tilting forward & a little sideways), to keep your back straight and your body open & ready for the new step.

Hope that helps.

New Directions: I had a good practice yesterday, worked my tail off for the first time since being sick. I think I've finally got most of my stamina back (such as it was). I put on music & did lots of very very fast back chasses to get working on the Starlight. And also lots of the mohawk/swings from the other side of the pattern. Also played w/ Rhumba just for fun--I cannot see how that dance can ever be brought up to speed w/ the music! It's truly insane.

ALSO--I took a chance & bought a new dress on ebay, from China (!) It arrived yesterday, & it's perfect! It fits, the quality is really good and I love it. It was only $55.00, including shipping, and it's stoned and everything. I've finally found a dressmaker I can trust!! (she sells the dress design, then you send her your size & then she makes it & sends it to you). And, it only took 2 weeks from the time I won the auction to the time it was delivered.
Here's the picture--it will be perfect for my Killian test next month:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Ice-skating-dres...QQcmdZViewItem

That dress is beautiful - what a bargain!

I want to go skating, but I'm feeling rather lazy today. *goes to check out schedules*

ETA:

New Directions:
Went to the gym and worked out.
Some guy had ESPN on, so I half-watched, looking for Christopher Bowman news.

Missed Resolutions:
I didn't stretch afterward, because I was pushed for time. I feel it in my knees.

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Thanks so much, my coach is right and my rulebook must be out of date or have a typo. I should know better than to doubt my coach!

In the 2004 rulebook it shows the wide step to RBI double 3, LBO edge, cross front to RBI, change edge to RBO, and cross front to LBI... That LBO edge must be where people get the crossover idea from, at least that's how I read it.

I love this move too, especially the first half. Unfortunately, I'm going approximately 0 mph by the time I get to the second rocker. I need to learn how to squeeze more speed out of the transition from the 1st half to the 2nd half.

Phoenix: Thanks for being the eBay guinea pig on those dress auctions. I wasn't sure I could trust them since they're all the way from China and all... KWIM? (And I'm Chinese... scary I can't even trust my own countrymen... oh, wait! I'm a US Citizen now!!! )

New Directions:

Did my runthru... and this time I DID do a loop-loop!!! Thank goodness! I don't want my secondary coach restarting the music again!!! (I was particularly dreading this morning's lesson b/c I was afraid I was gonna miss this jump. And secondary coach reminded me that not too long ago (back in Nov.) I couldn't even land the loop jump clean in the program. Now it's almost consistent!!!

Missed Resolution:

Missed a couple of loops during the warm up and only landed a loop on the second runthru (and with one of those spinny type of landings ) but still a clean loop!!!

Weird Direction:

Secondary coach is again!!! She's making fun of my spin face again on the sit spin. She's lucky that she made this one small fix that at least makes my sit spin look normal again (which was to tilt my head!!!) Or else...

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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!!!

I should know better than to trust my memory - I was wrong. I looked in the newest rulebook and indeed, there is a LBO, XF, RBI change edge, XF to LBI. That is what I was thinking of when I said "it's not a crossover." I haven't practiced this move in ages, sorry!

Here's an excellent Senior MIF test with that move first:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhODS6xll4A

To maintain speed, those transition steps really would help. My coach also tells me to really get a big push on the wide step to double 3s to keep up the speed as well.

Congratulations MomSkater!!! That is truly awesome!!!!


BlackManSkating

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Proud to be one of the few black men out on the ice

Goals
Pass my Silver Moves Test
Finish Choreography for Silver Program
Land a Clean Double Toe and Double Lutz
Work on Double Axel and Rockers
Speed up back Camel

Thank you everybody for your help/tips! It was busy today so I didn't yet get to try.

I taught my mum inside 3-turns (well in 1 direction) today. All she needed was to start doing them from an edge instead of from a flat (and her edges are okay, she can do powerpulls).
And her outside ones are getting better.


I've got something strange about my spins though. I can spin centered with my legs crossed (scratch spin style) but I can't center it for my life in the 1-foot spin position I need to test!!!
Feels *exactly* like the problem on my sit spin too, so I suspect I'm taking my hips out of allignment but for the life of me I can't imagine how not to...
But, on the bright side, I got a phone number of a coach who does private lessons and does it on a rink in the Netherlands, only about 1,5 hours away from my place (not in Belgium).

[New Directions]

Went to the rink on campus today and worked ONLY on moves (and my footwork sequence in my program). Things went very well, although, on the CW back power 3s I ran into the wall and realized that I skid for about 1/2 the width of the rink, soooooo I NEED my skates sharpened...I'm hoping to go tomorrow and then pick them up on Friday before my lesson.

I also did so many brackets today! I hope that they will be good on Friday....

[Missed Resolutions]

I picked up the registration for the spring show at the rink on campus....I'm seriously considering it as a practice for my free test on the 29th, but I'm a little because it's been such a long time! Plus, if I didn't do it, I would get some flack from folks at work who really want to see me skate...

Yesterday. . .

New Directions:
-Had fresh ice all to myself, so I stepped on and did all the PB moves and could even see my tracings. Not terrible for no warmup.
-Gee, I put my free leg/foot in the right place on the 3-turns during my waltz 8, and whaddya know? It's back! I can hear coach saying "YA THINK???"
-waltz jump is feeling pretty secure.
-Gee, I made sure to put my weight on the pivot foot on my pivot, and whaddya know? My FI pivot was so much more consistent. ("YA THINK???")

Missed Resolutions:
-Half-flip is just bleh. I just can't get the timing quite right so I don't go anywhere. Plus there's still the Toepick-o-Phobia happening. Just to feed into my phobia, I was playing around with forward cross steps (I think that's what they're called? outside edges, crossing in front of each other; it's on the Silver test) and went SPLAT! right on my face.

Wish me luck! Tomorrow is my first-ever choreography session with one of the coaches. I really don't know what one does for a minute and a half when the program elements take all of 30 seconds (yeah, obviously, you link them together, but with what besides stroking and crossovers? Oh, yeah, some of the elite skaters don't even know the answer to that question. . . ). It's odd. I've choreographed some for dance, but I'm just a blank when it comes to the ice. Either that or I'm just too self conscious out there, or afraid of catching a toepick while playing around (cause of the ankle fracture-o-rama last April).

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

Hmm. . . You might be keeping your free side hip and thigh too open or letting that hip drop too low. I know it sounds overly simplistic, but think about keeping the knee and thigh of your free leg in the exact same spot as if you were diong a scratch spin. The only difference is where the foot itself ends up when you bend your knee and bring the foot to the leg. Does that make sense?

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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

Well I am getting ready to test next week I will do the Adult Pre Bronze and Bronze, remember that I have never done these, and I should mention--It would have been helpful!!

I learned the 8 step mohawk today, not that bad just like the 14 step end pattern. I will only get one day to practice next week but it should be fine.
Can finally hold an inside edge R, long enough to step into spin. Showed coach my spirals, both at 90 which is a big deal for me, that pivot point is only 3.5 months old and I still have 8.5 months to go until I am truly healed.

I hope to have my first dance lesson 1/25 or 2/1 get some help on timing, I am not sure about doing jr/sr moves at sectionals, the outside rocker will still take a lot more strength than I currently have.

Can't complain, slow but steady, I hope to do gold and silver in February.

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Who me? Couldn't be....
http://www.youtube.com/bouldersk8r