Ibreakhearts, you are kicking some serious butt today! Way to go!

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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

oh, yeah, remembered:

junk: apparently, we are not allowed to "work in groups" any longer. What the ..? now me and my friend have like a code if we wanna practice something together... watch each other whilst doing a slow spin yourself... LOL. the stupidest (yes there is no such word..) thing is, my friend and I have the same coach! so it's not like we're trying to convert each other to a dif. one or something...

if anyone can explain to me, why the heck we have to practice alone all of a sudden, I'd be grateful... because frankly, it's a ridiculous idea.

I mean, in the past, it's been helpful. I fixed my friend's scratch spin. She fixed my waltz jump and sitspin attempts. it was so good...

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That's weird - did your coach tell you that? If they are passing on instruction from the rink management they should be able to tell you what the rule is for.

Were you getting big clumps of kids together being a roadblock, or maybe too many people standing still on the ice?

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It's all about the dress!

You enter your spins with a coffee in hand?!

Ant

That does sound ludicrous. The kids at our rink always practice together - the ones who are watching will press flush against the barrier in a line so as not to cause an obstruction and all is well. I find i tend to work harder for longer when practising in a group with adults or kids like this, expecially the kids becuase they don't let you off til you do. it. RIGHT! So I get more practices and turns than they do!

Ant

Healthy I am no consistently crossing my foot in my scratch spins. YAY! They go back and forth between being centered and not centered.

Learned a new pattern- Back outside edge with a 3 turn at the top of the lobe, then start forward inside edge with a 3 turn at top of the lobe, repeat. Is it on the preliminary test- maybe? Anyway, it's fairly easy, and a great but interesting way to do those back outside 3 turns. I tend to stick my butt out after doing more than a few.

Next week is last LTS class of this session. I am crossing my fingers I have the same group coach for next session because he is fantastic.

Junk Sit spins (Though I did figure out how to keep from getting on my toe pick). We did some "shoot the ducks" (hahaha) to work on the position, and the coach seems to be working under the delusion that I have some sort of muscle in my upper thigh, because he kept telling me to "engage your quad" to help me get a strong position. Anyhow, my shoot the ducks are actually WORSE than my sit spins, if that's possible. I'm okay falling out of the sit spin, because the rotation keeps me from hitting hard, but I'm not willing to fall on the shoot the duck, because I'm still too far from the ice, so the position is better in the spin. Very very weird.

Then I didn't get any practice ice because they had to close the ice and make us sit in the locker rooms for tornado warnings, and by the time the warning was canceled there were 13 minutes left before hockey.

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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)

I can see if someone was giving bad advice and reinforcing bad habits, asking you to not work in groups.... Also, I have seen this lead to pockets of stationary people on the ice, which can create some issues for folks who are trying to practice jumps and spins or who are in a lesson. Just my $.02.

--Kim

Is the no working in groups rule just for certain sessions? That seems really strange to me- is 2 a group or a pair , so you can still be with a friend. I understand the idea of not wanting to stall movement on the ice, but I often NEED another eye to be able to practice. While I know a "helpful" friend could have me practicing bad habits, honestly, I'm more likely to reinforce bad habits on my own!

I think the kids at our rink who work in 2s and 3s have better practices than those who work alone. Or at least longer practices. (I'm talking pre-pre, pre levels. The older kids are more solitary.) Once you get a group of 4 it tends to turn into tag, or sitting on the ice- which drives me nuts.

And if it's a worry about soliciting for coaches, because you are helping in a "well my coach says this" and another student might do "I think my coaches way is better, she tells me this", that's even more absurd. I really do not understand the rules related to the PSA that say I can't talk about my coach's methods to anyone else because then I am soliciting for my coach. Why do I have to follow rules set by an organization I'm not a member of? (Sorry gone into a different rant.) I don't try to recruit for my coach at my rink, but it seems ridiculous that we can't mention our coaches at all because the PSA doesn't allow it.

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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)

I can't do a shoot the duck at all (it's more like a squat the duck!), but I can do a passable sit spin. I think there's something about the force from spinning (I'm sure there's a good physics word for it, but I can't remember what it is!) that makes it easier to get lower position in a sit spin than in a shoot the duck.

I agree, I can't do a shoot the duck at all. And trying it on land is simply ridiculous (splat!). But my sit spin is getting lower. Not low enough, but lower. Actually, my problem is not so much with the squatting down, as it is with the getting the free foot off the ice in a straight leg position. What muscles are those? Hamstring? Abs? I can't tell.

Healthy - certainly not me. I've had a terrible cold all week and haven't skated until this morning. Moves were still pretty healthy though after almost a week off, so I'm getting more confident that they won't abandon me again.

Junk - practice left me gasping for breath. And my legs quivvering after only 40 minutes. My skates need sharpening, so spin entries are edging toward a skid. Not there yet, but not really nice and solid like when my edges are sharp. I love that newly sharp feeling.

This is one-half the "Three Turns In The Field" pattern from Pre-Juvenile and Silver Moves. Great that you find them easy.. a lot of people find them very difficult -- especially making sure the turn is actually at the top of the lobe. You do one length of the rink that way, then another length on the other foot. Then the other part of the pattern is doing FO 3-turns with the BI 3-turns, again one foot on one side of the rink, the other foot on the other length of the rink.

The term you were looking for is "centrifugal force".

Healthy - My artistic is done! YAY!! I wore my costume, which is simply a pirate costume I bought cheap at Target - same time period. I have a hat that lots of people say I should wear but 1) it makes it look like a pirate costume and that may be confusing 2) a hat adds a whole new layer of difficulty that I'm not sure I'm ready for. Coach isn't too keen on the hat so it will probably stay home.

Junk I was just tired and out of breath and couldn't get up the oomph do do the simple jumps and toe taps in the program. Coach is threatening to take out the mazurkas because everything else in the program flows and I'm fast and in character, and then it breaks for the mazurkas. I think I could do them better so I'm going to practice the program with them (I do two in a row) but if they don't improve - out they go!

j

The second part of the pattern you described sounds really hard! BI 3-turns are horrible to me. Glad I don't have to deal with them until Silver.

Also- before anyone thinks I'm being a bit superior calling a difficult move easy. "Easy" is doing the pattern in a group freestyle class focusing on getting the 3-turn done. It's a fun way to work on the 3-turns without having to just do a 3 turn, stop, get on the edge and do it again. Not "easy" doing the move to a standard on the test. I have a feeling THAT will be hard.

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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)

Not intentionally

Actually, my coffee was on the boards, next to my rink book, and when I went down, I must have hit my book, which knocked the coffee into the stands. When I hit the ice, my coach asked if I was alright and I said "MY COFFEE!" as I slithered through the gate to try to save what was left of my coffee. I was amazingly quick from hitting the ice to righting my coffee cup - it is amazing how one's priorities are different at 7-something in the bloody morning! I didn't even know if I had hurt anything until after the coffee was rescued . . . reminded me of a certain TV commercial

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

Junk: Started the day feeling nauseous (again!), then up-chucked - wonderful! (Forget it! I am too old - can't be THAT!)

Healthy: Felt a lot better then.

Bland: (Neither good nor bad) Worked on same-old, same-old. Never as good on day #2 but not bad.

Healthy: Getting a little more height on the one-day-it-will-be-a-toe-loop.

Worked on Freeskate choreography again in lesson.

CHOCOLATE! (The BEST!) Coach says it is going to be a "pretty" program - which is way better than "pretty awful"!

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

Finally back on the ice

healthy -
Flips are back.
Forward spins were strong and centered.
Making improvement on double 3s (Right foot only)

Junk-
Lutzes are crud-like.
Toe loops are still offensively bad.
Sit spins (need I say more).

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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

What if one of you were to stand right against the boards, out of the way of oncoming skaters while watching your friend? If they give you hard time for doing that, then you can step off the ice and stand just on the other side of the boards while you watch your friend, then she can do the same for you. If only one of you is "on the ice" then you cannot possibly be working in a group. And I agree that it's a pretty stupid rule if there are only two of you (technically not a "group" but a "pair" IMO).

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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

Healthy:

Secondary coach more of her "touches" to the new stuff that my primary coach did. (Yes, it's fine with primary coach! He doesn't mind. )

Junk:

I am just too robotic for jazz!!! Boy, do I need that jazz class!!! (And I mean theatre jazz, not LYRICAL jazz!)

Toxic Waste Dump:

Well, secondary coach was trying to get me to think "red light district"-ish in my dancing while another coach was listening on. Well that conversation evolved to jokes about me "pole dancing" and... well, I won't go into the rest, since, as Emeril says, "keep it G." But let's just say the toxic waste dump was where their minds ended up at... (Don't worry! All the kids were off the ice and far from hearing distance when those comments were made too.)

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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!!!

The new rule must make it very difficult for pairs and dance teams to get anything done- especially if this run around is the only way to work in a "group" (okay you go off ice while I do the inside pivot for our new death spiral, and then I'll go off ice while you lean on your edge and try to keep your legs, back, and neck aligned.)

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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)

Healthy: A few more faults got into Level 2 correction (Level 1 is when my coach diagnoses exactly why something is going wrong, level 2 is when I can feel whatever-it-is happening - a dropped hip, for instance, leading to flattening an edge - and level 3 is when I can fix it!).

Junk: Which is the most frustrating stage for them to be in....

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

healthy: loop is still there, and faster than before! I love it.
did some rubbishy, but still kinda recognisable, flips!
in the middle of the session, my spin quality just went uuUUPP! and my coach saw them!

junk: the no talking at patch rule...
spread eagle... doesn't get into the position that I can do at the wall...
loop (gotta be realistic...) is only working when I'm parallel to the wall, as I can then convince my stupid head that I will be close enough to touch it when I land (even if I wouldn't be that close)... but I'm working on it!

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exactly what I said at the time!

It doesn't count for pairs... that would be ridiculous. and we don't have dance teams, at least I haven't seen them.

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Finally taking a moment to post about my group lesson on Monday:

Junk: my poor instructor . . . we worked on the forward spin last time and it was "eh" . . . she had given it some thought and thought maybe I would be one of those who is more comfortable spinning on the opposite foot . . . as in "backspin" . . . uh no . . . it's MUCH worse. She's persistent though, we tried 2 or 3 different entrances without much luck. I promised I would work on it. I do know now that I need to work on keeping the left shoulder back. I did work on this a lot at the end of public session (when everyone else had gone home).

then she asked about the sitspin and I gave her the "deer in the headlight" look but showed her my shoot-the-duck that I worked over the summer on . . . so then she gets really excited and wants to see it BACKWARDS (darn it, I KNEW I should have listened to doubletoe!). I did manage to do one, but it was kinda scary. Then we worked on the entrance . . she is one who teaches it "go down low" and she gave me some tips on bringing my heel around and I got "this close" to getting down into the proper position . . .there may be hope . . we'll see!!

Healthy: of course by then I was begging to do some jumps so she walked me through the toe loop (which I actually HAVE done before, but it has been a while) and those went just fine!! I love toe jumps.

More junk: she says I need to get more solid on the backspin before we can move on to other jumps (i.e. loop) I don't know, I'm having to jump/pick out of the backspin anyway after one rev, maybe I should just go ahead and jump and make the most out of it!

Healthy: not many other people on the ice for the public session, so I got to try a little bit of everything, including lots of edges/3 turns which are actually starting to be kind of fun, believe it or not!! And maybe, just maybe, it's time to get my blades resharpened . . . because I'm not hooking my forward spin either, all of a sudden. (either that, or I'm just randomly getting worse with more ice time . . . I'm going to be optomistic and try the sharpening before I get too worried)

Well, you and your friend could start doing duet routines. A perfect opportunity to practice together.

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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)